ACL Illusions

So the other day I finally got around to watching an episode of Austin City Limits that I had recorded a year ago featuring Elvis Costello. It reminded me of a time when I was talking with a relative, who lives in Austin, about the greatness of the show. He told me he was also amazed that in over twenty years an episode had never been cancelled due to rain or bad weather. It was amazing how the weather was always perfect for the show...no wind or anything that would hinder the performance.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that the show is filmed in a studio and that the skyline backdrop of Austin is fake. I didn't want to shatter his illusions.

Geez, I hope he doesn't come across this blog.

post-script: in fact, the ACL studio is a registered landmark. If you want ACL with the real Austin skyline backdrop you can always attend the ACL music festival in Zilker Park in October.

Delonte!

The Mavs re-signed Delonte West this week. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. That's one tough hombre, a real scrapper. The guy's been through crap and back. During the lockout he didn't just sit around and watch Chris Brown videos. The guy got a job at Home Depot. The guy's for real. Played with a compound fracture in his finger. Tough tough dude. My second favorite Mav player after Dirk. Glad Mark Cuban made the right call.

Fall 2012 at SMU

So this fall I will only be taking one course in my masters program at SMU. Just too busy to be in class more than one night a week. After this next course I'll be halfway toward graduation. I've really been enjoying the program. This next fall I'll be taking a course that relates directly to my job. I teach one section of AP European History at the high school. The course I'll be taking is...

The Cultural and Intellectual History of Europe

Dr. John Mears is the instructor. Dr. Mears is a legend in world history circles. He's a former president of the World History Association and is highly respected by everyone who has worked with him. This will be my first course with Dr. Mears and I'm anticipating a great semester.

photo: Dallas Hall, the oldest building on the SMU campus and the site of the class I'll be taking this next semester.

XMU

Haven't offered many album recommendations lately. There are two records that I have been listening to a lot the past few weeks. I'll offer up individual reviews on those records in the days to come. But I have been fortunate to listen to a lot of good music lately, mostly because with the new car came a subscription to satellite radio.

I used to scoff at those who would actually pay money for radio, especially since Dallas has a great public alternative/indie music station at KXT 91.7 (which you can stream on the web HERE...I have it running in my classroom all day every day during the school year.). I love KXT but satellite radio is awesome. The four stations I listen to the most are Real Jazz, XMU (indie music), Altrock, and Lithium (90's alternative and Jackson's favorite since they play Weezer and Sabotage by The Beastie Boys). But I love perusing the huge number of speciality stations on the Sirious XM dial. The fact that you can listen to them anywhere you travel in the nation is fantastic.

One note: I've been listening to KXT since the first day they went on the air two years ago. I've been a paid member of the public station. Finally they're getting some recognition. This week they won The Dallas Morning News poll for best radio station in DFW. Nice to see some class in Dallas.

A Not So Good Joke

A not so good joke: But it is an original made up while JDW and I were tooling around walmart and it makes me and my son laugh.

Q: What sound does Jack White make when he, uh...uses the restroom?

A: Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo

some context: the answer must be sung to the song Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes whose lead singer was Jack White who we often tell JDW is his namesake which is not really true.

For those not familiar with the classic song Seven Nation Army you can hear/watch the song here:

A Good Joke

My son, who is really into all things THOR made this joke up the other day (I don't know where he gets this tendency to create jokes)

Q: How does Thor count?

A: One, Two, Three, THOR, Five.

much laughter then ensues from the teller of the joke.

photo: Thor

God Bless...

Just Shut Up!

Listen, I don't care what side of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case you fall on. I don't care if you think Martin was a drug addicted thug or a saint or somewhere in between. What I do know is that George Zimmerman needs to shut the crap up.

In his latest interview with that blowhard Sean Hannity, Zimmerman says he believes everything that happened that fateful night was part of God's will. What a load of crap. It was not part of God's will for Zimmerman to track down an unarmed teenager against police advice and then confront him and shoot him to death (even if Trayvon attacked Zimmerman the whole thing would never had happened if Zimmerman hadn't acted in such a hostile manner, followed him and confronted him.).

I don't know what happened. It's hard to trust the word of a repeat liar, possible perjurer, girlfriend beater and police attacker with a history of anger management issues. Regardless, a young man, innocent or not, is dead because one guy was packing heat and the other wasn't. And the guy who killed the other guy needs to show some freaking respect to the grieving family and stop bringing God into it. Zimmerman: shut your freakin' mouth.

I can see clearly...a little

The clouds are beginning to lift over the American Airlines Center. After losing out on Deron Williams, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry it looked like a nuclear winter was in store for the Dallas Mavericks next year. But they have rebounded pretty nicely in the free agent market.

Signing Mayo, Kamen, Brand, Collison and Jones has given me some hope for next season. Still not quite convinced this is a championship squad but they are looking better and better. I'm not as depressed about their prospects as I was last week.

After Jason Kidd's arrest yesterday for DWI in New York I'm glad they got rid of the punk. I never liked Kidd. He bailed on the Mavs not once, but twice in his career. And I can never respect someone who was charged with beating his wife. I've always thought Kidd was overrated. His DWI arrest is confirmation that the Mavs were lucky he ditched town.

So after a tough period I think the Mavs have turned the corner.

How to vote in Texas

The Loss of a Great Man

The History Community lost a great man yesterday. Dr. Jerry Bentley passed away yesterday at the age of 63.

Dr. Bentley had served as the president of the World History Association and he was the editor of the World History journal. He was a professor at the University of Hawaii and a legend among world historians. His work on global history was groundbreaking.

