The Butcher Shop

Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Musk Ox again




This time, the musk ox were within sight from our apartment. We drove out to see. The best new thing in this herd was the BABY MUSK OX! I thought at first that a dog was harassing the herd.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:28 AM   0 comments

This is a picture out our back window. You can see the small herd of seven or so musk ox right over the hill. When Amy got home, we took the car out to go see them up close.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:24 AM   0 comments

Madison likes to play drums on Daddy's head.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:16 AM   0 comments

Madison and Daddy.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:15 AM   0 comments
Tuesday, May 30, 2006

A review for the new online graphic novel called SHOOTING WAR is up at Independent Propaganda. Check it out! Seriously, this graphic novel is worth the visit.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 2:45 PM   0 comments
Caribou



We spent most of the wonderful sunny and 50 degree + day outside yesterday. What a wonderful way to start the summer. We took a drive and ran past this herd of caribou. This was out around Dexter Bypass Road, around the mountain from us not too far.

I am still looking for my first moose.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 11:26 AM   0 comments
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Risk Seahorse



The family played RISK the other weekend for some quality time. Amy created this seahorse from the army pieces. It was inspired all by the roman numeral 3 for the snout.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 1:07 PM   0 comments
Supreme dumb ass of the universe
It says right on all the materials I have ever received from the state: "Certificate holders are responsible for knowing and satisfying certification requirements."

I took my Praxis I test too late--the test of basic skills. I actually took one in Illinois way back in like 1994. The scores took too long to get there. My initial certificate here in Alaska actually expired this month. They needed to get those scores by the expiration date in order to continue my certificate the next two years.

Now I have to reapply. I have to send in the $191 again. I have to send Northern Illinois University another flipping $5 for an official transcript.

I am so mad at myself. If I had my act together, I would have taken the test when it was offered earlier, back in the beginning of March. All this could have been avoided. It was my extremely bad mistake.

I feel like a true dipshit.

However, this is one of those occasions that reminds me to push due dates on students. "See, this is what happens," I would say. "This mistake is going to cost me application fees again. There is no waiver here. This is the State we're talking about."

I'm upset and mad at my own stupidity.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:39 PM   0 comments
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The Long Weekend
Amy said yesterday, "I have a three-day weekend coming up!" Ya know, Memorial Day and all.

Morgan and I said, "We have like a 93-day weekend coming up!" Ya know, what with summer vacation and all.

It is a day like this that I look up and say, "Ah, it is good to be a teacher."
posted by Matt Butcher @ 5:20 PM   0 comments
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
A Murder of Crows
As you may know, a group of fish is called a "school," a group of lions is called a "pride," and a group of seagulls is called a "flock." Some are a little more unusual. See if you can guess what animals belong to the following groups:

Crash
Exaltation
Mob
Murder
Parliament
Pod
Sounder









Answer
Crash - Rhinoceros
Exaltation - Lark
Mob - Kangaroo
Murder - Raven/Crow
Parliament - Owl
Pod - Whale
Sounder - Pig/Hog
posted by Matt Butcher @ 1:13 PM   0 comments
New Superman Returns promo posters


posted by Matt Butcher @ 1:06 PM   0 comments
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Review of The Afterlife

My review of The Afterlife webcomic is up at Independent Propaganda. Check it out!
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:19 AM   0 comments
Eidolons

} Eidolons

I met a seer,
Passing the hues and objects of the world,
The fields of art and learning, pleasure, sense,
To glean eidolons.

Put in thy chants said he,
No more the puzzling hour nor day, nor segments, parts, put in,
Put first before the rest as light for all and entrance-song of all,
That of eidolons.

Ever the dim beginning,
Ever the growth, the rounding of the circle,
Ever the summit and the merge at last, (to surely start again,)
Eidolons! eidolons!

Ever the mutable,
Ever materials, changing, crumbling, re-cohering,
Ever the ateliers, the factories divine,
Issuing eidolons.

