Sunday, August 11, 2013

A tune was stuck in my head on Saturday morning

(I began this on Saturday but never finished.  I'm completing it on Sunday, but I've removed the "today" references to Saturday.  Any use of the word "today" refers to Sunday)

This is the tune stuck in my head:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIKsHh3BFPI

Saturday will almost certainly be a sunny afternoon.  And I'm going to be spending probably 1.5 hours of it driving to and from a trivia semi-final event that shouldn't be taking place.  This came about because of something I mentioned recently; the law of unintended consequences.

SoCalTrivia is a company that puts on live pub quizzes here in the Los Angeles/Orange County area.  They also have a growing presence in San Diego.  They actually have a nationwide footprint and are growing rapidly.

That's the cause of the problem.  My trivia teammates/friends and I played in the SoCalTrivia's trivia league late last year.  We qualified for and won the league finals, earning $1,000 to be split among the five of us (while during qualifying there is no limit on the size of your team, during the finals you may bring no more than five adults).

So when the summer version of this league began the qualifying rounds, my teammates and I decided we would qualify two teams for the finals.  Which we did.  Only this year we aren't going directly from qualifying to finals because they've grown too fast.  The site they'd already agreed would be the host of the finals couldn't accommodate all of the teams that had qualified.  So we're playing semi-final rounds today and tomorrow to whittle down the field of teams to a size the location can handle.  Two weeks from Sunday we will defend our title and do our level best to bring home another $1,000.

Wish us luck.

* * *

My estimate of time involved in driving to and from Huntington Beach was off.  An hour to get there, but 40 minutes to get home.

We did not do what we considered "good", but we qualified for the finals.  Then again, thanks to no-shows, every team that showed up made it into the finals.  What I was happy with is that in spite of the fact we were at only 40% strength (2 of 5 players) we were in the top five going into the final round.

What I'm finding interesting about playing trivia as time passes is that there's so much stuff I thought I knew that I did not know.  For example, there were five men who were President of the United States that didn't serve a full term, who didn't die in office.  I was certain I could come up with three of the five (they wanted us to give four, but there was partial credit for each correct answer).  We wound up with two.  Just FYI the five are, in chronological order:

John Tyler
Millard Fillmore
Andrew Johnson
Chester A. Arthur
Gerald R. Ford

There were other questions that had me scratching my head.  I had no idea there was an Interstate 19 that runs from Tuscon to the Mexican border.  Anyway, I'm not going to stop playing trivia and I guess I'll keep learning stuff I didn't know.

* * *

I wouldn't be surprised if former MLB star Jack Clark (and to those who are using this mess he created to take potshots at his career, he did hit 340 home runs during his 18 seasons) has a serious case of Athlete's Tongue at the moment.  That's a disease anyone can contract by putting their foot firmly into their mouth. 

He did just that when he accused his former teammate Albert Pujols of having used steroids.  Pujols has never failed a drug test.  Clark based his allegations on conversations he supposedly had with the former personal trainer of Pujols.  The trainer denies having had those conversations.  Pujols denies the allegations and says he will sue Clark and the radio station that had been airing his show.

That's right sports fans, I said "...had been airing...".  The station terminated their deal with the company that produced the show, and that company terminated Clark and his co-host Kevin Slaten.

Some people think that because Clark was offering his opinion about what he was accusing Pujols of having done, he's safe from a defamation lawsuit.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  He did use the words "I know for a fact..." which would indicate he wasn't saying it was just his opinion.  It will be interesting to see if Pujols sues and how far the case goes before it settles.

* * *

Normally I avoid Kardashian family bullshit but these two are just two "juicy" to let pass.  Kris Jenner, who considers herself the Queen of F**king Everything is apparently bombing as a talk show host.  She's banned her husband from her set because of their nonstop bickering, she's constantly harassing her staff about trivial stuff like which glasses are used for which beverages, and their attire (which is silly because they aren't seen on camera).  The ratings are poor and Kanye West was so pissed off that she tried to use the baby North West as a ratings gimmick, he swore he'll never appear on the show.

Meanwhile Kourtney has been sued in a paternity action by a male model who claims he believes he is the father of her son Mason.  At the time she and her partner, Scott Dissick were on the outs and she was observed hanging out with this model.  What in the world will they do if it turns out this guy is the father?  Maybe Kris can boost her ratings by stealing a page from the playbook of Maury Povich, have Scott and this guy on and announce the results of the paternity test by saying "Scott, when it comes to Mason, you ARE NOT the father."

