Since someone asked, I'll be working for these people, looking at this, to increase this, to mitigate this.

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Merce Cunningham!

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For the last week, I've been waiting for the time and energy to pull together a witty post about this. But neither time nor energy has become available, so I'm just saying it: the Soul family is very excited because we are going to live in Australia for 6 months starting next Friday. Blogging will commence shortly thereafter.

There. I said it. I'm going to go figure out how to label a #100 size cat kennel for air shipment now...

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The cover of the latest issue of Ms. Magazine says that this is what a speaker looks like. Apparently, a speaker looks a lot like Margaret Thatcher.

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I need to follow something with greater chances of fulfillment and less stress. Like global trade agreement or something. Go Doha round!.

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The early edition of the Daily News had the Jayhawks on its back page with the headline "KAN DO!" By the time I made it to Midtown, however, the newstands had all switched over to later editions that featured the Buckeyes (for good reason considering their maginifcent comeback). Maybe Mr. Guapo can track down an early edition in the BK - for my part I should have bought the copy I saw off the woman sitting next to me on the subway.

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I can't wait/stand it.

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The talk of the last couple days has been about the defense of the Salukis. While I know I can expect some ugly turnovers by the Jayhawks tonight, I'm feeling good about the Jayhawks. I'd be worried if the Jayhawks were mumbling platitudes like, "we really respect SIU's defense" and "we're expecting SIU to put up a fight." That's not the case, though...well, OK, they've said the trite platitudes, too...but more than anything I like the fact that the Jayhawks are starting to get uppity about all the talk about the Salukis' defense.

To me, this means the players are engaged in this game and really want to win. I know it seems weird to talk about players wanting to win a game, but I think upsets tend to occur when teams take the fact that they're going to win for granted. Wanting to win, in my opinion, means that a team is focused positively instead of negatively on the fear of losing.

Phog.net has a hilarious thread on "Things Saluki fans think they can stop defensively." My rating there has dropped recently due to this post, something that was not totally unexpected by me.

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Thank you, Slate.

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An hour until tip of (and sadly, my photosynthesis lecture) and then the little GSC will beat up on Big UCSD according to Slug's earlier prediction. It's UCSD's first time to the DII women's tournament, because until recently they were playing DIII (???).

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With KU assistant coach Tim Jankovich leaving for Illinois State (much like another former KU assistant), Bill Self has announced that Danny Manning will replace Jankovich on the coaching staff.

I love this selection for a number of reasons: (1) it's great to have a former Kansas player on the staff; (2) he's a former national player of the year; (3) he has a championship ring; (4) he was the prototype of the big man with great handles and an outside shot - that's good for helping develop talent; and (5) he's KU's second black assistant coach.

This is a return to the racial makeup of the basketball staff that KU had the last time it won a national championship with HC Brown and two black assistants in Alvin Gentry and Ed Manning (I couldn't tell you the white assistant was, my first thought was Bob Hill, but it wasn't him). There's nothing that bugs me more than the white head coach with two white assistants and one black assistant who, when a black assistant leaves, he hires another black assistant and when a white assistant leaves he hires another white assistant. This was the pattern started under Roy and it continued under Self -- until now.

n.b. - I don't think Roy Williams is racist, it just appears that there is a de facto quota system for his assistant coaches.

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The big news in New York lately has been the indictments that were given to the three undercover police officers accused of shooting Sean Bell.

What galls me about law enforcement is that it strikes me as being the product of so much "received wisdowm" instead of hard data analysis. The other day on Morning Edition, a reporter was talking to a former undercover policeman who bragged (!) that over 10 years he was responsible for taking 250 illegal handguns off the street. NYC paid this guy for 10 years to focus on getting illegal handguns off the street and he managed to only get one every two weeks? Great...enjoy that pension, dude.

Much like baseball, another arena where received wisdom is revered, law enforcement needs to go Moneyball. Maybe an undercover police force is the most effective way to get guns off the street (that's supposedly why the police officers were going after Sean Bell), but paying salaries and pensions to get a handful of guns off the street strikes me as a gigantic waste of money.

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Here's some Earth, Wind & Fire for your viewing pleasure.

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I had no idea that Lon Kruger has been their coach for three years.

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The NYT has an article with the headline "A Solemn Journey to Mali Gets Underway". When I think of journeys and Mali, the hajj of Mansa Musa, a 14th century king of Mali, who brought so much gold with him on the journey that it crippled economies across northern Africa and led to massive inflation.

In basketball news, I just watched the video that is now shown in Allen Fieldhouse before the player introductions. It is a remarkably good production that succeeds in conveying the history and emotion associated with KU basketball in 45 seconds.

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During a visit to Cuba Libre...whoops not that Cuba Libre, this one...what was Iranian president Ahmadinejad describing when he made the gesture shown in the photo above?

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Two of the most respected names in sports media have picked the Kansas Jayhawks to win it all: Bill Simmons and Stephen Colbert.

There's also an entertaining read at Slate about teams in the tournament to root against. Be sure to check out the link to the history of the Wright State mascot and this is why Duke sucks (NSFW audio).

The last link is via the the NCAA police blotter on AOL of all places. They also point out Julian Wright giving the "big swinging balls" gesture to Mario after he hit the 3 against UT and Scott Pollard's attempt to corrupt the youth of Ohio.

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Last night's deadly Greenwich Village gun battle took place a block or two from Dr. No's office, and was started by a guy who once worked at my company.

Check out his web site. Obsession with Goth girls? Check.

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Now I'm stressed about both the Jayhawks and the Pioneers. Alcohol can restrain only so many nervous jitters...

