Family Guy -- The World is Beautiful with Gore as President

The depraved insanity of re-imagining!

Best analogy involving porn

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ohmygod, now I know why my cell ... CINGULAR bites

Serendipity at work again. This time browsing the cell phone sub-section of The Consumerist I discovered the truth about the pre-ring utterance emitted by our GSM cellphone, a Sony Ericsson z525a -- N.B., the american is important to me since discovered in December 2006 that the only difference between it and the international version is that us USA-ians can't install security-signed third party software on our cells.

Anyways, this noise causes SOME serious radio interference that has allegedly blown out one of someone's speaker. Curious...it's all captured (too) fabulously in this consumer art byte-back:

Other fun to catch at The Consumerist include "Wendy's Wins Fast Food Zagat Survey" and "McDonald's Employee Hides Pot Stash In Happy Meal Box, Gives Happy Meal To Child".

MySpace: bound to keep getting dirtier and uglier

We have this kernel by way of /. post that brought me to the Post's “OFF/beat” blog.

"MySpace Photo: Costs Teacher Education Degree
Teacher Sues For Diploma And Damages".

Regardless of the merits of the action's sentiment, do we really want to go down this slippery slope? If the institution in question actually has legal standing to re-direct a student's degree shouldn't more college students be very very afraid? Myspace...is just an moment away from whatever is the next administrative anathema.

What kind of [???] are you?

Not enough of a programmer to have a code preference but knowledgeable enough to appreciate the humor in "Programming languages and their relationship styles"; nevertheless, if I were to guess as to how I'm perceived...hard to choose between ADA (which I've only read about) and Assembler (which I never really grasped). But, we do exist on a continuum so when I'm feeling more flexible, it'd be a toss up between Logo or Python. Although I do covet the code simplicity of PERL.

Now, ask me to fill out a silly series of questions...and I'm willing to oblige. Saturday, I learned of my superhero designation:
Green Lantern

Green Lantern 75% Spider-Man 65% Batman 65% Hulk 50% The Flash 50% Superman 45% Catwoman 45% Iron Man 40% Supergirl 25% Wonder Woman 20% Robin 18%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

For more ancient takes, on my persona traipse over to .Mac.

Futsal? Indoor soccer w/outside smarts

Who knew that a soccer-related game about which I've never heard is slated to become an Olympic sport in 2008. Furthermore, it seems like it'd be good for skill building during the winter months for adults and children. I write that having finally understood the physicality of hockey once I'd played indoor soccer a few years back.

Wikipedia is kind enough to explain that the portmanteau word, or blend, futsal simultaneously signifies

the Portuguese "futebol de salão" or the Spanish "fútbol sala", both of which mean "indoor soccer".

Holistic Futsal breaks it down for the uninitiated especially as it relates strategically to outdoor play which boils down to it's a good match for those who want indoor skill-building that transfer to regular outside play. Furthermore, you learn that futsal is the official five-a-side indoor soccer game and the only indoor soccer recognized by FIFA.

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revised again @ 8:10 PM

Beeman leaves for U of MN

On any college/university campus there are always those profs whose classes you never take but you end up knowing them by reputation and/or domain. So into that Brunonian pool I can't put political commentator Darrell West whose poli sci course I tooked (if not finished) or Barrett Hazeltine in whose "gut" Engin 9 I fumbled and managed to pull a C. (Note: "guts" aren't easy if you have zero interest in the topic! And, perhaps if I'd paid more attention I'd be another B-entrepeneur instead of unemployed.).

Other profs that come to mind include Ken Miller, a biologist now more commonly known for being a religious (Catholic) scientist than for having attended many of the same Brown women's basketball games that we did. Same with public policy prof Ross Cheit who along with his wife Kathleen Odean, a librarian, were at the same games. (BTW, she's also the author of Great Books for Girls (1997) and Great Books for Boys (1998).)

There's also Thomas F. Banchoff, a mathematician much noted for his dimensional lectures involving a little old book Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions which may arrive at a cinema near you! Or public speaking aficionado Barbara Tannenbaum whose kids I once babysat and now are old enough to be in high school and college. (Heck, they may have graduated from both by now!) While a professor in Brown’s Department of Theater,Speech, and Dance, Tannebaum was much involved in women's politics at the campus level as well as locally including being a consultant to a range of political hopefuls.

Since I realize now that politics has become a theme here, this headline seems sad news for Brown, if not Minnesota:

Frustrated with Middle East studies program, longtime prof. leaves Brown.