For the past seven years my classes have used the college level textbook he co-authored. It is widely considered the best textbook in the field of world history. Dr. Bentley was also a grader/table leader for the AP World History exam. That's where I was honored to meet him several times. He was always gracious and humble despite his status as one of our great historians. He never minded people coming up to him and talking with him at lunch or dinner during the AP readings. He was even willing to take his picture with me a couple of different times.

At the beginning of this past reading at Salt Lake it was announced that Dr. Bentley was in bad health and his situation was dire. We were given no other details and I just assumed that he would pull through whatever it was. After all, he was only in his early sixties and I saw him every year playing tennis in the evenings.

So I was stunned to hear the news today of his passing. He was a great man who lived a full life. He will be missed.

Rest in Peace Dr. Bentley.

photo: Me and Jerry Bentley at last year's AP grading at Colorado State University...his last year to serve as a grader.

pix pix pix

Massive photo dump on Flickr. Check it out HERE.

Photo: JDW practicing his noodling skills at the original Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, Mizzou

On the Road

Just back from our annual trek to southern Indiana and Indian Territory (Oklahoma).

Sad to see Indiana experiencing a record drought and heatwave. We usually enjoy the break from the heat that French Lick, Indiana usually gives us. But this year Texas was actually cooler while we were up there. Everything that is usually so green and lush was brown and dry. Fortunately they did get a blast of stormy rain that lasted all day while we were there. Things were cooling off as we were leaving.

Interesting experiences this year: Kim and I ziplined in the Hoosier National Forest. I was nervous that this might be some fly-by-night operation and would be lame. But it took two hours to go through the course and was a blast.

Uncle Mike, a volunteer fireman, arranged for Jackson to take a ride in the department's hook and ladder truck. We rode around town, JDW in the front seat, in this massive truck with a 100 foot ladder. Jackson pulled the horn and operated the siren.

We also searched for cows and a bull on the Crews Farm, rode the world's largest water roller coaster and enjoyed the supercool rides at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana.

Then we raced on to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Had a nice visit with my grandparents. Saw my uncles, aunts, and cousins in a whirlwind day. Had a nice dinner at the Rib Crib, lunch at Pepper's and great meals at the Reinking house.

As nice as Spring Valley and Indian Territory is it's always nice to be back in Tejas. YeeHaw.

photo: Uncle Mike and JDW in front of the hook and ladder truck.

When The Believer Comes in the Post

I always love the day the newest issue of The Believer comes in the mail. Makes me feel like a part of a supercool group of literati that talks about supercool things of great cultural interest while wearing fake Buddy Holly glasses and Puma sneakers at the Dallas Institute of Humanities in that big old house in Uptown Dallas down the road from Cremona's Italian Bistro.

Don't Look Back in Anger...

2011 is seeming more and more like ancient history. JET (Jason Terry) has signed with Boston. Deron Williams spurned the Mavs to stay with the Nets. D-Will was playing the Mavericks the entire time. He never had any intention of leaving the Nets now that they are heading to Brooklyn. The Mavs could not offer the same amount of cash as the Nets because of the new CBA. But Williams needed leverage.

I find it interesting there were no other parties involved in the pursuit. The guy has a rep as a coach killer (forcing legendary coach Jerry Sloan into retirement) and a money-man. And when Mark Cuban eschewed the recruiting trip to film a TV ep of The Shark Tank and Dirk bailed and went to Wimbleton it became clear that they knew this was a losing cause.

So the Mavs blew up their title team for this? We thought this past season might be worth it to get some big time free agents in the summer. Now it looks like were stuck with scraps wasting Dirks final years. Geez it's depressing to think about.

They Finally Got it Right.

Andrew Garfield is far superior than Tobey Maguire as Spider-man/Peter Parker. It's not even close. As a kid Spiderman was my favorite superhero. I thought the Raimi trilogy was okay (although the third one was terrible) except for one thing. Tobey. I can't stand Tobey Maguire. I can't stand him in any movie playing any role anytime. He ruined it for me.

I know that the reason this series was rebooted so soon was because SONY didn't want the franchise rights to revert back to Disney/Marvel. There was no way they'd let this cash cow get out of their hands and into their rivals. However, I don't care why the series was rebooted. I'm just thrilled that we can begin to move past the stain of the Tobey Maguire era.

So The Amazing Spider-man is a good movie. Not as good as Iron Man or The Avengers but pretty good. And it gets a lot of points in my book for destroying Tobey Maguire's hold on the character once and for all.

Just for disclosure's sake Spider-man ceased be my favorite comic book hero a long time ago. Iron Man is the man.

One more thing: I really dug how they made Peter Parker actually make his web shooters rather than the "organic approach" used in the Raimi trilogy. This approach is faithful to the original comics and demonstrates that Peter Parker truly was a scientific genius. Adds a bit more to the character arc that was missing with Tobey Maguire's biological web shooters.

Reflections

Irony: Most of the people complaining about the nation's debt and deficit spending are deeply in debt themselves. We are the government and therefore the government is a reflection of us. How can we criticize government when we as a nation abuse credit cards and reverse mortgages?

Ronald Reagan did a great dis-service when he said "government can't solve the problem, government IS the problem." He was stating that the government is something other than us. But we are a democracy and our Constitution was founded on the principle of "We the People." The government is us. If we don't like what we see in D.C. then we need to change it. And we need to look in the mirror first.

Healthcare

I'm not saying the Affordable Healthcare Act is perfect. It's far from perfect. But I find it funny how most of the people complaining about it are white middle class citizens with health insurance. I just finished a week working with inner city children. All were minorities who live in often nightmarish conditions. For many the AHA is the only way they can get health insurance.

The AHA insures over thirty million people who were previously uninsured.

