Evanthia O. Rosati: So You Want to be an English Teacher (irascibleprofessor.com)
Teachers must deal with all kinds of pressure. Math teachers must know the method for finding an arc; how to solve algebraic equations; and the difference between a quadrangle and rhombus. Psychology teachers must know Freud's theory, and Jung's and Pavlov's, too. History teachers must know the dates of every war fought in every land since the Stone Age. No one, however, has a more difficult job than those of us who teach English.
Paul Krugman: The Madoff Economy (nytimes.com)
The revelation that Bernard Madoff - brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community - was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.
TOM DANEHY: Tucson's statue of Pancho Villa needs to get out of town! (tucsonweekly.com)
I came across it while doing research for one of those "Get Out of Town!" pieces. I had heard the story several times, but there it was, in black and white, and that somehow made a difference. It's next-to-last on a list of 73 men who were marched into the streets of the Sonoran town of San Pedro de la Cueva on Dec. 2, 1915, and gunned down in a hail of bullets that lasted for several minutes.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Problem-Solving (athensnews.com)
* As a young child, young adult author Chris Crutcher had a terrible temper. It was so bad that he would jump into the air and then land on his back - hard. His mother was worried about this behavior, so she asked her family physician for advice. Dr. Patterson advised her to keep one of Chris's wooden blocks handy, and the next time he pulled that stunt, to roll the wooden block on the floor exactly where young Chris would land. The ploy worked. Landing on the wooden block was so painful that Chris did it exactly once.
Caroline Kennedy has expressed interest in replacing Hillary Clinton as the junior senator from New York. Is she qualified and is she the best person for the position?
Which actor was named after a character portrayed by Steve McQueen?
A Josh Brolin
B James Franco
C Emile Hirsch
D Victor Garber
E Diego Luna
Source
Adam in NoHo was first, and correct, with:
A- Josh Brolin. I wanted to guess Victor Garber ('cause I already scoured
the IMDB trivia entries on the others for previous question, and never saw
this), but as much as we like him, he was to old for the question.
~ Tony In Philly responded:
A: Josh Brolin
Joe S ("I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth."
~ Steve McQueen) wrote:
A Josh Brolin. He was named after Josh Randall in Wanted Dead or Alive
Sally said:
I just knew it would come to this: Professor Charlie and me at High Noon - you count to three and we'll draw and fire... "Good Luck, Professor..."
Question dejour:
Josh Brolin (A) was named after a character ("Josh Randall" in the 1958 series, "Wanted Dead or Alive") portrayed by Steve McQueen.
Alan J responded:
James Brolin...
Marian the Teacher responded:
Josh Brolin
Jim from Ca replied:
Josh Brolin...
Charlie answered:
The first one is pretty easy, it's
A Josh Brolin
MAM said:
Answer . . . A Josh Brolin, who was named after the character 'Josh Randall' portrayed by Steve McQueen in the TV series "Wanted: Dead of Alive" circa 1958 -1961.
A video clip can be seen here.
And, Kappy, in Philly replied:
A. Josh Brolin....from McQueen playing Josh Randall in the western, "Wanted dead or Alive", from the late 50's - early 60's. Steve was always a favorite, and lately, Brolin is proving to be a great one in his own right, though time will tell.....
Four3 Two readers are tied with perfect scores for the current prize.
They are:
Charlie
Joe S Marian the Teacher
and, Sally P.
Here is tie-breaker question #5:
Fill in the blanks:
There is as much tryptophan in 1 gram of pumpkinseed protein as a full glass of milk.
Source
Joe S ("Waily, waily, waily! Aaaaaargh! Snivel, Whine, whine. I shoulda knowed it wasn't that damned Donald Duck!"
~ Joe S) was first, and correct, with:
There is as much tryptophan in 1 gram of pumpkin seed protein as a full glass of milk.
Sally said:
AND, TIE BREAKER QUESTION (which should be more aptly named, "Ball Breaker Question" today):
There is as much L-tryptophan in 1 gram of pumpkin seed protein as a full glass of milk.
PS: Just playing with you, Professor :)
And, Charlie answered:
The tie-breaker is a bitch, but I'll say
There is as much tryptophan in 1 gram of pumpkin seed protein as a full glass of milk.
Sally, deciding our relative merit in this competition is, perhaps, as silly as trying to choose between, say
Mozart and Beethoven,
Not to compare myself to them, I'm not in their league, to be sure (you may be). But, since I've always been a big sucker for girl groups, also compare
The Go-Go's and the Bangles.
