Today I am going to see the Rangers. However, it sucks because I am mad sick. Im rocking a 101F fever, and my throat feels horrible. Yet, I must still make my annual pilgrimage to MSG, regardless of my health…
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Monthly Archives: February 2009
Futurama- Into the Wild Green Yonder
So let me say this. I loved Benders Big Score. It had such an awesome storyline. I love Futurama when it has insane sci-fi storylines, and Benders Big Score had just that. It was great. Then Beast of a Billion Backs came out, and I was disappointed. Sure, it was sci-fiish, but it wasnt good. It was lame. Very lame. Then there was Benders Game. Of course I liked the whole fantasy/Lord of the Rings spin on it, but it still wasnt anything compared to Benders Big Score.
To put my finger on it, I like Futurama when it is a “believable” sci-fi story. Now, I know what you’re thinking. How can sci-fi be believable. Well, it can be. Certain notions, like time-travel, as in Benders Big Score were believable. With Beast of a Billion Backs, you had some super-dimensional alien who wanted to make sweet, sweet love to every person in our universe. Theres a big difference. Same goes for Benders Game, where everyone is trapped inside Benders imagination.
But I digress. Like Benders Big Score, Into the Wild Green Yonder is a great sci-fi story. Sure, parts are unbelievable, especially with the huge manta ray at the end, but its still a very solid story. It was truly awesome. I laughed a lot…probably more than I did for the second and third movie combined. All the characters were great, and I was sooo happy they had Zap back. I still dont understand why he wasnt in Benders Game…
The ending leaves room for a continuing store. Rumor is that these four movies technically make up the “fifth season”, and that the sixth season will be a regular weekly-broadcasted show, like it used to be. Im very interested in this.
While Im on the subject of why I love Futurama, I have to say something. Sometimes, just sometimes, when watching it, I have a touch of blasphemy…I sometimes think its better than The Simpsons. I dunno…its just so real sometimes. The characters are so very well developed, and most of the supporting cast are developed better than some Simpsons characters. I also like the continuing storyline. The Simpsons is just a bunch of stuff that happens to the family, Bart is perpetually stuck in the 4th grade, and Maggie will never grow up. With Futurama, you get the sense of a continuing story…something that keeps going.
The most basic thing I can reference in this is the idea of Fry’s brain pattern. In the episode in which they go back in time, Fry “does the nasty in the pasty” with his futura grandmother. Thus, its some sort of insane case of inbredness, and he is born with a special brain length that no other human has. Thus, amongst all his faults and stupidity, he is still a galactic hero simply because his brain waves are unique, and he is immune to flying brains and other beings who threaten the entire universe.
One final note on this…Futurama has made me tear up. Like cry. Simpsons never has. The episode with Fry and his dog…and the dog just waited for him outside…that was the most emotional TV episode I have ever seen. I am man enough to say it. Futurama is the only television show that ever made me cry. Its such a great show.
So, with all that said, Into the Wild Green Yonder is simply awesome. Its up there with Benders Big Score, and Im sure theres many out there who may say its better. I can believe it. Its very close. The story is excellent, the characters in top form…its a must see for any Futurama fan.
So what are you waiting for?! WATCH IT!!!
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Student Teaching- Day Ten
Today was, hands down, my best lesson to date. It was diverse. It was fun. It was engaging. The kids loved it. It was the first time that teacher actually said, “that was a good class.”
And my District Supervisor wasn’t there to see it.
He called up, saying he wouldnt be able to make it today. So my awesome class, that I kicked my butt on to make awesome, went unseen. Though on the plus side, the kids loved it.
I started out by showing them some paintings from the Whiskey Rebellion on the overhead. Then I went into the falling out between Hamilton and Jefferson (as I call them in class Hammy and Jeffy), and the formation of America’s first political parties. I then had them fill out a chart, which contained the different attributes of each party (ex- leader, how they felt about the Constitution, how they felt about America’s economy, etc.) The chart was in their textbook, so they simply copied from there to the paper.
Then I had them come to the front of the room and fill out the chart I had written on the board. They LOVED it. I hadn’t see that much participation before that. They were going nuts, just to write a word or two on the board. I made a mental note…kids like getting out of their seats to write junk on the board. Im going to try and incorporate that whenever possible.
Then I had them read an overhead, which contained documents from Hamilton and Jefferson, and how they felt about farming and manufacturing in America. After that, I gave them a little bit more notes about Washington’s decision to not serve more than two terms. I was planning to read them a little excerpt from Washington’s farewell address, but I ran out of time. Mores the pity.
Needless to say, they were on the ball today. They answered all my questions, raised interesting ones of their own, and I could tell that they really understood the material, and the differences between Hamilton and Jefferson.
