Thursday


15
May 14

My new spring wardrobe: My winter wardrobe

Of course we received a temporary fix to our air conditioner problems as the temperatures dropped 20 degrees. But today’s overcast skies didn’t include any rain, so I was able to get in a little bike ride. I took a simple 15 mile spin around the neighborhood as I try to save my legs — the legs I haven’t built up whatsoever recently — for the weekend.

I had two disparate thoughts on the bike.

On the flat stuff, which was much of the route I chose: I’ll have a great race this weekend!

On the hills, which are somewhat unavoidable: I’ll have a lousy race this weekend …

And so it goes.

So we bundled up in sweatshirts for tonight’s baseball game. An outdoor event which took place in May in Alabama:

baseball

In the sixth inning I was chosen to take part in a promotion. And I won! They walk you down to the dugout and they present two Yeti coolers. You open one and there’s a gift inside. Then you play Let’s Make A Deal. Do I want what I found in the white cooler? Or should I try my luck with the blue cooler?

The white cooler held a broken fungo bat and a few baseballs they haven’t been able to give away all season. They’ve sweetened the offer with a t-shirt that features the new baseball coach. It is a line art likeness of his face, but the mustache is creepy. So I opened the other cooler and won a gift card to Kinnucans. That’s great timing, I need new outdoors shoes, so I’ll be there tomorrow.

Oh, and Auburn lost 10-0 to LSU. LSU, which is a very good team, has scored 37 runs in their last 15 innings of play. Auburn is still looking to find itself, and this loss all but sealed their fate of being shut out of the postseason. The dream isn’t over yet, but drubbings like that aren’t a good way to start the last series of the season.

Things to read … because reading is always a good start.

This is gobsmackingly foolish. Newspaper nabs website’s article, claims most of it is ‘public domain’ — The Georgia Press Association’s non-action is disappointing as well.

This isn’t the sign of a healthy democracy. Where are the candidates? No contests in 20 of 35 Alabama Senate districts on June 3:

All 35 seats in the Alabama Senate are up for grabs this election year.

But candidates are sparse.

There are no contested races in 20 of the 35 districts in the June 3 primary, now less than three weeks away.

In fact, 14 senators – eight Republicans and six Democrats – will coast to new four-year terms with no opposition in either party.

Job growth! 2013 New & Expanding Industries Report highlights solid year of economic development in Alabama:

Companies launching operations in Alabama or expanding existing facilities in the state announced nearly 17,000 new jobs and more than $4.4 billion in capital investment during 2013, according to a report released today by Governor Robert Bentley and the Alabama Department of Commerce.

There are plenty of details at the link.

Are you building for mobile? Quantcast: Social drives 34 percent of mobile Web traffic, 17 percent of desktop traffic

In Kansas, Professors Must Now Watch What They Tweet

One of these is a former student of mine. He’s a sharp young man. I knew him when: Three From Samford Earn Fulbright Grants


8
May 14

The indoor picnic

Cards and letters in the mail — with Charlton Heston stamps, mind you. Old newspapers recycled. The newsroom is clean(er). My office is clean(er). Next week’s student work schedule has been set. Locks have been changed. Some things have been graded. It was a productive day.

And, why yes, I would like a piece of pie, good sir.

Pie

This was at the department picnic, which is now held indoors after a few blistering thunderstorms in previous years. This should have been held last week — also indoors, but there was enough bad weather to close campus, and so here we are, dining in a classroom. Barbecue. Pie. And we’re giving out awards and scholarships and honors to students who are among the highest GPAs on campus. We’re presenting items to people who are student-leaders and acknowledging the honors they’ve been getting all year.

There is a program and about two dozen of the names inside of it are people I’ve had in class or worked with on some media project or another. All of that just means I’m lucky to work with talented young people.

And, at the end of the year, I get pie. And more grading.


1
May 14

A day of links

Hey, it happens from time to time.

Tired of crab legs? I am. Here’s some good football:

Want some more? Kaiden on two:

Every team in the country could do that and I’d watch every clip.

Here’s another feel-good piece: Clements volunteer firefighters seek refuge beneath trucks when tornado shelter fills to overflowing:

But there wasn’t room for everyone. The volunteer firefighters, led by Mary’s husband, Fire Chief Jesse Rager, let local residents use the safe room while they hunkered down beneath the fire engines parked in bays inside the cinder-block station on U.S. Highway 72 in western Limestone County.

