I Called In Sick Today

[Napa_Don 688]

if all else fails, just email your school and say you're in computer sci. I emailed KU from a gmail account claiming to be in business and their response included login credentials...

Our schools is setup that it goes off of class lists and you just use your normal account info to access it.

[strategy 4]

Hmm - what does Mike think of this?

everything I've heard about their time in Hamburg is exactly the opposite of bonding and practice time. For example, "One time Paul had a chick in bed and John came in and got a pair of scissors and cut all her clothes into pieces and then wrecked the wardrobe. He got like that occasionally, it was because of the pills and being up too long."consider that in conjunction with all the quotes from the guys about changing lyrics because nobody in the crowd could possibly hear the words... I just think gladwell ought to have found a different example.

[strategy 4]

And Strat, what do you mean they weren't a great live band? You're really wrong. And even if your point is correct, it's still their years of practising that allowed them to be a great studio band, isn't it?

I repeat: they were a studio band.

[Bizzle 0]

everything I've heard about their time in Hamburg is exactly the opposite of bonding and practice time. For example, "One time Paul had a chick in bed and John came in and got a pair of scissors and cut all her clothes into pieces and then wrecked the wardrobe. He got like that occasionally, it was because of the pills and being up too long."consider that in conjunction with all the quotes from the guys about changing lyrics because nobody in the crowd could possibly hear the words... I just think gladwell ought to have found a different example

"We got better and got more confidence. We couldn't help it with all the experience playing all night long. It was handy them being foreign. We had to try even harder, put our heart and soul into it, to get ourselves over.In Liverpool, we'd only ever done one-hour sessions, and we just used to do our best numbers, the same ones, at every one. In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours, so we really had to find a new way of playing."

[jeff_536 3]

everything I've heard about their time in Hamburg is exactly the opposite of bonding and practice time. For example, "One time Paul had a chick in bed and John came in and got a pair of scissors and cut all her clothes into pieces and then wrecked the wardrobe. He got like that occasionally, it was because of the pills and being up too long."consider that in conjunction with all the quotes from the guys about changing lyrics because nobody in the crowd could possibly hear the words... I just think gladwell ought to have found a different example.

So because the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin were tearing up hotel rooms, they weren't good live musicians. I'm not sure John cutting up a skank's clothes means they couldn't put in an 8-hour session that night.

[strategy 4]

So because the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin were tearing up hotel rooms, they weren't good live musicians. I'm not sure John cutting up a skank's clothes means they couldn't put in an 8-hour session that night.

You're missing the point, sir. I never said they weren't a great live band... I'm sure they were. But their practice in that regard had little to do with the revolutionary music they went on to create in the studio. Playing a bunch of cover songs 8 hours a day, 7 days a week does not lead to the amazing art they produced with george martin.Do you guys have any idea how many bands we'd have like the beatles if that were true?

[jeff_536 3]

You're missing the point, sir. I never said they weren't a great live band... I'm sure they were. But their practice in that regard had little to do with the revolutionary music they went on to create in the studio. Playing a bunch of cover songs 8 hours a day, 7 days a week does not lead to the amazing art they produced with george martin.Do you guys have any idea how many bands we'd have like the beatles if that were true?

And that comes back to Gladwell's point about innate talent. No matter how much you shoot hoops in your driveway, you'll never be Michael Jordan. Conversely, I might be the greatest song-writer ever, but I put no time, effort and practise into it, so my skills will never be honed.

[Bizzle 0]

You're missing the point, sir. I never said they weren't a great live band... I'm sure they were. But their practice in that regard had little to do with the revolutionary music they went on to create in the studio. Playing a bunch of cover songs 8 hours a day, 7 days a week does not lead to the amazing art they produced with george martin.Do you guys have any idea how many bands we'd have like the beatles if that were true?

1.You seem to be thinking that Gladwell is arguing that the only thing that separates the Beatles from other bands is this experience that they had-he isn't. He's saying it's one of the things that is separating them from other bands, that the fact that in the first 5 years that they formed they played an estimated 1200 live dates, a number a modern band wouldn't come close to touching. The idea behind Outliers is that success is preceded by a set of opportunities being laid before someone that aren't common. For the Beatles, his position is that the Hamburg crucible was their uncommon opportunity.And based on the quote I posted on the previous page, at least one Beatle seems to agree.

