Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Mondo Update

First things first, let me apologize for my unannounced hiatus last week. It wasn't planned, but it is amazing how a week off can make one's week very full. Okay, I have a ton of observations and comments to make, so let's get right to it.
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An Informal Taste Test


I'm not sure if you've discovered it for yourself, but McDonald's has recently begun selling their new "Southern Style Chicken Sandwich", which is essentially their take on the classic Chik-Fil-A Chicken Sandwich. I was amused by Micky D's nerve in out and out copying the more famous sandwich, but I was also pleasantly surprised in how good the imitator was. To determine just how good it was, as well as to fill up some of my "free time" during the break, I subjected Jennifer to a blind taste test.



I used five categories in our evaluation, although two of these (price and size of sandwich) were objective. For the record, price goes to the McDonald's, but only by five cents, but Chick-Fil-A gets the nod on size, again only by a little. The other three categories were taste of chicken, taste of bun, and overall taste. Also for the record, I took the taste test as well, and McDonald's version won all three categories for me. Jennifer's results were as follows:

Chicken: Chik-Fil-A ("it tasts more like a chicken breast than a chicken patty.")
Bun: McDonald's ("Chik-Fil-A's is butterier, but McDonald's has a 'consistency of flavor'.")
Overall: Chik-Fil-A ("McDonald's tastes more like a sandwich, but Chik-Fil-A tastes like a CHICKEN sandwich.")

Okay, so that is probably as clear as mud, but the short version is that McDonald's new "Southern Style" Chicken Sandwich is at least almost as good as the original Chik-Fil-A sandwich, and you can get it on Sundays, so give it a shot if you get a chance.
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A Vacation Observation

It doesn't matter how relaxing or restful a break is, when the alarm clock goes off at 5:30am the first day back, it is impossible to not wish for one more day off.
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The Mist

Jennifer and I watched the movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist, and I have to say that it was really exceptional. It's still a little early to talk about my favorite movie of 2007, but this is definitely at the front of the pack currently. In the interest of full disclosure, the gore factor is fairly high (although not unusually high for a Horror movie) and there are some language issues, but the movie is haunting in the best use of that word. It is intelligent and provacative, and will leave you thinking about it long after it is over.

Side note. As we were watching the closing credits, we were witness to the manager chewing out the wait staff of our local Sudio Movie Grill. The reason I found this so amusing was that the theme of the "chewing" was how unprofessional the wait staff was. Now, several times during the incident the manager looked over and noticed that two paying customers were still sitting in the theater, yet continued to berate his employees for their lack of professionalism. There is nothing quite like being unprofessional as you critique others on their unprofessionalism.
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MEME (whatever that means)


EDMC tagged me and told me I had to make an acronym out of my middle name with words that describe me. So here goes:

Brooding- Probably not using that word correctly, but I am highly introspective (which could have been my "i" I guess). I'm probably known best as a speaker, either in the pulpit or the classroom, but I tend to be much more reflective and thoughtful than I am sometimes given credit for.

Republican- It's been a while since I've gone into full-tilt annoying conservative mode, but it's virtually an election year, and with KLTY playing Christmas music, I've been listening to alot of Talk Radio.

Inventive- One of the things I'm coming to understand about myself (especially in comparison to some of my students) is that I'm a problem solver. When faced with a complication, whether it is a flat tire or an unresponsive computer, I am capable of coming up with the most ludicrous of out-of-the-box solutions.

Articulate- Me knows lots of big words.

Nerd- I'll steal Joanna's "N". It kind of goes without saying that I'm a comic book geek, but my particular form of nerdiness is special. Reading comics is great, but it doesn't quite match up to the thrill of learning some obscure factoid about a comic universe. Things like the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and Who's Who in the DC Universe are like my drug.
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Okay, I've written more than anybody ever should, so I'm done.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Coming Next, the Southern Baptist Submarine

So, there was nothing interesting to blog about other than my desperate desire to be gone for Thanksgiving, my students even more ardent desire for same (and subsequent poor behavior), and the fact that VRCC actually closed on the new building (I got keys yesterday), but none of these seem particularly blog worthy. Then I went to Fox News and found the following:

Car Company Considers Vehicle Exclusively for Muslims

A national automaker is considering an Iranian proposal to design a car exclusively for Muslims, CNSNEWS.com reported Monday.

Among the features on the proposed vehicle are compasses that point toward Mecca and compartments for the Koran and prayer scarves, CNSNEWS.com reported. Proton, a Malaysia-based car maker, may agree to develop the “Islamic Car.”

“The car will have all the Islamic features and should be meant for export purposes,” Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir told the Malaysian Bernama news agency, adding that with government support, the producers could expect a large volume of orders.

So I'm torn between the decidedly un-PC comment about this Muslim Car having a special place for terrorists to hide their bombs and my very real desire to buy this car just to put my Bible in the compartment reserved for the Koran and Pork Chops in the place the Prayer Scarves will go. Take your pick.

Monday, November 05, 2007

The "Fight"

It's funny how procrastination can work in your favor. I should have blogged about my physical confrontation with a student last week, but I postponed it until this week. Now, many of you will have the context of my pitiable performance at VRCC's "Turkey Bowl" flag football game to back up my story. Long story short, I am somewhat less than graceful. This served me poorly a week or so ago when a student decided that he just had to get into a fight right in front of my classroom door about five minutes before first period started. I stepped in between the student and his intended victim to encourage him to get to class, but he was not disuaded. He continued to verbally challenge the other student, so I started to "herd" him towards the office. Suddenly, he decided to charge towards the (much smaller) student that he had a problem with and I stepped in his way a second time. This time he shoved into me hard and tried to move me out of his way. I stood my ground, but as was demonstrated on Sunday, it is difficult to get my girth to change direction once I get my momentum going. Long story short, he side stepped me, and I tripped and fell. Somewhere in the melee, I earned the war wounds you see in the picture above.

Alright, now here is where my ego is getting the better of me. I was on the ground no longer than two seconds. I immediately got up, confronted the student again, and successfully restrained him until the principal arrived to escort the student to the office. Almost immediately, however, the story spread how "Mr. Hylemon was dropped" by a student. Now, in all honesty I could care less what a bunch of kids think of my fighting prowess (like this is really a measure of my worth as a man or a teacher), but I became more troubled throughout the day and since the incident by the number of my co-workers who were not present for the event coming to me and asking me with deathly seriousness, "Are you okay?" and sympathizing with me how "wild" the kids are this year. It seems somehow overly defensive to protest that the situation was overblown, that I was a victim of my own clumsiness and not of an ill behaved child, so I let the comments go, but that feels just as wrong, as it's only adding credence to the erroneously reported version of events.

So, that is the story of my first big school "fight" and the resulting fallout. To be honest with you, I'm kind of over it now and I only mentioned it because I promised to do so. Next week I'll have something more entertaining.