Alright friends, it is time for a new name for this blog. Those that remember the Green Blog of Revolution will also remember that about once a month I changed the revolutionary theme of that blog. This time I would like to not only change the theme, but the name as well.
So your mission is to send me a photo, anything you like; my mission will be to come up with a way to make your photo into a credible name for the blog, maintaining the "GBOR" initialization.
Make sense? Of course not.
Let me give you an example. Let's say one of my friends sent me a picture of former President Rutherford B. Hayes. I might use my creativity to name the blog "Great Beard on Rutherford" and post up the picture they sent.
The person that sends me the photo that gets used will win a free cup of coffee. Either in my presence or in certificate form, depending on viability and winner preference.
Send in those photos to dave@gtff.net. Contest ends next week. New name and picture to go up on Friday.
This is going to be ever so much fun!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
March Madness Post 14
I take it back, apparently I do know my college basketball. On ESPN, I rank in the 96.7th percentile and only 97,161 out of 3 million or so entries are better than mine. And I'm ranking in the top 10 in all my pools, including the AFT pool, where I am edging out one L. McElroy and one J. Nightingale.
Go Gators and Hoyas!
Go Gators and Hoyas!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
A Little Too Tart?
(Former) Grad unionists, check out what our brothers and sisters at GEO-UMass are doing.
http://squeezedbyfees.blogspot.com/
I think I like it. And yet, how likely is it that you are going to convince a Board of Trustees to agree with you if you are dressed up like lemon?
I like it, I'm very ambivalent about it. Kinda sums up many of my feelings about the grad union movement.
http://squeezedbyfees.blogspot.com/
I think I like it. And yet, how likely is it that you are going to convince a Board of Trustees to agree with you if you are dressed up like lemon?
I like it, I'm very ambivalent about it. Kinda sums up many of my feelings about the grad union movement.
60 Minutes
I recommend that all my friends head over to http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?channel=60Sunday
and spend the half hour it takes to watch the interview with Sgt. Frank Wuterich about the Haditha killings. It had me yelling at the teevee.
and spend the half hour it takes to watch the interview with Sgt. Frank Wuterich about the Haditha killings. It had me yelling at the teevee.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
March Madness Post 13
#1,285,731
My current ESPN rank.
Moved up to the middle of the pack in all my pools. Some luck and I'm back in the game!
My current ESPN rank.
Moved up to the middle of the pack in all my pools. Some luck and I'm back in the game!
Friday, March 16, 2007
March Madness Post 12
How not gangster is Eugene, OR? I submit the following for evaluative purposes:
From the Register Guard:
Nick Norton-Guerra and Danny Steele (right) paint over graffiti at Flicks & Pics in Eugene as part of GRiT, a team of youths who remove and cover up graffiti. GRiT is operated by the Lane County Department of Youth Services and is funded by a grant from Oregon Youth Authority Gang Intervention Services. Community members interested in using the service to clean up graffiti in their neighborhood can call 682-7905, but appointments should be made soon because funding for the program expires in June.
We are so not gangster that Opie Taylor is hardcore here.
From the Register Guard:
Nick Norton-Guerra and Danny Steele (right) paint over graffiti at Flicks & Pics in Eugene as part of GRiT, a team of youths who remove and cover up graffiti. GRiT is operated by the Lane County Department of Youth Services and is funded by a grant from Oregon Youth Authority Gang Intervention Services. Community members interested in using the service to clean up graffiti in their neighborhood can call 682-7905, but appointments should be made soon because funding for the program expires in June.We are so not gangster that Opie Taylor is hardcore here.
March Madness Post 9
I've been watching the games and I have yet to see a team that the Ducks would not have blown away in the Pac-10 tourney, if that makes sense.
I hate to jinx anything, but...
I hate to jinx anything, but...
March Madness Post 8
Check out Tracy Morgan giving an El Paso morning show exactly the seriousness it deserves.
One of the funniest things I have seen in awhile.
One of the funniest things I have seen in awhile.
March Madness Post 7
Is there anyway that "Pride" can be a good movie? And what is with Tom Arnold playing the cracker in movies aimed at African-Americans? Those of you that remember his bizarre turn in "Soul Plane" were not as stoned as I, as I only vaguely remember that it was a disaster.
