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Archive for August, 2011

Rare “Weird Al” Yankovic Audio

Posted in Humor, tagged on August 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

From 1988:

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My Maxi Pads

Posted in Humor on August 31, 2011 | 3 Comments »

So my new school gave me a box of maxi pads.  It’s normal at the start of a year for schools to give all the teachers bags of band aids for their students, since kids get lots of little cuts and need band aids all the time.   But, though I’ve worked at several campuses, I’ve [...]

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Spot the Red Flags

Posted in Education, Humor on August 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Even at the start of a promising new year, one can’t hep but spot the occasional red flags; signs that a student will have problems–or cause problems–down the road. At one of my UNLV remedial writing classes yesterday, I asked students to fill out an information card, as I do with all classes.  One young [...]

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The First Day of School, By the Numbers

Posted in Education, tagged on August 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I met 295 new people yesterday.  My six high school classes are all very large, but that’s certainly the norm these days.  That plus my two college classes puts me pretty close to 300.  Here’s the breakdown: English II Honors (sophomores–three sections): 41, 44, and 37 students American Literature Honors (juniors–two sections): 35 and 42 [...]

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Two Things Joseph Smith Got Right About the Book of Abraham Facsimiles

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 29, 2011 | 2 Comments »

I’ve been studying up on the Book of Abraham a bit lately, and as fascinating as all the scholarly, arcane parallels are, it’s even more exciting to see that some of Joseph Smith’s explanations of these symbols are easy to confirm in accessible pop culture.  While critics have often had to come up with convoluted [...]

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Three New Videos of Mozart’s Symphony 41

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , on August 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

I enjoy classical music on YouTube, especially when video creators are thoughtful enough to put long works in multiple movements together on playlists.  It’s nice to hear a single performance that way, rather than having to string together videos from different sources on your own.  Oddly, perhaps music’s greatest symphony, Mozart’s “Jupiter” symphony, no. 41, has [...]

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“Come As You Are”

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , on August 28, 2011 | 1 Comment »

A story at First Thoughts this week about people wearing Hooters t-shirts to mass stirred a debate in the comments section: should or shouldn’t people come to church dressed however they want?  There were some strong words on both sides. A few miles from my house is one of those huge non-denominational fellowship churches.  It [...]

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“Bless This Meal”

Posted in Religion, tagged , , on August 28, 2011 | 2 Comments »

I think we as Latter-day Saints should consider reforming how we pray over meals.  The primary purpose of these prayers, I’d say, is to offer gratitude that we get to have such wonderful food for us and our families, yet again.  But listen to our prayers, and they almost always ask for Heavenly Father to [...]

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Recall Nonsense

Posted in Politics and Society, tagged , , , on August 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

In Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, there are currently efforts at work to recall at least two recently elected officials.  It seems that as soon as anybody is put in office these days, someone wants to kick them out.  As soon as any president steps into the White House now, somebody starts talking about [...]

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Why Liberals Should Like the Tea Party

Posted in Politics and Society, tagged , , , , , on August 27, 2011 | 7 Comments »

There is a difference between policy and principle.  People of bright minds and good faith can disagree about policies, but principles are usually pretty universal.  Nobody is really anti-liberty, or anti-charity, but between policy and principle is priority, and that affects how the latter is realized as the former.  That’s where people on the political [...]

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Think Negatively, Act Positively

Posted in Living well, tagged , , on August 26, 2011 | 6 Comments »

There’s a slogan that goes, “think globally, act locally.”  The idea is that we should orient ourselves based on big-picture priorites–even planning to be a small part of a larger movement or community–but be sure to behave and perform with a pragmatic focus on our immediate surroundings.  It’s not a bad motto for keeping your [...]

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Literature Trick Question

Posted in Language and Literature, tagged , , on August 25, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Maybe the greatest work of magic realism is Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.  Marquez won the Nobel Prize after writing it, and Oprah later picked it for her classics book club.  Here’s the famous first line: Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant [...]

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Tan Lines On My Feet

Posted in Humor, tagged , , on August 25, 2011 | 2 Comments »

The first week of June, I found a great pair of sandals at Deseret Industries for $2.  I wore them all summer.  Apparently, I wore them outside a lot.  As you can see in the pictures below, I now have some odd tan lines. Also, if you don’t like looking at gross pictures of some [...]

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Daily Beast Praises Mormons For Embracing Science

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , on August 23, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Excellent.  Today, the Daily Beast recognizes Romney and Huntsman’s uniquely pro-science stances in this presidential campaign as reflecting the nature of their faith. One of many great quotes: From the very founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its leaders have allowed scientific thought to coexist with their teachings, sometimes in ways [...]

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New Class of 2015 Mindset List

Posted in Education, Humor, Random, tagged , , on August 23, 2011 | 3 Comments »

Beloit College has just released their new guide for faculty to understand this year’s incoming freshmen: the Mindset List, 75 facts about today’s students.  The top ten are: There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway. Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents. States and Velcro parents have always been [...]

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