World Cup Football update

Well, despite the temporary elation of last week (a few people in the US actually cared about soccer for a split second), the US team is now down and out of the FIFA World Cup tournament, having been beaten rather neatly by Ghana. Bye-bye, Mr. American Pie!

The Netherlands, on the other hand, are doing splendidly and moved into the quarter-finals, with a 2:1 victory over Slovakia. I was able to only see the highlights reel, but my guess is that overall, there was a solid game of football as it should be played. That second goal by the Dutch was lovely, with a simple pass from Kuyt to Sneijder, who then slammed the ball straight back, right past the Slovak goalie. The Netherlands are now set to hit their first real challengers of this World Cup, battling it out with highly-ranked Brazil on Friday. Has their series of straight wins been just a fluke, or is the Netherlands team (traditionally underachievers) really playing on a higher level in South Africa?

West Coast Represent

Now put your hands up!

Am I the only person who finds Katy Perry's new single "California Gurls" to be both tragically lame and diabolically catchy? And who, for that matter, also thinks that Ms. Perry is not a very good singer?

Never-the-less, we California girls* do appreciate a shout-out now and then.


*I'll always be a California girl in my heart!

Friday Five

Yes, I actually did something this Friday, and it's a list of Faves for the week.

• Finding some plastic storage containers on clearance at Target. I’m in a constant battle with clutter, and while I’m working on getting rid of stuff, I need sturdy containers to store the stuff that I keep.


• Finding Marie Callendar’s Key Lime Pie on sale at the grocery store. Some weeks, it’s the little things that count!


• The Netherlands coming out of Stage 1 of World Cup competitions undefeated. This is a great start for the Dutch team, but they will face solid and skilled opponents in many of the other top-ranked teams during Stage 2 and beyond. Yes, I’ve decided to return to my roots and begin following world football in earnest. Football (American soccer) is one of the few sports in which I excelled as a child, as well as one of the few that I sort of intrinsically understand.


• The Little Bug being given a gold star! He had his 2-year check-up at the pediatrician and was pronounced to be in excellent health and progressing very well in development. He demonstrated good manners (he says “please” and “thank you” without being prompted most of the time) and behaved so nicely that the doctor observed that he was rather better than other toddlers at their 2-year check-ups. Also impressive: His vocabulary and the fact that he says basic sentences rather than just two word phrases, not to mention his knowledge of shapes, colors, letters, and numbers.


• The joy of anticipation. I’ll be spending much of tomorrow relaxing, doing crafts (inspiration boards), baking, and getting a facial, with some lovely friends.

Math and the Touchdown Jesus - answers!

Thanks to everyone who partipated in our mathlympics related to the Jesus statue! So, pretty much, thanks to Jeff Feely.

His second answer, of 8.33ish, is the one I was seeking, though technically the first answer (Jesus should be wearing the 7) is also correct, in a manner of speaking.

Here is how we addressed it:

Self:
My own approach was less orthodox. I tried to go the route of the geometric mean, in which 7:x = x:10, => x^2 = 70 => x=8.3666. If this is the correct solution, then 8.3666*12 = 10^2. We see that 8.3666*12 is actually 100.3992, the square root of which is 10.0199. Oooh, so close but not exact!
Note: Yes, I was all wrong. Serves me right for trying to assume a geometric relationship in an arithmetic number sequence.

Coworker #1
7 + 1.33333 = 8.3333
8.33333 + 1.6666667 = 10
10 + 2 = 12
So increments of 1.3333, 1.66666, 2.
Like Lost I guess, except my numbers make sense!


Coworker #2
Made a graph.

Math and the Touchdown Jesus

The Touchdown Jesus in Monroe (Dayton/Cincinnati area) actually burned down last night! Touchdown Jesus was a landmark of both cultural and physical variety, and I never saw it, but its destruction is big news in Ohio. The event has spawned much discussion as to what it meant if God struck down statue of Jesus with lightning. I would not be surprised at a sudden onslaught of theories regarding the coming judgment and doom to befall Dayton, OH. [Editor's note: Oh, puh-lease.]

My own view is that the Creator God is simply sending a message that physical objects are subject to the operating physical laws of the universe, and if there is any judgment to be had, it falls upon the Solid Rock Church for their stupidity in erecting what was essentially a flammable lightning rod in the midst of a region regularly beset by heavy thunder storms.



For my part, my attention was drawn more toward a photo that a coworker sent out of the statue prior to its fiery demise.


Clearly, the REAL question is: What number should Jesus be wearing to complete the sequence?


I posed this question to some coworkers, and a few of us obtained a solution via a variety of methods. Can you figure it out? Hint: It's not an integer. Have at it.

Gone but not forgotten

Happy Birthday to my favorite performer (and shirttail relative!) Judy Garland.

It's low quality, but here is a clip of one of her most famous song-and-dance numbers. It doesn't get any better than this, ladies and gentlemen.