Comments (0)

It’s once again that time when people all over the country stop doing what they are doing and feverishly consider their picks for the NCAA Basketball Tournaments so they can enter the EIGHTH Annual Big Johnson COED College Basketball Tournament Classic, sponsored by yours truly, on ESPN.

Stick It To The Man – that’s me! A prize of untold delight – as yet undecided, frankly, but it will be something nice, though definitely not an iPad – awaits the winner of EACH of the Men’s and Women’s Big Johnsons! (YOUR gender is irrelevant. I am referring to the separate basketball tournaments.) And as usual, anyone who gets more points than The Man will win something. Probably chocolate . . .

It won’t cost you anything but your sanity . . . and not even that, if you simply choose the higher-seeded team in each matchup, and then pick the eventual Final Four winner based on their mascot or school colors. How difficult can this really be? Well, there might be upsets. Or not. And gee, there are only – uh, lessee, 64 teams in each tournament – okay, 126 total games.

And it takes a special kind of person to enter BOTH the Men’s and Women’s tournaments. Yes, I mean you!

FRIENDS ARE WELCOME, and Significant Others, too!

The brackets are being set by the NCAA (Men’s Sunday March 14; Women’s Monday March 15). The men’s first round games start on Thursday March 18 (we don’t do the men’s “play-in” game on Tuesday), and the women’s first games are on Saturday March 20 – and the brackets are locked shortly before the first game of each tournament. That doesn’t leave you much time, so GET GOING!

The Group Name on ESPN is “Big Johnson” for each tournament, and the group password is: kimsentme. That’s right, kim sent me, one word.

You can get there through the following URLs:

• Men’s Tournament Challenge: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage
• Women’s Tournament Challenge: http://games.espn.go.com/tcwomen/frontpage

I know some of you like to fake out ESPN with an alias and throwaway email, but please be sure I can identify you from your name or the name of your entry. Otherwise I will keep your prize, ha ha.

After you create your entries, be sure to join the Big Johnson group in each tournament! And, if you create your entry before the brackets are set, be sure to return in time to choose your winners before they lock. Most people will wait until March 18 or 17, but don’t forget! You will be humiliated as your entries with zero points sink inexorably to the bottom of the group . . .

ESPN tracks your points as the tournaments progress. I will weigh in every now and then with a Big Johnson update.

Best of luck to everyone!

Comments (0)

It’s that time again, everyone – time to take Kim to the cleaners, ring his bell, wipe up the floor with him, use him for birdcage liner, etc., etc., by beating him and everybody else you can at picking the winners of the 34 college football bowl games running from December 19 through January 7. The teams playing in the bowl games will be known by about December 8.

• First Prize – an iPod Shuffle, 4 GB, engraved with your accomplishment, in your choice of 5 strikingly beautiful colors – or iTunes credit of $75 if you prefer.
• Second Prize – a 1 pound tin of Moravian Sugar Crisps. People have been known to try to come in second for these cookies. Sniffing the tin alone will raise your blood sugar to dangerous levels.
• Anybody else who beats me – some kinda chocolate. Last year it was a humongous Snickers.

It’s free, it’s fun, what more can you want? You now have an excuse to watch 34 football games, and your SO can’t complain because, after all, you’re trying to win them a Shuffle! Heh, heh.

Just go to the ESPN page at

http://games.espn.go.com/bowlmania/en/frontpage

to create your entry. After you create your entry, join my group. The name of my group is Kim’s Big Johnson. It’s a private group and you will need a password. The password is kimsentme.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO INVITE FRIENDS, there’s room for everyone.

Comments (0)

. . .  guess which one?

Image courtesy CrunchGear via Brendan.

Comments (0)

Here is an update on one of our TJHSST kids from 2002 – Teresa (Thao) Nguyen and her band Get Down Stay Down.

New album – Know Better Learn Faster – released on October 13, featured on iTunes (as Chris says, “making it”), and including help from the Portland Cello Project, the Decemberists, Laura Veirs and others.

It’s vintage Thao on steroids.

See previous Thao post for the history and connections!

Comments (0)

Source: Fairfax County Times
FRIDAY, MAY 15 2009

Those who have been annoyed by “robocalls” selling second car warranties may soon have some relief, thanks in part to Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D).

Warner and New York Sen. Charles Schumer (D) announced May 12 that the Federal Trade Commission is pursuing criminal charges in relation to the calls, which both senators said they have personally received. More than 300,000 people have filed complaints about the practice.

“We’ve heard of Virginians receiving these calls when they do not even own a car, and others who are understandably upset that the automated calls tie up their phone lines, costing them time and money,” Warner said in a release. “We appreciate this prompt action by the FTC to help consumers through a swift investigation and prosecution of these con artists.”

—————

Now – when will political robocalls stop? And how about the credit card robocalls? And “Congratulations! Your family has been selected to win a free vacation!” robocalls?

Comments (2)

The second of three (3) posts coming up today, all related to some talented young friends of mine who are alumni of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ).

