Weekend Wrap-up Aug. 26, 2006

Pluto is demoted
Poor planet Pluto. One minute it was a full-fledged planet with all the rights and responsibilities inherent within, the next minute, it's demoted to a mere "dwarf". What did Pluto ever do to those planet defining people that it had to be publicly humiliated in this way? Was this committee really necessary? They spent all this time and money just to demote poor Pluto? Isn't there a cure for the common cold that they could instead be spending their time on?

What I find particularly odd in the attached article above is this statement: " 'I'm of course disappointed that Xena will not be the 10th planet, but I definitely support the IAU in this difficult and courageous decision,' says Brown." Can anyone tell me what was particularly courageous about demoting Pluto? Was the committee afraid of a backlash from native Plutonians who had a vested interest in maintaining their planetary status?

Perhaps the category of "dwarf planet" was meant as a sort of compromise, but it's still a demotion, and I can still imagine the native Plutonians not being particularly happy about this decision. Along with the loss of pride and prestige, now they'll also have to go change their signs to stop saying "Most distant planet in the solar system".

School starts at my workplace
Yep, the university where I work got the ball rolling on the start of its fall semester. I look forward to the starts of semesters. On the one hand, it's kind of sad because students that I had gotten to know and like have graduated and moved on, but then a new batch of students comes in to get to know. The students, for the most part, are a great bunch. Yeah, a few are a bit odd, but fortunately, they're few and far between.

Remember, these kids were high school students just a few months ago, so they're bringing in what they've learned in high school up to college. Not just their high school education, but also their views and attitudes that they considered important to keep and bring to college. The whole experience can be a bit overwhelming, and watching these kids come in with their eyes as wide as saucers is actually kinda funny.

Another thing to watch is the latest in high tech gear and fashions that the new batch of freshmen bring in with them. I don't think there is a kid that doesn't have an iPod and a cellphone nowadays. More and more are also now coming with laptops. These kids are wired like no generation before them. And then there's the fashions. I mentioned earlier in the week about the low hanging baggy pants.

There are too many young ladies with hip-hugger jeans whose thong underwear shows above their pants. I don't care how hot they look, it just doesn't look good to have your underwear showing like that. And mini mini jean skirts are also big this year, as well as cleavage. Okay, I'm honest enough to admit that as a guy, I don't really have that much of a problem with nice looking young ladies dressing to look hot, but at the same time, they shouldn't dress like they're auditioning to be in the next "Girls Gone Wild" video.

As for the guys, basic slob is still in. Wrinkled shirts, wrinkled pants or shorts, wrinkled ball cap, even wrinkled faces if they slept wrong last night. Even their sandals are wrinkled, and don't ask me how they got leather sandals wrinkled, because I don't know - and they probably don't know, either. Judging by how often they come in with wrinkled clothes, my guess is that they save on laundry money by simply turning their clothes inside out once they get too gamey on one side.

Fortunately, I like working here, warts and all.

Sports
The Texas Rangers' season is, for all intents and porpoises, over. Blah. I hate this. Every year, it's the same thing: Hot in the first half in the season, then pull a fade in the second half. Fortunately, in the second half is also when football starts to show up, so I'm just going to move this topic to football.

For the Dallas Cowboys, so far, so good. 'Course, it's just preseason, but still, it's nice to see the 'Boys doing well. But I don't think the Cowboys should have gotten Terrell Owens - aka TO. Just from preseason, I can see that he's going to be a distraction, and no team needs that - especially a distraction based on someone's enormous ego. TO claims to be injured - I say let him sit on the sidelines and let him stay there. And if the Boys manage to do well anyway, then he and owner Jerry Jones can stew in their juices as Enormous Ego Man rests his tender hammy. I'm actually looking more forward to college ball, 'cause those kids play because they love to play.

For this football season, I am the commissioner for a fantasy football league, which is a first for me. I decided to set up a league because I got left out last year, and I suffered withdrawl symptoms all season - and I didn't want to go through that again. I'll be keeping you folks up on how I'm doing each week.

Have a great week, folks!