The Week That Was

Busy, busy couple of weeks.

Just finished my first week of my second student teaching placement. I am in an 8:1:1 Special Education classroom in Spencerport, which aside from the commute time is not that different from teaching at Freddie Thomas.

The days are busy and there are a million things going on. The hardest part for me is that I am actually only teaching social studies for about 40 minutes a day. The experience is great and my cooperation teaching has been awesome. I just have a hard time seeing myself taking over the room and doing all she does in a few short weeks.

Avi has been awesome. We are taking her ice skating this evening so I should have some new video and pictures up soon.

The teaching portion of my Master's degree is quickly coming to a close. I have a lot of loose ends to tie up so that I can say when this is done is a few months that I am going to be certified by September.

Went to go see "How to Train Your Dragon" last night with D. Not to name drop but my best friend is a producer for Dreamworks and he strongly recommended we go see it. Absolutely loved it.

Not sure if I would put it ahead of "Kung Fu Panda" as far as Dreamworks animated movies go. I really loved the Fu. But I would place it ahead of a few Pixar films on my list of favorite animated films.

The visuals were just amazing. It was almost the Anti-Eragon (don't get me started on my hatred of Eragon). I loved that the kid needed the dragon as much as the dragon needed him, it made for a very touching story.

I love leaving a theatre feeling content with the cash we just laid down.

As far as what is exiting me right now.

Check THIS OUT

Best. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Seen (thanks Drew)

Those who know me know that the list of things that I hate consists of the following in no particular order:

Aliens
Robots
Vamipres
Zombies
and Diseases

(Although I love Alien Robots)

But if there is an alien I love, it's Predator. At least Predator makes no excuses about what he is going to do to you. He is going to kill you. And if you put up a good fight, he is going to tear your skull and spine out of your carcass, he is going to polish it, and he is going to hang it on his wall with all his other trophies.

Unlike Aliens, who impregnate you with thier offspring and use you like some twisted incubator, Predator finishes you quickly.

And, Predator loves to kill Aliens, which is awesome.

This movie is going to be awesome. (Which is exactly what I said after seeing the trailer for Alien v. Predator Requiem, which failed, epically)

The Deathly Hallows

Just put Avi to bed, settled onto the couch and was flipping looking for something to watch. Stopped on Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban for lack of anything better to watch.

During the first commercial break, these scenes came up as part of ABC Family's Harry Potter Weekend.

Fool me once with bad Harry Potter movies, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on me again. Fool me three times, and I must really loves this series of books.

I love that it looks like they got the Shell Cottage scene correct. There is no more important moment in any of the books than when Harry makes the decision while digging Dobby's grave, Horcruxes, not Hallows.

More Funny or Die

Presidential Reunion: Bush Sr. vs. Bush Jr. from Will Ferrell

Thank You, Bill

Bill Maher's New Rule: FIRE THE PARENTS!

When there are no books in the house, and there are no parents in the house, you know who raises the kids? That's right, the television. Kids aren't keeping up with their studies; they're keeping up with the Kardashians. We're allowing the television, as babysitter, to turn us into a nation of slutty idiots. By the way, one sign your 9-year-old may be watching too much One Tree Hill: if she has an imaginary friend with benefits.

It is too easy to say that all the problems that we have in education are based in bad parenting.

But it is a lot closer to the truth than it being the teacher's fault.

Thank god, as I am writing this Avi is reading a book.

Speaking of Race in Sports

Continuing the theme from the other day and the Torii Hunter comments. I ran across This... while I was drinking my coffee this morning and found it very interesting.

I bookmarked the website The Mo'Kelly Report

Wide receiver and father Plaxico Burress ... jail (Home recently foreclosed) Star guard and unwed father (2 children) Gilbert Arenas ... on his way to jail. Rapper Lil Wayne, unwed father of 4 children (two born simultaneously to different women) ... just finished tucking himself in ... you got it, prison. Black male pathology is in full swing. It's not funny and it's not a figment of one's imagination. It's true and we should recognize it for what it is.

I am using the Torii Hunter statements as a mini lesson on Race today, as Sid said, this is either going to be very good, or very bad.

Avi Pictures

Impostors

I love Torii Hunter

But he said some really stupid things about race in baseball.

Now, like the author of the post quoted above, I do not assume to know more about race and baseball than Torii.

What I do know, is that African slaves were brought from the West coast of Africa and brought to locations all over the New World.

Ask my U.S. History classes, we covered this topic in depth.

Someone being Dominican, or Costa Rican, or American, is just an arbitrary function of where their African ancestors were brought.

The author of that post pretty much sums up my feelings on race and athelets in baseball.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Plastic

Which only fuels my don't use plastics fire:

Exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy can cause permanent abnormalities in the uterus of offspring and the reprogramming of genes, said new research from the Yale School of Medicine. The study is the first to show that exposure to the chemical, commonly found in the epoxy linings of food cans and in polycarbonate baby bottles, may permanently affect sensitivity to oestrogen, said the team led by Professor Hugh S Taylor.

