Yesterday while I was eating lunch at a restaurant I saw that former Los Angeles Rams running back Eric Dickerson was on ESPN. I couldn't hear the sound, but figured it had something to do with the NFL draft.
It turned out that the LA Rams not only had the first pick in the draft last night, but it was the first time in more than 20 years that the LA Rams where in the draft. Though the team was found in Los Angeles in 1946, they moved to St. Louis in 1995 where they became the St. Louis Rams.
There are a few things special about the above photo: first I took the photograph. I moved to LA in the early 80s and began working as a freelance photographer for Yary Photo while I was in film school. After I graduated I became director of photography there and was part of a small team of shooters who set up the portable bleachers and lights for the shot. When it came time to take the photo, I was the one pressing the release on the Mamiya RZ67 .
Another item of interest is Yary Photo was started by Ron and Wayne Yary who both played football at USC. Ron Yary was the Outland Trophy winner in 1967 (top offensive lineman) where he blocked for the eventual Heisman Trophy winner—O.J. Simpson. He went on to play for the Minnesota Vikings and was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001. The football field at Bellflower H.S. (where he played high school ball) is named Ron Yary Stadium.
The ticking clock is simply a device writers use to create a sense of urgency—in both the characters and the audiences. It's not found in every film and TV show, but there are plenty of examples over the years of stories across all genres that show it's something worthwhile to have in your toolbox.
Sometimes the ticking clock is used in a single scene and other times it basically spans the entire film.
Two examples that come quickly to mind are Back to the Future (1985) and Taken (2008). Situations where major stakes are on the line if such and such doesn't happen within in a specific time frame.
It doesn't have to be a literal clock ticking down (though it can be) but it must be clear to those involved (and those watching) that there will be dire consequences if some terms aren't met before a specific deadline.
127 Hours —A solo adventurer must find a way to get his arm released from being wedged in a rock crevasse before he dies from lack of food and water.
…and more recently The Martian.
Here's what the ticking clock looks like on the page from the Drew Goddard written screenplay The Martian (based on Andy Weir's book). This scene starts at page 16 after astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) survives being left behind on Mars.
Even terrific indie films Winter's Bone, Buried, and Ida have ticking clocks. Tv programs like Breaking Bad and Empire have ticking clocks related to the health issues of the lead characters.
Like any technique there are times when its use can seem heavy handed and forced—even a cliche. But that doesn't negate that in the right hands it is a time trusted (pun intended) way to produce a sense of urgency.
Remember in Saving Private Ryan when Tom Hanks and his troop are charged with finding (and returning) Private Ryan before he's killed on the battlefield? That qualifies as a ticking clock. As does finding (and killing) the shark in Jaws before it wrecks the town's tourist economy. And, now that I think about it, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, E.T. and Schindler's List all make uses of ticking clocks. So if Spielberg doesn't shy away from ticking clocks why should you?
British screenwriter Guy Hibbert began working on the script for Eye in the Sky in 2008—meaning it was an eight year journey to get the script written, the film produced and released.
The movie isn't going to set any box office records, but I can't imagine it getting some love come award season. Hibbert has won BAFTAs: No Child of Mine, Omagh, Complicit, and Five Minutes of Heaven. In 2009, he also won the World Cinema Dramatic screenwriting award at Sundance for Five Minutes of Heaven.
There he's been able to make a living. And fast forward a little more than 20 years since his writing career took off and I imagine you'll hear his name mentioned come award season for his script for Eye in the Sky.
There are many challenges involved when discussing current films from a screenwriting and filmmaking perspective. There's the danger of giving away spoilers, it's not a film that everyone has seen, it's not an award winner, it hasn't stood the test of time, there aren't writer and director commentaries to glean information from, and it hasn't yet been explored about in books.
So I won't say much about Eye in the Sky—except that it's one great example of superior filmmaking. In fact, I'll go as far as saying that it's one of my favorite films of this decade.
I won't say any more about it until a few months down the line, but kudos to screenwriter Guy Hibbert, director Gavin Hood, the producers, actors, and production team for hitting a grand slam. For creating that rare movie that is compelling, engaging, and thought provoking—even after you've left the theater.
I can't remember ever feeling more like I was a hidden character in the film, wondering what the right decision in that situation would be. And Helen Muran and Aaron Paul—brilliant.
So while I won't give away any spoilers on the film, I will provide 10 links to past posts that are buttons that I think the movie hits in terms of screenwriting, filmmaking & life.
He was born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis, but the world knew him as just Prince—or as the artist formally known as Prince.
And before Prince won Grammys and an Oscar Award (Best Song, Purple Rain), and before he was called the Prince of First Avenue (a nightclub in downtown Minneapolis), and before he sold 100 million records, and long before he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—he was just another little boy struggling to survive in North Minneapolis.
He grew up on the North Side inner-city of Minneapolis. His father was the leader of the Prince Rogers jazz trio and his mother—who was said by Rolling Stone magazine to have "traces of Billy Holiday in her pipes" sang for the group. They divorced when Prince was 10.
He went to John Hay Elementary school and in 1976 graduated from Central High School in Minneapolis. He cut his musical teeth performing at various venues in the Minneapolis area and recorded his first album in 1978. A decade later he was a worldwide music legend.
Though he spent time in other places like L.A. and Toronto, Minneapolis was his home. He eventually opened Paisley Park in Chanhassen south of Minneapolis, which is where he died this morning.
Plenty will be written about his musical genius, some about the controversies, but since I have a little blog called Screenwriting from Iowa…and Other Unlikely Places I'd like to just point out that a sense of place did play part in his success. From his early musical teachers, to the soul (and pain) of his childhood neigborhood, to those who supported his musical rise in the Twin Cities.
When I was living in the Midwest I did several video shoots in Minneapolis and worked with crew members who worked with Prince and enjoyed hearing their stories. There's no question that Prince was talented—and eccentric. I heard stories that Prince would sometimes do a mini-concert at Paisley Park for the crew after a production wrapped.
I also have a feeling that Prince produced a lot of videos and music that will only see the light of day now that he's dead.
And just to come full circle…I started this blog back in 2008 after seeing Juno written by Diablo Cody and learning she went to school at the University of Iowa and wrote the Juno screenplay while living and working Minneapolis.
One of the things that drew Cody to Minneapolis was a graphic designer/musician. (I don't know if she ever crossed paths with Prince in Minneapolis—but I'd bet the she would have loved the opportunity.) Anyway she wrote for City Pages and blogged until then-agent, now producer Mason Novick encouraged her to try her hand at screenwriting.
Which she did in the Minneapolis suburbs of Robinsdale and Crystal just a few miles north of where Prince grew up. (I'm all about seemingly unlikely places for talent to rise up.) But where Prince grew up is still a tough place. Here's a quote from a commentary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune just a few days ago.
Prince is going to be remember for long time. He'll probably always be the most famous person from North Minneapolis. President Obama tweeted about Prince, "Today we lost an icon." And while that's true, Prince lived a very full life before he even turned 30—much less the 57 years he spent on this planet. It would be nice to do something in Prince's memory that assures young people in North Minneapolis that they may not be famous—but they'll be allowed to grow up.
Make a statue of Prince—but build up and protect some lives, too.
When 19-year-old actress Jane Russell was shooting her first movie (The Outlaw) she complained to her director about feeling uncomfortable posing for some photos that a publicity photographer suggested.
And it will remain solid advice for as long as 19-year-olds continue pursuing acting careers. Way back when I studied acting I remember a young actress in my class being invited to the home of a "busy" producer for an "audition." When she arrived the producer wanted to know why she brought her boyfriend.
And you don't have to have Russell's 38-22-36 measurements, or even be an actress, or even work in Hollywood for that matter, to be put in an uncomfortable situation. So feel free to copy & paste the above quote and send it to whoever you think needs some direction from Howard Hawks.
Howard Hughes eventually replaced Hawks as the director of The Outlaw. Though Hughes had plenty of critics, and though it took him five years to eventually finish the film and get a wide release, The Outlaw became a box office hit.
Russell went on to co-star in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) with Marilyn Monroe, and not only survived Hollywood—but lived to tell about it in her book Jane Russell, My Path & My Detours. She died in 2011 at the age of 89.
P.S. A few side notes to The Outlaw is Walter Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) starred as Doc Holiday, and Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane) was the cinematographer for the Hughes directed parts of the movie. Jules Furthman (Rio Bravo, Mutiny on the Bounty) wrote the screenplay.
When I first stepped foot into Hollywood—the actual city in Southern California—at age 21 I'd had exactly one film history class. I knew very little about the history of Hollywood—that almost mythical place known around the world as HOLLYWOOD in greater Los Angeles where movies were produced that have entertained people around the world for over 100 years.
Keep in mind that my first time there was in 1982, not only long before you could stream movies on the internet, but even before cable TV and VHS were ubiquitous. The most common ways to watch old movies was to catch them on late night TV or at revival movie house (only found in larger cities).
Via film school and revival houses, books—and later video rentals—I quickly got a sweeping overview of film history and its cast of characters. Within two or three years I also found my way onto the lots at Disney Studios and Warner Bros. in Burbank and Paramount in Hollywood.
And that's a good a segue to the You Must Remember This podcast. Because a study of Hollywood history is one full of debauchery. In the past week I've listed to I've listened to podcasts on Lana Turner, (podcast #5) Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, (#14) Lauren Bacall, (#63) Eddie Mannix and George Reeves, (#61) Jean Harlow , (#59) John Gilbert, and (#66) David O. Selznick & Jennifer Jones, each one a different variation of the core life in Hollywood themes; drug and alcohol abuse, nervous breakdowns, suicides and suicide attempts, sexual and physical abuse, gambling problems, extramarital affairs & divorce, dirty studio & governmental politics, personal grudges, paranoia, the rise and decline of careers, and the occasional mysterious death.
And, of course, a trail of great movies.
At least from the You Must Remember This podcasts I've listened to so far, it's a reminder that happy endings are more common in Hollywood movies than in lives of Hollywood greats.


