trans in amherst

race for the prize (remix)

2006-07-11T01:35:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"the point!"
by harry nilsson

so here's the news:

we're starting the tracking for our first couple of records on wednesday (probably an EP and a full-length) at cacophony, and it's very exciting. we've got our friend (and neighbor!) erik conn from those peabodys and tia carrera playing drums, which will undoubtedly add a little steven drozd/john bonham action to this business. i'll be documenting our progress over at the cloud ceiling's blog.
our friends jay and ashley of full 90 productions incorporated one of our demos into their entry in nycmidnight's three-week animation film festival/contest, animadness. the results were recently announced...and they took "best original character design - stop-motion" and "best stop-motion overall." pretty impressive, but when you consider that they'd never had any previous animation experience, that is just plain awesome. you can see the film here. it's really nice to be so surrounded by creative and talented people.
julie's been working on an amazing fancy new website, and it will be ready to launch soon. yeah, i said launch. launch launch launch. stay tuned for that action.

it's all very exciting.

love,
-eb

question

2006-05-28T02:46:00.000-04:00

#3: because she is soft and kind and good to me...

#2: because she said yes, and because i knew she would.

#1: because this list was incredibly easy to write.

i love you so much, julie. you have once again made me the happiest boy in new york.

i'm waiting for the day

2006-05-15T10:09:00.001-04:00

currently playing:

"return to the sea"
by islands

currently watching, when i should be working:
"read all about it"
from tvo in the late 1970s and early 1980s

(this will be the subject of a future post. anyone else remember it?)

#5: because she is a constant source of things to look forward to. this year has been (and for a few more days, will continue to be) incredibly hard on me, but knowing i have her to come home to makes it okay. o summer, you shall be glorious.

#4: because she works so so hard on the things that are important, even when they don't come easily.

in other news, ryan karb and i have been having some spirited scrabble matches lately. last night's recap:

after a strong start by the youthful ryan karb and an early 76-point lead, the veteran ethan bennett came roaring back and rallied to an all-time high score, and a 136-point victory! 359-223, final score. ethan leads ryan in the series 4-1.

we are either awesome, or huge dorks.

also, megan has arrived safely back from sydney. she narrowly avoided becoming the new tall sims-playing character on L O S T, so thank goodness for that.

the rest of you massachusetts-ites out there in foreign lands, be careful coming home, and i'll see you soon. and bring your bikes!

like a summer rain

2006-05-14T07:48:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"raised by wolves"
by voxtrot

#8: because rainy days are so much better at home on the couch with her.

#7: because all my favorite places (in austin, houston, red river, columbus, memphis, omaha, boston, washington d.c., new york, amherst, and the rest) have achieved that status because she and i have been to them together.

#6: because she is almost never unreasonable. how does she do it? she should give lessons or bottle that or something.

the silvery light of a dream

2006-05-10T08:22:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"forever changes"
by love

#11: because she shows me ways to look on the bright side.

#10: because she wakes me up when i have bad dreams.

#9: because she appreciates the world that came before her, and looks out for what will come after.

car radio

2006-05-09T05:09:00.000-04:00

currently playing: oosh.

"up the country"
by the sixth great lake

currently reading:
no equal justice: race and class in the american criminal justice system
by david cole

#16: because she wanted to come to new york with me, when all good sense suggested not to.

#15: because she has been seemingly en fuego fixing up the house since she decided to stay in austin for grad school.

#14: because she's (more than!) willing to drive 2000 miles across the country with me in a cramped two-seater hatchback.

#13: because she was willing to let my brother stay with us when he didn't really have anywhere else to go, and we didn't really have any extra space.

#12: because, as much as i'm ready to come home, i'm excited to show her around to all the places i go while i'm at school. she'll be here in two weeks! i love it.

and i'll be home in eight days. i'm thinking threadgill's for the straight-from-the-airport meal this time around, but i'm open to suggestions.

oh! in music-relevant news, our friends jay and ashley, of full 90 productions, used the demo for "calliope" in their entry for nyc midnight's online animation film festival, animadness. i haven't seen it yet, but with jay at the helm, i'm sure it will be great. i'll be sure to post an update as soon as it's viewable online.

in the lost and found

2006-05-04T05:41:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"fight songs"
by the old 97s

currently reading:
are prisons obsolete?
by angela davis

so i'm sorry i haven't posted in a while. internet troubles have conspired with school troubles and sleep troubles and memory troubles to prevent more consistent dailyness.

this semester is almost over; in fact, i only have four more meetings of my classes before final exams.