BPA, like the kind found in plastic drinking bottles

My Dream Job

I could absolutely be a stay at home dad.

Last week of first placement. Birthday tomorrow. Busy week.

Reflection

As part of my student teaching seminar, we are asked to write reflections about our experiences. I will have more to share in this space regarding what I have encountered when time and energy permit. For now, I would like to share my most recent reflection, where we were asked to write about a student who has had an impact on us, either good or bad. This is what I had to say:

There is a line at the film “The Devil’s Own” starring Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford, where Brad Pitt’s character is telling his father figure Ford that their story was always going to have bad ending. Pitt, who is Irish and a member of the IRA tells Ford “Don't look for a happy ending. It's not an American story. It's an Irish one.” What Pitt’s character is saying is that we want so desperately for every story to have the miracle ending that we as Americans have come to expect, that we forget that so often in life, there are no happy endings. For people all over the world, they spend their whole lives, and then die, waiting for that miracle ending. In literature it is called Deus ex Machina, or “God from the machine” where no matter how desperate the situation, things will find a way of working out for the protagonist. I have made this mistake when working with my students at Hillside prior to starting my student teaching. Sometimes there are no happy endings. After talking with a student and a parent about the issues that are going on in the home, it is my expectation that from week to week, day to day, things will begin to get better. The harsh truth however is that sometimes things don’t get better. Sometimes a young person who is struggling against all that they are dealing with in their lives, will simply continue to struggle.

Sometimes, even though we are in America, the stories don’t have a happy ending. I would like to sit and write about my student who in three weeks I have turned from an underachieving problem student, into a social studies whiz-kid (it’s not as if I don’t have a few of them) but the harsh and brutal reality is that this is by and large not an American story. The students that I have spent the last month plus working with will go on after they are done with me, and I them. Some of them will succeed in both school and life, and some of them wont. The hardest part is that there is shockingly little that I can do to alter that course. I am not so naïve to think that in seven weeks I could alter the course of all 45 or so student’s lives. But I do also realize the impact I am having, if only for an hour and a half five days a week for a month and a half. Do I have students who have made an impression on me? Do I have students who I will remember long after they have forgotten about me? Of course I do. I far under estimated the impact that student teaching was going to have on me as a professional and as a person. Having worked in my school for two years, I arrogantly believed that I knew more about this than I did. This has been the single greatest learning experience of my life, and I say that knowing full well that I have two weeks left where I am now, and seven weeks at my next placement.

I am sorry for the negative tone to this, the ironic thing is, I write this after having what has been my most successful week here. You asked me to write about a student who has made an impression on me, and I could easily have filled these few short pages with stories about this young person or that, who has surprised me in a good way or a bad. I could talk about the young lady who has shocked me day in and day out with her ability to think at a higher level. Or the young man who is so confident in his abilities in social studies, but is so close every day to exploding on me that I have had to navigate a mine field with him. I could have written 10 pages on each and every one of them. But it would not have been enough. Instead, let me take these pages to talk about the group as a whole. They are wonderful, awful people, just like all of us, who for the most part are doing the best with what they have, and what they have been taught. I cannot move heaven and earth in 7 weeks, but I can alter the course of a young person’s life, even if just slightly. Maybe after all is said and done, it will be an American story after all.

The Ghosts of Presidents Past

Saw this last night and literally laughed out loud (lol as the kids say)

"If the Moon Were Spare Ribs, I'd Have Seconds"

Yesterday was Harry's birthday. Will Ferrell is a classic.

The Pantry

So, we are quickly approaching the three year anniversary of my purchase of the house. In that time I have made a few modest upgrades and gotten the place looking nice enough that I wasn't completely embarrassed to have Danielle move in.

One of the nagging issues however has been the pantry. It is in the hallway that leads from the entry way of the house into the kitchen, so anyone who walks in, sees what's there.

When I first bought the house, there was cheap folding doors there, which I hated and promptly removed. In the ensuing two years, the "pantry" has been little more than an open closet space with white metal wire shelves, which looked, frankly, terrible.

Danielle and I have been talking about upgrading the pantry for a while, and the time finally came this weekend.

With some borrowed antique doors from Jaquie, we got started.

In the above picture you can see what the space looked like without the wire shelves. This is me installing the door frame.

Because there were to studs in the wall here, we had to make good use of about three tubes of liquid nails.



We have to screw in the shelves, caulk and paint. Aside from that, we have a really nice looking pantry.



We have yet to decide what we want to do with the color on the doors. There is cracked and chipping white paint on them now, which as far as I am concerned looks great, the problem is, will the next buyers of the house think it looks so "rustic".




The garbage can and recycling bin go under the newly built cabinet, and I am planning on building a roll-out drawer for them to fit into. This won't be done this weekend however.

All in all, for less than $100, we ended up with a really nice upgrade and something the two of us are proud of.

Is That All?

