28

28 inches of snow from around 9 30 am yesterday until maybe midnight.  28 inches.  28 inches!!!

Of course, that meant my impulsive purchase of a snow shovel yesterday (and no, we didn't have one) was a good decision.  I just spent an hour and a half shoveling our walk and shoveling out the carport.

Which was actually more about exercise and being a good neighbor than anything, because the streets are impassable (and we don't use the front walk anyway), and their is a 6-foot drift of snow running the length of the alley.  So we're not going that way.  Our second car, an escort, was completely buried this morning.  

The neighbors said they heard estimates of 60 degrees for tommorrow.  Wow.  Everything may have melted by monday.  Kansas weather is exhilarating!  

And to get that off the top of the page

I really like Dinosaur Comics.  I've been in this situation before.

Liveblogging the Second half of KU-MSU

Kind of a wacky first half, huh? KU looked really good at times, yet whenever Aldrich went out, they looked terrible...even though it doesn't seem like he's playing that well.

And yes, I still hate that Big 10 thug-ball. I wonder how that's working...oh yeah, crappy. Of course, it works a lot better when you're deep, and KU is not particularly deep.

Watching a Rick Pitino interview. What a funny guy. Sounds like he's expecting MSU to win.

Ok! Second Half....ok...not yet I guess.

Somebody just said Aldrich was efficient in the 1st half. Were you watching the first half? 4 turnovers and a couple of bone-head misses. And he keeps trying to do that reverse layup that he did so well in the first two rounds. YOU CAN'T REALLY MAKE THAT SHOT COLE!!

Michigan State still doesn't have more FGs than Turnovers. Ha ha.

Suton has kept them in this game. Cole has to pull himself together here.

And now MSU is making a push. Of course.

Sheraton makes Duke and UNC fans turn into good friends? Wow. Can we get these guys in the Middle East?

Wanna hear a joke I heard yesterday? Ok, here goes:

What do you get when you add a Tuba to a Tuba?

A Four-Ba.

HA

Yeah, They Might Be Giants are the greatest band in the world. And if you didn't know, they make kids music now. Kids music that doesn't suck.

Gotta quit the blogging, must focus on keeping KU in front.

---

Amateur hour right now...MSU hammers KU on one end...no foul. That's actually fine, that's how the game has been called. Then the other way, MSU's Allen (?) gets caught with a crappy shot, and gets bailed out with a ticky-tack foul. After the free throws Eeboch (sp?) tries to take the inbounds pass. Now MSU is pushing after they can't get a rebound? Really MSU? Really?

And now a ridiculous moving screen to get Lucas an open three! They've called 3 (!) moving screens on KU and they didn't call that! I think MSU paid off the refs. This is stupid.

Why did Morris take a 3?

Argh...so frustrating.

The muffins didn't turn out too good.

Another uncalled MSU foul? Man.

And ANOTHER? Suton should have 4 right now.

Wow. They called a foul on MSU. Why did Walton or whoever think that was surprising? Because its the exact same thing they've done on the last five KU possessions that didn't have a foul call. I'm getting bitter here.

I guess that was obvious.

I will never buy a razor endorsed by video game characters. Never.

When I see that Miller commercial about adding the hops three times, I just think to myself: Given the final product, that is an incredible waste of hops!

And of course, now KU has a ton of turnovers. ALDRICH! Just pull it together in these last five minutes and we'll be ok.

Collins is a MONSTER!!! YES! Oh no he can't be injured!!!

Well, from what I've seen in the tournament, I wouldn't swap Collins with any other guard in the country. I wouldn't even consider it. The man is amazing.

Anyone else find that axe commercial with the sweat-spraying guy really disturbing? Especially the bit where the guy is eating a sandwich? Ug.

They gotta get Reed off the ball. He's just not a great ball handler.

Seriously. What are these crap fouls? Suton just got done shoving off on Aldrich on one end, and then Reed gets called for another ticky-tack foul, then Aldrich gets called for blocking a shot?

Lucas just made a good shot, but there was no foul there by Collins. By my count, there have been 7 inconsistent calls in the second half that went against Kansas.

Taylor didn't trip over his own feet. The guy in front of him kicked his foot out, which knocked Taylor's feet into each other. Idiot announcer.

