GASP

I love those TV jaw-droppin' moments. The rare "I can't believe that just happened" feeling. It's quite a rush. Last season was filled with those during Lost. What a great show!

However, it wasn't such a great feeling last night when my favorite female dancer on So You Think You Can Dance was booted off by America. What the fug?

[on hands and knees screaming]: NNNNOOOOoooooooooo ! ! ! !

Me so sad. She was the most verse-ah-tile dancer of the very talented top four women who remained on the show. I expected her to at least last longer than Natalie. I mean, yes, Natalie's great, athletic, and very talented...but, Allison? Allison??? She deserved to be there longer than the Gnatalie.

Allison's the only girl that was able to successfully pull off every style of dance she was faced wih. Granted, her first hiphop routine of the season was "aiight"... but I had just got finished boasting about her and Ivan's performance the night before. Allison was the first performer to actually dance along to the lyrics at the end of the solo routines. It was so cute the way she'd shake to the lyrics, "So you think you can dance" then end with a Travolta Saturday Night Fever style pose. What happened? Did she not say enough for people to like her? Wasn't her talent and genuine smile enough? I guess not.

I predict that, next season, the judges will choose who gets booted off every show until the final two dancers are left. That'll ensure that this sheeeeaht doesn't happen again.

...By the way, did anyone know Ivan's from Seattle? Go figure! I found a Seattle P-I article on him. And, to think, I've danced in the same studio with him... Everyone now, "OOOOOooooo..."

Ivan and Allison

I look foward to every episode of "So You Think You Can Dance". This show is what a DVR was meant for. Every week, there's at least one performance which I just can't get enough of. Last night, Benji danced with his cousin Heidi. They probably danced the most professional routine of the week. They both excel in partner dances so their routine was SO amazing.

But their performance wasn't the one I watched over and over and over again. It was Ivan and Allison. Shane Sparks (did I spell that right?) put together a most excellent hiphop routine to a slow R&B song by Neo. Man, the song and the choreography was just so... cool.

The first five weeks of the show, these two youngins were partners. Last week was the first time they didn't dance together. By chance, they were paired up again in yesterday's top four couples' routines. They had two strong performances but Ivan, whose specialty is hiphop, showed how important chemistry is as he and Allison gave me chills with their sweet ass routine. I loved it.

Ivan has improved SO much. I didn't like him at first 'cause I thought there was no way he'd be able to do anything except hiphop. He looked horrible in his first couple of non-hiphop dances. But, man, I was wrong. He's so much better now. Still, he's at his best doing hiphop.

I hope this link works for awhile...

"Soft" Ball

I had lunch with Eric, Wes, and Erwin at 12:30 yesterday. The brainwashing has worn off and Wes is leaving Active Voice. Hence, lunch with the Fantasy Football fellas before he leaves downtown and starts working as a consultant for Microsoft...

Scene 1 - Restaurant
Eric: "Hey, you know... tonight's my softball league's championship match... wanna come?"

Rodney: "Maybe... what time?"

Eric: "6:30pm - It's at South Park..."

Rodney: "Oh, yeah, I remember that place. Sounds like it could be fun. Plus, I'd get to meet your new girlie, eh?"

Eric: "Yep..."

Six hours later. My fiancee (not Beyonce) arrive just a little late. It's the bottom of the 1st inning and we can see Eric up to bat. Awwww... he's out.

Scene 2 - South Park Ballfield
Rodney: "Hey, Eric... What's the score?"

Eric: "You just get here? You missed my brilliant first inning as pitcher where I gave up five runs. It's 5-0."

I guess Eric's no longer the pitcher. He's in at shortstop. It's a co-ed team. All I know is that his new girlfriend/we're not official yet/"friend" is named Angie. We listen carefully as each girl on his team gets up to bat...

"Go Becka!" Nope, not her. Next girl?

"You can do it, V!" Nope, not her either.

Eventually, there's an Angie. Hmmm... nice looking girl. She made contact with the ball. Sure, she got out - but at least she's playing sports. Eric likey girls who are into sports.

Smackdown (Eric's team) comes back, score seven runs, and lead at the top of the 4th/5th-ish inning. Great game! But, uh oh, the other team is making their own comeback. What a shame. It's now 7-6 and bases are loaded. Next person up? Big dude. On the first pitch, Big Dude swings and makes solid contact, the ball screaming towards Eric. This ferocious line drive bounces off the ground and ricochets vertically into Eric's face. He's down!

But no worries... Eric always gets hurt. He'll get up pretty quickly...

...

Ummm... nope. He's still down. Both benches are cleared as Eric's surrounded by everyone trying to help.

"Someone... grab a towel!!!!"

From my seat I think, "Hmmph. He must be badly stunned. He just probably needs ice. Good thing all these people are here to help."

...

"Hmmm... Eric sure has been down for quite a long time. That's it. I'm going to check it out."

