First, Jodie Brunstetter, the wife of North Carolina state Sen. Peter Brunstetter.

And then, Sean Harris, a North Carolina pastor who encourages parents to hit the gay out of their kids.

Now that you’ve heard what the supporters have to say, get out and vote NO on Amendment 1.

This week was busy, but not as productive as I’d like it to be. By the end of the day yesterday, I had reached my limit. I started the day with a list of things that needed done. Shortly after the morning coffee, I left for the first of five meetings. At the end of the day, nothing was accomplished and that list of things to do just grew longer. It’s funny that “attend meeting” wasn’t one of the items on that list but that’s what I did anyway.

To make matters worse, the meetings were mostly pointless. One meeting flowed right from a thirty minute recap of previous meetings to a planning session for future meetings. Nothing was accomplished and we were no closer to making decisions than when we had started. We like to joke about how many pointless meetings we attend, but it’s time to start taking action to put an end to this waste of time and resources.

This is where my new three-eleven rule was born (Don’t confuse this with the band). Starting today, no one in my office is allowed to attend more than three meetings in any one day and no more than eleven meetings per week.

It’s an experiment so we’ll see how this goes. The point isn’t to avoid meetings. The point is to be more thoughtful when scheduling and attending meetings so that only productive meetings end up on my calendar. What a productive meeting actually looks like is up for debate, but I’ve attended enough to have a pretty good idea. Maybe if this experiment is successful, I’ll post some of my ideas about good meetings. But for now, I’ll work on sticking to my #threeeleven rule.

Last month (yes, it has taken me this long to post. don’t judge) we took a trip to Sumter, SC for the Kookaburra soccer tournament. The weather was great on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, it rained. Then it rained more and more. Just miserable. But we did have some great music for the wet drive home.

(Post updated to include this fancy new Spotify playlist)

Better Than Ezra Good
(staring off with something slightly classic with a simple, yet effective, bassline)

Screaming Females – It All Means Nothing
(new song from one of my favorite bands. the slightly disturbing video makes it all the better.)

When In Rome – The Promise
(an underrated song from way back in the day)

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – Bottled In Cork
(Ted Leo was in town this weekend and I wasn’t, so we had to include at least one song.)

The Correspondents – Cheating with You
(a little something new for you)

Translator – Everywhere that I’m Not
(don’t ask why, but I got on this Translator kick last month)

The Specials – Ghost Town
(this one just never gets old)

Eleanor Friedberger – My Mistakes
(supporting the local record label)

Kelly Clarkson – Stronger
(the girl’s one request – feel free to judge)

Bow Wow Wow – I Want Candy
(i try to introduce the kids to some of the classics – especially following the Kelly Clarkson song. and this is a great example of 80s videos)

Neon Trees – Sins of My Youth
(a request from the boy. i think he has better taste in music than the girl at this point)

Imperial Teen – Runaway
(again with the local record label. you really can’t go wrong with Merge Records.)

Superchunk – Say My Name
(again with the local bands. there’s something going on here.)

The Joy Formidable – Whirring
(i like the name)

Atomic Tom – Take Me Out
(cool video using iPhones as instruments since the band’s real instruments were stolen)

The dB’s – Molly Says
(this can’t be that obscure. i couldn’t find a video, so you’ll have to live with this sample clip from Amazon.)

Siouxsie & the Banshees – Peek-A-Boo
(another great 1980s video)

Jeff The Brotherhood – Mellow Out
(and moving forward a few decades from the last song, here are two simple guys who make a lot of noise)

Andrés Cantor – Goal
(it was a soccer tournament CD after all)

And, as always, if you are using Spotify here’s the playlist.

What I can tell you about is yet another outstanding mix CD. With all the other drama around the upcoming trip, I had forgotten about making the traditional mix CD for the drive. Luckily, The Girl reminded me last Tuesday so I had plenty of time to gather some songs and burn a CD.

I never really know how the CD will turn out, or how well it will be received by the other occupants of the car until we listen to it at least twice. I think this one turned out quite well, so I’ll share it with the world (or both of you who read this).

Pulp – Common People
(I’m not always a fan of videos, but I really like this one)

Trent Reznor – Immigrant Song
(From “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”)

Florrie – She Always Gets What She Wants
(Found her thanks to the cool blog at Hello Giggles)

Imelda May – Mayhem
(First heard at Tyler’s Taproom in Apex a few weeks ago. Used the Soundhound app to find the song.)

Neon Trees – Everybody Talks
(A new single from Neon Trees)

The Submarines – Your Silent Face
(Cool band, pretty good cover of a great New Order song)

Young the Giant – My Body
(Gotta thank Pandora for this one)

Jason Walker – Down

A Fine Frenzy – Almost Lover

My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade

Christina Perri – jar of hearts
(the last four were requests from the family, so I don’t have anything to add)

Dum Dum Girls – Wrong Feels Right
(I linked to MySpace – I’m not sure I’ve ever done that before)

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass
(Rube Goldberg – nothing else to say)

Matt & Kim – Cameras
(Saw them last year. Lots of fun.)