* * *

I'm going to quibble with something President Obama said in his speech on Saturday to the Disabled American Veterans delegates.  He said:

"And that leads me to the third priority we’ve got to focus on.  We’ve got to attack this claims backlog.  (Applause.)  Now, the last time I was with you, I pledged to cut the backlog, slash those wait times, deliver your benefits sooner.  And I’m going to be honest with you, it has not moved as fast as I wanted.  Part of it is all these new veterans in the system who came in -- Agent Orange, PTSD.  It means a lot more claims, and despite additional resources, it’s resulted in longer waits.  And that’s been unacceptable -- unacceptable to me, unacceptable to Secretary Shinseki.

So we put more of our VA folks to work as claims processors, we hired more claims processors as well.  We’ve got them working overtime -- completing more than a million claims a year.  We prioritized the oldest claims.  Veterans groups like the DAV have pitched in as well, helping vets with their claims, getting them ready, so when they bring them, they’re in better shape and they can move a little quicker.  And today, I can report that we are not where we need to be, but we’re making progress.  We are making progress.  (Applause.)  So after years when the backlog kept growing, finally the backlog is shrinking.  In the last five months alone, it’s down nearly 20 percent.  We’re turning the tide.

And we’re not going to let up until we eliminate the backlog once and for all.  And we’ll keep moving ahead with paperless systems so the backlog doesn’t come back, and so your claims are processed right -- the first time, on time.  (Applause.)  After years of military service, you shouldn’t have to wait for years for the benefits you have earned."

By one measure his administration has actually done better than 20% in reducing the number of backlogged claims.  The number of claims that were pending in the system for more than 125 days shrank from approximately 627,000 in March to only 500,000 as of August 3rd.  That's more than 20%.

But is that a product of actually reducing the backlog, or just the fact that the number of pending claims itself is down?  The issue I have is that while the total number of claims that fall into the 125 day measure is down, the percentage of total claims pending that are more than 125 days old actually went up from January to March and is only down 6% from March to August.  By that measure they haven't reduced the backlog all that much.

It's a minor quibble, but along with the idea of reducing the backlog overall, the VA should be striving to reduce the percentage of claims that don't get processed in that first 125 day window.  That is not being achieved.  It means that while the number of veterans waiting in the backlog is going down, the average veteran filing a new or supplemental claim for benefits is still waiting a long time for an answer.  There are claims in that backlog that are more than two years old and still awaiting a final determination.  That is unacceptable.

* * *

Random Ponderings:

Some people were upset by the recent amber alert regarding missing 16 year old Hannah Anderson (and her 8 year old brother whose body has now been identified) they got on their cell phones.  You can (on most cellphones) disable alerts like this.  It's a system designed to protect children.  If it were your children you would probably want them to be able to override the opt-out feature in order to put this alert on every cell phone.

Why is it that when you're about to choose which line to get into (concession stand at movie or ballpark, line to enter a venue through turnstile), it seems like you always pick what looks like the best line and it turns out to be the slowest?

What would possess someone to buy the gravesite next to the place where Lee Harvey Oswald is buried?

An 18 year old died after he was "Tased" by Miami police.  It's a tragedy.  But why is the fact he was fleeing from these police being almost completely ignored by those who are outraged?  Is it now socially and morally acceptable for a person who is confronted while committing a crime to run and the police should do nothing to try to apprehend them?

Why is it that Costco can pay its employees an average hourly wage more than double that of WalMart and triple that of the average fast food chain?

Is Marvel Comics really going to bring their "Black Panther" character to the big screen (it would seem so)??

This Date In History:

3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Mayans, begins.
2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founder of the Armenian nation.
106 – The south-western part of Dacia (modern Romania) becomes a Roman province: Roman Dacia.
355 – Claudius Silvanus, accused of treason, proclaims himself Roman Emperor against Constantius II.
490 – Battle of Adda: The Goths under Theodoric the Great and his ally Alaric II defeat the forces of Odoacer on the Adda River, near Milan.
1332 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Battle of Dupplin Moor – Scots under Domhnall II, Earl of Mar are routed by Edward Balliol.
1473 – The Battle of Otlukbeli: Mehmed the Conqueror of the Ottoman Empire decisively defeats Uzun Hassan of Aq Qoyunlu.
1675 – Franco-Dutch War: forces of the Holy Roman Empire defeat the French in the Battle of Konzer Brücke.
1786 – Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.
1804 – Francis II assumes the title of first Emperor of Austria.
1812 – Peninsular War: French troops engage British-Portuguese forces in the Battle of Majadahonda.
1858 – The Eiger in the Bernese Alps is ascended for the first time by Charles Barrington accompanied by Christian Almer and Peter Bohren.
1898 – Spanish–American War: American troops enter the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
1918 – World War I: the Battle of Amiens ends.
1919 – The constitution of the Weimar Republic is adopted.
1920 – The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty, which relinquished Russia's authority and pretenses to Latvia, is signed, ending the Latvian War of Independence.
1929 – Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
1934 – The first civilian prisoners arrive at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island.
1942 – Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil receive a patent for a Frequency-hopping spread spectrum communication system that later became the basis for modern technologies in wireless telephones and Wi-Fi.
1945 – Poles in Kraków engage in a pogrom against Jews in the city, killing 1 and wounding 5.
1947 – Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founding father of Pakistan, gives a speech to the Constituent Assembly, the contents and meaning of which remain contentious today.
1952 – Hussein bin Talal is proclaimed King of Jordan.
1959 – Sheremetyevo International Airport, the second-largest airport in Russia, opens.
1960 – Chad declares independence.
1961 – The former Portuguese territories in India of Dadra and Nagar Haveli are merged to create the Union Territory Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
1962 – Vostok 3 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev becomes the first person to float in microgravity.
1965 – Race riots (the Watts Riots) begin in the Watts area of Los Angeles, California.
1968 – The last steam hauled train runs on British Rail
1972 – Vietnam War: the last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.
1975 – East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.
1982 – A bomb explodes on Pan Am Flight 830, en route from Tokyo, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii, killing one teenager and injuring 15 passengers.
1984 – "We begin bombing in five minutes" – United States President Ronald Reagan, while running for re-election, jokes while preparing to make his weekly Saturday address on National Public Radio.
1999 – The Salt Lake City Tornado tears through the downtown district of the city, killing one.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Joseph Schuster
Robert Ingersoll
Louise Bogan
Lloyd Nolan
Alex Haley
Stan Chambers
Arlene Dahl
Mike Douglas
Claus von Bulow
Stuart Rosenberg
Jerry Falwell
Mike Hugg
Ian McDiarmid
Marilyn vos Savant
Eric Carmen
Hulk Hogan
Joe Jackson
Viola Davis (she was robbed of an Oscar)
Joe Rogan
Erick Lindgren
Chris Hemsworth

Movie quotes today come from the 1995 "Tommy Boy" starring the late Chris Farley:


Gas Station Employee: I'm starting to picking up your sarcasm.
Richard Hayden: Well, I should hope so, because I'm laying it on pretty thick.

#2

Tommy: Let's think about this for a sec, Ted. Why would somebody put a guarantee on a box? Hmmm, very interesting.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Go on, I'm listening.
Tommy: Here's the way I see it, Ted. Guy puts a fancy guarantee on a box 'cause he wants you to feel all warm and toasty inside.
Ted Nelson, Customer: Yeah, makes a man feel good.
Tommy: 'Course it does. Why shouldn't it? Ya figure you put that little box under your pillow at night, the Guarantee Fairy might come by and leave a quarter, am I right, Ted?
[chuckles until he sees that Ted is not laughing]
Ted Nelson, Customer: [impatiently] What's your point?
Tommy: The point is, how do you know the fairy isn't a crazy glue sniffer? "Building model airplanes" says the little fairy; well, we're not buying it. He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes. The next thing you know, there's money missing off the dresser, and your daughter's knocked up. I seen it a hundred times.
Ted Nelson, Customer: But why do they put a guarantee on the box?
Tommy: Because they know all they sold ya was a guaranteed piece of shit. That's all it is, isn't it? Hey, if you want me to take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, I will. I got spare time. But for now, for your customer's sake, for your daughter's sake, ya might wanna think about buying a quality product from me.
Ted Nelson, Customer: [pause] Okay, I'll buy from you.
Tommy: Well, that's...
TommyRichard Hayden: ...What?

#3

Tommy: Did you hear I finally graduated?
Richard Hayden: Yeah, and just a shade under a decade too. All right.
Tommy: You know a lot of people go to college for seven years.
Richard Hayden: I know, they're called doctors.