a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:27:54 PST

After installing and using Cyanogen Mod for about a week, I took plunge and flashed the ol’ phone again. Cyanogen Mod was bare bones… perhaps a little too bare bones. In fact so bare bones, I don’t remember the features (or lack thereof) that inspired me to make their mod my first flash. Perhaps it was that there directions were organized and laid out.

The second mod flash I mentioned above was one made by a Chinese group of enthusiasts, whose creation is called MIUI. Apparently their system has caught on worldwide with several translations into different languages, including English. Their installation directions, on the other hand, weren’t apparently clear for my situation but I dared at last to have a try.

There are quite a few features that I quite like:

When a new message arrives, I needn’t switch out of the current application in use: a little window with the incoming text drops down from the status bar, along with an input box for a quick reply. Upon sending the reply or canceling the notification, it was like my attention never left the task to begin with.
There are some tools that let you control data usage per application, whether they use 2G/3G or use Wifi or both or neither. A good way to limit usage.
There is another tool to cap you data usage per time period. This comes in handy with my plan.
I’m not much for eye candy, but it’s nice to change the theme once in a while. Not only can you change wall paper and the default things you expect, you can change fonts, lock screen functions and the like. There are plenty more eye candy that can be enabled or not. I choose not to keep it simple.
Quite clever indeed is battery status indicator. You may choose a graphical icon, text or a pixel thin line that runs the width of the screen above the status bar. This in ingenious. You can gauge more accurately than the icon and save the space that the text would take up in the icon notification area.
The camera’s flash will turn on to make your phone a torch (flashlight) by holding the home button on the lock screen. A wonderful homage to the ol’ Nokia brick phones with built in LED lights for those dark, unlit dangerously traversed locations.
The drop down notification area has an expanded toggle switch that I find invaluable. A long press with get me to the extended settings for the function.
Long press the home button and you get recent apps, something present in the original firmware but expanded to include a longer history and some shortcuts to application task management.
The file explorer is quite handy. There are several tabs to browse you SD card: Browse (by file types/formats like ‘music’, ‘pics’, ‘docs’, ‘zips’, etc), Browse by standard folder view, and start an FTP server to browse remotely over your wifi connection.

There are some things that I got used to really quickly while using the stock HTC rom and miss, and some features that are just not quite right:

I miss their built in calendar.
The clock in the MIUI rom does support more alarms, but they didn’t include a stopwatch or timer function. (Downloaded an app to remedy that, but a little strange/annoying that with all their apparent work, the didn’t include something as simple as that seems…)
Several widgets for various applications outright don’t work.
I use my GPS like an addict. Sometimes with all the application switching and enabling and disabling of hardware, the GPS cuts out. I usually reboot the system or tweak the various software switches and I get it back.
The camera function seems a little less smooth (a bit jerky) than the HTC, and a little rough around the edges. It may be missing a few features as well… (but I can live with it.)

In the future, I’m sure try out another system, but until then, I’m content with MIUI. (And patiently awaiting their next creation!)

North Face Flurry

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:14:36 PST

One of the schools I work with frequently bestows gifts to their staff (I say ‘their staff’ because, in effect, I do not qualify as ‘staff’.) An explanation is in order. First, their staff’s salaries are quite low for teaching at such a prestigious institution: recently the government decided to hold true to its communistic values declaring that all teachers, whether here or there, experienced or less so, should have equal salary. The sounds of jaws dropping at such a notion could be heard through the halls. They also are forbidden by contract to teach outside of their school which, despite all intentions, happens anyway. Here is the plight of the best of the best, the most skilled and once highly paid, now forced to equally share in the fate bestowed upon them.

This episode of life I playfully named the North Face Flurry.

As a snowstorm might sweep in from the north, certificates appeared like gentile snowflakes fluttering down from the heavens. But as we know, each snowflake is unique. And this is where our analogy stops and amusement begins.

Each morning for about two weeks a different teacher in the office would show up with their North Face purchases. Proceed to the ritual of everyone else in the office comparing the design, the color, and the price. Each day another person would be the center of attention, each day the routine would proceed accordingly.