Girls – Vomit
(How can you go wrong with a song named “Vomit?”

The Thermals – I Don’t Believe You
(All their songs are awesome, so it was hard to pick just one. I failed because this song was on an earlier road trip CD.)

Inspiral Carpets – This Is How It Feels
(A classic, for what it’s worth.)

The Vaccines – If You Wanna
(Another band found by Pandora – thanks again.)

Dom – Living In America
(Not to be confused with Kids in America.)

Men At Work – Be Good Johnny
(How can I refuse this oldie?)

The Dollyrots – Love You Most
(Another band that looks like a lot of fun to see live. When are they coming to my town?)

And if you are fortunate enough to be using Spotify for some of your music listening pleasure, feel free to subscribe to the entire playlist so you can enjoy it For. Ev. Er.

Oh, you may still be wondering why it’s called “The Pig CD.” Well, the CD-R is used was pig-colored pink. After I labeled the CD with the marker, I put a couple of dots for eyes on the disc. It instantly looked like a pig. So, there you go.

Some of the Educause sessions are available online for anyone to view. I would recommend giving some of these a try, especially danah boyd’s talk on Privay in an Era of Social Media.

Since I went to Philadelphia last week, I’m unable to attend two other conferences going on this week. Ending today is the Higher Education Web Professionals conference in Austin, TX. I’ve been trying to follow along via Twitter (#heweb11) but there’s so much content that I’m only catching a small bit of what is going on there.

And, starting tomorrow is the NASPA Student Affairs Technology conference in Newport, RI. I’ll try to follow this one via Twitter as well (#naspatech) but I’m sure I’ll miss quite a bit.

But even if I can’t get to the conference in person, and I miss most of the backchannel discussion, it’s still worth trying to follow along. I’m sure that I’ll find a few interesting comments along the way and likely engage in a conversation with someone new.

This ride always challenges me. Today was probably the fourth time that I’ve completed the climb all the way to the summit. The last time I attempted the ride was about three years ago and we were forced to turn back at Newfound Gap due to very poor weather conditions. It took me 2 hours and 37 minutes of riding time to reach the top today (there were stops along the way to rest and to wait for construction traffic, so in real time it was about 3 hours). This is just a bit slower than my fastest pace of 2:15. That was on my first completion of the climb when I was much younger and the climbing wasn’t so difficult. But still, I made it to the top today and I can’t really complain about that.

Unlike yesterday, there wasn’t a serious threat of rain today – although on the mountain climbs, weather can change quickly. When I started at the Sugarlands, the temperature was nearing 70 degrees but with fairly dense fog. This made the humidity near 100%. While this entire climb is tough, the first five miles seem to be the hardest. By the time I finished the first five miles, I already knew that I wasn’t going to finish this climb anywhere near the 2:15 personal best and that I feared that I may not finish at all.

At around the 8-mile mark, I could feel the temperature starting to drop significantly. Since I’ve done this climb a few times, I had prepared for this. By the time I reached Newfound Gap at around 13 miles, thick clouds had rolled in and the temperature was dropping even further. I stopped at Newfound Gap eat a bit and put on my vest for a bit more warmth.

The first couple of miles past Newfound Gap aren’t too bad, but then the grade kicks up again and the speed drops. By the time I reached the short downhill section at 17.5 miles, I was feeling fairly tired. A downhill at this point is worse than if the climb just continued at a steady pace because when the climb kicks back up again, it feels much worse than before. But with just two miles to go, there’s no turning back at this point. But those last two miles hurt more than the 18 that I’d already finished.

Finally at the top, I can relax for a bit and enjoy the scenery. In this case, the scenery is just the thick clouds that have been rolling through ever since I left Newfound Gap. Still, I’m at the top and I’m going to enjoy it while I can. Before I leave, I put on the arm warmers and swap the usual gloves for the full-fingered pair that I’ve carried to the top in my jersey pocket. Going downhill is fast on these mountain roads and the wind chill is probably about 40 degrees at this elevation.

The downhill really doesn’t begin until I’ve finished the short climb just two miles from the summit. Once I finish this, then it really is all downhill for the next 17.5 miles. The first half of this descent is filled with lots of turns. This makes it a lot of fun and it also means that I’m going faster than the cars on the road since the bicycle can take the sharp corners faster than the cars can. This is one of the rare occasions where I actually have to slow down because the cars on the road are going too slow. Once I get to the bottom half of the descent, the speeds are just as fast but there aren’t as many curves so most of the cars are exceeding the 35 mph speed limit.

