Minnesota State Fair

Go to the Minnesota State Fair. It's going on now! August 25 through Labor Day, Sept 5, 2011.

Visit the Minnesota State Fair Website. Find out about all the delicious food on a stick. And much much more.

Today is National Train Day

It's a special day today. Did you even realize that it's National Train Day? Good thing I reminded you. If you haven't been on a train lately, it's about time you get in gear. Read all about National Train Day here and then get moving.

Whooo whooo. All aboard!

World Festival Parade at Mayo High School

I had the opportunity this past weekend to go to the Rochester International Association's 36th Annual World Festival at Mayo High School. I could only stay for a few minutes, but I did get a chance to look at the various booths from all the different countries and talk with some of the people there. I also was lucky to be there (with my camera) for the Parade.

Here (at bottom of this post) is the first part of the parade. For the middle and end of the parade, scroll down to the next post. I have learned that I can't put a video up on the blog that is too long or too big. It just won't work. So, the easiest thing was for me to start and stop my camera and have a few short videos. Not the best, but a quick solution for now. When I get the time, I'll read the manual and find out how to edit my videos to make them just the right size.

The parade starts with someone, perhaps from Scotland, playing the bagpipes. I wish the video was all in one posting so that you could hear all of the song, but perhaps you will recognize it anyway. Many people are playing drums and it is interesting to see the different drums from the different countries.

I did have the opportunity also to see some young dancers from Ireland. That was interesting and very impressive. One can only imagine how much they practice to get to be that good! On Friday night there was the talent show which would have been really fun to attend, but alas, I was not able to make it to that portion this year. Next year I will have to save the date on my calendar for sure!

World Festival Parade - Second Part

Here is the middle portion of the parade.

World Festival Parade - Third Part

This shows the last part of the parade and is a little bit longer than the first two videos.

World Festival France

I was only at the World Festival at Mayo High School for a very brief time, but I took a few photos of the table about France. Scroll down for another photo and then also a short video of the whole display about France.

World Festival France

Here's another photo of the table about France.

World Festival France

Here is just a short video of the France table. In the background you can hear Scottish bagpipes.

Zumbro River Cafe

Zumbro River Cafe has been open for a short time now. It's right next to Dunn Bros, in fact they share the same entrance, share the same kitchen, and surprise! are owned by the same people who own Dunn Bros.

I read a recent article in the Post Bulletin by Jeff Kiger -- "Heard on the Street: Zumbro Cafe Opens Next to Popular Coffee Shop". So tonight seemed like a great night to check out the new restaurant and let someone else do the cooking and wash the dishes.

Are Federal Workers Overpaid?

Today is just another average day. As I was checking my email, this was one of the stories that popped up in Yahoo! news. Here's a link to it from the AP:

FACT CHECK: Are Federal Workers Overpaid?

It's an interesting story, so you should go read it. It says the average Federal worker earns more than the average worker in the private sector. Ah, but here's the catch. They're comparing "Apples and Oranges" and that never works.

For example, the article notes that a "disproportionate number of federal employees are professionals, such as managers, lawyers, engineers and scientists." Many of the lower paid federal jobs such as clerical or service jobs have been outsourced to private sector.

So of course, on the average, scientists would make more money that someone working in the mail room.

But when you compare salaries of comparable jobs, such as lawyer to lawyer, it is often the case that the private sector pays more than the Federal Government. And the more that continues, the more likely the best people will leave government jobs and go to the private sector. That's good for them, but perhaps not so good for all of us. We should want our brightest people working for us. That just makes sense.

But here is why I even put this posting about Federal Workers here. It immediately reminded me of my 7th Grade Math teacher, Mr. Gustafson. He was a neat guy and a good teacher. He talked about a book way back then that I still remember and in fact I purchased that book a few years back.

That book is "How to Lie with Statistics" by Darrell Huff. Now don't stop reading just because you think you don't like statistics. This is a short book and really interesting. You can still buy this book and you should consider it. You can read the book in one evening and it is important when you think of all the statistics thrown at us every day. We make decisions based on those statistics and we should be interested in making good, sound decisions.

The whole point of the AP article about fact checking the pay of Federal workers was in the use of "average". (Note the title of my blog: Mean, Median, Mode, Just an Average Blog.) You can use averages to get an idea of the whole picture of something, but you need to do it in a mathematically meaningful and honest way.