I walk around the fence towards Eric but he's already up and walking to the dugout. Whoah. His hand and the towel covering his nose are completely covered in blood! The ball wacked him in the nose, not only breaking it, but creating an inch long laceration.

From the field (in the Georgetown area), I pull my best emergency moves, speeding down every road, and even taking a left at an intersection with a red light. I tried to scream this ambulance-type wail to get people out of the way - but that didn't work! We rushed to the Group Health Urgent Care center in Captiol Hill. Leave it to my pal Eric to want to go there instead of the closest emergency room. Ultimately, it's the smartest thing we could have done, in regards to finances...

We were at the hospital for over three hours. Glo and I left him in good hands with the new girlie. But the doctor who treated him didn't seem to knowledgable.

Scene 3
Doctor: So, yeah, there are a couple of options. But, I'm gonna call someone to ask them which route to go. So, yeah... Ummm... okay, I'll call them after reading up on how to do sutures.

All is well today. I just talked to Eric on the phone. He'll have surgery on Thursday to have his nose popped back into place. His girlfriend took care of him last night... and this morning... and... nevermind. It was nice to meet her last night and get to know her - despite the circumstances. I hope Eric's able to play softball again this season...

Econ Revisited

I received the following response from my buddy in Econ.

Hi, Rodney.

I'm really sorry about what happened.
but I want to explain why I copied yours.
To be honest, I'm not comfortable with English. I've been in USA for couple
years.
Everytime I do my hw, I always have ideas for each question
but it's not easy to write that down in English.
and I realized what I wanted to answer is the same as you had answered.
I didn't mean to make you upset and get scores easily or something like
that.
I'm trying to spend couple hours to study eco201 everyday
and figure out how to express my opinions efficiently.
I'm still dealing with it.
so.. please understand what I did to you.
and sorry about that again.

Thank you

__________

I guess that makes sense. Why would anyone flat out copy another person's assignment when the postings are available for everyone to see? I'll let this one go... this time!

"Individual" Assignments for Economics

I'm studying for my econ test tomorrow. Yep... that's right. I'm "studying"...

It's an online class. It's been quite a unique experience this quarter. What makes it even more unique is an assignment I completed over the weekend. In the online format, students post their answers to weekly homework assignments. From Lesson 5, I've copied and pasted two questions, my answers, and a fellow classmate's answers (to the same two questions). I have not edited any of the answers. I'm simply control-c'ing and control-v'ing to this blog:

Question 5c - Can you think of other aspects of well-being that are associated with the rise in womens labor force participation? Would it be practical to construct a measure of well-being that includes these aspects?

My answer:
The rise of womens labor force participation means a tradeoff of less time spent at home where, previously, time may have been spent taking care of children. This might have a negative impact on the children in these households. It doesnt seem practical to construct a measure of well-being that includes this. How does one quantitatively measure the happiness of a child whose mother is now working?

My classmate's answer (posted, today, two days later):
The rise of womens labor force participation means a tradeoff of less time spent at home where, previously, time may have been spent taking care of children. This might have a negative impact on the children in these households. It doesnt seem practical to construct a measure of well-being that includes this. How does one quantitatively measure the happiness of a child whose mother is now working?

Problem 1B - Do tennis racquets become more or less expensive relative to Gatorade? Does the well-being of some people change relative to the well-being of others? Explain.

My answer:
Tennis Racquets: ($600 - $400) / $400 x 100 = 50
Gatorade: ($400 200) / $200 x 100 = 100
Tennis racquets (50% increase) become less expensive relative to Gatorade (100% increase). Because of this analysis, those who purchase tennis racquets would be relatively better off to those who purchase Gatorade. And, actually, those who purchase tennis balls would be relatively better off than those who purchase tennis racquets or Gatorade, since the price of tennis balls dont change.

My same classmate's answer (again posted today, two days later):
Tennis racquets become less expensive relative to Gatorade. Because of this analysis, those who purchase tennis racquets would be relatively better off to those who purchase Gatorade. And, actually, those who purchase tennis balls would be relatively better off than those who purchase tennis racquets or Gatorade, since the price of tennis balls dont change.



...so, did you notice any similarities between the two sets of answers? It's like "Hocus Focus" in the comic section of the newspaper where you try to distinguish the difference between the two panels. But, in this case, there's nothing different. My classmate actually copied my answers? (Say WHUT?) So, I emailed my classmate (I went easy 'cause I don't like my instructor - what good would come from me reporting this?):

Dear _______,

Hi. I just wanted to tell you that I noticed that a couple of answers on Lesson 5 (Individual assignment) were copied directly from my answers to your answers.

Please dont do that again. If you do, youre taking away from your learning process. I work very hard on these assignments and for someone else to just come along and copy and paste doesn't seem fair.

Thank you,
Rodney
So, if you were me, what would you have done? Should I have reported this person to my instructor? This was more amusing than irritating...