According to the bi-partisan CBO it actually lowers the national deficit by $143 BILLION in the first ten years of its existence. It reduces the deficit by over 1 TRILLION in the second ten years.

It eliminates the pre-existing clause.

It prevents people from being dropped if they get sick.

Only those making more than $250,000 a year will see an increase in their taxes.

This Act is based on a system designed by a prominent Republican who is actually running for president this year. Romney's mandate system in Massachusetts has been deemed a success by Republicans and Democrats alike in the state. Romney only recently distanced himself from the plan to court Tea Party and Libertarian Republicans.

These are all good things. Again there are aspects of the Act that seem shaky. But I think this Act is a risk worth taking to help all Americans gain access to affordable healthcare.

Empire of the Summer Moon

So I don't really care for U.S. history much. I find it boring. I know this is a character flaw, I guess. But this year the UIL Social Studies competition will focus on a book that I found fascinating. Admittedly I don't usually read the assigned UIL book but this year I opened the book to read the first page or so and I couldn't stop. It was that good.

The book, Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne, is an excellent read. Gwynne relates the last years of the most powerful Indian tribe in American history, the Commanche. He focuses particularily on Quanah Parker, a Commanche who was actually half anglo. His mother was kidnapped at an early age by Commanches. She married a chief and later gave birth to Quanah who was destined to be the last great war chief of the Commanches. She herself was eventually returned to white "civilization" where she tried desperately to escape back to the tribe she loved.

I grew up in Indian Territory (Oklahoma and Kansas) and so Indian stories usually put me to sleep since I've heard most of them. But Gwynne does an amazing job making the dust of the Llano Estacado come alive. Most of this book was a revelation for me. His book pulls no punches as it describes rape, torture, scalping and bloodshed on the plains. Most of the story takes place on areas I'm familiar with spanning the Red River down into Texas where I live now.

Quanah eventually met Teddy Roosevelt, spoke at the State Fair of Texas and became a celebrity on par with Geronimo who he called a friend. His story is both tragic and poignant. Well, if you want a better review than mine check out the New York Times Review HERE. But I would definitely add it to my reading list whether you like history or not.

Affordable Healthcare

An oldie, but a goodie...

sellouts

Well they finally sold their souls to the almighty dollar. As of today, FC Dallas for the first time in club history, has a jersey sponsor.

Advocare.

I don't even know what Advocare is.

American soccer fans can be idiots. Many have craved jersey sponsorships for years because it makes MLS seem more European. But jersey sponsorships are one European phenomenon we shouldn't have tried to emulate here in the U.S..

Now, when you wear your team's jersey you simply become a walking billboard wearing a coporate logo.

Guess I won't be buying another FCD jersey for awhile, if ever. This is the type of thing that has jaded me on sports in recent years. It's all about brands, marketing and logos. If I was a stronger person I'd give up all sports immediately. It's all so corrupt. And it's a complete waste of time. I know this. But I continue to watch anyway. What a loser.

photos: Top - The new home FCD jersey with the Advocare logo. Lower - Me wearing last year's logoless away FCD jersey at the former Pizza Hut Park (which ironically dropped their sponsorship last January) now called FC Dallas Stadium.

Rest in Peace, Colin

One of the most tragic things a teacher can experience is when one of their students leaves this world way too soon. Last night I paid my final respects to Colin Robinson. Colin just graduated high school a few weeks ago. He and some friends were spending some time together for the last time before they went their separate ways to college and beyond. They were swimming in a lake. Colin began to have trouble breathing and soon disappeared. The other young men searched frantically to no avail. Colin's body was found several hours later. No alcohol or drugs were involved.

Colin was one of the nicest young men I've ever had the pleasure to teach. I taught him in World History and in summer school government and economics. He was one of the most respectful students I've come across. His faith was always apparent but never judgemental. He was a talented musician, singer and athlete. He was a great student in my classes. He had no pretentions. He was friendly to everyone. He had so much promise. No one could ever say a bad thing about this young man. Great great kid and he will be missed.

Rest in Peace, Colin. 1994-2012

photo: Colin is in the center with the Superman t-shirt.

What Were You Doing?

That photo of an iPad on yesterday's post is ridiculous. Massive. Couldn't control the size on the iPad  (maybe that was their evil intent). And the Blogger app for iPads/iPhones looks like it was crafted for the Apple II E (circa 1988). It looks like I will not be blogging via iPad, at least until I can find a nice blogging app.

Ever wonder what other people are doing RIGHT NOW? I find that happening to me occasionally. Walking out of LOWES today at about 4:30 pm I wondered what so-and-so was doing at that instant. Weird.

Tomorrow JDW will entertain the masses with a song at Central Church.

This is a test

Okay. I won an iPad last week from my school district. 100 teachers were selected from essays that we wrote discussing how we'd use the thing in our classroom. So now I'm experimenting with blogging on the thing. I'm skeptical to say the least. So if this post looks weird you'll know why. I've only had it four days but I feel the iPad is slowly robbing me of my humanity. I'm addicted. Beware of school districts bearing gifts.

SLC 2012

Just back from the AP World History Essay Grading.

This year our venue moved from its five-year home at Colorado State University in Fort Collins to the Great Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City Utah. I was a bit trepidatious about going to SLC because FoCo was such a great experience. But I enjoyed my stay in Salt Lake. It's always good to see the Wolfpack and I made quite a few new friends this year as well.

The College Board doesn't do anything second class. My and my roomate (yes, no more private dorm rooms) were booked in the Grand America Hotel. I was surprised to see it's a Five Diamond hotel. It was one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. Rumor was Liam Neeson checked in while we were there. Wouldn't surprise me.

SLC is very clean and easy to get around. There's a lot more eateries, bars and restaurants to hang out and talk in. They have a free downtown light rail system and two great urban shopping centers.