We took Avi and Lilah to the zoo Sunday to see the new polar bear, Zero. Although he was awesome, and HUGE (Compared to Aurora)they did not fight like this. Which was of course, unfortunate.

The Health Care Debate

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Danielle worked at New York Presbyterian, on the floor where Mr. Olbermann's father is receiving treatment. Living with a a health care professional, I know how hard the people with their boots on the ground in this fight are working.

My frustration with the politics of Changing this system has boiled over. I am guessing I feel a lot like this guy:



That is Congressmen Anthony Weiner of NY. And at 6:19 this morning I am at least reassured that someone out there is saying something that I agree with.

I think I may show this clip to my 11th grade U.S. History class this morning, we are starting to cover the Constitution today. How do I honestly teach about how our Government is supposed to work, when it has shown an utter inability to do anything for months.

We are no closer today to comprehensive healthcare reform than we were in the fall when I was frustrated. Mr. Obama, you are losing me. There are precious few issues that will get me angry enough to vote against you or not vote at all in 2012. Health Care, equal rights for all citizens regardless of sexual orientation, education, that's pretty much it. In over a year, you and your administration have done shockingly little on each front.

The Snow Leopard

This is Awesome

Seeing as I live with a woman of Ghanaian decent, I find this to be very compelling.

I am not an Olympic freak, but I do enjoy the games, particularly the Snow Board half-pipe, where Shawn White proved that he is head and shoulders the best athlete in his sport in the world.

Crappy Historical Movies, Good Historical Movies

It has been a weird weekend for movies on TV. I have spent most of the weekend inside, playing with Avi and preparing for next week, which means I have found my butt firnly planted on the couch.

I watched "Revolution", which was an excellent historical film, followed by "The Patriot" which is a terrible historical film.

Then today, I turned on the Disney channel while Avi ate her lunch after an awesome sledding trip, only to find the most awful of awful historical films, "Pocahantas" on. In an amazing turn of events, there is an awesome historical film that deals with the same subject matter on right now, I love "Dances with Wolves" and am even able to forgive the historical inaccuracies and perpetuation of the "Nobel Savage" myth.


I just thought it was interesting.

Is it just me, or does Disney's Pochahantas look strikingly like Kim Kardashian?

What I Am Reading

Last week I finished the Mistborn Trilogy for the second time.

I am very boring in that I continue to read and re-read the same books over and over when I find something I like, I think this must be genetic.

Anyways, I loved this series even more this time. I have Drew to thank, again, for getting me to read this. I am dedicating myself to reading all 12 books in The Wheel of Time series. I have finally come to grips with the fact that Drew knows what he is talking about when it comes to fantasy books.

Having just watched the utter crap-fest that was Percy Jackson and the Olympians I have little faith in Books to Movies adaptations right now, but the talk of a potential "Mistborn" movie gets me very excited. The way the action in this series is written would translate beautifully to film, it is sort of Harry Potter, meets LORT, meets the Matrix meets Awesome.

One of my favorite things about reading fantasy books is checking out other people's interpretations of the characters in Fan Art sites. My favorite Harry Potter site is Acciobrain!

Some of the best stuff I have ever drawn/painted has been the Wheel of Time stuff I did for Drew (which I should have him take pictures of so I can post it...Drew, are you reading this?)

The Mistborn artwork that is out there is limited at this point. I have sketched out some Inquisitors, but haven't had the time to really work on them. I will post a few of my favorites that Google Images was able to pull up.







Sweet Koloss transition




















Vin doing her Misborn thing





















And finally, my favorite of Vin, hauling around a way-too-big-but-still-bad-ass Koloss sword.

These Folks Are Real

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As usual, Rachel uses her witty, sarcastic style to disarm even the craziest of crazies. What she said at the end is what is so telling to me, "These folks are real"

Family Guy

I am a huge "Family Guy" fan, but when D and I watched this clip the other day we both looked at each other and said: "Really?".

I couldn't get through the whole Fox News clip, because the vortex of stupid that was created when these two were placed side by side was too much for my tiny brain to handle.

But point being, I came away thinking, "Wholly a Molley" (an Avi-ism) I cannot believe I just agreed with The Palin.

Then I came across This...

And I was reminded that it was this same woman who defended Rush Limbaugh calling someone "an effing retard" in the name of Satire.

It took a young woman with Down's Syndrome to remind me, even people with special needs have senses of humor.

Screw you Sarah.

and this was the rest of the clip:

On The Rocks

When. Danielle is mad at me, either truthfully, or not, she declares that our relationship is "on the rocks", Avi has picked this up.

Went to the strong museum of play today. Avi loved it.

Location : 167 South Ave, Hilton, NY 14468,

Ichiro

It is no secret that I have a tiny Man-Crush on Ichiro Suzuki.

Aside from being the source of the best quotes in baseball, he clearly has impecable taste in fashion.

Currently watching Project Runway with D, and I don't think even Tim Gunn could make this work.

Thank the gods Baseball season is right around the corner.