Randy Myers came kicking and screaming into life in 1962, making his entrance on the 19th of September. His country of birth is the USA and his hometown is Vancouver. Randy broke into the big leages on Sunday 6th October 1985. 25th September 1998 saw the last of Randy, and marked the end of his career.


text:
<?php
namespace Faker\Tests\Engine\Common\Type\Type;

use Faker\Components\Engine\Common\Type\AutoIncrement,
    Faker\Tests\Base\AbstractProject;

class AutoIncrementTest extends AbstractProject
{

    public function testTypeExists()
    {
        $utilities = $this->getMockBuilder('Faker\Components\Engine\Common\Utilities')
                          ->disableOriginalConstructor()
                          ->getMock();

        $generator = $this->getMock('\PHPStats\Generator\GeneratorInterface');

        $locale    = $this->getMock('\Faker\Locale\LocaleInterface');

        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        $this->assertInstanceOf('\\Faker\\Components\\Engine\\Common\\Type\\TypeInterface',$type);

    }

    //--------------------------------------------------------------------------

    public function testDefaultConfig()
    {
        $utilities = $this->getMockBuilder('Faker\Components\Engine\Common\Utilities')
                          ->disableOriginalConstructor()
                          ->getMock();

        $generator = $this->getMock('\PHPStats\Generator\GeneratorInterface');

        $locale    = $this->getMock('\Faker\Locale\LocaleInterface');

        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        $this->assertTrue($type->validate());

        $this->assertEquals($type->getOption('start'),1);
        $this->assertEquals($type->getOption('increment'),1);

    }

    //  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    /**
      *  @expectedException \Faker\Components\Engine\EngineException
      *  @expectedExceptionMessage Unrecognized option "aaaa" under "config"
      */
    public function testConfigBadValue()
    {
        $utilities = $this->getMockBuilder('Faker\Components\Engine\Common\Utilities')
                          ->disableOriginalConstructor()
                          ->getMock();

        $generator = $this->getMock('\PHPStats\Generator\GeneratorInterface');

        $locale    = $this->getMock('\Faker\Locale\LocaleInterface');

        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        $type->setOption('aaaa','bbb');
        $type->validate();
    }

    //  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    /**
      *  @expectedException \Faker\Components\Engine\EngineException
      *  @expectedExceptionMessage AutoIncrement::Increment option must be numeric
      */
    public function testNotNumericIncrement()
    {
        $utilities = $this->getMockBuilder('Faker\Components\Engine\Common\Utilities')
                          ->disableOriginalConstructor()
                          ->getMock();

        $generator = $this->getMock('\PHPStats\Generator\GeneratorInterface');

        $locale    = $this->getMock('\Faker\Locale\LocaleInterface');

        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        $type->setOption('increment' , 'bbb');
        $type->validate();
    }

    /**
      *  @expectedException \Faker\Components\Engine\EngineException
      *  @expectedExceptionMessage AutoIncrement::Start option must be numeric
      */
    public function testNotNumericStart()
    {
       $utilities = $this->getMockBuilder('Faker\Components\Engine\Common\Utilities')
                          ->disableOriginalConstructor()
                          ->getMock();

        $generator = $this->getMock('\PHPStats\Generator\GeneratorInterface');

        $locale    = $this->getMock('\Faker\Locale\LocaleInterface');

        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        $type->setOption('start','bbb');
        $type->validate();
    }

    //  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    public function testGenerate()
    {
        $utilities = $this->getMockBuilder('Faker\Components\Engine\Common\Utilities')
                          ->disableOriginalConstructor()
                          ->getMock();

        $generator = $this->getMock('\PHPStats\Generator\GeneratorInterface');

        $locale    = $this->getMock('\Faker\Locale\LocaleInterface');

        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        # test with start > 0
        $type->setOption('start',1);
        $type->setOption('increment',4);
        $type->validate();

        $values = array();
        $this->assertEquals(1,$type->generate(1,$values));
        $this->assertEquals(5,$type->generate(2,$values));
        $this->assertEquals(9,$type->generate(3,$values));

        # test with start at 0
        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        $type->setOption('start',0);
        $type->setOption('increment',4);

        $type->validate();
        $values = array();
        $this->assertEquals(0,$type->generate(1,$values));
        $this->assertEquals(4,$type->generate(2,$values));
        $this->assertEquals(8,$type->generate(3,$values));

        # test with non int increment
        $type = new AutoIncrement();
        $type->setGenerator($generator);
        $type->setLocale($locale);
        $type->setUtilities($utilities);

        $type->setOption('start',0);
        $type->setOption('increment',0.5);
        $type->validate();

        $values = array();
        $this->assertEquals(0,$type->generate(1,$values));
        $this->assertEquals(0.5,$type->generate(2,$values));
        $this->assertEquals(1,$type->generate(3,$values));

    }

}
/*End of file */

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Ashes Pub
A historic Adirondack tavern in Warrensburg, NY
Home History
Ashes History: Serving Warrensburg For Two Centuries
Our historic pub is located in an original six-room Italianate boarding house built in 1836 on Hudson Street near the old Warren County fairgrounds, most likely by Walter Baker, who also owned the nearby Baker House. With its upper rooms still rented to guests today, Ashes is reportedly the longest continually running hotel in New York State and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Ashes Pub is named for Henry Ashe, who along with his father, purchased the hotel and a surrounding 260 acres from Baker in 1888. Former President Theodore Roosevelt purportedly stayed there around 1890, among other notable guests. Ashe upgraded and expanded the building in the ensuing years, renaming it the Agricultural Hotel in 1906, as a nod to the Warren County Agricultural Society fair held there at the fairgrounds between Woodward and Lake avenues—also known as Ashland Park—each year until 1929.
Henry Ashe (Warrensburgh Museum collection)
Over the decades, the changes at the hotel continued. In 1922 a radiotelephone was installed in the hotel, and both guests and Warrensburg citizens alike flocked to Ashes to listen to the World Series for the first time ever. That same year, Maurice Ashe inherited the property from Henry, his father, upon Henry's death. Maurice changed the name again, to Ashe's Hotel, and continued to own the historic property until his death in 1972.
Maurice Ashe (Warrensburgh Museum photo)
After Maurice's passing, the Ashe family's 84 years of ownership came to an end, with the hotel going to Goldy Hitchcock. Through the '80s there were several owners, including James and Claire O'Neill, until it was purchased by John and Bob Abbale, who ran Ashes until it was acquired in 2016 by current owner the Lotus Group of Companies, the multi-business entity created by Warrensburg residents Ash and Jaime Anand.
Under the Anands' reinvigorating leadership, Ashes is now enjoying another new era in its nearly 200-year history. In keeping with Lotus' commitment to boost and improve the Warrensburg community, its new owners have made significant improvements to nearly all aspects of the building, including new flooring and a host of kitchen upgrades. The first floor of the building is now split between Ashes Pub and a separate space for Ocho Cinco Cantina, a new Mexican restaurant that opened in January 2019.
Ash Anand, CEO & President, Lotus Group of Companies
Even with all its changes over time, the building's unmistakable exterior still looks very much as it did in the 19th century. Stop in for a drink and some lively conversation, and maybe some fantastic Mexican food next door at Ocho Cinco Cantina, prepared by renowned chef Adam Bruce.
Spending time at Ashes is a rare opportunity to both step back into the past, while also experiencing this historic establishment's vibrant present and future!
View Ashes Historical Photos
[metaslider id="398″]
©2020 Ashes Pub

