Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Award ceremony online!
The awards ceremony from World Finals is online here. Select "Watch Award Ceremony online," fast-forward it to 29:00 or thereabouts to hear Sherburne-Earlville's name called, followed by screaming that is probably Anna and Laura in the balcony along with the team and a quick clip of the team's reaction. Fun fun! Here's a screen grab: 
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Some pictures at last!
Here are just a few. I will post some more when I can get the video into the computer, and I understand that Mr. Sherry has some good ones that will probably show up soon on the school website. The lighting was poor during the skit, so those shots are a bit grainy.
Wandering the Wild West
The better half is besieged with work so I am posting some pics from our jaunt. I'll leave the OM pics to her. As always, click to enlarge. 
Above are buffalo in the badlands. The one in the middle is wallowing.
Devil's Tower. It's smaller than it appears to be in movies, but is breathtaking in real life.
The Badlands, with a bad guy. This spot was unbelievably quiet. And just plain unbelievable, too.
A lake in Custer National Park. Another bad guy.
Swallows came pouring out of this cliff when we walked by. The Badlands are unique in that people (bad, bad people) are allowed free movement in them. Because they are eroding so fast from natural forces, the erosion caused by people (bad, bad people) is insignificant by comparison.
More later.
Above are buffalo in the badlands. The one in the middle is wallowing.
Devil's Tower. It's smaller than it appears to be in movies, but is breathtaking in real life. 
The Badlands, with a bad guy. This spot was unbelievably quiet. And just plain unbelievable, too.
A lake in Custer National Park. Another bad guy.
Swallows came pouring out of this cliff when we walked by. The Badlands are unique in that people (bad, bad people) are allowed free movement in them. Because they are eroding so fast from natural forces, the erosion caused by people (bad, bad people) is insignificant by comparison.More later.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Badland Babe
She will think it's terribly unfair of me to post these. But maybe they'll spur the beauty within to post some pictures so we have something else to look at.
Moments of Lead, Moments of Gold
The Murphies have made their last odyssey for Odyssey of the Mind, and what a long, strange trip it's been. I will put up pictures later, both from the team's sensational performance in Ames and from the separate odyssey that Dad and I took through Wyoming, the Badlands, the prairies, and -- yes -- North Platte, Nebraska. Meanwhile, Scott has already posted a link to the scores in the comments, but here is another one, and here is a brief article from today's Syracuse paper online. (Oddly enough, I can't find it in the paper version.) They also ran another short one when the team left for Ames.
Laura and I were talking a few minutes ago about our family's experiences with OM (which I will never learn to abbreviate as OotM -- as acronyms go, that one is just plain dysfunctional.) We added up the kid-years this family has invested, and if we did it right, it works out to 28 years -- 9 each for Caleb and Luke, and 10 for Laura. Maybe now some of us will go on to new experiences with OM -- judging, coaching, or perhaps someday driving a new generation of kids back and forth to team meetings and competitions -- but life with OM as we've known it so far has come to a close. That's making me think about OM memories.
Maybe you'll remember how, back when Dad and I used to coach, we would take a little time in the final meeting of each year, after the tools were put away and the props were dismantled and the last piece of pizza eaten, for each person to remember a leaden moment and a golden moment from the season just passed. This was an end-of-the-season tradition we brought from Wagon Road Camp, where we met. A leaden moment, of course, is a time when something terrible went wrong -- a meeting when everybody fought, or a day when the technical device wouldn't work, or any time when failure seemed inevitable and you may have wondered why you ever got involved with such a frustrating, ridiculous program anyway. And a golden moment is, of course, the opposite -- those rare, transcendent times when it all comes together and everything happens perfectly.
Maybe that's not too corny a thing to do right now. So, think about it, please. Do you have a golden moment or a leaden one from your OM experiences, or several of them? Then please, post a comment or two or three. There's no limit on how many, and this isn't just for Murphies. It's for anybody with OM experience to share, which ought to include nearly everyone who reads this blog.
