I woke up this morning and there were 18 inches of snow on the ground. 18 INCHES. Six in the UK is more than enough to cause traffic chaos and days off for everyone. And it’s the cool powdery, perfect-snowball type snow - not any wet, sludgy pretender snow. I have felt like a child all day, it’s impossible to fight that urge to try to throw a hard ball of snow into someone’s face or get it down the back of their clothes. And you have to make a snowman. Frosty is now proudly standing guard in our back garden, complete with half limes for eyes and beer cans for buttons – but now it’s dark I keep scaring myself thinking someone is standing out there. But, I’m guessing tomorrow, when I actually have to leave the house, the snow isn’t going to be that much fun.
Tomorrow morning I get the results of my second math test in 7 years. I am taking two maths courses, algebra and statistics at a community college (to qualify to teach in Philly you have to have two Uni maths courses). Last week I took an algebra test and I failed. A serious wake up call – I was thinking that it would be easy. I don't fail!!!!!!! Luckily statistics seems to be easier. My teacher is a man called Dr. Bumble, he’s at least 92 and totally lives up to his name. For the first 10 minutes of every class he tells us about all the companies he worked for in the 1960s – his apparent heyday and how to succeed in getting a job.
The whole thing has reminded me of how much I hate maths. There is a switch in my head that turns off the intelligence when I look at an equation. Alongside this I'm taking the Graduate Exam (GRE) in a couple of weeks that comes complete with a juicy maths section. Has the world gone mad!!! The humanities are just so much kinder - you can say whatever you want and as long as you do it in legible English your going to pass.
OK, it's so cold upstairs that I can't feel my toes. Love you all.
Listening to: Kanye West rage
Thinking: how the hell do you work out if 15 men and 12 women are in a room and an equal number of men and women enter the ratio becomes 7:6. How many women have entered the room?
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Monday, February 06, 2006
Padding, wings, and puffs
The Super Bowl – the biggest sports event in the world. Right? 211 million people are expected to watch it so it’s got to be good...right? I hate to say it but I’m excited about seeing this thing. I have got into American football so there is a slight interest in the sport but it’s the hype, wardrobe malfunctions, glitz and advertisements I’m really looking forward to. I have my cold beer, cheesy puffs open and wings are in the fridge. I’m ready.
It has just opened with Stevie Wonder, joined by his family (including young child on drums) John Legend, Joss Stone and India Erie. Stevie Wonder is FANTASTIC but why is he there? And Joss Stone…how, why?
Classic commenter comment no. 1: “Motown is ready for some football” – yeah baby! John Motson just wouldn’t say this stuff.
This year it’s in the Detroit superdome, just like the now infamous one in New Orleans. It’s a climate-controlled, fake-grassed wonderland where the Pittsburgh Steelers are about to play the Seattle Seahawks. United, Rovers and even Wednesday just can’t compete with names like that - especially when compared to my personal favorites, the Pennsylvania Quakers, the St Louis Billikins, the North Carolina Tar Heels – what is their mascot, a big boot? My super bowl prediction: Seahawks 34 Steelers 28.
American football seems to be rugby with extra padding. Both teams have a defensive team and an offensive team (pronounced De-fence and Off-fence). So there are around 40 people on a team. One offense starts with the ball and tries to get it down the field to score a touchdown, the opposite teams defense tries to stop them. Then they switch. Each team also has a kicker whose job is to kick off and score field goals– he doesn’t do anything else. Why one of the umpteen defense or offense can’t kick is known only to the American football Gods.
Classic commenter comment no. 2: “Well what do you know a game is about to break out.” – genius.
We’re off. 10 minutes in and Bud Light is dominating the ads, the game is scoreless. The players introduce themselves on this talking head type graphic and football players just aren’t very pretty. But some of the arses are wonderful – beautifully cocooned in their tight tight trousers.
Seahawks have scored a field goal and half of the wings have gone. I’m feeling a little sick and unimpressed with the game so far. 1st quarter over.
2nd quarter. Someone just got injured.
Classic commentator comment no 3: “You don’t know if that’s an ankle a head or something in between.”
Bud is still winning the advert competition. To have a 30 second ad in the super bowl it costs 5 or 6 million dollars. Companies will start a new campaign with their super bowl advert so I’m hoping for good things because so far the ads over here have been terrible. There are more adverts for prescription medicine than anything else. Everyone’s a doctor over here. You get looked down on if you ask for an aspirin and don’t specify which brand.
Half time. No boobs just a 63 year old gyrating with no satisfaction.
It’s now the forth quarter and I have lost interest in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh is winning 21 – 10 and I have reorganized my wardrobe and the furniture in our bedroom, read some of the paper, done the washing, and drank some more beer. 4 hours is just too long for a game, except Monopoly of course.
My first Super Bowl has just finished and Pittsburgh won 21 –10. I wonder how many of the 211 million made it to the end? Roll on the World Cup.
It has just opened with Stevie Wonder, joined by his family (including young child on drums) John Legend, Joss Stone and India Erie. Stevie Wonder is FANTASTIC but why is he there? And Joss Stone…how, why?
Classic commenter comment no. 1: “Motown is ready for some football” – yeah baby! John Motson just wouldn’t say this stuff.
This year it’s in the Detroit superdome, just like the now infamous one in New Orleans. It’s a climate-controlled, fake-grassed wonderland where the Pittsburgh Steelers are about to play the Seattle Seahawks. United, Rovers and even Wednesday just can’t compete with names like that - especially when compared to my personal favorites, the Pennsylvania Quakers, the St Louis Billikins, the North Carolina Tar Heels – what is their mascot, a big boot? My super bowl prediction: Seahawks 34 Steelers 28.
American football seems to be rugby with extra padding. Both teams have a defensive team and an offensive team (pronounced De-fence and Off-fence). So there are around 40 people on a team. One offense starts with the ball and tries to get it down the field to score a touchdown, the opposite teams defense tries to stop them. Then they switch. Each team also has a kicker whose job is to kick off and score field goals– he doesn’t do anything else. Why one of the umpteen defense or offense can’t kick is known only to the American football Gods.
Classic commenter comment no. 2: “Well what do you know a game is about to break out.” – genius.
We’re off. 10 minutes in and Bud Light is dominating the ads, the game is scoreless. The players introduce themselves on this talking head type graphic and football players just aren’t very pretty. But some of the arses are wonderful – beautifully cocooned in their tight tight trousers.
Seahawks have scored a field goal and half of the wings have gone. I’m feeling a little sick and unimpressed with the game so far. 1st quarter over.
2nd quarter. Someone just got injured.
Classic commentator comment no 3: “You don’t know if that’s an ankle a head or something in between.”
Bud is still winning the advert competition. To have a 30 second ad in the super bowl it costs 5 or 6 million dollars. Companies will start a new campaign with their super bowl advert so I’m hoping for good things because so far the ads over here have been terrible. There are more adverts for prescription medicine than anything else. Everyone’s a doctor over here. You get looked down on if you ask for an aspirin and don’t specify which brand.
Half time. No boobs just a 63 year old gyrating with no satisfaction.
It’s now the forth quarter and I have lost interest in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh is winning 21 – 10 and I have reorganized my wardrobe and the furniture in our bedroom, read some of the paper, done the washing, and drank some more beer. 4 hours is just too long for a game, except Monopoly of course.
My first Super Bowl has just finished and Pittsburgh won 21 –10. I wonder how many of the 211 million made it to the end? Roll on the World Cup.
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