The Supervisor is coming Monday now, so I have to prepare a lesson which will deal with the domestic and foreign problems that Washington faced during his Presidency. I’ll be talking a little bit about the French Revolution. I wouldnt think to go into as much detail, but my teacher does, since the kids find it interesting. I’ll go along with that. I took a class at Oneonta called The French Revolution, so I think Im capable of talking about it to some degree.
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Cooking Failure- Asian Pork Roast
So I tried making an Asian-style pork roast. I simply took the pork, tossed on some teryaki sauce and a can of pineapples, and baked it in the oven.
It was pretty gross.
The pineapple chunks were horrible. They were ridiculously salty and disgusting. The pork was ok, but I wouldnt go as far as to call it “good.”
I failed.
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Summer School
There will be summer vacation this year, as I have to take three summer courses. Two of them are education classes, which are only available during the summer.
The other one is an Anthropology class. When I was at Oneonta, and planned on transferring to Albany, I asked what courses I needed in order to be set. They said I needed 11 History, 2 Economics, 2 Political Science, and 2 Geography. What they didnt tell me about was the 2 Anthropology. Luckily I took one while I was there, since one was required. But I need to take one more in order to graduate. The good news is that it can be a basic 100-level course, so Im definitely doing that. I saw one which looked good, that is called Human Culture, so something. Sounds easy enough.
Anywho, the way it works out, I’ll be at the school from May 26-August 14. Boo.
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Next semester: Student Teaching II
I also went to a meeting with the department head today. I dont like her meetings. She talks about the most useless information, which we already know. She can easily make these things 1/2 hour long, or even just send out an email. But no, she has to schedule these crazy 2-hour long meetings. Waste of my time.
Anywho, I have some more ideas about what next semester is going to hold. Most students will start their student teaching on the first day the kids start. This will be a great experience, where we can see first-hand how to establish classroom order at the very beginning of the year. Also, since I am at a middle school now, I’ll be at a high school next semester. That means getting up an hour earlier, at least. Since the placement can be up to an hour away, I could technically have to get up even earlier. BOOOO!!! Also, I’ll be there from like 7am until the last period, and then beyond. The basis is that we run the entire teacher’s class load, so I’ll be a full-time teacher, but just not getting paid for it. I dont know what Im going to do about work, because if Im going to be handling five classes, and keeping up with their grades, lessons, and whatever else, plus getting up at at least 5:00am every morning, then there is no way in hell Im going to be able to keep working…
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Student Teaching- Day Nine
So today was a pretty straight-forward lecture. I talked about Hamilton’s economic plans for the new country. It went well. I managed my time well, and finished up with about four minutes to spare. Not too shabby.
Unfortunately, I didnt notice until after class that I forgot to show them some paintings of the Whiskey Rebellion. I was planning on putting the pictures on their test next week. I’ll have to do that tomorrow morning before I begin my lecture on Federalists and Republicans.
Once again, tomorrow is my observation from my District Supervisor. I have some interesting ideas for tomorrow to make the lecture a bit more interesting.
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Ben is creepy…
So I was having a semi-discussion with Cara and Shell, and we came to the conclusion that Ben was creepy. But thats why I like him…he makes a good villain. He just puts out this negative energy, and just when he starts acting nice and you’re like, “maybe hes doing some good”, he goes and chokes you with an electrical cord, and then makes it look like it was suicide in which you hung yourself…
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Presidential Aging
So I realized something today…being President takes a lot out of you.
If you look at before and after pics of Presidents, you can see how much they age within that four-eight year time span. Its nuts. I am curious as to begin cataloging these before and after pics, if I can, so that I can see it first-hand.
It may sound boring and odd, but Im very interested in looking further into this.
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Student Teaching- Day Eight
Today I gave my first lecture with the honors class. I felt it went a lot better. That class is extremely attentive, bright, and energetic. I had no problems with them at all. I gave a short 25minute lecture on Washington and his election and whatnot, and then showed them a video about Washington which I have from the History Channel. I had made up a sheet with questions they had to answer along with the video, and they did good. I enjoyed the experience with them. Tomorrow and Friday I will also be lecturing them. Speaking of Friday, I have my second observation then, and I am not going to do anything too fancy. I will just have a normal class and see how he likes it.
And speaking of observations, my District Supervisor FINALLY came by today to give me feedback about the class he observed almost two weeks ago. He liked the lesson with the Federalist Papers, but was concerned that the students did not fully understand, a concern which I also had. Based on his reflections and my own, theres a few things Im going to do in class starting tomorrow.
