Gypsie Jazz, Where Have You Been Hiding

I just heard this great new artist from France today named Zaz. She is a jazz singer with a little touch of gypsie swag to her music. It sounds so fresh and yet familiar at the same time. I love the beat and the rhythm of this song. It has become my jam of the day in fact. I must find more music of hers!!!
The first video is the official music video of the song Je Veux with no subtitles, below that one is a live version of Je Veux with English subtitles.

Spiderman 3...Is it as bad as we remember?

The summer movie season is upon us!! This is great news for me because that means the latest batch of superhero movies will be invading movie theaters. I love superhero movies. They are so much fun to watch. This summer movie season got off to a great start with The Avengers, which was feakin’ awesome. Unfortunately I still have to wait for the new Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises, but from looking at their trailers, both have the potential to be great.

Over the years, there have been some great superhero movies, Spiderman 2, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Captain America just to name a few. But for every great superhero movie, there is a super bad one. Hulk, Daredevil, Green Lantern, Spiderman 3, and Batman Forever are great examples of bad superhero movies. So I thought it would be fun to go back and rewatch some of the bad superhero movies and see if they are just as bad as I remembered them to be.

For this first installment I went back and rewatched Spiderman 3. Starring Tobey Maguire as Spiderman and directed by Sam Ramni, it is the final installment of Ramni’s incarnation of the Friendly Neighborhood WebCrawler. In the film, Spiderman faces The Sandman, Venom, and New Green Goblin. (For a complete plot synopsis click here)

When this movie was released I was super excited for it. The first two films were great, and the entire crews from those movies were returning. Not only that, the trailers for Spiderman 3 made it look epic. Sadly after I left the theater, I was very disappointed, along with the majority of the film going public.

When I rewatched Spiderman 3 I tried to go in with an open mind and forget my previous disappoint with the film. I think I was semi-successful. I found the film to be slightly more enjoyable than I remembered it. I enjoyed the final battle between Spiderman and New Green Goblin against Venom and Sandman, and J. Jonah Jameson was hysterical. But there were there a number of areas that I found to be really bad. They were: 1) Too many storylines, 2) The CGI SFX, and 3) Ending on a bummer.

Spiderman 3 has so much going on. It is almost like the filmmakers tried to combine Spiderman 3 and 4 into a single movie. You have the Peter Parker/Mary Jane storyline, Peter Parker/Eddie Brock, Eddie Brock/Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane/Harry/and Spiderman storyline, Peter/Sandman, and the list goes on. It is so much that I found myself not caring so much about the character development because I was getting lost. If they would of cut one or two of the sub-plots out, I think it would of greatly improved the overall film. (Incidentally, at the time of its production there were a lot of rumors that Ramni and the cast wanted to end the Spiderman series, and the studio was trying to get them to come back for more movies. So this may account for so many plots being cramped into the film.)

Secondly the CGI. Man does it not hold up. In fact now it is really distracting to watch. I feel that it takes away from the story telling process, because it looks so unreal. This argument can be used for any movie that relies heavily on CGI, but what made the first two Spiderman films different were the stories. The stories were so good that you still got pulled even, and you could overlook the bad CGI. This should be a lesson to all film -makers, do not rely on CGI effects. Return to classic SFX of camera tricks, stunts, mat paintings, actors on wires, and models. Of course some of these special effects age, but they age graceful. They still look organic to the film. To this day, I can watch the first Superman movie, and buy into the fact that a man can fly.

Finally it ends on a bummer. Spiderman 3 breaks the cardinal rule of the trilogy. You send your crowd home happy. Look at Return of the Jedi, the good guys win, bad guys lose, and all of your storylines are wrapped up in a nice bow. Same with Lord of the Rings. Spiderman 3 leaves me with too many questions. Do Peter and Mary Jane get back together? At times Spiderman 3 feels more like the middle installment of a trilogy, which typically ends on a low note for the hero, see The Empire Strikes Back. I really feel that the hero needs to triumph in the finale of the trilogy.

Overall, if I were to grade Spiderman 3, I would get it a D+/C-. It isn’t horrible, but if it will not blow your socks off like the first two did. It is just ok. I think for my next installment, I will do Batman & Robin.

A Great Read

Hey now!!! It is an exciting time in my life. I am currently in my last Grad class and will have my Master's in Education by June 30th. Just 7 weeks left!!!! Once my Master's is done I'll be able to have fun again. But one aspect of my Master's that I have enjoy very much is that I have been able to read on a consist basis. In fact, I just finished this great book on J.D. Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye. The name of the book is J.D. Salinger: A Life, and its author is Kenneth Slawenski. Slawenski does a great job chronicling the life of more of the most private authors in American history. One of the major themes of the book is how Salinger wrestled with the artist side of writing versus the commercial aspect. For Salinger, writing was his way of experiencing the divine, and thus became very sacred to him. It was his way of praying. So when a publisher would try and "commercialize" his works to sell them to the public, he would become indigent. Thus became the great retreat from the public of one of America's greatest authors. If you are a fan of J.D. Salinger, I cannot recommend this book enough. If you have never read any of his works, but are still interested, check it out. It is one of the best biographies I have ever read.