Thao Nguyen (2002) – most TJ alumni know her as Teresa – graduated with degrees in Sociology and Women’s Studies from William & Mary. In high school she worked mostly with vocalist Brenna Clerkin as the duo Brenna & Teresa. Here’s a selection from their EP Three Words:

[audio http://members.cox.net/khannemann/knocksmedown.mp3]Knocks Me Down – Brenna & Teresa

From this morning’s Washington Post:

Falls Church native-turned-Kill Rock Stars darling Thao Nguyen plays tomorrow at the Black Cat with her band the Get Down Stay Down, and offers more than enough smart heartbreak to go around (sorry, no faux-lebrity melodrama, though). Nguyen and her band broke out last year with the album “We Brave Bee Stings and All,” a jaunty collection of soulful pop tunes spiked with downer lyricism delivered in a staccato sing-speak.

“I’m a huge Motown fan, and I enjoy the juxtaposition of a bright-sounding song with a melancholic lyric,” Nguyen told us when we chatted up the 25-year-old recently by phone in Portland, Ore. The sad thread isn’t a put-on; her childhood seems to have consisted of toiling in her mother’s laundromat (“I feel like I was an indentured servant,” she says jokingly of her days spent making change for customers) and time spent alone.

“I would say I spent the majority of my time in my room, being sad or watching television. Growing up there helped in that I had nothing else to do but focus on playing music,” Nguyen says. She has since moved to San Francisco, where urban living seems to suit her, uh . . . better. Tomorrow’s show is something of a homecoming.

“For all the lamenting I have done,” Nguyen confesses, “I am a product of the place I came from. And everyone [here] has always been so supportive and hospitable.”

The Black Cat is at 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $13. Show starts at 9 p.m, also featuring Sister Suvi and David Shultz and the Skyline.

Move quick, or you’re gonna miss Thao because she’s off to Durham, NC on Saturday.

Here’s a recent video for Bag of Hammers (you may have heard the tune on a Clorox commercial):

My connection to Thao:  she rehearsed in my basement. That’s right – some of her first collaborative work took place there in the summer of 1999 after summer school computer science sessions, playing songs like “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Cocaine,” and Cake’s “Let Me Go” with a band (that term is used loosely) calling itself Cool Whip. [Note - most TJ students go to summer school to fit in all the classes they want to take with the ones they have to take. It's like camp for them.] Later, my son Chris backed her and Brenna on drums at a TJ talent show and at Jammin’ Java in Vienna. Yes, another A-List connection, folks.

Here is a review of her most recent work written by Chris after he caught up with her when she played at Berkeley in 2008.

UPDATE:  See Washington Post Weekend feature from April 17 – may require free login, may not be available more than two weeks or so.

The other two TJ Alumni posts are on Sam Willmott (2005) – also performing in DC on Friday evening – and John Petersik (2000).

It’s Good To Have A Friend In The Business®

If you would like to discuss real estate questions, sell or buy a home in Northern Virginia – including Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, Clifton, Fairfax, Fairfax Station, Falls Church, Kingstowne, Lorton, McLean, Reston, Springfield, or Vienna – contact Kim today.

4.5% Listings with First-Class Service — Cash Back to My Buyers!

Comments (1)

The first of three (3) posts coming up today, all related to some talented young friends of mine who are alumni of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ). Coming from the country’s preeminent nerd academy, you would think they’d be, oh, maybe scientists or engineers, but au contraire – they are artistes. They could also be scientists or engineers, but in the context of today they are budding if not fully flowered artistic talents.

I realize this is supposed to be primarily a blog about Real Estate . . . but hey, if I can get the TJ Alumni business, I’m gonna be set!

Sam Willmott is a 2005 TJ grad now finishing up at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture. He is a composer and lyricist already gaining some terrific recognition – in fact, his Standardized Testing – The Musical!!!! earned the 2009 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Musical Theatre Award for music and lyrics. Here’s an excerpt:

And you can see it tomorrow night (Friday, April 17) at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater for a measly ten bucks, along with the national finalists of the John Cauble Award for Outstanding Short Play and the KCACTF Ten-Minute Play Award, performed by an ensemble of Washington, D.C.’s leading actors.

My connection with Sam is that he was Tony, the male lead, and my daughter Vicky was a Shark in West Side Story. I had the privilege of not only seeing him perform but actually feeding him and the rest of the cast at multiple rehearsals! That’s an A-List connection, folks!

The other two posts are on Thao Nguyen (2002) – also performing in DC on Friday evening – and John Petersik (2000).

It’s Good To Have A Friend In The Business®

If you would like to discuss real estate questions, sell or buy a home in Northern Virginia – including Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, Clifton, Fairfax, Fairfax Station, Falls Church, Kingstowne, Lorton, McLean, Reston, Springfield, or Vienna – contact Kim today.

4.5% Listings with First-Class Service — Cash Back to My Buyers!

Comments (3)

The Seventh Annual Big Johnson College Basketball Tournament Classic is history. As is my reputation for competent prognostication, but we will get to that later. For now, let me congratulate the winners:

Chris Gruber won the Mens Tournament competition, after a comparison of final game point totals determined that he came two points closer to predicting the total final score than did Scott Breunig. Scott claims they tied based on absolute numbers, but all decisions of the judges (me) are final. Nyah, nyah.

