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January 31, 2002

   Updates galore.  Firstly, this page will probably not be updated tomorrow, but on Saturday night - although I point this out because when I say this page will be updated, I mean in fact that February will show up instead.  So that'll be a little different.
    Aside from that, changes in the quotes page.  Just go there and you'll see what I mean - can you tell I don't like scrolling too much?
    Actually, I guess that's about it.  Oh, there's also a majorly nerdy update to the Personal Scores page, wherein I added all of the 15/10/-5 numbers I had access to as well.  Bitchin'.

January 29, 2002

   A "Movies to See/Avoid" synopsis of February's currently scheduled releases is up.

January 28, 2002

   New stuff: I moved the "Contact Flax" button onto the "Me" page because it makes more sense in the first place, genre-wise; because all of you know how to contact me anyway; and because I needed the room for the new Monthly Archive button, which helps you find back Flax with significantly less effort, although you still have to know what month the stuff you're looking for happened in.  Ha ha.

January 27, 2002

   More attempts to curb grade inflation: Black Hawk Down.

January 26, 2002

   The last non-quiz bowl weekend for a while (February 2, Elvis; February 9, NAQT Sects; February 16, CBI Regionals), so let's link to possibly the nerdiest thing I've ever done for this page: a chart of my scoring numbers at every tournament of my collegiate career.  I mean, it has vague interest value to anyone who cares about how I do at quiz bowl, but that equates to maybe two people.

    In unrelated news, happy birthday to my dad, who turns 30 for the 20th time today.

January 25, 2002

   Yeah, yeah, there haven't been any updates all week.  But I've been sick.  To that end there isn't much of an update today either, except you can do this little quiz-like thing.

January 21, 2002

   Long, long weekend.  After leaving Evanston Friday afternoon, we got back late last night from a two-day sojourn in the state of Michigan.  There are new quotes on the quotes pages (both regular and QB), and the results of MLK and Ann B. Davis are up.  The CBI campus tournament is also tonight.  Hopefully no one will show up, but if some people do, expect results tomorrow.

    Actually, expect results tonight.  Almost no one showed up, but we did have to go 3-0 against two house teams and a third team consisting of three guys I didn't know and one of our best freshmen.  But we won all three games more or less going away, which means we get a fabulous trip to UW-Whitewater on February 16th.  The results of this largely pointless exercise are here.

January 16, 2002

   Updates ahoy.  I moved the 2001-02 Bowl Picks and Challenge and the 2001-02 NFL Picks to the Largely Outdated section, where they will stay until next year (well, they won't be back, but rather replaced by next year's... but you know what I mean).  I also moved the Poll of the Week archive there, because as far as I'm concerned the poll won't be back.
    I also added a "Contact Flax" page.  I realize 99% of this site's readership has a pretty damn good idea of how to contact me already, but just like New York Lotto, hey, you never know.  As an example, check out the latest entry in the guestbook, which despite its bizarre nature is almost assuredly legitimate.

January 15, 2002

   I keep writing 2001.  Or at least I keep writing dates like "1.15.01" as I did today in astronomy.  Bah.

    Reasons why Media Construction II (280) is better than Media Construction (180):
    1. The lectures don't involve showing films that might relate to a certain subject; they involve the equipment we'll be working with.
    2. The lectures relate to the labs.
    3. We get to use actual video equipment in lab.

    Which brings me to the amusing story of today, the first lab.  We were given cameras and a time frame of 12:30-2:15 to shoot whatever.   After shooting whatever for about 30 minutes, John and I spent the next 30 minutes at Norris eating lunch, as neither of us had had anything all day.  When we went back outside to shoot more, we were tracked down and it transpired that while we'd been inside, everyone else had gone back to Louis and looked at their footage, which put us in the big "uh-oh" zone.
    We had to show the group what we'd shot, which thankfully was not terrible, although when the part we'd shot in Norris of me eating salad came up, John earned several credits toward his B.S. degree and I practiced chuckling nervously.
    But at least we're not using still cameras.

January 10, 2002

   Hard to believe I haven't updated in three days.  Oh well.  Just a week after the Bowl Challenge ended with Marc's repeat as champion (though he hasn't gotten his money yet because of two nameless people who know who they are), it's time for the official announcement that, yes, the BigFlax.com NCAA Tournament Challenge will be back.  Last year's payout?  $75.  Whether I'll get fifteen people again this year remains to be seen, but I can dream, can't I?   The first gif banner ad for it is also up at the top of this page (I assume you've already seen it).

January 7, 2002

   I can't believe it's only been one day since I wrote that last update.  Jesus.  Anyway, the NFL Picks competition is finally over officially, and I won by a whopping ten picks, 163-85 to 153-95.  I'd lost the last couple weeks, allowing Dave to get within striking distance but an 11-4 record in the last week (next to his 7-8) sealed it up.  Ah, fitting revenge for my huge choke of last year.

January 6, 2002

   Back in Evanston after another long train ride.  This one wasn't quite so bad because I wasn't expecting nearly as much.  It should be noted, though, that my sleep for the night absolutely sucked.   Here it is in a nutshell.
    9:45 PM ET: I go to sleep.
    10:45 PM ET: We stop in Pittsburgh.  I wake up.
    11:00 PM ET: I fall asleep again just before we leave Pittsburgh.
    2:00 AM ET: After what feels like a whole night of sleep, I wake up to realize we have only hit Akron.
    5:30 AM CT: Not feeling tired, I give up on the rest of the night, only to fall asleep again here.
    6:30 AM CT: I wake up for the third and last time as we stop in Hammond-Whiting.

    Exciting, huh?  Rest assured I will not be taking the train again anytime soon if it can be avoided (and oh, can it).  It's not that it was that bad; it's just that it wasn't good enough to justify the extra $500 and 17-18 hours.  At least we got into Chicago 45 minutes early this morning.   Woo-hoo.

January 3, 2002

   New movie review: The Majestic.

    Absolutely hilarious moment at J.P. Lee's today.   Redd and Gabby and I are sitting there, and there's this couple at the table behind us.  (I'll avoid using names here on the really off chance that they'd mean anything to anyone who would ever see this page.  Anyway.)  The manager comes over and talks to the guy, who I guess he knew, and he mentions a name.  The guy seems confused.  Then he says, "Oh, my wife.  No, this is my girlfriend."   I was trying not to crack up - and you might think it was a joke but I swear this guy looked absolutely mortified.  After the manager went away, the guy sat there for the whole rest of the time looking really guilty.  Hysterical fun.

January 1, 2002

   Happy New Year and all that.

    Last year the BigFlax.com Bowl Challenge also came down to the wire, but then it was everyone.  This year, with three games left, the race appears to be down to Marc (17) and Rudnik (18).  The game that will decide everything will be the Rose Bowl - if Miami wins, Marc ties and wins by the rule that says you must have picked the Rose Bowl winner to have a valid tiebreaker entry; if Nebraska wins, Rudnik sails away and wins by two.  Marc won last year, you may recall, so an added storyline is his chance to defend the Andrew C. Reinbold Trophy (pending Drew's 70-cent sponsorship fee).

    Also read my none-too-favorable Harry Potter review, the first of the New Year and an attempt to avoid grade inflation. (Ed Koch voice) How'm I doin'?

There's more! View last month's updates.

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© 2002 Barren Malt Fox Productions

This page last updated: Monday, April 15, 2002 08:12:27 PM