Bill Beeman is another who I seem to recall being a professor whose political voice was a standout in a less disinterested way than the intentionally apolitical academic. For a deeper drink from the Beeman faucet, here's some archived op-eds and his blog:

• on why Colin Powell should resign
• Understanding Osama bin Laden, 2001
• Wisdom from Phil: Bush is in trouble, 2002
• Culture and International Affairs

"Baby Got Back" Gilbert and Sullivan Style

As anyone who has spent any significant time with the J-man knows, he has a fondness for Sir-Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back". [The child has a propensity to just break into song extemporaneously.]

Methinks we can thank that parental amusement kid-friendly closing medley in Shrek for his awareness that the song even exists. And this tasty bit on YouTube is a riff from a 1980 production of the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty. And if you're on your toes, you catch a young Kevin Kline and former heart throb Rex Smith. A Wikipedia entry with a cast list makes me think this clip comes from Joseph Papp's Pirates.

For the uninitiated here are the actual song lyrics (according to azlyrics.com):

[Intro]
Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt.
It is so big. *scoff* She looks like,
one of those rap guys' girlfriends.
But, y'know, who understands those rap guys? *scoff*
They only talk to her, because,
she looks like a total prostitute, 'kay?
I mean, her butt, is just so big. *scoff*
I can't believe it's just so round, it's like,
out there, I mean - gross. Look!
She's just so ... black!

[Sir Mix-a-Lot]
I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung, wanna pull out your tough
'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed
Deep in the jeans she's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh baby, I wanna get wit'cha
And take your picture
My homeboys tried to warn me
But with that butt you got makes me feel so horny
Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin
You say you wanna get in my Benz?
Well, use me, use me
'Cause you ain't that average groupy
I've seen them dancin'
The hell with romancin'
She's sweat, wet,
Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette
I'm tired of magazines
Sayin' flat butts are the thing
Take the average black man and ask him that
She gotta pack much back
So, fellas! (Yeah!) Fellas! (Yeah!)
Has your girlfriend got the butt? (Hell yeah!)
Tell 'em to shake it! (Shake it!) Shake it! (Shake it!)
Shake that healthy butt!
Baby got back!

(LA face with Oakland booty)
Baby got back!

[Sir Mix-a-Lot]
I like 'em round, and big
And when I'm throwin' a gig
I just can't help myself, I'm actin' like an animal
Now here's my scandal
I wanna get you home
And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh
I ain't talkin' bout Playboy
'Cause silicone parts are made for toys
I want 'em real thick and juicy
So find that juicy double
Mix-a-Lot's in trouble
Beggin' for a piece of that bubble
So I'm lookin' at rock videos
Knock-kneeded bimbos walkin' like hoes
You can have them bimbos
I'll keep my women like Flo Jo
A word to the thick soul sistas, I wanna get with ya
I won't cuss or hit ya
But I gotta be straight when I say I wanna *fuck*
Til the break of dawn
Baby got it goin' on
A lot of simps won't like this song
'Cause them punks like to hit it and quit it
And I'd rather stay and play
'Cause I'm long, and I'm strong
And I'm down to get the friction on
So, ladies! {Yeah!} Ladies! {Yeah}
If you wanna role in my Mercedes {Yeah!}
Then turn around! Stick it out!
Even white boys got to shout
Baby got back!

Baby got back!
Yeah, baby ... when it comes to females, Cosmo ain't got nothin'
to do with my selection. 36-24-36? Ha ha, only if she's 5'3".

[Sir Mix-a-Lot]
So your girlfriend rolls a Honda, playin' workout tapes by Fonda
But Fonda ain't got a motor in the back of her Honda
My anaconda don't want none
Unless you've got buns, hun
You can do side bends or sit-ups,
But please don't lose that butt
Some brothers wanna play that "hard" role
And tell you that the butt ain't gold
So they toss it and leave it
And I pull up quick to retrieve it
So Cosmo says you're fat
Well I ain't down with that!
'Cause your waist is small and your curves are kickin'
And I'm thinkin' bout stickin'
To the beanpole dames in the magazines:
You ain't it, Miss Thing!
Give me a sista, I can't resist her
Red beans and rice didn't miss her
Some knucklehead tried to dis
'Cause his girls are on my list
He had game but he chose to hit 'em
And I pull up quick to get wit 'em
So ladies, if the butt is round,
And you want a triple X throw down,
Dial 1-900-MIXALOT
And kick them nasty thoughts
Baby got back!

(Little in the middle but she got much back) [4x]

And, for a totally different take, catch folk-altie Jonathan Coulton in Los Angeles performing "Baby Got Back".

As if we didn't know...from watching US 'pro' athletes: it's ugly out there!

And as if there's not enough to fill a third grader's parents minds, I can start to anticipate all that I want to avoid as it relates to sports...in high school.