I could post dozens of these all by myself, from team members attacking one another with staple guns and paint spilled on kitchen floors to successes I never would have believed if somebody had predicted them back when all this began. The problem is which one to choose. And then again, all of my stories are your stories, too -- so I'm not going to tell mine yet. I'll wait and let somebody else go first. Okay? Okay, then. Your turn!
Laura and I were talking a few minutes ago about our family's experiences with OM (which I will never learn to abbreviate as OotM -- as acronyms go, that one is just plain dysfunctional.) We added up the kid-years this family has invested, and if we did it right, it works out to 28 years -- 9 each for Caleb and Luke, and 10 for Laura. Maybe now some of us will go on to new experiences with OM -- judging, coaching, or perhaps someday driving a new generation of kids back and forth to team meetings and competitions -- but life with OM as we've known it so far has come to a close. That's making me think about OM memories.
Maybe you'll remember how, back when Dad and I used to coach, we would take a little time in the final meeting of each year, after the tools were put away and the props were dismantled and the last piece of pizza eaten, for each person to remember a leaden moment and a golden moment from the season just passed. This was an end-of-the-season tradition we brought from Wagon Road Camp, where we met. A leaden moment, of course, is a time when something terrible went wrong -- a meeting when everybody fought, or a day when the technical device wouldn't work, or any time when failure seemed inevitable and you may have wondered why you ever got involved with such a frustrating, ridiculous program anyway. And a golden moment is, of course, the opposite -- those rare, transcendent times when it all comes together and everything happens perfectly.
Maybe that's not too corny a thing to do right now. So, think about it, please. Do you have a golden moment or a leaden one from your OM experiences, or several of them? Then please, post a comment or two or three. There's no limit on how many, and this isn't just for Murphies. It's for anybody with OM experience to share, which ought to include nearly everyone who reads this blog.
I could post dozens of these all by myself, from team members attacking one another with staple guns and paint spilled on kitchen floors to successes I never would have believed if somebody had predicted them back when all this began. The problem is which one to choose. And then again, all of my stories are your stories, too -- so I'm not going to tell mine yet. I'll wait and let somebody else go first. Okay? Okay, then. Your turn!
Final AI Results
Well, America voted, and Taylor won. Which means Luke wins a three-way tie with Laura and Aurora. Luke gets no money from those two, but Caleb owes him 10 bucks and Mom and Dad each owe him eight. Luke's on a roll, though I did nearly sweep him in fantasy baseball last week.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Off to Ames
Been quiet at Murphies. Everyone is busy. The Ps are headed to Ames via Denver and Mt Rushmore in a few minutes. Luke flies out with the team Wednesday. Laura is driving out with four friends squeezed into her car and an ex-cargo on top. We'll see if they're still friends when they get there.
We'll write if we find work.
We'll write if we find work.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Exit Elliott
Elliott the weeper is voted off by the narrowest of margins. Elliott is a fine guy and can certainly sing, but the quality of his voice does nothing for me. It's down to Taylor and Catherine, who gives new meaning to the word voluptuous.
The standings:
Aurora 11
Luke 12
Laura 13
Cassie 19
Caleb 20
Tom 20
If Taylor wins, Luke wins a three-way tie-breaker. If Catherine wins, the Aurora Monster wins in a two-way tiebreaker. The three who trail badly will owe big money.
The standings:
Aurora 11
Luke 12
Laura 13
Cassie 19
Caleb 20
Tom 20
If Taylor wins, Luke wins a three-way tie-breaker. If Catherine wins, the Aurora Monster wins in a two-way tiebreaker. The three who trail badly will owe big money.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Cows Are Upset
I told them we were using a new kind of fencing this year. Invisible fence, like with the dogs. The cows are out in the pasture, walking around sticking their front toes out, swishing them back and forth. I guess they didn't realize I was just kidding.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Teaser
The totalitarian government decrees that families must keep having children until they have a boy. Once they have a boy, they must stop. What is the average number of children per family, and what is the gender ratio? First correct answer gets to be the person who gave the first correct answer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)