Cuppabits September 29th
Posted by Walt 09 29th, 2006
For Sale: One puppy.
Price: Free
Age: About six months.
Demeanor: Happy, licking, playful.
Traits: Keeps you up at night. Allll night. Yawn!
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Tony Stark will be played by Robert Downey, Jr.
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The reason why Anna Nicole quickly married her lawyer was to legally prevent the paparazzi father making a LEGAL claim to be the biological father of the child.
This would prevent the paparazzi father from claiming the kid and thus grabbing some of Anna Nicole’s money.
Wow. Anna Nicole has learned a LOT about gold digging sex sluts!
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You don’t want to know what “Screech” from “Saved By The Bell” did in his sex tape making the rounds.
And I’ll never write those words again. ew. on many levels.
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A new study finds that moderate red wine consumption, specifically Cabernet Sauvignon, might help reduce the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
I love new studies!
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When you appoint one advisor to make sure the school yearbook only contains appropriate material, make sure that advisor doesn’t have a major grudge against the school in her last year before retirement…[link]
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Weird Al Yankovic is working on a comeback album, and it’s so weird because I’m getting messages from folks who know I’m a fan of his telling me to check out his latest song here or the very latest over there, etc…
It’s funny that since radio has died and MySpace and the rest of the Internet Tubes have provided their own distribution channel that truly imaginative work is being rewarded by popular acclaim.
Weird Al wasn’t the first of his type, but certainly the most popular. Back in the mid 1970s, there was a band in Austin called the “Uranium Savages” that had some interesting topical humor music, but they didn’t adjust to the times.
What were the “Uranium Savages”? Hard to say, but they were the second full band to appear on the PBS “Austin City Limits” and here’s what happened:
Uranium Savages became the second all-time band ever to play on an Austin City Limits Show and that night (preserved on old and rare videotape) went down in television infamy. Among the songs performed in the Savages first set was a tune called “The Gates of Gold”, which featured an appearance by Jesus Christ himself, wearing a toga and a carpenter’s belt, talking about Heaven to a drunk in bed trying to deal with the Spins after a night of hard drinking. The toga slipped off during the live broadcast, sending an image of a topless Jesus to the many small towns surrounding Austin watching the fundraiser. One technician later described the phone bank as “lighting up like a Christmas Tree” with complaints about a topless Jesus appearing on PBS.
[link]
The one and only bumper sticker on my very first purchased with my own money car was a Uranium Savages sticker.
Sadly, both the sticker and the car are in God’s hands now.
The best musical comedy contains dated material, and usually doesn’t survive well.
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I missed “Ugly Betty” last night and from all reports it’s worth watching. ABC.com is reportedly repeating the pilot ep online, and I’ll prolly catch it there. While I’m not attracted to that kind of TV show, I did see the eight minute sample of the first show and have to admit it does have potential, even outside its intended audience.
TV shows and movies become hits when they get that “cross-over” audience.
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I’ve been asked whether I like the NBC show Heroes. Like Studio 60 and Jericho, I’m interested in them, but I’m not a huge fan of any of them yet. I AM going to keep watching them, because each show has left me wanting for more of… something. We’ll see who delivers.
I’m reserving judgement on almost all shows I’m watching.
Shows I’ve seen and won’t watch again?
Prison Break
The show that comes after Prison Break
Kidnapped
That hostage negotiator show with the bickering negotiators.
Deal or No Deal (I’ll prolly flick over to the last two minutes of a show to catch the result)
You know, someone needs to flange up all the good moments from a season’s worth of Deal or No Deal and compress it into like nine minutes on YouTube…
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The Warrentless Wiretapping Bill won’t be presented to the President in a form he can sign until after the November elections.
You can prevent the government from taking your rights away from you by voting against Republicans.
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ManBoy1: Let’s go to the Women’s Rally! There’s gotta be some ‘free love’ chicks there!
ManBoy2: No, I have some studying to do.
ManBoy1: Okay, your loss! I’m going to find a girl and ask her out!
ManBoy2: Whatever
(doorslam)
ManBoy2: Wait. Women’s Rally?
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Gawker was kind enough to tape David Letterman’s Top Ten list from last night, because it was funny!
Apparently, the real Jim McGreevey was booked but didn’t show, and this was the revenge of the staff writers.
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Eva Longoria has gotten all the milage and sex out of her NBA lover and is dumping him.
(unconfirmed but probable) CONFIRMED!
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The laptop battery recall for Dell and Toshiba laptops has been extended, so check your websites for possible updates.
I think the most interesting one to date was the guy running through the airport with a burning laptop. THAT must have been fun.
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And finally, when you absolutely positively need a spare liver or kidney,
you can go to China and grab one directly from a Chinese prisoner.
Apparently, when the Chinese execute a whole bunch of prisoners, like right before a national celebration, there’s a surplus of ‘donated’ organs! Whoo-hoo!
Hey, at least those organs are fresh!