Poopin on the Potty

And we have officially moved into the next stage. Avi has pooped 4 times in the Potty and counting.

This is like the Super Bowl of child raising.

Location : 1161 West Ave, Hilton, NY 14468,

Reading Simba to Simba

Avi reading "The Lion King" to Simba this morning. And yes, she has already used the Potty this morning.

This kid is too cool.

Location : 1161 West Ave, Hilton, NY 14468,

Sarah Palin is an F-ing Retard

Sarah Palin Uses a Hand-O-Prompter

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

Classic, classic, classic.

This woman literally makes my stomach turn.

The acrobatics that she is able to accomplish with logic are simply mind-blowing.

There is nothing for me to add, because nothing funny or witty that I say can possibly reach the level of hilarity that she is able to accomplish on accident.

Something Something Something Darkside

Watched Family Guy's Empire Strikes Back spoof last night with The D. Made the mistake of letting Avi watch the first 25 minutes or so, as she was winding down for bedtime and was being totally adorable.

She laughed through most of what she watched, mostly because Danielle and I were laughing so hard. But I think she was confused about this scene. I could tell she was confused when she kept asking me: "Daddy, where Cookie Monster's arm go?"

Needless to say, I will be a bit more discerning in the future with what she watches. She gets very upset when people get hurt in movies or on TV. So imagine her outrage when Cookie Monster's arm was chopped off.

I think the genius of the Family Guy Star Wars spoofs is that they do such an incredible job with the visuals. The shots are perfect. Someone clearly took a lot of time making sure they did a good job with it visually.

Although, you could make the argument that the Robot Chicken version is better:

Space Man

I bought DMB Europe (2009) this week, and have not stopped listening to it yet.

It's funny how a song I wasn't crazy about at first can grow on me.

One Week Down

So I am sitting at my (Mr. Savino's) desk having just finished my first week.

I have taught every class, beginning first thing Monday morning. I didn't really have a chance to be nervous, as I have taken over right from the beginning.

I have slowly been taking over additional responsibilities such as recording attendance, handling behavior issues and calling parents. So far, I guess so good.

We have, in one week gone from the basics of Geography up to the French and Indian War ("Mr. Gilmore, why do they call it the French and Indian War if the French were not fighting the Indians", Me-"good friggen question")

I think we have done a good job hitting on the key historical points. I have also been sure to include those historical tidbits that I think are interesting, such as the Southern accent deriving from a Scotch-Irish dialect.

I am in no way a Master Teacher (like Yoda) at this point. But I think I do have a talent for this stuff.

And I included the picture from "The Patriod", because as much as I love showing film clips in class (Amistad, Last of the Mohicans, and School House Rocks already this week) I refuse to show anything as blatantly historically inaccurate as that festering pile of crap.

Student Teaching-Day 1

First day of student teaching. All in all it went well. There are things I would do differently, things I wouldn't do at all, and things I would do the same. It was not ground-breaking, Earth shattering teaching in anyway. But no one died, and I am heading back tomorrow, so I think those are all positives.

We did introductions and Geography basics. Not the most interesting topic, but I think the kids got something out of it. I am teaching two blocks, one with 10-12 10th graders who I know, and one with 30 9th graders where I know about half of them.

1st block is going to be nice in preperation for 2nd.

At the end of class I showed a quick clip from "Last of the Mohicans" because we are going to be starting pre-colonial American stuff later this week. This is one of my favorite scenes ever:



Which got me thinking about this:



Which has to go down as one of the best Nike commercials of all time.

I love that they borrowed the music from this, the first time I saw this commercial I went nuts.

Why I Am

Trying to get the flash player working on my "fixed" laptop, and needed to watch some Youtube videos to make sure I did it right.

Proctoring then grading the U.S. History Regents exam today. I almost feel like a real teacher.

First morning I have woken up this week feeling like I actually slept.

Student Teaching

Half a week into sort of student teaching, I would have some observations, if I had done more than plan and hang out to this point.

Monday will be a completely different story as I pick of the reins and run with two sections of U.S. History.

As Sid the Sloth says, this is either going to be really good, or really bad.

Just watched the State of the Union Address with D, and I come away feeling both positive and negative about it.

I liked the tone at the end. We will see where this all goes.

Looking forward to the Super Bowl. K.C. was very fun, and the wedding was beautiful.

Drew-Bon 3

Last part of the wedding. I'll have more thoughts later.

Drew-Bon 2

Second part

I was at : 401-499 E 38 St, Kansas City, MO 64109,

Drew-Bon's wedding 1

Quick post

I was at : 401-499 E 38 St, Kansas City, MO 64109,

Flight to K.C.

I have only flown a few times, and I wasn't ever sure how I would feel about it, bring one who is not crazy about heights.

It is safe to say that I love the idea of being up in the air.

The view on our flight from Chicago to K.C. was amazing. We got above the cloud level, and the clouds from above looked like the ocean floor where the waves have left ripples in the sand.

So far, loving K.C. and the neighborhood the hotel is in.

