The Marxist protest passed with little incident, yesterday. Check here for news of the event.
I avoided the downtown area yesterday, choosing to spend the late morning and early afternoon at Eagle Bluffs, on my first true birding trip of the year. That's sad, but true. It appears that most of the ducks have moved on, but I did get a great look at the area's resident bald eagle and several beautiful views of a northern harrier patroling the area. Not a great day, but an adequate (though late) start for the year.
I proceeded directly to the Hyve, and, on the way back, could see a crowd of people several blocks south gathered on 9th Street. A helicopter hovered overhead.
Once home, I napped inadvertently.
That evening, I attended the closing night of the school Spring musical The Leader of the Pack. I was entertained. It was mostly a musical revue, with a loose framework of a story, as all of the songs were written by Ellie Greenwich, a song-writing power of the 60s. I'd never heard of her, but I did know her songs. The kids did a fine job. Unfortunately, the woman behind me showed up late with a three year old that couldn't keep his mouth shut. Annoying, really.
Today, it's laundry and grading (with a healthy dose of basketball thrown in). It is a beautiful day. The dog will be walked, for sure.
In other news, Shearwater has signed with Matador Records. Misra loses another horse from its stable. The Shearwater website says that Matador will be re-releasing the band's last album, Palo Santo, in an expanded, re-recorded version. This raises the question: does one buy an album one already has, if it has new songs, etc.? I say, "No."
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Welcome, Maeve Claire!
You must have been a beautiful baby
You must have been a wonderful child
--Bing Crosby
Suh-Weet and Queen of Spades had themselves a baby yesterday afternoon. A healthy girl, six pounds, ten ounces. Momma is doing well, also.
Suh-Weet was quoted as saying, "Suh-weet, dude."
Congratulations!
You must have been a wonderful child
--Bing Crosby
Suh-Weet and Queen of Spades had themselves a baby yesterday afternoon. A healthy girl, six pounds, ten ounces. Momma is doing well, also.
Suh-Weet was quoted as saying, "Suh-weet, dude."
Congratulations!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Nazis are Coming to Town
That is not a flippant title, my peeps. The National Socialist Movement has applied for and been granted a permit to march on our fair city on Saturday to "protest the promotion of Marxism at the university." This leads me to question whether they are aware that "Socialist" is part of their name. I know National Socialism and Marxism are NOT the same thing, but still. Doesn't everyone know that they are not REALLY protesting Marxism? Doesn't everybody know that they just want to stir up shit? Wouldn't that have been interesting, if, on their permit application, under "Reason for Application for Permit" they wrote "to stir up shit"?
The town has mobilized over the last few days, organizing alternative activities in protest of this "racialist" (yes, that is what they call themselves) march. At school, much of the buzz from students is of the "I want to go bust some Fascist head" variety. All of the faculty response has been of the "pay no attention to these jerks" variety. The police and several other town leaders have made it clear that the marchers want people to come out and be pissed off. They want people to throw rocks and get mad. They will provoke people with verbal taunts. That way, when the police have to descend on the counter-protesters, since they are officially breaking the law and the Nazis are not, it will look like the police are on the Nazi's side. Then, when people get pissed off at the police for protecting the Nazis and start rioting (a distinct possibility), the Nazis can point to that behavior as evidence of the wildness and undesirable nature of the "mud people" (i.e., anyone not like them (including me, since I am officially a Catholic, plus I am part Spic (as they might call it))).
I am scared. I don't want a riot in my town. I recognize the Nazi's right to march, even if I think they are small minded jerks, but I do wish they would maybe forget to show up. I do have hope in my heart, however. Hope that no one will show up to be provoked by the neo-brown shirts. Hope that nothing of consequence will occur. Hope that where I live, a diverse, intelligent community (with problems, yes, but trying to fix them), will be spared the misery and tragedy of any sort of dickhead-induced civil unrest.
I hope that I have good news for you on Sunday morning.
