I have tried several times to begin blogging more frequently. Unfortunately, I have failed on each occasion. This summer I plan to try again, however I wish to not just blog more often, but post more often with relevant and high quality posts.
I will be updating several of my websites that contain educational resources; maybe…just maybe…I can combine the two endeavors into a lasting behavior.
Rock and Roll 0
by John • History, Life, News • Tags: 1970, Velvet Underground on July 16, 2011
“Rock and Roll” by the Velvet Underground. A remarkable film for a remarkable song.
I was too young to appreciate the Velvet Underground when they originally released their albums during the 1960s. Besides, I seriously doubt that they were given air time on Australian radio at the time.
In 1974 or 1975 my older brother Paul bought the album “Rock ‘N’ Roll Animal” by Lou Reed. During the concert Reed and his band performed “Rock and Roll”. I was hooked.
Later, during my first year at university I met a chap named Paul who was a fan of Reed, the Velvet Underground, Iggy & The Stooges, Radio Birdman and similar artists. Paul had an amazing collection of live recordings of these performers on cassette tape as well as an impressive collection of albums. He allowed me to borrow a copy of one of his Velvet Underground LPs and I heard “Rock and Roll” in it’s originally released form. It blew me away. You can hear it as the soundtrack to the short film in the YouTube video above.
The song was originally released on the Loaded album in 1970. I have since collected other performances of the same track by the Velvet Underground, both live and in the studio.
“Rock and Roll” is one of those songs that makes me stop. It takes precedence at that point in time. It defines the moment. It defines me.
Another fantastic post from an Educator that I follow on my social networks. Not only am I a big fan of this post because I like the Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, but John publicly shows the human side of educators. John often posts ideas on his blog that are not directly related to formal school learning, but fit more of a life experience/cultural genre.
As an educator in the United States we constantly hear from administrators, politicians, and unions to be cautious, even fearful, of social media. I myself am still guarded as to what I post on my sites; sticking mainly to straight educational tips and topics.
This needs to change, we as Educators need to show students, parents, and anyone who is watching that we have a human side. We need to use the forum of social media as an informal educational tool. Pique the curiosity of others by exposing them to ideas and concepts they may never otherwise experience.
Yesterday, May 19, 2011, we ran a little experiment with a Color Nook in our High School Library. I had a couple students who were using the devices as eReaders test several tasks. I should have tried this before, but it is sort of hectic right now.
The students jumped on the Internet using the web browsing app and were able to log into Google Docs and edit documents. The next step was to log into Edublogs and post to the class blog, which was easily accomplished. This creates another option for mobile technology in the classroom. With ever shrinking, or straight out disappearing budgets in public education, the more options the better.
‘Kelsey’s CHRISTmas’ brings smiles to kids
December 31, 2009
“Kelsey’s CHRISTmas” is a holiday collection and distribution effort conceived by 17-year-old Kelsey Andrews in memory of her sister Kristin, who lost her battle with cancer in 2007.
“This year’s ‘Kelsey’s CHRISTmas’ left the staff at UPMC?Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh speechless,” said Joan Andrews, mother of Kristin and Kelsey.
This article is over a year old, but still very relevant. We took my daughter to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for a check-up last week, it was one of two regularly scheduled trips there each year. Since it was during the holiday season, she was given a teddy bear from one of the nurses, compliments of St. Jude’s and she received a set of pajamas too. The pajamas were in a ziplock baggy with a label, “For Someone Special From Kelsey’s CHRISTmas.”
Being naturally curious, I Googled “Kelsey’s CHRISTmas” and found the article. It is great to see that this was at least the second year in a row that something was organized for the children and staff at the hospital. There was no other information about the effort, I even checked Facebook to see if there was a group. I just wanted to say, “Thank You,” and bring attention to the efforts of those who put this together. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
In the spirit of full disclosure, when I am in Geneva on the Lake, Ohio, I focus on few things besides the beach and the lake. One is Capo’s Pizza, I grew up eating it summer after summer and I consider it tops anywhere. The other, I added another pizza to the list, Sportsters. It was a 9 inch pie for three dollars. We added pepperoni and my daughter was very happy. They run a special on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
Much to my wife’s pleasure and my consternation, she snapped a few pictures of me not only eating the pizza, but enjoying it. Oh well, Capos does not open until later in the day during the week, so we could not have eaten there for lunch anyway. I must begrudgingly admit, that there are now two pizzas I can enjoy when up in Geneva on the Lake.
My daughter is almost 16 months old. She truly is a miracle and we are very lucky to have her. I sit and watch her add daily to her repertoire of tricks and knowledge, it is truly amazing. My daughter loves to play on the computer. She will walk to either the laptop or desktop and gesture to be picked up to access the keyboards. My daughter is an avid typist, playing with the keyboard pushing buttons and watching what happens. I have published some of her typing to my other blog, but I think I will post her work here in the future, it is a more appropriate setting since she is learning. Once, as she was typing on my laptop, she reached rather quickly and grabbed my cold cup of coffee that was on the dining room table to have a quick drink while recording her thoughts down on the keyboard…I was quick enough to keep the coffee cup on the table and off the floor. Her reaction was to turn around and give me a big cheesy smile from ear to ear with a “gotcha daddy!” look. Now she grabs the mouse and acts like she knows what it does…I have read where kids like her will be more knowledgeable with technology by the age of 10 than most adults today. She is able to scan the screen and point at items that pop up, she really likes the task bar at the bottom of the screen for some reason. I can not figure it out, but she is very attentive. She also loves to curl up in our laps with a book, but only if you let her turn the pages and go at her own pace. I hope to be able to keep up.