(i almost just typed "four mour" and then, thinking about how my current hunger must be contributing to my typographical difficulties, almost typed "meatings." four mour meatings. hooray for higher education.)

#21: because she is unselfish with her time, love, and self to a seemingly impossible degree.

#20: because she isn't afraid to like television. take note, hipsters! some tv is awesome! you needn't be so fearful.

#19: because she sends me secret internet love messages in places i'm almost certain not to find them.

#18: because of our occasional bizarre rhyming nonsense chats (she knows what i'm talking about).

#17: because of the joy i see in her face every time we fire up the videochat and every time i come down the escalator at the austin airport.

i love you, honey. i'll be there in 13 days!

ooh la la

2006-04-19T04:40:00.000-04:00

#24: because she's there when i need someone to talk to.

#23: because she helps me keep things in perspective.

#22: because she's my rushmore.

and your bird can sing

2006-04-17T16:34:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"loaded"
by the velvet underground

currently reading:
race, crime, and the law
by randall kennedy

#30: because she happily shares all of her neat new friends with me.

#29: because of our in-the-car sing-alongs.

#28: because she goes so far out of her way to make me feel less lonely in massachusetts.

#27: because she sends me picture-mails of lovely austin days and snuggly owen js.

#26: because she's always a work in progress and she's always open to change for the better.

#25: because she's the prettiest girl ever, and because there is not a haircut or a pair of glasses on earth that doesn't look great on her.

high atop the silver branches

2006-04-13T02:27:00.000-04:00

#31: because she was actually willing to go along with my crazy rope-ladder idea at greystone park.

(home depot totally dropped the ball, though.)

can't get a line

2006-04-09T01:25:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"dusk at cubist castle"
by the olivia tremor control

#36: because when we don't get to talk on the phone for whatever reason, she leaves me amazing and wonderful messages for when i wake up.

#35: because she draws hilarious pictures in the margins of her class notes.

#34: because i never have to worry about owen not getting enough love when he's with her.

#33: because it's so much fun to go with her to the rock and roll shows (followed by a couple of late-night orders of enchiladas at magnolia).

#32: because she's maybe the most sentimental person i know.

lovelovelove.

the figures of art

2006-04-06T23:23:00.000-04:00

#37: because she keeps me grounded in responsibility and good sense while always managing to stay encouraging and enthusiastic.

other great news of the day: yesterday i managed to procure a wurlitzer electric piano. i have been looking for one for something like four years now. it looks like this: and it rules. and i got a whole bunch of school stuff squared away, and we've nailed down with erik that we're going to track and mix this record in august. this has been a great week.

gotta get a hold of myself

2006-04-05T23:28:00.000-04:00

#38: because she's so much funnier than she gives herself credit for. she has these moments of comedic brilliance, and then this whole other set of moments of awe-inspiring silliness...well, i guess you have to be there, and i'm so glad i get to be.

tinker (she heard the news)

2006-04-03T22:19:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"hunky dory"
by david bowie

#39: because when i have good news, she's my favorite person to tell. every time, her enthusiasm makes me feel even better than i already did. it's the best. <3.

my life is right

2006-04-03T07:27:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"at war with the mystics"
by the flaming lips

#40: because she inspires me all the time, whether it's to do well in school, or to take good care of myself, or to make music, or to try new things, or just to be a better person.

the times they are a-changin'

2006-04-02T06:30:00.000-04:00

#41: because she appreciates (and has adopted) so many of the sibling sillinesses (siblinesses?) bryan and i have made up, including, but not limited to: the qode, the states-contest, bluebell.com, newsradio, and time-travelin'.

(author's note: alternate titles considered included "the battle for straight time," "time travel is lonely," and particularly "time of the season.")

your mother should know

2006-04-01T02:42:00.000-05:00

#42: because she loves my family, and because i love hers.

