Quiz question of the day.

The city of Richmond and the surrounding counties had four inches of snow on a school night sometime in the past couple weeks. How many days of school did students in the city of Richmond and the surrounding counties miss due to these measly four inches of snow?

Tax loophole of the week.

As one who is for a more progressive tax system than what we currently have -- throw in sales tax and gas tax and property tax with America's (relatively progressive) income tax, and the poor pay about the same percentage as the rich -- I am against most of the tax breaks and loopholes that are available only to those who own stocks and mutual funds, which for obvious reasons are almost exclusively the domain of the wealthy.

But, um, as long as those breaks and loopholes are there, it's moral to use them, right? There are certain mutual funds, such as the USAA Tax Exempt Virginia Bond Fund, that invest solely in bonds sold by single-state municipalities; the Virginia Bond Fund, for example, holds bonds sold during the building of the Richmond convention center, bonds for civic improvements in Alexandria, bonds for civic improvements in Hanover County (just north of us), and such. A pretty cool (and safe, as long as Hanover County doesn't go bankrupt) investment, yes? But you don't know the third of it: As a Virginia resident, any money Kim and I would make from this mutual fund is doubly tax-deductible: We would pay neither state nor federal taxes on our earnings, per federal law. (The federal law was created vis-à-vis the purchase of these bonds rather than mutual funds, but it holds for mutual funds as well.) A very nice loophole for Kim and I, and it ought to be closed up.

What the Iowa State women need to do to get to the NCAA tourney.

With two victories over top 25 teams in the past weekish, I don't think it's nearly as unreasonable as it was at the beginning of January that the now 9-7 Cyclone women sneak in as an 11 or 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. Let's look at the games ISU should be able to win:

Jan 28, at Oklahoma St: The Cowboys are 7-10. The Cyclones ought to win.
Jan 31, at Texas A&M: The Aggies are 0-6 in conference play. The Clones better win.
Feb 7, Missouri: ISU is playing slightly better than the Tigers, and it's at home.
Feb 17, at Kansas: Kansas is 107th in the RPI.
Mar 4, Kansas: Kansas is 107th in the RPI.

That would bring ISU up to 14-7, with these games outstanding:

Feb 4, Kansas St
Feb 11, at Colorado
Feb 14, Baylor
Feb 21, Nebraska
Feb 25, at Kansas St
Feb 28, at Missouri

All of these games (except for Missouri) are against ranked teams, admittedly, but if the Cyclones manage to split those six games, and finish 1-1 in the conference tourney -- not unreasonable, I'd argue, given how well they've done so far in conference play against all ranked teams -- that would bring the Cyclones to 18-11 overall, and 11-7 in perhaps the most difficult women's basketball conference in the country. Their RPI would be in the low-to-mid 40s, which, all things being equal, would equate to an 11 or 12 seed in the NCAA (and given their record against high-RPI teams in this scenario, they?d probably look even better to the selection committee).

What the.

Until this morning, I had no idea there was an NHL team called the Columbus Blue Jackets. Please tell me I am not the only one.

This weblog...

...is boring. At least this week. Sorry. I've been busy and lazy.

So. To liven this up, I have made a PDF of my latest two-octave bell composition, "Spring Flowerness" (title an inside joke) for your perusal. Despite the 5/4 time and the sixteenth notes (turn to page two), it's not terribly difficult, particularly for the F5/G5 position and below. I also have a MIDI file, if you want to vaguely hear how it sounds.

What? Films?

As all of you had better recall, last year I made some films: these two and then another named "S.C." that the Internet Movie Database won't recognize, thank you kindly. This year, I have made zero. I will not stand for it.

So I have this film kinda in mind, based on the fact that I now have two wireless mics (thank you, Edward and Annie), but a crappy tripod). And if you help flesh out this idea, you will be in the credits of the film as "Idea Dude" or "Helper Person" or "Director." This is the idea for one scene: Park bench is prominent in foreground. In background, we see/hear two people talking and walking toward the bench. One of them says, "Hey, do you mind if we sit down on the bench." And person two points to the bench in the foreground and says, "This bench?" And person one says, "Um, hmm, actually, how about that bench over there? So they walk off camera, continuing to talk, while the camera remains on the unsat bench. They talk for a bit longer, and then...cut, to another scene where somehow the expectations of what you should be seeing on-screen are subverted in a similar manner. I may call it "Forced Perspective."

The problems: (a) I only have a couple other ideas for scenes, and I (b) wonder if it will get old quickly, and (c) I need someway to link it together, thematically -- through the discussion the couple has, perhaps? -- lest (d) it become a one-joke film that gets old fast. Also, I need (e) an actress and (f) an actor and (g) talent. And (h) time, as always.

I think we all know what marathon I will be competing in after the Virginia Beach one.

Liechtenstein, here I come!

The weather dartboard.

Since I have an 11-mile walk on Saturday (marathon pace based off of my last walk: 6h 51m, which is about what I expected), and since Kim's parents will be flying in for MLK weekend, I've been reading the weather reports for Saturday starting a couple days ago. A synopsis:

Tuesday's Saturday prediction: Cloudy, mid 30s
Yesterday's Saturday prediction: Sunny, high 40s
Today's Saturday prediction: Rain/Snow/Ice, low 30s

Gee. Thanks for the help in my Saturday planning.

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What the.

The test.

Today, I shall be leaving work early to walk a premeasured (by me) 5.7 mile course. This is the first time I will be doing one of my longish walks based on distance rather than, say, walking around a mall until I have walked for 2h30m, so this will be an interesting test give a decent indication how quickly (i.e. slowly) I will be able to walk my 10-week-out marathon in. (In/out juxtaposition intentional, thank you kindly.) I will extrapolate today's time and give you my projected marathon hours and minutes tomorrow.

I want.
Online mapping software that (a) allows you to plot the shortest path rather than the so-called quickest and (b) allows you to put in intermediate points between the start and finish and (c) rounds to the nearest tenth of a mile rather than to the nearest mile and (d) doesn't give wack directions like this. (Without knowing anything about the area I work in, please look at the right-hand map and tell me how you would get from the end of the path to the star without off-roading. Thank you.) I know websites that meet each of these criteria; I do not know any that meet them all.

Thing that makes me feel vaguely confident about completing my marathon.
From Saturday, January 3rd through the Saturday one week later, inclusive, I walked between 27 and 30 miles.

The winner.
All-Sport, as I am counting Kim's nomination as a vote. Tomorrow it will hopefully be written.

I shall be drinking beverages of the sporty nature.

In the sequel to the Root Beer Tasting Contest of '03 (which I will write up a post on whenever I find where I packed the results), I shall be conducting the All Sport Replacement Contest of '04. I will be the sole, only, and lone judge. I will be picking up sports drinks in various flavors from various manufacturers, and I will drink them while blindfolded to judge which shall be allowed to be my post-exercise All Sport proxy. If you have must-drink suggestions, please suggest. (Megan, I have yours.)

Think outside the bun. Er, box. Er, mall.

According the those who practice the science of meteorology (about as much of a science as astrology, but nevermind), on Saturday in Richmond there will be an inch or so of snow on the ground, and on that day the mercury will not reach above zero (on the Celcius side of the thermometer). Unfortunately, on that day I have scheduled a nine- or 10-mile walk, and as I have plunked down my $50 for the marathon, I am not particularly wanting to skip this training session.

So. I have a few choices.

1. Brave the elements and walk outside.
2. Do 10 laps of the nearest indoor mall (which takes about 15 minutes to cover both stories), which will be exceedingly boring.