The report, “What Are Your Children Learning? The Impact of High School Sports on the Values and Ethics of High School Athletes,” summarizes the responses of 5,275 high school athletes to a written survey administered in 2005 and 2006.

See Youth Athletes Survey - The Josephson Institute's Report Card for all the gorey details.

I suppose I should attach a caveat to my title about it being obvious as it relates to US mainstream "pro" sports such as hockey, basketball, football and baseball. I only reference them because I hear about their shenaningans, or see the replays.  Who knows maybe it's just as bad where I never look -- curling, field hockey, wrestling, etc.

But I guess the outlook's not all bad; it just ain't all benign. (And, here I hear the internalized voice of the child scolding me; he just doesn't get using poor grammar for effect and just sees it as wrong -- when I do it!)

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the strangest thing....

the strangest thing....
Originally uploaded by the doubtful guest.

Exquisite photos and maps are what thrill me. It use to be folk music but I guess age does something... I never was into the great outdoors but as fate would have it, the child is crazy about animals. So now I find myself -- when not fighting with said soon-to-be-nine child -- seeking out interesting animalia. Life is twisted.

If Suess Returned as Dylan

This find courtesy of Music For Maniacs whose blog-ish description says its "dedicated to extremes in music, 'Outsider' recordings and utterly unique sounds". Quite the earful...as well as a complete *FREE* download in Dylan Hears A Who! Other recent delights sighted there include Elvis re-done in Latin and an Arabic-flavored Shaft theme.

20070321: N.B. someone must have gotten a cease-and-desist order.

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The prospect of education can feel more promising...

...despite my complaints -- sometimes, in light of the Internet age. My childhood had none of the immediacy of events like a total lunar eclipse such as this; as seen from the UK 20070303:

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Strangeness I hadn't considered

Admittedly, I am an oddball since I was Googling for D.I.Y. hand sanitizer recipes since we have a constant need to minimize cross-contamination between child, hermit crab(s), and hamsters) but others find tastier bits than I:

reasons to avoid coffee pots in hotel rooms (makes me glad I don't travel or drink coffee)

just how drunk can one get off liquid hand wash (again, glad that I'm more of a stone-cold soda drinker & prefer a nice orange soda over anything alcoholic, any day!)

Microwavable Grape Plasma

On the hand, I did find compelling:

forensic tracking codes on laser printouts

pipe clamps as a means to kitchen hooks

Turning Obsessed?

Googling

     teach logic "third grade"

I found the writings of one Rick Garlikov. So far much to like. I didn't imagine my life as an adult and parent being so consumed with elementary education--that's the thought I had while reading "Teaching Effectively: Helping Students Absorb and Assimilate Material". So have I become obsessed?

How to teach without seeming to given that you already sent the child out of house for numerous hours for that exact purpose. The pint-size lawyer never accepts the words of a parent as edict; that is the (monster-)child, we have raised. But as someone put it, "It's so simple to be difficult, but so difficult to be simple". Is there a way to stay (invested) in the public school system if your heart feels as cold as "Adopting a Kidnapper's Creed for Education: No Child Left Behind". I'm too much in agreement and feeling like the other extreme is the only answer.

2006 MLK tribute @ YouTube

...featuring a medley by Sounds of Blackness.

Biggest brain-wiggley: Boeing 747 as glider

"brain-wiggley" is my del.icio.us tag for oddities of various proportions. I bumped into this via digg.

A Clue as to How I Was Forged...Mentally, That Is

Dateline 12.2006:

U Memphis Campus School has been named as one of the top schools in Tennessee
Almost all of its students - 99 percent - scored "proficient" or "advanced" in both reading and math.

When I lived down there, MSU was Memphis State, but now it's gone and matured/re-branded. Campus School, AKA the elementary laboratory school for the College of Education at the U of Memphis for more than 100 years, is where I received the majority of my elementary education. I was enrolled there at the start of what would have been the 2nd semester of 2nd grade at a more traditional school; but back then, Campus had mixed grades in "communities", and I stayed for the duration through what was 6th grade elsewhere.

And, looking back, I'm certain that my inclusion in C.L.U.E., or Creative Learning in a Unique Environment, in 3rd grade pretty much explains the me that I am as well as the what I expect from schools that J. attends. C.L.U.E.'s guiding methodology I just saw nicely encapsulated as "teach for thinking".

A Film that I Imagined Making Once Upon a Time

Do some good for a cause close to your heart and invites others by watching this film; two for the price of one.