I finally return to the Sugarlands Visitor’s Center after just over four hours. A little over three of these hours were spent on the bike. A few rest stops for food and a couple of stops for road construction took most of the other hour. I’m tired and hungry, but also quite satisfied that I’ve once again completed the climb to the highest point in Tennessee. I’m not sure how many more times I’ll be able to do this. I only get to Tennessee every couple of years and my climbing legs aren’t getting any younger. Hopefully, I’ll get another opportunity, but if not I know that my last was a success.

As a side note – the only bad part of this ride is that I had to drive through Pigeon Forge to get to the start. I’m pretty sure Pigeon Forge is the tackiest place on Earth. I don’t think they advertise this on the welcome signs, but I’m not so sure they would deny it either. Just take a look at one of the many dinner theatre attractions in town.

Finally, here’s the entire photo slideshow from today’s ride. Enjoy.

This trip was just planned a couple of weeks ago and all looked well until the weather forecast changed to rain just a couple of days ago. When I arrived in Knoxville yesterday afternoon, the forecast for today called for a 60% chance of rain. And when there’s rain in East Tennessee, the mountains get it. But I was determined to get this ride in since I only get the chance to ride here once every few years. I woke up at 6:00 this morning and while it wasn’t raining at the house, the radar showed heavy rain in the Townsend, TN area – right where my ride would be starting.

One of the great things about the Cades Cove loop is that it is closed to auto traffic until 10:00 am on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the summer months. This gives cyclists and hikers a great opportunity to experience the loop without cars for a few hours every week. This also put some time constraints on my ride. I needed to get to Townsend and get started by 9:00 at the latest in order to reach Cades Cove by 10:00. So, despite the rain on the radar I left for the mountains.

There were only a few spots of light rain for most of the 45 minute drive to the start of the ride. Then, just as I pulled into the parking lot at the “Y” the rain started. It wasn’t a downpour, but just a steady rain. Still, I was determined to get this ride in today. So I started the ride in a nice rain, but the weather gods must have recognized by commitment to this ride and stopped the rain after I had been on the road for just a few minutes. By the time I reached Cades Cove, the sun was out and the clouds were starting to disperse.

The ride is only 25 miles, but the first 7 are all uphill to get to Cades Cove. Then there’s the 11 mile look around the cove itself with many short, but very steep hills. Finally, a nice descent of 7 miles back to the start. Of course, the descent is usually a lot of fun but today’s wet road conditions made it a bit more treacherous than usual. Still, it’s always fun to have a nice long descent like that.

Tomorrow’s weather looks much more promising than today’s. If all goes well, I’ll be attempting the climb up to Clingman’s Dome. That’s a bit more challenging, but always worth the effort. Until then, enjoy some pictures from today’s ride.

I started reading the Harry Potter books when Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released. Until then I had mostly avoided all of the hype around the series. But then this book was released and I started with the first book and read straight through book five. After that, I was hooked. So, of course, I’ve now seen all the films as well. And while I realize that the films are based on the books, I haven’t been disappointed with a film until part two of The Deathly Hallows.

Before I saw the film, I only had one requirement. The scene where Molly Weasley kills Bellatrix Lestrange must be in the film. It plays such a critical role in the book and in the entire series. It leads us into the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort. It is the mother protecting the child in much the same way that Harry’s mom protected him as a baby. The importance of this scene is nicely summarized in this quote analysis.

Then I saw the film. The scene was included, but something just wasn’t right about it. Something just wasn’t right about the whole final battle. While I wasn’t overly thrilled with some of the earlier action – the break in at Gringotts seems to be rushed through just so we can get to Hogwarts, for example – the movie really falls apart after Harry “rises from the dead.”

Harry leads Voldemort through some silly chase inside the castle while Hermione and Ron try to kill Nagini. What? Where was Neville? Wasn’t he supposed to kill the snake? He eventually does kill Nagini, not because Harry told him that it was important, but because the snake was about to kill Hermione and Ron. There’s no indication that Neville knew anything about the importance of killing the snake. This is a critical difference and really is important to wrapping up the journey of Neville’s character.

Then, there’s my critical scene – the death of Bellatrix. Like I said, the scene was there, but it felt like an afterthought. It was just inserted in the middle of the other battles (Harry vs. Voldemort and Hermione/Ron vs. Nagini) all going on at the same time. There wasn’t any flow. There’s no sense that this was a critical point in the battle to defeat Voldemort. Nothing. None of the emotion you feel when your read Molly’s words, “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” Just emptiness.

There are many more issues with this final movie that are taken up by others, including this great summary of it’s problems, concluding that this is the worst Potter movie of them all. Go ahead and read it. It’s okay with me if you decide that this film just didn’t live up to what it could have been.

Now if only these fraud police would go after Sarah Palin…