(my all-time favorite april fool's day joke: filling an empty advil bottle with orange reese's pieces, pretending to have a terrible headache, and then downing the entire bottle in one gulp in front of someone else. it works, and it's glorious.)

sketched out in water

2006-03-30T23:41:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"wowee zowee"
by pavement

#43: because, weather-permitting, she'll almost always ride her bike to the swimming pool with me, where we will take turns doing awesome pool tricks, such as the underwater handstand, the pool floor lie-down, and the torpedo (it'd be too hard to explain, but it's ridiculously fun).

magazine called sunset

2006-03-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"there's gonna be a storm"
by the left banke

#44: because even when i'm far away from home, every new happy memory i make is all tied up in her.

accepting applications at university

2006-03-28T23:45:00.000-05:00

#45: because when applying to graduate schools, she included proximity to me in her list of factors to weigh.

after much consideration, though, it looks like she'll be attending the lbj school of public affairs at the university of texas. but i'm excited for her, because the lbj school is badass and much more established than brown's public policy master's program, and muuuuch less expensive, plus we'll get to continue living in austin. good call, honey. maybe i'll join you there in another year. <3.

wait till the summer comes along

2006-03-27T12:48:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"cannibal sea"
by the essex green

currently reading:
war made easy: how presidents and pundits keep spinning us to death
by norman soloman

i'm on my way back to school now, and it's both terribly sad and reasonably exciting. it's hard to leave again, but i'm at the home stretch of this incredibly long year away from austin. predictably, the worst part is being away from julie, so i'm going to totally rip off her idea and post 46 reasons why i love her. there are approximately 50 days until i get back, so there won't be one quite every day (this isn't oneupsmanship, after all). but there will be one for each of hers. plus maybe this will get me in the habit of more regular blogging for when we start recording this summer. anyway, here we go:

#46: because her ambitions aren't for money or power or fame, but just to make the world a little (or a lot) better than how she found it.

the town halo

2006-03-18T03:02:00.000-05:00

i'm home! until monday (3/27) morning at 6:00 am. which means i'll probably be calling you people for hangouts. but first, sleeps.

happy st. rhett's day, everyone.

transport is arranged

2006-02-27T04:38:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"life and death of an american fourtracker"
by john vanderslice

oh, but i'm a sleepy one. just a couple of things worth noting, and then i'm off to bed. first, and most awesomely, julie has heard back from two of the graduate schools she applied to, and she got into both! first she heard back from the university of texas' lbj school of public affairs, and then just a couple of days ago she got the news from brown university's taubman center for public policy. i am so so proud of you, sweetheart.

second, i'll be coming home for spring break in 18 days! seriously, it's so strange how much i miss the mexican food when i'm away. but i'd really like to make a point to spend some time with you people, so mark your calendars.

i'm still working on more demos (there's a new one up there, if you haven't noticed) and figuring out arrangements and all that. i'm getting anxious to be recording and playing for real, though. i've been thinking that i might try to setup some acoustic shows around here, though i'm not sure how many places there are to play.

okay, goodnight, podners.

the wake of all that's past

2006-02-24T22:11:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"the albemarle sound"
by the ladybug transistor

so i was sitting on the bus stop bench yesterday afternoon, waiting to be picked up to go to class, when a woman sat down next to me and started to light a cigarette. she asked me if i smoke, and when i said no, she asked if it would bother me if she did. it has been a long time since someone asked me that, and to be honest, her courtesy took me a little by surprise.

i have never been a person particularly interested in having casual friends, because i tend to emotionally invest myself pretty heavily in the people i care about. for the last couple of years i was in austin, i was a part of a group of people that meant the world to me, whether they were aware of it or not. these were genuinely talented and good people, and i loved them dearly.

thinking about the time i spent with them, however, i realize now that it was rarely more than superficial hanging-out. i had an uncanny amount in common with them in terms of our musical tastes, but even now i don't know much about what they care about or what makes them tick.

the only times when we ever really talked about anything that mattered were the semi-hourly trips onto the porch when they would all have a cigarette, but each of those was only a few minutes' break from playing video games or watching sports. so now, due to the benefit of hindsight and a good deal of reflection upon the events of the last year, i have become painfully aware that i didn't matter that much to the people i considered some of my best friends.