And of course Collins misses a free throw.

Argh. That game sucked. I feel like the officials were extremely inconsistent, in both halves. Objectively, I think the officiating was inconsistent to KU's benefit in the first half, and to KU's detriment in the second half.

This was the kind of game that was going to kill KU though, because they just don't have the firepower this year. I said at the begining of the tournament that I thought KU would live or die based on Collins, but in this game it was really more about Aldrich. Cole had way too many turnovers and missed 2-foot lay-ins. He cost the Hawks 10 points, easy, in that first half. A third guy able to make something happen would have helped tremendously.

I'm going to miss this team. I'm pretty sure Collins is going to go pro after this season, and there's got to be a good chance Aldrich will as well (his stock is probably never going to be higher than it is now). Which means we're going to have a completely different kind of team next year, which will make 3 years in a row of really different teams at KU. Last year's championship team was so loaded it seems a little ridiculous now. This year's team had two stars and a bunch of role-players. Next year's team will be more like Missouri. The neat this about this year's team was the way they came together as the season went on. They played 5 away games that were super-promotion, super pep rally games for their opponents (K-State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State) and won them all. The K-State game in Manhattan was the most aggressive, angry atmosphere that I have ever heard of at a basketball game. There were secretive punches thrown that nobody saw until video, K-State fans hacked the KU players computers and found their personal phone numbers and started sending threatening texts. Then after the game, the K-State blogoverse started rumors that the KU bench was shouting racial slurs at the K-State players. And that's the kind of atmosphere they played in at Mizzou and OU. And KU won those games. They were a vastly reduced team defending a title they couldn't have claimed on their own, and yet they did a fantastic job of defending it.

Cole Aldrich, Sherron Collins and a collection of freshmen made the Sweet 16 and won the Big 12? If you had told people that at the beginning of the season, you would have been laughed at.

So I'm going to miss this team, and I'm bitter that they lost in a game that was so poorly officiated, even though it wasn't really officiating that lost them the game. I really hope Cole and Sherron decide to stay for another year, but I think it would probably be crazy for them to do so.

Liveblogging OU-'Cuse and KU-MSU

This is while I'm cooking and listening to the audio, because the online video is too damned slow.  

I think we're about 5-6 minutes into the OU-Syracuse game right now.  OU playing shockingly well early.  Syracuse looks flat.

I don't want a five-dollar footlong...subway you jerks...I'm trying to lose weight here.

I just realized PJ Carelismo is announcing here.   He's announcing an Oklahoma game...that's ridiculous.  

Both Griffin brothers on the bench?  Why would you ever allow that to happen.

Just saw the score of the Louisville Arizona game...yeah...that's shocking /sarcasm.

Wow...what a free throw there.  Who is that guy for Syracuse?

Syracuse...sloppy.  Don't they realize this could be Boeheim's 800th win?

Apparently I missed something awesome...Baby emergency.

Ohhh...Oklahoma just lost focus.  Couple of turnovers...bad D.

Griffin with a very weird looking pivot move.

17-18 OU up.  Syracuse looking like a team on a misson again.  

Baby Alert!  The boy just took a lap through the kitchen waving a kitchen towel and laughing hysterically.  Fortunately this was during a timeout, so I was able to chase him back into the living room.  

Weather Alert!  10 inches of snow and counting...in less than 10 hours.  Two weeks ago it was 80 degrees, and last weekend it was 75.  Living on the plains is exhilarating.  You know you're alive when you go from planting your garden to "ThunderSnow" within a week.

Warren plays so timid when Blake Griffin is in the lineup.  You would never believe this is a guy who almost single-handily beat Kansas.  

Ooohhh...not a great possession there...weird passing scheme by 'Cuse.  Don't they practice against the zone all the time?  

No easy baskets falling for OU, but they are getting a ton of extra chances.    

I think my Syracuse-loving-friend said something about a guy named Flynn who was amazing on this Syracuse team....I've heard the name, but nobody on 'Cuse is looking that good right now.  Nobody on OU either, except for maybe Griffin, who seems to be racking up stats.

This is a great game so far.  

Syracuse is going to have to  make a shot at some point, right?

Warren, finally.  

How many open 3's can Syracuse clank?  

Oh...THAT's Flynn?  Whoo!  