Yes, I'm using this contest, whether I win it or not, which isn't very important, as an excuse to point at some links that I think are really cool. Please note however, that the Beethoven thing is 32 minutes long, and it isn't even the entire work. For the rest of it, see
Note, also, that Karajan was something of a Nazi, but Bernstein's politics were spot-on.
Here is tie-breaker question #6: (Anybody may answer, but only Charlie & Sally are in contention for the prize that was scheduled to have been awarded this past Monday.)
Fill in the blanks:
A novel of over ___?___ words, none of which contained
___(3 words)___, was written by ___?___.
Milk - In Limited Theaters Now - WIDE Release on December 12th
After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White's attempt to rescind his resignation from the board.
Mr. Milk had been the subject of several books and the Academy Award-winning documentary feature, The Times of Harvey Milk (1984); but Milk (2008) is the first fictional feature to explore private aspects of the man's personal life and career.
Milk was filmed on location in San Francisco. Many of Mr Milk's real-life surviving friends and former associates participated in the making of this film, several appearing on camera.
Prizes:
4 prizes in all - 3 first-prizes:
Levi's Canvas Tote Bag filled with:
o Hat
o T-shirt
o Soundtrack
o Milk: A Pictorial History of Harvey Milk
And, 1 grand prize:
Levi's Canvas Tote Bag filled with:
o Sweatshirt (made from recycled materials)
o Script Book
o Hat
o T-Shirt
o Soundtrack
o Milk: A Pictorial History of Harvey Milk
Really happy with this one but there are a couple images that I do not agree with, for example there is an image on a fence asking/saying what happened to our country from (guessing at the time) 5 years ago? Whereas one might wonder where it went after 30-40 or more. Turned out quite well outside of that I think.
CBS begins the night with the movie 'Elf', followed by '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night with a FRESH'Crusoe', followed by the FRESH infomercial 'WWE: Tribute To The Troops', then a RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
'SNL' is a RERUN with Josh Brolin hosting, music by Adele.
ABC starts the night with the chestnut 'I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!', followed by the movie 'Dr. Seuss' The Cat In The Hat'.
The CW here has LIVE'NBA Basketball', followed by a couple of old 'Friends'.
Faux has the traditional 'Cops', 'Cops', and 'America's Most Wanted'.
MY fills the night with the movie 'Out To Sea'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', still another 'CSI: The 2nd One', and 'The Sopranos'.
AMC offers the movie 'Posse', followed by the movie 'Jeremiah Johnson', then the movie 'Ride With The Devil'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 7
[12:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 8
[1:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 1 Ruby Tates
[2:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 4 Finn McCool's
[3:00 PM] Skins - Ep 18 Cassie
[4:00 PM] Gladiators - Episode 8
[5:00 PM] Gladiators - Episode 9
[6:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 2
[7:00 PM] Primeval - Episode 6
[8:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 5 The Poison Sky
[9:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 6 The Doctor's Daughter
[10:00 PM] The Graham Norton Show - Episode 13
[11:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 5 The Poison Sky
[12:00 AM] Doctor Who - Ep 6 The Doctor's Daughter
[1:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Episode 13
[2:00 AM] Doctor Who - Ep 5 The Poison Sky
[3:00 AM] Doctor Who - Ep 6 The Doctor's Daughter
[4:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Episode 13
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 39 Brown
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 40 Boyle
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of OC', another 'Real Housewives Of OC', and the movie 'Notting Hill'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again', followed by the movie 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For The Road'.
FX has the movie 'Christmas With The Kranks', followed by the movie 'Home Alone', then the movie 'John Tucker Must Die'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Banned From The Bible', and 'Beyond The Da Vinci Code'.
IFC -
[7:00 AM] Chop Socky: Cinema Hong Kong
[8:00 AM] The Hidden Fortress
[10:25 AM] Strictly Ballroom
[12:00 PM] Dinner Rush
[1:45 PM] Second Best
[3:15 PM] Strictly Ballroom
[4:50 PM] Dinner Rush
[6:35 PM] Gosford Park
[9:00 PM] Dr. T & the Women
[11:05 PM] IFC in Theaters
[11:15 PM] Body of Evidence
[11:15 PM] Body of Evidence
[1:00 AM] Kinsey
[3:00 AM] Dr. T & the Women
[5:10 AM] Separate Lies (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the movie 'The Scorpion King', followed by the movie 'The Lost Treasure Of The Grand Canyon'.