so now i'm in a weird spot, because i don't love these people any less than i did before, but i know that they don't really care about me. and there's not really anything i can do but accept it and move on. i hope their lives are good to them and that they are able to find what they're looking for.

so when she asked if her cigarette would bother me, i said no. secondhand smoke reminds me of being with my old friends, and while i wish those days didn't have to end, i feel lucky to have gotten to be a part of them at all.

oh! you pretty things

2006-02-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"clap your hands say yeah!"
by clap your hands say yeah!

hey partypeople. i know it's been a mighty long time since my last post, but i'm coming back with a vengeance. i spent entirely too much time revamping this blog yesterday, but i'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

so let's see, christmas was awesome, skiing was excellent, and austin was perfect. i couldn't really have asked for much more (other than to get to stay longer). now i'm back in amherst, and everything is a little weird because almost everyone i know is studying abroad this semester. so school is pretty much all i do. i've been recording some more demos, some of which may be making it to the myspace page soon. i can't believe how excited i am about this recording.

so, yeah, that's all i've really got right now. here are the courses i'm taking this semester for anyone who might be curious:

comm 297k: rhetoric and public culture
comm 387: advertising and public relations as social control
polisci 255: american foreign policy
polisci 361: civil liberties
polisci 496: black politics (independent study)

oh, and everyone should go out and pick up the new ink and early tapes EPs. a couple of tasty biscuits indeed.

and i miss julie a lot. <3

a quick one, while he's away

2005-12-14T08:41:00.000-05:00

currently freezing:
my ass off

i have to be fast with this one, because my last class is about to start (sweet.). first, congratulations to my sweetsugarsnao on graduating and finishing her electrical engineering degree. i'm really proud of you, honey. second, it's really cold. no news there, but -9 F? that's just unreasonable. third, i'm coming home to austin in 8 days, a fact about which i can barely restrain my excitement. and lastly, but perhaps most pertinently, it looks as though the tqc recording is going to be put off until the summer, but only because we're going to record (most of) it at erik wofford's cacophony recorders studio in austin. it's going to get the whole 24-track 2" tape treatment. oh holy crap, i couldn't be more excited about that.

so, instead, over the break we're going to record an ep of our friends' songs, arranged very differently from their original versions. currently, the list includes "green grass," "mars," "don't be mean," "old meriwether," and "10,000 orchestras," plus a neat surprise at the end. these may change considerably as we get into it, but that's the plan for the moment.

okay! i'm off to rock a quiz and finish my last day of classes. i hope everyone's well, and austin, if you're reading this, i suggest you go ahead and fire up the fajitas now.

situation vacant

2005-11-17T16:44:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"mouthfuls"
by fruit bats

a handful of exciting bits to mention before i return to studying like a madman for a constitutional law test tomorrow morning.

julie is taking the GRE today, so wish her lots of luck and send her supportive thoughts this afternoon. she's going to do great, and we're all going to be ridiculously proud of her. imagine that. : )
we're going to new york next week! i'm taking a bus from amherst on tuesday morning, and julie and my brother will be getting there wednesday evening. i can't wait.
i found out today that i'll get to see a taping of the late show with david letterman on tuesday night with my parents and sister. unfortunately, neither julie nor bryan will be there in time to go, which is heartbreaking, but i'll do my best to make sure they get to see one the next time they're in new york.
my u.s. health politics & inequalities professor, dean e. robinson, told me today that he would sponsor an independent study political science course for me next semester. i was hoping to take his black politics course next semester, but it won't be available, which prompted the independent study idea. which is awesome, because i'll basically get to create a self-directed course for myself. right now i think it's going to be about the racial inequality in the u.s. criminal justice system, specifically incarceration rates and death penalty statistics.
i saw jeff tweedy play at the calvin theater in northampton, ma the other night. it was fantastic. sort of like what i imagine it must have been like to see bob dylan during the time "don't look back" was filmed. but in color, and with a lot of excellent banter with the audience.
i love honest tea. a moroccan mint green tea and an oatmeal raisin cookie makes for a great five minutes or so.

so, i suppose everything is going pretty well right now. it's unbelievably cold here, and it's only getting colder, but that's manageable. ooookay, back to work with me.