Wow...Routins?  Was that the name I just heard...great play.

Bufferring...damnit!  Every time it goes to bufferring, I end up getting kicked back to the commercials.  I'm probably ten minutes behind real-time here.  

What?  OU just scored 5 points while this was 'buffering'!  This better not happen for the KU game.

Yeah yeah yeah....The Big East is the premier league this year.  Fine.  I still think the Big 12 got the shaft all year long.  

Oh and Flynn is down...yikes...

Bufferring...

Wow...really?  A 13 point lead at the half?   I expected that from Mizzou against Memphis, but OU?  

And to continue my point, I'm now convinced that the Big East is league numero uno this year, but I definitely feel like the Big 12 got the shaft, and I think we're seeing that play out.  None of the Big 12 teams have embarassed themselves in this tournament (none lost in the first, for instance), and the 5th best team in the Big 12 took Pitt right down to the wire in the second round.  Now, I just think the Big 12 was the #2 conference.

The half-time show is talking about Syracuse going to a man-t0-man against Griffin...uh...I doubt that's going to help.  Unless you're just going to double immediately.

Did I mention my XBox is dying?  So sad...I might have to buy a current generation console....

Trying to lose weight, using a weird recipe to make chocolate muffins...4 teaspoons of butter.  teaspoons?  How do you even measure butter in teaspoons?  

Wow...that Flynn injury looked bad.   If he hadn't been in the game in half number 1, the Syracuse would be gone right now.  

That has to be the best story-line imaginable:  Syracuse come back from 13 down behind injuried Johnny Flynn.    This feels like a weak 13 point lead...of course as soon as I write that, OU scored 4 quick.

Syracuse has come out incredibly flat here...yikes.

My audio is just about 1 second ahead of the visual.  So I hear the announcers say things like "And it falls!" just before a ridiculous move by Taylor.  

Flynn doesn't look good.

Wow...this is getting out of hand.

Muffins are in the oven!

Austin Johnson!  Wow!  What a block!

Somebody needs a hug...so I guess I'm done with this for now...

The announcers keep talking about the beatdown by Louisville in the other game...but this is looking just about as bad here...27 pts down, and just 29 points after 35 minutes in the game by 'cuse?

Okay, wife came up and took over the boy.  Turns out it is 11 inches of snow by 3 o'clock...it started snowing at 10 30-ish.

OU is just bitch-smacking Syracuse right now.  

Flynn is looking better now, I wonder if his back is loosening up as the half goes on.  

Oh, and now Syracuse hits a three.

Syracuse starting to show some signs of life with Flynn looking a little better...and man my muffins smell great!

Flynn...no...Blake Griffin...yes...Flynn tried to get showy when his team is down 20.  Not a good idea.  

Did anyone see that game earlier in the tournament where Blake Griffin jumped so high that his elbows were above the rim and he dunked like I would dunk my laundry into the washing machine?  That was maybe the most raw athletic move I've seen in the NCAA's this year. 

Amway...now you know!

The National Association of Realtors commercials are hilarious.  For the last 5 years, they've put out the same message:  Now is a great time to purchase a home!  Contact a Realtor today!  The new ones, with the family literally, sitting on the fence in front of a McMansion.

OU's Davis is actually going to be really good someday soon. 

Couple of threes there...too little too late?  Yes.

Weelllll.....maybe not. .  15 points with 6 minutes...oh... nice shot by Johnson.

Hesitation move by Griffin.  Maybe he's better than I think...a lot better.  So far I'm 0-3 with evaluating top tier talent from Big 12 teams.  I thought Durant was crap, Beasley was amazing, and Griffin was mediocre.  Turns out i suck.

14 point lead with 5 minutes left...And this game better get over before KU starts.

Buffering!!! DAMN!!

Steal!  Syracuse needs to score right here.  No....oh and Griffin finally messed up a breakaway.

"What's wrong, son?"  "Humoanompfh"

Well, 16 with 3 35 to go...I think this one's over.  And an offensive rebound....and a steal off a missed shot.  

Did Griffin just bash his head on the rim???  Awkward exclamation point....maybe a little more enthusiasm than smarts right there.  Oh...he actually hit the backboard with his head.  How often does that happen?

