Pausing to catch my breath

I'm definitely not going to miss the end-of-term grading mayhem that's plaguing my life these days. Really, there's only so many bad papers one can read without want to claw one's eyes out, and the good ones aren't taking the edge off.

I thought I'd pop my head up for a moment and rattle off a few thoughts.

• Based on the first few days of viewing (I didn't get to see any games today), I'm liking Ecuador to make a run in the World Cup. They've got an incredibly quick defense that was able shut down passing lanes and frustrate a much larger Polish offense. They're incredibly patient on the other end of the pitch and are opportunistic when the chance presents itself. Plus, playing their home games at 8000 feet, they're conditioned as all hell. They should easily make it out of their group - they play a lackluster Costa Rican squad, and I think they'll run circles around Germany. I think the real challenge for Ecuador will come when they face one of the South American giants in the advanced rounds - I don't know that their speed and conditioning will do much against a Brazil or Argentina.
• I see the kids are starting up the Students for a Democratic Society on campus again. I know I sound like a cynical old fart, but appropriating the name of a 1960s student group does not a radical movement make, and you're not helping yourself when you say things like this:

  Some flyers advertising the meeting said "Stop ONAMI @ U of O." ONAMI refers to the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, a research collaboration involving the UO, OSU, Portland State University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and regional industry representatives.
  
  "It's not anything against the ONAMI project in general; it's just where the funding is coming from," Eiden said.

  I'm as much against militarism as the next guy, but the DoD pays the bills for a lot of academics. Moreover, DoD funding has been integral to a great many of the conveniences of modern life, like these here internets. I suppose I get a little miffed when people are making a big deal out of a research project because of its funding stream, but don't say a word about the poverty and homelessness which surrounds the verdant UO campus. Priorities, people.
• Because Wendy G asked: you can track your own blog traffic by getting a SiteMeter. Click on the link, register your site, cut & paste the html code into your blog template, and voilá, enjoy the thrill of knowing your readership. If you want to check out how the stats are presented, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the little rainbow box in the lower left hand corner. Good fun.

I s'pose that'll do for now. The blogging will be fairly light for the next week as I finish up and wash my hands of academia.