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Icons to bottom of li div I'm trying to get something like this:

It's a bunch of list items on top of each other.
Problem now is,
1) If I do position fixed and give them bottom 0 and a margin that they get pushed out once I resize the window.
2) Same thing for position absolute / bottom 0.
3) If I give margin-top it varies on the length of the vacancy, hence it disappears if the text is too long or is way too close to the text if it it short.
So my question is, how can I make sure that whatever size the box is and whatever size the div above it is it will always stay in the position like displayed below here.
My structure so  far:

        <% @vacancies.each do |vacancy| %>
          <li id="<%= vacancy.id %>">

                 <%= vacancy.city %>

                <%= image_tag("mcdo.png", class: "company-logo") %>

€<%= vacancy.wage%>/u

<%= vacancy.name %>

<%= vacancy.description %>

                <text class="jobtype">TEMP</text>

            <% @jobtype = Jobtype.find(vacancy.jobtype_id).name %>
            <%= link_to "", create_friendship_path(vacancy_id: vacancy.id),method: :post, :id => "Vacancy_#{vacancy.id}", :remote => true%>

        <% end %>

          <%= link_to image_tag("kruis.png", class: "kruis"), root_path %>

          <%= link_to image_tag("share.png", class: "share"), root_path %>

          <%= link_to image_tag("vink.png", class: "vink"), root_path %>

With css;
#tinderslide {
  margin-left: 0;
  margin-right: 0;
}

#tinderslide > ul > li {
  height: 400px;
  width: 75%;
  margin-left: 12.5%;
}

#tinderslide {
  background: none;
  height: 400px;
}

#tinderslide > ul > li > div {
  padding-left: 35px;
  padding-right: 35px;
}

#tinderslide > ul > li {
  border-radius: 4px;
  background-color: white;
}

.company-logo{
  display: block;
  height: 80px;
  width: 80px;
  border-radius: 50px;
  margin-left: 35%;
  margin-top: 15%;
  background-color: white;
}

.markervaca {
  font-size: 15px;
}

.loonvaca {
  font-size: 13px;
  top: 0%;
  right: 0%;
  margin-top: 12%;
  font-weight: bold;
}

#tinderslide > ul > li {
-webkit-box-shadow: 0px 1px 6px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0);
-moz-box-shadow: 0px 1px 6px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0);
box-shadow: 0px 1px 6px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0);
}

.bottom-left {
  color: #807E7F;
  bottom: 0;
  margin-left: 0%;
  float: left;
  margin-bottom: 2%;
}

.bottom-left-second {
  color: #807E7F;
  margin-left: 3%;
  margin-bottom: 2%;
}

.jobtype {
  bottom: 3%;
  right: 5%;
  font-family: Impact;
  font-size: 1.3em;
  color: #807E7F;
  float: right;

}

.location {
  top: 0%;
  left: 5%;
  margin-top: 15%;
}

.vacbeschrijving {
  margin-top: 5%;
}

.vactitle {
  margin-top: 5%;
}

.accept-or-deny {
    background-color: white;
    margin-left: 13.9%;
    margin-top: 2%;
    height: 65px;
    width: 67.5%;
    border-radius: 4px;
}

.kruis {
  height: 55px;
  margin-top: 4%;
  margin-left: 18%;
}

.vink {
  height: 55px;
  margin-top: 4%;
  margin-left: 50%;
}

.share {
  height: 55px;
  margin-top: 4%;
  margin-left: 33%;
}

A: Although you have not posted generated HTML .. Still try to give :
li { position: relative;}
.icon { position: absolute; left: 10px; bottom: 10px; }

for more understating read this concept
some more : example

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Behold The Bat-Shorts In Mikel Janin's New Bruce Wayne Design
Heroes are defined by the challenges that they overcome, and I think we can all agree that there are no greater challenges than those faced by the Batman. Over the past 77 years, he's saved the world countless times and foiled countless dastardly plots, battling some of the most sinister arch-villains of all time. But now, he is facing his single greatest challenge ever: Can he make wearing just underwear and black socks look good?
I mean, seriously, that's one of the classic all-time Bad Looks, but it seems that Mikel Janin, who's coming in as one of the artists on Batman after DC's "Rebirth" event this summer, has decided that now is the time for Bruce Wayne to redeem it. Check out his designs below and decide for yourself!
Of course, we can't just look at Janin's version of Batman in isolation. There's a history here, a shared universe! We need to be scientific, and I think the best way to do that is to compare Janin's version to other images of Batman without his shirt on. And fortunately, I keep a detailed file of Shirtless Batman photos for just such an occasion.
The most famous, of course, is the scene Neal Adams drew in Batman #244:
This has a pretty weird look itself, what with the fact that Batman took off his shirt and cape but left his cowl on for dramatic purposes. The other major difference is that Adams's Batman --- much like John Byrne's Superman --- is rocking a lot more chest hair than his modern counterpart.
For a more modern comparison, we can go to Chris Sprouse's version from Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne.
Here we can see that Batman has a little less chest hair, but a body that's sculpted a bit more like Janin's take. It seems to follow a natural progression.
As for whether this will be the new definitive shirtless Batman (and whether Janin will have as many excuses to draw Shirtless Batman as he did for Shirtless Dick Grayson at his previous gig), I'm still not sure. I mean, can we ever consider any drawing of Batman to be complete without his Batman-shaped kneepads? I suppose we'll have to make do with Batman-branded underwear instead.
Next: Celebrating Dick Grayson's Handsomest Moments
Filed Under: Batman, beefcake, mikel janin
Categories: Art, DC


Waitrose will become the new publisher of The Good Food Guide after buying rights from the company Which? for an undisclosed sum. Waitrose said …... Nine isle restaurants have been named in the latest edition of the Waitrose Good Food Guide. The guide highlights the best restaurants, pubs and cafés across the UK.
A RESTAURATEUR has defended a national food guide which left out Michelin–starred foodie favourite off its list of best places to dine in the UK.