We spend 5 years in Northern Indiana and although there was 1 big blizzard while we were there, we missed it over a Christmas break.  We come 8 hours south, and in 3 years we've had 2 huge and amazing blizards.  

Let's see...of the 6 teams currently in the Elite 8, 4 from the Big East, 2 from the Big 12.  I'm thinking the Big 12 is validating my belief that they were above average this year.  Of course, there's a possibility that Mizzou and OU lose their coaches after this season (both have been talked about pretty strongly for other jobs).  

Well, that's actually going to be it.  I'm going to get on the exercise bike and watch the KU game from there, so no typing.  Rock Chaulk Jayhawk KU!!!

Clarification: I just don't know anything...

...about college basketball.   Except, I do know that the Jayhawks are still the champs until someone knocks them out.

:)

Uggh

My week has turned nasty.

Not only are the weather forecasters predicting an apocalyptic March
blizzard that could be "life-threatening", but the Big East is making
me both furious and stupid. Fine, the Big East is excellent! I still
think they were vastly overseeded, and in the case of Pitt, that's
definitely helped them get this far, but judas, look at the other
teams! Purdue really made the Sweet 16? And Duke? I know those
teams have some history, but with any kind of historical perspective:
Those are not good teams. Yet apparently they are among the top 16
teams in the country! Let me put it this way: Having not physically
watched a lot of basketball this year, I went by the box scores and
'numbers' to figure out how good a lot of teams were. I actually saw
Big East and Big 12 teams. I still don't feel like either the Big
East or Big 12 has had great teams this year. But apparently these
are the best teams out there (all three of the 'good' Big 12 teams are
still alive, and no Big 12 team lost its opening round game...not
bad). I mean, UConn doesn't look like that good of a team to me, but
you know who looks better? Nobody. And honestly? Villanova and
Syracuse are the only other teams that even look close. Well, except
I also think KU looks really good, but I'm totally biased.

And I know this makes it sound like I'm still diminishing the B. East
with a backhanded compliment (Sure, they're good, in comparison to the
crappy competition this year), but what I really think is happening is
more about the quality of coaching in the Big East and the
conference's decision to make a pure basketball league. Just look at
the schools with amazing coaches in the Big East: West Virginia,
Syracuse, UConn, Louisville all have outstanding coaches. Villanova,
Pitt, Georgetown, and Marquette have great coaches (who might end up
being outstanding). You can't just roll in to play a team coached by
one of these guys and expect them to just fall apart simply because
you're the better team. These are teams you have to kill, you've got
to step on their throat and actually finish them off. That's the
hallmark of any exceptionally coached team (95% of the time). Just
look at the Memphis-Missouri game last night. Missouri let off the
gas a little bit, and Memphis just about rose up out of the grave to
destroy them. That's not because of a huge talent gap, that's because
of great coaching. So what I'm saying is that the Big East is great
not because of crappy competition, but because they have
coaches/programs that are simply top-notch (even if UConn is
apparently cheating, but I always knew Calhoun was a jerk).

I give the odds of an all Big East final four at 50-50. The
Syracuse-OU winner will go from that bracket. I find it hard to
imagine Mizzou beating UConn, although this is a very amazing Mizzou
team. I think KU's odds are pretty good, all things considered. I
still think they've got the best point guard in the country, and
Aldrich is pretty good. And those young guys should be good. Of
course, there is a lot of game left to play. MSU has a great coach as
well.

All of which doesn't mean I will embrace an all Big East final four.
That would be, officially, the most incredibly stupid and boring thing
in the world. I would have zero interest. Although honestly, I
always quit watching the tournament if KU loses.

New Music Onslaught

Let's get this out there in the open, right now:

I'm burned out.  I'm not "burned out for a while" or "burned out right now" I'm burned out forever.  Imagine a fire that is no longer flaming.  Sure, there are coals there, with a lot of burn and a lot of heat still there, but this isn't a raging inferno anymore.  Ok, that's not entirely accurate, there's a lot of rage.  But there isn't a lot of fire...which is why I say I'm burned out.  