Sundance -
[04:30 AM] Chrystal
[06:30 AM] House
[07:30 AM] Kardia
[09:00 AM] Iconoclasts - Season 4: Bill Maher + Clive Davis
[10:00 AM] Unfolding Florence
[11:30 AM] Soar
[12:00 PM] Mr. Reliable
[02:00 PM] John Safran vs. God: Episode 8
[02:30 PM] Architecture School: Episode 6
[03:00 PM] Slings & Arrows - Season 3: Episode 4: Every Inch a King
[04:00 PM] Land And Freedom
[06:00 PM] Live From Abbey Road - Season 2: Panic at the Disco, David Gray & Suzanne Vega
[07:00 PM] The Hi-Lo Country
[09:00 PM] The Staircase: Chapter 3. A striking coincidence
[10:00 PM] All About My Mother
[11:45 PM] Bad Education
[01:30 AM] Soar
[02:00 AM] Spectacle: Bill Clinton
[03:00 AM] The Witnesses
[05:00 AM] Black, White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe (ALL TIMES EST)
Cast member Terence Stamp poses at the premiere of the movie "Valkyrie" at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles December 18, 2008. The movie opens in the U.S. on December 25.
Photo by Mario Anzuoni
Young Americans just aren't watching TV like they used to.
Put another way, the older you get, the more you watch, according to a report due out Thursday from Deloitte indicating that "millennials," the generation of ages 14-25, watch just 10.5 hours of TV a week.
That compares with 15.1 hours for those belonging to Generation X (ages 26-42), 19.2 hours for baby boomers (43-61) and 21.5 hours for matures (62-75).
Lest one assume millennials are shunning broadcast and cable in favor of watching DVDs on their TV screens, they're not. They spend less time watching DVDs of movies and TV shows on television sets, 4.8 hours a week, than do Gen Xers.
Alone among major Western nations, the United States has refused to sign a declaration presented Thursday at the United Nations calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality.
In all, 66 of the U.N.'s 192 member countries signed the nonbinding declaration - which backers called a historic step to push the General Assembly to deal more forthrightly with any-gay discrimination. More than 70 U.N. members outlaw homosexuality, and in several of them homosexual acts can be punished by execution.
Co-sponsored by France and the Netherlands, the declaration was signed by all 27 European Union members, as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries. There was broad opposition from Muslim nations, and the United States refused to sign, indicating that some parts of the declaration raised legal questions that needed further review.
According to some of the declaration's backers, U.S. officials expressed concern in private talks that some parts of the declaration might be problematic in committing the federal government on matters that fall under state jurisdiction. In numerous states, landlords and private employers are allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation; on the federal level, gays are not allowed to serve openly in the military.
US actor and director Woody Allen plays on the clarinet during his performance of the Woody Allen Star Team in the 'Kulturpalast' hall in Dresden, eastern Germany Friday evening Dec. 19 2008. Piano player at right is not identified.
Photo by Britta Engler
The Recording Industry Association of America said on Friday it had abandoned mass lawsuits against Internet users who steal music, and instead would work with Internet service providers to discourage piracy.
The RIAA, which represents major U.S. record labels, will have the ISPs send warning notices to users who illegally download music files.
Other measures will be taken against Internet users who ignore their first warning notice to stop illegally downloading music, and if those users continue they could find their Internet connections disconnected, the RIAA said.
The RIAA declined to say which ISPs had signed on for the initiative, and it said it reserved the right to sue Internet users who ignored the warning notices.
The mostly black-clad crowd goes wild in a frenzy of slam dancing to the music of heavy metal band Black Sabbath, played by Egyptian rockers on a placid bank of the Nile river.
Heavy metal musicians and fans, once branded as dangerous Satanists by the Cairo government, are making a quiet comeback in deeply conservative Egypt, where they are trying to avoid missteps that sent hard rock music to the gallows in the mid-1990s.
In the 1990s, hard rock concerts took place regularly and were packed with screaming fans, mostly wealthy or upper middle class youth. Homegrown bands such as Steel Edge, Cartoon Killers and Andromeda shot to prominence.
But that stopped when police arrested scores of fans in 1997, including some who languished in jails for weeks over accusations they belonged to a Satanic cult aimed at spreading drugs and sexual freedom.
Now you can test your pipes against Martina McBride and Elvis Presley in private, and if you like what you hear, you can share them with your friends via email.
As a promotion for "Elvis Presley Christmas Duets" album, Sony BMG Music Entertainment has created a Web site that allows you to record "Blue Christmas" as a duet with Presley, singing McBride's part from the album.
