Obviously, the unseasonably warm weather couldn’t last until I actually get back to Jackson later this month. Grr.

Of course, it’s the same everywhere; it was in the 80s in the part of flyover country where I was yesterday (and here too), and the floor will drop out here sometime tonight.

Well, I’m now in the interlude between my two interviews—not much of an interlude, considering I have classes to teach, assignments to grade, and clothes to get washed, but an interlude nonetheless.

In the meantime, my only real thought of the day: who exactly told Terrell Owens that it would be a good idea for him to get a heel manager?

I present without further comment… NASCAR bacon:

Ah, well, it’s more exciting than the Plameout…

þ: Amber Taylor, whose blog’s worth appears to be underestimated.

Tyler Cowen links a list assembled by Foreign Policy ranking the “most influential political scientists,” who—apparently owing to the sampling frame—seem to all be IR scholars.

Not that there’s anything wrong with IR, mind you…

After picking up two USB-Ethernet adapters for the TiVos (both of which sit in the living room, since that’s the only place there’s a cable hookup in this joint), I am now enjoying the world of WPA-PSK wireless security with AES encryption.

Figuring out how to do this with my funky bridged network (using WDS) was a bit of a chore. What seems to work: put the routers (one Linksys WRT 54G, one Linksys WRT 54GS, both running DD-WRT firmware) in WDS mode, WPA-PSK Shared Key Only with AES encryption, and set them for Wireless-G only. It doesn’t seem to work in WPA2 mode, nor in Mixed B/G mode.

EDSBS notes that the Millsaps Majors are using a 48-year-old player this season; more on the story here from The Sporting News.

I guess there’s a “casual Fridays” rule in the blogosphere too (not one I respected today in class, mind you); to that end, my (short) list of albums I enjoy listening to all the way through:

• Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles
• Michelle Branch, The Spirit Room
• Evanescence, Fallen
• Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American (none of this PC renaming crap here)
• Jimmy Eat World, Futures
• Avril Lavigne, Let Go
• Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

I have deliberately excluded albums that I skip more than one song on.

At the other place: I consider the difference in student attire between Duke and Millsaps, and the nature of the causal mechanism involved.

I have to say, this is pretty funny, although the logic of establishing a rivalry with a school that isn’t even in the same time zone is lost on me. Rivalries generally thrive on casual interaction; a rivalry that involves setting out on a cross-country trek doesn’t seem likely to succeed in the long run.

In other words, maybe Emory should have gone for something easier… like battling Furman.

þ: Jeff Harrell, who has more.

Ars Technica takes note of a new deal between Coinstar and Amazon.com that will let you exchange your pesky coins for Amazon.com gift certificates at face value. Where was this service last month, before I lugged all my change from Jackson to Durham in Ziploc bags?

I now have the smiling faces of all 68 of my students (34 in each class) in my grubby little hands. At this rate, I might be able to put names with the faces by the end of the semester…

I wish I were doing something more productive this morning than waiting for the cable company to show up to (a) install two more outlets in the apartment and (b) replace my digital cable box, which has this interesting habit of switching itself off at random intervals.

Meanwhile, one more for the “where art thou, Mungowitz?” file: a Duke Chronicle opinion piece that seems ripe for the Mungowitz treatment, combining a fair helping of scorn with a fair dollop of “the author has a point,” an art form I have sadly yet failed to master.

The Road from Bristol finals have arrived: Skip Bayless v. Stuart Scott. Go and vote one of these doofuses out of our misery.

What I woke up to this morning:

The officer that responded said that mine was the fifth car with a broken rear window in recent days in the neighborhood; like in the other cases, nothing was taken from the car. So now my car looks like one of those mid-80s clunkers with a plastic bag covering the window—although it isn't rusted out or burning oil, so it doesn't quite fit in the ghetto yet.

The only real motivation I can think of: there were TiVo and POW-MIA stickers on that window. I doubt it was a ReplayTV owner, but I suppose it’s possible this could be some sort of idiotic anti-war statement by the Birkenstock brigade. Thank you, Cindy Sheehan!

