Random stupid things on your mind. Post them.

[onan]

Might have to be a little bit of a geek to get it, but:

http://foaas.com/

I almost shit myself.

[Flaxen Hegemony]

Just got news of an academic conference that I'm being forced to attend.  In Hawaii.  Free ride for three of us.  I don't mention this to brag, because it is an obscene waste of university (thus taxpayer) money and my own time.  Flying, lodging, and feeding three people for reasons described only vaguely.  This is exactly the type of nonsense that provokes public outrage, and rightly so.  Am I going to learn or accomplish anything in Hawaii that is impossible with my ass parked right here?  Hell no.

Ah well, I have the entire week already planned.  By day, I'm going to carefully nod my head every 30 seconds to assure people that I really am awake, and by night, we're all going to screw like Viagra-addled mayflies.

Catch you all in about a week... stay cool in the heat.

[stevesh]

Will you be on the Big Island ? Will you have time to investigate Noory's new studio ?

[Flaxen Hegemony]

Will you be on the Big Island ? Will you have time to investigate Noory's new studio ?

No, we're in Honolulu.  But I didn't even think of the studio!  I might be up for an overnight trip with a friend, assuming I get bored (a safe assumption).  Perhaps I can do some detective work on Coastgab's behalf.  Do we have any details about the location of the studio?  Even anything minor that George said when talking about it on the air might help.  I won't go all stalker on it, but it might be cool to find where it is located.

[Juan]

They seem to like taking calls from Hawaii.  Why don't you call in, claim to be on the big island and ask for directions to the studio? Of course, you'll have to tell Tommy you saw a stone statue walking around or something to get on. It could be a hoot.

[Sardondi]

...Ah well, I have the entire week already planned.  By day, I'm going to carefully nod my head every 30 seconds to assure people that I really am awake, and by night, we're all going to screw like Viagra-addled mayflies...

There was something I was goign to say about this, but I forgot what it was. Oh yeah: "Damn you."

[RealCool Daddio]

Just got news of an academic conference that I'm being forced to attend.  In Hawaii.  Free ride for three of us.  I don't mention this to brag, because it is an obscene waste of university (thus taxpayer) money and my own time.  Flying, lodging, and feeding three people for reasons described only vaguely.  This is exactly the type of nonsense that provokes public outrage, and rightly so.  Am I going to learn or accomplish anything in Hawaii that is impossible with my ass parked right here?  Hell no.

Ah well, I have the entire week already planned.  By day, I'm going to carefully nod my head every 30 seconds to assure people that I really am awake, and by night, we're all going to screw like Viagra-addled mayflies.

Catch you all in about a week... stay cool in the heat.

Bon Voyage!  Sounds like you plan on sucking more teats than just the public one.

[Sardondi]

Bon Voyage! Sounds like you plan on sucking more teats than just the public one.

It might be time to determine the Flax H gender before going too far down that road....

[stevesh]

No, we're in Honolulu.  But I didn't even think of the studio!  I might be up for an overnight trip with a friend, assuming I get bored (a safe assumption).  Perhaps I can do some detective work on Coastgab's behalf.  Do we have any details about the location of the studio?  Even anything minor that George said when talking about it on the air might help.  I won't go all stalker on it, but it might be cool to find where it is located.

Only thing specific I can remember Noory saying is that it's in or near Hilo (of course, most stuff on that island is).

[stevesh]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130718/COLUMNIST/130719612/2256/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg

So, according to Marshall 'Friendly' Wiggins, based on an obviously false tip, he and his squad of goons were going door to door in an apartment complex, and the first residents who objected to a warrantless search were assumed to be harboring a fugitive ? If true (and I doubt it is), it's an outrage.

Law enforcement in this country is out. of. control.

[b_dubb]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130718/COLUMNIST/130719612/2256/NEWS?p=1&tc=pg

So, according to Marshall 'Friendly' Wiggins, based on an obviously false tip, he and his squad of goons were going door to door in an apartment complex, and the first residents who objected to a warrantless search were assumed to be harboring a fugitive ? If true (and I doubt it is), it's an outrage.

Law enforcement in this country is out. of. control.

NWA had it right. fuck the police.  i read stories like this and i want to start ... um ... nevermind.  but yeah the police are out of control.  shit like this has to stop.  the next step is an equivalent civilian response and at that point we're looking at a civil war.  stupid.  these guys are thugs they're just subsidized by tax payers

[Flaxen Hegemony]

It might be time to determine the Flax H gender before going too far down that road....

