Levon Helm, R.I.P. Updated

Woodstock's Levon Helm, who was as much beloved for his salt of the earth integrity as he was for his earthen voice and in-the-pocket drumming, died Thursday afternoon in New York.

Helm was surrounded by friends and family, including his wife Sandy and daughter Amy, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. There will be a memorial service, but details have yet been finalized.

recordonline.com

Update: This from Charles Pierce is worth a read:

It was a hot summer night very long ago, when my career in this racket was brand-new and distinctly alternative. I was in a beneath-the-sidewalk joint in Harvard Square called Jonathan Swift's, and I was listening to Levon Helm play with the Cate Brothers, who were formidable players in their own right, and old friends of Levon's from Arkansas. We were all deep into the howl of the evening when it occurred to my friend and I that we were enjoying the show so much that we really ought to buy Levon a beer. So we ordered one up, and the waitress brought it out to the stage and Levon took a long pull, looked down at the two of us, touched his drumstick to his forehead and said, "Thank you, neighbor."

It was what they were all about, Levon and the rest of The Band, in 1968, when the country was coming apart at the seams. Nothing was holding, least of all Mr. Yeats's center. There were tanks in Prague and there was blood on a balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. The traditional American values of home and family and neighborhood were being fashioned into cheap weapons to use against the people who saw the death and gore as the deepest kind of betrayal of the ideals that made those values worth a damn in the first place. The music was disparate and fragmented; the Beatles were producing masterpieces that they couldn't or wouldn't take on the road. Brian Wilson was long gone, spelunking through the canyons of what was left of his mind. Jim Morrison, that tinpot fraud, was mixing bullshit politics with kindergarten Freudian mumbo-jumbo and his band didn't even have a damn bass player. Elsewhere, there was torpid, silly psychedelia. The British were sort of holding it together, but, in America, even soul was coming apart. Nothing seemed rooted. Nothing abided. Nothing seemed to come from anything else. The whole country was bleeding from wounds nobody could find.

h/t Doug Noon

Dick Clark, R.I.P.

Dick Clark, the music industry maverick, longtime TV host and powerhouse producer who changed the way we listened to pop music with "American Bandstand," and whose trademark "Rockin' Eve" became a fixture of New Year's celebrations, died today at the age of 82.

ABC

Tuesday Cartoon Fun: Hooker Bilking Edition

Welcome, Townhall Folks!

Nice to see you here! Let's get going with Kyle Olson's tweets that he thinks you don't need to see over at your right wing rag (read from bottom to top--start at the bottom):

Kyle thinks he gets to choose how his tax dollars are used. And in a way he can, by voting. But he doesn't get to pick and choose on a daily basis or on a whim, that's not how economies of scale work, and that is the purpose of a "tax base" to spread the cost over many payers.

What you folks on the rabid right hate is the left, who you identify as commies, latte drinkers, teachers and other folks who care for others and who, in your simple minds teach your kids to be pussies, or something. We don't. We help them learn to think, unlike their right-wing, indoctrinated, ignorant parents who think the left is a cabal organizing to turn Americans into sniveling pussies, or something. Not really true. Pussies tend not to kill people, and we on the left, who are in control of government right now, seem to kill really well, so relax; we kill too, just like you Nugent folks.

Kyle would like to think he is an adult. As you can see from these lame tweets, he is not; he's sort of juvenile and simple, and frightened of a real discussion on public airwaves. He also thinks Click, Clack, Moo is a subversive union tesxt meant to indoctirnate young children. Yeah, right. Ever been in a classroom with little kids and read to them? They don't think of it that way. They think it's funny cows can type. It's you and Glenn Beck who find subversive nonsense in a cute little children's book.

So silly.

Come on Kyle, do my radio show, or FOX business news with me or Pete. Don't be afraid. We won't make you gay or Jewish. And, given the attention you're giving me, it seems you want to engage with me. Let's go! I am ready! Are you?

Feel free to comment here, folks, since you can't at Kyle's (who's the pussy?).

This Is Post 3002

Is that a milestone? I've posted three thousand times. Plus 2. Minus a few from Dave.

Never mind. Sorry.

Saturday Cartoon Fun: Congratulations Edition

Michigan Boots 40 Teachers -- Occupy!!

Mid-year teacher layoffs in Pontiac shock

hundreds of elementary students

Join educators, parents at press conference Friday afternoon while laid-off teachers pack up their classrooms

PONTIAC, Mich., April 13, 2012 — On Wednesday, nearly 40 teachers in the Pontiac School District were informed they were being laid off.

Effective today.

Set aside the fact that this ignores contract language the district previously agreed to with its employees.

Set aside the fact that this move is happening in light of gross mismanagement of the Pontiac School District by administrators who are under criminal investigation for financial malfeasance.

Set aside the fact that the lives of educators – those laid off and those left behind – are being turned upside down with 48 hours of notice.

Look only at Pontiac’s students and the effect this is going to have on the final 45 days of their school year.

Elementary students – from kindergarten through 6th grade – having to move classrooms, leave classmates, and adjust to new teachers…all with just weeks to go in the school year.  Instantly skyrocketing class sizes – up to 32 in kindergarten and up to 39 in grades 1 through 6.

