« Archives in May, 2006

Junior!

May 10, 2006 / posted in Junior, Photos / 1 Comment

I was going to go shooting with a friend this week, but I’ve been swamped by administrativa. Still, between that plan and “Amy’s new hardware”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/harlykwin714/133078791/, I had to get some practice in. Specifically, I had to better understand the exposure and color performance of “my camera”:http://amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000A7JKTA/wadearmstrong-20/ref=nosim/. For a project like that, I needed a subject that had bright whites as well as dark details. Hmm, it occurred to me, I have one of those sitting next to me! So, without further ado, here’s my best buddy, Junior Bird.
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/68341855-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/68342233-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/68342917-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/68343361-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/68344872-S.jpg!
Isn’t he just ridiculously adorable? He’s such a sweetie.















Well, I Guess That’s It

May 8, 2006 / posted in B-School / 2 Comments

I turned in my last paper at about 12:30 pm today; I think that means I’m done. I’m completely in shock, I don’t believe that I really won’t be going in to class in just a few days, or working on a group project, or booking another study room. I still expect that I’ll be having the Cobb salad, served every Tuesday at Popovich cafe, for lunch tomorrow, and the taco salad the day after. I mean, this can’t be it, can it? What will I do with 80-100 more hours every week? Um, yay?
Hee, I’m going on vacation!















I’m A Bad Man

May 7, 2006 / posted in Otherwise Uncategorized / No Comments

Last night I was out with some friends; we ended up at a divey sports bar in Santa Monica. To put it briefly, it sucked, and we wanted to go across the street to a cooler bar, but one of my friends had just gotten herself a nice cool bottle of Corona. Since she was too much of a pussy to chug the beer, she stuck her beer in my chest pocket and started to prod me to smuggle her beer into the new bar. Then my other friend joined in, and how could I resist two women daring me to do a bad bad thing? So I closed my jacket over the beer and we walked across the street. I played it cool and we slipped right past the doorman and into the dance floor in the back, where I slipped out my friend’s beer and she nursed it for another 20 minutes. I’m a bad man.
Me without the beer in my shirt pocket:
!/images/badman/without.jpg!
Me with the beer in my shirt pocket:
!/images/badman/with.jpg!















More American Inventor Recaps!

May 6, 2006 / posted in Elsewhere / No Comments

Because I know you can’t get enough, I’ve got “two”:http://wadearmstrong.com/archives/entrepreneurship/american_inventor_episode_10_recap.php “recaps”:http://wadearmstrong.com/archives/entrepreneurship/american_inventor_episode_11_recap.php for you this week!