I'm much more likely to just say "Clearly we're not going to agree on this, so let's just stop here" than I am to say "Clearly you're not going to convince me to adopt your idiocy as my own belief, so why don't you just stop embarassing yourself."  Why is this?  Because I'm falling into the same damned pattern of every other human in western society "Give up the fight and just get by."  I can't tell you how infuriated it makes me to have all these choices and no idea which is correct and which is wrong and somehow I'm building myself a walled enclosure in middle america that superficially resembles the very same damned white-picket-fence, dream-world that I despise.  

Why am I turning into prototypical American Dream lifestyle?  Because it is so easy.  Look, that Wal-Mart over there?  That's the ONLY place within an hour that I can buy coconut milk or giram masala, or, for the love of judas, unseasoned pork loin.  And that's the only place with a pharmacy that doesn't mess it up and take 6 hours.  But it's Wal-Mart...bastion of all that is wrong with western society! I scream in my own head every time I go there, Why?

And go to the Dillons instead?  Are these better choices?  Are these really choices at all?  How did I end up here, in the middle of the country, working a dead-end job that is constantly documenting the destruction of another chunk of irreplaceable beauty, in a town 10 times too small, spending 2 hours a day talking and reading sports, and with no single decision along the way that appears wrong?  Who could look at my current lifestyle and think that I was ever anything but just another clone buying into the american ideal?  I'm just some guy with an over-inflated sense of his own individuality.  

 
But, you sat on the doorstep of your church youth director at 18 and read On the Road and discovered that you were a human...doesn't that count for anything?  You stayed up all night at a lock-in playing electric guitar!  You basically got a physics degree in two years!  You wrote and published your own poetry journal!  You have a Ph.D. from a fantastic university!  You can cook fantastic gyros!  How many people can say all that?

Probably not many, but as far as I can tell, that doesn't really mean anything.  

And so today I ended up calling my landscaping buddy and asking him what herbicides I need to use on my lawn to get rid of the non-grass and how to best get my yard looking good and having grass my kid can roll around on recklessly without fear of stickers.  Me...with a yard that's cleansed by herbicides and well-watered...That was the last log on the fire crumbling into coals.  My wife was incredulous, but this was pretty much the last bastion of my unusuality, and it hurts like hell to let it go.  

I don't know what this means...the straw and the camel's back isn't the right analogy.  This isn't a breaking, it's a change, and I think I'm going to have to figure out how to make it work in this new format.  Does that mean figuring out how to recycle all my grey water for watering the lawn?  I guess.

Yeah, this sounds all sad and depressing to me now that I re-read it, but it really isn't all that sad and depressing.  This isn't a padded cell, it's just a situation.  And I can't break out of the decisions I set up for myself...I just have to try to make something awesome out of it.  

Which leads, pretty much thought-for-thought, to me getting into gardening like crazy.  The wife and child and I planted 10 strawberry plants, 4 broccoli, 4 cabbage, and about 40 spinach plants.  Like everything we do outside and with the boy, that was some great fun.  

Anyway, long story short:  I have no interest in writing anymore.  Like a lot of my ridiculous dreams, I just can't sustain it right now.  I'll probably continue to post here, but my online life is dead everywhere else.  

But wasn't this supposed to be about cool music I was listening to?  Feast on the following:

Where have I been?

Our hero awakes in a white room with two rows of fluorescent bulbs hanging from wires in the ceiling. There is no floor or furniture, he is laying on the floor, which is painted white. He has forgotten...something...something important. There is no sound in the distance. There is nothing.

The baby:

Pneumonia. Yeah, not really that much fun. We've gone through a couple more rounds of sickness, with an ear infection and a round of antibiotics. But the boy is doing pretty well. He's sleeping through the night, by himself, pretty consistently. He's actually getting big enough that I'm starting to feel sad about the transitory nature of children. In less than two years we've passed a lot of milestones, and I honestly miss the crawling a little, and the laying there looking silly. Fortunately, he is now insane. When he and I play, we spend most of our time wrestling or chasing each other, I'm sure at some point we're going to hurt ourselves.

At this age, they are so much like a little puppy that it is impossible to be around him without thinking that.

We've been doing a lot of walks in the evening. To the lake, around a wetland, down by the river, around the block, through the grocery store, around dad's work. He's fascinated by birds and cats, and has no control when he sees one. He's gotten good, though, at the grocery store of staying close when you're checking out or doing something. Those places are the ones where I can barely imagine having a second child.