I was at : 560 Westport Rd, Kansas City, MO 64111,

Obama Loves Me

For my final project in Education and Society, which I took with Tom Giblin, and loved, was to write a letter to a decision maker or law maker concerning issues in Education.

I choose to write to President Obama, highlighting some issues in Urban Education and ways that they could be addressed. (see below)

So this was back in May of last year and I had rarely if ever even thought about the letter since then.

That was until Friday when I went out to the mailbox after work and found a letter from the White House addressed to me.

Now I realize that it is not a personal letter from the President, but considering the sheer number of mailings the White House receives in a days time, I cannot believe someone took the time to read mine (the content of the reply says that someone at least glanced at what I wrote).

This was a very cool thing and something that will be making its way into my Professional Portfolio, definitely will make for a conversation starter in an interview.

Here is what I wrote to the President:

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

Allow me please to congratulate you on your historic rise to the Presidency and your first one hundred days in office which has presented you with obstacles as large as any we have faced as a nation in our history. You have handled these challenges with the same cool, collected and controlled grace that you displayed during your unprecedented run for office and continue to make those of us who count ourselves as your supporters proud of our votes.

Among the many daunting challenges that we face, none in my opinion are more pressing than the crisis in education. As a future social studies teacher in the state of New York, I fear for the future of the system that I will devote my professional life to improving. Whether it is rural or suburban, urban or somewhere in between, the education system in this country is at a breaking point. We as a nation have pushed school districts and local governments to reach goals that are all but unobtainable, while holding a school’s continued existence as a carrot meant to motivate districts to improve while at the same time removing the resources necessary for that success to take place.

The purpose of this letter is not to decry No Child Left Behind. There are smart people in Washington in both Congress and your administration who are working to correct the wrongs of the past. A major overhaul of the education system in the country is needed and I trust that the right people are on the job. What is needed at this time is creativity and an open mind. There are a number of avenues that parents and educator can take to help mold young people into effective and productive citizens of the future. Charter schools, private schools, home schooling, public schools and virtual education all have a place in today’s educational landscape. The ultimate goal continues to be preparing our young people for lives after high school.

Creativity and outside of the box thinking have led to some exciting and effective ways to motivate young people, particularly in urban schools. In your home city, Chicago Public Schools has recently instituted a program called “The Paper Project” which is a green for grades program designed to motivate young people to achieve academically by providing financial incentives. I work in a similar incentive program in Rochester, New York. I am a Youth Advocate in the Hillside Work Scholarship Connection Program. In this program we use employment and college scholarships as external motivation for academic success.

Our program is designed to assist urban youth in their ultimate goal of graduating. In this endeavor we provide our students with 360° of support. There are many theories about why some students struggle while others succeed. Some of these theories have merit while others have displayed less efficacy. The fact is that urban youth, particularly in but not limited to Rochester are failing high school and dropping out at rates that cannot be sustained. By targeting youth who meet specific risk factors and supporting them socially, academically and in the realm of life and social skills we work to reverse the cycle of failure that is crippling our students. It has been proven that continued academic involvement is one of the most effective deterrents to the continued cycle of failure that many urban youth find themselves ensnared in.

As I stated above, the purpose of this letter is not to place blame for where we find ourselves as a nation where it pertains to academics. Similarly, I do not write this to purport that Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection is the answer for all of the obstacles that impede the progress of America’s youth academically. I write you to say simply that although there are many major issues that face this country, and none of those problems have simple solutions, creativity and a desire to do good are at the foundation of any answer to these problems. There are people working on these solutions today and we need your support and leadership to guide this ship out of the stormy waters we find ourselves in.

As a future teacher I have a vested interest in the success of the system we have to educate young people. At this time I am both hopeful and fearful for the future viability of our system. What we do know is that a top down approach will not work. We need a “student first” solution to the crisis we face. We are doing the nation a great disservice if we do not act now. There can be no more important task than improving the educational experience of America’s youth.

I greatly appreciate your time

Sincerely,

Avi yesterday.

God she looks so big.

I was going through some old pics and videos on my external hard drive (long story about what I did to break my laptop), and I can't believe how much she has grown in a year.

I always told myself that I wouldn't get misty about how fast she is growing, instead, just enjoy each phase.

But when I look back at the older pics and videos, wow.

I was at : 167 South Ave, Hilton, NY 14468,

Avi

This is a first try for this. Video taken right from my phone and uploaded straight to The Head.

Wish me luck here.

I was at : Rochester, NY 14616,




Adding...

Firstly, it worked, which is very cool. The weird thing is that when I attempted to upload videos from my phone directly to YouTube previously, my phone said that the video was too big. But when I went through the Blogger App on my phone and posted this, there was no problem, and it loaded the video first through YouTube, then to my Blog, all on its own. I didn't have to do a thing. I still don't know how to upload videos to YouTube from the phone, but it doesn't matter.

Secondly, this is a really cool feature and one that I will be using a lot more in the future.

