Wear the sticker...........

So on Thursday at work we were asked to wear a sticker to support the efforts of the Union and our contract negotiations. The sticker read:

Great Teachers
+
Fair Funding
=
Student Success

While I can't argue with the logic of the formula, I can argue with the logic of the effectiveness of wearing a sticker at school. The only people who are going to see it in school are the students, and I don't think they have much control over the funding in the district. I got the sticker and didn't wear it and explained the above logic to a teacher who told me, "that's the point. We are showing the students that we are trying to increase their success but are unable to because of the lack of fair funding." Really, do you think the students are picking up on that? I went the whole day without wearing the sticker.

Fly-By Advertising

So on Thursday I came out of work and noticed that every car in the faculty parking lot had a business card under the wiper. I first assumed that it was for one of the get rich quick scheme type things. I read it and it was for a Religious group that had a website called Needencouragement.com

The card had a phone number to call (414-541-HELP) to call for a pre-recorded message of encouragement and to receive a free Bible. On the back were about a dozen other websites to go to if you feel lost or confused with life and need "help." Most of them have some reference to Christ or Billy Graham.

Are these types of things effective? Do people really take a business card from under the wiper and go the website or call the number and their life is changed? Two weeks I went to Office Max and a guy was walking around the parking lot putting one of the get rich quick schemes on a post-it note on all the cars. I sat in my car to see if he would still put it on my car with me in it, and sure as s**t he still did. Really, this is your job to put out probably close to 100,000 of these for every one person who calls you and falls for your scheme. Your parents must be so proud.

I needed a laugh

Thank you Pittsburgh for this story..........



That's just funny. That guy who lived there is hilarious. Leopard sheets, his accent, his attempt at the joke at the end. Too funny.

Quick college story involving 2 of my avid readers. One night we all decided to take a break from studying at the library and instead stay home and consume alcohol. Not really used to the effects of alcohol, some of us let things get away from us. Two of the guys ended up being done and passed out in their beds in their room. Three of us stayed up to continue to consume alcohol. Then at one point one of us had the idea to go into person A's room and carry them into person's B room. So we did that and threw person A on the floor of person B's room. A few minutes later we decided "wouldn't it be funny if we went in there and put person A in person B's bed. So we went in the room and noticed person A had went into the bed himself, assuming he was in his own room. Hilarity ensued and a few comments by the two "no, no, don't" Eventually person B figured it out, got up, and went into his room. A few dozen pictures later, we all had some good stories and blackmail material.

Oh, college................

The living dead.................

So I know the NBA is dead to me, but it might be getting close to moving to the "On Notice" list. The Milwaukee Bucks are playing extremely well. Over the weekend the played the Denver Nuggets and won. (I think Denver might be in 2nd in the West, I tried looking up the standings but the screen was blank because the NBA is dead to me.) Then last night they beat a very good Atlanta Hawks team (in 3rd I believe). I think they are 13-2 since the all star break, which is the best record in the NBA during that time.

The thing about it is that they have a balance team, they play basketball the way it should be played (like the Spurs of a few years ago). Play defense, pass the ball, have some energy, a few foreign players, shoot well, rebound. Hopefully this catches on and instead of teams overpaying Lebron or D'Wade, teams build a balanced squad and play basketball.

The only catch is that this will probably be a one hit wonder team. They have very little money left and probably won't be able to sign Salmons after the season. He is their leading scored and has been the difference in most of their wins. They have to trick another team into trading for Michael Redd. Redd can still shoot and score when he is healthy, hopefully some team that loses out on Lebron or D'Wade panics and is willing to trade for Redd. I am sure the Bucks will be willing to trade for a grilled cheese sandwich at this point. The Bucks also need to keep all the foreign players they have that are doing so well. It's nice to know that they have Jennings for a few years and Bogut just resigned, they can be the rock of the team for awhile.

Early St. Patrick's rants.................

I'm not going to rehash any of my past rants about St. Patrick's Day, but my god people. The Irish are bad, but that's a post of its own. This post is about the people who wish they were Irish (or are Irish by marriage not blood).

This past Saturday I got an early morning wake up call from McBob's asking if I could come in and help out for a bit for the parade that. Sure, why not...............

• The number of people who specifically ask for "a green beer" please. Really all you care is about the color? What if I put food coloring in piss, will you drink it? The bar had a keg of green Miller Lite for the idiots, but some people wanted Budweiser in green. The bar was then putting green food coloring in pitchers of Bud for those who wanted it. (Note- I refused every time that someone asked me to do this, come on people.) The food coloring made it almost black, not green.
• A woman (wearing green with an "Irish" crown thing on) came up to order shots. I asked her "what do you need" She replied "It's not going to be easy." Jokingly I said "Tullamore or Jameson, it should be pretty easy." She then proceeded to tell me how to make a shot which was a shot of tequila with a splash of grenadine and a splash of sprite. Awful any day, especially on St. Patrick's Day. You call yourself Irish?
• The bar also provided a complimentary potato bar (obviously) for the customers. I couldn't throw a dead cat in the place without some asking "is there any other complimentary food, or is this it?" Yes this it, and you are lucky to have that. We're talking about heated up potatoes and the fixins. This is the good life.
• I also received a few phone calls and requests for a reservation on Wednesday for St. Patrick's Day. A reservation? This is a bar people. This is their Christmas. Come on.
• For some reason the bar left the jukebox on instead of just playing Irish music and the s**t people were playing on this day. Alicia Keys, Kings of Leon, some death-metal, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Weezer. Come on people.

I can only wait for actually Wednesday. I tell you now. I am going to hide away and try to interact with as few Irish people as possible.