Here's a few more links about the book, "How to Lie with Statistics" by Darrell Huff.

Book review by Jim Loy that lists the chapters in the book.

Barnes & Noble information to order this book.

Now, go buy that book and read it. Or if nothing else, take everything you hear about averages with a grain of salt. Otherwise you might be tempted to believe me when I say that, on the average, my blog is the best blog on the internet.

Happy Birthday, James T. Kirk

It's that time of year again, James T. Kirk's birthday. Technically, he won't be born until the year 2228, but when he is born, it will be on this day.

Riverside, Iowa will be his birthplace and they probably had a great celebration today there. William Shatner did a film there some years back which, while not Oscar material, was funny and well done. I especially enjoyed how well the townspeople played along and participated.

The photo is from the Wikipedia page on James T. Kirk.

Another Year, Another Pi Day

Luckily, someone mentioned to someone else and they mentioned to me so I'll mention to you.

It's Pi Day. Yes, 3/14 is the date and the value of Pi is 3.14.

And, just in case you are wondering what the complete value of Pi is, well of course I can't tell you, but I can get it a little bit better than just the 3.14. This year I'll write 3.14159. Next year, maybe more. Tune in then and see.

I found this article and wish I had thought up the opening sentence.

"Mathematics geeks turned irrational as they celebrated Pi Day Monday, the day of the year which represents the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi --3.14."

Irrational, ooh that is so smart.

Anyway, there's a lot of information about Pi at Wikipedia here if you are interested. It is interesting, so you should take a look.

World Maths Day

It would be a shame to not mention that today is World Maths Day!

We need to have a lot more emphasis on math in our schools and in everyday life. Math is fun and it is important. Everybody do more of it and do it more often.

Here's something else that I would like to see. No more dissing math on news casts. No more saying "Math is hard," or "Math is boring," and things like that.

If nothing else, please practice your multiplication facts today.

1-11-11

Well, I remembered to post at 11:11 on 1-11-11. It doesn't mean anything, it's just a number pattern. But I do like numbers and number patterns and math, so hats off to me plus the person who helped me remember to post something numerical tonight.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Time for all those New Year's Resolutions. Most people at least try to make a few. It's a good idea because sometimes you will actually follow through. I gave up chocolate one year. And for nine years I didn't eat any chocolate. Now that is determination and willpower!

Goodbye 2010

It's been a good year.

The Juncos Are Coming, The Juncos Are Coming

I don't necessarily notice when I'm seeing the first Junco of the season, but there are at least a few here. What that means is that they have arrived here for the winter. This is what they consider flying south for the winter. Ooh! It's going to be cold here again, I presume. And they come here for the warmth. I think I would travel to one of the actual southern states for the winter if I was a bird.

That was going to be it for today on the blog, but I found an interesting website all about birds. It's from those good people at Cornell Lab of Ornithology and is called "All About Birds". You should check it out. You can see great photos of birds and hear their typical voice. Really cool.

10/10/10

I've been waiting for this day for a while now and it almost got away before I posted. I was supposed to post at either 10:10 a.m. or 10:10 p.m. or better yet, both morning and night. I'll have to settle for at least getting a post up on the tenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of the century. sigh

It's been busy around here, always lots to do. Of course that's better than having nothing to do. Weather has been beautiful, record warmth recently. Temperature hit 90 degrees if I remember correctly. Wow.

If only it could be like this on Halloween when all the little ghosts and goblins are out.

Colbert at Congress

This is about Colbert at Congress. This is not about Colbert for Congress. That may happen in the future. It could! He could run for Congress. I think there would be a good chance of him winning.

Moving on.

He was testifying about immigrants who are farm workers in our country. He has done this work for a day and thus is an expert. Here's a link to watch Stephen as he testifies before a Congressional Committee. He brought all the respect and maturity you would expect from him when he talked, as a regular American, to the members of Congress, staff members, press and anyone else who was lucky enough to get in the room before it was full to capacity.

Watch and listen to Stephen Colbert in Congress.

Hurricanes

My gosh but the hurricanes seem to be piling up this summer and fall. It seems every time I turn on the news, we've gone up a letter in the alphabet. I was hearing about Hurricane Danielle and already they are talking about Karl, Igor and Julia. I think I would get kind of tired of all those hurricanes if I lived in or near a coastal region. Yes we have hail and tornadoes and blizzards here, but they don't seem to be as bad.