Some of my favorite movie scenes

As many of you know, I am a nerd. I love superhero, SciFi, and action movies. So I was farting around YouTube and I thought it would be fun to do a post from some of my favorite scenes of some of my favorite movies. Here are my top 3. 1. Superman's debut Need I say more. The greatest introduction to the greatest superhero of all time. 2. The end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The perfect end to the perfect trilogy. To this day, I still get pumped up watching Indy riding off into the sunset, with his theme blaring. It's the hero shot. 3. Darth Vader turns good. The original Star Wars trilogy was so very good, and this was the apex of it. When Darth Vader turns to save Luke from the Emperor. As a child I remember jumping up and down with excitement over this. P.S. If you are ever looking for great workout music, the Indiana Jones and Superman themes are awesome. You get that extra shot of adrenaline. P.P.S. For some reason the format is not working for me. I'll try and adjust. My apologies

Too Much Consumerism?

My cousin Matt recently wrote a very interesting blog. The title of the blog is Consuming versus Creating. As the title suggests he discusses consumerism, and the nature of creating. After reading the post, I remembered a documentary I saw a few years ago called The Corporation. The documentary focuses on the history on the corporation in America. If you have not seen it, you can watch the entire documentary for free on YouTube. It’s well worth the watch. There’s a part in the documentary that talks about this very issue. Below is the video; you can find the exact part at around 20:30. It is a great reminder for me that we need to give back to the earth. We are always taking, taking, and taking from its natural resources. We need to stop consuming so much and begin to give back more to our fragile Eco-system. One of the conclusions the documentary comes to, is one that I think most would agree too. Money cannot be our ultimate goal for success. If we continue to make money the sole goal, then we are dooming ourselves. Let’s aim higher than money. Let’s set goals of education, art, music, and etc. things to strive for. Here's the trailer to the Corporation too, if you are interested.

Behind the 8 Ball, I know

The show Community is amazing!!!! Yes I know, I am behind the 8-ball, but better late than never right? It's just like 30 Rock. It rewards its viewers who started at the beginning with references built up as the story progresses. Like little hidden jokes for the cool kids, and I am now a part of the cool kids group. (Thank you Kevin Shannon) I'm only in season 1, but I am hooked. God Bless Hulu+ for having the entire series on its service. I would be lost without you. If you have not seen, I highly recommend. Until then, enjoy this little video.

You Too Can Read My Homework

I have previously posted some of my homework here on my blog. Just to give you a little flavor of what I am working on. I will now continue with this series. Below is my Education Vision Statement. Essential I was asked what my vision of education is for the next 5 years, and how I would change education. One slight disclaimer, I only had a day to write this. So it is not my best writing.

Education is at a critical crossroads. We are at a point where fundamental change can happen. Very slowly the federal government is doing away with the controversial “No Child Left Behind” law. The new educational “buzz words” which according to some will save education is charter schools. New digital technology, such as iPads, tablet computers, and smart boards, are sweeping into the classroom, changing the way teachers teach their students, making learning more interactive. On top of all of this, the American public is demanding the school structure be changed to better enable American students to compete in the global job market. All while funding for schools are being cut. It is truly a time of change and innovation.

Some find this to be a scary time for education. I do not necessarily believe it needs to be scary. This could be a time where we fundamental change our educational system for the better. This is a time where one good idea can change the world. In this educational vision statement, I will outline four ideas, which I would like to see incorporate into our educational system within the next three to five years.

What is the goal of our education system?

I think before we can ever implement real change in our education system, we need to ask these very important questions. “What is the goal of our education system?” “Why do we educate our young people?” I have posed this question to my students before. The responses I have received from them vary, but majority of them respond with “To get a good job”, “To get into college”, or “To make money”. I believe that this should not be the reason why we educate our students. Early on we need to instill in our students a love of learning, so that they become life longer learners. But how can we accomplish this goal of life long learners? While there are many theories out there that advocate how to make students life longer learners, I will only discuss a small aspect of what I think can help individuals become life long learners.

We need students to view education as a way of making them a better person. That the knowledge that we are passing along can be used for more than just taking a test. As Mortimer Adler, the educational philosophy said, “a virtuous person”. This should be the goal of our educational system. Because no matter what field of employment a student enters, they will always be a virtuous person. They will understand how knowledge of different subject matters make them a more complete individual, and will hopefully encourage them to always want to learn new things. When we have more virtuous individuals, we will then have a more virtuous society. This should be our goal of our education system, why we educate our young people. To create virtuous life longer learners.