Avatar

My thoughts on James Cameron's Avatar are fairly complicated. I typcially love going to movies. I love the experience, I love the popcorn. I love walking out talking about what we saw, what we thought, what we liked, what we loved, hated etc...

I don't even complain about the prices. I go to be entertained. Luckily for us (Danielle and myself) we were able to go see Avatar and eat popcorn and drink soda for free (thank you for your Christmas gifts).

So we went to see Avatar with an open mind and a full wallet.

I have taken enough film classes, thank you Dr. Daly, to know what I am watching and to look at film with a critical eye. I take the same approach to books and TV, and tend to annoy people who watch with me because I see beyond the story and ask too many questions for my own good.

I suspended my critical mind while enjoying Avatar. And that is exactly what I did. I enjoyed it. We did not see it in 3D, and there was a group of teenagers who talked through most of the film (which got us another set of free passes, that we promptly used to see Sherlock Holmes for free, and loved.)

I have read a lot of reviews that come down on both sides of the "What did you think of Avatar" argument. And I can see the truth in much of what is being said both in support, and against the film.

Did the story lack originality? Absolutely.

Did Cameron rip off most, if not all of what was in the film? No doubt about it

Did I still enjoy it and its message? Yes

That being said, I just read This... which states pretty clearly all of the films short-comings.

For more on the Roger Dean rip offs check out This...

And if you have seen the film, I think it is safe to say that you will be stunned by how much was lifted from other people's work.

Was it a Fern Gully Rip off? Yes

I watched some James Cameron's Aliens last night and was reminded that it is one of my favorite SyFy films, regardless of how much he lifted from other peoples work. The same can be said for Resident Evil which lifted so much from Aliens that it is borderline criminal. Take some time to check out Michelle Rodriguez' character and compare her to the character of Vazquez in Aliens. Actually I bet if you set the two films up on TVs next to each other and start them simulaneously, they even match up time-wise.

My point is, there is very little originality out there.

I can't find it now, but there is an old episode from Star Trek, where Kirk finds himself trapped in a world where he realizes that he can control his environment with his mind just in time to defeat his enemies, and the gun appears in his hand. (Once again, thank you Dr. Daly)

Watching it, I realized, even something that upon first look seems so original, such as The Matrix ripped off its most basic premise.

What is the point of all of this? I guess my point is that although I know Avatar was ripped off from so man places I cannot even begin to name them, I still enjoyed it.

I don't look for every movie I watch, or book I read to change the way that I view the world around me. I think I have a pretty good view of the world as is. I read books (Currently Mistborn which is one of my favorites and needs to be checked out, and may be coming to a theater near you, or so says Drew)or watch movies, I read them, or watch them, to be entertained. I read them or watch them to have my imagination ignited. Avatar did this.

2-Week Notice

So I am done with Hillside until the middle of May as of next Wednesday. As I sit here on the couch (in my PJs, fulfilling every sterotype of Bloggers save the fact that I am at my house, not my mom's basement)it is 7:38 and I should have left the house 8 minutes ago to get to work at 8.

I haven't finished my coffee yet.

Definately on two-week notice time.

Student teaching starts the Monday we get back from Kansas City, and it would be fair to say that I am mildly panicking.

Paris Hilton has paid more dues than Lane Kiffin.

Laughed out loud reading this...

If you, like me, thought Pete Carroll leaving in the fashion that he did, and what it will mean for the program he left behind was low class.

Wait until you hear what Lane effing Kiffin has done to Tennessee

Once again, man am I glad I cheer for This Guy...


Adding...

You know how I feel about ESPN. Surprisingly, they have come down pretty hard on this. You can read Pat Forde linked above as well as This, This and This

Good for you, ESPN for not pulling any punches on this one. I read that the scene in the UT locker room when Kiffin announced to his former players that he was leaving for greener pastures was borderline violent. So UT players have been arrested for armed robbery this year, they have acted like idiots under Kiffin, and when they have the chance to actually exhibit violent behavior in a way that I would condone, cooler heads prevailed. I would have loved it if Lane had to show up for his USC press conference with a black eye from one of his players.

Face it Lane, you had it coming.

Adding More...

If the above interestes you at all...check This out

Adding More, More...

My student teaching hand book tells me to review my personal website and edit the content to make it professional. Most of the content on here is nothing I wouldn't say at work or to co-workers. And NONE of it is any worse than what is uttered by my students on a daily basis. That being said, I was mostly kidding when I said the students would have been justified in punching Lane Kiffin in the face.

I will try to be more conscious of this going forward. I would hate to stop writing here completely for the duration of my student teaching, and if I am hired to teach in the future. And I don't want to go back and edit what I have said in the past.

This is going to require some deep thinking on my part.

The Decembrists

"O Valencia"

I have had this song stuck in my head the last few days. Including all night last night when I had what Danielle can confirm as one of the weirdest dreams of my life.

Not Lily Allen

I always assumed this was Lily Allen, it's not. It's "Foundations" by Kate Nash. Which means I am offically a fan of two English female singers.