The Pontiac Education Association invites the media to a press conference at one of the Pontiac Elementary schools affected by these layoffs.  Please, come to see firsthand the impact these mid-year cuts will have on students, parents, educators and the community, as laid-off teachers pack up their classrooms and leave after just two days notice.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Friday, April 13 at 3:45 p.m.

(immediately after school dismissal)

In front of Owen Elementary School

1700 Baldwin Ave., Pontiac, Mich. 48340

(just south of Great Lakes Crossing Mall)

“The mission of the MEA is to ensure that the education of our students

and the working environments of our members are of the highest quality.”

Some Blog Weirdness, Updated

Do you see 2 rectangular outlines that are completely out of place here near the top and left side of the blog? If so, how do I make them go away? I did nothing. I haven't dealt with the template in a long time.

Why the weirdness?

Update: I'll tell you why the weirdness; it was all the Facebook Like Boxes. Blogger knows this is an issue but can't fix it. The only way to fix it is REMOVAL. So they've been removed. They still exist on their dedicated page which can be found under the Title banner of the blog --Facebook/BTR Links.

It's Passover, So I'm Being Lazy

That's not the only reason for the lack of posts.

I have been incredibly busy with a new project that is sucking all my time and energy, and I love it all.

I can't really give you any details other than to tell you it has to do with children, early childhood education, background knowledge, and bunnies. There's much more, but that's really the best stuff right there, don't ya think?

The project is prospective right now, but I have a feeling it will be made real. If it becomes real I will be able to realize a dream.

Some of the details, once revealed, will surprise you, impress you, and make you jealous, but in a good way. Regular readers know me and my 'bent' and I can tell you, this thing fits me perfectly. I just need to make it happen. I can, I have support, and I WILL make it happen. And it will be awesome, for not only me. I have the shivers.

So, I am very happy, busy, excited, but still broke. I don't really care though. All will become good.  Soon.

Thursday Cartoon Fun: Strip Search Edition

Students Need Parenting To Succeed

Watch this short video of a grandmother's dedication to the education of her grandchild, then tell me how anyone can put the onus of "educating our kids" solely on teachers. Please.

Jim Marshall Of Marshall Amplifiers, R.I.P.

James Charles "Jim" Marshall, OBE (July 29, 1923 – April 5, 2012), known as The Father of Loud or The Lord of Loud, was an English businessman, and pioneer of guitar amplification. His company, Marshall Amplification, has created kit used by some of the biggest names in rock, producing amplifiers with an iconic status. Marshall received an OBE honour for "services to the music industry and to charity". Marshall has been listed as one of the four forefathers of rock music equipment along with Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover.

Occupy NEA Run By Jerks, Updated

Occupy NEA is a newish Facebook Community Group asking for NEA folks to tell the leadership how to better serve their members.

They are doing this by banning people; they banned Sahila Changebringer and me, in a heartbeat.

They suck. If you "Liked" them you may have made a mistake.

The admin is a guy named Tommy Flanagan, and he's a hypocrite. Please lay it on thick and heavy over there and get this guy to open up his page, or we will try to shut it down.

Jerk.

Update: You can join the Actual Occupy NEA if you would rather.

A Teacher Poem

The New Ideal Teacher - A Poem

The New Ideal Teacher
By David Lee Finkle

The new ideal teacher
Is driven by data,
And kids become points
On her test-score schemata.
Winnie is a "1" and must be forced to make a gain.
Theo is a "3" and that's a score he must maintain.
Freddy is a "5"; there's no more room inside his brain.
The new ideal teacher
Wants things she can measure;
If it fits on a chart,
Then it's something to treasure.

For the new ideal teacher,
It's shame or it's merit.
She's caught in between...
Well, a stick and a carrot.
The scores control her destiny, for better or for worse.
If scores are high, then there could be more money in her purse.
If low she might discover her career is in a hearse.
The ideal teacher's wallet
Is empty or padded
Depending on value
Deducted or added.

The new ideal teacher
Does not plan her lessons.
Her classes are all pre-
Fab learning-gains sessions.
Today is lesson thirty-seven; tomorrow's thirty-eight.
Page by page the pacing guide ensures she won't run late,
Just like the teacher down the hall and in some other state.
Original thought
She's been taught
To self-censor.
She pops lessons out like big Pez dispenser.

The new ideal teacher
Doesn't question or query.
She does as she's told;
She's compliant and cheery.
When someone says, "It's best for kids!" she'll never even blink.
When she is told her pay's been cut, her spirits never sink.
When buried under new reforms, she'll never raise a stink.
She'll teach critical thinking
From a book off the shelf,
But she never would think
She might think for herself.

The new ideal teacher
Can prioritize:
She puts first things first,
And she won't compromise.
Good test scores are number one; they lead to higher pay,
Which, of course, is number two-- more money makes her day.
Fidelity is third: give her a script; she'll never stray.
The new ideal teacher
Is stalwart and steadfast.
The system comes first,
So her students come dead last.

The Real Mr. Fitz

Earl Scruggs: R.I.P.

Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for perfecting and popularizing a three-finger banjo-picking style (now called Scruggs style) that is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. Although other musicians had played in three-finger style before him, Scruggs shot to prominence when he was hired by Bill Monroe to fill the banjo slot in his group, the Blue Grass Boys.

Wikipedia