Treatment of Teachers

If I could wave a magic wand, and change one aspect of our educational system right now, it would be this. How we treat our teachers. Teachers are dumped on constantly. Any problem that occurs in the classroom is automatically the teachers’ fault. Teachers are human beings, and thus are not perfect. And yes there are some very bad teachers out there. But find me any profession that does not have bad employees. No body is perfect, and yes when a teacher makes a mistake, they need to be mature enough to own up to it, and accept all the consequences that occur from their mistake.

However I do not believe you will find a more caring, hard-working, and dedicated group of individuals anywhere in the world than teachers. Everyone has a teacher that inspired him or her to do better. They make us believe that we can accomplish almost anything. They push us to do better. These great teachers can instill this sense of inspiration while facing insurmountable odds. Some teachers face large class sizes, little to no funding, and massive amounts of bureaucratic paperwork. Yet they still go in everyday and face these challenges head on. Why? Because they believe in their students.

When we go to the doctor, and receive a diagnosis, we do not immediately stand up, and tell them they are wrong. Some of us may do this, but majority of us do not. Why? Because we know that the doctor is the expert in the field of human health, and they know more than we do. The same goes for teachers. Teachers are experts in the field of education and learning, yet everyday people march into their classrooms and tell them the way they are teaching is wrong. Everyone is human; including teachers, and they want to feel appreciated too. Imagine what teachers would be able to accomplish if they felt appreciated.

Reading, Writing, and Discussion

My next idea in my vision statement on where the educational system could be in the next three to five years focuses on improving students love of reading, and improving their writing and discussion skills. It seems that whenever I turn the news on and they have a story about education, it is followed with “Improving math and science scores”. While I agree that math and science are incredibly important, very rarely do I hear anything about improving reading, writing, or discussion skills. If a student does not understand what the question they are reading says, how can they improve their math or science scores? Reading needs to become the focus of education improvement. Young people’s love of reading is dying. Whenever I ask my students what book they are reading, more than likely the response I will get is: “I don’t read”, “I hate reading”, or if they are reading, it is fiction such as Harry Potter. Which is fine, but very rarely do you hear students reading non-fiction, historical accounts, philosophy, or religious texts.

In one of my previous graduate courses, I studied the educational philosopher Mortimer Adler. Adler advocated reading, founded The Great Books Foundation, and returning education to the classic style of instruction. The classical style focused on making a virtuous individual, which I discussed earlier. Reading can be the silver bullet for improving education quickly. If students better understand what they are reading, they may do better on standardized tests.

To go on a tangent for a moment, our society has allowed standardized testing to become the ultimate form of assessment, and in my opinion-standardized tests does not do a proper job of assessing our students’ knowledge. It only measures how well the student does on that one test. What happens if the student is not a good test taker? We need to find a better way of assessment.

Writing and discussion could be the better forms of assessment we are looking for. It allows students to articulate their opinions, and describe things in their own words. Writing and discussion allows students to be creative, and allows teachers to better measure the students’ mastery of the material.

Technology Integration

The final idea of my education vision statement is the integration of digital technology into the classroom. We take for granted the time we are currently living in. Technology is changing at an ever-increasing pace. We need to be able to keep up. We need our students to be able to keep up. If we are going to do this, we need to have technology in the classroom. Students need to be familiar with how to use it. Because technology is revolutionizing every aspect of our lives. Even now, I am in a graduate class with classmates across the United States. 15 years ago the only way this would of happened is if I traveled to the destination. Now it is in my living room.
Technology can make a subject or discussion come alive. Literally at students’ fingertips is a wealth of information that one hundred years ago would of seemed like a pipe dream. Additional technology, if used properly, could accommodate almost every learning style. Visual learners, auditory learners, can all benefit from using technology. The key with technology is we do not allow it to replace teachers. Technology is a tool for teachers to use, not the other way around.

There you have it. My four points of my education vision statement. Looking back I think I can summarize my education vision statement with just two words. Social justice. We need to implement social justice into our educational system. We as a society need to ask the fundamental question, “What is the purpose of our educational system?” We need to treat our teachers with respect; we need to encourage our students to read, write, and discuss ideas with one another. They need to know that it is ok to disagree with one another, and that books are our friends. Life is not a series of multiple choice, true/false questions. Life is a joyous time of questioning, experimenting, and creative thinking. I know that most of what I wrote about probably will not be implemented, or is too much of a flowery dream. But if we cannot dream big in education, where can we dream big at then?