This actually IS Lily Allen, "The Fear"

Labeling, Done

So I am done. I have labeled all 616 (and counting) posts that I have made in the last three years.

Clearly, I have talked about politics way too much. I blame the election.

Going forward, I think it is safe to say that politics will have a much more equal distribution with sports, family, movies, music, books, technology, my phone etc, etc...

I am excited about the changes to The Head and how I can incorporate what I do on a day to day basis with this space.

As I am typing this, ESPN Sports Center is on in the background and I am forced to listen to Mark McGuire tell, and retell what he did and did not do, and why he is the victim, and how hard this has all been for him.

Pardon me Mark, if I don't shed any tears for you. Your neck looks like that of a rooster.

You were a marginal player with a ton of "natural" power. Prove to me that you were not on something when you were hitting bombs in college...

Your career was defined by what outside substances did for your ability to hit for power and keep your breaking down body on the field.

Nothing you, or Tony La Russa says is going to get me to feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for you.

I hate what this has all done to my sport. Thank god no one in the NFL or College Football takes anything illegal...

Avi

I have realized as I have been labeling these old posts that there is not a whole lot I have said about Aviendha.
I need to fix that. Hopefully, now that I am doing a lot more of this from my phone, which doubles as my camera and video camera, a lot more of Aviendha related stuff will creep into this space.

The political discourse has slowed to a crawl, partly because I now count myself among the disillusioned masses. And partly because I have other things on my mind.

Aviendha (whose name, if you don't know comes from "Wheel of Time" series...pick it up!) Has blossomed into a beautiful, funny, laughing, joking, playing, joy to around. This is not to say she hasn't always been, but I will always remember the year 2-3 as the year my kid became a kid.

Point of all this being, expect to see a bit more about her going on here, which may help if you are her only paternal uncle, and you and your wife live halfway across the country, but you still want to know what she is up to.


I was at : 628-658 Moul Rd, Hilton, NY 14468,

Best. Christmas. Ever.

By far the best holiday ever.

I was at : 628-658 Moul Rd, Hilton, NY 14468,

College Football Playoff

So I meant to write about this last week when I saw it, but it slipped my mind.

I think if you are reading this you know how I feel about the BCS and the B.S. that it is.

So I stumbled across this article, written by Bill Hancock who is the executive director the the BCS.

He starts his Opus by stating that: "Perhaps the best reason for supporting the BCS can be summed up in three words: every game counts."

It is at this point that I have to decide, do I label this post under "Comedy" as well as "College Football"

The best part of the article is the comments at the end (one thing I love about HuffPost). One commenter wins the prize for best comment when they said "In what week of the regular season playoff was Boise St. eliminated, Mr. Hancock?"

Then I stumbled across this... which states about as clearly as anything I have read, how a playoff would work, and why it is necessary.

Until that day, we will have to continue to watch the games that are played, at least until Colt McCoy is hurt and I fall asleep...wait, what? You mean Texas got it within 3 points in the second half? Damn you old age...

OTA

So, I am continuing to love my phone. I actually have found fewer and fewer reasons to use my computer. I bought a Netbook in the fall, and have since re gifted it to Danni as she is starting school in a few weeks and will get a lot more use out of it than I was.

The phone is basically everything I hoped it would be (I do wish the battery lasted a bit longer, but I don't mind plugging it in on my way to and from work, I even got a dashboard thing for it, which is awesome when using it for turn by turn instructions or listening to music while driving)

The one downside to the phone is that it is running Android 1.5 and not 2.0 or 2.1 that the better known Motorola Droid is running.

I have been told by the numerous Android websites that I follow, that the Droid Eris, which I own, will be getting an update to 2.0 or 2.1 on or around January 22nd.

So, this morning I wake up an Over the Air (or OTA) update waiting for me on my phone. I knew ahead of time that it was not the much anticipated 2.0, but just a bug-fixing update.

Verizon and HTC are able to push these updates out over their networks, which leads my mind, which lives in a constant state of panic about the inevitable Robot Rebellion to ask, what is stopping them from sending out an OTA signal telling my phone to kill me? Maybe they can get Sarah Marshall to star in that film...

But seriously, don't trust technology...

Labeling

I am in the (loooong) process of labeling all of my old posts so that they can be filtered through with ease.

First off, it is taking forever. I have to click on each old post and decide which category I would put it in. There are over 600 old posts to look through.

Secondly, I am finding it interesting to see which topics I have spent the most time typing about for the last three years. I am going to vote for "Politics", the '08 Election is going to put it over the top.

Busy day.

I'll Go See It

And yes for you UFC fans out there, that is Quenton "Rampage" Jackson playing the role of Sgt. Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus...Looks like a lot of fun.

I will say that I think it says a lot about the state of Hollywood that they continue to remake old movies/shows, and as it has been stated ad nausem, the highest grossing film currently, Avatar "Borrowed" most of it's material from other sources.

