Phoenix ComiCon

I don’t go myself (because my lovely wife  says I’m not allowed to do things where the inevitable result is me punching people) but I have friends who go, and they seem to be doing steampunk this year.

 

 

 

 

Now There’s Something You Don’t See Everyday

10,000 member Japanese chorus performs Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, final movement (“Ode to Joy”). Very cool.

Un-Possible!

“Accidently”? I do not think it means what you think it means. “Negligently” is almost certainly the correct term here.

Officer’s gun accidentally fires in San Antonio Middle School

SAN ANTONIO — An officer has been placed on administrative leave after school officials say his gun discharged inside a north-side middle school on Wednesday morning.

Northside ISD spokesperson Pascual Gonzalez said the officer was inside his office at Jordan Middle School when the gun accidentally fired around 8:45 a.m.

The office door was closed, Gonzales said, and no students reported hearing the shot.

Immediately after the gun went off, district officials said the officer called his supervisor and the school principal to report the incident.

The bullet reportedly found lodged in a wall inside the office.

District officials said the officer was preparing to leave the building to go to the gun range to work on his recertification.

The officer has worked at Jordan Middle School for five years and has been with the Northside ISD for a total of 16 years.

Best guess? He was fiddlin’ with the gun and had his finger on the trigger for some reason. That’s how guns go off, you see…

H/T to Jennifer.

The Only Word For This Is Amazing

I guess that’s one way to set up a flying armbar. H/T to Punch Kick Choke

Hipster Trapping

I hope there isn’t a limit on taking them, ‘cuz I’m pretty sure they are overpopulated and need culling.

 

Why Yes, I Believe It *Is* Called A Tenuous Grasp On Reality

The Brady Campaign, that is.

with Brady Campaign attorney Daniel Vice testifying that long gun registration is necessary because “It is crucial that law enforcement know … if a person overlooking a government building, embassy, or motorcade route is stockpiling long-range rifles.” The Brady Campaign’s willingness to argue seriously that a would-be assassin would buy or rent an apartment overlooking his intended target’s travel route, then register his intended murder weapon, speaks volumes for the group’s view of the world.

I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there. H/T to Joe Huffman

The Good Ol’ Blues Brothers Boys Band

I grew up going to various versions of this bar. I also dated a singer from a country band in high school, and played drums in one in college.

POV of Drumming “Dr. Wu” By Steely Dan

Not bad. Not a layout I’d choose but everybody has their own preference.

Lack Of Academic Rigor In The Humanities?

Inconceivable! (though maybe that word does not mean what I think it means)

When Glenn is right, he’s right:

 Very few people complete a math or engineering major without learning a lot of math and engineering, but it’s entirely possible to major in the humanities and never learn to read, write, or reason with any rigor. The problem isn’t inherent to the subject matter, it’s a symptom of professorial self-indulgence and laziness, together with the lack of external scrutiny, a problem that is much, much worse in humanities than in STEM.

If, as Clayton illustrates, History 101 students at the baccalaureate level can’t correctly identify Newton’s Second Law of Motion then we’ve fallen on hard times, educationally. While I’m a huge utilitarian with regards to the purposes of primary and secondary education, students who intend to move on to higher education should have an exposure to a broader cross-section of knowledge since without it they will lack context for much of what they are certain to be exposed.

Or something like that.

I Remember When Hipster Was Indie, And When Indie Was Alternative, And When College Rock Was College Rock

and I hated them then too. F*&^%$ douchebags.

I say as I’m on a nostalgia-fueled internet video spiral of The Fun Lovin’ Criminals, KottonMouth Kings, BloodhoundGang, ICP, Slayer etc. Good Charlotte just for spite. Lit, well, because. 3rd wave ska because I remember the first 2 waves.

No Pavement. No Beck, Modest Mouse, Sebadoh, Elephant 6, White Stripes, Hives, Asteroids Galaxy Tour or other annoying douchebags. Oh, and Sonic Youth has always blown chunks.  How dare they be lumped in with Gibby Haynes – Kim Gordon is a posing little wench.

Let me reiterate my point. Hipsters, who used to be indie rockers, who used to be college rockers, are douchebags.

Oh, and I’m old.