1. I will put up an essential question each class, and at the end, the students will determine if they can answer it
2. I need to ask more questions during class. Even though it feels repetitive, I need to quiz them on stuff we went over five minutes earlier
3. I need to write bigger. The supervisor didnt tell me this, but I can see for myself. I write very small on the board, and students have a hard time reading my handwriting sometimes.
4. I need to take a brake. I dont like the akward silence, so I feel like I always have to talk. Thats not the case. I need to learn to just chill out, and give them a few seconds here and there to soak in what Im saying.
Tomorrow should be a good class. Im going to try a bunch of new things and see how things go.
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Student Teaching- Day Seven
Well, the students handed in their take home tests which my partner and I created before the break. The grades were not pretty. Many of the students didnt even bother doing it. In reflection, I see a few problems.
First off, when I copied the test, I did it single-side, not double sided. So the test probably appeared more daunting than it actually was. Secondly, I wanted to do some performance assessment (non-traditional questions, like multiple choice), so we asked them to fill out a T-Chart and two Bubble Maps. While they were familiar with these tools, I dont think they were familiar with creating them from scratch. Also, I included a document (Federalist #10), and the students just didnt get it. I went over the Federalist Papers with my class twice, and my partner once. I actually used the same document and questions which they did in class. However, for some reason, they just didnt do it. Also, the test took a long time to go over. It actually took the entire class period for one class.
Thus said, I know some improvements for the next test. First the short answers we had have got to be cut down to like, three questions. I still like the idea of using T-Charts and Bubble Maps, but what I will do is ensure that I construct them in class AND tell the students that it will be on the test. This way they are prepared. The same goes for any documents or political cartoons we use. I have to ensure that the students know it is going to be on the test when I go over it.
The class itself was somewhat fun. The honors class had very little mistakes, so it took no time at all to go over their test, and then we watched our cooperating teacher play a bowling game with them, in which they got to bowl if they answered a question right. Then the intergrated class proved to be the biggest pain. Only half of the class turned in the test, and the ones who did do it spent forever getting the right answers down. One student actually got a 6, because he only did the first two multiple choice questions. Horrible. Then the regents class came in, and our teacher let us run the game. We had a lot of fun. The regents class is a very small class, only about twelve kids. They tend to be the most rowdy of the bunch, but that also means they are the most energetic, and even though they can be frustrating, they are also a heck of a lot of fun to work with. They had us laughing, and we all had a good time as we walked them through the game.
Tomorrow the District Supervisor comes by to give me feedback from my first observation like two weeks ago. Then he comes back again this Friday for my second observation. Rather than a flashy group project, this time Im going to simply give a lecture, so he can see that side of me as well.
I learned a lot today, especially about assessment. We will be giving the class the next test next week, and I believe it will be much stronger than the last one was.
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Gmail, where art thou?
For some odd reason, gmail is not working this morning. Thats sad, because I want to check my email and see what great offers Im getting from Best Buy and Ticketmaster today…
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Jerks on Resistance 2
So as much as I love playing Resistance 2 online co-op, it usually pisses me off. Most of the time, I join a game with a bunch of morons. If I happen to be the soldier, then the Spec Ops guy will NEVER give me ammo. He will fight off the current swarm until all the enemies are cleared, and then he will give me ammo. By that time, my ammo is almost out, my shield is totally gone, and Im almost dead.
Same goes for medics. I hate it when medics have to be heroes and run off and try to gain a massive amount of kills. THEY ARE MEDICS! YOUR JOB IS TO HEAL YOUR SQUAD!!!
As for soldiers, I hate it when they keep moving around. While Im hiding behind their shield, they will back up, causing me to get in front of them, and then I get shot in the back.
Occassionally I happen to pick a really good group that knows whats going on, and we do well. Othertimes, the game is over within three minutes because people are morons.
As for me, I try not to be a moron. Im best as a medic. I usually come in first or second in my squad, and only have like 20-some odd kills. The rest is all healing, which is what Im supposed to be doing as a medic. I dont like being Spec. Ops. For some reason, I have problems giving out ammo. I hate doing it, and my guy is so low-level that he only has two ammo packs at a time, so re-supplying ammo is a pain. Im decent as a soldier, but there are a lot better soldiers out there. As I said, I prefer to be a medic.
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Rangers Fire Renney
So I was shocked to see that Renney got fired today. I mean, its not so much of a shock. The Rangers have really been sucking lately. They have lost the 10 of their last 12 games, which is horrible, especially since they were the top team early in the season. They really dropped down.
One of their biggest problems is a lack of offense. The team has a lot of talent, in the form of Drury, Gomez, Zherdev, and Naslund, but they do not produce as they should be. The only shining star who holds the team up is Lundqvist, but he is only a goalie…he cannot be the sole reason the team wins. If they scored more, they would win a lot more games. What I mean is that many of their losses are by only a goal or two, in very low-score games. If they had scored a goal or two more, they would be fine.