March Madness Post 6
#1,834,846
My current ranking at ESPN.
Lord, I suck at predicting basketball games.
I hate to put any more pressure on them, but now the Ducks are my only reason for living. (Except all of you, of course).
My current ranking at ESPN.
Lord, I suck at predicting basketball games.
I hate to put any more pressure on them, but now the Ducks are my only reason for living. (Except all of you, of course).
Thursday, March 15, 2007
March Madness Post 5
First "Holy Schnikes" moment:
Penn up by 2 over A&M with 11 minutes to go. How the hell did that happen?
Penn up by 2 over A&M with 11 minutes to go. How the hell did that happen?
March Madness Post 4
Just heard:
"His parents own a plumbing store back in Indiana and he just drained that three."
"His parents own a plumbing store back in Indiana and he just drained that three."
March Madness Post 3
I know I'm a day late (and maybe a dollar short, who knows?), but I highly recommend Dan Savage "savaging" (ha, ha, ha, ha!) Garrison Keillor.
March Madness Post 2
Q: Could Albertson's fried chicken be any more salty?
A: Blissfully, no. Seriously, though, I've had salt less salty.
A: Blissfully, no. Seriously, though, I've had salt less salty.
March Madness Post 1
For some reason I want to believe that Kevin Bacon lives in an all white house with single splashes of color here and there.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Steelworkers Organizng Athletes
Awhile back I got a call from an organizer for the Steelworkers asking about how we managed to get graduate students defined as employees and how that might work for "student-athletes." Other than chuckling about Steelworkers getting in on the student-employee game, I didn't think much of it, but the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ran an article on a lawsuit filed by a group affiliated with the Steelworkers.
1. Scholarships are not guaranteed for four years, they renew every year. If a player is hurt or the university needs the scholarship, then athletes are s.o.l.
2. At least at the UO, the athlete stipend is the equivalent of a TA salary. So all the quotes about having money for food and housing, but not "taking a girl out on a date" should be taken with a grain of salt. Unless they shouldn't.
And then the question for debate is what the TA position should be on this.
There seems to be some support for it among academic types:Backed by the Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers Union, the coalition wants the NCAA to revise rules governing scholarship athletes, the amateur stars in a lucrative commercial enterprise.
Last year, the CAC filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 20,000 current and former Division 1-A football and major Division 1 basketball players from 144 schools, including the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and West Virginia University.
The suit claims the NCAA violated antitrust laws and seeks increases in scholarships to cover full costs of attendance, elimination of earning caps, better health care coverage and higher death benefits. It contends athletes need $2,500 to $3,000 more per year for incidental expenses, which the NCAA eliminated in 1973 to cut costs.
And well-known sporting types:Ellen Staurowsky, a professor at Ithaca College in New York and an advisory board member of the National Institute for Sports Reform, said those conditions create an unfair labor relationship.
"The demands placed on these athletes are different than for any other students. This has created a whole class of students whose existence on campus hinges on their ability to produce revenue," said Staurowsky, who favors a system that offers need-based aid or guarantees four-year scholarships.
"If that's not going to happen ... I do think that we need to acknowledge the fact that the revenue producers really are campus employees."
Two things to think about:Retired Louisiana State University basketball coach Dale Brown said he's considered "a rogue" for fighting what he perceives as hypocrisy in the NCAA. Brown, whose teams made Final Four appearances in 1981 and 1986, remembers "poverty-stricken" athletes struggling to survive.
"Unscrupulous agents see that and will hit on them. I lost one player ... I know an agent made him go pro because he was advancing the player and his mother money," Brown said.
1. Scholarships are not guaranteed for four years, they renew every year. If a player is hurt or the university needs the scholarship, then athletes are s.o.l.
2. At least at the UO, the athlete stipend is the equivalent of a TA salary. So all the quotes about having money for food and housing, but not "taking a girl out on a date" should be taken with a grain of salt. Unless they shouldn't.