[loogie 115]

Dewey Dewey

Oh, baby said we gotta go.

[strategy 4]

For the Beatles, his position is that the Hamburg crucible was their uncommon opportunity.And based on the quote I posted on the previous page, at least one Beatle seems to agree.

Read the anthology book... you'll come away with a different impression. I'm just repeating myself at this point.

[speedz99 145]

So wait...what Gladwell and you guys are saying is that the more you practice something, the better you get at it? Please, go on.

this is a very mediocre videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99E16w0PxCA

First you post that unfunny video, and now you go ahead and...TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!

[Ron_Mexico 4,219]

So at gymnastics class Today as I'm picking up two of the kids - my wife tells my oldest not to let our dog lick her. Sort or strange. We get home and my kid says "why was my rock (tombstone) for the chinchilla moved?". I go out and there is actually a hole where the chin was buried. My daughter puts two and two together; calls Mom and says "did the dog dig up our poor chin?!". So the story comes out that she caught the dog digging, pushed him away but he had already uncovered the bones/worms/maggots of the chin and it smelled pretty bad. She dropped off the chin in the park two blocks away. My kid says "did you bury him? you didn't put him in the trash did you?". I told my wife - you should have filled in the hole and put the rock back on top...Also, the dog figured out how to get out of the crate the other day. He actually pulled the metal gate back with his teeth and popped it out. I came home to a dog wandering around our household - no real damage though which was nice of him. Just turned over waste cans. He seems to be ok being left alone in the backyard but I'm pretty sure he can scale the six foot fenceif he was so moved.

do I even need to write it at this point?

I'm expecting something epic for your 20,000th post.

I'm expecting you're going to be disappointed.

I'm expecting you to be disappointed.

Clearly, I'm not alone in my thinking

Yes, he's a great dog - some of his good points1. He greets any family member with a wolf howl and wagging tail when we return back to the abode. especially if they have a chinchilla pelt around their neck2. He's very good with kids as they can cover him, wrestle him, brush him, roughhouse with him with nary an aggressive response back. as long as their covered in their protective bear urine3. Whether at the dinner table or in front of the TV, he'll join us just content to lie down at our feet and be part of the familyunless of course we're eating a meal with meat that he killed with his own jaws4. He goes to bed (various corners of our oldest kid's bedroom) when we go to bed Unless of course anything in the house moves5. He obeys (most of) our commands when we're around (by himself, he'll do what he wants obviously) Unless of course we are saying "please keep the other family pets out of your mouth"6. Most of the time, he's a low energy dog so he doesn't require constant attention at all Until he's shredding the life out of furry, woodland creatures, then he's got some energy7. He rarely barks so I'm sure our neighbors appreciate that. The neighbors may appreciate it, but the prey he sneaks up on certainly don't appreciate itAs for his separation anxiety, it looks like the best fix maybe to put him in the backyard as the worst he can do is dig up various plants (he hasn't yet). I'm worried about him being stolen or jumping the fence and getting hit by a car of course (it only takes one time). Also, the cats in our neighborhood are not the smartest as on our daily walks, many will be lying/sitting on their driveways and don't even move when they see our dog (if he wasn't on a leash, good bye cat).One other dog story. I was walking him in the park the other day and I see this Lab being walked by a four year old. The lab sees Rhody and runs over (kid drops the leash of course) snarling and lunging which my dog of course reciprocates. So I'm holding onto Rhody by his leash and the other dog is running around trying to bite Rhody. The dog's owner comes running over (our neighbor as it turns out from a couple of doors down) but the four year old (not the neighbor's kid - never did see the parent) is trying to get between the dogs to get them to stop fighting (talk about a bad idea).Luckily, my dog is a big pussy I have one chinchilla carcass that will testify against this statement directly

[Sal Paradise 57]

well I certainly wasn't disappointed with number 19,996!

[strategy 4]

So wait...what Gladwell and you guys are saying is that the more you practice something, the better you get at it? Please, go on.

