Pariah

Q - We have no intention of invading Poland. Honest! A - Once again, you've managed to snatch defeat from the very jaws of victory.

The former statistics tutor in me wishes to point out that with an END cap of 10 (and starting END amounts making it unlikely that anyone will actually spend that much very often) and the average vote total from last season around 10-12 for each participant, a 2-20 die roll spread may well be the single most important factor in a large number of matches.

Agreed with Orchid and Steve for the reasons they mentioned. Also, I hate sharing.

Based on the results of the Nebraska and Boise State games, I'm gonna go with 'True'.

I have just about had it with my phone. The dropped calls, the constant crashes, the periodic lag times the likes of which I haven’t experienced since LambdaMOO, the comically short battery life (which, in fairness, the nice lady at the store warned me would likely happen), the idiotic and counterintuitive autocorrect (seriously, do you really think I mean ‘thus’ every single time I swipe the word ‘this’? What are the odds?), the need to reboot the phone every night so that it will recognize that it’s plugged in and needs to recharge (see ‘comically short battery life’ above), and now, for no readily apparent reason, now an incident where it only works on speaker mode? I’m sick of it. This phone fills me with anger, the kind of white-hot rage that make me want to shout unpleasant interjections at passing tumbleweeds, or knock low-flying birds out of the sky with a golf club. It makes me want to put my phone in a box, and then put that box in a larger box (you can see where I’m going with this, can’t you?), and then mail that box to myself, and when it’s delivered, SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER! Seriously, my phone is getting on my nerves. Sadly, replacement isn’t really an option right now.

I'm listening to the four Asia reunion albums (Phoenix, Omega, XXX, and Gravitas) on random play on my phone. It's a pretty good way to pass an early morning bus ride.

Q - What makes you think that Lucifer himself is planning our sakes convention? A - Wow, that really is blue!

It's not even necessarily treachery. In many cases, it's just being wiser, smarter, and/or more experienced.

I have The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon. The essentials, but that's all.

My usual answer to this question is, "Everything I say in here, even the jokes, may show up on the test."

Go on....

"Yeah yeah, patience. How long will that take?!" -Ed Gruberman

Are we using the same arenas as last season? Is Monday still going to be Team-up Day? Will Friday matches still be held in the Colosseum? How will we earn our bonus points back? What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? Will there be special rounds for ladies, non-powered, underage, etc? Are we all going to be in one league/division/classification? If we use a character and she wins, how long until we can use her again? If we use a character and he loses, how long until we can use him again? Didn't you say there was going to be a Deathtrap/Mortal Combat round once in a while? Will there be additional bonus points for using certain characters in certain arenas? Am I asking too many questions? Please answer at your convenience.

You don't already have enough Amazons?

Comes with the job, I think.

Amazon?

Honestly, I'm surprised my concept for this team worked as well as it did. I had aspirations of drafting an ersatz Justice League for this season, but I was concerned about the many, many problems that could be caused by sniping. As it turns out, I only got sniped once, and that led me to arguably a better character than the one I originally had in mind. (BTW, thanks, Foreign Orchid. ) My team is based on the Original 7 of the Justice League animated series. To wit: Superman - Male FISS and boy scout: Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) Wonder Woman - Female FISS, more pragmatic: Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) Batman - Wealthy, highly skilled non-powered crimefighter: Zorro (Diego de la Vega) Martian Manhunter - Scary telepath who's not from around here: Marvel Girl (Rachel Grey) Flash - Young, impulsive speedster: The Dash (Dashiell Parr) Green Lantern - Manipulator of green cosmic energies: Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden) Hawkgirl - Winged warrior woman with a deadly weapon and an attitude: Winged Victory (Lauren Freed) Admittedly, Monica Rambeau doesn't really match up with anyone in the Justice League (Dr. Light, maybe?), but the opportunity to draft a third Captain Marvel was just too much fun to pass up. Now we just have to see how they'll do in the Arena. Should be fun!

The final player chosen in the NFL draft every year received the dubious title of "Mister Irrelevant", because he seldom makes the team and almost never makes a big impact on the league. The final player in this season's Arena Draft will most certainly not be eligible for the title of Mister Irrelevant . . .if, for no other reason, because she's a woman. From the pages of Astro City, I give you Lauren Freed, the woman known as Winged Victory! Theme music: "The Warrior" by Scandal featuring Patty Smyth And so NQJL (Not Quite the Justice League) fills its roster. I'll see you all in the Arena ladies and gentlemen!

GIGO in action!

Perfect example, if you ask me.

At this point, you can't not share it.

A woman walked into a bar and said to the bartender, "Give me a double entendre." He gave her one.

What, that old ruse?

At the age of forty-something, I've still got mine. Still got my wisdom teeth and my appendix, too.

I learned earlier today that the principal who hired me to my current position died this morning. It wasn't really a surprise; he'd been diagnosed with brain tumors almost a year ago and had recently entered hospice care. As soon as I saw an email from my current principal on a Sunday morning, I pretty much knew what it was going to say. He was a good man and a good principal. I'm going to miss him.