Talked about this video in my social media practices class today:
This is the first time I’ve taught this class, but I’m pretty excited about it. We’ll talk about the personal usage aspects for the first week or so and then get into more professional applications. I know a handful of the students from other classes or projects and as a group they are a sharp bunch. I hope they get something out of it.
I tend to spend a lot of my time on campus in just two or three buildings which are all nearby. But today I had to go across the quad to pick some equipment that had been, let us say, misplaced. And I saw a food truck:
That was a new one to me.
I remember, last week, watching the GOP debate thinking This should be pretty fun on Saturday Night Live. But that was a 20th century response. I should have been thinking about a modern response, because this is brilliant:
James Lileks always likes to say you never hear the last one. Well, we’re still a good way from this year’s last katydid, and they didn’t mind pointing that out tonight.
If you click on those little play buttons you can hear how the microphone of an iPhone is not very good at capturing this sort of sound. Which is where we are with technology now. It does this thing, and allows me to use this particular tool to create and ship something to another place. And we don’t think it does it especially well.
Starting in 2016, there will be no more UCI Women’s World Cup. Instead, the women will be one step closer to parity with the men after introduction of the UCI Women’s WorldTour.
The idea began to take shape after a summit in December 2014, and the final product will launch at the beginning of the 2016 season.
Women were previously only granted 10 days of racing in the World Cup series, in which their events often lacked the media attention and social media buzz seen during the men’s events. Now, racers will have potentially 30 days of racing available in the WorldTour, which will include stage races instead of simply one-day events.
About time. Let’s get them on TV so I can watch them go, too.
My favorite pro cyclist is Taylor Phinney. He’s been recouping from a horrible leg injury, now back in just his second race in more than a year. And today he did this:
Ridiculous headline: An actual tiger gets loose in Packard Plant in Detroit. A photographer was permitted to use the old facility, but didn’t mention the tiger. And then the animal got loose. Because that’s the sort of thing that one can expect in Detroit, I guess. Though, to be sure, this seems more like a piece of a southern conversation:
“I got a call from a friend who asked me to help them get this tiger out of a staircase,” said Andy Didorosi, 28, of Detroit. “He asked me if I had a leafblower, and I said I had a weedwhacker, so he told me to bring that. … I stopped what I was doing, grabbed my tools and hopped in my truck, because, you know, tiger.
Anna blinked back tears now and gripped Jeremy’s hand as she recalled one of the lowest points of her life.
“I’d always heard about people who were on their deathbeds and holding on, waiting for someone to tell them it’s OK to go. I thought maybe that’s what he was doing,” said Anna.
“I went in to his room and told him, ‘Jeremy I love you so much and I’m so proud of you and you’ve worked so hard. I know you’re tired and it’s OK if you want to let go and want to go home. I’ll be so jealous of you because you’ll be walking the streets of gold with Jesus, but I will be OK here because I have friends and family to look after me.'”
She kissed his forehead and left, expecting that to be their last conversation.
The next day, he began to improve.
His recovery is a modern medical miracle. A friend of mine knows that couple and had a lot to say about them both. It is a charming story.
St. Louis police officers found a 93-year-old Tuskegee Airman’s stolen car Tuesday afternoon behind a vacant home a few blocks from where it was taken, according to police sources.
[…]
The man lost his money, then the car, in separate crimes involving at least three men Sunday morning, police said.
The victim appeared to be in good health Tuesday but told a reporter he didn’t want publicity because it would only cause more harm. He said he just wanted to get his car back.
Victimizing an elderly individual is particularly egregious. Let alone a man who was a war hero, a man who had to fight his country to fight for his country. There should be a specialized investigation unit that takes on such cases, a TV-style
Time to build up the distances. So I had a 2,000 yard swim and a four mile run this evening. It all felt nice and slow and easy. So, really, I was moving as fast as I could.
Back to campus for the first day of another fall term. It rained a lot and there was no parking. There is a video circulating among the campus set of the president ferrying people to their buildings in a golf cart. Did that happen at your university? The president of the institution was out this morning in a slicker and a baseball cap, driving people to and fro.
It took me 34 minutes to park this morning, and it seemed like most everyone had a similar tale, but at least the good folks in the administration building know what is going on on their campus.
First class today, I’m teaching a social media practices class this fall. I’m excited to see what becomes of it.
After class the rain had moved off and the sun appeared. I saw this on one of the bike racks:
I moved my car closer, because, according to the collection of emails, that’s going to be the game of the first week back in classes. This is the largest student body Samford has ever had, some construction is wrapping up here and there and heavy equipment is using some parking. They’re going to invent a new parking lot from thin air soon.
I think that’s because the folks with the truly impressive titles were out shuttling students and faculty this morning. They know. They know, they understand and they’re eager to make this work.
Great place to be.
Went to the big blue box store tonight. I got excited when I saw this:
And then you tilt it over, pick it up, read the label and look inside. There’s no Play-Doh inside. A terrific con. Buy this bucket and the few bits of plastic inside. Play-Doh not included.
We went to a wedding last night. A dear friend, a sister that should be. We’ve known each other for 12 years and she’s just about the sweetest, nicest, hardest working person you could ever hope to meet. I’d go on and on. She’d hate that. Anyway, Elisabeth and Chris said things in front of people and signed documents and now it is official.
They’re a sweet couple and they had a lovely wedding and a terrific reception.
Everyone just went on and on about it, as they do. And we all enjoyed meeting the people that helped shape the people we were there to celebrate. It was pretty much what these things should be. And delicious food. Also, there were rubber duckies:
Here’s the shirt from yesterday’s race. Awesome design, very yellow.
We rode our bikes to the race from our nearby hotel. Rode across the state line, actually. And we did that in the dark, with little blinkie lights on our bikes showing the way.
We got there in plenty of time. Nice easy setup. Met race veterans and three people who were doing their first race. It was a nice relaxed pre-race morning, as opposed to the usual stress. This race was launched in age-group waves, so The Yankee went off earlier than I did, scorching people in the water and then burning up tar on the road.
When my group went off we pushed away and swam downstream 500 meters. You climb out of the water at a boat launch, run back upstream and swim it again. So the swim is short, just 1,000 meters, but that jog counts to your swim, which means I had my best 1,500 meter swim time ever. It still wasn’t very good.
Out of the water, finally, and up to transition where I climbed on the bike and settled in deciding that I would ease into the 20-something mile ride. It was a two loop course, roads with which I am familiar, and I figured that maybe I would be better served pacing myself early and going hard on the second time around. On the first loop, though, I felt my legs lock up. And on the second loop my legs said “No. This is what it feels like when your legs lock up.”
And after that nice little ride, where I didn’t get to hammer it much of anywhere, I was back in transition and setting off for a run. THis is the second time, by the way, I’ve run across a state line. (You don’t keep track of this sort of thing?)
The course offered three miles of river views:
And then there were three miles of downtown views. And somewhere right in between everything started going wrong.
You shouldn’t get chills two hours into exercise in the August sun, but I did. It seemed wise to take everything easy after that, and so I did. When I got to the end I wanted a blanket and calories. It was an unsatisfying race for me. But the weather was nice and the people were pleasant. And this one had a great race:
I didn’t see her until a few parts of the run course. She did this thing where she beat her goal and still wasn’t satisfied with herself. (Don’t race her.)
