8/8/08

So, I have a confession to make. I'm a nerd. Totally geeky. How geeky, you ask? Last night a couple friends and I got together for pizza, beer, and the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. I love all these Olympic. In fact, in bums me out that I'm not home right now, glued to the TV. Because I'm sharing a house right now with about 15 people, I can't have a monopoly over the TV. And oh yeah, I'm also doing lots and lots of stats homework.

Anyway, here's where the geek part comes in. While my friends and I were sitting there talking about how much we loved the Olympics, I was trying to think of ways to tie it into my research. Seriously. I actually gave some thought to this. And shared it with my friends. So, here's what I was thinking: When did the Olympics become political? In the past, countries have boycotted, athletes have demonstrated, and then there was the massacre in Munich in 1972. This year, demonstrators staged protests during the Olympic torch relay runs. And, Iraq almost didn't get to go to the Olympics. All right, I might be missing other events, but I'll move on.

Let's talk about citizenship and representation of a country. Many athletes (Michael Phleps, Shawn Johnson) are citizens of their home countries, train there, and represent their home countries. However, there are several (Adam Harris, Yao Ming) with dual citizenship and choose to represent a country other than the one in which they live and train. What does this say about allegiance, membership, and identity?

Finally, (and this is my personal favorite and gripe) this is what I have to say to the media: enough about all the mothers on the Olympic team. Seriously. Just stop it. Now, I'm a fan of Jennie Finch and Dara Torres too. Really, I think they're just great. But surely there are men (Bryan Clay) who are also combining fatherhood, training, and the Olympics. Where are they? As long as the media focuses on mothers, it exacerbates the notion that raising children is still a woman's job and not a man's. By glorifying Finch and Torres (but not Clay), the media is sending the message that they are extraordinary because they have been able to become Olympians despite being full time mothers. In contrast, Clay is not considered extraordinary because fatherhood is STILL considered to be a part time endeavor, and it is assumed that he has a partner (wife) who assumes child rearing responsibilities. So, the media may be doing something good (showing that women can be both athletes AND mothers), but it is still reinforcing gender roles and stereotypes by focusing on the accomplishments of the mothers and not the fathers.

All right, more on this later. I have to go do stats homework now.

cookies, cookies, cookies

Two super cool things happened today. First, I wrote a computer program that does Ordinary Least Squares. That's right, I don't need Stata, SPSS, SAS, or R to do OLS- today I made my own statistical package. I know that this means nothing to most of you, but it is seriously cool. Second, I just found out that one of my ICPSR friends is friends with the masterminds behind Insomnia Cookies. This company was started by some mastermind undergrads at the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. What began as a late night cookie-baking enterprise among friends morphed into a genius business plan that became Insomnia Cookies. Cookies are freshly baked straight out of this giant blue van, and the company's goal is to provide an alternative to greasy late night snacks. They even deliver- but sadly, not to California. Insomnia Cookies can be found on about a dozen college campuses throughout the United States. I found this franchise stationed outside the Michigan Union:
These cookies are so good- soft, warm comfort food. There are quite a few varieties of cookies- chocolate chunk, sugar, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, macademia nut- and brownies too. I ate the chocolate chunk cookie, and it was probably one of the best that I've ever eaten.

I told LD about Insomnia Cookies, and I said that I might drop out of grad school to bake cookies. (He did point out that the company does have franchise opportunities.) When the political science department decided to support me in learning statistics at ICPSR, I'm sure that it did not intend for me to go to Michigan and decide to change career goals. So, in case I do wind up baking cookies out of a giant blue van, I will be sure to put my newly acquired statistical skills to good use. (Maybe I can design a study that examines cookie preferences.) Oh, and I'll supply the department with a lifetime supply of cookies, which might actually be a good deal. After all, my cookie services will stop when I finish the program- and I don't intend for that to take a lifetime.

The Smokin Fez Monkeys and Mustard's Retreat

Last night, we went to The Ark, this venue in downtown Michigan featuring daily performances by various folk artists. We went to see Mustard's Retreat, a local singing/songwriting duo. This Ohio based jug band, Smokin Fez Monkeys, opened for them. (I don't actually know what jug band means, but this is how the band identifies itself on its CD. On a side note, isn't it cool how I've figured out how to link websites to my blog posts? Neat-o.)

So, Mustard's Retreat is composed of these 2 men about my dad's age who sing and play a bunch of different guitars that all sound the same to me. They've been singing and songwriting together since the 1970s. The music was super mellow and they had good harmonies, and I knew that my parents would enjoy it. The Smokin Fez Monkeys was composed of 4 men and a woman who plays the violin. One guy plays the bass, another plays the banjo, another played this instrument that looked like a guitar, and the last guy played percussion, only it was this upright smorgasbord of various noisemakers. The music was also sprinkled with harmonicas, jugs (is this why it's a jug band?), etc. This band was awesome; they were quirky, upbeat, funky, and original. The music was unique, and it sounded bluegrass and folk-like to me. I could have listened to them for the entire evening, which is why I purchased their CD.

Funnily, we were the youngest group at the Ark last night. The rest of the audience were around our parents' age. And with a Russian, a Brazilian, and a Korean in tow, we also brought the only ethnic diversity as well.

