A Day in the Life: Leap Day

Posted on February 29, 2004

After stumbling across it at Mac’s, I’ve decided to participate in the A Day in the Life: Leap Day project. That being said, I’ll be adding new photos to this entry hourly (or thereabouts) throughout the day. You can click on the images for a larger view and hover over them for descriptions.

And that, my friends, was Leap Day 2004.

Whoa

Posted on February 29, 2004

I just found out that Kara has joined in on the Day in the Life fun. Oddly enough, one of Kara’s photos shows her viewing this site. To add an extra layer of hand-drawing-a-hand trippiness to the whole affair, here’s a photo of me viewing Kara’s photo of her viewing my photos:

I think I have a headache now.

Speaking of witchcraft…

Posted on February 29, 2004

Interested in harnessing eldritch forces for personal gain, but just don’t feel like leaving the comfort of your computer chair? Apparently, some people are, and that’s where SpellKaster comes into play. Drawing upon the awesome power of radionic energy (”the powerful vibrational forces that flow throughout our universe”), the makers of SpellKaster claim that their innovative software can cast spells to help you achieve wealth, romance, and good luck. It can even be used to inflict misery and retribution on your enemies — all for the low, low price of $97 (available for Windows operating systems only)!

A Wiccan, a Naturist, and a Voodoo Priestess walk into a bar…

Posted on February 28, 2004

Remember back when reality television pretty much just consisted of sticking a bunch of quasi-attractive people in a house and filming them for a few months? Back then, there were no immunity challenges, no bachelors, no bachelorettes, no littlest grooms, no millionaires, no Amish teenagers gone wild, no makeovers, no obnoxious fiancés, no remodeled rooms, and no shocking twists. Things were so much simpler then.

On March 4, the SciFi channel premiers the latest entry in the increasingly ridiculous reality television genre: Mad Mad House. The premise? According to the show’s website, ten ordinary folks move in with five “practitioners of alternative lifestyles” — a Wiccan, a Naturist, a Modern Primitive, a Voodoo Priestess, and a “real-life” Vampire — and “live out a Survivor meets The Real World meets The Osbournes lifestyle.” Seriously.

Drop-down and gimme twenty

Posted on February 27, 2004

Taking a cue from Anastasia at Southern Musings, I’ve replaced my sidebar category and monthly archive lists with drop-down menus. Please feel free to play with them, and let me know if they break.

Tales from the Classroom XIV: The Secret to Good Teaching

Posted on February 26, 2004

After spending the past few years teaching college classes, I believe that I have finally arrived at the Secret to Good Teaching. As far as I can tell, good teaching consists of either:

1. knowing a lot about the subject matter, or
2. successfully creating the illusion that one knows a lot about the subject matter.

Obviously, the first option requires years of studying and research to achieve. That’s an advantage that I simply do not have with respect to American politics, the course that I’m currently teaching. Therefore, the onus shifts to the second option: how does one successfully create the illusion that he or she knows a great deal about a particular academic subject?

It turns out that the answer is really quite simple: anecdotes.

That’s right — the key to making students believe that you know what you’re talking about (assuming you don’t) is to pepper your lectures and discussions with anecdotes about the material and other witty asides. For instance, if you’re teaching a chemistry course, the students will be wowed if you bring up the fact that Marie Curie eventually died of radiation poisoning. Or, if you’re teaching a history course, you can bowl them over with the fact that Teddy Roosevelt once wrestled a grizzly bear in the White House Rose Garden for control of the Panama Canal. I think. The details aren’t really that important.

What is important, however, is that the teacher exhibits that he or she can go beyond what’s in the textbook, showing a fundamental familiarity and comfort with the material. Just think back on your own education. Aren’t the teachers who knew all the interesting stories trivia the ones who you remember most fondly?

Of course, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Doesn’t the liberal use of anecdotes, by its very nature, require substantive knowledge of the material?”

That’s certainly one approach, but I have discovered a second way, dear readers, and that is the true Secret to Good Teaching (when actual knowledge of the subject matter isn’t an option, of course).

Tales from the Lunchroom

Posted on February 25, 2004

Campus is abuzz today with rumors of snow in the forecast — enough of a novelty in Georgia to get people genuinely excited. Meanwhile, I can’t help but reminisce about elementary school in Virginia and the times when it would begin to flurry during the school day. Needless to say, my classmates and I would spend the entire day ignoring our teachers and staring out the windows, studying the snow a flake at a time to see if it would accumulate enough to send us home from school early. Sooner or later, usually while we were eating our lunches in the cafeteria, our vice principal would appear with important news.

J-Who?

