EGAD

Updates En Passant

The World Cup finals start this weekend, as a result of which my Argentinian housemate is even more hyperactive than usual. So here's the betting odds, in sock puppet form. Scavvies in the audience will understand why that's delightful.

Just a pro forma update today. Teaching is time-consuming, in no small part because having to be coherent and up in front of a bunch of students at 9 am really cuts into my most productive working hours. So I'm looking forward to the second half of the summer when I can actually get some work done. This weekend we need to tidy up the house to start showing one of our rooms, since the Frenchman is getting his Ph.D. and moving on at the end of June. If anyone's in need of a decent yet cheap room near campus, now's the time.

I'm unclear as to the intended purpose of a laser pointer powerful enough to light matches and burn paper. At 300 mW you could probably use it to sky-point in broad daylight. I'm certain I could find a worthy use for one, though.

Every so often a sandwith with an image of Mary surfaces and someone makes a pretty penny peddling the miracle. Imagine if you could mass-produce them.

I fear my Scavhunt team's effort at the OverheardAtTheUofC.com item shows little sign of becoming self-sustaining (although Chicago readers are encouraged to revive it). Still, the quotes it did get make an entertaining read.

Politics: in the last few weeks Dems have knocked down the Anti-Marriage Amendment, estate tax welfare for billionaires, and the attack on network neutrality. I'm tempted to declare the good guys on a roll, but most of the credit goes to the Republican leadership for filling up the legislative schedule with silly election year stunts. Every time I glance at the news it's more about Zarqawi, but as Matt Yglesias observes,

We kill people associated with the insurgency in Iraq all the time, and have been doing so for years. The problem hasn't been an inability to accomplish this, it's been that killing insurgents doesn't accomplish anything. Killing a famous insurgent won't accomplish anything either.