Another Victory for the Women

Last night was another good night for the Lady T's, as they dispatched the Tech Hardrockers by 20 points to win the DAC Conference championship and cut the nets from the hoops and perpare for the national tournament. The Fieldhouse was packed with people, and the fans were led by a group of 11 men who spelled out "GO LADY TS!" (with the quotation marks) and chanted and danced and taunted the other team and coach (with We (Heart) Barbara on their backs). It was a rough game, with a nosebleed and several dazed players to punctuate the battle under the boards. Now they go on to play in the national tournament in Sioux City.

Too bad they had to share the spotlight on the news last night with the "Underwear Bandit."

A Game to Try Your Tonsils

The Trojan Women were victorious last night over the Black Hills State Yellowjackets in the second round of the conference tournament, and we'll play again at home (as top seed) on Tuesday against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, who beat Mayville State. The Lady T's led most of the way, by as much as 16 at one point, but when BH started the press in the second half, DSU had problems with turnovers and scoring, and BH tied the game and led by four with less than a minute left. But DSU wasn't done, and a bucket, a couple of hard-earned free throws, and the game was tied. DSU stole the ball as BH inbounded with only seconds left, and when one shot rattled out, Maria Gengler was there with the rebound to put it back in as time expired and the elation shifted from the vocal BH fans to the fans wearing the blue and gold. Click here for a little sound clip of the crowd as it responds to one of many three-pointers.

Thursday with Marquart

The Poetry Festival at USD was a real showcase for writers of all types. Neil Harrison from Nebraska led a morning workshop and the afternoon featured Debra Marquart, a performance poet and writer from Iowa via North Dakota. Her workshop was excellent and led to a number of poems read at the slam, and her reading in the afternoon was funny and moving, as was her short reading before the slam that night. Four DSU students went down, and three DSU faculty attended the slam, which had one DSU alum reading and a student judging. It was a good showing for us, and we're working now to get Marquart here for a reading and some events.
She read a bit of her memoir The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere, which sounds like a good read.

Off to a World Where Poetry Matters

Our little patch of the world doesn't show its love for poetry as vividly as other places, so sometimes a person has to travel to rub elbows with other poets and poet apprentices. So, tomorrow I'll pilot a car south to attend the Vermillion Literary Project's Poetry Festival, taking some students with me. Here's hoping all goes well and they enjoy the trip!

The Ballet Marathon?

The little town of Viborg, SD, is the site of the Swan Lake Christian Camp, hosts of the Swan Lake Marathon, going into its third year. While races like the Twin Cities Marathon cap their entries at 8,500 people and New York City's is about five times that, this little marathon had 19 finishers in 2005 and surged to 25 finishers in 2006. It's a shy person's marathon, perhaps. Last year also featured a half-marathon and a 5.3 miler. If July 1st is on your race calendar, and you're looking for a friendly encounter, you could do worse. The Sunday noon meal is free for racers and families, and for five bucks, they'll throw in a spaghetti dinner Saturday night. 2006 race photos are here.

Memories of Electronic Adventures

I wonder what will happen with our memories of playing computer games. There are scenes from screens that I remember, but they were isolated, individual, and temporary. Other people played Descent when it came out, and Myst, but when they entered the cavern with the dozens of enemy ships, or they put their hand on the transporting books, they were usually alone, much like reading a book is, but they don't get a chance to discuss those things with others. You can ask a person if they've read a book, and you can discuss that, but can you reminisce about riding the underwater roller-coaster in Riven? How is are these memories different from others?

I just wonder what people will remember from playing computer games, what they'll be able to share with others about all that time they spent (or are spending) facing an electronic screen. Actually, there will probably be a lot more to discuss and share than there will be from time spent updating pages and contacts on Facebook or Myspace. Maybe not. What do you think?

Virtual Tour, Without Leaving Your Seat

DSU has unveiled its virtual tour. Check it out here: http://www.dsuvtour.jamestower.com/index2.html

Click on one of the images of the three students, or choose one of the videos available. Cool!

Web 2.0 Finally Makes Sense

Others I know have been touting the wonders of the "new" web for some time, especially the way that web users can accumulate the material they want without clicking furiously through a maze of websites and keeping track of bookmarks. But it didn't really click in my brain until I watched the video clip sent to me by TQ. The video, "Web 2.0 . . . The Machine is Us/ing Us," is by Michael Wesch, an Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. Thanks, TQ, and thanks, Dr. Wesch.

Farewell the Spanish Glass

It was reminder of a little outdoor cafe where we enjoyed a few beers and some good meals on our honeymoon, a waiter that took care of us, and our two week stay in Spain in general. But the last beer glass we had from that trip bit the dust today, a sad loss. It was a cool glass with an image a big man leaning on a beer keg, a mug hoisted for drinking, the word Cruzcampo beneath. Here's the last photo and a fond farewell to our Spanish Glass. We'll just have to remember the good times looking out over the beach without its prompting.

Marooned on a Very Cool Web Project

One of our astute librarians here at DSU recently sent a note out about Chasing Crusoe, a website created by teams of students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of the Andes, in Santiago, Chile. It explores both the novel Robinson Crusoe and the real-life adventure of Alexander Selkirk, along with lots of other material about pirates, marooning, and sea-faring. What these students created seems to be a promising blend of animation, digital storytelling, scholarship, and game creation. Check it out in English or en Espanol.