text:
All posts tagged archeology
A Brief History of Music Pt 1
Posted by john hardin on March 5, 2018
Posted in: art, didgeridoo, education, environment, Humor, Music, philosophy, science, time.	Tagged: agricultural revolution, alcoholism, aolian, archeology, assimilation, athens, audiences, Beer, biological biodiversity, bone flute, brass, brasswind, cave painting, chamber music, chromatic scale, classical music, comics, cro-magnon, cultural relevance, culture, diversity, dorian, drunk, egyptians, Eraserhead, farming, flute, golden mean, Greek, harmonic, history, hunter gatherer, indigenous culture, industrial revolution, jimi hendrix, john Hardin, keys, locrian, LOL, luthier, lydian, microphone, mixolydian, mode, monochord, Music, music education, music philosophy, music theory, musical instruments, neanderthal, nile river, nile river valley, Obama, orchestra, overtones, percussion, photos, phrygian, physics, pics, precision machinery, prehistoric, pyramid, pythagoras, quotes, residential school, scale, scholars, singing, skeletons, slide, speaker, standard notation, stereo, stone tools, tape recorder, technological challenges, tetrachord, transformation, trombone, tuba, valves, violin, woodwind.	10 Comments
Scientists speculate that music preceded language in our early human ancestors, and that singing together in groups may have spawned the development of the earliest human language. I say "speculate" because very little of those ancient human cultures has survived the ravages of time, so we paint the portraits of these ancestors from the pile of stone tools we've recovered, some skeletons, and a few carvings, sculptures and cave paintings. Among those very early artifacts, however, archeologists in Europe have unearthed several bone flutes that they estimate to be about 40,000 years old, give or take a millennium or two.
Here we see the earliest incontrovertible evidence of music in humans, and it predates the earliest evidence of language by many thousands of years. We will probably never know whether these flutes were played as solo instruments, or what other instruments may have accompanied them, because instruments made of wood, skin or plant material would not have survived the eons, but we can tell what key they played in, and what their scale sounded like. Today, we can, pretty accurately, recreate the sounds of those early instruments because we understand the physics of sound and have made careful replicas of these early instruments.
In those days, however, people made music with whatever sounds they could make, and they must have thought about music differently that we do today. Anthropologists have not found any indigenous cultures which do not incorporate music. However, they have found that the music of indigenous people around the world varies widely, and that different cultures use music in very different ways and for different purposes. For tens of thousands of years, thousands of distinctly different ancestral cultures each developed their own musical tradition, along with their own instruments and scales, for their own purposes.
For indigenous people, and for our ancient ancestors, music was simply the audible portion of their culture. The song and the dance were not different things. Music entwined itself into these cultures in many different ways. Many cultures, including ours, use music for war. Nobody makes war quite like we do, but lots of cultures make music for it. Many cultures use music for healing and for medicine. Many cultures use music for ribald celebrations, but also for sacred rituals and magic.
In Australia, some cultures use music to connect their cultural history to the geography of the land in a way that allows them to navigate long distances, by song. We have plenty of evidence that indigenous people incorporate music into their culture in ways that civilized people simply do not understand. I think that this is an important point to make here. As I describe what happens to music as it becomes more "civilized," please understand that I do not believe that modern civilization constitutes an "advance" in human culture in any way, over any other way of life.
While music probably had a lot to do with the development of language in humans, I see no evidence that music gave us the idea to start farming. Adopting the farming lifestyle, was undoubtedly the stupidest decision in the history of civilization, and I believe that it was something our ancestors did when they were drunk. That's not to say that they didn't sing, and make music about that too, but in the cultural transformation that lead to modern civilization, we lost a lot of the world's musical diversity, as well as cultural diversity, not to mention biological diversity.
As early farmers burned the forests and exhausted the soil beneath them to grow grain crops to make beer, they displaced, and assimilated what was left of those indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures. Farmers destroyed the habitat that hunter-gatherer tribes needed to survive. When those indigenous tribes could no longer find enough game to hunt, they either starved to death, or went to work for the farmers and started drinking beer. That is the story of civilization. Ancient language scholars tell us that civilized farming people in the Nile River Valley, developed the first written language, primarily to keep track of people's bar tabs, establishing a tradition for civilized people that continues to this day. No longer do we hunt and gather. Civilized people build pyramids and drink beer.
Civilization became a melting pot where all of these, once functional, self-sustaining cultural entities, became assimilated by this new way of life. Through this assimilation, functional cultures get reduced to ethnicities. Through assimilation, a way of seeing the world, and all of the subtle knowledge about how to live in it, gets reduced to a recognizable costume, some quaint customs and a few catchy tunes or favorite recipes. This happened to thousands of distinct and unique human cultures as civilization continued to expand around the world.
Fast forward to about 2,500 years ago, in Greece, where Pythagoras has just discovered the Golden Mean by mapping the harmonic overtone series on his monochord. Ancient Athens must have been a pretty quiet place back then because a monochord, a simple, one-string, musical instrument/physics experiment, is not very loud.
Pythagoras would have had to listen very closely to hear the upper harmonics he mapped out on that string. By now, too many of us live in environments so loud that we probably would have never heard those upper overtones, had not Jimi Hendrix introduced us to them at earsplitting sound levels with his electric guitar.
But Pythagoras listened closely to his very quiet instrument, and by mapping the harmonic overtone series, he unlocked the key to understanding all of the different scales he heard in the folk songs sung by his slaves, or by the nomadic people who sometimes came through town, or of the songs he learned to sing as a child. These idiosyncratic musical idioms being all that was left many, once thriving hunter-gatherer cultures, that got subsumed by this new way of doing things.
The Greeks figured out that if they added five half-steps into their seven-note harmonically derived scale, they could recreate all of the folk scales they heard around them. In so doing, the Greeks gave us modes and keys and music theory and harmony, but the problem was, music theory was still mostly theoretical. You could dream of an instrument that would allow you to play music in any key, but in reality, you didn't have many options, except singing.
You can play a string instrument in any key, and you can tune a string to any pitch, but string instruments of the day were not very loud. A flute can make a louder noise than a string, but no flautist has enough fingers to cover twelve holes, as is necessary to play in this new, "chromatic," 12 tone scale, so Greek discoveries about music theory mostly presented technological challenges to future instrument makers and musicians.
I'm sure singers took it all in stride, and percussionists just ignored it, but besides changing the way we thought about music, the Greeks also gave us another way of looking at the world, and at music. Before Pythagoras and the Greeks, people happily played the traditional music of their ancestor's culture with traditional instruments, because that culture nourished them and kept them alive. After Pythagoras, however, the Greeks saw music in an entirely new way. People still played and sang old folk songs, but they began to think about music as something new and hi-tech, with serious potential for development. Music's appeal had transcended it's tribal cultural roots, captured the imagination of civilized people, and began to shape our vision of the future.
The Greeks ushered in the age of classical thinking, which eventually brought us the age of classical music. Since then, music has continued on two tracks. On one hand, we have folk music, what's left of our traditional indigenous music, as interpreted and expressed by their assimilated descendants, and passed on, generation to generation. On the other hand, the Greeks adopted this new approach to music, and taught it, along with geometry and philosophy as part of a classical education.
The Greeks taught music as a strict discipline, not unlike geometry or logic, but with an added emotional dimension, and they understood that learning to sing and/or play a musical instrument was prerequisite to understanding the important knowledge to be uncovered through the study of music. Thus, the classical approach to music education was born. Soon, little kids started carrying violins to school and quickly learned to hate practicing.
Over the following centuries luthiers rose to the challenge of developing louder string instruments that project a clear tone, and wind instrument makers developed mechanical contraptions to enable wind instruments to play the chromatic scale. Flutes and reed instruments sprouted a system of finely crafted keys that allowed players to cover several tone holes with one finger.
Most brass instruments added a few valves that lengthened the air column when depressed.
One notable exception, the trombone, evolved a continuous fast-action slide, allowing it to change pitch fluidly, despite inhabiting an increasingly fixed-pitch musical world.