But back to Renney. Its not a surprise, seeing the current state of the Rangers. Tampa Bay fired their coach, Melrose, after only 16 games. They didnt really give him much of a chance. I read online that Renney is the 5th Head Coach to be fired this season (the other three being Ottawa, Carolina, and Chicago.)
Hopefully this drastic change is what the teams needs. They are barely hanging on to a playoff spot, and there is no reason that this should be the case. Hopefully the new coaching team will rejuvenate the Rangers, and maybe I’ll finally see them win a game on Saturday when they host the Avalanche.
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Student Teaching- Day Six
I didnt do much today. The students did a study guide in class. Tomorrow they will be playing a game.
I start up the next unit on Wednesday, talking about Washington’s Presidency. Good stuff. Also, I’ll be observed by the District Supervisor again on Friday. I think Im going to just give a lecture. He’s seen me do a group work project, now he will see me give a lecture.
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Caught up on Heroes
So I watched last weeks episode online tonight, so I’ll be ready for tomorrow. This season is pretty good. I like it. I wonder who this “Rebel” is…
Also, that microwave kid is really annoying me. I wish Sylar would just kill him.
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Rangers Weekend Coming Up
So for the past four years, Shell and I have made a yearly pilgrimage to MSG to see the Rangers live in action. The past three of those four years, Cara and Nick have come along too. Its a great time, steeped with lots of traditions. This year is going to be no different. It all takes place this Saturday, when the Rangers take on Colorado.
The tradition goes like this. Shell and me head down to Brooklyn. We get lost. We eventually find the way to Cara’s apartment. Then before the game, we go to Dallas BBQ. Thats a blast. They have awesome wings, great ribs, and super awesome drinks. Its the only place I have ever gotten a frozen Long Island Iced Tea, and it is amazing. Its called “Chronic Tea” there. Its really good. Lately, there has been debate over which wings to get. Cara and me like the “sticky” wings, which is like a sweet bbq sauce, but Shell and Nick like the hot wings. Both are very tasty. I wonder which we will get this time???
After that, we head over to MSG for the game. Shell usually doesnt finish all her dinner, so Nick has it wrapped up and eats it at the game. They sell Spaten draft beer at MSG, and I am excited, because thanks to Bombers Burrito Bar, I have a new love for the stuff. We usually get hot dog, nachos, or pretzels also.
Unfortunately, another part of the tradition is for the Rangers to lose. All four years, they have NEVER won a game. The worst was last year, when they lost to Philidelphia 6-2. It was horrible. We ended up walking out, because I couldnt bare to watch anymore.
After the humiliating loss, we go bar hopping to drink away our sorrow. Last year we went to a place that gave you a free personal pan pizza when you ordered a drink. But it wasnt like a Pizza Hut personal pizza…it was a pretty big pizza. It proved to be a great bar food idea.
We eventually head home and crawl into bed. Then the next day, Shell and I leave relatively early, get lost heading back to Penn Station, and miss our train…
I look forward to this year. YEAH DALLAS!!!!!
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Back in NY
So let me tell you, this snow was not a welcoming site getting off the plane. Luckily we had an early flight, so we touched down in Albany just as the snow started. We saw that the other flights were beginning to get delayed. I guess there was something good from getting that 1:00am-9:00am travel time. One thing I did not get was sleep. I took an hour nap at some point today, but thats it. Hopefully I sleep good tonight.
So heres my end thoughts on Vegas. It was fun. There was plenty to do. However, in order to do stuff, you need cash. And a lot of it. Lunch costs at least $10, dinner more. Booze is also expensive at a lot of the bars and such. It was cool that open containers are legal, so you can buy massive drinks and then just walk around with it. I did not like the open smoking, however. It was disgusting. People were everywhere, just blowing smoke in your face. I was not happy about that.
Would I go back? Well, Im sure I will at some point, since Shell’s family is out there. However, would I go back, if not for that? Yes I would. But I would make sure I had plenty of money. I would want to plan a trip early and start saving. Vegas is a fun place, but that fun comes at a price…right out of your wallet. I would love to go with Steve, and just have a blast drinking it up.
If you have the spare green, definitely check it out. You wont regret it.
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Stimulous
I just saw that Obama’s new plan would be giving people extra cash each week in their paychecks through taxcuts. I think I would have preferred a lump-sum tax credit to an extra $7.00 a week…
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Heading Home…
Our plane leaves at 9:50 tonight (12:50am NY time.) We arrive at Newark around 5:30am, then have to wait until 7:30 for the flight to Albany. I hope to be home by 9:30-10:00.
I hate flying.
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