Things in Common

This past weekend, I discovered that Morgan really likes horror movies. She apparently really wants to watch 30 Days of Night. I finally found something that my thirteen-year-old and I can share together.

Friday night, we watched the Hitchcock classic The Birds. I gave her an extra good jump at the point where Mr. Fossett had his eyes pecked out. She was genuinely scared. "I knew it was coming and I was still scared!" she said. She thought the ending was a bit of a letdown but I explained to her how Hitchcock left us at the top of the roller coaster. What else could have happened in the movie? She got it.

Saturday night, we watched a couple of the free On-Demand horror movies on the FEARNET button on our Comcast cable. We watched Fright Night, which I thought would be a good and non-gory introduction to vampires. She said she wasn't scared at all and liked The Birds better. Then we watched Bela Lugosi in The Return of the Vampire. It was from 1944 and thus a little slow. It is definitely a precursor to modern vampire movies, but when you are used to flashy 21st century movies, can these compare? (My answer: yes, they can, but tell that to a 13-year-old.)

I added a few more easy horror flicks into my Netflix queue. Poltergeist, for one. I will share Alien with her too. Now I really have to root through some movies to find age-appropriate ones. Can't throw American Psycho at her. I have some research to do.

But it is very nice to have something for the two of us to do.

The Great Lance Mackey

Lance Mackey won the Iditarod this morning.

Win #2 in a row. He pulled into Nome, only an hour or so ahead of Jeff King, at 2:46 am Alaska time.

I missed it this year. We followed it online (I still have my teacher password for Iditarod's website--shhhhhhh!). I will always remember feeling a part of it for 2006 and 2007. I was there.

I've shaken Lance Mackey's hand two years in a row and got to speak with him while obtaining his autographs.

I will still follow Iditarod in the years to come. I will preorder the 2008 Iditarod DVD soon.

Congrats, Lance. I wish I could be there on Saturday at the Nome Convention Center Meet & Greet to shake your hand once more.

Al Gore has opposition.

Weather Channel founder wants to sue Al Gore for fraud in misrepresenting global warming.

Heh heh heh.

Lately ain't all that interesting

I have to stay home today because Madison is running a fever. Amy took her home yesterday at about noon from daycare. She just wasn't herself. She still is running a fever and a cough. She is still energetic though.

Let's see, what exactly have we been up to lately?

I just don't feel the sense of chronicling my adventures lately when we have been so...ordinary. It's kind of appropriate we live in Normal, Illinois, right now.

Two Sundays ago, we went with my mother and my sister's family to see the Field Museum in Chicago. It was the first time Amy or Madison had ever been into the city proper. That was a fun day.

Oh yeah, last Friday we had to run all the way to Indianapolis. Seems we had a bit of trouble with our car. A payment got lost in the mail and they still had us listed as living in Nome, Alaska. They had never updated our information. So they took the car one fine morning. We have it back now, just had to jump through hoops.

I've just been reading a lot lately, nothing little pulp fiction books. Amy has been studying for her Series 7 test next month. Morgan and Madison are growing up into wonderful little girls.

Life is boring, but that's actually a very good thing.

What happened in 1776?

I thought for a moment that I was trapped in an episode of Jay Leno's Jaywalking. I couldn't believe what was happening and honestly thought they were kidding me.

In my Senior English class, we are reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, an African novel about the downfall of a tribesman during the oncoming British colonials. I had a point to make about the winners being the ones who write history. So I ask this class of Seniors, "What happened in 1776?"

I was just trying to engage them. I just asked a common knowledge question to get an answer, to make sure they were breathing.

The first response: "World War II."

Then, in successive order: "World War I. Vietnam. Korea. Civil War." And they thought highly of themselves for saying Civil War because it was so very old.

Well, I worked them around to the War of Independence. Then I had to ask, "Who did we gain our independence from?"

"France?"

"Japanese?"

I did get back to my point, explaining that in England it is not called the War of Independence. How does England see this war?

The Lotus-Eaters

Today, as we were reading The Odyssey, we read the section on "The Lotus-Eaters."

The line went: "We came to the coastline of the Lotus Eaters, who live upon that flower."

I actually had several students who, after reading the entire passage, thought that they were living ON the flower rather than just eating it.

Ambrosia

While reading The Odyssey in class today, we had to discuss what "ambrosia" was.

I said, "Ambrosia--the nectar of the gods!" with a swooping arm.

And one kid pipes in, "Like their pee?"

What the heck is that??

RIT Scores and teaching adults

I was out of my comfort zone. I was teaching adults instead of kids.

Yesterday, my school district had one of those teacher inservice days. Kids love 'em. Teachers still love 'em--cuz there's no kids! I had to present RIT Scores and MAP Data to two sections of teachers, as my district adopted this test this year.

I have sat through plenty of inservice hours on MAP testing up in Nome. We had been doing it there for two years already. This is Midland's first year. Now I have to go through all of those growing pains over again. Getting adults used to something new, especially another new testing system, can be an uphill battle.

However, it went over very well. I think I got the main points across on how valuable these numbers can actually be, especially in differentiating instruction, the buzzword of the year.

Not only do I get something I can tack on to my resume and list of accomplishments, I got to teach to the rest of the district. That's quite good, in my humble opinion, as a first year teacher to the district.

Anthem and The Prisoner and The Magic Goes Away and two Harry Potters

I actually can't believe I've been reading so much. Some of this is catch-up, like I've always wanted to read the Harry Potter series but never seemed to get around to it. Since Xmas vacation, I have read several books. Some new books that I have finished recently:



Anthem by Ayn Rand is one of those books that always frightened me because of the horrible things I had heard of Ayn Rand. I still remember that one South Park episode where the cop who couldn't read says, "I read ever page of this god-awful thing." Anthem is much shorter though, less than 100 pages and is in my favorite genre: post-apocalyptic fiction. I actually think it was rather blandly written by the idea was sound behind it. Controlling people and science fascinate me and this book opens up a lot of questions. It's one of those books that stay with you.
And then I am always reading bad pulp fiction or fan fiction. This is no exception. My favorite TV show of all time is The Prisoner and with only 17 episodes, anything new is a boon, like found treasure. This really isn't that good, but it does have its moments, and it would only be good to a fan that can catch some of the specific episode references. There is no way anyone outside of a Prisoner fan could fathom or like this.
Larry Niven is fantastic. This fantasy is filled with rich description and magic and our good guys must see if they can rescue the disappearance of magic from the world, if they can get along. It was a good quick read for a sword-and-sorcery tale, like a quick Conan. The paperback I borrowed from the library was lavishly illustrated in black and white sketches by Maroto. Good stuff.
I have to admit that I liked the first book in the Harry Potter series much better than the second one. Also, Rowling, if anything, really knows how to build a climax in a book. I came out of both books awed at how Rowling kept me reading, building up and through that climax for a hundred pages or more. This is the first time I ever tried the Harry Potter series. So many of the kids at school reference it, saying it is the one book series that got them to read. I had to finally try that. And I was astounded. I can compare her to Cormier or Crichton as the only other two authors that keep me reading through brilliant climaxes. Although, now the real tricky part comes in--were the visuals in my head from the movies or from the books? I don't know if Rowling put enough images into my head that weren't planted there by the movies. That's one of the dangers of reading the books after you've seen the movies. I am going to continue the series, as Morgan has all the rest of them, and am now about 100 pages into the third one. This will be interesting because I hated the third movie, even though everybody else said it is the best one.
Speaking of bad pulp fiction/fan fiction, I love Star Trek novels. I don't know what it is, but I love them. Maybe it is the feeling of being at home in a universe you know so well, and characters that seem to be best friends. I can pick these up and really get lost in a new plot or situation without learning about a new science fiction world. (That's another one of my little pet projects I would love to write another thesis on: Is there such a thing as pre-exposition in fiction and how does it affect the work?) These two books were great. The first one shown is The Lost Years about what happened to the crew after the five-year mission and before the events in The Motion Picture. And I love that kind of continuity. I will admit that the first two hundred pages kind of dragged on, but it was set up wonderfully for a brilliant final confrontation. Astounding, actually. The second one is called Spock Must Die! by James Blish, the guy that chronicled the original series in short story form. As far as I can tell, this is one of the very first original novels based on the series, if not the first. It revolves around a transporter accident that produces two Spocks, all in the middle of a Klingon invasion of Federation space while they blind the Organians to what is going on. (If you know what I am talking about with the Organians, you are as big a geek as I am.)
Now and then a simple graphic novel can do wonders. Orbiter by Warren Ellis is one of those fantastic blendings of a magnificent story with the graphic novel format. Pictures, I have learned, require no lengthy descriptions like you find in novels. You can do in one panel what it would take pages, or entire chapters, to adequately describe situations. This is one that pulls you forward with the idea and doesn't bog you down with details. A shuttle comes back after thought missing for ten years. It is time for mankind to make the next step. This book made me renew my love of the prospect at getting out there, into space. While I love Star Trek and Star Wars, I know that they play with the travel aspect so that it seems you are driving to the market rather than travelling hundreds of light years. This book tells us that we need to keep dreaming and at least trying. I still think we, the Earth, should just be shooting probe after probe up into space, announcing our presence. I find it fascinating how far the Voyager space probes have gone. Let's keep going, back up into space, at every possibility. Orbiter can help us remember that. Warren Ellis is awesome.

And then I am also still reading plenty of other books. While I still am in the middle of the third Harry Potter I have also picked up the first in the L. Ron Hubbard series of "Mission Earth." I know, Hubbard has a bad rap at times, but ever since I tried to read this series in high school, I always wanted to read the entire ten book series. It's quite ambitious, about looking at an invasion of Earth from the other side. Hey, anything is better than Moby Dick.

Isaac Asimov on The Prisoner

Isaac Asimov, the famous science fiction author, loved The Prisoner too. This is his article from a 1968 TV GUIDE about my favorite show.

What was Super Tuesday

More than ever before, I have been really following the Presidential primary season.



I have always paid attention, but this year, I even know what a delegate is--or even a superdelegate for that matter.



So Super Tuesday came and went yesterday and the field is still muddy. Whatever the case, Huckabee proved he is not a spolier and has a viable campaign by winning a number of states.



I still don't like how some states are "winner take all" and some aren't. That, at least, should be consistent. I don't like how some of what are called superdelegates get proportioned willy-nilly--and according to what I've been reading on CNNpolitics.com, that is the one difference in the democratic race.

The Best Bowl Ever

And we've seen some good Superbowls over the past ten years or so. Superbowl XLII will definitely go down as the best.

With an unprecedented flourish, one team or the other was really going to make a bit of history. Either go undefeated, the first time since before I was born with the 1972 Dolphins, or beat the undefeated team that the analysts were calling the greatest of the great dynasties of football.

I always root for the underdog in a game like this--it makes it more fun. Unless it's my Bears, I always root against the favorite. Since the Pats weren't my team, it would have been no fun to root for them yesterday. That's kind of like rooting for the bully. You pull for the Davids to beat the Goliath.

The real fun of the Superbowl is that this is my championship game. This is the one sport I watch with any vigor. I don't watch basketball at all, hardly ever see any hockey, and am only remotely interested in the 162-game season that is baseball. Football is the sport I follow. Every Sunday, I watch at least three games, and now with NFL Network, I watch all the ten minute replays of the games I coulnd't see. The perfect 19 game season, with the best playoff structure, is football. I don't even watch college football because of the wacky rankings and polls and bowl games that don't matter. NFL has a rigid structure and system.

I was astonished at three lead changes in the fourth quarter yesterday. I thought for a while that the Patriots weren't giving it their all, but then scratched that idea--the Giants just played tougher. When the underdog wins, everyone is happy--except for Goliath.

And what do you think of them going for it now, on fourth-and-thirteen, with seven minutes to go in the second quarter, when they could have hit a 49-yard field goal? If your kicker can't hit a 49-yarder in a dome, you're in trouble. Vinatieri must have been smiling after that.

Snow Day

Snow Day

for Midland School District #7 and most of the Central Illinois area!

Woo-hoo! Three day weekend too!

35

I never remember until I listen to morning radio, but I share the same birthday as Roe V. Wade.

I almost never thought I'd hit 35. It has always seemed so far away. Here I am. And happy to be here.

I've learned a lot in the past 35 years. I wouldn't change where I am now for anything.

I've accomplished a lot. I've been to a lot of places. I have not let the world pass me by.

Here's to another 35 years. May they be filled with the same wonder as the past 35.

Renaissance Dance among ninth-graders

There are some days where I really earn my money as a teacher.

Today's lesson leads into Romeo and Juliet act 1, scene 5, the masquerade party. My source, that Shakespeare Set Free book, helps me walk the kids through a rudimentary Renaissance dance. It is basically a simplified square dance. I put on an old tune of Renaissance music that I found on the web at okay.com/renaissance and then walk them through it.

It's funny at times. Talkers will close down when you ask them to use that talking up in front of the class to help with the lesson. Fidgety kids will slump down in their seats rather than get up. But I tell ya, they can never say the class is boring.

Today then, was one of those days where, like a symphony conductor, I have to help move around eight+ kids acting out the scene, plus keep those still seated following along and listening. It's fun when it gets a bit out of control and they are laughing at the scene, the situation, or each other, but my part is to keep that enthusiasm channeled into learning Shakespeare.

It's hard but well worth it. A couple of the students already know their entire Shakespeare speech. Many know a good deal of it. It's great, and when I hear them saying Shakespearean lines, I know it's worth it.

Parts for the play

When assigning reading parts for the MACBETH play today, I gave out roles for the three witches. One student said,

Can I be "all"?

Of course, not realizing that "all" was all three witches speaking at once.

Classic.

Dramatic Prairie Dog

We were sitting around last night, a Friday night, just hanging out at home. TV was on, and for some reason we were watching VH1's WEB JUNK. Most of the time it is junk. Last night, however, this video was on:




I don't think we'd all laughed so hard together. Amy loved it and was laughing it up, actually looking it up on YouTube, and all its variations.

Shakespeare

Ahh, it is that time of year again. Time to dive in headlong into one of my favorite things:

Billy

I tell the students, when you know him as well as I do, you call him "Billy." This is one of those subject as a teacher that I simply love and immerse myself in. When I teach it, I hope I give off some of that passion for this subject.

William Shakespeare. I am looking forward to teaching Romeo and Juliet again to the Freshmen and Macbeth to the seniors. Today in Freshmen English, we hurled Shakespearean insults at each other, to great effect. I know that I am winning the Shakespeare battle when I heard a student saying it down the hall, then another student saying it as they were in another room before second hour started. Wonderful.

I use a lot of Shakespeare Set Free. I find this to be an invaluable resource of ideas and ways to show the kids Shakespeare, not just read it. I've used it for several years now and it gets better and better as I get even more familiar with it.

The kids even have to memorize a passage from Shakespeare--I have a packet of different speeches, monologues, and sonnets from them to choose from. They have a month, and we go about it together every day, rooting each other on. I'm expecting great things this year.

Time for more Billy.

Christmas Break update

Ok, as the saying goes, my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

At the beginning of break, I had all these things to do and accomplish. I read a grand total of 24 pages in Little Women and haven't picked it back up. I asked Amy, it's one of her favorite books, if anything actually happened in the book. What is the plot? She said, "Stuff happens to this family."

"So there's no plot? Nothing the main characters have to accomplish before the end?"

"No, it's just about a family."

That failed to intrigue me anymore. Not the book's fault. Amy told me that there was no evil dark side in the book, or any huge battlebots, no creatures, no space travel. She was ribbing me but she was also pointing out that my taste in books is sometimes crap.

Then I started reading The Prisoner by Disch as I found one in the paperback stacks at the library. I also started reading the first Harry Potter. I'm about 100 pages into both. I like reading two books at once. It gives me a chance to "change the channel," as it were. Like a comic book series. One 22-page monthly comes out, I read it, put it down, and read another one, waiting for the next installments. Two-part tv shows and series too. I like serials, which is one of the reasons I am liking Stephen King's The Green Mile. I found the six original, separated installments at Goodwill. I have read the first two, waiting to pick up the third when I finish something else. I don't think I would even have started The Green Mile if I got it in a complete addition.

So I probably won't finish Little Women before break. But I have done lots of little fun things that are good for me, for recharging my batteries. I have watched plenty of Doctor Who on the Netflix Watch Now. Played with the kids. Generally fooled around.

See, that's what Christmas Break for a teacher is really for. Recharging the batteries. I took an hour yesterday to look over the upcoming Romeo and Juliet lesson for the freshmen and Macbeth for the seniors. I still have to look over a basic plan for Speech class. To get out of seventh period study hall, I am taking on second semester Speech class, basically adding another prep to my day. And only for like seven kids too. That's all right, anything to get out of that seventh period study hall.

Update

Updated my code today. Is it good? Like? Dislike? Am I missing anything?? It took me a good hour, plus I got most of the code from an online free template site.

A day full of possibilities

As we take stock on a new year, we have to also look back upon ourselves, in order to expand for the future.

Last year at this time, I was 3,314 miles away up in Alaska. I still can't believe it myself sometimes. That's one of those things that shows I have guts and determination and the ability to stand up wherever I am and take charge of my life.

That's why this last Calvin and Hobbes strip is so important to me. It was first published on December 31, 1995, a Sunday, and I still have the original I cut out of the Chicago Tribune hanging up in my bathroom where I see it every day. Calvin's childlike innocence of accepting the situation and seizing the best out of it makes me start each day with the same "Let's go exploring!" attitude. It matches the attitude of my tattoo on my right shoulder of the Superman symbol--it reminds me every day to be the best super man that I can be.

So while I do not have any resolutions per se for 2008, I only know that I want to be the best I can be. I know that I will stand up and take charge of things, from being the best father and husband to being the best teacher. Even my hobbies are going pretty well as I still am expanding Independent Propaganda.

That's my real resolution. 2008 will be filled with more of the same as we can't all start over. As U2 sang, "Nothing changes on New Year's Day." However, it is this approach to understanding where you have come from every year, knowing that this year will be the best ever, that makes New Year's Day so special. The real resolution is understanding that today, the start of a new year, is a day to approach the world as fresh as the new found snowfall, which we got in abundance last night down here in Normal, Illinois.

And that's why that comic strip still hangs in my bathroom, reminding me of this feeling every day of the year, whether it is January or June. Approach every day like a kid with a sled on newfallen snow. Explore. As Hobbes says in the strip, "It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on."

What will I draw this year?

The final playoff picture

Inside the RCA Dome, you could almost hear the groans coming from the shores of Lake Erie when Peyton Manning traded his helmet for a headset early in the second quarter. To the Browns' chagrin, that was how the Colts chose to play. (Excerpted from http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29442&displayPage=tab_recap&season=2007&week=REG17)

Is it fair that the Indianapolis Colts took out their starters, basically conceding the game? This allows Tennessee to enter the playoffs, which they probably wouldn't have done if, let's say, the Colts still needed the win. Yes, the Cleveland Browns should have won one more game and then they wouldn't have to worry about this. However, this is the pros and I guess the Colts are worried about last minute injuries, already being on an injury-ridden team.

But then the New England Patriots had nothing to play for on Saturday night. They were already locked into the #1 seed. They were playing for a record, like when we non-footballers play the Madden video game and get so good that we try to break record after record, in effect playing for statistics. I remember one time in particular, on yet another perfect season, that my top wide receiver got a broken leg in that last, worthless game. It does happen, and has happened in the NFL.

I know the Colts need to look after themselves right now, but I don't find it easy to swallow. If the tables were reversed and they had won that Colts-Patriots matchup, then it may have gone the other way with Indy going for perfection.

Either way, I guess the Brown can't rely on other teams winning and losing to make it into the playoffs.

Bush

While I don't normally get too political, I know that the world supposedly doesn't like Bush, but do we really need to perpetuate it with pictures like this of him in the news?



While Bush approved the overall budget, he criticized the thousands of "earmarks" -- specific spending allocations for projects and programs favored by specific members of Congress, often for their home states and districts -- included in it.

"I am disappointed in the way the Congress compiled this legislation, including abandoning the goal I set early this year to reduce the number and cost of earmarks by half," he said (from http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071226/pl_afp/uspoliticsbudgetiraqmilitary_071226231432).


So while he asked for these funds months ago, Congress finally approves it anyway. I hope all that grandstanding got their point across.

I listen to the Sean Hannity radio show on my way home from work and concur with his assessment that progress is being made in Iraq. I don't think you can simply abandon it to its fate now, whatever the original point of going in there was. If the U.S. just up and leaves, there will be a quicksand that will have everything worse ten years from now, or hasn't anybody learned that from Desert Storm?

(Picture taken from http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/President-Bush/ss/events/us/081201presidentbush;_ylt=AkhB2qHW_pU3z8g3TX0H729vzwcF)

Lincoln, IL

These are pictures of my daughters in front of the Logan County Courthouse in Lincoln, Illinois. We went through there on our way back from Mount Pulaski. They have an awesome thrift store where paperbacks are only 10 cents and hardbacks are only 20 cents. We are going back soon.

Madison and Lincoln

Madison stands in front of the mural of Lincoln in downtown Mount Pulaski, Illinois, 2007.

Pictures from Mount Pulaski

Ahhh, I finally figured out how to get the pictures off my digital camera. These were pics I wanted to put up of our recent visit to the courthouse at Mount Pulaski, the courthouse where Lincoln practiced law.

It was kind of amazing to stand in that room. The tour guide talked of how Lincoln practiced here, on these very same floors.

Christmas morning 2007

I finally figured out how to get my pictures out of my digital camera. I think my cord went bad or something. I figured out that I could pop out the memory card from the camera and insert it into a slot on this laptop that I didn't even know we had.

Look at that wonderful mess. I tell you, Christmas morning is never better than when you watch your children open up presents.

Morgan got her digital camera. Madison got her Bratz RC car, the one thing that she has consistently remembered that she wanted for the entire month, even mentioning it on Santa's lap.

Christmas Break

Christmas Break. Those are two words that every teacher loves to hear. It is simply one of the main perks of the job. Two weeks off at Christmas. I don't go back until January 7th. Aahhhh!

So I wasted some time today...and loved every minute of it. "I didn't do anything and it was everything I thought it could be," said the dude from Office Space. I watched some episodes of the old 80s cartoon Voltron on the Netflix Watch Now. Then I popped in a $1 double-feature DVD I borrowed from my dad, Tales of the Undead with Atom Age Vampire and Revolt of the Zombies. Both crap. Some good ideas, some good comic book ideas, that is, and little else. The plots read like a five page story from one of the old EC horror comics. That's really all they are. Atom Age Vampire really isn't even a vampire at all, but a genetics experiment that requires more and more cells. Revolt of the Zombies, from 1936, barely has anything that a modern audience would even deem a "zombie," as one researcher, yearning to impress a dame, finds a hypnosis-like power in ancient Angkor. So they're not zombies, they are just hyp-no-tized. Sometimes, I am amazed at the movies that have ever gotten green-lighted. Once they were done, didn't they watch the movie and wonder if anybody would even like it? Didn't they ever, even for a moment, think to themselves, "My goodness, that's crap." I have written things and done things I know are crap--I guess I can at least admit it. But what am I bitching about...they at least made a movie, something I have never done. But would I feel good about it if I did crap?

Other than that, I will be reading a couple books over break. I have been told to read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott by my wife. It is one of her favorites and one of the Freshmen literature circle choices but I have never read it before. Amy told me, "Don't be sexist," and she's right.

I borrowed a dozen or so movies from Dad's Video (that's the nickname I give to his massive collection down in the basement). I borrow some and give them back whenever.

Also, I will be writing more for Independent Propaganda. I need to try to make the site more viable, more alive. I need to put up more reviews. I just got a shipment from Arcana Studios comic book company.

So I have plenty to do to keep me busy. Plus, the kids will be home, for the most part. Madison will go back to pre-school for a few days, just to stay used to it, plus we're paying for the month anyway. Morgan will be here to keep me company. Amy, unfortunately, has to work, so I try not to rub it in. But...aahhhh!...two weeks off at Christmas. Gotta love it.

School Pictures 2007

Morgan, seventh grade, and Madison, pre-school

A Merry Disney Cristmas

(Courtesy of the ASIFA--Animation Archive)

Big Winner!

I won two contests this week!

First, I won a contest from a local Normal, Illinois, radio station, Cities 92.9 FM. I regularly listen to the Sean Hannity Show on my way home from work. All you do is register at their website. I won a four-CD set of Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CDs. Not too shabby!

Second, I won something off of the TBS website: THE OFFICE Season Three on DVD! Complete set! And a pen! It was some kind of Uni-Ball and The Office promotion.

I feel pretty lucky.

Amy keeps telling me now to enter bigger contests, like $100,000 ones or the Dream Home on HGTV.com. Well, ok. If I win, I'll split it with her! Ha ha!

I miss the sunrise in the afternoon

Today in Nome, Alaska, the sun rises at 12:02 pm (that's two minutes after noon) and sets at 3:56 pm. This time last year, I usually walked home to lunch and walked back to school even before the sun ever rose.

That was definitely something to experience. I tell people about that here in Illinois and they say they couldn't handle it. I didn't think so either before I lived there for two winters. And I tell people here in Illinois that it is actually worse in the summertime when the sun doesn't even set until after 2 am and goes back up before you wake. More sun was actually worse to me.

I always felt like it was an adventure. Now I am back in normal Illinois (a true pun on Normal, Illinois).

Bye Bye Birdie

I was asked to help choose the cast for the Midland High School musical for 2008. The production this year will be Bye Bye Birdie, of which I know very little about the original. I was honored to be asked to help, as this is important to me that others recognize my valuable input. I was absolutely honored that the musical director asked me. Last night was the first of two audition nights.

And it was my privilege to listen to the auditions. I was floored and amazed at the quality of stuff the students were presenting, all of them. I really admired a lot of their readings for the parts. There are also some amazing singers. It will be hard final decisions for the director. With such a great turnout for auditions, it should be hard to decide, but that means also that it will be a stellar performance come March.

Lots of fun.

Hellblazer: Subterranean novel

Last month while wandering the science fiction shelves of Barnes & Noble, I noticed a bunch of new original novels featuring DC Comic characters. There are a slew of Justice League and the various superheroes. There are also several for John Constantine, the Hellblazer.

I must never have noticed Hellblazer when it started in the 80s. Now that I have been re-reading all the older comics, the benefits of the wonderful trade paperback compilations out now, I really wish I had followed the book as it came out. I don't know if I would have been ready at that time though. That's when I was still knee-deep in X-Men, Batman, and Superman, and I wasn't very good at expanding my horizons at that point. I really dig it now.

There were several of these Hellblazer original novels. I chose one. All I really have to say is, "Enhh." It was all right.

It was an interesting scenario with a whole town being devoured into an underground kingdom. Lots of magic, which is more than I thought Constantine could actually do so easily. There was nothing special about the prose or the descriptions, especially of several of the creature characters. Several of the creatures and situations were fantastic enough to peak my curiosity.

All in all, I hope the other books are better. The price is probably the greatest negative against it. New paperbacks are $7.99. That seems really extravagant to me. This is one of the reasons I love finding the Star Wars, Star Trek, and other books at the Goodwill. They're worth 50 cents to me, but they sure as heck aren't worth $7.99 to me. That's another good thing with Amazon's resale books. As above, it would be worth picking up for 98 cents used. I just can't justify $7.99. And I honestly think that book publishers need to think about this. I am the primary audience for these titles. If I don't think the book is worth that exorbitant cover price, who else would try these books? That's sad for the future of the books because if no one buys them they will stop making them. I won't find them at Goodwill anymore then.

REVIEW: HARD-BOILED COMICS

REVIEW: HARD-BOILED COMICS #1 published by Goodbum Studios
Posted in Reviews by Wesley Green on the September 6th, 2006

Reviewed by Matt Butcher / Writer for Independent Propaganda
Written and created by Steve EarnhartArt by Marcelo Carmona, Carlos Devizia, Harsho Chattoraj, and Bob Lizarraga

Published by Goodbum Studios

With the feel of a Phillip Marlowe movie, Hard-Boiled Comics makes its debut with an explosion of a first issue. It is printed in glorious black and white, like the awesome film noir movies it recreates.

Hard-Boiled Comics is the vision of a private investigator named Billy Blackburn in Los Angeles in the year 2024 created by Steve Earnhart. The character and the whole comic feel just like a Marlowe movie. It profoundly reeks of classics like The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. There’s even that sexy banter between Blackburn and the lady, just like the classic banter between Bogart and Bacall. This is a great effect and actually a hard thing to pull off. Having a crumbum private detective like Marlowe actually come across as likeable and virtuous while being seedy and despicable at the same time is a hard feat, but Earnhart accomplishes that with his detective Billy Blackburn. Like the Raymond Chandler novels, this is marvelous pulp, fiction for people who love fiction. There is an amazing amount to read here and that is wonderful for someone like me who does not want their comic dollars being read within two minutes. This comic makes you sit back and enjoy and good long read.

It even wonderfully plays upon the genre, with the setting in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. The sordid areas that Blackburn has to visit are littered with the depredations of man, and for good measure, a few aliens are thrown in.

There’s great art here as well. There is a real feel for wanting to get the art as good as possible before it hit the stands. The backup “making of” feature at the end of this comic purport to that effect. The art sinks in and is as gritty as the subject matter, making for a remarkably well done connection. When the reader feels the art goes along with the story, that at times can be a rare combination indeed. Here, it does just that.

Personally, I am quite impressed with the quality of this independent book. It makes me pine for the good times of the 80s when First Comics hit the scene with Badger, Nexus, and Chaykin’s American Flagg!. Those comics are still viciously sought after and enjoyed and Hard-Boiled Comics makes me reminisce for those great independent days. That is no pale comparison. This comic is flat out GOOD.

2 Comments »
Thanks for the kind words!!
Just wait until we really get rolling…
Comment by Bald Steve — September 8, 2006 @ 5:14 am

[…] To learn more about HARD-BOILED COMICS #1, you can read an advance review here on Independent Propaganda or visit the HARD-BOILED COMICS site. […]
Pingback by http://independentpropaganda.com/ip_wp/news-hard-boiled-comics-1-11-page-preview/ — October 19, 2006 @ 1:53 pm

(Originally published September 6th, 2006, on http://independentpropaganda.com/ip_wp/review-hard-boiled-comics-1-published-by-goodbum-studios/)

REVIEW: THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS

REVIEW: THE UNUSUAL SUSPECTS Published By Top Cow Productions
Posted in Reviews by Wesley Green on the March 21st, 2007

Reviewed by Matt Butcher / Writer for Independent Propaganda

Written by Dan Wickline

Proceeds go to HERO Initiative

Contributors: Mike Mayhew, Dean White, David Hedgecock, Daniel Cooney, Ben Templesmith, Nat Jones, Billy Martinez, Taki Soma, Josh Medors, Marat Mychaels, Rafael Navarro, Homeros Gilani, Dietrich Smith, Butch Adams, Rich Stahnke, Mark Dos Santos, Tone Rodriguez, Chris Moreno

The simple premise behind this collection is much better than anything I have read in a long, long time. Two buddies meet for dinner and discuss one’s current comic book prospects. While a fun romp through the industry, it is also a jeering prod to the comics industry.

The writing by Dan Wickline is terrific. He has a superb handle on dialogue that reminded me of the best scenes of CLERKS. Even though our intrepid diners only sit in a booth eating dinner for many panels spread throughout the book, the reader is totally wrapped up in their conversation. This is powerful stuff as the pictures don’t distract us from the words that occur between these two. I felt like I was sitting in the booth having dinner with them, just talking away with my best friends. The camaraderie you feel while reading this book feels like best friendship.

Then the highlighted artists get to showcase their talents in spectacular fashion. Great work is presented by these both new and developed talents. There was not a bad panel in the whole book.

The themes hit upon in this compilation are for those who have read comics their whole lives. Many of the jokes and discussions on the industry, and on being a fanboy in general, will be doubly fun to those who know the industry inside and out. From Lovecraft to Buffy to Gaiman to Vertigo to Queer Eye for the Superhero Guy, there is something sarcastically wonderful throughout.

This is a fantastic book. Do not pass by The Unusual Suspects.

(Originally published March 21, 2007, on http://independentpropaganda.com/ip_wp/review-the-unusual-suspects-published-by-top-cow-productions/)

It's a Sunni Day

Today during study hall, I had to give a kid his makeup test for World History from another teacher.

It included a list of terms and he had to give the definitions. It was about Muslim and Middle East culture.

One of them:

Sunni--

The student answered:

day

I kid you not:

Sunni--day

REVIEW: WIREHEADS

REVIEW: WIREHEADS Web Comic By Jim Hillin
Posted in Reviews by Wesley Green on the January 31st, 2007
Reviewed by Matt Butcher / Writer for Independent Propaganda

Wirehead: a person with a predilection for complex media, either hardware or software. Likely, the person you would go to in order to get your wireless setup working, or fix your Plasma screen.
Amazingly, there is never an end to the everyday humor that happens in office situations.

WIREHEADS tells those everyday tales of the idiosyncratic side of everyday life. Set in an office that remarkably looks like some kind of barn, the characters work on some kind of computer imaging or video software. I can’t really tell exactly what the business is. However, the problems that they run into must be funny to those that do this for a living. They are at least understandable and real.
WIREHEADS is a quirky comic strip. These are slices of real life, comparable to any of the comic strips available in your Sunday funnies. While I wouldn’t say that these are “laugh-out-loud” funny, I will say that I would read this strip on a day-to-day basis next to the other comic strips. However, some of the comics are a bit more PG or PG-13 material with some of the mature sequences but it is nothing offensive. I could easily see some of the plotlines merged into an episode of THE OFFICE or some other sitcom. In fact, with some of the plotlines, you get drawn in, trying to find out more. These could definitely be fleshed out into bigger scripts, especially the woman ogling the buff watercooler man, a perfect example of the ironic side of gender bias.
The art is decent. The lush backgrounds appear to be the main focus and really highlight the atmosphere of the office space. Whatever it is, it is real and almost palpable, each panel not just a bunch of floating heads but a real cinematic feel.

The website is nice too. While it does take a while to load some pages, it is a good design and fun, easily navigable.

WIREHEADS needs to be spread around. We will hear more about Jim Hillin, from this strip, and from his CGI work, and from his dozen or so screenplays he is developing.

2 Comments »
Matt! Well, you’re the first! Thanks, man, for the positive review. Looks like I hit the mark because you said all the right things. That is EXACTLY what I’m trying to do.
Hey, and the “laugh-out loud funny?” Well, that will come. There’s much more happening than meets the eye. Of course, I know what’s going to happen in everyone’s future. So, consider this the “set-up” year.
Cheers! And thanks for noticing.
Comment by Jim Hillin — February 3, 2007 @ 3:37 am

I’m glad! Wireheads is fun. (And I am going to quote YOU when people ask if I am any good at reviewing–”That is EXACTLY what I’m trying to do.” Excellent!
Thanks!
Matt

(Originally posted January 31, 2007, on http://independentpropaganda.com/ip_wp/review-wireheads-web-comic-by-jim-hillin/)

Phish

I can't stand those fake emails grom PayPal and eBay. So I found out where to forward them to. Spoof@paypal.com and Spoof@ebay.com


Thanks for taking an active role by reporting suspicious-looking emails.The email you forwarded to us is a phishing email, and our security teamis working to disable it.

-------------------------What is a phishing email?-------------------------
Phishing emails attempt to steal your identity and will often ask you toreveal your password or other personal or financial information. PayPal will never ask for your password over the phone or in an email and will always address you by your first and last name.Take our Fight Phishing Challenge at https://www.paypal.com/fightphishing to learn 5 things you should know about phishing. You'll also see what we're doing to help fight fraud every day.

-------------------------You've made a difference.-------------------------

Every email counts. By forwarding a suspicious-looking email to spoof@paypal.com, you've helped keep yourself and others safe from identity theft.


Then you also send fake eBay messages to spoof@ebay.com.

Hello,
Thank you for writing to eBay regarding the email you received.

The email you reported didn't come from eBay. Emails like this one are fakes, commonly referred to as "spoof" messages. They're sent in an attempt to collect your personal or financial information.
***Important****
Never reply to a spoof email or click on any links in the message. If you ever receive an email that looks like it's from eBay about a problem with your account or requesting personal information, check My Messages first. If the email is genuine, a copy will also be found in MyMessages. You can also forward the email to spoof@ebay.com and we'll investigate. Don't respond to the spoof email, or click any of the links in the message. Please don't remove the original subject line or change the email in any way.

POST-NUKE webcomic review

Reviewed by Matt Butcher / Writer for Independent Propaganda

Andreas Duller is not a name I have ever heard of before but it is definitely a name I am going to follow now.

Duller has posted online six issues so far of a self-written and drawn comic creation called Post-Nuke. It is a black and white series of a man and his dog wandering around in the nuclear winter eight years after the annihilation of billions from a nuclear war. Now, this man has to fight pirates on old ski-doo snowmachines while talking to his dog.

First of all, I love post-apocalyptic fiction. The idea of surviving this hell and the actual coming back to the roots of mankind and their high ideals always hits the right spot for me. Duller creates a believable world in a rather remarkably short period with these comics. Each issue is less than 17 pages of pictures and some even shorter. In fact, one of my only negative comments would be how abrupt some of the endings of each issue are, as if you don't know that they have ended.

The art is actually quite nice. There is a lot of dark shading and some of the technical effects of blurring and the action panels are very well done. I wouldnt say Duller was the greatest at drawing faces or dogs, but these are small things to consider with all of the other great penciling jobs in these pages. In fact, issue #5, with the explanation of the nuclear holocaust and the destruction of the cities with the tidal waves and nuclear weapons was extremely well done. I don't know if I have ever seen such a clear visual of this horrific event outside of the movie Terminator 2.

This series has qualities of top notch fiction, reminiscent of such titles as Alas, Babylon and Stephen King's The Stand. I highly suggest checking it out at here. It is available online, one page at a time, for free at the website.

About The Reviewer: Matt Butcher is a spoke in the wheel. He is a writing teacher all the way out in Nome, Alaska, and likes hunting for good web comics because he has no comic shop out there. You can visit his personal site called The Butcher Shop about anything random that comes to his head.

(Originally posted on IndependentPropaganda.com April 14th, 2006.)

Another Bears Loss

The Bears blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter.

This is why you cannot ride a lead in the NFL. This is why you must pile on points.

This is why when they give flak to the New England Patriots over running up the score, they are dead wrong. Run it up. Do not give another team even the slightest chance of coming back.

When Detroit scored 38 points in the fourth quarter against the Bears this year, no lead is safe.

The Bears had too many three-and-outs in the second half. They tried resting on a nine-point lead and it erupted in their faces.

Still...Go Bears!

Nome is a metaphor for the ends of the earth, according to ESPN

I went to ESPN.com to check out stuff on tonight's Packers-Cowboys game. I have no idea who will win and I need to choose for the pool I'm in. I'm 12 behind the leader so I can't afford to miss any, if I can avoid it.

I love it when Nome is used as the end of the world:

The Cowboys already had their crack at the Patriots. Couldn't ask for anything more: Had them at home, had them on national television (another thing about Super Bowl XLI¾ -- only a fraction of fans will see it because it's on the NFL Network, which apparently is available only in certain parts of Nome) and even led New England in the second half.

No, we didn't have the NFL Network in Nome, unless it has been added in the last six months, which I doubt. Just funny to read about Nome being at the ends of the earth.

Children of the Grave

Reviewed by Matt Butcher / Writer for Independent Propaganda

As I sat down to read a new graphic novel, I was a bit pessimistic. I have only liked the genre called horror in cinema, where the director controls every frame. Every moment is plannedfor maximum efficiency. I have never thought that comic panels sufficiently portrayed the suspense necessary for shock and terror. Children of the Grave silences that notion and recounts a horror tale worthy of the genre.

Children of the Grave is a tradepaperback written by Tom Waltz and drawn in black and white by Casey Maloney. The team up is wonderful. It seems that Waltz writes knowing how Maloney is going to develop the panel. Maloney’s shadows accurately set the mood and draw the reader into the lives of three soldiers on a mission in a fictional Middle Eastern country. Black and white is used wonderfully here, as nothing could better fit the story or Maloney’s art.



The three soldiers come across a site of a mass grave. The only trouble is that thegraves have opened and the contents removed. The contents were the product of a terrorist madman out for genocide: the children of his enemies have been slaughtered. The soldiers radio for new orders and receive the suicide mission of assassinating the madman fanatic.

The situation gets creepier when the lieutenant in charge sees visions of children. Help us find the way, Michael, the little girl says. These ghost images seem to cry out for justice. The madman himself has dreams of children murdering him horribly.

The best part of this story is that the horror does not take over the characters. The characters seem to be a lot more real than most horror stories I have ever read or seen. The three soldiers are wonderfully developed, with motives and background, with desires and inner demons. Even our bad guy has a back story that seems to make us understand a bit more about his motives. The horror is simply the catalyst that moves these characters along towards their inevitable collision with their own destinies.

The horror comes in when these images present themselves at new unforeseen turns. The clues they leave are sufficient enough to leave the reader pulling along with every page. Some of the horror is man made, as we graphically watch the dreadfulness of war and some of the atrocities that man can place upon man.

I must say that once I reached the final chapter, I was a bit wary as to where the ending was going. An element was introduced that I was worried would negatively impact the overall structure. However, its use in all situations available actually worked and tied itself in to all of the characters. This book wraps itself together well, never forgetting the little elements that have brought the reader to the end. The reader should be satisfied and not left hanging.


Amazingly, this is, according to the end notes in the TPB, a first project for this team of Waltz and Maloney who work so well together. Children of the Gravewas apparently a series first for Shooting Star Comics and then this trade paperback from IDW Publishing became available. Waltz says on the thank you page that all he really wants is this book to make it part of your collection. In the end, that satisfaction and gratitude that he portrays is simply his best reward. Our reward is a well-crafted book that we can show off to friends and feel good about having, especially when this becomes a movie!


(Originally posted at http://independentpropaganda.com/ip_wp/review-children-of-the-grave-by-tom-waltz/ on June 14, 2006.)

The Ultimate Day

Today is...

Friwednesday

It is a four day weekend. It is only Wednesday. Today is the Wednesday that acts like a Friday. It is Friwednesday.

I think this could be a new holiday. It only happens this once a year. It only happens because of our great American holiday of Thanksgiving.

I was saying to the students today, "Happy Thanksgiving...and I can say that because it is a non-religious, American holiday!"

I got put on YouTube

I didn't even know the kids were taking this...

The Land of Lincoln

It's possible that I've gotten more boring since moving back to Illinois. Somehow, there's no sense of the exotic that has been my life since movingout to Seattle and then to Nome, Alaska. However, that isn't the case. Maybe I am just normal living here in Normal, Illinois.

So this weekend, Amy looked at the Pantagraph online site for stuff to do this weekend. She found a small town craft fair about an hour away down south of us. We stuffed the kids in the car and drove down to Mt. Pulaski and Lincoln.

We had the privilege of touring the Mt. Pulaski courthouse. This is where Abraham Lincoln himself started practing law. Up here, we walked on the same floorboards that our sixteenth President walked on. The nice lady that talked to us about the site, as well as let me go up behind the bench, talked about how Lincoln worked in this room.

Now if that isn't a sense of being special, of being exotic, I don't know what is.

Books found at Goodwill

Talk about a find. The other week we went into Goodwill in Normal off Veteran's Parkway and I found all these cool old paperbacks for 50 cents apiece. You have to love good, cheap paperbacks. Plus, some of these are the cool old sci-fi ones that you can't find anymore. Also, this is the best way to get Star Trek and Star Wars novels. I hate paying $7.99 for 'em, but 50 cents is the perfect price.

NIGHT by Elie Wiesel and TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee

This year, I am doing a much better job teaching the concepts and themes in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird than I had the one time before. I feel I am actually connecting with the equality emphasis, especially the theme about it being a "sin to kill a mockingbird." Today we re-enacted the trial to the best of our ability. I know I am doing well when I have students coming up to me saying that they are getting mad at the book. "Good, you're supposed to get mad," I say. It's going really well.

With the seniors, I read for the first time Night by Elie Wiesel, a memoir about the author's experience through Auschwitz and the camps. This one is even tougher because of the real horror expressed, not just implied. One discussion, there was a bit of laughter and one of the students admitted, "You have to laugh a little otherwise it'll make you sick if you keep thinking about it."

That's true. It's a world where we still have to learn these lessons, but hopefully, these kids will never have to experience any of this.

This is one of the "found poems" created today by one of the seniors from the book Night:

You shut your trap,

You filthy little swine,

Or I'll squash you right now.

You'd have done better

To hang yourself where you were,

Than come here.

Didn't you know what was

In store for you at Auschwitz,

Haven't you heard about it,

In 1944.

Heroes strike

Now that Hollywood writers are officially on strike, "Heroes" is shooting an
alternate ending to its December 3rd episode. The episode was suppose to wrap up
the current "Generations" story arc, but the new ending could serve instead as a
season finale in case the strike cancels the remainder of the season.

(above courtesy of Atomic Comics newsletter)


Doesn't this just piss you off? I keep thinking to myself: then what good is it to even bother if this isn't what was originally intended? To fans, it will always be known as the episode that was supposed to do something else.

From my English studies background, I wonder what this does to criticism about a piece. How do you rate something that was intended to be one way but went another way because of a writer's strike?

For instance, if The Prisoner went through this, those particular episodes would be almost discarded by fans as they were not what was originally intended by Patrick McGoohan. There area already some fans who only perceive the original core seven episodes as the ones true to McGoohan's vision. They think the compromise with the network, who originally wanted 26 episodes and they compromised on 17, stretced some of The Prisoner too thin, sort of like people thinking Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager may have been too many trips to the well.