The Little Brown Jug

It's time for a story. Well, I'm not promising you a good story, but here goes. This is a story about the Little Brown Jug rivalry between Minnesota and Michigan. You can read about it yourself on Wikipedia (it's a credible source, right?), but I'll give you the abridged version. The football rivalry started in 1903, when Michigan came to Minnesota. Fearing that the Gopher fans would contaminate the water supply, Michigan Coach Yost sent his student manager out to purchase a water jug. Anyway, of course Michigan was on a 28 game winning streak, and Minnesota somehow managed to tie the game. The game was called (I don't know what this means, but this is what Wikipedia said), Minnesota fans rushed the field, and the Wolverines left behind their water jug. Minnesota repainted the jug and commemorated the game by writing the score on it. Later, Yost wrote to Minnesota, requesting the jug. The response? Coach Cooke wrote "We have your little brown jug; if you want it, you'll have to win it." And of course, Michigan won it back when the two teams met up again in 1909. And Michigan continues to win it, over and over again.

On my first night in Ann Arbor, I passed the Brown Jug Restaurant. Michigan is really proud of their football program, and rightly so. According to Wikipedia, Michigan leads the rivalry 65-22-3. I'm no statistician (not yet, anyway), but that's about a 3 to 1 lead over Minnesota.

This story isn't over yet. On Wikipedia, there is a picture from the 2003 matchup. Apparently, this game is so important because it is considered to be the biggest comeback in Michigan football history. That was the year that I was in the marching band (colorguard), and if you look closely, you can see the band in the photo. Anyway, Minnesota built up this huge lead against Michigan and it seemed that we would finally win the Little Brown Jug for the first time since 1986. I, along with thousands of other frustrated and disgruntled Gopher fans, watched Michigan score touchdown after touchdown in the 4th quarter to win the game.

Go BLUE!

Yesterday, I learned about BLUE (Best Linear Unbiased Estimators) in my regression class. Ha! Now I know why ICPSR is at the Univ of Michigan. (Get it? 'Cause the colors are blue and gold) My regression professor is super cool and an excellent instructor. He is dedicated to helping students truly understand statistics, and (do I dare say this?) he makes statistics...fun. Seriously. If we were to compare statistics to driving a car, this professor wants us to understand not only how to drive the car but also understand what is going on under the hood. I had the pleasure of picking his brain during his office hours yesterday, and I became an even bigger fan.

Last night a couple friends and I ate yummy Indian food and wandered around downtown. We all kept commenting on how cool Ann Arbor is and how our current places of residence are nothing like it. A nice college town, Ann Arbor has personality (unlike Irvine, which has no soul). Anyway, we ended up at the Monkey Bar, sitting outside and drinking margaritas. Then we headed over to Kilwin's for some hand dipped ice cream in homemade waffle cones. Kilwan's also has a chocolate shop and makes fudge. It smelled amazing.

Today, I went to an ICPSR picnic and met some more people. Tonight, I am going to a comedy club. In the meantime, I am going to be doing some homework.

the tour of scotland

Well, I could tell you about how I spent a really long and tedious time today calculating the coefficients to a multivariate equation, but I'm almost positive that you would prefer that I discuss scotch instead. Last night, my friend Bruce and I went to Ashley's, a local pub along State Street. (It reminded me of the Big 10 in Minneapolis, except with a way bigger and better beer selection.) I drank a pint of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a local brew. It was a fantastic porter. Bruce and I shared an order of Stilton Fries, waffle fries covered in Stilton and served with a jalapeno dipping sauce. They were highly recommended and a local favorite. Then Bruce decided that we should sample the scotch. We got a Flight of Scotland, which had 4 samples: Auchentoshan, Glengoyne, Glenfarclas, and Bunnahabhain. Now, my friend seems to be an experienced connoisseur of liquor, while I am not. The sampling went something like this:

B: (After a quick explanation of Scotland and where all the samples come from: highland, lowland, etc; B hands me the Auchentoshan) Now, smell the scotch and tell me what it reminds you of.
K: (Sniffing) It smells like tequila.
B: (laughing) Try again. Really inhale.
K: Still smells like tequila to me.
B: Let me try. (So, he takes the shot, inhales, and starts talking about how he smells the aromas of cherrywood and a bunch of other stuff.)
K: Okay, I'll try again. (Deep inhale) Still smells like tequila. (Then I taste the scotch) And it tastes like tequila, too.
B: (shaking head at me and taking the scotch) I taste cherrywood...(and then he lists of a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember right now)

So, the scotch sampling went on like this until we got to the last sample, the Bunnahabhain. This one still smelled like tequila to me, but a smoky one. When I tasted it, it didn't taste like tequila, but rather a campfire in my mouth. That's exactly what I said, too. So, it was fun to sample the scotch, but clearly I don't have a sophisticated palette or discerning nose. Or, maybe I just drink too much tequila.

(I should point out that the night of beer and scotch had no effect on the length of time it took me to calculate coefficients today. If you saw the equation, the data, and all the requisite steps, you would understand.)

and this one time, at stats camp...

Stats camp is underway! Okay, the formal name is ICPSR, or the Inter Consortium for Political and Social Research. I am taking Categorical Data Analysis and Regression II: Linear Models, and I'm attending lectures on Matrix Algebra. Hey, don't navigate away from this page! You've stopped reading this, haven't you?

Okay, so some cool things (seriously, I am easily amused): ICPSR is headquartered in a neat-o undergrad residence. They've set up a library so we can check out books and articles, a computer lab, and study lounges. AND they have free, all you can drink coffee!!! (I am without a coffee maker, so this makes me very happy.) Other cool things: I found a Bruegger's Bagels and a Jimmy John's. I just got a fan, so my quality of life has improved significantly. And I took a walk tonight and saw fireflies, I mean lightning bugs! (Is that the name?)

So, I've met some nice people, and I've seen a few familiar faces. Stay tuned!