"Biophilus" is roughly Greek for "loving life", an attitude that I try to keep with me at all times. I am a masters student at Middle Tennessee State University and was homeschooled for 12 years. Homeschooling is a passion of mine, but this blog features all sorts of random things that catch my attention. I have a lot of interests, and there's really no telling what you might find here. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:09:00 -0500 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:09:00 -0500 I just had to share this amazing photo of Prince Fielder. I think he's trying to fly away or something. Oh BTW... nice skivvies, Prince. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/611243/ Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/611243/ Wish I could have been sitting on the front row for this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnXOLoOSbvc http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/610284/ Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:50:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/610284/ The Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks will be playing an outdoor game this season and will be wearing special uniforms for the occasion. Neither one of these is a strict throwback. They both have some slight changes from the originals. But that doesn't make them any less awesome. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/610257/ Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/610257/ I saw this bumper sticker on a car on campus the other day, and I must say that it scares me. If dissent is truly the highest form of patriotism, then that would imply that a true patriot would always be dissenting, regardless of whether the government was right or wrong. Now, I have no problem with dissension when it's for a good cause. If the government is doing something that you think is wrong, then by all means raise your voice in opposition. But dissent merely for its own sake is immature and childish. Simply stand up for what you believe in. If the government is doing something right, support them. If they're doing something wrong, oppose them. The issue is not whether you're dissenting or not. The issue is finding the truth and the moral high ground. Do what you think is right, but don't raise hell just for the sheer thrill of raising hell. That's just stupid. [Image by CafePress] http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/610246/ Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/610246/ I was watching Neil Cavuto today on Fox, and he was making a huge deal out of how Nickelodeon's kids' poll had Obama 2 points ahead of McCain. (The Real Clear Politics average of all the national polls had Obama up by 5.7 points today.) Cavuto's argument was that kids decide who they like based on what they pick up from their parents. So maybe a lot of people are telling pollsters that they'll vote for Obama but are privately supporting McCain at home. Their kids then pick up on that and say that they like McCain better. It's an interesting argument, but I think it's completely wrong. I believe the reason you see the difference between the kid polls and the adult polls is because so many of Obama's supporters are young people who don't have any kids yet. To me, that does a much better job of explaining the discrepancy. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/608210/ Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:54:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/608210/ Yesterday, I put up my idea of a good motivational speech to give the Rays going into Game 7... ----- You guys remember the Yankees of the '90s? Remember the whole "mystique and aura" thing? Remember how nobody could beat them? How it seemed like God was on their side and there was just nothing anyone could do to take them down? A team could be up on them by 5 runs, but they'd score a couple and start coming back, and everything would fall apart. The other team would say, "Here we go again. We can't do this. They're the freaking Yankees." And they'd give up. Now do you remember the Diamondbacks of 2001? They went into the World Series against the unstoppable Yankees and then watched their star closer throw two games away. Talk about mystique and aura. It was over. The Yanks had done it again. Through whatever supernatural forces they channeled, they were going to win yet another World Series. But the Diamondbacks didn't give up. They took a look at the Yankees and said, "You know what? These guys are baseball players just like we are. That's it. And if we were good enough to get this far, then by golly, we're good enough to beat them. And they did it. They even came from behind in Game 7 to do it because they didn't let the Yankees scare them. Now the Red Sox are the Yankees of this decade. They paid their dues by coming back from down 3-0 to beat the Yankees and then won two World Series. And now they're in everyone's heads. They pulled out all the stops and came back from 7 runs down to beat us, and last night you were scared of them. You feel like you're fighting against destiny. The Red Sox are the Red Sox, and that's it. You can't beat the Red Sox. Well, let me tell you something. They're just baseball players like you are. And over the course of 25 innings, you outscored them 29-5. If you were good enough to do that, then you're good enough to win this series. Now go out there, look them in the face, and beat them down! ----- Maybe they read it... [Getty photos] http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/607428/ Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/607428/ I don't know if anyone noticed this, but something amazing happened yesterday. Not only did UT win a conference game, but they put up 34 points on offense! Yes, it was against Mississippi St., but it's something to build on. And Mississippi St. did beat Vandy last week, so they might not be that bad of a team. Virginia beat North Carolina at home yesterday, and their fans stormed the field. You know what that tells me? It tells me UNC's football program has arrived. (It also tells me that the ACC is the most bizarre and unpredictable conference.) My little pipe dream of Vandy winning the SEC looks dead after they lost to Georgia. But that's OK. They've put up a really good show so far this year, and I have no problem rooting for Georgia anyway. Mark Richt is one of my favorite people in college football. Alabama may be ranked #2 in the nation, but they're soft. I guarantee you that somewhere along the way they'll lose a game they should have won. They keep letting up on teams like Kentucky and Mississippi, and it's gonna come back and bite them sooner or later. Maybe the Vols will do it? (I can dream.) Meanwhile, Penn St. just keeps thrashing the rest of their conference. Let's see... they beat Illinois by 2 touchdowns. They beat Purdue by 2 touchdowns. They beat Wisconsin by 41 points. (That's, um, 5 touchdowns and 2 field goals.) And then there was yesterday's 46-17 butchering of Michigan. Lions and Longhorns in the BCS championship game. You heard it here first. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606946/ Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606946/ I was joking with a former student of mine today about her inability to spell. (She's really not that bad, but she worries about it.) Next time I see her, I'll tell her that it's OK; she can always get a job designing campaign advertisements. Unfortunately, I can't find it on YouTube (hopefully, someone will put it up), but Barack Obama's latest ad comparing John McCain to George Bush has some text in it that says "presidental debate". Way to go there, my man. *applause* http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606853/ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606853/ This is Jonathan Papelbon after Boston's Game 5 victory over the Rays... Exactly what is he doing???  [Getty photo] http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606811/ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606811/ Thanks for all the comments, Joyce. I had fun reading all of them... and you compelled me to address a common misunderstanding :-) There's this odd myth going around (particularly in the southwestern parts of this great nation) that the potency of a scorpion's venom is inversely proportional to its size. In other words, the smaller the scorpion, the more dangerous it is. The way it got started is because of two common species that live in Arizona. One of them is the Arizona desert hairy scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis)... [photo by Daniel Estabrooks] The other one is the Arizona bark scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus), which looks like this... [photo by Matt Reinbold] The Arizona desert hairy is more than twice the size of the bark scorpion, but the bark scorpion has a much more potent sting. It doesn't usually require hospitalization, but it has killed people in rare instances, and it will cause you a great deal of pain and other uncomfortable sensations. (Don't ask me how I know this.) Of course, the problem here is that we're making a generalization based on two species. There are 38 species (give or take a few, depending on current taxonomy) in Arizona, and the Arizona bark scorpion is the only one that's potentially dangerous to humans. And even though it's less than half the size of the Arizona desert hairy, it's actually bigger than almost all the other species in the state. So size doesn't mean anything in Arizona. The best approach is to just learn what the Arizona bark scorpion looks like, and then you know that anything else is safe. And it doesn't work in the rest of the world either. The scorpion responsible for the most human deaths is the North African fat-tailed scorpion (Androctonus australis)... [Photo by Daniel Estabrooks] This species is bigger than almost anything in the United States (though not quite as large as the desert hairies), so, again, the myth is disproven. And just for the record, Joyce, nothing in the Carlsbad area is dangerous :-) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606619/ Sat, 18 Oct 2008 11:15:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/biophilus/606619/