The town has mobilized over the last few days, organizing alternative activities in protest of this "racialist" (yes, that is what they call themselves) march. At school, much of the buzz from students is of the "I want to go bust some Fascist head" variety. All of the faculty response has been of the "pay no attention to these jerks" variety. The police and several other town leaders have made it clear that the marchers want people to come out and be pissed off. They want people to throw rocks and get mad. They will provoke people with verbal taunts. That way, when the police have to descend on the counter-protesters, since they are officially breaking the law and the Nazis are not, it will look like the police are on the Nazi's side. Then, when people get pissed off at the police for protecting the Nazis and start rioting (a distinct possibility), the Nazis can point to that behavior as evidence of the wildness and undesirable nature of the "mud people" (i.e., anyone not like them (including me, since I am officially a Catholic, plus I am part Spic (as they might call it))).
I am scared. I don't want a riot in my town. I recognize the Nazi's right to march, even if I think they are small minded jerks, but I do wish they would maybe forget to show up. I do have hope in my heart, however. Hope that no one will show up to be provoked by the neo-brown shirts. Hope that nothing of consequence will occur. Hope that where I live, a diverse, intelligent community (with problems, yes, but trying to fix them), will be spared the misery and tragedy of any sort of dickhead-induced civil unrest.
I hope that I have good news for you on Sunday morning.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Tie Dye, Man
Circle the date on your calendars, sports fans. On March 16, my school will be holding a faculty-student basketball game to raise money for Global Issue's 2nd annual Peace Conference. I will be playing for the faculty team, obviously.
We haven't held any practices. Our first is tomorrow. We did, however, have a team tie dying meeting today after school. Our team jerseys, it has been decided, will be tie dyed shirts. I had never tie dyed anything before. As a matter of fact, back in the day, and up until now, I have, for some reason, made it a point not to wear tie dye. I kind of think it looks, well, not so good. That and I always associated tie dye with all that hippie crap that it is stereotypically connected with. Of course, in the spirit of team unity, I will be making an exception. I also liked the idea of a self-made product as a souveneir of the experience. Anyway, it was fun, in an arts and crafts sort of way. I don't know what the shirt will look like, but I will know tomorrow. I'll try to get some pics to post of myself and my team mates modeling our fashions.
Beyond that, school is really kicking my ass, lately. I really can't go into a great deal of detail, but things are just hard in some arenas the past couple of weeks. On top of that, the busy time of the year for National Honor Society and the Hickman Review, both of which I co-sponsor, are full upon me. Add to that a major grading influx, due to my own poor forethought, making things hard on top of everything else. And, over it all is the impending move, waiting to hear from Lincoln Public Schools, following up on Monkey's leads for other possible job openings, and the house search (complicated ny the uncertainty of my employment situation) making things really funky for me right now.
But who really wants to here me bitch?
There's plenty of good stuff, too. The basketball game, interacting (positively) with my students, goofing with my co-workers, playing music, etc. all help to lift the spirits when times get tough. But in those quiet moments, the question marks, the "to do" list, the imagined negative resolutions to all the "what if" questions flood the mind and put me in a funk of of intropection and prospection. And the best thing to do in this situation? Get something done. Which is what I am about to do, as soon as I answer the following tag from my girl Mags.
1. Find the nearest book.
Okay, got it. It was on the top shelf, right side, of the black bookcase next to the filing cabinet in Monkey's office.
2. Name the book and the author.
Well, that makes sense. It is The Best American Short Stories of 2006, edited by Ann Patchett.
3. Turn to page 123.
A short story by Alice Munro, "The View from Castle Rock."
4. Go to the 5th sentence on the page & copy out the next three sentences onto your blog.
She will give up that, she will give it up gladly, if only he isn't gone.
If only he can be found. If only he isn't dead.
**********
There you go. I am supposed to tag three other folks, but I always prefer to just open up the floor to comments. You know, it has worked so well in the past, and I always like to encourage the comments.
Peace, y'all.
We haven't held any practices. Our first is tomorrow. We did, however, have a team tie dying meeting today after school. Our team jerseys, it has been decided, will be tie dyed shirts. I had never tie dyed anything before. As a matter of fact, back in the day, and up until now, I have, for some reason, made it a point not to wear tie dye. I kind of think it looks, well, not so good. That and I always associated tie dye with all that hippie crap that it is stereotypically connected with. Of course, in the spirit of team unity, I will be making an exception. I also liked the idea of a self-made product as a souveneir of the experience. Anyway, it was fun, in an arts and crafts sort of way. I don't know what the shirt will look like, but I will know tomorrow. I'll try to get some pics to post of myself and my team mates modeling our fashions.
Beyond that, school is really kicking my ass, lately. I really can't go into a great deal of detail, but things are just hard in some arenas the past couple of weeks. On top of that, the busy time of the year for National Honor Society and the Hickman Review, both of which I co-sponsor, are full upon me. Add to that a major grading influx, due to my own poor forethought, making things hard on top of everything else. And, over it all is the impending move, waiting to hear from Lincoln Public Schools, following up on Monkey's leads for other possible job openings, and the house search (complicated ny the uncertainty of my employment situation) making things really funky for me right now.
But who really wants to here me bitch?
There's plenty of good stuff, too. The basketball game, interacting (positively) with my students, goofing with my co-workers, playing music, etc. all help to lift the spirits when times get tough. But in those quiet moments, the question marks, the "to do" list, the imagined negative resolutions to all the "what if" questions flood the mind and put me in a funk of of intropection and prospection. And the best thing to do in this situation? Get something done. Which is what I am about to do, as soon as I answer the following tag from my girl Mags.
1. Find the nearest book.
Okay, got it. It was on the top shelf, right side, of the black bookcase next to the filing cabinet in Monkey's office.
2. Name the book and the author.
Well, that makes sense. It is The Best American Short Stories of 2006, edited by Ann Patchett.
3. Turn to page 123.
A short story by Alice Munro, "The View from Castle Rock."
4. Go to the 5th sentence on the page & copy out the next three sentences onto your blog.
She will give up that, she will give it up gladly, if only he isn't gone.
If only he can be found. If only he isn't dead.
**********
There you go. I am supposed to tag three other folks, but I always prefer to just open up the floor to comments. You know, it has worked so well in the past, and I always like to encourage the comments.
Peace, y'all.
Monday, March 05, 2007
So This Is How It's Going To Be...
By the time I finish typing this sentence, it will be tomorrow. What am I doing up? I will be hitting the snooze in five hours. Well, let's just say not having posted a turd since February 20 is just pathetic enough to get my raggedy ass over to the keyboard to hunt and peck my way back into your neglected hearts.
Today was business as usual (i.e., no partner teacher) after a blissful and neglectful weekend at True/False here in Central Standard. Eleven docs in three days, now that's the way to celebrate the first weekend in March, my fellow blogospherians.
Favorites of this year's festival include (in no particular order): several films that I had to sign a press release for, stating that I would not blog, write, or speak about them. This due to the fact that they are still in negotiations with distributors, or they have an official premier at some other festival, or some lawyer just thought it was fun to make a couple hundred people sign a document and see how many of them got paranoid and shit when they accidentally told their mom where they went this weekend. Whatever. Suffice it to say that all of the movies I can't tell you about were so good...I can't even put it into words.
In addition, add Row Hard, No Excuses, a film about a trans-Atlantic two-man rowing race. Yes, people, they row a wooden boat from the Canary Islands to Barbados. It takes anywhere from 42 to 100+ days, and rowers face the elements, sharks, each other, rashes in mentionable and unmentionable places, and the occasional well-aimed flying fish. They must have all of their supplies onboard, and they seem to have a penchant (or a duty or a strategy or something) for rowing in the buff. That notwithstanding, still a winner of a man versus self/man versus nature kind of story.
Another winner: Miss Navajo, a short doc (60 minutes) about the contestants in the Miss Navajo Nation pageant, the only beauty pageant with a sheep slaughtering competition. What about that The Donald?
Also, and perhaps my favorite, Off the Grid, a really remarkable film about a community of people trying to live in a manner that, to them, is truly American: free. It's very Wild West in some ways, with the community observing its own code of laws, eschewing any assistance from most government entities (one cancer-stricken Gulf War (the first one) vet (there are a lot of Gulf War vets living out there--makes you wonder what's going to happen when they finally start bringing the soldiers from this go 'round back home) does visit the VA--but he refuses treatment). It's one of those films where you are watching these people, and in the back of your mind there are two ideas bouncing around: one, these people seem a bit on the eccentric side; but, two, they seem to have some things right. Fascinating subjects, beautiful countryside, tragedy, conflict, music, and skinned goats (a livestock theme will not develop, I promise).