Lo, I or you,
Or woman, man, or state, known or unknown,
We seeming solid wealth, strength, beauty build,
But really build eidolons.

The ostent evanescent,
The substance of an artist's mood or savan's studies long,
Or warrior's, martyr's, hero's toils,
To fashion his eidolon.

Of every human life,
(The units gather'd, posted, not a thought, emotion, deed, left out,)
The whole or large or small summ'd, added up,
In its eidolon.

The old, old urge,
Based on the ancient pinnacles, lo, newer, higher pinnacles,
From science and the modern still impell'd,
The old, old urge, eidolons.

The present now and here,
America's busy, teeming, intricate whirl,
Of aggregate and segregate for only thence releasing,
To-day's eidolons.

These with the past,
Of vanish'd lands, of all the reigns of kings across the sea,
Old conquerors, old campaigns, old sailors' voyages,
Joining eidolons.

Densities, growth, facades,
Strata of mountains, soils, rocks, giant trees,
Far-born, far-dying, living long, to leave,
Eidolons everlasting.

Exalte, rapt, ecstatic,
The visible but their womb of birth,
Of orbic tendencies to shape and shape and shape,
The mighty earth-eidolon.

All space, all time,
(The stars, the terrible perturbations of the suns,
Swelling, collapsing, ending, serving their longer, shorter use,)
Fill'd with eidolons only.

The noiseless myriads,
The infinite oceans where the rivers empty,
The separate countless free identities, like eyesight,
The true realities, eidolons.

Not this the world,
Nor these the universes, they the universes,
Purport and end, ever the permanent life of life,
Eidolons, eidolons.

Beyond thy lectures learn'd professor,
Beyond thy telescope or spectroscope observer keen, beyond all mathematics,
Beyond the doctor's surgery, anatomy, beyond the chemist with his chemistry,
The entities of entities, eidolons.

Unfix'd yet fix'd,
Ever shall be, ever have been and are,
Sweeping the present to the infinite future,
Eidolons, eidolons, eidolons.

The prophet and the bard,
Shall yet maintain themselves, in higher stages yet,
Shall mediate to the Modern, to Democracy, interpret yet to them,
God and eidolons.

And thee my soul,
Joys, ceaseless exercises, exaltations,
Thy yearning amply fed at last, prepared to meet,
Thy mates, eidolons.

Thy body permanent,
The body lurking there within thy body,
The only purport of the form thou art, the real I myself,
An image, an eidolon.

Thy very songs not in thy songs,
No special strains to sing, none for itself,
But from the whole resulting, rising at last and floating,
A round full-orb'd eidolon.



} For Him I Sing

For him I sing,
I raise the present on the past,
(As some perennial tree out of its roots, the present on the past,)
With time and space I him dilate and fuse the immortal laws,
To make himself by them the law unto himself.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:00 AM   0 comments
Friday, May 19, 2006

This is the road looking into Nome. The road behind us leads out to Council, about 70 miles away.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:17 PM   0 comments

Some of the kids started playing with the snow in the culvert. They were trying to unearth the pipe to let the little stream flow better. Grady fell in.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:15 PM   0 comments

Those fires became pretty big.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:14 PM   0 comments

You were probably wondering what we used for fire on the tundra, what with no trees at all. Simple: pallets. Kawerak donated a bunch and there were some out in back of the school we were allowed to take.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:13 PM   0 comments

Now the kids started playing football. Get this--they played tackle football. Look at all those rocks there on the beach. They played tackle football on that. Gotta say one thing about these kids: they are tough.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:11 PM   0 comments

Eventually this will be a roaring beach with waves and everything. The shore ice should go out within the next month or so.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:10 PM   0 comments

The kids brought lunch and enjoyed each other's company by the fire.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:08 PM   0 comments

Amos and Brandon walking the beach.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:07 PM   0 comments