The ironic nature of the whole experience is that most of the people in the office don’t wear that style of clothing, most would not have bought the articles if it hadn’t been for the certificate, few, if any, have ever done any serious trekking (myself included) and, with fashion- is it fashionable if everyone is wearing it? For most it was a symbol of status, expensive clothing that cost the average person a month of salary or two or three.

And perhaps I am a hypocrite because I, too, was the end recipient of some North Face clothing- but not the actual certificate. Quite frankly, there was little desire for me to end up with an expensive jacket. I’ve already three more than I need in the closet. Added to this fact is that I couldn’t possibly show up wearing the same goofy outfit as everyone else. Instead of a practical jacket like everyone else, I almost went for a Russian top hat (apparently called a Hoser Hat) but in the end decided that I might offend people if I make light of this treasured gift certificate experience.

Short story made long story made short- if you stumble into an office and everyone is wearing outdoor hiking gear, and these people don’t look like your typical outdoor enthusiasts- congratulations, and welcome to my upside down world. (In other words, there’s no point to these rambling save to amuse myself either now or in the future.)

Android Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:59:41 PST

For my birthday last year I got a new phone. This was the first *expensive*, non-inherited, new phone I have received/bought in China. Ashamed to mention the price, I won't mention it. But we'll just say it's not anywhere near the $20 of my low-end (but wonderfully function, minimalistic) Nokia brick phone, which I don't hate on one bit.

Long story short, when I heard that Nokia's Symbian OS was retired, I cried. I'm a huge Nokia fan and I hate to see such a reliable system go. I swore by Nokia (sometimes even swore at them when their reliable system wasn't so reliable- but for the most part *by*). So... I figured time to look elsewhere.

I dabbled with the iPhone, but it sucks. It's great but it sucks. Kinda like Sony makes great products but they suck because everything is proprietary. That kinda suck. Good stuff if the world revolved around the company...

Without much research or previous usage, I dove head-first into the Android world. Stupidly (or quite cleverly) I paid full price for a retail HTC Incredible S from the Sunning Electronics store in town. Sure I didn't get the discounted phone that fell off the back of the truck into the black market electronics district, but the full priced phone I got wasn't sold by the phone company and was right out of the box without a questionable history. Well worth it. Why?

I was easily able to tweak the phone. This being said, HTC put together a wonderful stock phone that I used for a week with pleasure. Sort of. Most of the software was loaded for the average Chinese user, and a lot of features were blocked in China.

Once my courage mounted, I rooted it without difficulty and from then on was able to do a lot of fun things. Last night I flashed a custom ROM (Cyanogen 7) that will hopefully reduce a lot of the waste and add feature missing from the stock ROM. Plus it has a pretty logo- a skateboard riding robot. That's hard to beat! So far so good, and no disasters yet. I'm in the process of reinstalling the applications, and backing up my old HTC ROM in case I decide to switch back. I might try another popular Chinese based system (that has caught on world wide if I get the nerve. Still can't decipher whether or not my phone is supported.

Well. That's it. I just wanted to remember to myself this experience. Hopefully this phone will last me until the electrons depart it's malfunctioning body. Or until the phone company decides I need something new. I'm gunning for another five years but more likely it'll be five months.

S'moot'h Point

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:00:06 PST

Today's title is brought to you by lack of intelligence. You see, I may have already said my piece about this piece. To be sure the computer ran a little search. I asked it to find posts that had 'moot' in it. In all sanity I knew that I didn't write 'moot' in my last post yet, the search query returned my last post. I forced myself to click on it, and when I searched the page for 'moot' I came up with this:

Blah, blah blah blah smooth blah blah blah blah blah... blah blah.

Serves me right.

Anyway.

Onto moot...

Students very often ask the question, "May I come in?" after they have already entered the classroom. I mean really- if I say no, are they going to stand outside or stay inside anyway? All they are doing is disrupting the classroom flow. Perhaps they are trying to show respect. If it's the case, I advise them to show up on time or don't shop up at all. I dunno. But it's a complete waste of their breathe and everyone's time, this little exchange.

IMHO... moot

Open 'er up!

