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December 1, 2011: The Symphony

68 Comments

This morning I get to chaperone for Skim's class trip to the symphony. I drive five first-graders there, and we sit together. I know how that sounds, but I honestly love doing things like this.

68 thoughts on “December 1, 2011: The Symphony”

  1. I know how that sounds, but I honestly love doing things like this.

    I've led a K-1 choir for many years now; that's a great age group. They (usually) aren't old enough to be independent and troublesome, but they are old enough to (usually) pay attention and enjoy themselves. Mrs. Runner says I do well with them because I'm in the same age group. That sounds like a fun outing, assuming that the symphony has a concert in mind for a younger audience.

    1. I always say I don't like working with kids, but when I have, I enjoyed working with K-1 for the reasons you listed above. I wanted to strangle most of the third graders I worked with, so something must happen between age 7 and 9.

      1. Sheenie currently teaches third grade Sunday school at her temple. She comes home every Sunday in her most agitated mood of the week. Somehow, her class of 18 students only has 4 girls.

      2. I can handle them up to about 6th or 7th grade. I'm better with kids than the average joe, but I don't know what it takes to get along with that age group. To them, I'm an old guy, and therefore The Enemy.

        1. You didn't like working with overly-hormonal 12-15 year olds? Whatever could possibly make that not fun?

          I had a friend who taught at "The Worst Middle School in Madison" for a couple of years teaching math. The poor guy was pretty much a stressed-out emotional wreck every day of the week. Now he's teaching high school math and physics in Burnsville and is, shockingly, much happier.

    1. Gardenhire said forearm and wrist soreness played a role in Capps' performance all season.

      Can someone please fashion this sentence into the shape of a bat and beat Souhan with it, if this is what playing with pain gets you?

      In essence, if the Twins feel like they can find a closer -- or another late-inning reliever -- of similar or better value to Capps, they could let Capps sign elsewhere and collect a draft pick.

      Instead, all signs point toward the Twins having legitimate interest in bringing back Capps, who sputtered to a 4.25 ERA last season with only 34 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings.

      In the words of meat: "Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"

      1. I wouldn't be surprised if it was true that Capps was playing hurt. I'm not that high on him, but I don't think he's as bad as he looked in the second half of the season. If so, it might be worth keeping him this year, as long as he doesn't cost too much. As you point out, though, if he was in so much pain that he couldn't be effective, and Gardy knew that, why did he keep sending him out there?

        1. I have a feeling they wouldn't get him for much less than what they paid him last year. Seems to me they could get a pitcher of similar value for much cheaper who would be more valuable due to the draft picks the Twins would get. But, I'm not a MLB GM nor coach...

          1. Yeah, you really have to look at the cost of signing Capps as his contract plus the draft pick. You would think it wouldn't be too difficult to find a comparable reliever to sign for less than that.

            1. Agreed with Cheaptoy and SoCal. Capps is basically another team's Type-A free agent. Signing him costs the Twins a draft pick.

      2. And yet:

        "One of the things that was said early in the winter was, you know what? Let's act like going into winter that we don't have Morneau and we don't have Mauer, and let's build a baseball team so we can win. I think that's a pretty good idea. If we have those guys back on the field, which I believe we will... we'll have a heck of a baseball team."

        Free Drew Butera! No, really, he's free if you want to take him off our hands.

    2. i can't believe the twins are even considering re-signing capps when you can get the same thing for the same price (or cheaper) plus a draft pick.

    3. This is what got me:

      There's been offers out there," Gardenhire said about the Twins' current crop of free agents, which also includes outfielder Jason Kubel. "Both sides are talking, especially with Cuddyer. I know we're making a mad effort to sign him.

      I hope that "mad effort" to sign Cuddy doesn't mean we overpay. It is interesting to note that the Philly discussion with Cuddy has cooled down.

      1. The more quotes I read from Gardy, the more I hope that he really has no clue what Terry Ryan is doing.

      2. I suppose "mad effort" could be construed a few ways. The one I am choosing to believe is that they are making appeals to Cuddyer's ego and loyalty without pushing up the value of their offer.

        1. Maybe it is like a MAD Magazine effort, which I assume would be mildly comical negotiating, probably involving odd clauses.

  4. Well, they weren't kidding about this wind storm. We already have several sections of our back fence down. Fortunately, it is the fence we share with a neighbor that doesn't have a dog. Our dog is smart enough to stay inside and not go exploring. This is supposed to continue through sometime tomorrow afternoon.

    1. I hope it wasn't the fence posts. I have nightmares that the winter will toss the posts around and I'll have to dig out all that concrete and re-set them.

      *shudder*

      1. At least one was snapped off. The wind also has been setting off car alarms. Around here, a garage is better known as a living room/game room and/or extra storage.

        1. Damn right I did, and I won't apologize for it. They made it through one southern Wisconsin winter, and I'm confident in a second.

          1. Well, since the ground doesn't freeze here, there's no reason to set them in concrete. Dig a damned post hole and plant 'em. (we use redwood; our shared fence has lasted about 14 years so far, although it is now on the verge of needing new posts in several spots)

            the developers had set one post at our side gate into concrete. It rotted through about 5-6 years ago and had to be jack-hammered out.

            1. The previous owners of our house did not set the fenceposts in concrete. I leaned against one of the posts this year and had half the fence fall over. There was a lot of stuff like that at our place, which is disconcerting, since it's only been there for 10 years.