I'm sure he makes a bunch of good points, I just happen to disagree with the emphasis he used in the video. I haven't read his latest, but I will at some point.

[Tactical Bear 3]

I have long felt that the biggest bulwark to success in a given arena -- be it writing, doing the nasty, playing an instrument, or being sweet at Halo -- is a simple lack of practice. People don't like doing stuff they aren't good at, and people hate working to get better. When I was younger, I decided I wanted to be a decent writer. I never had any grand ambitions, but I was told from a young age that I had at least some talent. (My 4th grade English teacher told me with tears in her eyes that I could be the next Hemingway when I wrote -- and subsequently was forced to stand, humiliated, in front of the 30 people and read aloud -- a throwaway, bullshit, written-in-class-in-like-30-minutes essay called "I am A Tree Climber." I am, in no uncertain terms, not a tree climber. I have never climbed trees, and the few times I've tried I've been absolute rubbish. I just made some stuff up, and every few sentences repeated -- set apart, a paragraph unto itself, for melodramatic effect -- "I am a tree climber." It was horrible, and I was pretty much terrified of writing anything until I was 12 or 13, because: Jesus Christ Mrs. Whipple that was crap.) In 8th grade my English teacher told me I could be a good writer, but I would have to write. A lot. I didn't know how to do that. How do you just write? And then, years and years later, I came here and wrote all sorts of nonsense and goofed around, and at some point in the last few years I went from "fringe-average" to "solidly-above-average" as a writer, and am confident that if I ever wanted to be a good writer I would just have to work at it. In short, I absolutely agree with Mr. Gladwell on this issue, if I'm understanding it correctly. Anybody with a spark of talent just has to train himself. Sooner or later, you'll see every situation so many times and have such a perfect understanding of what you're doing that you will, without even noticing, become very, very good at it.As many people here might know, poker is a great example of this. I was never all that talented as a poker player, but I played so many hands that I was just better than the people at my table, 99.999% of the time.

[speedz99 145]

I was always above average at most things, great at nothing. I practiced, I just seem to have a strange ceiling that is easy to get to but near impossible to breach.

[Tactical Bear 3]

I was always above average at most things, great at nothing. I practiced, I just seem to have a strange ceiling that is easy to get to but near impossible to breach.

Welcome to the club. It's taken me 26 years, but I've learned that the condition is a combination of (a) psychological neurosis and (b) a level of intelligence that allows us to understand the difference between "good" and "great."EDIT- Also: self loathing.

[Dawson Leery 12]

So, I just got a call from my mom.Awhile back I posted the story about how I received some award from the governor for saving my mom's life. Well, along with that award the American Red Cross gave me an award, too. I had to accept it in front of some big conference as well as in front of my high school. I guess that there is some new legislation that says all high schoolers have to be CPR certified to graduate come 2011 and they want me to be in some movie which I can only assume is some sort of educational video that will be shown to these high schoolers. I'm a little torn because it took me awhile to come to terms with that whole ordeal and don't know if I really want to relive that whole story on camera for the whole world (maybe not whole world) to see. On the other hand, I am a firm believer that CPR is an invaluable skill to know, for obvious reasons, and it would be pretty cool to maybe make some kid pay attention a little more and then maybe save another life. I don't know, just kind of rambling a little bit.

I'll go ahead and get your list of demands for the production company ready, but I think this should be a team effort.Napa's demands:1. 16 year old fluffer waiting in your trailer at all times.2. A trailer (see demand #1)3. Any sick thread member has the option to co-star, provided they write in their own scene.4. Matthew Lilliard as a co-star, and Wang and I get a half hour of the movie to make fun of his little cock.5. Sal's roof get fixed6. An abundance of keystone light, patron, high school girls, and Plan B pills.7. Loogie/Wang/JJJ write the scriptThat's all I've got for now...feel free to add to the list

[Dawson Leery 12]

Note: #5 is negotiableEdit: #8. McNuggets for McMexico

[speedz99 145]

Welcome to the club. It's taken me 26 years, but I've learned that the condition is a combination of (a) psychological neurosis and (B) a level of intelligence that allows us to understand the difference between "good" and "great."EDIT- Also: self loathing.