This is my first ever entry in the OTB Sunday Drive, which seems oddly appropriate.

In lieu of actual content, I will give some advice. Go see The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the funniest movie I’ve seen in, well, a long time.

Otherwise, meh. Everything is up on the walls here, and most everything is unpacked except a couple of boxes in the study. The stuff I’m taking to the office will get over there tomorrow. Syllabi are close to done. The cable company is coming out to install the extra outlets I need after Labor Day. And, college football season is nearly here. So it could be worse.

Thus far, I have an office, business cards, and an email account. My apartment looks less like a warehouse than it did a week ago. My interview calendar at APSA is filling up. AC is still working. Dad left, Mom arrived.

Next projects: moving stuff into my office, hanging pictures at home, arranging a few more APSA interviews, finishing syllabi, revising the Quantian piece, and sorting out the study.

Russell Arben Fox has penned a retrospective on his time living in the South; it’s an interesting read, and while politically we’re probably quite different I think he captures the essence of the region (both positives and negatives) quite well.

Mind you, a lot of folks would say I’ll be leaving the South too, the Triangle having relatively little in common with Mississippi beyond good-looking women and a physical location south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Explaining the silence: I was out of town for the weekend in the land of no high-speed Internet access, also known as “Mom’ house.” Thanks to the GOLUMites, including ex-co-blogger Brock, and Alfie for a nice send-off last night, and to the folks who relieved me of a backseat-full of computer bits and pieces. I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to see, but such is life…

Also: SN will be offline for a few days (probably Friday through Tuesday, perhaps longer) while I physically move the computer; I’m supposed to have my Internet access installed in Durham Tuesday afternoon, so hopefully the blog will be up and running again sometime that evening.

Use Google Maps to measure the distance along a route of your choice (in this case, how far I will live from the office in Durham). Very cool… and, given the distance, very unlikely I’ll walk it on a regular basis.

þ: Colby Cosh.

From Amber Taylor…

the Wit (56% dark, 34% spontaneous, 11% vulgar)

your humor style: CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat. I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 56% on dark You scored higher than 43% on spontaneous You scored higher than 0% on vulgar

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid

« All done!

þ: Kelley of Suburban Blight:

You are a bit naive, but full of energy and potential. Your optimism and good will are what make you likable to your peers.

You have a tendency to become obsessed with unattainable members of the opposite sex.

Sounds about right. And, given these results, I suppose I can kiss tenure and promotion good-bye.

Think a little bit of pseudo-porn would keep Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas off the shelves at Wal-Mart? Think again:

I took this picture this morning while my car’s oil was being changed at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Madison, Mississippi. So, kiddies… rush up there and pick up a copy before Mr. Sam’s minions wise up!

Michelle Dion and Paul Brewer are discussing whether or not there are benefits that accrue to professorship. Michelle writes:

[A] positive externality of being a professor is that most people believe professors are smart, honest, and responsible people. The reputation associated with professors is a positive externality of the profession.

“Smart,” “honest,” and “responsible” are three adjectives that do not immediately spring to mind when discussing the professoriate; perhaps too much exposure to the Ward Churchills, Shelby Thameses, John Lotts, and Michael Bellesiles of the world is an explanation.

The discussion has subsequently devolved to the topic of dating; my small-n anecdotal experience is that of the four single professors who started here a year ago, the two female ones are no longer on the dating market while the two male ones still are. Mind you, we don’t have strong controls here: differential attractiveness may be a key determining factor in these outcomes.

This weather is obscenely hot and miserable. All I want to do these days is curl up next to an air conditioning vent and sleep.

Getting in the way of that plan: I have to teach, pack, and apply for jobs. Yes, you read that right: even though I have a perfectly good job that I’m not starting for another month, I’m already applying for jobs* starting in the fall of 2006. Academe (particularly, but not exclusively, political science) is insane.