I have to admit I was a bit unnerved by the LDS Temple complex. I was fine until I saw all the big murals of stories from the Book of Mormon. To see this rubbish presented as truth caused me to have shivers. But the complex was pretty amazing. Amazingly weird. Sorry if I offend folks. I'm pretty tolerant. But Joseph Smith is recent enough figure in history to know that he was a fraud. And Brigham Young, dozens of wives and complicit in the coverup of the Mountain Meadow Massacre...sorry. That's not a religion, it's a cult.

Anyway, SLC is a great city and I certainly hope to be invited back next year. Oh and I have a new favorite African country.

Mavs Mania

Basketball is in the air in DFW. Larry Brown takes over as coach for my current alma mater SMU earlier this week and the MAVS start their playoff run versus the OKC Thunder this Saturday.

 

Last week we took Jackson to his first Mavericks game. It was the last home game of the season and JDW was stoked. I have a buddy who teaches next door to me who works part time for the American Airlines Center. He now is the attendant for the visitor's locker room. He got us down to the tunnel to give high fives to the Mavs as they came out on to the floor. I got a fist bump from Dirk. JDW got a five from Jason (JET) Terry. We also got fives from Brian "The Custodian" Cardinal, Delonte West and Jason Kidd. One of the ManiAACs gave Jackson a silver beaded necklace. Then we headed to our seats for a rousing game which the Mavericks won. They gave out free Mavs hats and we made a "Go-Witzki!" poster in the concourse before the game. We are ready for the playoffs!

Interestingly enough, my suspicion is that had the Thunder been in OKC while I lived there I probably would be a Thunder fan today. After all OKC is my birthplace. But they weren't around back then and I adopted the Mavericks when I moved to Dallas in 1997. The Mavs were pretty lousy then but I needed a team. I had been in the NBA lurch since my original fave the Kansas City Kings had migrated to Sactown. In fact, it was at a Mavs game in old Reunion Arena when I asked my father-in-law for his blessing to marry Kimberly. The only way we persuaded him to go to a game was that Larry Bird (they grew up together in French Lick, Indiana) was in town coaching the Indiana Pacers.

Eventually the AAC would be built, Cuban buys the team and they begin a twelve year run of playoff basketball culminating with last year's NBA World Championship. I'll never forget watching the first couple of games of the final series in Fort Collins with a couple of other diehard Mavs fans in a room with Miami fans during the AP grading in Colorado. Then once back in Texas, JDW, Kim and I raced back home from an FC Dallas soccer match to watch the Mavs clinch over the hated Heat. We watched the victory parade on the big whiteboard via LCD projector in my classroom during my summer school sessions.

So everyone is counting out the Mavs this year since they let Chandler, Barea, Stevenson and Butler go. But they wrote them off last year as well. We picked up Vince Carter, Delonte West and some other nice parts. Plus, Brandon Wright and Brendan Haywood have played nicely. I wouldn't count out the little Mavs out just yet. Now that Odom has been ditched the Mavs should do okay. I know everyone is counting on signing Deron Williams and perhaps Dwight Howard next year but I think this group could make a nice little run. Especially since everyone's healthy.

So don't count the Mavs out. You heard it here first. I don't expect a repeat. But I am predicting a finals appearance.

Bye MINI

 

Well, we knew this day would come but that foreknowledge doesn't make it easier to deal with. We have sent our MINI Cooper S to a new home. After almost seven years it was time to move to a four door vehicle. It's stupid to develop attachments to things but it's easy to do. We had ordered and customized the MINI to our exact specifications. We followed the creation process over the internet as it was built in a factory near Oxford, England. We tracked its travel over the Atlantic and it's disembarkation on the shores of America.

We will never drive a car as fun as the MINI. It handled like a go-cart and accelerated like a vette. I liked having a car with an engine that wasn't turbocharged but...supercharged. A supercharger just sounds cooler, a relic from the old days of British racing. Yes it had quirks. Repairs were expensive and it did rattle a bit inside. But it took corners like nobody's business. It was a breeze to park and manuever in tight spaces. It darted in and out of the Dallas mixmaster at will.

But JDW's legs are getting longer. Our family might expand. We need more room for luggage and traveling since my truck is now ten years old. MINI's are also known for having very expensive issues after 100,000 miles (i.e. rumours of $8,000 tranmission replacement). With our odo at 84,000 we didn't want to take the chance. It was a good car. Really didn't require a lot of work (only the brakes, a water pump replaced and some other minor repairs...usually about one issue a year). Tires were expensive but the gas mileage was fantastic...despite using premium gas.

We will miss the looks on the road or in parking lots or the smiles from children. We will miss the waves from other MINI motorists (all MINI motorists wave at each other). I will miss owning a car that has dozens of fan clubs dedicated to it.

We toyed with the idea of a MINI Countryman and that may be an option down the road. But we have been mightily impressed with the new VW Passat V6 SEL Premium. So it's done. The Brit is gone (although owned by Germans) and the People's Car is now in our driveway looking very sleek and sophisticated and even faster than the MINI.

Breck

JDW didn't last the whole day at ski school. They called me around lunchtime and told me he was saying he was too exhausted to continue for the afternoon, which was possibly true since the day before he had ridden in the car 10 hours. So the next day Kimberly and I practiced with him on a hill on the bunnyslopes. He seemed to have picked up a lot at ski school and did pretty good. The next day was the real test. We took him on the Quicksilver Lift and planned to have him do a run or two down the long Silverthorne Run on Peak 9. I was nervous about him getting on and off a lift for the first time but we got him on and off with no problems.