Chief Rager, on his way from work in Huntsville, was attempting to reach the station but didn’t arrive before the violent EF3 tornado struck not long before 5 p.m. It touched down at Bay Hill Marina and cut a path up the highway, killing two people, downing at least 100 utility poles and cutting power to 16,000 residents, overturning and smashing dozens of mobile homes and ripping roofs from others.

Jesse Rager said as many as a dozen people sought refuge beneath fire trucks.

“We had 10 or 12 people, some crew members, some members of the public, who took shelter under trucks,” he said. As they huddled beneath the engines, firefighters, including Davy and Dawn Hill whose house next door to the department was damaged, could hear the station roof being lifted and set back down. Two metal bay doors were bowed and a fluorescent light fixture was torn from the ceiling.

When the storm had passed, firefighters could see light in places where they believed the roof was separated from the building.

Here’s a great interactive map: Mapping Poverty in America.

‘We’re headed down the road to decimating our armed forces:’ Sen. Richard Shelby blasts budget cuts:

Odierno said the cutbacks would cause a “significant” level of risk and force the services to assume any conflict would be short-lived and backed by allied support.

“If any of those assumptions are wrong, then our risk goes much higher than it is today,” Odierno said. “And so I think we’re on a dangerous path if we have to go to full sequestration, in our ability to what I consider to do is protect our national security interests.”

“We’re headed down the road to decimating our armed forces, aren’t we?” Shelby asked.

“I think it’s going to be difficult,” Odierno replied.

That story touches on multiple campaigns and missile defense. Let’s talk about carriers and the navy, though.

Witnesses: Orlando police car hit bicyclist, then drove off:

He told officers that he was pedaling north on Narcoossee Road in a bicycle lane about 7:35 a.m. when a police car turned right at Dowden Road and hit him. The car’s turn signal was not on, he told investigators.

Two other drivers said they saw the police car hit the bicyclist, then take off. One of the drivers said the cruiser left the scene at “a fast rate of speed,” the report states. The other said the police car’s turn signal was not on.

(Days later update: They have two witnesses and all manner of ways to ascertain the whereabouts and possible routes of police officers, yet there seems to be no indication that Orlando authorities have figured this out, which is mystifying.)

A train derailed in Virginia. There is compelling drone footage. I need a drone.


24
Apr 14

A Thursday hodgepodge

The very definition of incongruity: a pink Yellow Cab.

cab

I’ve been wondering about this since the last breast cancer awareness month. Is there a more successful awareness campaign in the western world? You’d be hard pressed to find one that has enjoyed greater reach or more significant corporate partnerships in the last few years.

Things to read … because reading always brings about successful partnerships.

Feeding nine billion means growing crops faster, smarter, and in new places. Do we need to find more land?

Fact: We now use the web more than TV

Probe: DHS watchdog cozy with officials, altered reports as he sought top job

Russian social media CEO quits post, flees country

Google Street View lets users travel back in time

T-Mobile to hire more than 100 for its Birmingham call center

Ten words to cut from your writing

One day you wake up and find yourself playing soccer with a robot:

That robot is hoping on one foot. Keepie uppie isn’t too far behind. And then we will all welcome our World Cup overlords.

Dare I say this is the funniest bit on Family Feud in years:

The family is from Tuscaloosa.

Dee Ford is about to make a big splash in the NFL Draft. He’s fast, hits hard, spins like Peterson and breaks Kaepernick’s legs. It’s science:

He’s also a cool piano player. Renaissance man, Dee Ford.


17
Apr 14

I told you …

… This tree never disappoints.

I just happened to walk outside the office this morning as the sun hit it just right. The little errand I was running was minor, in the scheme of things, but it worked out nicely, don’t you agree?

FloweringDogwood

FloweringDogwood

Had a five mile run this evening. I find it interesting how this is sometimes easier than others. I am bemused when I am not sure which is which.

I do not know what is happening.

Things to read … and the headlines should do the trick.

Story of the day: Katorie Bell becomes an inspiration at Jeff Davis after bout with cancer

Dozens of Widows Dropped from Health Care Due to Obamacare in Alabama

53 killed in Alabama fires for January through March; among highest death toll in nation

AL.com seeks ruling from judge on constitutional rights of anonymous commenter

Murder, rape suspects wore GPS ankle bracelets during crime spree — the story says the suspects could get the death penatly, but there’s nothing there about what is apparently gross negligence by law enforcement.

The future: Rapid Construction, China Style: 10 Houses in 24 Hours

Texting Driver Who Slammed Cyclist: I, Like, ‘Just Don’t Care’

Ad of the day: Powerade Tells Nico Calabria’s Amazing Story in Best World Cup Spot So Far