Chris is the winner of a brand new iPod Shuffle, handsomely engraved with his name and achievement!

Chris Hannemann (a distant relative . . .) won the Womens Tournament contest going away. There was simply no way any team would beat the Huskies, and Chris wisely chose Louisville to upset Baylor and Maryland to get to the final four.

Chris has a different plan for his winnings:

Though it against my better judgment as an engineer to forgo fancy electronics, I am already the proud owner of a perfectly functional iPod. Instead of taking the $80 in iTunes cash, I have decided to go the route of Ms. Deems (victor of last year’s college bowl challenge) and have it donated through a charitable organization. Now most of you would say, “obviously, Chris will be sending a check to a fund focused on curing alopecia” (specifically, alopecia areata barbae . . . seriously, you should see my patchy stubble). But no, I instead am going to invest the money through kiva. Kiva is a microfinance/microlending organization that allows you to make small loans to specific people & projects around the globe (in fact, Kiva teams up with several partners, making it more of a microfinancing warehouse). The loans are used to help budding entrepreneurs in developing nations buy equipment, stock their stores, and otherwise get off the ground. As the money is paid back, you can donate it to the next project. I haven’t chosen which project(s) to donate to yet, but I will probably focus on manufacturing ventures.

Now let’s discuss the big loser – me. In the Mens Tournament, I was beaten by 52 of the 59 entrants. Never have I been ground into the dust to that extent. Naming everyone would take up too much space, so let me list those I did manage to beat: Jon Coggins, Christy Cunnington, Brendan Hannemann, Ron Frazier, Brian Johnson, and Michelle Boyd. In the Womens Tournament, I did better – aside from Chris, only Jason Pollan, Tiernan Doyle, and Pat Hayes beat me, with Jim Cocco managing to tie The Man.

However, given my appalling performance overall, I have made the Executive Decision to pay off every participant with Strawberry Twizzlers. If you were entered in either contest, you can expect to receive your Twizzlers either in person or in the mail soon – meaning when I get around to finding the appropriate mailers, etc, etc. . . !

Comments (0)

It’s once again that time . . .

 . . . when people all over the country stop doing what they are doing and feverishly consider their picks for the NCAA Basketball Tournaments so they can enter the SEVENTH Annual Big Johnson COED College Basketball Tournament Classic, sponsored by yours truly. 

Stick It To The Man - that’s me! A NEW 4GB Apple iPod Shuffle (in your choice of silver or black ) awaits the winner of EACH of the Men’s and Women’s Big Johnsons! (YOUR gender is irrelevant. I am referring to the separate basketball tournaments.) If you win, and you happen to already have an iPod – or other music player (ptui!) – I’ll give you the equivalent in iTunes credit, if you prefer. I would suggest that you check out the NEW Shuffle carefully before you decide. And as usual, anyone who gets more points than The Man will win something. Last time it was a king-sized Snickers bar. Can’t beat chocolate . . .

It won’t cost you anything but your sanity . . . and not even that, if you just choose the higher-seeded team in each matchup, and then pick the eventual Final Four winner based on their mascot or school colors. How difficult can this really be? Well, there might be upsets. Or not. And gee, there are only – uh, lessee, 64 teams in each tournament, where’s my TI-82? – okay, 126 total games.

And it takes a special kind of person to enter BOTH the Men’s and Women’s tournaments. Yes, I mean you!

The brackets are being set by the NCAA (Men’s Sunday March 15; Women’s Monday March 16). The men’s first round games start on Thursday March 19 (we don’t do the men’s “play-in” game on Tuesday), and the women’s on Saturday March 21 – and the brackets are locked shortly before the first game of each tournament. That doesn’t leave you much time, so GET GOING!

The Group Name on ESPN is “Big Johnson” for each tournament, and the group password is: kimsentme. That’s right, kim sent me, one word.

You can get there through the following URLs:

   Men’s Tournament Challenge:  http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/frontpage

   Women’s Tournament Challenge:  http://games.espn.go.com/tcwomen/frontpage

I know some of you like to fake out ESPN with an alias and throwaway email, but please be sure I can identify you from your name or the name of your entry. Otherwise I will keep your iPod, ha ha. 

After you create your entries, be sure to join the Big Johnson group in each tournament! And, if you create your entry before the brackets are set, be sure to return in time to choose your winners before they lock. Most people will wait until March 17 or 18, but don’t forget! ESPN tracks your points as the tournaments progress. I will weigh in every now and then with a Big Johnson update note.

FRIENDS ARE WELCOME, so you can forward this if you wish. Just be sure they identify themselves to me!

Best of luck to everyone!

          Kim

It’s Good To Have A Friend In The Business®

If you would like to discuss real estate questions, sell or buy a home in Northern Virginia – including Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Burke, Centreville, Chantilly, Clifton, Fairfax, Fairfax Station, Falls Church, Kingstowne, Lorton, McLean, Reston, Springfield, or Vienna – contact Kim today.

4.5% Listings with First-Class Service — Cash Back to My Buyers!