I'm male.

And yeah, a lot of academic conferences are essentially orgies.  I don't go to math conferences if I have a choice in the matter, because they are sausage fests where a few hundred men look at each other's equations..  You have to actually "attend symposia" and, get this, "learn things".  Who wants to do that?  Now psychology conferences are a different thing all together, because around 60-70% of attendees have the right parts (for a hetero male).  Walking in a random direction with your eyes closed might even get you laid.

I like to share sex stories from graduate school with my classes (before that makes you go "WTF!!", nothing graphic of course, just funny.  Today's college students aren't prudish at all, and have told me they enjoy the stories immensely - attention is undivided, which is the key to education, IMO.).  Anyway, for two years at Phd, my roommate was a woman.  This was the early 90's, and there were issues with my family.  I mean, as they said "he could be fucking this.. this.. GIRL!"  My mother insisted that I immediately move out of the apartment, and my father insisted that he immediately move in.   It was also a running joke that all our classmates and professors thought we were going at it like bunnies, but we never did.  It actually created a strong friendship.  We each had a few nights when a few drinks made the other person's bedroom door awfully tempting.  Luckily, the sober one always said "this isn't a good idea".  She's one of my best friends to this day (though all guys know "the look", don't we? - the way another guy looks at you when he thinks at some point from a week to thirty years ago, there's a chance that you slept with his wife or girlfriend.  Most often experienced when meeting "the ex", and unavoidably awkward).

Anyway, being female, my roommate would obviously attract a lot of wolves at conferences.  As the clock drew near 10 or 11, the presence of an alcoholic beverage in her hand would draw their stares like cockroaches (first syllable being key, as we know).  Add alcohol to the equation, and even the guys without social skills had a non-zero shot with her. But we had a system. A hand signal would tell her I sensed males were "staging", so I'd walk over, and she'd say "fuck time?".  We chose the line for shock value, and you'd think someone turned on the light in a dark room, the way all the insects scattered.  Of course, we just went to the hotel bar downstairs and hung out until bed.  I've always wondered if any of the hounds saw us down there and caught on to the ruse or remembered what happened when they tried to pull her the year before. 

Okay, another story, sorry.  A good male friend in graduate school had, we might say, limited knowledge of English slang and implication, being a Singapore native.  He bought a textbook - an entirely innocent action - but then, he wondered how the publisher delivered the books to attendees during the conference.  So he leans in very close to the saleswoman seated at the table, and in a really unfortunately chosen pleasant tone, asks "You're gonna need my room key, aren't you?".  She waited a few seconds, probably not believing what she just heard, and said "Excuse me?".  I quickly jumped in and explained his mistake, then added the joke "what about MY room key?" (hey it was worth a shot!).

And what the hell (sorry, bored waiting for airport and I'm on a roll!)... here's a random question for any Coastgabbers with college age daughters.  If you learned that a professor at their university dated former students (stressing the word former - not students currently in their class), would you lose any respect for the professor, or find it to be improper?  I've talked about this before on CG, but am curious what some of the current/newer group of contributors think.  There are valid points to be made on both sides of the issue. 

(Full disclosure - I've dated former students without drama, but also was not the party that initiated the relationship.  I suspect that would change both the dynamic and parental opinions quite a bit.)

And I'll shut up now. 

[stevesh]

My nephew is a university professor and he claims he'd cut off his own, um, arm before he would date a current or former student. I would guess alumna from the school he teaches at would be OK, as long as he hadn't had them in one of his classes.

[Flaxen Hegemony]

My nephew is a university professor and he claims he'd cut off his own, um, arm before he would date a current or former student. I would guess alumna from the school he teaches at would be OK, as long as he hadn't had them in one of his classes.

Even former?  Out of curiosity, what is his rationale?  Not criticizing his judgment at all. 

The distinction I make between current and former is the conflict of interest.  I will not grade the work of someone who I am dating (or vice versa), or even have dated (this rare event actually occurred once, and I arranged for a colleague to grade her papers and exams).  I should add that when it comes to former students, I exclude any sort of support or help that a former professor can provide a student.  For example, when one former student inquired about going out romantically (such an awkward conversation...), I made it clear to her that sure, I'd be fine with having coffee or watching a movie, because I enjoyed talking to her and she genuinely seemed like a kind person, BUT...  it also meant no letters of recommendation, she couldn't use me as a reference, I wouldn't speak highly of her in my professional role, etc.  In other words, if she wanted her role as student to end and just be a woman, then my role as professor also ended and I had to be just a man.  It worked out OK and seemed fair to both of us.  Most importantly, I had a talk with the Dean about the situation, and he cleared my "policies".