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:49:38 PST

~~Yesterday~~ The day before yesterday, December 31st I finally got the chance to really open her up. Traffic was abysmal yesterday, with Nanjingers leaving town for the three day holiday. I visited some relatives in the southern part of the city- they just had a new baby boy so we said hello and dropped off the red pocket money. Getting there took nearly an hour or so, and that was at two thirty in the afternoon. Dare we head back through the city during rush hour on a holiday? I dared not...

This was a chance to hop on the toll roads that surround the city. It was my first time driving on one of these things and I have to say- Damn are they nice! They feel nearly pristine, as smooth as a river stone, almost freshly paved it seemed like. Traffic was almost non-existent- I felt I was on a snowy freeway in Sweden (minus the snow plus the pollution) rather than in populous China.

With no traffic and a safe road, I was able to top out at 110! (kph, not mph which is about 68) haha! I didn't top out per se but I didn't want explode the little 1.6L engine that could either! Plus the posted speed limit was 120 so there you have it.

About the scenery: I couldn't see any. Apparently a lot of the pollution in Nanjing comes from those factories I saw in operation along the freeway. Puff, puff, puff out came the black smoke visible against the grey sky. I prayed the engine did not explode, forcing me to breathe the air outside my bubble of a car.

Long story short: I sped around the city on a toll road, slightly longer distance and made it back to my humble abode in suburban Nanjing in under 30 minutes (in contrast to an estimated 1h30m through the thick of it).

That may have very well been the best $2 (15元)I have splurged to use a road (I take it back: it definitely was!). Thank god the masses are not willing or able or in the know!

Frozen Cement

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:58:45 PST

Freshly poured concrete on a below freezing day. The street is smoking!!!

Jason and the Argonauts

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:12:01 PST

Today for Greek Mythology class, I'm going to show my students the 1963 version of Jason and the Argonauts. I've only managed to review the first thirty minutes, but it should be excellent for them to experience. In middle school, my class watched this and it must have remained in the dusty, cobweb corners of my brain. The stop-motion animation paired with epic Greek adventures should tie together nicely. The English is simple, clear and crisp. Subtitles will help with the difficult stuff. Aside from introducing them to a classic fantasy film, it'll help soften the blow of the coming final exam next week...

What for?

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:32:29 PST

Something to read.
About education and the reasons for university.
An opinion that presents some points generally overlooked.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/what-is-college-for/

On Birds and Feathers

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 01:20:44 PST

I now have a deeper understanding of the saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."

Birds not of a feather have a difficult time flocking...

;)

...or do they?

Perhaps a revision is in order:

"With or without feather,

birds flock together."

Dream Humor

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:33:35 PST

It came to me in a dream, and for some reason I find it funny.

The Universe as a Fractal

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:00:00 PST

Imagine that the universe repeats itself as a fractal, infinitely similar throughout different scopes and perspectives. Imagine that the earth is just a cell, nay, a particle in the larger picture of the universe. Imagine our universe is just empty space in some larger organism, reducing humans to something which we currently have not discovered, cannot measure, cannot fathom, and therefore have no equivalent in our own experience.

A good word to focus on: perspective.

Teachers' Homework

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:59:00 PST

On an off day, one of those you wish you could just blend right into the woodwork:

Fie! Those [foreign?] teachers are at it again. Disrupting my morning breakfast at the Golden Arches... granted I probably shouldn't be eating there anyway.

Harmless as could be, there I sat eating my mis-ordered double chicken (apparently my 'chicken' sounds like 'pork' OR the fact that I'm rocking an expanding beard, combined with the expansive cultural knowledge of my moderately salaried, most likely university graduated fast food server, curtailed my mistaken foreign identity from consuming a properly spoken 'pork'... Ok, most likely the second hypothesis is reading too far into the situation... but within the realm of plausibility) breakfast sandwich. My headbuds were in to enjoy simple tunes with a simple meal so I didn't hear them approach.

They were two students, most likely of the high school or university age. Before I knew what was happening, I was helping them with their 'homework' which apparently was to take a picture with a foreigner.
I have some thoughts on this:let's just say that after living here for mire than five years, the whole 'foreigner' thing is getting a bit old. It's enough with the stares every day, but unsolicited conversations and photographs put me over the top.