The physics of sound are unforgiving, and the demands of music, uncompromising. Together, they motivated instrument makers to create some of the first precision crafted machines the world has ever seen. At the same time, musical scholars developed a way of writing music that all classically trained musicians learned to read, called "Standard Notation."
With these new precision instruments, Standard Notation, and a pool of classically trained musicians, creative composers could show off, not only their own creativity, but also the discipline of the musicians as well as the precision craftsmanship of the instruments, with a brand new form of musical expression that must have blown people's minds.
Classical music demonstrated the potential of this rigidly structured, strictly disciplined and precision crafted approach to making music, first in chamber music, then in larger ensembles, and eventually in huge symphony orchestras with more than 100 musicians. Classical music so wowed audiences with the seemingly magical potential of this classical approach to music, that it inspired the development of a whole wave of precision machines for every possible application, as well as the disciplined workforce that worked a highly structured schedule to create them. In this way, classical music inspired the Industrial Revolution, leading to the next major transformation in civilized society, away from the farm, and towards an urban manufacturing and service oriented economy.
As civilized humans, inspired by classical music, continued to produce ever more precise machines for more and more purposes, they eventually developed a machine that could faithfully reproduce, mechanically, a live musical performance. Suddenly, an event in time could instantly be transformed into an object in space. Eventually, we had machines that could reproduce music faithfully, and allow it to be edited after the fact, and we developed the means to amplify even the smallest sound to room-filling volume.
Having met the technological challenges that classical music demanded of early instrument makers, and having fulfilled the promise of classical music, by impressing audiences everywhere with tight harmonies, clear intonation and rhythmic precision, classical music then inspired a whole culture to go absolutely apeshit in developing new precision machinery for every imaginable purpose, including, eventually, the tape recorder, microphone, amplifier and speaker, which would eventually push classical music itself to the sidelines of cultural relevance.
That's enough for this week. Next week, I'll explain why classical music no longer inspires us as much as it once did, and why fewer of us know how to read music anymore. I'll also talk about how technology has changed the way we experience music and perceive the world, and finally, I'll talk about how music continues to shape our future, and why it continues to inspire me.
It's All About the Beer
Posted in: alcohol, drugs, economics, Humor, science, technology, wildlife.	Tagged: ale, ancient egypt, archeology, barley, Beer, beer in space, civilization, documentary, environmental crisis, farming, global climate change, history, how beer saved the world, mathematics, new testament, old testament, overpopulation, science, space, ur, written language, zymurgy.	1 Comment
If you've read this blog for a while, you know that I am not a big fan of civilization. I don't think civilization is an advancement, culturally, evolutionarily or technologically. Far from it. I have asserted that civilization has thus far been a 10,000 year wrong turn, and the biggest mistake in the million odd year history of humanity.
I believe we made that wrong turn, that dreadful detour to which we can trace all of the major crises that threaten our future, like overpopulation, global climate change, habitat loss, mass extinction, overfishing, etc. etc. to a historic period, roughly 10,000 years ago, known as "the agricultural revolution", a period in which humans began a major shift away from a hunter/gatherer nomadic lifestyle, and towards a farming lifestyle in which people were much more tied to a single piece of land.
I asserted, in the piece titled Hello, My Name is Civilization, and I'm an Alcoholic (worth reading), that the so called "agricultural revolution", as well as our entire cultural heritage since then, from written language, to the Old and New Testament, to science and mathematics, has been one disastrous 10,000 year drunken bender that resulted from the invention of beer.
If you thought I was pulling your leg, watch this documentary:
OK, now, the documentary claims that "Beer saved the World", but while it ignores that disastrous consequences of civilization, like overpopulation, the environmental crisis etc. they point to plenty of evidence that proves my point.
At the end, you notice that as they look to the future, they discuss the challenges of taking beer into space. They don't talk about how beer is going to solve global warming, slow down the exponential growth in human population or address the progressive desertification of planet Earth. No, instead they warn us that if we want to escape the hell-hole that our planet has become, we will have to learn to drink flat beer.
"Saving The World", according to this documentary, means drinking flat beer in space. I think that counts as one of those futures where the living envy the dead.
You be the judge. Do you think, as human beings, we made better decisions before the invention of beer, or afterward?
Hello, My Name is Civilization, and I'm an Alcoholic
Posted in: alcohol, animals, cartoons, drugs, folk art, food, science, time, wildlife.	Tagged: aa, addiction, alcoholics annonymous, alcoholism, ancient history, archeology, barley, Beer, civilization, culture, drinking, egypt, farming, fossil record, gathering, hunting, hunting and gathering, indigenous tribes, leisure, play, science, sumaria, ur, wheat, wild food, wild game, Work.	13 Comments
OK, I'm going to squeeze an enormous idea into a short, not too boring essay. Try to hang with me on this. Civilization began with something called "the agricultural revolution". That is, a fundamental shift from a hunting and gathering lifestyle, to a farming lifestyle. This farming lifestyle led to permanent settlements, which then grew into cities, and eventually, into the civilization we know today. The question is: Why did they do it?
To start, lets take a very long look at human history. According to fossil evidence, people just like us, have inhabited this planet for well over one million years. One million years ago, all humans lived in Africa, and all humans lived very much like the San Bushmen of the Calihari Desert live today.
The San are a "hunting and gathering" culture. They plant no crops. They tend no livestock. Instead, they hunt wild game and gather wild plants for food. They have no written language, but have a very rich oral tradition. Even though the San have been pushed into some of the most inhospitable land on the African continent, they only work about four hours a day to meet their daily needs. They rarely go hungry, and enjoy better nutrition and more food security than do the farming people who now surround them.
The San enjoy a lot of leisure time, which they spend telling stories, making music, dancing and playing games, among other things. They have a rich culture, and that culture contains over one million years of accumulated knowledge about how to live on planet Earth. That knowledge allows them to flourish in the middle of a desert, while the farming people around them, who have forcibly taken all of the good land, work long hours, suffer from poor nutrition, and often starve.
But one million years ago, there were no farming people. All humans lived a hunting and gathering lifestyle, not unlike the San. Over the course of the last one million years, hunting and gathering humans spread out over Asia and Europe, and eventually even Australia and the Americas. This spread of humanity happened at a glacial pace, but by about 40,000 years ago, damn near every place on Earth that would support human life, was, albeit sparsely, inhabited by humans. This slow spread of hunter-gatherer culture gave rise to the vast diversity of sustainable human cultures around the world, from the Inuit to the Yanomami.
40,000 years ago, humans lived all over the world, quite happily, as hunters and gatherers. I'm not saying that they didn't have problems, or that they didn't fight. They had problems, and they fought, but they didn't destroy the planet. They didn't overpopulate the planet. They didn't overheat the planet, and they didn't work 40-50 hours a week just to get by.
So, the question is: Why, among the thousands of indigenous cultures around the world, did just one particular culture in the Middle-East, reject the collective knowledge of a million years of culture, and begin farming?
Farming is a lot of work, and not much fun. Compared to hunting and picking berries, plowing a field with a rock tied to a stick must have seemed quite tedious. Why did they do it?
If you've got plenty of food, which fossil records tell us they did, why would you plant wheat and barley? Even more perplexing: Why would they sacrifice the habitat of the game animals and wild plants that had sustained them for eons, to clear fields for wheat and barley?
That is what happened, by the way. One particular culture in the Middle-East took up farming, even though they had plenty of food, and then proceeded to farm so aggressively and so passionately, that they completely destroyed their own habitat. They wiped out all of the game animals and wild plants that they had relied on since the beginning of time. What was their motivation? What madness possessed them? What did they get out of wheat and barley that was worth destroying the world for?
The answer of course is BEER. Think about it awhile. Many indigenous hunter-gatherer tribes drink fermented alcoholic beverages on occasion, usually following an abundant fruit harvest, but the founders of civilization, sought to make drunkenness a daily, rather than an annual event.
Addiction is a very powerful motivator.
Yes, all of civilization is a dysfunctional adjustment made to support an alcoholic lifestyle. Don't you think its time that we faced the fact that we have a problem?


