Music Is Still On My Mind

In general there are three things that I hate about music.

1. Cover songs
2. The word "love" in a song title
3. Performance videos that are really, really, really plain

I came across this video, it is absolutely stunning. It is a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." This is already two of my hates but I think this might be the best cover song ever and easily the best cover of a Joy Divison song. Watch the video to see my last hate. For some reason all these hates really came together to create something amazing.

The Fuel I Am Running On

At this current moment I am being heavily driven by music. I will say that in the last few months I have not been in this mode. I have been disappointed by most realizes in the last year and more so by the ones I was really looking forward to. But these last couple of days I have listened to about 10 albums. Its great, I am like a well oiled machine running in perfect rhythm thanks to some old and new surprises.

Antonio Carlos Jobim / Wave - Jobim is one of the pioneers of Bossanova. When Bossanova is done well it has an incredible focused element. When it is done bad, it sounds like that stuff you hear in the elevator. This is Bossanova done well, actually beautifully.

Nellie McKay / Pretty Little Head - The pitch I was given to listen to this album was really bad. A friend said, "Its like British Pop done with a Bossanova feel." This is a really bad summation of the album, it is actually pretty good. It is a double disc so percentages wise there has to be a lot of good songs.

Mogwai / Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait - Mogwai is just amazing. This is a soundtrack for a film about Zidane. (The famous soccer player who head butted that guy in the World Cup Final) If you have ever seen Zidane play you can really imagine this being a soundtrack to him playing a game. If you haven't seen him play it is just music with amazing instrumentation.

Sufjan Stevens / Songs for Christmas - I have never been a big Christmas music fan but this album has changed that for me completely. Stevens has some great original songs about the holidays but also his take on the classics.

Clipse / Hell Hath No Fury - First off let me start off by saying this is a Hip-Hop album. I know that sounds like an outlier but I grew up listening to music like this. I will admit that some day I will have to stop listening to Hip-Hop. These guys are incredible lyricists and they have some great production behind them.

Other albums I have been listening to but will just list because I have to go to sleep.

• Joanna Newsom - Ys
• The Velvet Underground & Nico
• The Velvet Undergound
• Boards of Canada - Campfire Headphase
• Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City (Actually this one is OK)

I Got It

I came to this conclusion at least 6 years ago when I was still in school, I need more time added to the day. Sometimes I get really great ideas or get extremely motivated and then pesky time gets in the way. I have a lot of things I want to lesson plan but not enough time. Realistically I would be up until 4 o'clock every night working on things but that is just not feasible. I mean it could be except for the fact I have to wake up at 6:30 am everyday. I have come up with these two proposals:

1. Extend the 24 hour day to 26 hours. That gives me 14 hours a week more to accomplish my goals
2. Create a 8 day week with each day only being 22 hours. This is of course would mean that the work week would be extended to six days. As much as a sacrifice this would be I would only gain an additional 8 hours a week.

Realistically I guess things like blogging, napping, and catching up on world affairs can be eliminated but then I would just be a robot. Part of what makes people work so hard is the fact that they see light at the end of the tunnel where they can just relax. We need that light at the end of the tunnel to work through everything else. Work would just be miserable if I didn't get to take a afternoon siesta, watch Chelsea vs. Manchester United, or listen to some Velvet Underground while reading a book. I am not asking for much except drastically changing the world's concept of time and day, that's it. Oh by the way I love my job when I say "work would just be miserable" I am talking about people who sit in a cubicle all day. I couldn't do that type of work of my life depended on it.

Welcome Back

Although I loved my break. I really think I could sleep 14 hours a day if it was socially acceptable and not a clear sign of depression. It is however even better to be back at school. It was nice to hear students interesting stories about Thanksgiving. It is also nice to see students refreshed, before the break they were looking a little weathered. Now only four more weeks until Winter Break. When we come back from Winter Break it is only two more weeks and then it is then of the semester. And a week after that I will start the Master's Program at Sac State. I have a suspicious feeling that the next two months will be a blurry mess but well worth it. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Enjoying My Break

* About 10 minutes later I would slip and drop my digital camera in the water rendering it useless. That being said it was an amazing trip with some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. Imaging just staring at landscape for 20 minutes. Oh yeah and I bought a new digital camera, you can do that when your a teacher. Teachers are filthy rich!!!

The New Me

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You Learn Something New Everyday

"You learn something new everyday" is one of those cliches that you hear so much. It is to be perfectly sometimes annoying when you hear it. That being said learning something new everyday just got easier. During class yesterday my students pointed out a website called WikiHow. This website allows you to learn how to do something in a step by step process. I searched fight a bear. The recommendation is that I don't fight a bear but it still gave me hints on how to successfully battle a bear. It is nice to know if I ever encounter a bear and I have a wireless laptop I can systematically take him down.

Future Searches include but are not limited to; surviving a robot invasion, talking dolphin, and becoming a champion cup stacker.

More Victory

On Thursday I overwhelmingly beat my opponent in the canned food drive. On Friday I found even more good news. I applied to Sac State's Master's Education Program earlier this month and on Friday I received my acceptance letter. This is a lot of good news in just one weekend. I may sound pessimistic but whenever I get good news in bunches like this I think something bad is going to happen. I feel like I am going to get into a car accident or something the next week. Oh well, here is to safe driving and goods news.

Victory is Mine

The canned food drive is over and I am the proud papa of 700+ cans, more to come.

I Have Great Students

I would just like to proclaim that I have some of the best students in the world. I am pretty confident that they could beat any other class up figuritively of course. They have shown a great amount of pride, creativity, and respect during this crazy canned food drive. I wish I had the time to post all the creative ads they came up with. I also wish I could list them by name but I am pretty sure that it is illegal to post names of students on the internet.

Thanks to all the students who have participated during the canned food drive in whatever form or fashion.

Here is a link to watch a hirarious video created by a student during our Buckingham Broadcast.