Then he astounded us. He skiied great! No fear and he didn't want to quit. We were expecting to knock off at lunch but he wanted to keep on skiing. We even did some tree skiing designed for kids. We skiied from when the lifts opened at 8:30 am to when they closed at 4 pm. Even then JDW did not want to quit. He was having a blast. Above is one of the videos of him going down Silverthorne. After awhile he asked to lead us and we had to remind him to practice his turns. He wanted to ski faster and faster and not bother with boring turns. The Little Man is quite the skier and it made the trip even more fun.

Busy Busy Busy

Busy busy busy. I have little time to blog these days. Late January through March is the busiest time of the year for me. Two nights a week calling and running the scoreboard for the Kaufman Lions soccer teams. Another night a week at SMU in grad school. Jackson's starting spring soccer this week. That's another night of the week for practice plus Saturday morning soccer games starting in March. Getting things together to finalize the foster to adopt process. The homestudy is going on right now as I type (waiting my turn for individual interview). Running running running.

Taking "Democracy and Development in Southeast Asia" at SMU this semester. Excellent class so far. Just turned in an eight page paper on Modernization theory, Neoliberalism and Asian Values. This week my assignment is to lead the class in our three hour discussion over democratic and economic development in Thailand. Busy busy busy.

Okay, gotta go!

2011 Reading List

 

 

So here's the final list of books I read in 2011. You'll notice a lot of Lost Generation novels in the list. That's due to my course at SMU on Lost Generation writers in the post-World War One era. Also a few books from my SMU Silk Roads course are on there.

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1919 by John Dos Passos

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes

Verdun by Jules Romaine

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Combray by Marcel Proust

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

Old World Encounters (Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times) by Jerry H. Bentley

Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo

Religions of the Silk Roads by Richard Foltz

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Game of Shadows

 

Saw the new Sherlock Holmes (Game of Shadows) flick over the holidays. Really enjoyed it. A bit more action oriented than the books and stories but the movie successfully retained the vibe of Arthur Conan Doyle's world. My European History classes are beginning the second semester talking about this period (1870-1914) in Europe and I was glad to see mention of the anarchists. It's a nice reference point for the students who saw the movie.

I see very interesting parallels in this era of European Mass Politics and the protest movements of 2011. TIME magazine named "The Protester" as person of the year. 2011 will be remembered for protest movements throughout the world. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy Wall Street movement people who felt marginalized by the institutions of governments and economic systems rallied to affect change or at the very least have their voices heard.

This phenomenon bears eerie resemblence to the movements that arose in the late nineteenth century. Feminism, Anarchism, Zionism, Socialism and a host of movements became prominent challengers to the status quo in Europe. Each group experienced varying degrees of success in reaching their goals. All had in common the belief that they were marginalized and excluded from the decision making processes of society. Some of these movements failed miserably. Others were the catalyst for enormous change (i.e. women's suffrage).

Check out the movie. Good stuff.

Flickr Update

Finally got around to updating the Flickr site. More to come. Click HERE.

Putting the Fun in Disfunction

When it comes to sports, the major professional sports leagues that interested me the most were the following...in order of interest...   1.) Major League Baseball 2.) The NFL 3.) Major League Soccer 4.) The NBA 5.) The NHL   Some years, one or two would move up or down a spot depending on what was going on with my rooting interests in a particular year.   But I have to say that as screwed up and as dysfunctional as the National Basketball Association is, it has moved up to number one on my list. The Association became firmly ensconsed in the number one spot when the Mavs played the evil Heat in the finals. The Mavericks won the title and then it seemed that we were doomed to David Stern's "nuclear winter." The lockout should have soured me as a fan. I should have been disgusted by the greed and idiocy of both players and owners.   But then something weird happened. I found myself entranced by the drama of it all. There were bad guys (Stern, Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher and of course, always Kobe). There were good guys (Kevin Durant at Rucker Park, Dirk throwing a World Series first pitch, Delonte West working at Home Depot). Everything was on, then it was off and then they were all going to court to decertify unions, sue each other and then BOOM! The season's back on! And it's starting Christmas Day. And the season starts with the Mavs playing the Heat on Christmas Day at home. And Lebron, DWade and Bosh (RuPaul) get to watch Dirk and Co. get their rings and raise the banner.   A Chris Paul trade to the Lakers gets voided by Stern in an obvious conflict of interest by the Association since they currently own the Hornets. The Mavs benefit by picking up an angry Lamar Odom (and a Kardashian to boot!) for next to nothing. Kobe, Fisher and the rest are highly ticked their management gave Odom to their divisional rival which makes the whole thing sweeter. Anything that makes Kobe cry and whine is a beautiful thing.   CP3 eventually gets traded to the Clippers to play with my favorite non-Mav and Sooner legend Blake Griffin. You think Gary Payton to Shawn Kemp or Chris Paul to Tyson Chandler (back in the OKC Hornet days) was awesome? Paul to Griffin will be EPIC! Backboards will shatter across the nation.   Speaking of Tyson Chandler, it does really stink for the Mavs to lose him along with Caron Butler and JJ Barea (The Little Rican). But I'm over it now and the Mavs made some great gets to take the sting off a little. JJ has been more then replaced by Delonte West. If West stays on his bi-polar meds and keeps his guns locked up he will actually be step up. If Carlisle can make Vince Carter care than we may see "Vinsanity" once again. No one replaces Chandler, but Odom will be a monster force if his reality show doesn't distract too much and Khloe Kardashian is happy in Big D. Plus, with the financial flexibility we might be able to make a run at Dwight Howard next off-season.   So the NBA may be rigged. It may be a soap opera run by a mafia don. The players may all be tattooed drama queens. But it's better than any "reality" show. And for sheer entertainment value no other league comes close to this semi-pro league pretending to be a major league. I'm all in this year. GO MAVS!