The whole thing still created a lot of stress, and I'm not sure I'd repeat it unless I was certain it was worth it.

[stevesh]

Even former?  Out of curiosity, what is his rationale?  Not criticizing his judgment at all. 

Dunno, exactly. I haven't asked him about it. I'll be seeing him Sunday and will report back.

His reason may be the same as mine would be in his place. The university where he teaches has an enrollment of 16,000, nearly 60% of whom are women. Assuming he limits his dating pool to only current students, he has almost 10,000 women to possibly choose from. Why chance even the suspicion of impropriety ? Plenty of fish, etc.

[Marc.Knight]

A perspective on the place of the US economy compared to other major economies:


"US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs"

Click on the map.
[attachimg=1]

[Yorkshire pud]

All you need now is a world atlas to show where the countries are!  :

[ItsOver]

Hahaha... "France" seems appropriate for California and "Mexico" for Illinois, and I thought Minnesota WAS "Norway," Ja? 

[Sardondi]

Walrus asleep on Russian sub. Just....how?

[BobGrau]

shit, I'm famous.


Bobulizer

[HorrorRetro]

Doesn't it seem kind of early for apple and squash season?  My apple tree has been dropping fruit for several weeks now.  I just went out and picked a large basket full, fearing they'd all be on the ground by morning.  We've been pretty warm all summer, so maybe that's what's going on.  I'll be busy making and caning more applesauce tomorrow.

[Cynnie]

Im sitting here wondering why people get words tattoo'd on their faces

[Sardondi]

Doesn't it seem kind of early for apple and squash season?...

Early for squash? No. Early for apples? Very.

[MV/Liberace!]

man.  greg gutfeld on FNC is just not funny.  at all.  i'm getting tired of listening to leggy news holes reflexively cackling at his lines regardless of their comedic value (which usually is negligible).  it's fucking insufferable.  i wish they'd just stop with this whole, "greg is the funnyman of FNC..." business.  it's annoying.  he's just not funny.  i'd probably want to punch this guy if he ended up in my group at a bar or something.


oh, and i could do without all of the royal birth coverage, btw.  they had a baby.  we get it.

[MV/Liberace!]

Im sitting here wondering why people get words tattoo'd on their faces

that should look great as she rolls into her fifties.  it's like people forget they're going to age and fail to think how ridiculous certain things will look in 30 years.


edit:  i never got any tats.  the most i ever did was get my left ear pierced in the fifth grade.  why did i do it?  because i'm a complete fag.

[Treading Water]

oh, and i could do without all of the royal birth coverage, btw.  they had a baby.  we get it.

Welllllll, then just ignore my PM requesting that you put in a good word for all of us with Pud so we can get some commemorative plates at his discount.

[Sardondi]

Im sitting here wondering why people get words tattoo'd on their faces

that should look great as she rolls into her fifties.  it's like people forget they're going to age and fail to think how ridiculous certain things will look in 30 years...

In her 20's a sister-in-law got a visible-to-the-public tattoo of a shamrock on her breast. Now that she's over 60, it looks like a palm tree.

Tending by nature toward curmudgeony and schadenfreude, and having never gotten branded myself, I plan to enliven my twilight years with being on the lookout for dilapidated tattoos as they begin stretching and drooping like hot mozzarella sliding off a pizza.

[onan]

In her 20's a sister-in-law got a visible-to-the-public tattoo of a shamrock on her breast. Now that she's over 60, it looks like a palm tree.

Tending by nature toward curmudgeony and schadenfreude, and having never gotten branded myself, I plan to enliven my twilight years with being on the lookout for dilapidated tattoos as they begin stretching and drooping like hot mozzarella sliding off a pizza.

I have given a thought to a tattoo a couple times... then once I stop laughing, I get on to my day to day.

[Eddie Coyle]

 
          I have no tattoos. Other than the Day-Glo swastika on my stomach and the Gary Glitter face on my forehead. It's all about being different, dude.

[stevesh]

Royal baby looks a lot like Sardondi, I'm thinking, except the gang hand signals: