Randomly Psychic

Yesterday for some reason my mind was wandering back to a few years ago when I watched a band performance at my kid's middle school. She played trumpet in the band and Matt played this solo that his dad wrote on the snare drum. It was transfixing, completely unforgettable. I just thought "wow, that matt and his dad are so talented, that was such a good performance... loved listening to that... it's so cool how his dad wrote it and he ends up with that much talent and love for the same instrument, what are the chances of that..." and just kind of smiled to myself remembering that. No reason at all, completely random, then I checked Register-Guard which I only do once in awhile and read this today:

Published: Monday, May 8, 2006

Springfield freshman wins state musical competition

Matthew Keown, a freshman at Springfield High School, won the Rudimental Snare competition at the Oregon School Activities Association State Solo competition, held April 29 in Salem. The event featured high school musicians competing in 30 categories, covering all instruments and voice. The awards are the highest honors available to high school musicians in Oregon.

Keown also placed second in the state in multiple percussion, third in orchestral snare and fifth in mallets. For his winning solo, Keown performed "Mach V," a piece written by his father, Alan Keown. His percussion instructors are his father and Chris Whyte, a graduate percussion student at the University of Oregon. Keown performs with the Springfield High School band, Fusion Percussion Theatre in Salem, the Oregon Crusaders Drum & Bugle Corps in Portland and the Eugene Youth Symphony.

So happy for Matt of course but, why can't I ever think to myself just randomly, oh say the Lottery Numbers or something actually useful? Who knows, at least I don't have random crimes popping into my head like on Medium. Great show btw.

US Moms, Worth $134,121 a Year (but give it away for free)

http://www.mom.salary.com

They have a cute little wizard that calculates what you should be getting paid as a stay-at-home mom. It says I should make $145,000.... but offers no practical application for this study (of a whopping 400 moms, pshaw) like maybe how to start supporting stay at home parents in a tangible way. Like, maybe with actual cash. Or why it is you can be proficient at a job that virtually is worth 6 figures, but if you go out to work in the actual real world, you can only make a fraction of that based on your skills/gender/experience. A fraction that won't cover child care costs and leave anything left over to make it worth it.

It's like a little Mother's Day IN YOUR FACE study... Thank-you salary.com, no really. That "thank-you" was worth $1,000,000, but only in pretend $$$ so don't try and take it to the bank.

How about a day where all the mom's walk out to demonstrate how economy would come to a screeching halt w/o us. Actually, how about a week? I could take a month off and not use up all the back vacation my non-vocation should have earned me by now :)

Regis' audience boo's Aruba trip giveaway

I was slightly amused when Regis spun the wheel for their daily giveaway game, "Live's Secret Wild Travel Trivia 2" and as it rolled to a stop on Divi Village Golf and Beach Resort, Aruba, the audience who had been cheering along just went dead silent.

Regis sat there and got a strained look on his face and said "Uhhhh.." and then just sat straight faced. He actually looked pissed, like he was forming a pink slip list in his head, leaving it up to his wife Joy to read the prize aloud to the contestant on the phone and then the audience actually booed!! LOL!

Then the contestant got the right answer and they went into the actual promo for the 7 day trip valued at $4800, and the narrator starts off ... "Aruba, Where Happiness Lives..."

It's the little things that make my day. What can I say?

We All Use Math Everday...everyday ... everyday...

I LOVE Numb3rs... not such a huge fan of Math. I am sure I've had days where I didn't use any math at all (not that I could prove it but I feel that it must be true). This is for you if you like either.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/ti/

In partnership with CBS, and working in association with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), TI has created an educational outreach program promoting the many uses of mathematics and supporting math teaching. The program includes TI and NCTM-developed math education activities for teachers and students based on the "NUMB3RS" TV show. The activities will be based on the mathematics presented in each episode.