CJ is pushing a chunk of driftwood to sit near the fire. As you can see by the outfits, we still have a wide variety of kids. Elton in the black hoodie in front there is wearing shorts and isn't cold at all.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:06 PM   0 comments

This picture of the fire is cool because the smoke smudges out that middle section.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:04 PM   0 comments

Now comes the really interesting part. There are still miners that come here panning for gold. This tent will apparently be occupied all summer from the miner that will spend his days panning the silt from the beach. (Funny aside: Bill was telling me this was a miner and I asked, "How do you know he's under 18?" )
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:00 PM   0 comments

The stuff that washes ashore still amazes me. I think this wire-thing is either a crab pot or some other kind of fishing gear. Those kids in the background were in the "outfield" of the Eskimo Baseball game. Now that I think of it, it had a lot in common with Running Bases.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:58 PM   0 comments

The beach is right off the road. I did a lot of walking along the beach looking for beach glass. I found some cool pieces, including what I have been told is a rare blue one. Red is apparently the most rare.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:55 PM   0 comments

Unfortunately, Aidan missed the ball. You can see it on the ground at his feet.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:53 PM   0 comments

I got to try out the stop-motion action feature on my camera. I got several pictures of Aidan here winding up and swinging at the ball. This was great to catch it in midair.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:52 PM   0 comments

The kids started playing Eskimo Baseball. I still don't know if I understood all the rules. Derek here is up at bat. The kid in front of him is going to throw up the ball. Then there is running to the other side of the field. People come back to score. You really get tagged out in this game--the kids throw the ball at you!
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:50 PM   0 comments

Three teachers gathered around the campfire.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:48 PM   0 comments

The sea ice has not yet moved out.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:48 PM   0 comments

At the beach, the firstcomers tried to get good driftwood seats. This wood must come from a long way away because there are no trees anywhere near this large for hundreds of miles. It was a little chilly today but we made some fires to keep us warm.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:47 PM   0 comments

Kyle, also known as "Shakespeare" for how well he did on reciting the speech a few months ago, is ready to go.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:45 PM   0 comments

Greyson is ready. He's our heavyweight wrestling champ.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:44 PM   0 comments

Jonny Wongitillin is ready to go! The only way to tell the difference between Jon and his twin brother Mikey is that Jon wears blue and Mikey wears red. There must be something in the water here in Nome because, man, we have a lot of twins.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:43 PM   0 comments

The teacher's lounge. We are preparing for the field trip. Morgan saw this picture and said, "Hey, there's no hot tub!"
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:41 PM   0 comments

Today, May 19, 2006. New fluffy snow was coming down. Today was the big field trip for the junior high students--to the beach!! It barely got to 35 degrees by noon. But we were resolved to enjoy a day of just playing around with the kids. I snapped this picture on my commute/walk to work.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:40 PM   0 comments
Lawrence
Today is the anniversary of the death of T.E. Lawrence, otherwise known as Lawrence of Arabia. He died in a motorcycle accident, which is exactly how the movie starts. I think I will watch it on DVD again tonight. Not only is it one of the greatest movies of all time, it has a great message about life.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:03 PM   0 comments
Thursday, May 18, 2006

I knew it would happen. I knew that somebody would take graduation tests to court and would win. Even though the argument presented here is about English language learners, I think that this will open up way too many "ifs" in the fact that students must pass the test. Personally, I strongly believe in these exit exams. They only test tenth grade requirements, for Pete's sake. It will be hard right now because these tests are being enforced on a population that never had them before. I believe that as new children enter school and work from kindergarten through tenth grade, this test will become part of the pattern. It will not be the exception.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 9:37 PM   0 comments
Snow in May!
It is May 18 and it is snowing here in Nome, Alaska.

This is by far the latest I have ever had snow in my life.