Long time reader, first time contributor

One of my many, many avid readers sent me a few links of notice yesterday so I am borrowing from rival blogger EdGrimley, here ya go.

A hipster pizza? Strong men can cry and have a slice too.

Proud to be an American, and live on a red dot.

People watch hockey? Still interesting.

Plans this weekend? Change them. Do this. (note this is my own contribution and not from a reader)



Their website is very very real.

Laughs

So today right after school I heard a bunch of commotion in the hall and stepped out of my room to see a circle of about 40 students with 2 kids in the middle fighting. Since all of security was outside getting students on buses, it took about 5minutes for them to get up to the 3rd floor. A police officer came up and busted through the wall of students, slammed one kid to the ground and then tossed the other kid about 10 feet with one hand, and then put both in cuffs. Good times.

I need a laugh, Internets save me..............



Funny originally, really cool done live with the Roots. The Roots should do an entire live show with Andy Sanberg and Lonely Island.0


Funny clip from Jimmy Kimmel (that's 2 in a week); long but worth it. (That's what I told your wife too).

A good collection of It's ALways Sunny animated gifs.

Comedy Clips

Community is a show on Thursday nights. In the lineup of Parks & Recreation, The Office, and 30 Rock, it may be the weak link, but still is funny. The funniest part of the show is the ending after the credits. It usually has nothing to do with the episode and usually features the 2 funniest characters on the show, Abed and Troy. Take a look:



















The show itself is not as funny as these 30 second clips, primarily because these two are the funniest characters but they are not in the show as often as Joel McHale's character who is kind of a douche bag with a heart.

Boob Tube

So a few co-workers went out for a drink after a later meeting the other night and occassionaly they talked about something other than work. I was trying to convince everyone that if they are not watching Mad Men, they obviously have no self respect. My arguments were that the season is only 13 episodes long, it starts in the summer when teachers ain't doing s**t, its the best written show on tv, Don Draper is the man, it's historically accurate, hot women, and many other reasons. One lady was animate about it saying she already had so many shows she had to watch, she didn't have room for any more. WTF? What could you possibly be watching?

This got me to thinking about the the shows you must watch of the last 10 years. These are not necessarily the "best" (even though many are), these are just shows that have changed the landscape of television, or maybe America in general; these are the shows you need to watch. In no particular order:

• Arrested Development- too funny for the dumbed-down American public. It has gained a larger following now that it is off the air and people are now demanding "smarter" comedies on television. Maybe we can be saved? (I doubt it)
• The Wire- do I need to say anything? Riveting, change the way that many people view inner-city America. Hasn't changed the problems facing inner-cities, but has made these problems watchable from the comfort of your white picket fence homes in the suburbs.
• Sopranos- made it okay to have a lot of swearing and nudity in a show and still win awards if you had riveting characters, great plot lines, and great dialogue. Without this show there would be no other shows on HBO like The Wire, Deadwood, Rome, Six Feet Under, etc.
• Lost- I know many people got frustrated with this show, but I think after this season ends the 6 seasons it has will stand alone as a great story. This show also made it okay to be a super nerd about a show and follow it online, play role-playing games online, read books about it, start online chats, and live twitter feeds during an episode. The show lost a lot in ratings throughout the years but the fan base was so die hard and strong, I think ABC would have kept in on forever if possible.
• It's Always Sunny- made it okay to have people in their 30s act like idiots and have episodes be about nothing except the characters acting like a**-holes and always ending up in the same place they started while never learning anything.
• 24- Jack Bauer is a bad-ass. Most of the seasons made no sense and had no real dialogue, but just watching Jack Bauer be a bad ass was enough.
• House- a medical drama, but not a medical drama. The show was really about the dialogue. You could pay no attention to the medical case they were working on, and it would still be a great show. Hugh Laurie is great as a grizzled doctor who pretends he hates everyone, but underneath really needs people. After 6 seasons, it is still going strong.
• The Office- saved network sitcoms about 3 years ago when it was a graveyard out there. Without this show we would not have Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and Modern Family (the 3 funniest sitcoms currently on)
• Damages- if you haven't watched this, rent season 1. It makes Law and Order look like Sesame Street. The plot lines are so tangled, the characters are riveting, and it has this sexy appeal to it that is off the hook.
• Mad Men- (read first paragraph).

I strongly believe 30 years from and people will look at 2000-2010 and 3 shows will stand out: Sopranos, The Wire, and Mad Men.

here and here are two other, less-educated, opinions are best tv shows of the last 10 years.

Thanks but no thanks

I don't know how many of loyal readers have ever scene that show
"Undercover Boss." I turned on the last 10 minutes last night, and
what a crock of s**t. The episode was about White Castle which is the
worst fast food imagineable. The end of the episode has the CEO
bringing in all the people he worked with when he was undercover. He
them explains that he is the CEO undercover and talks about what he
likes or doesn't like about what he saw. This one, he liked everything
he saw. He brought in this young Hispanic kid who is 18 and wants to
go to culinary school when he graduates. This CEO was so moved by how
hard he worked and how passionate this kid is about cullinary that he
gave him a $5000 scholarship. $5000, WTF? The average semester for a
community college is more than that. Do thy really think they are
helping this kid by giving hima $5000 scholarship. White Castle got so
much free publicity from this show and all they can give to their
average employee is $5000. F**k off. The other guy they talked to has
a blind son and thy started a $5000 trust for him when he grows up.
Eat a d**k.

Also I am sitting at Chipotle and this young couple next to me ate
eating a bowl, or a burrito with no shell. Both said they have never
had a burrito anywhere in their life. WTF? They said they don't like
eating food with their hands. Psycho.