And then the question for debate is what the TA position should be on this.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
It's a Menace Alright
Those of you who remember the dearly departed Green Blog of Revolution, may remember one of my last posts there was of a flyer I had made up for the GTFF General Membership Meeting. It looked like this:
Many of you professed to like the flyer and I was feeling pretty damn good about myself.
At last night's Board meeting I was informed that I should not be feeling so good about myself, as my flyer contains glaring ideological errors.
First, the people in the flyer are "white suburbanites."
[You may want to point out that these people actually seem to be living in what can only be described as a metropolis. You are, apparently, wrong.]
Second, the flying saucers can be read as a metaphor for immigration. "Hello?"
Why did you people not point these things out to me before I made a fool of myself? This flyer can only be read to say that the GTFF is a union of white suburbanites terrified of immigrants. [Insert your own joke about the American labor movement here].
I came up with this as an alternative flyer, which I hope is sufficiently revolutionary. I used the techniques I learned at CGEU to make it. Let me know how you "read" the flyer and point up ideological deficiencies.
Please note my co-opting of the symbol of the oppressor and re-imagining it as a symbol of liberation. That's what I learned at CGEU.
Next up a naked Dave Frohnmayer and "the emperor has no clothes" chants.
Many of you professed to like the flyer and I was feeling pretty damn good about myself.At last night's Board meeting I was informed that I should not be feeling so good about myself, as my flyer contains glaring ideological errors.
First, the people in the flyer are "white suburbanites."
[You may want to point out that these people actually seem to be living in what can only be described as a metropolis. You are, apparently, wrong.]
Second, the flying saucers can be read as a metaphor for immigration. "Hello?"
Why did you people not point these things out to me before I made a fool of myself? This flyer can only be read to say that the GTFF is a union of white suburbanites terrified of immigrants. [Insert your own joke about the American labor movement here].
I came up with this as an alternative flyer, which I hope is sufficiently revolutionary. I used the techniques I learned at CGEU to make it. Let me know how you "read" the flyer and point up ideological deficiencies.
Please note my co-opting of the symbol of the oppressor and re-imagining it as a symbol of liberation. That's what I learned at CGEU.
Next up a naked Dave Frohnmayer and "the emperor has no clothes" chants.
Monday, March 5, 2007
If I May
Opening lyrics to Great White's Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Well the times are gettin' hard for you little girlMy question for you ladies out there is this, have any of you ever referred to any part of your body and/or clothing as the "state line"? And for that one special lady out there, could you start?
I'm a hummin' and a strummin' all over God's world
You can't remember when you got your last meal
And you don't know just how a woman feels
You didn't know what rock-n-roll was
Until you met my drummer on a grey tour bus
I got there in the nick of time
Before he got his hands across your state line
Now it's the middle of the night on the open road
The heater don't work and it's oh so cold
You're lookin' tired you're lookin' kinda beat
The rhythm of the street sure knocks you off your feet
You didn't know how rock-n-roll looked
Until you caught your sister with the guys from the group
Halfway home in the parking lot
By the look in her eye she was giving what she got
My Love Broken Down to the Tenth of a Percent [Update]
Those of you who remember the Green Blog of Revolution, may recall that I hate the fine folks at WakeUpWalMart.com. This may be the most ineffectual advocacy group ever. Reading their propaganda makes me .1% MORE sympathetic to WalMart.
I cannot begin to describe how much I object to their new "commercial." This crap makes me sick.
That Obama may have signed onto this campaign makes me a full 1% more likely to support Edwards in the coming years.
Here's my post in the comments section of the WakeUpWalMart blog:
I cannot begin to describe how much I object to their new "commercial." This crap makes me sick.
That Obama may have signed onto this campaign makes me a full 1% more likely to support Edwards in the coming years.
Here's my post in the comments section of the WakeUpWalMart blog:
How does this kind of attack on WalMart differ from any way from Republican attacks on any Democrat who doesn't support the Patriot Act or any other decision the Bush administration tries to shove down our throats?
I don't care if the cargo inspection idea is a good one, comparing your political opponents to terrorists and/or pretending to know what is more likely to prevent or promote a nuclear terrorist attack on the US is ridiculous.
Now that we've sunk down to the lowest level the GOP has to offer, where do we go from here?