cheers,
-eb

olde tyme waves

2005-11-07T11:29:00.000-05:00

currently playing:

"navy blues"
by sloan

currently reading:
food politics: how the food industry influences nutrition and health
by marion nestle

it's amazing how much can happen over the course of a couple of weeks. i'll do my best to recap it all succinctly.

first and foremost, my sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy on november 3, which makes me an uncle, and my parents grandparents. i'm not sure which is more strange. i'm confident he'll probably wipe that grumpy look off his face pretty soon. welcome to the world, little man.

also, our plans to visit her in new york over thanksgiving have been finalized, which should be incredibly fun. julie, my parents, and my brother will all be flying up from texas, and i'll get to ride a bus directly from the middle of the umass campus to the middle of times square. also, very strange.

my first round of tests came and went, so now i can relax a little and try to get back to writing and recording and arranging this business. i've spent the last hour killing time between classes by making a ridiculous christmas wishlist, which for one reason or another always ends up being entirely (or almost entirely) musical stuff. and i'm okay with that. here it is, in all it's preposterous glory (and order of awesomeness):

vox ac-30 cc2x (fawn) - electric guitar amp
wurlitzer 200a or rhodes stage/suitcase - electric piano
gibson j-45/j-50/southern jumbo - acoustic guitar
rickenbacker 360/12 (fireglo) - 12-string electric guitar
koss pro-4aa headphones
dunlop ts-1 stereo tremolo - effect pedal
electro-harmonix stereo polychorus - effect pedal
electro-harmonix q-tron+ envelope follower - effect pedal
akg k240s headphones
30 or 60GB apple ipod
dbx 386 - microphone preamp

whew! funfunfun. maybe i can get julie to post a silly-impossible christmas list too. actually, i'd like to see everybody's, so feel free to leave yours in a comment. this could be fun, if not slightly depressing.

cheeses is the reason for the season,
-eb

suddenly everything has changed

2005-10-19T04:24:00.000-04:00

ever-so-slightly relevant content, in the way of some (still-tentative) song title updates:

"bouncy song" is now "jesus quincy adams"
"byrds song" is now _"subscript^superscript"
and "sheep meadow" is now "the sliding-scale geometry"

yeah okay, this post was just for me. more soon, my lovelies.

-eb

everything hits at once

2005-10-18T16:34:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"great lakes"
by great lakes

currently reading:
bowling alone: the collapse and revival of american community
by robert d. putnam

well, austin was fantastic, but now i'm back in western massachusetts, where apparently (and statistically) we get more rain than seattle. no one told me that before i moved here. c'est la vie.

i'm getting more and more excited about the recording we'll be starting in just a little over two months. it seems like i have new ideas for it every day. it will be especially interesting to hear what andy, aka a-train (of the channel and golden bear) will contribute on drums. i'm hopeful that we can as many friends as possible involved one way or another. grizzmo? a little tuba action, perhaps? maybe the man with four names will lend a hand on harpsichord or wurlitzer? how about you, holster? give us a hug and a soundscape.

but really, we'd love anyone to contribute who wants to. it'll be a tqc party. no one's ever done that before, right?

all right, i'm off to study for about a million midterms. if it's warm and dry where you are, go for a bike ride for me, okay?

love,
-eb

...and in every home

2005-10-11T12:56:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"underachievers please try harder"
by camera obscura

currently reading:
the status syndrome : how social standing affects our health and longevity
by michael marmot

so i'm here in austin, and i couldn't be having a better time. i won't go into the troubling details of how hard it was to get here, but i will say this: don't use priceline for airline tickets. ever.

i've spent just about every moment since i got off the plane with julie, but i know that even though i'm spending two extra days in austin with her, it won't be enough to keep me from missing her terribly once i leave again. she's amazing, and i love her with everything i've got.

we haven't done much in the way of actual activity, but man oh man have we ever had some tasty food. i love this city, and i think more and more that i'd really like to end up here permanently someday.

relevant: i posted two more demos on the myspace page. drop us a note if you have any comments.

oh, and owen j. says hello.
-eb

who loves the sun

2005-10-04T17:35:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"tender buttons"
by broadcast

