DARWIN DAY

I think that the best thing about Darwin Day is to consider those worthy of a Darwin Award, honoring folks who have self-selected themselves out of the gene pool. It seems to me that the hands down [or more likely, the hands blow off] winner is the Al-Qaeda suicide bomb trainer who blew up himself and 21 would-be terrorists.  In addition to the 22 killed, 23 other 'students' were arrested.  And no, this is not a report from the Onion but rather the New York Times!!

Ooopps- Probably Should Not Have Used Live Explosives

The deep theological question is whether or not these fellows still get their virgins. 

CANTABILE

Made another new-to-me discovery about a local group - Cantabile  Visit their page to listen.

MONEY FOR NUTHIN'

The recent bonus to the CU Athletic Director is just another check mark on the long list of what's wrong with University Division I sports.  As I previously wrote, on a spectacular fall day here in Boulder County, the CU Men's Cross Country Team won their third consecutive PAC-12 Championship.  A few weeks later on a not-so-beautiful day in Indiana, they won the National Cross Country Championship. Rightfully, kudos go to the men who trained for, and peaked at, the right time to win championships.  Kudos also to Coach Wetmore and his assistants for carefully choreographing a TEAM performance.  Anyone who runs know how difficult it is to train hard, avoid injuries, and focus on a specific date with specific goals.

So, who reaps the biggest rewards for such outstanding achievement?  The Athletic Director of course!!  Rick George was paid $40,000 for the team's championships.  Not a bad perq on top of a $700,000 per year base salary.  The Championship Bonus is just one of a total of $8.5 million in possible bonuses - I suppose we can be thankful that the fine print must have prevented the $200,000 bonus for national championships.

I had to think that it only seems reasonable that as the pre-medical and pre-healthcare professional adviser, I should have received a bonus for every student who gained admission to medical, dental or veterinary school or to other PhD or advanced degree programs.  Similar to George, I could have cashed in on my student-scholars performance!!  And like Rick, I too would have been smiling.

GOIN' OUT IN STYLE

Bill Standley loved his Harley, so why not ride it on his trip outta here?  The story can be found here, most of which follows: 

Bill Standley spent many of his years travelling across America atop his 1967 Electra Glide despite eventually settling down in Mechanicsburg, Ohio.

Described as something of a colourful personality, Mr Standley was determined to take the bike with him when he departed, enlisting the help of sons Pete and Roy to create the 9ft-by-11ft plexiglass box.

According to his daughter, Dorothy Brown, the idea for the unique funeral came about 18 years ago when they were discussing what he would do with this bike when he died.

She said: ‘He said “what am I supposed to do? I’ve got two sons, but only one bike”. My sister just off-handedly said “oh dad, just be buried with it”.

‘I think it was about two weeks after that it really hit him – what a great idea. We all still thought he was kidding. Eighteen years later, guess what?’

The rider began his mission to create the genius casket six years ago by buying three burial plots next to his wife Lorna.

He was described by his daughter Dorothy as being a ‘twist of colour on the tweed surface of life’ and a ‘wanderlust’.

A bit of a nomad in his early years, he left his US home at 13 to work as a cattle ranch hand and rodeo rider in the west of the country.

Mr Standley was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s last year and succumbed to lung cancer on Sunday.
One funeral attendee said: ‘Some people walk through the pearly gates, some people ride.’

SUPER BOWL PSYCHIC

Chalk one up for Malibu's Non-Resident Psychic - I predicted that the Broncos would not win the Super Bowl, and indeed the Orange got Crushed.

I won't even comment on the embarrassment of the Broncos - the game speaks for itself.  But, stay tuned to monitor the remaining predictions by Malibu's Non-Resident Psychic.

WEST BOULDER LIVING

I invite you to visit www.westboulderliving.com and the link will always be at the picture of the Flatirons located on the right side of this blog.  West Boulder Living provides a variety of tidbits regarding "the obvious and not-so-obvious joys of living in West Boulder, Colorado."  Grab a cup of coffee, come on over, and visit often.