Ok, first of all, I'm 28, so YOU don't welcome ME to the club, I welcome you. Welcome, buddy.But I don't know if I agree with you, although I've had those thoughts before. I just don't have the perfect combination of abilities to become great at anything. I'm pretty smart, but my attention span is nowhere near good enough to truly excel in any academic discipline (plus I'm not LLY smart). I have good hand-eye coordination and a great (if I may say so myself) sense of how to attack an opponent's weaknesses, but my fast twitch muscles are non-existent no matter how much I work on it, so I'll never dominate any sport. I'm kind of funny, but my mind doesn't process fast enough to really impress anyone with my wit. Etc.My only real shot at greatness would be in the "game" category...pool, darts, foosball, beirut, bocce etc. I'm good enough to beat everyone I know at all those things (I've never met anyone that can beat me at a majority of them), but the whole attention span thing once again kills me (also, who cares about those games, really)...I would never have the patience to spend 10,000 hours doing any one thing. And one could argue that attention span is just a mind over matter thing and therefore shouldn't count as a natural ability (or lack thereof), but anyone who says that is...well, wrong. ADD isn't just an excuse to get fun drugs, brain chemistry is a hellova thing.That's why being a vet will be perfect for me. You get to have fun seeing healthy animals for regular checkups. You get to see interesting cases when sick animals come in. You get to perform surgeries on a regular basis, but not every single day. You can complain about a lot of things at a small animal hospital, but it's never boring. I'm rambling.

[Tactical Bear 3]

I'll go ahead and get your list of demands for the production company ready, but I think this should be a team effort.Napa's demands:1. 16 year old fluffer waiting in your trailer at all times.2. A trailer (see demand #1)3. Any sick thread member has the option to co-star, provided they write in their own scene.4. Matthew Lilliard as a co-star, and Wang and I get a half hour of the movie to make fun of his little ****.5. Sal's roof get fixed6. An abundance of keystone light, patron, high school girls, and Plan B pills.7. Loogie/Wang/JJJ write the scriptThat's all I've got for now...feel free to add to the list

I am on board. I imagine the script will be written by Joey and myself -- one of us writes a section, it's sent to the other for approval, changes are made, back and forth until it's finalized -- and then sent to Loogie, so he can punch it up. He'll fix the jokes that don't work, add one-liners, eliminate the sections that are stupid, and basically be John Lennon to the JJJ/Wang Paul McCartney. Loogie brings the sharp edge. If you need anybody to represent you as advocate, please direct those requests to the firm of Dawson-Wang.

[strategy 4]

I don't know of anyone who believes you can be great at something without practice. I hope you guys don't believe I think that.

[speedz99 145]

Ok, so I'm thinking of a quote from a tv show (possibly a movie)...a male character mumbles this line, which doesn't really make all that much sense even within the context of the show (it's a weird callback). Anyways, it's, "'Cause you can't _____ a ____ without practice."Anyone? The full quote or the source? It's really bothering me now. Maybe Scrubs?

[brvheart 1,752]

I just don't want to get into anything I can't undo. Didn't you see Fatal Attraction? Well I saw it, and it scared the shit out of me. It scared the shit out of every man in America.

You were like 3 when this movie came out, no?

I know how many people have downloaded it.the number is zero.

I did.

That's fine.currently downloading windows 7 professional (retail) from this website:http://www.msdnaa.net/search/schoolsearch.aspxI emailed my university for login details. Completely free, though I probably paid for it with my tuition. Nice of ... some completely random Internet message board person to tell me about this. Not a word about this program was ever mentioned at KU.

if all else fails, just email your school and say you're in computer sci. I emailed KU from a gmail account claiming to be in business and their response included login credentials...

So you're saying that you could just make another gmail account and ask the same office for a login and then forward it to me. Thanks!

[strategy 4]

You were like 3 when this movie came out, no?I did.So you're saying that you could just make another gmail account and ask the same office for a login and then forward it to me. Thanks!

I was quoting tom hanks in sleepless in seattle.you are a lazy thief.