College of Cardinals

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke. All rights reserved.

In Italian, you'd combine papa and patata, and get papata.

Does black smoke means someone burned the patatas?

Help Finding a Link?

One again, I will turn to the folks out there with a Search question.

According to Google Analytics, my numbers exploded on Saturday, March 2, 2013, with a few hundred hits on the blog and over 1500 hits on xwhy.comicgenesis.com.

According to Google, it was a "Direct" link. No website given. I'd love to know where that "Direct link" came from.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

UPDATE: I did find this link http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5310266 which references the Coffee Logic post, as well as the related Spiked Math version.

Keep Change Change

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke. All rights reserved.

It's the little things that amuse me most. Just me, it seems.

Adding Monomials

We were classifying polynomials and adding monomials and combining like terms with a beginner class, and it got a little rowdy toward the end as they wanted to get their work finished -- they're trying to impress me before the end of the marking period tomorrow. As a result, I didn't get to ask my favorite summary question.

I mentioned this to two of the stragglers still working after the bell, and they asked what the summary question was. It was the one from the Combining Like Terms comic, naturally.

Let's just say that they got it ... but they didn't get it.

Not even when I repeated it to them as the gave me their work before leaving.

"Christopher Burke, Voiceover Artist"

Chris Burke, Math Teacher is a cool title. Chris Burke, Webcartoonist is cool one, too. Christopher Burke, Writer would be really cool, and I need to work a little more toward that without using my classwork as an excuse. But another new title I'd like to add: Christopher Burke, Voiceover Artist. Voiceover Talent might be the more preferred term, but that's something that I have to find out. There's a story. There's always a story (Writer, remember?), but this one is short. I took a class at a community college a couple of nights ago called "Voice Overs: Getting Paid to Talk". Well, if you know me, one thing I can do more than write is talk. So, if anything, it was a fun night out. And it was, too. And informative. I did worry at the start that I'd paid good money to walk into a sales pitch, but it wasn't that at all. End result: I was pretty good at it. I was off at first, but with a little direction, I was able to read the copy in front of the class the way it should be read. And at the end of the class, when we were all recorded, I got my lines done in a single take. It helped that I had a sarcastic part (oh, that's so me), but I thought for sure I'd trip over my tongue, reading and speaking at the same time, particularly without reading glasses on. The following morning, someone at the studio (and training program) called me with a critique. She liked my voice, mentioned a couple of comments the instructor had had, and told me she liked the "warm" quality of my voice for narration and nostalgic roles as well as the conversational tone and, of course, the sarcastic delivery. So, yes, this is something I would like to pursue. Something that I would like to investigate, at least. The problem, naturally, is the start-up costs. You can't get anywhere without a demo. And the demo can't be something homemade. Also, getting it done cheaply is probably just as bad; anyone can record you, but if you aren't getting any feedback, then it probably won't be very worthwhile. That being said, if you know any A/V departments or studios who have things that they wish to record, or if you're a teacher and you'd like someone to narrate one of your presentations, drop me a line. I could use the practice and the exposure. I'll ever record your voice mail message if you think it won't confuse your friends. Or even if it will.

Benevolence

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke. All rights reserved.

Add a contribution? + C, of course.

Happy Palindrome Day!
3 - 1 - 13

Number Two

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke. All rights reserved.

When it comes to standardized testing and bubble sheets, we're always looking out for Number Two.

I Cannot Tell a Lie ... Or Can I?

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke. All rights reserved.

If he secretly can tell a lie, all bets are off.
Maybe he didn't cut it down, but then who is George taking the fall for?
Was he cutting backroom deals even at this early age?

Mathematical Vaudeville

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke. All rights reserved.

Mathematical Vaudeville isn't dead! It's just reached its limit!
Theoretically, of course.

Just remember, if you want to get to Carnegie Hall, you won't get there in theory!

Happy Valentine's Day, All!

I let a holiday slip past me. Oh, well. Things keep staying busy and there hasn't been time to put something together -- that and the fact just about all modern technology in my school has been acting a bit wonky for the past couple weeks. So, more stuff to do at home, and less time for stuff I want.

Which is just as well, I guess, because the only thing I would have had time to finish and upload for yesterday or today would've been a lame joke about pencils. (Don't worry, you're not seeing it tomorrow, either. No promises about Monday.)

In the meantime, I wanted to stop by and wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day (or even a "Happy St. Valentine's Day"), and I'm happy that you stop on by.

Pants

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(C)Copyright 2013, C. Burke. All rights reserved.

Actually, pants levels don't increase for older men. The older men shrink down below the pants level.

New Largest Prime Found

In honor of the newest largest prime -- and largest Mersenne prime -- ever found, here's a comic from 2008.

The alt-text is out of date now.