Inspired by love and concern for his two daughters, and wondering what kind of planet they will inherit, actor and award-winning director Turk Pipkin traveled the world to pose the toughest questions of our time to some of today's greatest minds. The result is Nobelity, a highly acclaimed documentary that explores the crises and possibilities facing the environment, education, economics, family, peace, social justice, and spirituality. Pipkin's odyssey took him across the United States, and overseas to France, England, India, and Kenya. One of the distinguished Nobel laureates he spoke to was Rev. Desmond Tutu (Nobel Peace Prize, 1984) who talks about the power of love and forgiveness, and the human capacity to accomplish great things. Pipkin says 'The most moving of the meetings was with Sir Joseph Rotblat, a 96 year old nuclear physicist (Nobel Peace Prize, 1995) who fifty years earlier had joined with Albert Einstein in signing an open letter to the world calling for an end to nuclear proliferation. Sir Joe confided to me that the mission for the remaining days of his life was to fulfill the task that Einstein left to him, and put America and the world back on the track to nuclear disarmament.' ("Event Detail: Nobelity." Artsopolis. 01/01/2007. Artsoplis. 1 Jan 2007 . )

Bumped into details of this courtesy of an advertisment during my listening to a a stream of the December 24, 2006, re-broadcast of Childhood Matters' "Using Stories to Explore the World". Also, disovered a new children's author--Uma Krishnaswami.

If you build, they will come...

Aren't the naysayers missing the point of the now-$150 laptop education initiative? Part of the problem in un-, under-, poor, [insert negative adjective] places, is that children miss out because they just never get to have certain experiences that many can easily take for granted elsewhere. The One Laptop Per Child effort is attempting to short circuit that problem in one arena for one segment of the world.

No one knows what will be possible if you make this type of technology available on such a grand scale. The mere exposure will change the landscape for some. Besides laughing at Bill Gates' questioning

whether the concept is “just taking what we do in the rich world” and assuming that that is something good for the developing world, too

I did note that philanthropy is having an impact on his worldview.

I think a more useful response is to imagine what _____ will kids be better able to make happen because of these odd little laptops. Maybe, it'll only give rise to a rash of third world hackers but regardless they will enrich the global landscape.

The idea was to put something immediately usable requiring as little capital as possible in the hands of the young. What's not to love in that? And, the capitalist marketplace will still be standing at the end of the day.

Things Left Out of Parenting Books

No one mentions what a bear schooling is. Yes, there's the question of whether public or private depending on your income level and your residence within any given city or neighbhorhood. But no one really prepares you for the extent to which a child's education is a massive engagement for those of us who practice anything resembling attachment parenting or just simply trying to be an engaged parent in ways that parents of the sixties generally weren't. Having an above average school-aged child in an urban setting consumes energy; make that child a boy and a minority and the weight only gets heavier. Make him intelligent, an extrovert and in need of challenges; and I suddenly understood all the choices my mother made as it related to the education of my sister and I.

In the big picture it breaks down into the system, the school, and your child. You got to monitor the school system on the political level (school board, funding, etc), be present at the school enough to know when you're not finding out about matters, checking that homework even if completed is actually understood, engaging the child so as to quantify his experience of the teachers and classmates, and the list goes on.

Given that we continue to have a child in an urban public elementary school (his third and favorite, I should interject), I think this 20061126 New York Times article "What It Takes to Make a Student" gets at why I worry about his education and his understanding of the world around him; its review of selected research reminds me why the politicians are stupid to think a better testing student is so easily attainable. The battle is against a multi-faceted moving target. A point not covered in the article, and one I wonder if is explored in any literature, asks about the relevance of nuanced but similarly important concept involving ethno-cultural factors that may eclipse class under certain settings.

How come its so obvious to me that there's not just one way to educate a child. After all private schools have long educated dumb white kids using teachers without advanced degrees; yet, they somehow emerge functionally more competent than their similarly or better endowed counterparts. What the research really gets at is that certain parents don't leave education at the school and however they supplement it in the home makes the difference....more so than any particular school. The whole rigamarole I learned can be quantified as "concerted cultivation". I'd venture to guess it's why you can have the off-the-radar successes of Sudbury Valley types of schools and other alternatives. In the end,

“noncognitive” abilities like self-control, adaptability, patience and openness — the kinds of qualities that middle-class parents pass on to their children every day, in all kinds of subtle and indirect ways — have a huge and measurable impact on a child’s future success

The expectation is a minimal success of graduation and somehow it has to be gotten. (Yes, there are cheaters but...most do finish nominally proficient.) Research coming out of UPenn's Positive Psychology Center characterizes it as tenacity, or grit. Pretty much explains me.

For the meatier version of matters, see "Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents" in Psychological Science.