Lastly, but not in any way completely, American Shopper, a documentary truly in the spirit of True/False. Filmed right here in Central Standard, the film was set up by the film makers as a competitive grocery shopping event called "aisling." They came to town about a year ago and promoted this "aisling" thing, putting ads in the local paper, and such. Of course, there is no such thing, or, at least, there wasn't until they invented it. But, this film is not a fiction per se. The directors incorporated the real stories of the real citizens who showed up to investigate this "aisling" phenomenon. So, throughout the film, one wonders, what is real and what is fiction? It's damn hard to tell, and it makes for an excellent, touching, entertaining film. Of course, it is an added bonus to recognize places and people in the film, so it's not easy to be objective, especially when you get to watch your own mayor shake his groove thing with a shopping cart, but I think this film would stand up to any objective test.
That is just the tip of the iceberg and only includes some of the few films that Monkey and I saw. You can't see them all--it's impossible.
Oy! It is way past maximum bedtime, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the past two weeks.
I will have to get back to you. I hope it won't be in fourteen days.
Today was business as usual (i.e., no partner teacher) after a blissful and neglectful weekend at True/False here in Central Standard. Eleven docs in three days, now that's the way to celebrate the first weekend in March, my fellow blogospherians.
Favorites of this year's festival include (in no particular order): several films that I had to sign a press release for, stating that I would not blog, write, or speak about them. This due to the fact that they are still in negotiations with distributors, or they have an official premier at some other festival, or some lawyer just thought it was fun to make a couple hundred people sign a document and see how many of them got paranoid and shit when they accidentally told their mom where they went this weekend. Whatever. Suffice it to say that all of the movies I can't tell you about were so good...I can't even put it into words.
In addition, add Row Hard, No Excuses, a film about a trans-Atlantic two-man rowing race. Yes, people, they row a wooden boat from the Canary Islands to Barbados. It takes anywhere from 42 to 100+ days, and rowers face the elements, sharks, each other, rashes in mentionable and unmentionable places, and the occasional well-aimed flying fish. They must have all of their supplies onboard, and they seem to have a penchant (or a duty or a strategy or something) for rowing in the buff. That notwithstanding, still a winner of a man versus self/man versus nature kind of story.
Another winner: Miss Navajo, a short doc (60 minutes) about the contestants in the Miss Navajo Nation pageant, the only beauty pageant with a sheep slaughtering competition. What about that The Donald?
Also, and perhaps my favorite, Off the Grid, a really remarkable film about a community of people trying to live in a manner that, to them, is truly American: free. It's very Wild West in some ways, with the community observing its own code of laws, eschewing any assistance from most government entities (one cancer-stricken Gulf War (the first one) vet (there are a lot of Gulf War vets living out there--makes you wonder what's going to happen when they finally start bringing the soldiers from this go 'round back home) does visit the VA--but he refuses treatment). It's one of those films where you are watching these people, and in the back of your mind there are two ideas bouncing around: one, these people seem a bit on the eccentric side; but, two, they seem to have some things right. Fascinating subjects, beautiful countryside, tragedy, conflict, music, and skinned goats (a livestock theme will not develop, I promise).
Lastly, but not in any way completely, American Shopper, a documentary truly in the spirit of True/False. Filmed right here in Central Standard, the film was set up by the film makers as a competitive grocery shopping event called "aisling." They came to town about a year ago and promoted this "aisling" thing, putting ads in the local paper, and such. Of course, there is no such thing, or, at least, there wasn't until they invented it. But, this film is not a fiction per se. The directors incorporated the real stories of the real citizens who showed up to investigate this "aisling" phenomenon. So, throughout the film, one wonders, what is real and what is fiction? It's damn hard to tell, and it makes for an excellent, touching, entertaining film. Of course, it is an added bonus to recognize places and people in the film, so it's not easy to be objective, especially when you get to watch your own mayor shake his groove thing with a shopping cart, but I think this film would stand up to any objective test.
That is just the tip of the iceberg and only includes some of the few films that Monkey and I saw. You can't see them all--it's impossible.
Oy! It is way past maximum bedtime, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the past two weeks.
I will have to get back to you. I hope it won't be in fourteen days.
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