People around here are shrugging and saying it's normal.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 6:16 PM   0 comments
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Found on the beach










While we were also out that weekend (two weekends ago now--man, I meant to get these pictures up faster but it is amazing how fast time flies!), we went to the beach to wander for a little while. This beach is interesting because there is always beach glass, cool rocks, driftwood, and a bunch of other things that wash ashore. One of them looked like the front grill to an old cast iron stove. Found an old rusted roll of barbed wire (fun for all the kiddies!) We find plenty of beach glass of all colors. Those are neat. Most of this is the stuff you wish you could find on the beach down in California or Florida or something.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:14 PM   0 comments
The other side of the mountain





Last week we took a drive around. We saw the other side of that mountain out our back window. The rock formations are really interesting here. The one is locally known as "House Rock." We actually thought it was a house while we were driving. If we had kept going down this road, we would have reached Teller, a little village. It is about seventy miles away but on this dirt road, I don't know if you could do more than 40 miles an hour at best. It would take a while. We plan on doing the drive once this coming summer. We plan on doing a lot of exploring this coming summer.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:22 PM   1 comments
Views from the Air


As I was in the air on the way to Anchorage, it was nice and clear. I decided to try my digital camera and see what kind of shots I could get. I got much better as I went on. I still think how amazing this whole flying thing. And I love mountains.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 1:20 AM   0 comments







I shaved my beard tonight.I felt the need. I haven't been clean shaven in over a year, since I came back with a goatee after spring break last year.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:47 AM   0 comments
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Cool Jerk Web Comic Review


The best new comic strip since Calvin & Hobbes is Cool Jerk. It's online now until it eventually finds a home in a newspaper at Cool Jerk.

I reviewed it for the Independent Propaganda website. Check it out!
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:32 PM   0 comments
UAA pictures


These are some pictures from the campus of the University of Alaska--Anchorage. Imagine going to a place with those mountains! Then below are pictures of the volleyball-basketball court.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 10:40 AM   0 comments

Madsion. She's quite the active three-year-old now. Don't call her a baby or she'll say, "I not a bee-be!" I wouldn't have it any other way. All this fuss and fight will mean a strong and active mind. She'll be a thinker and a dreamer, fighter and a do-er. I'll think about her and wonder how I ever got so lucky.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 9:32 AM   0 comments
Monday, May 15, 2006

I had the opportunity to go to Anchorage this past weekend for a volleyball coaches clinic. The district paid for the whole thing! I only had to pay for the rental car--the district would have reimbursed me for taxis but I wanted the freedom of the rental car. I learned a ton of stuff, especially about drills and scoring the drills to make it competitive during practice. Coach Mark Rosen, multiple national winning champion, from University of Michigan was there. Two other assistant coaches from other schools across the nation were there. The head coach from Northwestern, Keylor Chan, was there too but he did not present. This was my first time on the campus of University of Alaska-Anchorage too.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:58 PM   0 comments
Thursday, May 11, 2006
New web comic review up

Independent Propaganda asked me to write a review of web comic Girl Genius. It is actually a pretty cool strip. Check it out at http://independentpropaganda.com/ip_wp/2006/05/11/review-girl-genius-web-comic-by-phil-and-kaja-foglio/
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:13 PM   0 comments

Out our back window, May 11, 2006, 1:01 am. It's officially past sunset but it lingers like this for quite a bit.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 4:08 AM   0 comments
Tuesday, May 09, 2006

I had the opportunity to interview Jeff Amano, writer and artist with Beckett Comics! Check it out at The Paperback Reader!
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:13 PM   0 comments
The reason for comma rules
Here's an example of why we have rules for commas. This is taken from an order form for t-shirts for the Nome Recreation Center 2006 Youth Softball League.

"Shirts tend to shrink, wash in cold water, and hang to dry."

My shirts wash themselves in cold water and hang themselves all the time.

I love these little errors!
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:35 PM   0 comments
Note found on the floor
5-8-06

Val,
Man really boring 3rd hour It was stink in there like breath or armpits lol man I cant wait till after school so I yell at ugly Cody gross hes ANNOYING! What he say after you said "She don't like you!" geese!
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:04 PM   0 comments
Fwd: Writing Curriculum selection for 7-10
Yea! They finally settled on curriculum! We were told that we could
have "open resources" before this. Yes, we can always supplement but
coming up with new material every day gets HARD.