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You keep your organs fresh and well pickled and have a great weekend!
I slept just fine.
“When you appoint one advisor to make sure the school yearbook only contains appropriate material, make sure that advisor doesn’t have a major grudge against the school in her last year before retirement…”
Great link. Good for her. I don’t know Jean Steerling, but I think this retiring teacher did something great for the rest of us in the trenches.
For those of you not in the educational system, here’s a little info. Teachers have become real punching bags…and not just at the hands of politicians. The biggest bashers of teachers are administrators, consultants, and parents.
Administrators and educational gurus have, for many of us, removed all individual discretion. Most of us teach to a district mandated pacing guide, and use administrator mandated teaching strategies. If the pacing guide happens to make sense, don’t get too attached to it because some new “expert” with an Ed.D (a graduate degree roughly equivalent in prestige to an AA degree in small engine repair), will change it. And in the Alice-In-Wonderland world of education, a person’s level of expertise is inversely proportional to the amount of time they spend in the classroom. Your “Doctor of Education” is only likely to teach a lesson to a handpicked class of students, usually with dozen teachers and assistant principals in the back of the room. And of course you, the dumb slob who teaches everyday needs to teach just the way the “Doctor of Education” does because none of the kids acted up for her. And the reason they were so on task had everything to do with how great her lesson was, and nothing to do with the 7 teachers and 2 assistant principals in the back of the room.
If the expert is trying to make a name for him or herself, they’re likely to produce a new pacing guide that makes no sense to anyone in the classroom (teacher or student). My wife’s district here in Indio just adopted a math pacing guide that requires her to teach every day from a different chapter. Mind you, the chapters have 7 to 15 lessons and were designed by mathematicians to be taught sequentially. The new guru has a better idea. Teach lesson 1.5 today, lesson 5.2, tomorrow, and lesson 3.7 the day after that. Then give them the district-mandated test, which has questions from lesson 1.7 and 3.2, which you didn’t cover.
Districts are also prone to bringing in consultants to teach you “better strategies” than what you’re using. Most of these consultants stopped teaching several years ago, and will soon be heading to jobs in administration or graduate education school. If you ask questions about the strategies, you’re being an underminer. If you try them and they don’t work, you’re being negative. Imagine bringing in consultants to train experienced surgeons in better techniques, but not allowing doctors to ask the consultants hard questions or express concerns. If the new technique results in more side effects and fewer recoveries, the surgeon is directed to use it more. And if some of the patients are harmed by the new technique, it’s the surgeon’s fault.
But most of all, don’t criticize students for being lazy and inattentive, it’s because the teacher isn’t “engaging” enough. If a girl’s not learning Algebra, it because the teacher wasn’t engaging, and had nothing to do with the fact that she spends all period looking a foto-machine snapshots of her friends and writing the names of gang-banger boys on her arm instead of taking notes. If a boys failing history, it’s because the teacher wasn’t engaging enough, and has nothing to do with the fact that he was up until 3AM playing Grand Theft Auto, or was out tagging road signs until well after midnight.
If a child refuses to do homework, or behaves in a manner that disrupts learning, the teacher has to handle it in the classroom. It’s not the administration’s job to enforce civility any more. But make sure the way you handle it doesn’t result in a parent complaining to an administrator. The Principal is too busy making sure that teachers are following the pacing guides, and shouldn’t have to waste their time dealing with the parents of children who “would never act that way”.
If I sound like I’m exaggerating. I wish I were.
I don’t know what Jean Steerling’s issues with the administrators are. But I know who I’m likely to believe first.
Weird Al’s previous album, Poodle Hat, was released in 2003, won a Grammy, and so far has sold more than 400,000 copies. He toured for two years in support of that album, leaving plenty of happy fans behind him. The new one, Straight Outta Lynwood (because Al is, after all, from Lynwood– he’s got some street cred) released Sept. 26, is looking like a strong contender. The video for the lead single, “White and Nerdy” is all over the Internet (including, unsurprisingly, at http://www.myspace.com/weirdal). So it’s a little hard to determine what, exactly, Weird Al is supposed to be making a comeback FROM. He hasn’t exactly been away.
So it’s a little hard to determine what, exactly, Weird Al is supposed to be making a comeback FROM. He hasn’t exactly been away.
Okay, let me be a bit more clear. People that are under 27 years of age that wouldn’t have been caught dead mentioning Weird Al in a positive way just a couple of years ago are now happily forwarding links to his latest stuff.
It’s kinda like how something can be popular on the TV, but unless it’s popular among the right demographic, it’s still not on anybody’s pop culture radar screen.
People that consider themselves as hip and as recently as a year ago making fun of my playing Weird Al songs outside of my headphones are forwarding ME links to his latest stuff, including the “White and Nerdy” vid. I interpret that as “suddenly appearing cool”.
I’m here to say that Weird Al’s latest efforts on the internet is getting noticed by a whole new generation.