Work:

My wife pointed out that all I ever talk about is my next job. Clearly, I'm not entirely happy with what I'm doing. That isn't to say my job is terrible, and I'm not actually sure I could move. Not so much because of the job, but just because judas I do not really want to move again. We've purchased a house, added new furniture, settled in, and I am terrified by the prospect of moving again. But my job is dead-end, no possibility for advancement, with no window, no research, no possibility for something more. I don't really know how to work with some of the people I work with on 'research-light' kinds of projects, just because I'm not very good at not being in control.

I've spent quite a bit of time in the last week or so doing science. Writing papers, doing data analysis, learning R. I'm not sure if I'm actually any good at that stuff, but I feel like I am. I feel like I'm good at ideas, experimental design, and interpreting data. I haven't been writing much of anything lately, because I just having felt inspired, but what I have been writing is mostly science.

So I keep thinking about jobs where I can do more of that. But there aren't a lot of those out there that I could really get into without a major life change. It has been 2 years since I was in a lab environment...as my wife said "Could you go back?" That's a legit question...I like having a sense of smell again.


Music:

NPR is single-handily keeping my job interesting, if only because of the huge number of really interesting songs they have on their website. I recommend (you'll have to find videos/links yourself) Passion Pit "Sleepyhead", Lilly Allen "Not fair", "My 45" by someone I forgot, Blitzen Trapper's "Furr", "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver(?), and some others that I've forgotten.


Dam Removal:

This is supposed to be the kind of thing that should keep my job exciting and interesting. I'm working on getting some dams removed from the Neosho River. You might recall me getting some money from the fish and wildlife service to do this. Well....that's great and all, but I can't actually do any of the science to go along with it. Like, what the heck is going on in these low-head dams as far as nutrient cycling goes? How are we going to quantify the movement of fish before and after? What's going on with the sediments?

So yeah, I mean, this is more interesting than what I spend a lot of my time doing, but it isn't really all that interesting unless you can do the science as well. And I'm not going to be doing that. I'm just struggling to get permits in order, a good design, a plan everyone can live with, and a procedure for the next one. Great.


NCAA Tournament:

I'm so sick of the Big East talk. Look, these aren't that good of teams! This isn't the best conference ever, and it probably isn't even the best conference this year. There are three 'good' teams in the Big East, and UCONN isn't even one of them (did you see their non-conference schedule?). The Big East has three of the worst schools to play in a major conference this year (South Florida, DePaul, and Rutgers). This isn't the best conference ever.

The amazing thing I keep hearing is talk like the Big East is this always fantastic conference. Really? Hell, 90% of what the Big East accomplishes it does by just having more damn teams than everyone else. The conference has 16 teams! They keep putting 7-8 teams in the tournament. Big flippin' deal. From 1998-2008, the Big East has won 3 rings and has had 4 teams reach the Final Four. The ACC has 3 rings and 10 teams in the Final Four. The SEC has 3 rings and 5 Final Four teams. The odd balls are the Big 10 and Big 12, which have 1 ring a piece and 9 and 6 Final Four appearances respectively. The Big 12 even had the era of unrealized potential, when 4 teams made 5 Final Four appearances in 3 years (DAMN YOU SYRACUSE and MARYLAND!!).

And as for the ACC...good god. How many years are we going to keep giving Duke and North Carolina home games for the first two weeks of the tournament? Does this happen for anyone else? Duke isn't even a 1 seed this year! Arggh.


KU:

For the record, I predicted KU would win the Big 12. If KU hadn't won a championship last year, I would expect this team to make the Final Four. The bracket they are in is stacked with top coaches, but mediocre talent (yes, especially Louisville). KU is stacked with top tier talent, just really, really inexperienced. However, Sherron Collins has no ceiling in the college game (he is the best PG in the country, I won't even discuss this). As he goes, so will go the Jayhawks. So far in his career Collins has been ridiculously good during big games (he's the one who stole the inbounds pass from Memphis last year and hit a quick three to give us a bit of life). However, this is his first year as a starter, and when he plays bad (like he did against Baylor and Texas Tech), this KU team could lose to anyone. There is, literally, no one else on the KU roster who can propel them into a win at this stage in their career. I'm not sure they have a second player who can even run the offense at all.

As always I predict a championship. But that first round game scares the hell out of me.