Men Wearing The Wrong Collars Make Me Sad

May 3, 2006 / posted in Sightings / 8 Comments

It seems that gentlemen these days are fond of the tie-with-button-down-collar look, which, I suppose, is a wonderful idea if you really like your collar to poof out, exposing the parts of the tie that wrap around your neck inside the collar. Me, I prefer to restrict the visible parts of my tie to a reasonably competent knot and the wide end, hanging down to the middle of my belt.
OK, let’s start by reviewing the types of collars out there, so that we can all be on the same page. Probably the most common collar is the conservative point collar:
!/images/collar/pointcollar.jpg!
A stylish, formal variation on this collar is the spread collar, which is similar but has a wider gap in the front:
!/images/collar/spreadcollar.jpg!
Then there’s the tab collar:
!/images/collar/tabcollar.jpg!
And, finally, there’s the button-down collar:
!/images/collar/buttondowncollar.jpg!
A tie goes well with any of the first three collars, although, with a tab collar you should take care to keep your knot mid-sized, because otherwise the tie’s knot will squeeze up against the collar itself in a most unattractive manner.
Things only begin to go wrong when you try to wear a tie with the button-down collar. This is a horrible fashion faux pas and will not only make you look funny, it’ll also make me stare ceaselessly at your neck, wondering how you could have ended up in this sad, sad state.
The button-down collar is a casual look, and goes well with khakis or a sportcoat; it should never ever ever ever be work with a tie. According to legend, the button-down collar originated on polo players, who don’t wear ties; they added buttons to the points of their collars to keep said collars from flapping in the wind as they rode. Thus, from its very origin, the button-down collar was not meant to be worn with a tie.
Nor should you say “well, it’s the style these days; denim shorts weren’t meant to be worn about the lower hips, extending to mid-calf, but I don’t hear you complaining about that, Wade, let’s just go with the style of the hour!” First of all, let me say that I haven’t yet had time to complain about the whole phenomenon of jeans shorts on men. Second of all, let’s look at the mechanics of the button-down collar. When properly-starched (and I know you take your nice shirts to the laundry and have them returned with at least medium starch) and -buttoned, your button-down collar will lay nicely against your neck, with only a slight curve that gives a nice line to the top of your shirt. Add a tie under that, however, and you break the elegant curve — your collar has to arch over the tie itself and thus billows out. Further, because the points are affixed to your shirt, they can’t sit nicely around your knot, but instead will often sit so far out (and be so curved) as to let those looking at you see your tie as it wraps around your collar. Why do you want to show people that part of your tie? Let them look instead at that knot you’ve worked so hard to tie correctly. Really, this is the dressed-up guy equivalent of a girl having her thong poke over the back of her low-riding pants, except that I don’t think that girls really have any interest in what the back of a guy’s tie looks like.
So let’s review. If your collar looks like this:
!/images/collar/buttondowncollar.jpg!
don’t wear a tie. If you’re absolutely out of all other dress shirts, then you can unbutton the collar and wear it with a tie; although the collar will still sit weird, the tie will at least hide the buttons. A better idea is just to save that shirt with the button-down collar for a non-tie casual event. Otherwise, you’re likely to hear me sigh softly with a broken heart as I see you at a formal event wearing a tie with the wrong collar.















So That’s What a Quarter of a Million People Looks Like!

May 1, 2006 / posted in Photos / 6 Comments

Being now a man of leisure, I took most of the day off to head downtown and take some photographs of the protest for immigrants’ rights. Coincident with an immigrant boycott of all business around the country, marches like these were designed to bring the current absurd lack of meaningful policy conversation, much less reform, into the spotlight. We’ll be lucky if they succeed.
Anyway, the pictures. So, apart from being a flaming liberal, I also wanted to learn more about my camera and maybe get some practice shooting people — because I’m awful at that. What better than a large, orderly protest march? So along I walked, the length of downtown, to the strains of “el pueblo, unido/jamás sera vencido”.
American flags were everywhere, and I gathered that most people wanted nothing so much as to actually gain citizenship and thrive in this country. Now that’s a plan I can get behind. I started out at the middle of the march and then worked my way to the head, taking pictures as I walked. Pretty much every frame is overexposed and I had too much depth of field in most shots but, oh well, that’s what learning’s for!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67393079-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67392079-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67394060-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67391154-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67398216-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67390014-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67397587-S.jpg!
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/67399942-S.jpg!
More “on my Smugmug site”:http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/gallery/1420211; and check out “my friend Vance’s (much superior) photos of the event”:http://vmac.smugmug.com/gallery/1419481/.