              1. setting it in concrete isn't really the solution, IMO. It will rot whether or not you do. The question is whether you dig the posthole deep enough to get past the freeze line, and whether ground heaving pushes your post up or not. and whether you backfill properly.*

                *he says, smugly, never having actually DONE any of this labor*

                1. Having actually done this labor, I can say that I never actually want to do it again. But hey, I used pressure treated lumber, so hopefully that holds off the rot for a little while longer. I also had to dig four freekin feet down for the post (for a four foot fence!), so I shouldn't have any worries about the freeze line.

      3. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja1idbbKo58

        no need to dig out concrete.*

        * I don't have any idea if this works.

    1. old news. this has been stated everywhere except TLC, Discovery Channel, SyFy, etc. for quite some time now. the calendar/world doesn't end, it just rolls over to the next page. go back to worrying about a CME knocking out the power grid like you should be

      2. This is why I have a backup power generator and a huge buried tank of gasoline.
        I also have a backup wood-powered generator for when the gas reserve disappears, but it doesn't produce the same power.
        Oh, and all of my shingles are solar panels.

        2. I'm not worried about backup power -- when the grid goes down, it'll potentially be for years.

          Back in the 1800's, a powerful CME was strong enough that it caused fires in telegraph stations. That kind of strike today would bring down the grid, the internet, knock out some satellites...have you ever though about how our life would be without any electricity and communication for an extended period? Yeah, scary.

            1. POPULAR SCIENCE
              July, 2011

              SUN STROKE
              A catastrophic solar storm isn’t a question of if, but when--and it looks like soon.
              …
              “Imagine 30 Chernobyls across the U.S.” says electrical engineer John Kappenman, an expert on the grid’s vulnerability to space weather.
              …
              In a 2008 National Academy of Sciences report, scientists estimated that a 1921-level storm could knock out 350 transformers on the American grid, leaving 130 million people without electricity. Replacing broken transformers would take a long time because most require up to two years to manufacture.
              ...
              Preventing a surge from a CME would be costly. With enough warning (at least a few hours, probably), power companies could shut transformers off entirely, turning them back on after the storm. But shutting down the shutting grid on such a large scale would cost billions. To confidently do so, forecasting must be accurate.
              ...
              The Department of Homeland Security is funding the development of an emergency replacement transformer, but it won't be field-ready for several years.

              (cf: these guys)

              [ed: sorry about that editorialization at the end of the block quote. I didn't notice it initially; it's gone now]

                1. I thought it was an 11 year cycle. *checks* Yep, a period of 11 years. Although, it seems like the overall (magnetic) cycle is 22 years, but the sunspots are mostly insensitive to magnetic polarity, hence the 11 year solar cycle.

    2. I'm sure the full translation is something along the lines of:
      What do we do when we get to the end of the calendar [in 2012]? I don't know, but I'm not going to worry about it, that's a long ways off.

  6. he was still on the team?

    @AdamSchefter: Filed to ESPN: Vikings plan to release Donovan McNabb today, according to a league source.

    also, Von Miller might not play this week which stinks because he is a great rookie player and doing well on my FF team

  8. If anyone ever notices stuff like this, please let me know. I always like it when I can track down the whereabouts of former Twins, especially one of the less famous ones.

  9. I have a PSA for the members of the Nation with Netflix: Terriers is now on Netflix Instant. Please watch it.

    The show tragically only lasted one season, but what a season it was. It was co-created by Ted Griffin (who directed one of my favorite black comedies ever, Ravenous) and Shawn Ryan (who created The Shield). The basic rundown of the show is that it's about two down on their luck unlicensed private detectives, who uncover a fairly huge case and get in over their head.

    I don't want to say much more than that because the show is so good at laying out all the situations I don't want to spoil anything. I've seen very few shows that have characters as good as Terriers. Everyone is complex, and has human reactions, and makes human mistakes.

    The show was burdened with a name that makes little sense (though it seems fitting after watching the series), and horrible marketing (pictures of a snarling dog, seriously). But it's seriously one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched. It's bittersweet since it lasted one season, but it's really, really worth watching.

      1. Yeah, I think the ending was perfect, all things considered. It was clearly meant to be the end of the season, but it does work really well as a series finale.

    2. I'm glad you mentioned the issue with the title and marketing, because this indeed is what kept the show far from my radar.

      It scares the sh%t out of me to know that no matter how good a show is, marketing can kill it. To do all that work and have some suit who doesn't understand the show ruin it...ugh.

      1. They did a horrible job marketing the show, it's just... mindbogglingly bad. I had zero interest in the show until I read Alan Sepinwall's review of the pilot, and heard Shawn Ryan was involved. I'm so glad I watched it, but it was crushing to see the awful, awful ratings come in week after week.

        Thankfully they killed it shortly after the first season, so there wasn't a long wait hoping that they'd save it. They still haven't announced a DVD/Blu-ray release, so I'm hoping a crapload of people watch it on Netflix and they change their minds because I badly want to give them my money and have a copy on my shelf.

        1. I'll start watching it this weekend. Maybe it can get enough views on Netflix that Netflix will pick up additional seasons, now that they are about to set that precedent with Arrested Development..... A pipe dream? (for you, anyway, I haven't seen it yet to know if I'd be in on that pipe dream.) Maybe.

          1. I'm kind of hoping that is a possibility. When the show got cancelled, I felt it was one of those shows that would get a cult following a couple of years after it ended like Firefly or Arrested Development. I definitely think it deserves one.

            I really hope you like it!

  11. Just saw a commercial for World of Warcraft where this girl dumps her boyfriend so she can play more World of Warcraft (as she's not paying attention to him anyway because she's been playing so much). Talk about an honest commercial.

      1. Staying up until all hours playing DOOM put a very serious strain on my marriage until I made it through the final level. Thank Jeebus internet access was too slow for any serious multiplayer option back then.

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