At least they asked. I pretty much had to oblige, don't want to come across as mean, but I wonder how a Chinese-Chinese in this situation would act. I mean... once two jackassess turned around on an escalator, saw I was a foreigner, pulled out a cell phone camera, took a photo, all while I was looking directly at them. The bastards didn't say hello, didn't even smile, and then turned away, ignoring me completely. In a word, disrespectful. And exactly the reason why I never take photos of people while traveling in foreign places, unless I have their consent.

So bah humbug, and let me go about in peace. And a little food for thought for Chinese out there: if every third person you saw walking down the street stared at you, stopped you 'to practice their oral Chinese' or screamed out hello in Chinese because hey, they see that you are Chinese looking and most likely speak Chinese- ask yourself: how many days it would take before you grew tired of excess attention?

So... back to the main theme at hand. In theory, the homework seems like a good idea, but the ratio of Chinese to foreigners is nowhere near even. And teachers, I'd like to point out that all foreigners don't speak English. Yes, hard to believe, but still true. One reason for me to pick my French back up: I can pretend not to understand while spitting out French, leaving the excessive interaction with random strangers at an impasse.

Evil, I know. But it helps my digestion...

Rediscovered

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:38:13 PST

Last week I came across some teaching preparations I had done from a year ago, sometime around April or May. As I leafed through the notes, I stumbled on some of my thoughts on a particular day. It doesn't seem that I shared it (with myself for my own sake later down the line)- I'll do so now:

No ambition to drive me sane
No desire to fit the mold
To be normal, to be the same
Push or pull, choose your vice
Society uses you to her own device
Neither grow nor shrink
No time to pause
No time to ask a question
Or reflect on things that are
We go and go but do we get that far?
Where are we going?
Why don't we want to stay?

Day Awakening

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:26:10 PST

the deleterious nature of recent weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 08:00:01 PST

recently my body has taken a beating. first, my nose was broken while playing football. the first game of the season, the first ten minutes- and bam! out with a broken nose. i'd like to thank the newly arrived british exchange students who at kickoff asked for a clean and friendly game.
the week following the initial break, i was off to see a doctor. he proceeded to use what seemed like medieval techniques- basically giving me topical anesthesia while positioning the bone back into place. the five minutes performing this 'operation' on my nose was excruciating. so much so that i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. it fact, aside from the excess blood and initial shock, the original break didn't really hurt; the day after the break i was able to to work and it was almost impossible to tell that my nose was broken aside from it being a bit larger. contrast this with what happened after the doctors visit: both eyes were swollen shut and i couldn't even think. i stayed in bed all the next day.

a few days later while foolishly walking around the house barefoot, i managed to somehow catch the nail of my left big toe and proceed to rip it completely off.* alright, i lie. it didn't rip completely off. it just ripped off the right side and base leaving a nice hinged nail able to open from the left side. i left it on for a few days hoping it would reattach itself but, long story short, it didn't. i got out the hedge trimmers and went to work, nail clipping as much as i could which was pretty much all of the nail. a rather good job i must say. so far, so good- no ingrown nails.

from nose to toes
anything goes-
tack a whack
it'll grow back
god only knows

ask a lizard in a blizzard
when the hail disconnects his tail
escape i did, is what he'll say
he surely lived another day
to tell the tale of his gizzard

-deleterious indeed

*note from the injured author: consider yourself spared the gruesome photograph of the mutant digit. my cellphone that triples as a phone-camera-stereo is currently and rather happily (should electronics ever have the capability of emotions) fulfilling its 'stereo' personality. it can't be bothered with at the moment...

'pass' on the pong, but I'll have more soup please

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 08:00:00 PST

Earlier this week there was great excitement in the office about a ping-pong tournament. Normally I, being of foreign status, stay outside the realm of mindless banter but somehow I found myself deep in the midst of the commotion. Yes, I can play table tennis. Yes, I'm pretty good. I was invited to join our office's team.

Throughout that day, though much effort was put into finding the exact day, time and location of the tournament, these facts remained a mystery. Several calls between classes were made to the organizers but to no avail. I was passively interested, mildly excited.