The site, www.singwiththeking.com, provides a phone number and access code so you can belt out your lines over the phone. If you're pleased with the recording, you can send it in a Christmas ecard.
Or, if you discover you sound more like Alvin and the Chipmunks than Presley and McBride, you can send the album version of the song instead.
A protester hits another protester, dressed in a George W. Bush costume, in the head with a shoe during a demonstration in front of the White House in Washington December 17, 2008.
Photo by Molly Riley
Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler is going to spend more time in rehab.
A court commissioner in Los Angeles agreed Friday to place Adler in a state-sanctioned drug rehabilitation program and keep Adler out of prison.
Adler's court appearance came a day after TV audiences watched him graduate from a drug-treatment program that is the focus of VH1's show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew."
Adler missed a court appearance last week, but told the court on Friday that he had been in another rehab program that he completed just earlier in the day.
Los Angeles police say they are investigating a burglary at a home owned by socialite Paris Hilton.
Los Angeles Police Officer Julianne Sohn says the break-in occurred around 5 a.m. Friday at a home in the Sherman Oaks area of Los Angeles. Sohn says detectives report that a man wearing a hooded sweat shirt broke into the home and ransacked Hilton's bedroom.
A Hoolock Gibbon look out from a cage along with a baby, right, in the state zoological park in Gauhati, India, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. Three Hoolock Gibbons were brought to the Assam state zoo from Shillong, Meghalay state for captive breeding purpose Thursday.
Photo by Anupam Nath
Prosecutors say Brad Garrett was provoked into pushing a paparazzo and charges won't be pressed.
The Emmy-winning actor was shown pushing a man with a video camera and challenging him to a fight in a video posted last month on celebrity gossip site TMZ.com *. The photographer claimed Garrett broke his camera, but continued to hold it up as if he was still shooting.
The confrontation occurred outside a restaurant in West Hollywood. The former "Everybody Loves Raymond" actor, who more recently starred in the Fox sitcom "'Til Death," was not arrested.
A charge evaluation report released Friday by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office says the paparazzo used "hostile and derogatory language" to try to provoke a violent outburst.
A transsexual singer has been acquitted of charges of criticizing mandatory military service in Turkey.
The law firm of Muhittin Yuzuak says Friday that their client, singer Bulent Ersoy, was acquitted during a hearing Thursday on grounds of freedom of speech. Ersoy is one of Turkey's best-loved singers.
Ersoy has acknowledged saying on television that if she had children she would not want them to join the army to battle Kurdish rebels who are fighting for self-rule.
The European Union, which Turkey wants to join, is pressing the nation to do away with laws that stifle free expression.
A snowman built on Kerry Park's wall is seen Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008, in Seattle. Thursday was no day to be on the road in Washington state as snow brought traffic to a crawl on streets and highways. In Seattle, the storm was ushered in by lightning and thunder.
Photo by Brad Vest
Modern-day sequels to Victor Hugo's classic "Les Miserables" have been allowed after a French court threw out a suit from the 19th century master's descendants, a lawyer for publishers Plon said on Friday.
After a years-long legal battle, the Paris appeals court ruled in favour of Plon, publishers of two novels based on "Les Miserables" by a modern-day author named Francois Ceresa, Plon's lawyer Paul Lombard said.
The ruling by the appeals court in Paris follows a claim by Pierre Hugo and other descendants against Plon and Ceresa, the author of two novels featuring popular characters like the abandoned waif Cosette or the student Marius.
That ruling was challenged by the publishers who said it contravened the principle of freedom of expression and the case made its way through the court system before reaching the final appeals court in Paris where it was heard last month.
The challenge was supported by the Societe des Gens de Lettres, an authors' rights group set up in 1838 by Victor Hugo and peers like Honore de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas.
Some things never change. Scientists said on Friday they had replicated an experiment in which people obediently delivered painful shocks to others if encouraged to do so by authority figures.
Seventy percent of volunteers continued to administer electrical shocks -- or at least they believed they were doing so -- even after an actor claimed they were painful, Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University in California found.
"What we found is validation of the same argument -- if you put people into certain situations, they will act in surprising, and maybe often even disturbing, ways," Burger said in a telephone interview. "This research is still relevant."
Burger was replicating an experiment published in 1961 by Yale University professor Stanley Milgram, in which volunteers were asked to deliver electric "shocks" to other people if they answered certain questions incorrectly.
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better,
amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican musicians?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
Joe S ("I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth."
~ Steve McQueen) wrote:
said:
