My mother has been an educator for over a decade (high school ESL, among other things). Lately she has been lamenting the terrible attitude among her students, contrasting it to idealized ideas she has about the past. In yesterday’s Opinion section of the Wall Street Journal there was an excellent article (the first of three) by Charles Murray. The quote that stood out for me:
The widely held image of a golden age of American education when teachers brooked no nonsense and all children learned their three Rs is a myth.
The article went on to describe one of the fundamental flaws in evaluating today’s educational system:
Half of all children are below average in intelligence
Mr. Murray goes on to lament the general hubris of the educational establishment, that any child, if given a proper chance, can excel (or at least improve) their academic performance. We see this idea codified in the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as Clinton’s procalmation during his presidency in his desire for all children to ultimately attend college.
… a century of psychometric evidence has been augmented over the last decade by a growing body of neuroscientific evidence. Like it or not, g_ [innate intelligence] exists, is grounded in the architecture and neural functioning of the brain, and is the raw material for academic performance. If you do not have a lot of _g when you enter kindergarten, you are never going to have a lot of it. No change in the educational system will change that hard fact.
This topic interests me a great deal (much like health care) because we, as American, obsess with the idea that we can cure all ills with enough money. While we can always get our hands on more money (taxes or borrowing), fresh ideas are much harder to come by. It is refreshing when someone like Mr. Murray comes along and states the obvious when so much inertia and social pressure conspire to stifle it.
Carrie and I went to a wedding in Delaware this past weekend. Yes the dreaded, never-ending wedding carousel has begun. Still, despite my dread, the wedding turned out to be a great time. Well, maybe not the ceremony so much (silly Catholics), but the reception and dinner were top-rate. I ate enough red meat and drank enough champagne, scotch and whiskey to kill a small child.
Bonus point: Sneaking away from the reception to watch the Eagles/Saints game in the hotel bar. Along with about a quarter of the other men from the reception. Pretty sweet to watch a roomful of Iggles fans curse their team after losing to the ‘Aints.
I just downloaded A Lesson in Crime by the Tokyo Police Club. This is a perfect example of an album that you hear about, tell yourself you’re going to check out, and then promptly forget about. It doesn’t help that DC pretty much only has a single rock station (DC101) that wouldn’t touch an album like this (or most of the music I like) with a ten-foot pole.
Tokyo Police Club deliver a powerful punch of a debut EP with A Lesson In Crime. They hail from Canada (not Japan) and have taken the indie rock scene by storm. Besides having one of the coolest band names created in awhile and no law enforcement experience, Tokyo Police Club back up the hype with seven in your face tunes that range from straight up New York style rock to some post-punk feedback, mixed with a tad bit of Emo vibe. A Lesson In Crime’s sixteen minutes goes by quick but the EP is very rememberable because of the catchy songs and Dave Monks’s frontman swagger. His howling smooth vocals provides the perfect transition from track to track and leaves you wanting more. There is not a throwaway song on A Lesson In Crime, and it will definitely excite your interest for a full length in 07’.
I almost fell out of my chair laughing upon loading the page. I hadn’t read ONE WORD. All I needed to see what the contorted face of Bennett, the implausible villain from Arnold’s Commando action flick from 1985. Even as a child, I wondered why a guy dressed-up like he was going to the Blue Oyster Cult was going to pass himself off as Arnold’s nemesis. Just ludicrous.
This is a photo from the Mustache Pagent that I participated in last year. You know, one of those goofy Smashed fundraisers that’s super fun and full of insanity. Anyway, in this picture, you’re seeing me recoil from having a drink thrown in my face (as part of a sketch) by my girlfriend. Anyway, the drink glass actually struck me in the face and opened-up a one-inch gash on my upper lip, It has since healed into a wonderful Joaquin Phoenix scar.