Posted on February 25, 2004

The official web presence for Kevin Smith’s Jersey Girl (a movie I’ve written about before) is up and running, and notable by her virtual absence from the site is Jennifer Lopez. She doesn’t have an entry on the cast and crew page and only shows up in a brief mention at the end of the “About the Movie” section (”Jersey Girl also stars Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez, Stephen Root, and Mike Starr”).

I realize that J-Lo isn’t a huge player in the film, but it’s interesting nonetheless to observe Miramax’s ongoing efforts to disassociate Jersey Girl from Bennifer and, in turn, prevent it from being branded by the public as Gigli 2: Electric Boogaloo. Frankly, I think it’s a lost cause at this point. In fact, I can only predict a box-office failure and the further devaluation of Ben Affleck’s Hollywood stock as a viable leading man. And I liked him so much in Chasing Amy.

Oh, who am I kidding? He’ll probably end up with the lead in Kevin Smith’s upcoming film adaptation of the Green Hornet.

…and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain.

Posted on February 25, 2004

The third and final installment of the “Jess Takes Photos of Toys Because He Can’t Think of Anything to Write” series:

“Spidey, are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
“Gee, I think so, Brain, but if I can stick to walls, why don’t I get stuck to my own costume?”

Glavin

Posted on February 24, 2004

“Ladies and gentlemen, m-hey, I’d like to introduce my latest breakthrough: the hyper-embigulated mutant rhino beetle — with the legs and the tusk and the chitin!”

“Wh-who are you?” “I’m Batman.”

Posted on February 23, 2004

Feel free to provide your own caption.

Thank goodness we own a digital camera.

$7.34

Posted on February 22, 2004

After much deliberation, my cable company has determined that a week’s worth of broadband Internet access is worth precisely $7.34 — i.e. the amount that the customer service representative somewhat begrudgingly agreed to deduct from my cable bill next month to compensate for my recent week-long service outage. Woo-hoo! I’m heading to Subway!

Naturally, I brought up my numerous late-night trips to school to administer the online portions of my course, as well as the four or five hours I spent on the phone with technical support, but they wouldn’t budge. Oh, well…at least my Internet connection is running smoothly again. For now.

Hail to the king, baby

Posted on February 21, 2004

My wife and I have watched The Fellowship of the Ring together several times since it first came out in 2001. Every time we would get to the part where Frodo is injured by the Ringwraiths and Aragorn says something along the lines of, “This is beyond my skill to heal; he needs elvish medicine,” I would lean over and whisper to my wife, “Did he just say Elvis medicine?”

After about the fourth or fifth time we watched Fellowship, my wife finally sighed and asked me why I always insisted on saying that.

My response? “I’m just getting ready for The Return of the King, honey.”

Meanwhile, Evil Doug offers up a much funnier variation on essentially the same joke as part of the first chapter of his Lord of the Rings parody. As always, if you aren’t reading Evil Doug’s blog, shame on you!

Tales from the Classroom XIII: Just the facts, ma’am

Posted on February 20, 2004

You can learn a lot sometimes just by reading the work submitted by students. For instance, I’ve seen an entire essay exploring last year’s controversy in Alabama over the “Ten Amendments,” in which a student argued rather convincingly that the state judicial building should have the right to display the Bill of Rights since it is, after all, an important document in American history. I’ve also seen a student spend the better part of a five-page essay discussing the historic Al Smith presidency of the 1950s, examining how President Smith’s disastrous policies ultimately resulted in the Great Depression. How, pray tell, does one grade that?

Ever wonder how the judicial process works in the Supreme Court? Rumor has it that the Justices preside as judges, the 535 members of the combined houses of Congress serve as the jury, and the President of the United States acts as the prosecutor. Oh, and I’m sure there are probably hobbits involved somehow, too.

Heck, I’ve seen an entire essay written about the origins of the Vitamin War. I assumed the student was talking about the unforgettable skirmish in which King Vitaman led his C battalion against the evil forces of Scurvy, but it turns out he was actually thinking of some obscure war that took place in Southeast Asia a few decades ago. I guess I’ll just chalk that one up to a “Replace All” mistake while spellchecking in Microsoft Word.

Despite all his rage, et cetera, et cetera

Posted on February 20, 2004

As reported by CNN.com, Billy Corgan recently backed away from his oft-quoted statement that the Smashing Pumpkins broke up after “fighting the good fight against the Britneys of the world” and losing, now claiming that “the truth of the matter is that guitarist James Iha broke up the Smashing Pumpkins.” I don’t have any insightful commentary to add; I just know that there are at least a few fellow Pumpkins fans who read this blog.

The article also notes that Billy has a solo album, a DVD, and (ugh) a book of poetry on the way in the relatively near future.

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