Pete Carroll

So, I have never been a huge fan of Pete Carroll. First there was this then there was this, neither of which were a huge deal.

That being said, now there is this...

I agree completely with this post. As soon as I heard that Carroll was leaving USC for the Sea Hawks I knew something was up. I have no doubt that this was the reason for his hasty departure.

It's times like these that I am thrilled I cheer for Joe

There are so many problems with the current system in college football, I don't even know where to begin to fix them.

Blog Updates

So, if you are here you will notice a few small (and some large) changes to The Head.

Out is the orange layout. I loved it in the fall, but it felt like it needed a fresh coat of paint.

If you look to your immediate left and scroll down a bit, you will see I added a "Followers" widget, which shows who is following the blog. If you come here often, or even every once in a while and have a google account (I don't know if you even have to have a google account, I think Yahoo works as well) set up a profile and Follow so I know who is out there. I think it will help with the community feel of the blog.


The whole purpose of this space, at its inception and as it continues today, is to give me a place to empty my head of all the thoughts that are floating in there, freeing me up to be a bit more sane on a day to day basis (I picture some like a digital version of Dumbledore and his Pensive)

And I continue to be pleased with how it has worked for the space it has created in my head.

It is definately more fun when we get some back and forth going. I love hearing what people feel about what I am writing. In an effort to please the masses...I added a One Click option at the bottom of each post so I know what people are thinking.

I also took Danielle's advice and added Labels to each post. Now on the Left Sidebar you will see a list of labels that will help with sorting through what ever the hell I am typing about. I am in the process of going through my posts and labeling all 604 of them. (Check out D's blog, she is mucho excited)

Student Teaching starts in a few weeks, and as always, the unknown is causing slight to major anxiety. I don't know how the new schedule will effect (you know, I never know whether to type 'effect' or 'affect', I just guess) on my ability to spill my brain's contents here.

From Phone

Trying out a few Blogger apps from my phone. So far, I would be lying if o said I loved any of them.

I was pumping gas this morning with Avi in the car on my way to mom and dad's and a thought occurred to me... We live in a world where we replace anything that is broken or worn out. If my jacket wears a hole through the elbow, I just replace it. How, in this world, do we ever learn to value anything? It is moments like this one this morning that I realize that the hard part of parenting is not changing a two year old at 7 am because her Nana gave her too much to drink at night and she soaked through her PJs. The hard part of parenting is figuring out how to teach a child the value of things in a world that tells her everything can be replaced.


There is my deep thought for Monday.

Playoffs and Stuff...

College Football needs a playoff and everyone knows it.

I have boiled the arguments down to this point. BCS defenders, those who cling to an antiquated bowl system state that if a playoff were put into place that it would diminish the importance of the most exciting regular season in sports.

In response to that line of thinking I say only this:

The current system, while creating an "exciting" regular season (a point I would and have argued) creates a meaningless post-season for anyone who is not SELECTED (these teams are picked based on money, make no mistake about it) to play in the National Championship game.

If you were not a fan of TCU or Boise State, or Iowa or Georgia Tech, or Penn State or LSU, none of these games MEANT ANYTHING. They may have been fun to watch, if you are simply a football fan, but there was literally nothing on the line aside from a corporate sponsored glass statue and a MEGA BONUS for both teams athletic departments.

The post season in college football is meaningless, regardless of how "exciting" the regular season is.

I am a change guy. I think, like the Baboon in the Lion King, that change is good, but it isn't easy.

In a universe where I was god, there would be a massive realignment of conferences, schedules, rankings and the post season.

The symmetry of the NFL is one of it's best characteristics. 32 teams, 2 conferences, 8 divisions.

Break up the conferences and realign them so they are balanced. Each conference (Big East, ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and two smaller conferences such as Mountain West or MAC) consists of 12 teams, two divisions, with a championship game in November. 8 automatic bids into a playoff, allow for some at-large bids for surprise teams. That we are arguing over who the 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th best teams in the country are, not 1 or 2.

Force teams to play better competition out of conference. Penn State has no business playing Temple, Akron, Coastal Carolina ect. Or at least no more than one of these types of teams.

This system is so broken that the fixes would have to be monumental to fix what is wrong.

And with that being said, enough of the "Big Ten sux" talk.

Ohio State over Oregon
Penn State over LSU
Iowa over Georgia Tech
Wisconsin over Miami
Northwestern ALMOST beat Auburn


That means wins (and almost wins) over very good teams from the Pac-10, SEC, and ACC.

Has the Big Ten gotten embarrassed in recent years? (and yes, that includes Penn State getting stomped in last year's Rose Bowl)...Absolutely.

Are we as a conference as bad as the national media would make us out to be? No nearly.

Keep in mind this was a down year for Ohio State, whose defense was almost completely rebuilt this year, as well as Penn State who had five new starters on the O-line, and Michigan who is still getting used to Rich-Rod's system.

Very exciting stuff for Big Ten football fans...now if only we can add that 12th team, and a championship game...