Fried Flamingo in Detroit

I was assigned to write a story with these five words: flamingo/Detroit/fried/astrophysicist/quarrel. Here's what I came up with...

I was eating fried flamingo down in Detroit on 8 Mile Road when suddenly an astrophysicist came crashing down through the ceiling and on to my table. She began to raise a ruckus and quite a quarrel about why my table was in her way.

"Way to what?" I queried.

"The floor. I supposed to hit the floor."

"Um, am I being filmed? Is this on YouTube?"

"YouTube? Ah...no. Much more important than that. If things go well or as I envisioned then I may have solved the secret to the universe."

"The secret to the universe is going to be found in Detroit?"

"Sir, Detroit is the secret of the universe."

"Really. I woulda figured Kansas City."

"You're obviously not an astrophysicist."

"How'd you tell?"

"You don't have a moustache."

"Ma'am, you don't have one either."

"That's cause I wax."

"Then how do your peers tell you're an astro..."

"My white coat is a dead giveaway."

"And falling from ceilings in soul food restaraunts."

"Hazards of the job."

"So what, you were time traveling and got off track and ended up on my flamingo sandwhich?"

"The Delorean took a wrong turn."

"Detroit never liked Deloreans."

"That's why Detroit is stuck in the past."

Reflections while reading F. Scott Fitzgerald

Dick Diver. Freakin' Dick Diver and his easy F. Scott Fitzgerald charm. The full evolution of his race? I knew Dick Diver in 7th grade. His name was Craig Palmer and he was a drummer who was too cool to play in the band. He went to school dances with 8th grade girls and played in a garage band called Public Interest. His band was a band of Rick Perry frat boys and could only cover cheesy 60's songs like Woolly Bully. His hair was never messed up and he had a Tom Cruise "grinning like an idiot" smile. He wore Izod and Polo golf shirts with the collar up and never wrinkled khakis. He looked like a yachting instructor or a Young Republican. Craig Freaking Palmer never spoke to me or hassled me or even knew I existed. He was too busy hanging Union Jack flags in his room thinking that made him edgy between golf lessons and lacrosse practice.

Rangers!

We Will Crush Them!

 

Standardized testing should be used as a prejorative in the English language. It is the bane of education.

Standardized testing stifles the humanity of students everywhere. It quashes the creativity of our youth. It crushes the human spirit of individuality.

While the Chinese teach their students quantum mechanics and string theory we teach our students test taking strategies.

Yes. This is how we will be victorious. We will crush them with our test taking strategies!

I'll put my multiple choice test takers against your multiple choice test takers anytime and anywhere.

Our nation will have the greatest multiple choice test takers in the world!

Rest in Peace

Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs. I learned how to use a computer on an Apple II E back in elementary school. Your iPod has allowed me to listen to music anywhere. Your vision of minimalism and artistic integration with technology was inspiring. Thanks...

Pecha Kucha Night

So last Thursday I had the opportunity to attend my first Pecha Kucha (roughly pronounced puh CHA chuh). Pecha Kucha originated with an architectural firm in Tokyo that grew weary of long-winded design presentations. Their remedy was to create a presentation format that emphasized speed, clarity and cohesiveness. Each speaker or presenter in a Pecha Kucha gathering is allowed to use a maximum of twenty powerpoint slides. Each powerpoint slide rotates after a maximum of twenty seconds. The result is that each speaker has only six minutes and forty seconds to get their idea across to the audience.

The main emphasis of Pecha Kucha is the open exchange of ideas in a casual forum. Creating time limitations forces speakers to be creative and inventive in the way they organize their information. Some Pecha Kucha's have a guiding theme. The theme of the PK I attended was education. Other PK's are a smorgasbord of new ideas from architecture, graphic design, music, art, politics, etc...

A classmate of mine at SMU, Sarah Jane Semrad, is the co-organizer of the Dallas Pecha Kucha. The PK they hosted last night was the seventh edition. There are over 300 PK chapters around the world and has become a true global phenomenon.

The setting for Thursday's Pecha Kucha was interesting in and of itself. The Texas Theatre is notorious in the annals of Dallas history for being the location where Lee Harvey Oswald was nabbed by police after the JFK assassination. The seats have been replaced but theater employees can show the geopgraphical location where Oswald was found slumped down in his seat as he tried to avoid arrest.

The Texas Theatre shut down for many years until recently when it was renovated and reopened. Today it shows both classic and arthouse films. It also hosts all kinds of local events. This next weekend they will be hosting an OU-texas (mainly Sooners) watch party. The restored interior stuco design is undulating and organic. They truly do not make theaters the way they used to.

Kimberly and I watched twelve presentations. There was a ten-minute intermission at the mid-point. Speakers included Sarah Jane's twelve-year old daughter, principals, administrators, teachers, school architects,a participant in the Special Olympics, tutors and more. The evening ended with a rousing presentation from the newest trustee on the Dallas Independent School Board.

We walked out charged up and ready to make a difference in our educational system. Fortunately Kimberly and I are in the trenches so to speak as educators. It's not hard for us to become involved since that's our actual profession. As we walked out of the Texas Theatre a rare and spectacular lightning storm was exploding over our heads. We got in the car before the downpour began. I found the metaphor obvious: lightning fast ideas sparking a downpour of innovation and achievement.

Google+ Migration

Facebook is wearing me down. FB made quite an improvement a few years ago when they simply posted status updates in realtime as they were posted. But this week they brought back "Top Stories" where they spoonfeed you updates based on what "they" think you want to see. I don't want someone else to determine what news I see. Plus they garbled up the site by adding all these other features that really muddies things up. What happened to the clean and simple Facebook? Everything is so complicated to change and adjust. It's becoming what MySpace used to be.

So I've opened up a profile on Google+ which opened up the doors to everyone this week after a two month invitation only trial period. It's cleaner and simpler. It features the elegant minimalism you see on Apple products or Google itself. I'm still testing it out and I've only been on for three days. So far only six friends have connected but I'm sure the number will increase as others ditch Facebook.

If enough of my friends ditch Facebook I'll be all in on Google+. My friend numbers on Facebook had become too bloated anyway. I've deleted 80 people in the past two weeks who I barely knew. I originally intended to just have close friends and family on Facebook. But that blew out of control as people I hadn't seen in 20 years who I didn't even like back then requested friendship.

In Google+ you create circles of people and can easily control who sees what on your profile. You can easily control where your stream of information goes. Facebook is trying to remedy this but their options are clunky. Google+ seems very intuitive and easy to figure out.

My only beef with + so far is that you can't send private messages to friends. At least I haven't figured it out yet. And to send a public post to a single friend rather than to a circle requires you to post on your own page then type in who you want it to go to. Quite a change of thinking from FB where you simply found your friend's wall and posted on it. Everything on Google+ starts with your page.

So just as + is in the beta stages, I'm in the beta stages of trying it out. If none of my friends or family shift over I guess I'll stick with FB. But I hope they try it out.

Photo: The Dynamo. JDW is second from the left

Flickr Madness

Big update on my Flickr page. Click HERE to see recently updated photos.

Just Say No...

 

I'm sorry. I really don't want this site to be too political. However I have lived in Texas for fourteen years. As an educator I have seen firsthand how Rick Perry has attempted to dismantle public education in favor of private school vouchers. So many people outside of Texas are ignorant of his record. They are simply impressed by his fiery speeches and good hair. But here are several facts you should know about Rick Perry. These are not simply my interpretations or opinions. These are facts...

1.) Perry wants to repeal the 17th Amendment which calls for the direct election of senators. He believes the federal government had no right to take that power away from the state legislatures.

2.) Perry pushed for a new trans-Texas corridor highway to be built and run by a Spanish company that he was invested in. He was going to force people to give up their private property to make new right of ways for this multi-billion project in which he was personally invested in financially.

3.) Perry ran Al Gore's presidential campaign in Texas in 1988. AL GORE!

4.) Perry has raised taxes twice since being in office.

5.) Perry is in favor or eliminating the federal income tax.

6.) Perry is in favor of eliminating public education in favor of private education. He believes that universal education is not something the government should be involved with.

7.) Perry publicy supported Hillary Clinton's health care plan in the 1990's...while he was a Republican.

8.) Perry endorsed Rudolph Gulliani, a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage Republican candidate for president in 2008.

9.) Perry pushed for federal bailout and stimulus funds.

10.) Perry supported welfare for illegal immigrants.

11.) Perry believed that the children of illegal immigrants should be allowed to enroll in state universities and set up a roadmap for graduates to attain full citizenship.

12.) Perry tried to force 12 year old girls to be vaccinated against the HPV virus by executive order.

13.) State debt in Texas has doubled since he became governor.

14.) Texas now has 25 billion dollar budget shortfall.

15.) Perry is cutting 4 billion dollars in education funding for the next two years...including 3 million dollars for my own school district.

16.) Perry pushed for a law allowing concealed handguns on college campuses (he made the initial statement one month after the Virginia Tech massacre).

Some of these positions I actually agree with (see 9, 10 and 11). But my point is that he's not an authentic Tea Partier. He's a hypocrite. He decried the second bailout as federal overreach but accepted the funds nonetheless. He incorrectly stated that Texas retains the right to secede ( a matter that was settled once and for all by the Civil War ). He simply follows the political winds. And if you ever saw the video of him cussing out a highway patrolman for giving him a speeding ticket you would never vote for the man. The only reason he has been elected and re-elected is because there has been no viable alternative on the Texas ballots. The Democratic Party in Texas is a joke. Perry takes vacations to the Bahamas on the taxpayer dime. Suddenly he's talking about being a Methodist. But his foul language and actions seem to belie his words.

And what does it mean when the governor prays for rain yet we get nothing but fire in Texas. Please Please...vote for ANYONE...ANYONE (even that loon Bachmann would be a better choice) than Rick Perry!

 

Jackson's Hat-trick plus one

Jackson's first ever soccer game was yesterday. Because of strep throat he had only been able to make one practice. We were just hoping he had fun. He ended up not only having fun but dominating the game with FOUR goals! The boy looked like a natural. I know I'm biased but he did lead all scorers from either team. He had a big cheering section made up of both sets of grandparents, Uncle Sam, Aunt Kristie and cousin Adia and even Great Grandma White was there from Oklahoma.

This video is one of his most spectacular goals. He grabs possession at mid-field, avoids a scrum, sweeps to the left flank and never looks back. Sweet goal!

Blur

What a blur.

Once school started, the usual chaos ensued. It has been quite a blur. Labor Day usually serves as a nice breather after three weeks of madness. Things usually hit their groove beginning the Tuesday after the holiday.

Turns out JDW has soccer practice on Wednesday evenings and I didn't want to miss them. So 48 hours before SMU's classes started I swapped my Wednesday Revolutions class for a Monday Modern Lit class. It was a class I was originally planning to take but the revolutions class intrigued me. But to make soccer practice I went with my initial choice which I think will be a great decision. The Monday class called "Americans In Paris" is about the literature and philosophy of the American literary expatriates who gravitated toward France following World War I. We'll be analyzing some of my favorite authors including Hemingway and Fitzgerald. We're also looking at Proust and James Joyce among others. I really enjoyed the first class and I am excited about the possibilities.