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The Harry Potter Alliance is now hosting their 10th Anniversary Fundraiser, which ends in a mere 8 days! The alliance has done some amazing feats thus far, as they channel fans love for the boy wizard into real life, almost "magical" feats to improve our world. This includes donating 250,000 books for communities across the globe, sent cargo planes with supplies to Haiti, and more.
The fundraiser is up now IndieGoGo, and you can help in keeping the Hogwart's dream alive!
The Harry Potter Alliance (HPA) fights worldsuck in many of its most insidious forms, and we've been doing it for ten years now! Since 2005, we have organized campaigns in support of LGBTQIA+ rights, literacy, media reform, workers rights, disaster relief, genocide prevention, and much more. We've also created a worldwide network of fans who channel their love of story into real-world activism, advocacy, and charity. What can we achieve in the next ten years? The sky's the limit! Help us to continue building this movement with a generous donation today.
They are almost 80% funded, so close to their goal! Head over to their IndieGoGo page at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/harry-potter-alliance-10th-anniversary-fundraiser#/ and help the world and love the Harry Potter universe at the same time.


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Zachary Crain
'We didn't get it done': UNC men's hoops left with few moral victories after Virginia loss
By Zachary Crain | Jan. 12
Hubert Davis doesn't believe in 'moral victories.' He just hates losing — regardless of which expression you may use to describe the simple fact of being outscored by an opponent.
Second half run dooms UNC men's basketball in 65-58 loss at Virginia
The North Carolina men's basketball team (11-6, 3-3 ACC) lost to No. 13 Virginia (12-3, 4-2) on Tuesday night, 65-58, after senior forward Armando Bacot went down with an apparent injury early in the game.
Heather Diehl, Heather Diehl
Three takeaways from UNC's overtime win over Ohio State
By Zachary Crain | Dec. 18
The North Carolina men's basketball team earned its first top-25 win of the season on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, fighting back from a deficit to take an 89-84 overtime win over No. 23 Ohio State.
Makayla Key
Eva Hodgson looks to lead UNC women's basketball with her voice
By Zachary Crain | Nov. 9
Eva Hodgson has spent much of her basketball career in transition — transferring to the New Hampton School during her high school career and to UNC after a three-year stint at William & Mary — but her leadership and flexibility have earned her an "enormous amount of respect from her teammates."
Derek Peng
UNC men's soccer falls to Syracuse in the ACC Championship quarterfinal, 1-0
The North Carolina men's soccer team (8-5-5) had its short-lived ACC Tournament run come to an end against No. 4 Syracuse (13-2-3) on Sunday, 1-0, after an 86th minute goal from the Orange.
Sara Johnson
UNC men's soccer defeats Boston College to advance in ACC Championship
The No. 7 seed North Carolina men's soccer team (8-4-5, 3-2-4 ACC) defeated No. 10 seed Boston College (4-7-5, 1-5-3 ACC) in the first round of the ACC Championship, 1-0, to keep its season alive.
Dylan Thiessen, Dylan Thiessen
UNC men's soccer defeats William & Mary, 3-0, on the road
By Zachary Crain | Oct. 26
North Carolina's continued pressure in the second half helped secure the victory despite the Tribes' improved attack.
Dylan Thiessen
UNC men's soccer draws NC State on the road, 2-2
The North Carolina men's soccer team (6-3-3, 2-2-2 ACC) drew on the road, 2-2, against rival North Carolina State (4-5-3, 1-4-1) in a back-and-forth contest.
Samantha Lewis
UNC football's 45-32 loss to Notre Dame serves as barometer for the season
By Zachary Crain | Sep. 25
As North Carolina continues the fourth year of Mack Brown's tenure as head coach, the oft-cited measures of gradual improvement and elevating the program haven't yet fully come to fruition.
UNC football falls to Notre Dame, 45-32, for first loss of the season
The North Carolina football team (3-1, 0-0 ACC) fell 45-32 to Notre Dame (2-2) in Chapel Hill on Saturday after struggling in all three phases of the game.
By Zachary Crain | Jul. 21, 2021
UNC junior quarterback Sam Howell speaks at the ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday July 21, 2021.
More media »


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Homework for preschoolers? Aurora parents make the case
By Ann Schimke
The The Starting Line Newsletter: A roundup of early childhood stories from across the country. Delivered to your inbox every month.
A group of preschool parents from Aurora Public Schools made a surprising request last spring.
They asked administrators to give their 3- and 4-year-olds homework.
More specifically, they asked for a year-round homework calendar detailing things they should be working on at home with their kids — not hours of pencil-and-paper work, but rather daily activities with an educational twist. They also asked the district's Colorado Preschool Program Advisory Council to add a section on homework to the parent handbook.
These requests, which district officials have agreed to address, may sound unusual in an age when many parents and educators worry that inappropriate academic work is weaseling its way into kindergarten and preschool.
But they also bring up compelling questions about the definition and value of homework, and how those things should be articulated for both parents and teachers. They also raise the thorny issue of how homework resources will impact children whose parents don't have the time or ability to work with them at home.
Nevertheless, for Aurora parents active in the recent campaign, homework represents a commonsense approach to helping their children succeed in a district and metro area studded with race- and income-based achievement gaps.
"We're just looking for simple things," said Diana Castro, whose 4-year-old daughter Miranda attends the Jamaica Child Development Center. "Most of us, which are minorities, don't have access to printers and computers, so we don't really know what to do to help them."
The Aurora parents active in the preschool homework campaign came together through a nonprofit called RISE Colorado. The group, founded in 2012 by two Teach for America alumni and a third co-founder, aims to educate and empower low-income parents and parents of color.
More than 80 percent of Aurora students are minorities, about 70 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and more than one-third are English language learners. Districtwide, fewer than half of students scored proficient or advanced on state reading tests in 2014.
The preschool parents banded together last fall after RISE held education events at the district's preschool centers detailing the "opportunity gaps" children would encounter during their educational careers.
As the parents talked together about their biggest concerns, homework quickly rose to the top of the list.
There was no consistency, they agreed. Some teachers didn't send any assignments or activity suggestions home at all. Others did, but sporadically and they didn't always tie in to what children were learning at school.
Parent Sipinga Fifita-Nau described getting homework "here and there" last year for her middle child Lisia, who will soon begin her second year at Laredo Child Development Center. Sometimes, the mother of three turned to Pinterest to come up with activities for Lisia.
"With 3- and 4-year-olds you're educating them about the habit of doing homework," she said, echoing a sentiment voiced by several parents.
RISE co-CEO Veronica Palmer said while the organization coached parents on how to raise concerns, navigate district bureaucracy and join decision-making bodies, it was parents who spearheaded the homework charge.
Castro, who arrived in the U.S. from Mexico at age 15, said before getting involved in RISE, "I didn't even think about talking to the principal about these things that I wanted to happen."
The impact of homework
For older students, the research on homework is mixed, without clear connections to increased achievement. For the youngest learners, there's little data either way.
In part, it's a terminology issue. That's because what some people might call preschool homework — things like counting shapes around the house, thinking of words that start with "A," or reading books together — others would call "nurturing," "playing" or "spending quality time."
Kyle Snow, director of the Center for Applied Research at the National Association for the Education of Young Children, said "parent engagement" is the best way to think of homework at the preschool level.
"We know that engaging families in children's learning, helps child development," he said.
A 2013 report on parent engagement by the National Center for Children in Poverty demonstrated the positive effects of parent-led extracurricular activities. Things like playing alphabet games, telling stories, doing art projects, or visiting the library were associated with improved language, literacy, social, and learning skills in preschoolers. Similarly, parent-child activities like board games, counting, and comparing amounts of items, were associated with preschool math skills.
One potential drawback to these activities when they're framed as homework is the assumption they makes about parents' ability to comply. For example, notes or written materials sent home by teachers assume that parents can read proficiently, that they understand the language in which instructions are written, and that they have time to work with children after school.
District spokeswoman Patti Moon said homework calendar activities are meant to be easy and quick for parents to undertake.
Palmer acknowledged that some parents, perhaps some from the district's large refugee community, may not be able to read the homework calendars, but said they are a resourceful group likely to seek help from friends, neighbors or teachers.
In addition, with some parents already doing enrichment activities on their own, she believes the daily calendars will better equip the parents who weren't doing much at home.
"To me its closing the gap as opposed to widening it," she said.
Regardless of what form homework takes, Snow said districts should have homework policies for students at every grade level, including preschool.
"If there's no policy at all that's the worst-case scenario for everyone involved," he said.
While there are no current plans to establish a school board-approved homework policy in Aurora, Moon said by 2016-17, the preschool handbook will include "language about how individual sites support homework."
Homework in a cultural context
With Aurora students coming from more than 100 countries, it's no surprise that some RISE parents come to the homework debate with different cultural perspectives.
Kumar and Shova Dahal, who immigrated here from Nepal several years ago and have a 4-year-old daughter at Laredo, talked about the "homework culture" in which they were raised.
"Since childhood we have been bombarded by homework, no matter how small you are," said Kumar, who is a business development manager at an electronics company.
"That's how we grew up and we come here, it's a little bit of a shock," said Shova.
The Dahals said in addition to homework that aligns with school lessons, they want parents to be held accountable for ensuring it gets done—perhaps by having teachers check off the work each day.
Snow said both parents and teachers should be accountable to each other, but how that looks will depend on continuing conversations in the district.
"Homework is a product of the relationship between the school and the family," he said. "This all has to be driven by a dialogue about what the relationship should look like."
The response
School and district administrators say they are happy to work with parents on the homework issue and have them as members of the Colorado Preschool Program Advisory Committee.
Laredo's principal, Cynthia Andrews, said that when parents asked to meet with her in the spring she wasn't expecting homework to be their focus, but she's glad they brought it up.
"I love that they came to me," she said. "I knew it was important and knew … I wanted to start engaging parents more in those conversations."
She quickly convened a homework committee of about 10 staff members and is working with parents to develop a "homework brochure" that will describe what form preschool homework will take and what research recommends.
"We wanted it to be the right kind of homework, the things that are developmentally appropriate for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds."
Andrews knows that some parents might not feel it's rigorous enough.
"Even when we say this is our idea of homework, I'm not sure it will match their idea," she said. "I'm interested in seeing how it all plays out."
For now, the RISE parents are pleased with the results of their efforts. They say the summer homework calendar, published in both English and Spanish, and the eventual handbook language on homework represent a good start.
Perhaps even better was the reception they got from district staff—a bit hesitant at first, but ultimately receptive.
"They heard us. That's the main thing," said Shova Dahal. "They are really respectful of what we want for our kids."
Ann Schimke @annschimke aschimke@chalkbeat.org
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Campus therapy canines come to the rescue of homesick, heartsick, and homework-stressed Mac students.
BY LAURA BILLINGS COLEMAN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID J. TURNER AND ALEX TUBBS
On the morning after a stunning presidential election night, when searches for "the five stages of grief" started trending on Google, the student team behind Macalester's therapy dog program knew just how to start the healing process.
"We posted an old puppy picture of Kevin on his Instagram account, just to let people know he'd be on campus if they needed to see him," says Emma Burt '17 (Shoreline, Wash.), who regularly attends to Kevin, the flaxen-bellied therapy dog who has become a celebrity on Mac Social since the Petting Away Worry and Stress program (PAWS) started on campus last fall. The family dog of medical director Dr. Steph Walters, and the self-confident alpha in a growing pack of comforting campus canines, "Kevin's got a way of making people feel better just by being here," says Emily Johnson '17 (Waimea, Hawaii), another of Kevin's four trained student handlers. "And we figured it could be a busy day for him."
When the 80-pound pedigreed golden retriever clocked in for his usual Thursday morning session at the library—the same day President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team were making their first visit to the White House—more than 50 Mac students stopped by in almost as many minutes to bask in his golden glow. Some smiled from afar and called out his name (inspired by the rainbow bird in the movie Up). Others scratched his ears, or invited him to lean his large head against their legs. Still others, like Ellie Hohulin '19 (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), dropped down on all fours to bury her hands in Kevin's well-groomed fur.
"She's like Kevin's number one Instagram fan," her friend Eleanor Beaird '19 (Scottsdale, Ariz.) explains as she watches Hohulin and four other female students huddle over Kevin, as he lay prone on the library carpet. "I have allergies so I don't pet him myself, but I think I get a little something out of seeing him around anyway."
In fact, simply making eye contact with an engaged dog can prompt an increase in oxytocin, the bonding hormone that reassures humans that everything might turn out okay after all. "Dogs really do pay attention to the human face, and they can respond to emotional cues in a way that can give relief when you're feeling a quart low," says psychology professor Jaine Strauss. Petting nearly any animal can lower your heart rate and cortisol level, but the science also suggests that the finely tuned social antennae dogs have adapted over time can make them more beneficial companions than many you'll find on two legs.
"Studies have actually found that if you bring a close friend into the kind of acutely stressful situation that college students experience all the time, like an exam or an interview, signs of stress reactivity increase in the presence of friend, but are dampened with a dog," Strauss says. "The presence of a dog seems to offer a very nonjudgmental attention that provides all the benefits of social support, and nothing that hints at your deficiencies or makes you feel bad."
As colleges cope with a well-documented rise in student anxiety and depression, research like this explains why campuses from Harvard to Berkeley are easing up restrictions on campus pets, and unleashing therapy animals as a low-cost wellness strategy. At Yale University, for instance, law school students can check out a border terrier mix named Monty for 30-minute sessions. This fall, the University of Minnesota campus mourned the death of a 10-year-old therapy chicken named Woodstock, who had more than 1,000 Twitter followers.
At Macalester, "Dog Days" has been a campus tradition since 2006, typically attracting more than 200 exam-stressed students to spend quality time with a dozen or so campus-affiliated canines on the Saturday before each finals week. Service animals are always welcome on campus, while well-tended iguanas, hedgehogs, and other small pets are allowed to cohabitate in residence halls thanks to a fairly liberal policy on low-risk pets weighing under two pounds. (No ferrets or snakes need apply, however.) Though accommodations requests for emotional support animals have gone down slightly at Macalester in recent years, the campus pet trend is so prevalent there are even signs of a "backleash": Former New York City mayor Rudy Guiliani complained that college students who required such creature comforts after the presidential election were a bunch of "spoiled crybabies."
In fact, proponents of the [email protected] program believe the initiative is actually teaching students to be more resilient, as it demonstrates how reaching out to others, refocusing on the present, and taking time to recharge can reduce stress and provide some fresh perspective. "Before Kevin started coming to campus, I used to see students behind closed doors who were really homesick or sad, and I would think, 'I know a therapy dog who could really help right about now,'" says Dr. Walters. Seeing how positively her college-age patients responded to Kevin during his pilot year (2015-16) inspired her to seek out three additional certified therapy dogs to help fill the need—Murray and Finnegan, golden retrievers owned by communications department staffer Cheryl Doucette, and Leo, a rescued collie owned by special events manager Andi Wulff.
Last year, Kevin had an estimated 2,200 student interactions—effectively sniffing and circling nearly every student on campus. While he and his pack can't take the place of counselors when it comes to supporting students with real mental health concerns—a presenting problem in a quarter of all student visits to the Laurie Hamre Health and Wellness Center—they may provide some nonverbal encouragement for students to find the help they need. "I remember a student who stopped by right around mid-terms, gave Leo a hug, and suddenly found himself in tears," says Wulff. "He was surprised by his own reaction. But I think dogs help us connect in that way, and for that student, I think it was just such a relief to have an outlet for those feelings."
Julia Manor, a visiting assistant professor in the psychology department, says the evidence showing the stress-reducing connections between dogs and humans is strong—but humans could also return the favor by observing some simple rules of canine decorum. "No patting them on the top of the head—dogs really hate that," says Manor, an animal learning and cognition expert who has also worked as a professional dog trainer. "It's much better to scratch them under the neck or chest."
As primates, humans are hard-wired to hug, but for canines, "the basic message of a hug is 'I'm going to squeeze your neck now. Death is imminent,'" Manor says. "They do learn to tolerate it, but generally it's very rude." If a dog turns its back to you, goes stiff, disengages after a round of petting, or flashes the "whale eye" (opening the eyes wide enough to reveal the whites), you may be invading his space. "If you stop petting, and the dog approaches again, that's an indication that they're enjoying it and they want more," Manor explains. "A loose body, a loose wagging tail, and relaxed ears are all signs that a dog is having a good time."
Manor says there's even evidence to suggest that @PawsatMac's Instagram feed is helping to spread a healthy dose of Vitamin Dog to students who don't have face to fur encounters with Kevin, Murray, Finnegan, or Leo. "When you show people pictures of cute animals, they tend to report lower anxiety and less depression," Manor says. "It's a short-term effect, but there's some evidence that it works. So post more puppy pictures on Facebook and everyone will thank you."
More Student Life News
Unfiltered: Fall 2022
Senior year has arrived for the students in "Unfiltered," a series that asks five simple questions—over and over, each semester until they graduate.
"The Pain and the Possibility"
The Department of Multicultural Life led a group to explore the Civil Rights Movement's places, people, and lessons.
Congratulations, Class of 2022
Farewell, but not goodbye, graduates
Tournament Triumphs
Mac men's basketball experienced success and fan support during this year's MIAC playoffs.
Unfiltered: Spring 2022
We ask several students from the Class of 2023 five simple questions—over and over, each semester until they graduate.
Making the right arguments together
A team of students take the national Ethics Bowl title
Mac in the News
Macalester Today