Today I decided to bring my ping pond paddle with me to school. I even brought balls. Why not be prepared? What luck! As it so happened, the tournament was today. But unfortunately the matches were to be in the afternoon, when I had my classes. It was to start during lunch, and the way things tend to go, there was no way I would end up playing very long. Ten minutes is not enough to enjoy oneself, let alone long enough to get warmed up. Dreams of exciting drop shots and high speed bouncing balls faded into a more placid image. In fact, I was more relieved than disappointed.

When lunch rolled around I just disappeared without comment, avoiding awkward conversation about the afternoons activities. I headed to the canteen. I even stopped to use the restroom along the way. I wasn't in any hurry.

I arrived at the canteen, and, against my better judgement, I went to the second floor. I know from past experience that the first floor is crowded and hectic, but usually one can get food quickly there despite its chaotic nature; mostly middle school students are on the first floor.

The second floor. Several years ago, the second floor had a counter designated for teachers. This is no longer the case. Several years ago, the second floor had a dining room designated for teachers. This, too, is no longer the case. I get in line behind the dozen or so students who are in front of me. These are high school students, some of them are my students.

Many other teachers jump the queue, or cut in line, to get food sooner. I understand this in two ways: one is that they are busy and they have to eat and then head back to the office to take care of stuff; the other way may have to do something with respect for the teachers. Maybe. I often don't understand the Chinese mentality and its dichotomous nature. So I wait in line. I'm not comfortable with putting myself ahead of others. I like to practice what I preach, at least some of the time. While I wait, I recall someone telling me that in Chinese culture, those younger than you eat first, or eat first when there isn't enough, or something like that. I feel better about waiting. But am confused by the teachers actions in regard to this wisdom.

I must have waited five minutes, maybe ten. People seem to be coming and going. I look behind me but there are only a few behind me. I wonder how this is possible. Oh well.

As the end of the line becomes the front, it is obvious that choices are dwindling. The line next to mine has all but evaporated it seems; there is no more food being served at that lunch window. When I arrive at the front of the line, there isn't a choice. Lunch today will be one serving of vegetable in contrast to two servings, and the main dish which is chicken. Two girl students, one of which says something, incites a chuckle among those present, myself included. "I guess we'll be having meat," she says in Chinese. It's not something one normally laughs at- it's just one of those moments when someone says what everyone else is thinking- despite its disappointing nature.

The price of lunch is decreased from seven yuan to five yuan. I take an extra bowl of free soup to make up the difference in food quantity as even my helping of rice appears to be less than the usual amount.

The room that once upon a time was reserved for teachers was in all aspect of the word- used. The stools were is disarray, the tables littered with scraps, the floor wet with spilled soup, and people where these weren't. I found a table slightly soiled and settled in. Nose to the grind stone, I ate my meager meal. Once or twice I looked up to catch a breathe from the stare of my meal. Instead of my meal's, I caught the stare of my students, to whom I quickly flashed a wave in their general direction before diving back into the few grains of rice I hadn't managed to scoop with my two sticks.

When I finish, I am still hungry. But less than before, so I contemplate- it will be alright. I return to my office, and to my desk. The brisk air of the day in concert with the blood rushing to my stomach leave the rest of my body chilled so I put on my puffy black down coat. I lay my head on my arms on the desk and plan a twenty minute nap and, as a Chinese student recites a text to his teacher in German, I take my Thanksgiving nap.

Idleness

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:00:03 PST

Idleness is sometimes misunderstood.
We are often so 'busy' that we don't think and/or are unaware of our surroundings, actions and even our own thoughts and desires. When we are doing 'nothing', we are in fact doing something, though usually passively.
Great value can be attained by a state of inaction, a state of active reflection and active observation.
In fact, we can often learn more by 'doing' less. As a society today, it seems, we are less carefully observant than before, less aware of what we do or are doing.
Stepping back, doing 'nothing', and being still might provide helpful insight into our lives.
We ought learn in school the skill of idleness for it is a useful tool few possess.

Party- and it's various meanings

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:00:03 PST

An epiphany:
A student excused herself from my class because she had to attend a communist party meeting.
Is a communist party fun...?
From my students' reactions, they are not.
Ironic, n'est-ce pas?