Friday, March 2, 2007
I Think My, Like, Great-Great Grandfather Invented Writing or Something
So I was enjoying my typical Friday repast at the Bombay Palace when I was disturbed to find myself suddenly surrounded by high schoolers. I hate high schoolers in my campus-area restaurants. Many, many reasons, but mostly having to do with a complete lack of manners, noise and general idiocy. In fact, I stopped dinning at the Maple Garden because of the high schoolers. Bombay Palace had remained delightfully high-schooler free. Perhaps because of the hefty $8.70 cost of the all-you-can-eat, possibly because of the lack of familiar cuisine. That seems to have come to an end.
So as I'm surrounded by high-schoolers, I cannot help but overhear their high-school level conversation. The table behind me is discussing their ethnic backgrounds. They are all very white and claiming all very white northern-European descent. Not an Italian, Greek, Jew, Russian, or Slav among them. I was sort of paying attention to the conversation because of an article I read this morning (sorry about the lack of link, can't find it) that asserts that the ethnic heritage of your average American is so mixed that no one really has any clue. I also recognized myself and my friends in the conversation and the typical quest to understand one's identity at that age.
One thing in particular did catch my ear, though. One girl asserted she was part Irish, German, English, and Assyrian. When asked, "Assyrian, what's that?" She replied, "You know like the Assyrian Empire. That's where some of my family comes from."
So as I'm surrounded by high-schoolers, I cannot help but overhear their high-school level conversation. The table behind me is discussing their ethnic backgrounds. They are all very white and claiming all very white northern-European descent. Not an Italian, Greek, Jew, Russian, or Slav among them. I was sort of paying attention to the conversation because of an article I read this morning (sorry about the lack of link, can't find it) that asserts that the ethnic heritage of your average American is so mixed that no one really has any clue. I also recognized myself and my friends in the conversation and the typical quest to understand one's identity at that age.
One thing in particular did catch my ear, though. One girl asserted she was part Irish, German, English, and Assyrian. When asked, "Assyrian, what's that?" She replied, "You know like the Assyrian Empire. That's where some of my family comes from."
This Is Your Future
In my role as "uncle," I often have to be the one to break new ground for my friends in experiencing "grown-up"-type things. For instance, I'm (okay, we're) in the process of remodeling the kitchen. I am now a font of information on cabinets, hardware, counter-tops, etc.
Another area I have experience is in watching bad "family" movies. These movies are "family" only in the sense that kids enjoy them and parents love their kids. For those of you who do not have kids or have wee youngins, you probably believe that you will never take your kids to these movies. You think that you will only see the most intellectual of children's fare. Pixar for eye candy, but otherwise... Maybe even see "regular" movies that your kids will be able to enjoy on a more "basic" level, while you get all the nuances. They might not "get" The Queen, but who couldn't enjoy Mirren's performance?
I laugh. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ∞!
The Bellman took a swipe at Underdog, deeming it "unfortunate." Watch that trailer, then watch this. Make it through the little ad they run.
If you have kids, you will see Firehouse Dog, or something very much like it. Trust uncle. This is your future.
Another area I have experience is in watching bad "family" movies. These movies are "family" only in the sense that kids enjoy them and parents love their kids. For those of you who do not have kids or have wee youngins, you probably believe that you will never take your kids to these movies. You think that you will only see the most intellectual of children's fare. Pixar for eye candy, but otherwise... Maybe even see "regular" movies that your kids will be able to enjoy on a more "basic" level, while you get all the nuances. They might not "get" The Queen, but who couldn't enjoy Mirren's performance?
I laugh. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ∞!
The Bellman took a swipe at Underdog, deeming it "unfortunate." Watch that trailer, then watch this. Make it through the little ad they run.
If you have kids, you will see Firehouse Dog, or something very much like it. Trust uncle. This is your future.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Teetering Toward Crap
Those who were glued to C-SPAN today may remember House Speaker Pelosi rambling somewhat incoherently about the pledge of allegiance, one nation under God, and somehow trying to relate all of this to card check. Looking to quote her, I went to her website, but there her remarks contained no such gibberish.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