Subject: Writing Curriculum selection for 7-10

Good Morning,
The curriculum selection committee for Nome Beltz language arts 7-12
has selected the "Inside Writing Program" as the central resource for
writing instruction.

The publisher is the Great Source Education Group, A Division of Houghton-Mifflin
Company @ www.greatsource.com

Thank you to each committee member for the five meetings leading up to
this decision.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 2:43 PM   0 comments
Eyes
I went to get an eye checkup last night. Now I know why I don't go every year.

First of all, I hate eye drops. They don't have that puffer machine that tests for glaucoma here in Nome. They do it with drops. That's also one of the reason I don't get contacts--can't stand anything getting in my eyes, let alone poking them.

Second, they had to dilate my eyes with drops. Several hours of harsh reaction to bright light and not being able to read anything followed. I couldn't focus on anything.

It wasn't too bad, but it's like a dental appointment. You gotta go but you don't want to sit through it.

I ordered new glasses because this backup pair I'm wearing is starting to fall apart. I actually have tape over the left frame connection to the arm. And I hate spending the money, even with my vision plan.

Won't get the glasses for two weeks though. They aren't made here.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:34 PM   0 comments
Snow
It's May 9th and it's snowing.

Big huge flakes are falling all around. It's even starting to stick. I'll take a picture later (now that I found my digital camera USB cord that Madison hid behind the storage box).

I don't think I have ever seen snow this late in my life. The counselor said, "It's even funnier when you say 'Have a happy summer' to the kids and you're sending them off into a blizzard.

Last day of school is May 26.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:06 PM   0 comments
Monday, May 08, 2006
For Better...cartoon

It is amazing how much this comic strip has mimicked my life. Back in 1984, when I was eleven, when I went by myself to see my grandparents in California, the kid in this comic was also going off by himself for the same reason. Other little coincidences have been eerie. I am always on the lookout for cartoons that talk about how kids see teaching and education.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:18 PM   0 comments
Another Favorite Cartoon


I remember the first time I read this one. It just hit me as absolutely hilarious. That phrase, "Waltzing in and waltzing out," is just used to perfection on this.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:45 PM   0 comments
Favorite cartoons


I love this Far Side strip. This one is just surreal.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:35 PM   0 comments
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Inservice
Today's inservice is creating our classroom webpages. It's all right. Nice and easy. Kind of hard to really create a page without knowing the exact lessons I am doing next year. At least I now know how to edit this with ease. Much better to use than that Schoolnotes.com that I was using in Bremerton.

Here's my page: http://www.nomeschools.com/~mbutcher/index.htm
posted by Matt Butcher @ 4:32 PM   0 comments
Friday, May 05, 2006
Billboard


Superman Returns billboard in Manhattan. Only 57 days to the movie!
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:26 PM   0 comments
What did I do to my website?
Who knows html code? Can somebody look to see what happened to my right column? It starts around where the spinning Superman symbol is--it's not supposed to be down at the bottom like that. What did I do?
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:36 PM   0 comments
New Ben Folds songs

Now I gotta get the Over the Hedge soundtrack. Ben Folds has new songs, even though one of them is apparently a 'cleaned-up' version of "Rockin' the Suburbs." I think they took out the swear words. (Duh, Butcher.) I'm kinda excited about his cover of "Lost in the Supermarket."


From his fan e-newsletter:
Ben Folds has FIVE new songs on the Over The Hedge movie soundtrack, which will be in stores May 19! The soundtrack to one of the most original animated films includes new material from Ben in addition to music by Rupert Gregson-Williams.

The Over The Hedge-Music From The Motion Picture soundtrack includes Folds' "Rockin' The Suburbs (Over The Hedge version)" featuring William Shatner -- found only on this CD! -- plus brand new Ben Folds songs "Still," "Heist," "Family of Me," and Ben's cover of The Clash's "Lost In The Supermarket."
posted by Matt Butcher @ 7:32 PM   0 comments
Not a Friday
This is not truly a Friday. I have to come in tomorrow for a Saturday inservice. They replaced one of our weekday inservices this year with a snow day and added ours as a Saturday. This will be the second Saturday of the month. We have to come in on the 27th, the day after the last day of school. It's listed as a "Work Day."

Tomorrow's inservice is on how to make our own classroom webpage off of nomeschools.com main page. A whole day on that? Plus, while I understand why we are doing it, half of our kids do not have computers or internet access at homes. I hope this is one of those grand schemes that pays off. I also hope we don't just all create webpages and then never update them. I hope they get used regularly.

Oh, and I also get the opportunity to go to a volleyball coaches' clinic in Anchorage next weekend. That'll be kind of nice, all by myself. I will miss my family though.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 6:51 PM   0 comments
Clark Kent figure



With the movie Superman Returns less than 60 days away, we will be seeing a ton of The Man of Steel. I was able to get a hold of the Clark Kent as Superman figure, complete with dress up clothes!

These figures always remind me of Star Wars when I was a kid. I always wished that they made a Stormtrooper Luke and Han (I know they have done this years later, but they never did it when I was a kid).

I also have, from a few years ago, a bigger Superman figure with Clark Kent dress. I never opened the package on that one.

Most of my Superman collection is still in storage in Bremerton, Washington. I need to get that stuff shipped up to us.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 12:30 AM   0 comments
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Being a Teacher...
Ya know, I know I complain a lot but I wouldn't change being a teacher for anything.

First of all, I have this nice cushy job that is inside. I remember my dad, an IBEW telephone repairman (and oh so much more after doing it for thirty years), "Matt, you do not want to do what I do. You don't want to be out in the freezing cold and the sweating heat all year long. Get a job inside. Use your head."

That stuck with me more than I ever understood. I would get good grades simply because it was the thing to do. School was my job and I was good at it. I could get good grades without even really trying. It all worked toward college and a comfy job.

Second, I have the greatest job security I could think of. If worse came to worse, I am guaranteed a job for the whole year of a contract. Once I make tenure, I'm golden. There are not many positions that can say that.

I get to hang out with some pretty cool kids most of the time. Yeah, I know I complain about that 10% or less, but we all do in life, don't we? There's always that one thing that nags at you, even if we were all rich billionaires. Garth Brooks pretty much printed money with his albums but he still felt the need to produce that one album under the name of Chris Gaines. Prince changed his name to that symbol to piss off his record company. Professional athletes, like A-Rod, make a mint already but still want more. However, most of the kids that I see every single day I genuinely like. And I look back at my handful of teaching years already and know that I truly miss some of the kids. Every once in a while, I get an email from one of them and it just brightens up my day to no end.

For instance, Io, from last year in Bremerton, sent me a little e-card for Madison's birthday, after I posted on my blog here. That was awesome. Just to hear from her, just to say, "Hi."

My presence matters. It is a moment like that that further reminds me of the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." These are such little things but they matter so much. I get through to a majority. I really do.

Teaching is great. And I am so flippin' excited for next year! Shakespeare again!! Books and lit circles, and some writing with it.

When the bad stuff evaporates, we are left with some spectacular results. I think the complaining helps us boil the bad stuff away. It's therapeutic, in a way.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 2:58 PM   0 comments
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Twinblades
I have a new comic review up at Paperback Reader. We received .pdf advance copies of a new series from Alias Publishing. http://www.paperbackreader.com/review.php?ReviewID=1345

For comics that have scantily clad female warriors, usually the emphasis has been on the body. While TWINBLADES does have the scantily clad maidens fighting with swords, that is not the main emphasis. It was great to see a comic that concentrated on the character, exactly the same way it would have if the main protagonists had been male.