The Tuesday night class, Creativity: Historical and Personal, has been fascinating as well. We're studying everyone from Leonardo da Vinci to Steve Jobs. It's a writing intensive class which has been a nice chance to free-form write again.

Soccer's still acomin'

More proof that soccer is slowly creeping up on and threatening to take over hockey as the 4th major league sport in the United States came last week. NBC and MLS announced that beginning in 2012 NBC and the NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) will be broadcasting MLS games for three years. This deal takes MLS away from the Fox Sports Network. ESPN will still air their slate of MLS games and the MLS Cup. But now MLS and several National Team games will be shown on a network that has twice has many households than the FSC. Plus, seeing MLS on NBC itself will be a huge boost for the game.

Attendance is up this year for the MLS. It has more corporate sponsors than ever before. The USMNT attracts a huge following. MLS is now outdrawing the NHL in average attendance. In fact it's threatening the NBA. The big hole it has to make up is in TV ratings. MLS still lags behind the NHL and is way behind the NBA in television viewership.

But it's coming. Fox has broadcasted the UEFA Champions League Championship game two years in a row on it's regular network. Within ten years MLS will be considered a full legit major league on par with the NBA and NHL and right behind MLB and the NFL. The Beautiful Game is here and it's not going anywhere.

photo: Jackson at his first MLS game at beautiful Pizza Hut Park, home of the Western Conference Champions F.C. Dallas.

Blogger Minimalism

Leo Babauta is one of my favorite bloggers. But he would not like how my blog is arranged. He would say it is too cluttered. See HERE why I believe this to be true.

I Jest Not

I rarely give up on books. When it comes to books I'm task oriented. I wanted to get to the end and check it off my list. Although when a great read comes along I slow down to enjoy the ride. I'm also a bit of an optimist, especially when it comes to books of good reputation. So I figure the first part may be a bit slow but if I keep plowing through it may be well worth it by the end.

But I finally gave up on Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. My Kindle says I only made it 20% of the way through this thousand page behemoth. This book was one of the most famous fiction works of the 1990's. It's author, Wallace, a literary star. His suicide three years ago only magnified his literary reputation. Earlier this year one of his posthumous works was released to great fanfare and acclaim. Many of the authors and literary critics I admire most are big fans.

So I took the plunge a few months ago and quit after about 50 pages. A month later I began again. I made it significantly farther (or further?) but finally gave up last week. I got tired of the pretension and literary gimmicks. Some consider his numerous endnotes a fascinating literary device. I found them annoying despite the fact that the Kindle makes reviewing the endnotes a snap. I grew weary of show-offy vocabulary that seemed thrown in simply for effect. Believe me, I love obscure, polysyllabic words as much as the next guy but not when they seem arbitrary and disrupt the narrative. Of course, disrupting the narrative flow was what Wallace said the endnotes were for so maybe that was his point.

So I probably just ticked off a bunch of literary hipsters with my dismissal of their hero. Granted he's much more of a novelist/writer than I could ever hope to be. I did see real talent, amazing talent. I saw flashes of brilliance. But the story and the characters never grabbed hold of me. I'm sorry I don't dig Jest. I'm not deleting it from my Kindle. Maybe down the road I'll give it another shot. I am capable of reading difficult works. I read them all the time. I love Joyce, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, Kierkegaard and whoever you want to throw at me. Just not this guy and this book. Maybe I'll check out one of his other works.

He certainly doesn't belong in the triumvirate of today's super-novelists David Mitchell, Douglas Coupland and Dave Eggers.

The Race

So the GOP race is shaping up. Here's my observations so far. Of course it's early and things can change dramatically.

Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain have little support and no chance. They're out.

Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul have rabid support but it still lies on the fringes. Most Republicans know that Bachmann has no chance to beat Obama. They're out.

Pawlenty and Huntsman have no buzz although that could change with a surprise win in one of the early states. But I think neither will capture the nomination. They're out.

Palin probably won't run. She's just out for the attention (showing up when Mitt announced and in Ames on the day of the GOP debate). She has virtually no chance to capture the nomination. Her star reached it's apogee last year. She has or is about to jump the shark. She's out.

So that leaves the race to Mitt Romney or Rick Perry. I believe this is a two man race. I'm not sure about Perry's ability to raise cash outside of Texas. And he will have a tough time when he gets the type of scrutiny he has never had in Texas. Even Republicans in Texas don't like the guy. He's only won because there's not been any alternatives or the field's been split. He once won with only 39% of the electorate. But he has positioned himself as a Tea Party conservative and that may be appealing to a great many Republicans who don't know him as well as Texans.

Mitt probably stands the best chance at beating Obama but he may have a tough time getting the nomination. Most conservatives are suspicious of Romney. He does seem to flip flop on issues like abortion and health care. But he is an ATM machine and has loads of cash.

So I can't guess who the nominee will be. But at this point is sure looks like a two-man race between Romney and Perry.

Converting Youtube to iTunes

One of the best ways to preview new music without purchasing it first is by checking out the artist's youtube page. That way you won't have wasted your money with a one-hit wonder. Youtube is one of my favorite music resources. I also download documentaries, shows and interviews and upload them to my iPod to watch on trips and whenever. There's a lot of free software programs that enable you to convert youtube videos to iTunes but one that has worked well for me is DVDVideoSoft. I first read about this site on cnet so it should be safe. I've been using it for a few years now and have never had a problem.

You can download a whole suite of software for free with one click or pick and choose what you want.

Their website is HERE

video: I haven't posted a video of JDW in awhile. This is Jackson earlier this summer playing around in slick rock...a creek area in Indiana on Dram's farm.