Music for a Mid-Life Geek

Ahh, Monday. A day filled with dread for many of us. So we go to work and try to smile. You know, fake it till you make it. Don't worry Friday is just around the corner. Well maybe not just, but close enough to be seen.

For all my Canadian friends, happy Victoria Day... and my American friends... the next weekend is a three day one! So hang on and have some Freddie with The Great Pretender

Some Skynrd this morning. I hope everyone has a great Saturday!

We have long been supporters of Vampire Weekend. We love their poppy african rhythm inflected work. I know that it is all a bit preppy, and that is likely I have nothing in common with them, but damn, they make such fine little pop songs.

Today they release their third album, Modern Vampires Of The City. They have been releasing songs on YouTube for the last month. What I have heard so far is pretty good and we look forward to reviewing this album soon. Meanwhile, here are three songs off of the new release to get you started
AV Club review here...

From the late great Warren Zevon. One of his last songs. For all my loved ones. And as he told David Letterman in his last appearance on the show,  "enjoy every sandwich".

My mom & my brother, Tucker

Happy Mothers Day to all you mom's out there and especially to our own Diane, who is the greatest mom ever! Happy Mothers Day to my mom, too. And my dear Mother In Law.

I was thinking about Weezer's Buddy Holly... then I thought, why not Buddy Holly himself. Here you go, Peggy Sue!
And why not Weezer, too

I shared a video on facebook today that is making the rounds- a rant by a Dallas high school young man against his teacher. In it he says "You've gotta take this job serious," Bliss continued in the video. "This is the future of this nation. When you come in here like you did last time and make a statement like, 'Oh this is my paycheck' - indeed it is. But this is my country's future and my education."

The video has gone viral- and the school district has issued a statement that Bliss will not have any disciplinary action for his rant. They also placed the teacher on administrative leave pending further discovery. The school district said the way he expressed his concern could have been more appropriate, but they were taking him seriously.

My response was that- working with teachers every day- I thought a lot of them would have taken issue with the way he did this. It did sound disrespectful, and for a lot of people that is enough to stop listening.

But I felt we should listen - and listen well. This young man was frustrated, and passionate- about learning; about being taught- being prepared- being educated. Nothing to dismiss there.

I know the problem is complicated. I know that underneath it all- we should wonder why this is going viral. What is happening out there we are not paying attention to? The teachers are not the bad guys here- there are a lot of passionate, wonderful teachers out there that do teach. Listening to him should not be carte blanche to vilify teachers. The solution is not that simple.

Working in education I know sometimes that what comes down 'from the top' is not a real solution but a more complicated set of problems. I understand that the issue is complex. What I wanted to say in supporting this young man, and I do support what he said, is that we should at least see this as a place to begin a real discussion about the issues.