Concrete Hopper

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:00:02 PST

Took the wrong bus one day. Ended up walking instead of paying for another bus ride. Came across a massive grasshopper on the concrete sidewalk. It wasn't interested in budging, so I indulged myself: we two posed for a photo.
It appears small in the photo but it really is large, larger than I'm accustomed to at any rate.
A fine discovery on an autumn day.

A Mounting Odor

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:00:02 PST

As a climb the steps to class, the foul stench of the restrooms pervades my senses. Each of the six floors has its own unique scent but they share more in common than are separated by difference. The thick fog today- truly fog rather than pollution- does not aid in my effort to grasp a breathe of air. Without too much excess labor I reach the apex of my journey, though am not rewarded with the height's usual vista.

too much thinking

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 08:00:11 PST

Each week, my students get a 21st Century newspaper. Seldom do I get my hands on an English language newspaper, so I usually indulge. A quick flip through the paper nets me a handful of articles worthy of a read. It's actually a great tool for the students- I wish there was something similar for myself as a self-study Chinese language student.

But back to the topic of today's post: Too Much Thinking.

The article in the paper hit the the nail on the head. I snapped a photo of a paragraph (seen above) that contains a gem of truth: "... they have to worry about students who complain about being made to think too much." They being the professors, of course, the students university students.

I suppose that students have always been complaining. That probably hasn't changed much over the course of history. But what did you expect when you enrolled in, and paid for university classes? My generation expected to 'think' when they went to class, not surf the net, check Facebook, or watch Youtube videos of people doing rather [adj.] things. And we were expected to think outside of class too, at least some of the time ;)

Higher education, from what I've read (sorry, I should give you some links but well, it's 5am...), wasn't intended or designed for everyone, not intended for mass consumption, not intended for people who object to thinking, and thinking critically. This might explain some of the objection to the mental exercise.

I'd also wager that there has been an education inflation taking place, due to the deflated value of the degree. Simply put: when teachers don't have to placate their students, quality will be higher; when teachers have to kowtow to students 'needs', quality may drop.

Perhaps my view is influenced by having sat through boring lectures with nothing to do but listen. Maybe I'm jealous not having had mind-numbing entertainment just fingertips away while attending mind-numbing education. But maybe what I'm getting at is that if it comes too easy, what is it worth? If you show up to class, don't pay attention, don't think about it, don't find it difficult yet still ace the class you're either a genius or not learning anything you didn't know before. If the latter, you've been bamboozled out of both money and an education...

The article I read seemed to be referring to students in the US but in my experience, it may as well be applicable here in China. Also, I find the title of the article humorous. The part about inspiration might be useful: who doesn't like an inspiring, charismatic educator? I'm all for that. But "Profs who inspire and challenge students"? Sounds like the challenge is sitting still, focusing, and thinking.

Heaven forbid we would have to think...

~peace~

Symbolism

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:00:10 PST

I did a lesson on symbolism this week for all my classes, both high school and university. There's nothing like watching the same music video over one hundred times to make your week complete.

But to be honest, the more I watched it, the more details I enjoyed, much of what I was trying to get the students to notice. The music is not bad, the storyline in the video is dramatic and scandalous but what can we expect in our day and age right? But the symbolism is unbeatable and there is nuance aplenty!

Several years ago I found an awesome blog called No Fat Clips which reviewed short clips, music videos, indie productions and the like. It was an amazing teaching resource with high quality download links to the videos (in multiple formats even!) And as a lot of the productions were indie, the themes and topics were more, how do I say it? ... interesting. Very good for the learning environment.

The sad part of the story is that the blogger stopped updating his blog. I've pretty much gone through all the posts and snatched anything I might conceivably use in class. I may try emailing an inspirational email to convince him to start back up. Sounds like his computer crashed... but by now it ought be fixed, right?

;)

~peace~

dreeee-ee-eee-am dream, dream, dream

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:00:01 PST

These past three nights I've had the most vivid dreams:

Two nights ago, I was the survivor of a nuclear detonation. I, with several hundreds of others, managed to survive a nuclear detonation that exploded in the sky above us. We were in a stadium of some sort, across from the large lake here, which in real life is next to the train station. My roommate from France also survived and a math teacher from high school may have been in the dream as well. It was a surreal dream experience, quite eerie and words fail to capture the emotion, something between sad and desperate.