Alias Publishing is not very well known to me. To be honest, I didn’t even know they were around. I’ve been wary of new publishers ever since Valiant and especially after CrossGen folded. However, Alias looks like it is going to great lengths to produce quality books that have great art and a decent story. A new comic is coming out from Alias called Twinblades by writer Adrian Todd and new phenom artist Ryan Odagawa. Two daughters are thought to be the saviors of their people, “trained in the arts of war to bring peace.”

Odagawa’s art really contributed to this book. I thought the fight scenes were amazing. The swordplay was synchronous from scene to scene, which was nice. The way Odagawa draws facial expressions almost rivals that of what I remember from 1980s Justice League artist Kevin Maguire.

With storytelling, some of the pacing may have been a bit off. When the sister was taken off the battlefield in the first issue, I was not entirely sure what was going on. It seemed to happen in only one or two panels. Also in the first issue, I was not sure who some of the characters were yet. When one sister questioned the words on the ancient stone, I thought she was talking to her sister; however, the dialogue made me believe it was a mother that I had not seen yet. I felt that we had not delved into the world enough before the intrigue. Maybe that is all right for some, but I like to get a feel for the world before much of the action. This is especially true in a new fantasy world. In particular, the second issue gave me the sense that there was some magic, or possibly even some technology. I still don’t know for certain. Was this a fantasy or a historical epic?

I also hope they are going to edit the dialogue. Some of the word balloons did not trail off with ellipses. There were several misspellings. Also, some of the word balloons broke at odd intervals to continue the dialogue. It was a bit awkward.

I do have to say that I enjoyed this comic. The characters needed to be developed and differentiated a bit more, but the fantastic art more than makes up for that. This was a pretty book that I dived into. If this is the type of stuff that Alias is putting out, I am going to find out more about them. Today.

posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:42 PM   0 comments
New Position
Hey, I haven't even mentioned this here.

I am the new sophomore English teacher at Nome-Beltz High School next year.

I put in for the transfer when I found that another teacher was voluntarily leaving because of moving away. Luckily, it all worked out. They hired a married couple to fill the junior high social studies and writing positions and that allowed me to move up to what I do best. High school English and getting them prepared for the sophomore test called the HSGQE that they must pass in order to graduate.

I can do full Shakespeare plays again! I can do novels again! It was so hard to structure a writing class without a major text behind it.

I am so excited!

Now I just have to worry that my PRAXIS scores come within the four week timeframe to make sure my certificate stays up to date. I may actually have to reapply from scratch, dammit.

(That's one thing about being a teacher--there are so many certificate requirements and further education requirements that you have to meet.)
posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:20 PM   0 comments
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Love Songs
Amy and I were making music discs the other day and we got to thinking about perfect songs.

Perfect songs are those that set any standard by anybody.

We dived into the realm of genre then. We hit on "love songs" and tried to come up with a list of perfect love songs. Love songs don't have to be about the mushy stuff. They can be about the heart and heartache too.

Here's what we came up with:

Love Songs

"Stand By You" by The Pretenders
"What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
"Black" by Pearl Jam
"Running to Stand Still" by U2
"At This Moment" by Billy Vera and the Beaters
"Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton
"Crying" by Roy Orbison
"Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor (written by Prince)
"Because the Night" by Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs (written by The Boss)


I have to say that Amy came up with most of this list and I agreed wholeheartedly on each selection. This list is by no means definitive, but it is a start.
posted by Matt Butcher @ 8:07 PM   0 comments
Monday, May 01, 2006
Matthew sent you a video!

I want to share the following video with you:

Video Description

TV spot w/ flying footage.

Personal Message

This Superman video is awesome! See flying footage.

Thanks,
Matthew

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posted by Matt Butcher @ 3:27 PM   0 comments
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Name: Matt Butcher
Home: Normal, IL, United States
About Me: An English teacher with a zest for life. Family. Comic books. Stuff.
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