2006 NFL Draft Recap

May 1, 2006 / posted in Sports / 2 Comments

As everyone knows, the NFL draft is step 1 on the path to the really important football event of the year, the fantasy draft. Oh, and said draft makes a big difference as I watch my beloved Broncos and Ravens all season long. Will they win? Lose? And how will this year’s crop of Trojans perform?
h3. Ravens
The Ravens got their big run-stuffer in Haloti Ngata in the first round, spent two selections beefing up their offensive line, which was just sad last year, and grabbed a couple of corners. They may have also picked up a tolerable backup RB; although, I guess, with Jamal Lewis and Mike Anderson, they’re set there. Ngata should really open up things for their secondary, but the lack of any difference-making offensive players is a concern. Still, with the running game back on track and, hopefully, some passing game improvement, playoffs seem reachable.
h3. Broncos
The surprise here is Jay Cutler, of course; I agree with pundits who don’t fear for current QB Jake Plummer’s job, Shanahan just knows that he needs a selection at the game’s most pivotal position. Coach has the chance to develop Cutler for a year or two before having to make a decision on Plummer. Denver also picked up a good backup defensive and offensive lineman (I don’t think that Elvis Dumervil is consistent enough to start straight away, despite his great name), and a Jeb Putzier clone. Oh, and the big news was of course trading a pick for Green Bay WR Javon Walker. I’m surprised we don’t see moves like this more often: teams spend a lot of time scouting college players, trying to project college performance into pro performance, when many pro players are held back by being in the wrong system, under the wrong coach, or just shouldering too much of the load. I would think that a team that could do really well at scouting second-rank and unsatisfied first-rank pro players would be able to trade a lot of draft picks for existing pros and do very well, without having to spend, or take the risk, on college players.
Not a bad draft. Expect to see the Broncs in the AFC championship game next year!
h3. Trojans
Certainly it was a surprise that Reggie Bush didn’t go first and that Leinart dropped so far, but both ended up in good places. Bush will get a chance to immediately contriubte to a team that will win, while Leinart is on a team that will be good enough to give him time to develop and good enough that he can be competitive for years. Winston Justice also fell further than one might have expected but the other players on the Eagles should keep him straight, if there’s really any concern about that anymore. Character issues with LenDale are probably overstated — who wouldn’t take a little time off at his age — and the Titans got a real steal. Deuce Lutui should be happy in the desert with Leinart! I’m a bit surprised that NCAA-leading punter Tom Malone didn’t get drafted but he’s sure to catch on as a free agent. Not a great draft for the Trojans but, in 2-3 years, all of these players will be contributing meaningfully and players from ol’ Southern Cal will be in higher demand.
One thing we can be sure about is that the Titans, Jets, and Raiders will regret not grabbing Leinart, and the Ravens will regret not trading up for him. Vince Young will perform pretty well and be a good draw for the Titans if he’s given a year to develop behind Steve McNair, but he’ll drown if thrown right into the league.
h3. Other Notes
Of course, the rumor is that McNair is headed for the Ravens. The Young pick only makes sense if he’s got a year to sit and learn; otherwise, Leinart has big upside, knows Titans (and former USC) offensive coordinator Norm Chow’s offense, and is complete enough to go from day 1. Now, that said, McNair to Baltimore makes no sense; if Baltimore didn’t belive in incumbent QB Kyle Boller they would have moved into a position to take either Cutler, who went mid-first; Leinart, who fell unexpectedly far; or even Kellen Clemens. McNair is only good for one to two years, max, and yet bringing him in means relegating Boller to the position of permanent backup. The fact is, Boller isn’t that bad and, with a line that can actually block and a healthy Todd Heap, might be just fine. My bet is that Baltimore sticks with Boller a year and drafts for need next year.
The Raiders had a good first-round draft but the readiness to start falls off quickly after that. Especially with their weakness at QB — who, exactly, is ready to start? — they aren’t really a threat to start winning straight away. Still, their big offseason move was bringing back Art Shell, which will pay off big-time in the end (why hasn’t the man been coaching since he was fired from the Raiders so long ago?)
The Colts added Tony Dungy-style players who should help them get to the next level. Now all that’s holding them back is Peyton Manning, who’s won at every level except college and pro.
I realize the Cowboys are in “win now” mode but I don’t see that any of their picks after the first are going to get them up to the next level; same with the Redskins.
If you’ve caught the news: Pats backup QB Doug Flutie is set to retire at 42, leaving Matt Cassell as their #2 QB behind Tom Brady. The trick here is that Cassell was competing with Leinart for the starting job at SC three years ago, and the two took it neck-and-neck to the start of the season before Leinart was named starter. Cassell was a very low draft pick and could well turn out to be a real steal for the Pats, who have already shown their ability to identify top QBs in late rounds, as evidenced by their starting QB, Tom Brady, who was drafted in the sixth round.
Oh, and the big surprise? How much better “Fox Sport’s Draft Tracker”:http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/draftTracker is than everyone else’s.
Overall, this is not a draft that will give us a lot of first-year starters outside of the first round, but looking back in ten years, I do believe that we’ll be surprised about the number of people still in the league from the 2006 draft. And, if you buy all that, then you can give me a call back at my NFL team general manager’s office, where I go to work every day.















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