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The NYT has an article today on the dangers facing New York City if a hurricane lands near the city. Since I live in Gowanus (official motto: "If it don't slope, it ain't the Slope!"), a notorious low-lying area, I wasn't surprise to find that my building is likely to be affected by any hurricanse storm surge.

Soon after I realized how close to sea level my building is, I began assuming that during a hurricane that I'd hit up Mr. Guapo and Dr. No for a place to stay during the storm. Now seems like as good as time as any to wring a promise from them that I can crash with them in the event of a hurricane. I'll bring the bottled water!

In other news, I ran into Matt Bachand at a Maxwell School function at the Puck Building last night. He's currently an MPA student at Syracuse and is not playing guitar for Shadows Fall.

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Apparently, it helps to die.

No, I'm not buying an iPhone.

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Anybody want to join me in volunteering to help with Tommy Thompson's bid for the White House?

Oh, I've also signed up for Obama's campaign, too if that's more your style.

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Well, I showed up at the gym yesterday to catch the KU-Texas game a little after tipoff. KU was already down 21-6 and playing so horribly that I could barely enjoy the cupcake that I was eating. Even though I felt sick to my stomach (from the game, not the cupcake), I decided to get on the stairmaster and subject to myself to the debacle that was unfolding.

I got on the machine and started moving. My heartrate was still low and Texas's lead balloned to 32-10. Then, right when my heartrate hit 140, the game started to change. KU, slowly but surely started eating into the lead. 35-21, 37-30, then, at the end of my 20 minutes on the stairmaster, KU was only down 39-34 at halftime.

So, I took a break from cardio during halftime and did core exercises. Then, when the second half started I got back on the stairmaster. During halftime, my heartrate had dropped and Texas starts the second half by expanding the lead to nine points. At that point, however, my heartrate climbed back above 140 and KU started to cut into Texas's lead again.

I finish another 20 minutes on the stairmaster, but there is still 11 minutes left in the game and KU is just about even. It's become abundantly clear to me that if KU is going to win this game, my heartrate needs to stay above 140. So, I move to the elliptical trainer. I spend 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer (damn fouls, extending the game), but after nearly 80 minutes of cardio, my determination begins to waiver and Texas takes a four point lead. Sensing that KU's fate hangs in the balance, I redouble my efforts and KU hits the three point shot to go to overtime.

By this point, I'm looking at overtime as a mixed blessing. Yes, KU has a chance to win the game, but I have to keep my heartrate up. I move to a stationary bicycle for the last fifteen minutes. You all know how it turns out: KU won because I was able to grind out about 95 minutes of cardio.

While the causal relationship between my heartrate and KU's success on the basketball court is uncertain, I found one thing to be unequivocally true: when physically exhausted, my outlook on KU basketball is much more sanguine.

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There she was in the airport. And at the car-rental place, with Lindsay Buckingham. And on the radio, too.

She was in my hotel room as well. But I kicked her out. Chick's always hogging the bathroom, doing something with her aura or whatever.

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It's been a tough week for harmonica players. I have to admit, though, that I'm not sure when the apocolypse comes that they ought to go to the front of the line. Personally, I've been fighting a pretty tenacious case of athlete's foot (fungus - plant or animal? Discuss...). It just goes to show that the ones with the most talent have the worst troubles, no?

In completely unrelated news. Remember Jerry Glanville? Oh, yes you do. Look out 'cuz he's in town for an interview. And he got the job.

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Slug and I sat in the student section to watch the Pioneers crush the Knights of St. Andrews 81-44 last night. I was mortified to be next to the drunk guys who started "You Suck!" chants during the warm up and pleased to be in the student section when they had a their own (positive and supportive) cheers for one of our middle-aged maintenance guys. Being a prof. in the student section also has the distinct disadvantage of not allowing me to see the cheerleaders as enthustiastic (if silly) pony-tails with blue glitter eye-shadow, the players as great ballplayers, and the drunk fans as louts. At that close I see them all as students who may or may not have made it to class this week, who I have to write make-up labs for, who I made cry with an exam . . .

Slug watched all four tournament games (I saw three as I had lab [on the Friday before spring break when the NCAA tournament is in town!] during the first one) yesterday and we're hiking up the hill to watch the next two. Based in yesterday's performance, GSC is the best (if one of the smallest) of the 8 teams here, but tonight's match-up includes some very talented players in the opposition.

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I was listening to the Marketplace Morning Report on WNYC this morning and one of the songs they used was Earth, Wind, and Fire's "In the Stone." As soon as I heard the opening horn line, I was transported back to Allen Fieldhouse.

When I was a kid, I always considered this song "filler;" something that the band played to eat up time until they could play "I'm a Jayhawk" or "Go! Fight! Win Jayhawks!" again and get the crowd yelling and clapping. Now, I get the warmest of fuzzies when I hear that horn line and, after hearing it this morning, I am ready for some fucking basketball!

It's still got me shuckin' and jivin'.

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I suppose I should feel a little uncomfortable with helping spread an advertising virus, but I'll get over it.

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Starting mid-week last week, the Charleston paper started running long and glowing reports about Rachel and the Pioneers. It could be that Redick is darned good-- ended the regular season with 2,261 points as a Pioneer and not a ball hog (and added 15, 31 and 20 in the conference tournament). It could be that the Pioneers are darned good (and have a Davy Crockett-esque mascot that fires a large musket to start and end the games). It's likely that, with the local UC teams fizzling, the city needed a story of someone to follow into March Madness. I like to think, however, it's just that slug and I are trendsetters.

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If one glances at this week's Top 25 rankings for women's division II basketball, one notices two things. A school we know and love is at number 2 (highest ever for a WV school) and seven of these schools (including 1, 2 and 3) were hiring plant ecologists last year. Good basketball programs and good plant ecology programs certainly go together.

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