Poor use of linear regression of the week.

Because then by the 2600 Olympics, a woman's going to finish the race before it starts.

Fact that I figured out some time ago of the week.

With both the Northern Virginia and Virginia Beach-area Major League Baseball proposals losing to The District, Virginia -- the 12th largest state in population -- remains without a Big 3 (or Big 4, for hockey fans) major league professional sports team. The next largest (population-wise) state without a Big 3 (or Big 4) professional sports team? Alabama, at number 23. Utah, at number 34, is the smallest state to have one, at less than one-third the population of Virginia.

Album cover of the week.

Um, not exactly what I would have expected.

Dang, no. 1.

So last week, Tony Bruno, the host of the sports radio show I listen to every day on my way to work, wasn't on the air. I didn't give it a second thought, as occasionally he goes on vacation and thus it isn't uncommon for him to be replaced by guest hosts. But after he didn't return yesterday, and after he didn't return today, and after I realized they were now calling the show "The Extravaganza on Fox" rather than "The Tony Bruno Extravaganza," I looked online, and I found that he will be on the show no more. Which means I probably have to find a new morning-drive radio station. Dang.

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Dang, no. 2.

I was thinking I had a decent chance, but I didn't get it. Dang.

Again, it's not laid out perfectly yet, but since I haven't posted anything in a bit...

...here.

Oops. I forgot to tell the true story.

So, last Friday, we were invited to the birthday party for one of our friends, who lives in the Richmond area but is a National Guardsman. Since he is in the National Guard, he had permission to have his family (and us partiers) stay overnight at the National Guard base in Virginia Beach. We got there at around 5:00p, and after going through military security, we met up with our friend and his family. Everyone was staying the night in trailers -- that's the housing that was available -- and due to Hurricane [I forget which one; there's just been so many this year], we were apparently in a trailer during a tornado warning. (Tornado warnings were issued for pretty much every locality in the Virginia Beach area, so I'm confident we were in one at some time.) After eating birthday cake, us seven adults played Trivial Pursuit, where the women, shockingly, beat the men, despite not knowing the number of innings a pitcher must complete to be eligible for a win.

The next day the weather was better, and since the base had its own private beach (next to a active firing range), we put on our water attire (including the friend's two-year old son in a tiny Speedo) and went in the water. Soon, one of us noticed that we were swimming with dolphins only a couple hundred yards in the distance. Which was cool. After swimming, we all ate lunch together and went our separate ways, which for Kim and I meant going to a lighthouse which happened to be on a (different) Virginia Beach military base. The first base was pretty lax, security-wise -- I showed the guard my driver's license, she looked at it for two seconds, and waved us through -- but this one was tougher, culminating with me opening up the hood of my car with men looking inquisitively at it. Having now gone twice through military security that weekend, Kim and I decided the lighthouse would be our last stop, and we drove home.

Fun new toy of the week.

No, it isn't quite as pretty as it needs to be, and yes, if you click on the two sample links they do not work, and no, please do not type in your credit card information yet because I'm not sure what would happen to it, but other than all that, play.

I am putting this in my blog primarily in case I lose it.

Silhouettist Music Press
P.O. Box 3312
Glen Allen, VA 23058-3312

Later today I will post SMP's new bank account number.

Font request of the week.

I am looking for a font. Specifically, I am looking for a dignified, easy-to-read serif font that I can use as for my sheet music’s text. I have been using Adobe Garamond, which is a nice font, but I'm looking for something slightly different. I'm fond of Jenson Classico, but I'm not ready to put down the $100 it'd cost to buy it. Suggestions, y'all?

And if you say Times New Roman, you are no longer my friend.

Assignment: Please take the following facts and fashion them into a story describing Kim's and my Friday night and Saturday.

Twice through military security.
Swimming with dolphins.
In a trailer during a tornado.
The number of innings a pitcher must complete to be eligible for a win.
Me opening up the hood of my car with men looking inquisitively at it.
Birthday cake.
A tiny Speedo.

Logo of the week.

What I did with my evening while Kim was on the phone with Megan and Fox had on "Deuce Bigalo."

I should have been working on one of the two pieces I need to give to JRR in the next couple weeks, but after spending 20 minutes or so with that piece, I spent the rest of the evening on a piece that I've had in mine for past couple weeks for Thelma Dawn Esprit (perhaps) Publishing (parenthentical explained shortly). I am leaning toward the title "Meditation on 'Joy to the World'." Opinions on the piece and on the title are being solicited.

Regarding the above parenthentical.
The two most important women in my life (sorry, B-A, although surely you're in the top 75 or 80) have both expressed concerns about the name "Thelma Dawn Esprit Publishing": That it's rather nondescript, that people are going to be confused about who Thelma Dawn is, that when I explain that Thelma Dawn Esprit is an anagram for Matthew Dale Prins they will think I am weird for naming my company after a feminine anagram of my name, et al. So okay. Y'all have until Thursday to come up with a better title; after that, I'm going to start getting a P.O. Box, bank account, etc. in the name of "Thelma Dawn Esprit Publishing."

Step one in a 47-step process.

Step two, of course, would be to get it to work.

If these are not Michel Gondry-directed commericals, they ought to be.

Based on Kim's description of the HP commercial she saw in D.C., I think this is it, although I have to say that this is my favorite.

Fuming. Or is it fumming?

I more-or-less completed my handbell quartet arrangement of "Fum, Fum, Fum" last night. I believe it is not going to be easy to play as a quartet, and perhaps I should rearrange it for full choir, but first I will run this past the JRR small ensemble subset (if the director doesn't mind) in the next couple weeks and see how easily they can handle it.

(That pulsing sound, by the by, is supposed to be mimicing a mallet roll. It does not do a good job.)

Wack music theory question of the week.

So I'm working on this handbell quartet arrangement of "Fum, Fum, Fum," and the song is largely in cut time (i.e. 2/2) with a 3/2 measure thrown in at the end of every verse (because that's the way the song goes). Anyway, there's a point in the song where I want to throw in a 3/4 measure just to jazz things up, but since I still want the half note to get the beat, should I instead call it a 1.5/2 measure? Assuming my music program will let me do that? Which of course it won't?

IKEA update of the week.

Even Kim and I are not this fanatical.