&

"come on feel the illinoise"
by sufjan stevens

well cowpokes, fall has arrived in western massachusetts. it is fantastic here right now. seriously, check it out on weather.com or something. not to gloat, but wherever you are right now, i bet i win. just kidding.

but even better news than that: i'm coming home this weekend! huzzah. i've started making a mental list of the things i want to do and places i'd like to go during my 60 hours in texas, but i could use some help if anyone would like to add a comment or two. i need the essentials here, people. thundercloud, amy's, waterloo, etc.

and upon returning from this weekend, there will be two more demos up on the tqc myspace page, as well. my friend megan is bringing her acoustic guitar here from home soon, so i'll be able to record some of the numbers that don't translate well to the ol' rickemabacker.

i've also been looking into graduate school programs, most notably at brown unive rsity, m.i .t., and bos ton uni ver sity.

off to health politics, talk to (or see!) you soon,
-eb

the lines you amend

2005-09-23T01:24:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"imperial bedroom"
by elvis costello

howdy podners. there's not a whole lot going on up here, but i hope everyone is doing well.

my health politics class is just about as awesome as i expected (the next assignment is to read the health of nations: why inequality is harmful to your health by ichiro kawachi and bruce p. kennedy of the harvard school of public health).

i've been recording some demo-type business with the keyboard and guitar, but i don't have a microphone clip, so i can't record any vocals or non-direct instruments yet. i made us a myspace page (feel free to add us as your friends, we love everyone) and uploaded the newest demo thing that i recorded yesterday.

and apparently i'm going apple-picking (that somehow includes a hayride) on saturday. this really is a totally different world.

-eb

hang on to your ego

2005-09-14T22:03:00.000-04:00

currently playing:

"white light/white heat"
by the velvet underground

so this semester is looking like it's going to be excellent. i had to make some adjustments to my schedule, but it's looking mighty fine now. for your perusal:

COMM 118: Introduction to Interpersonal Communication
COMM 287: Advertising as Social Communication
POLISCI 360: Constitutional Law
POLISCI 394e: US Health Politics & Inequalities
PHIL 110: Introduction to Logic

on the basis of the first few meetings, i think all of these courses are going to be enormously interesting and provocative, but i think 394e is really going to be exceptional. my first assignment for the class is to read boomerang: health care reform and the turn against government by theda skocpol by next tuesday. i dare say that's thunderously awesome.

i finally got to recording a demo last night. i only did four tracks, but it was really fun and encouraging. the midi stuff is so much better than i thought it could be. i'm wishing i had my bass here, and wishing i could take it on a plane without having to check it, but i can just fake it with the guitar for now.

is anyone watching the roberts hearings? nobody in my constitutional law class really seems that interested in them, which thoroughly blows my mind. i thought the analogy about asking him his favorite movies was, to borrow bryan's phrasing, "hella on point."

i want to tell you

2005-09-05T15:31:00.000-04:00

so in an effort to kickstart this badboy, here's a very tentative tracklisting for the first record. these are also all tentative titles, particularly the ones with "song" in them. i'll be documenting the recording pretty comprehensively, primarily for my own benefit, but it might be interesting to others as well.

1. margins
2. the brown hotel
3. honorable mentions
4. earlier
5. calliope
6. sheep meadow
7. surprises
8. bouncy song
9. byrds song
10. circulation desk
11. professor goodenough
12. convention
13. tqc blues
14. car

love and kisses,
-eb

this will be our year

2005-09-02T17:08:00.000-04:00

welcome to the weblog for the cloud ceiling. this is where julie and i will document the progress we're making, as well as occasional unrelated ramblings. feel free to leave comments, and check back often. we expect to have loads of news over the next few months.

i've moved up to massachusetts for school, which could be seen as a setback for the music-making, but i see it as an opportunity. the plan is to more or less get all the songs and arrangements ready to go so that we can hammer 'em out over the winter break.

i brought a guitar and an amp up here, and i got a keyboard to connect to my computer, so hopefully there will be some demos available to download from the website soon. julie's working on a really fantastic fancy flash website, so it's all very exciting.

cheers, friends,
-eb

p.s. yeah, yeah, spoon went to UT, but the pixies went to UMass, so let's call it even, eh?