I knew it was a Steely Dan reference right away, but I had to take a moment to get the line: "California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go back to Annandale."

It's from "My Old School", as in, "I'm never going back to my old school" - long an anthem to boarding-school rebels everywhere, although it's apparently about Bard College.

For me I took the sentiment to heart, even before the song came out. My brother spent one depressing year at the prep school I had just graduated from, and one time, I had to drive him back after a weekend furlough. I literally made him get out of the car at the edge of town and walk the rest of the way. I'm never going back to my old school. Hated it.

Ironically, the first real moment of pride I ever had about the place was just 2 days ago, and I left in 1972. I was watching "Social Network" and I noticed the Mark Zuckerberg character had on a t-shirt from my old school. Not only that but they used to have a "Photo Address Book" that the students referred to as "the Facebook". And while Mark was at the school, the book was placed online with the word "facebook" in the address, so it looks like the Facebook phenomenon was less of a rip-off from 2 Harvard students - as suggested in the movie - and more of an idea Zuckerberg was exposed to at my old boarding school. Even a cynic like me has to see something cool in that.

Hollywood movies. So phony. Maybe it should fall into the sea.

The Ring of Fire now has had a major earthquake in all regions except the West Coast (New Zealand, Sumatra, Japan).

So somewhere in the next few ticks of time it is going to happen here.

Then everybody is going to be "old school".

Like Steely Dan but not that aware of all the lyrics. I thought Annandale was about the DC suburb in northern VA. Heavy Obama territory but that didn't make sense either.