Last nights' I don't remember.

And I just woke up from one where I missed my flight at 7:08pm. I was trying to hike up to a temple in Malaysia I think. I was barefoot and climbing up a twisted path that was at times nature, at times a mix of civilization. I realized that I forgot my wallet so I had to run back down the mountain to the car, at which point I realized that I might miss my flight later that night. I also remember taking photos at the base of the mountain of some houses or ruins that had the face of a friend printed all over it (actually his "ancestor's" face. By the time I got back to the car, it was 7pm and I had 8 minutes to get to the airport which was about an hour a way. I think driving was a part of the dream too- before I got to the mountain's base, I parked on the side of the road (which reminded me a lot of California 253.)

I'm not certain what they mean, but I'm looking forward to the fourth installment if it is to be...

a techno rhyme about time

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 23:00:05 PDT

commuting to work on my bicycle one morning, i thought about friendship, communication and technology. i sometimes order my thoughts into goofy nuggets. i so inspired myself that i bought a funny little notepad (pictured above) to record my epiphanies lest they escape being remembered. i kept adding verses and ended up getting less playful as it went on. it didn't get finished but that will be attempted directly:

Once upon a time, we had it [the time]
To sit around and chat.
Nowadays we point and click
Instead of doing that.

We'd rather read a book called Face
Than greet friend face-to-face
We cyber stalk acquaintances
And update virtual space.

Who did what with who?
And how and when and where?
The key to this enigma
is actually BEING there.

You may say, "Now dear poet-
I've friends afar and wide,
Technology helps me close this gap,
To bridge the great divide."

In agreement I might quip
About quality and benefit:
"Ease of use and instant on
Free of charge- you can't go wrong!"

Yet seldom do you make that call
To pals who lived just down the hall.
And worst of all these sad mistakes
A call to grandma failed to make.

The benefits wrought by technology
Oft result nothing shy of apathy
"I'll get in touch tomorrow, see-
Procrastination hasn't hold of me."

So easy 'tis to get in touch
Just one more day- what's the rush?
A day turns into two or three
A week, a month, a year- you'll see

A chance encounter with a friend
Now it's time to make amends:
"Hey, how are you? Long time no see!
Things have been hectic, always busy!"

But as you utter lies through teeth,
you recall his last nights' Tweet.
Your friend had mentioned a new band
Whose album is now grasped in hand.

You wonder if he'll realize
The awkwardness of your spoken lies
Will he connect the dot to dot
And put you in your rightful spot.

He says "How strange! You ought to know
Last night I saw that very show!"
You blush: "No way?!" in faux surprise
And seal the moment of your demise.

Oh yeah, that's right... he invited you!
Declined his e-vite you did do
Now here you are red hand in jar,
Time to retreat this verbal spar.

"Well, got to go!" You hear you say.
"We'll meet and play another day!"
False promises and empty words
You sing like spring-time morning birds.

Take heed of what you do and say,
A Latin phrase: seize the day!
Spend your time with friend and kin
Don't succumb to e-magination [sic]

Because one day you may decide,
You're far too old to rectify
All the time you didn't spend
With your family or your friend.

Perhaps it's them, perhaps it's you
Cemetery one day riding to.
No comfort will you find in hearse
And this is where we end our verse.

And a few verses that stylistically didn't make the cut but might run together into their own essence:

The sight of a startled stranger

The odor of an unkempt colleague

The uniqueness of a friends voice

The firm grip of a handshake

And the taste of a life spent in good company.

Remove the barriers to human sensation!

What is left but the shell of communication?

An abstraction of personal interaction:

Technology.

Not to get too uni-bomber on ya, but just wanting to note that technology is lacking in the human sensation sense. Something's missing...

Okay, out to get some exercise- a little football [soccer] on a wet pitch [field]. Hopefully others turn up... hate to be the only one there. Well, if nothing else I can juggle the ol' football a bit ;)

~peace~

where to begin?

noreply@blogger.com (Ice Gatorade) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:00:12 PDT

spoken at the beginning of class:

Have a seat:
In a chair,
On the floor,
Anywhere!

i credit my ramblings to dr. seuss' strong influence on my vocabulary and sentence structure...

;-)