Sorry if this is an inappropriate forum section, but I didn't know where else to post it.
I am creating a space game in Unity3D and I have some questions regarding scale. I wonder how space engine manages to deal with scale. In Unity3D you work with world coordinates to set the positions for your objects, but on the scale of the universe, you quickly run out of space (literally).
I wonder how SE deals with scale in programming and how it can load so many stars and galaxies at once.
The "world space" is probably procedurally generated each time you move your camera or selected object. There's no way you can store the entire universe in memory so you should go for a "local" approach.
I would tend to agree, but the "local" approach changes with scale. For example, inside a galaxy or globular, local is procedurally within visible magnatude (7 or lower). If you Shift+F3 and search within ... say 75 light years, you'll get a whole host of stars that should give your system a "hiccup" while it generates all the procedural items, even the ones you couldn't see (7.x and higher).
Outside of a galaxy, I've noticed that space-engine will populate the background to look like the local galactic group (not of stars, but of galaxies), with a background that's complete with intergalactic voids and superclusters of galaxies that looks similar (to my untrained eye) to the theoretical grouping of the CMBR imprint.
Now, one doesn't *have* to get this scientifically accurate, but even in intergalactic space, say we have a single star system by itself in the middle of nowhere, galaxies and galactic groups will form discernible patterns according to how plasma cools.
Most people who play a game though aren't in it for the scientific accuracy.
SE does show the large scale structure of galaxies with proper filaments and voids (though the distribution could be more realistic). The structure is not immediately obvious unless you fly at high speed and watch the relative density of galaxies around you (voids appear as long stretches of essentially nothingness), or increase the galaxy magnitude limit a lot (I recommend 17 to see it well).
You just have to realize that filaments and voids are a lot harder to discern in three dimensions from within (especially in true scale and brightness) than it is in a 2D slice as in most illustrative images.


Choose from our extensive library up to $20 worth of digital downloads. Choose and download your own learning and fun with this LeapFrog App Center $20 Download Card. The App Center offers even more ways to play and learn. Use the code on the included card to download learning games, e-books, videos and more to your Leapster Explorer or LeapPad Explorer systems (each sold separately). Total card value is $20.


text:
thesocialist
politics For a fairer world
Dead End Security
Posted on January 2, 2022 October 31, 2020 by thesocialist
Think back to George Bush in September 2001, standing on top of a pile of World Trade Center rubble, bullhorn in hand, with his arm around the shoulders of a true hero of the day, a New York City fireman. The country was in shock, the world was in shock, and President Bush said all the right things that most Americans wanted to hear. He said things like, "The people who did this terrible thing will not get away with it. They can run but they can't hide. We'll find them and kill them. Justice will be done." And all over the world, the leaders of most countries on Earth nodded yes, we're behind you, America. We sympathize with your loss and stand ready to cooperate with you in any way you want, to make sure that an event such as 9/11 never happens again. "Today," they said, "we are all Americans." It was a rare moment in history when the thinking of many nations were in alignment, and we blew it. The people who did it, in the main, DID get away with it - except for the actual 19 perpetrators of 9/11 who died in the planes. Osama bin Laden is still walking the Earth, enjoying his breakfast tea or coffee under the bright blue skies of Afghanistan or Pakistan.
He, along with the other planners of the destruction of the World Trade Center towers did run and did hide, and are still not found. They are being hidden by vast populations of people who applaud their acts, so it is unlikely that any of them will be turned in for the 25 or 50 million dollar reward offered by America, and this, in countries where annual income is counted in three figures. Talk about hearts and minds. So he did get away with it, and has seen his plan for the destruction of America almost come to complete fruition. Think back, Students of Terrorism, to his public announcement of how he was going to do it. He said it cannot be militarily because America has most of the guns in the world, and you cannot bring down airplanes by throwing rocks at them. Mr. bin Laden told us he'd destroy America economically, and he knows economics, having been owner and operator of one of the largest construction companies in the world. He told us that all he had to do was to burn a little piece of cloth that looked like the American flag, in any Middle Eastern country, and America would spend billions of dollars that we don't have and cannot afford, in that country, to find and kill the flag burners, the terrorists, the insurgents. He has done that and we have performed like puppets on a string.
He has caused us to spend one trillion dollars in these fruitless pursuits, and we are a bankrupt country now, partly because of this. So how did we blow it? On 9/12/2001, George Bush had the power to instantly create a network of nations all cooperating with each other to stamp out terrorism wherever it lifted its head. On 9/12, he could have called the leaders of all of those countries that were "with us," to Washington, and formalized that arrangement. Our armies could have stayed home and our State National Guards could have done what they were created to do, which was to guard OUR nation, not fight in someone else's. The fever of war would not have infected our country and we would not have fulfilled bin Laden's prophesy of bankrupting us. We would have been part of a worldwide effort to find him that would have had a better chance of success than sending in our armies to wherever he decided we send them. That never happened, and today, after nine years of war taking place over the horizon, thousands of miles from our shores, Americans are being degraded every day at airports by being stripped bare by an x-ray machine that effectively removes all of our clothes, as well as stripping us of our inherent right to privacy, in an unsuccessful continuing attempt to stop what is unstoppable. As John Kennedy said, just before his head was blown off, if someone was willing to die, you cannot stop them from attempting to kill anyone, including a president. But we will not understand this, so we build machines that may reveal a terrorist to his bare skin, but will leave us unable or unwilling to understand that unless we get past the skin and into his mind and motives, we will never be able to stop them from hurting us. It is as if a terrible wound has been inflicted inside the body of our country and we are bleeding to death, watching our young soldiers dying in strange countries, watching our liberties at home bleeding into the ground, leaving us a pale version of the robust, liberty loving, strong land we were in 1776, and, when someone notices the blood coming from our body, and says, "Maybe there's a better way?" we wave that away with a weak gesture and say, "I'm okay. I'm winning the war." It is a good thing to defend yourself. It must be done and must be done better and especially smarter. It is a bad thing to engage in an unending, perpetual War On Terror, which, by its own definition, is unending. It cannot have an end unless we can figure out a way to kill every person in the world who wishes us harm, and that is not possible. Obama is perpetuating and accelerating America's status toward becoming just another country, and him as just another politician. Where is the visionary person who can see into the heart of darkness of an unending night of war, to let the sunshine in?
Posted in world news
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text:
O Diretor de Comunicação Estratégica da Casa Branca é um membro sênior da equipe do Presidente, informando diretamente ao Presidente e trabalhando em conjunto com o Diretor de Comunicações da Casa Branca. Cargo vago desde 20 de janeiro de 2021.

O presidente Donald Trump formou o cargo no final de 2016, nomeando um dos seus assessores mais próximos e os primeiros assessores políticos, Hope Hicks, como a primeira detentora do país deste escritório.

As responsabilidades exatas ainda não foram claramente definidas, mas presume-se que incluam a aparência da mídia de coordenação, assessorando o presidente em mensagens e servindo como confidente em questões-chave envolvendo assuntos pessoais e na execução da agenda do presidente, uma extensão do papel que Hicks serviu na Campanha de Donald Trump e em sua transação.

Referências

Casa Branca
Escritório Executivo do Presidente dos Estados Unidos

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Five W's of Disney's The BFG
Friday, July 01, 2016 / Anna Catherine / 2 comments
WHAT is this film about?
"Ten-year-old Sophie is in for the adventure of a lifetime when she meets the Big Friendly Giant. Naturally scared at first, the young girl soon realizes that the 24-foot behemoth is actually quite gentle and charming. As their friendship grows, Sophie's presence attracts the unwanted attention of Bloodbottler, Fleshlumpeater and other giants. After traveling to London, Sophie and the BFG must convince Queen Victoria to help them get rid of all the bad giants once and for all." - IMDb
WHO is cast in this film?
The main character, Sophie, is played by newcomer Ruby Barnhill. From what I've seen in the trailers, I think she will make the perfect Sophie. The BFG is played by Mark Rylance. The only production I have ever seen him in is Wolf Hall, a BBC mini series, but he appears to be a seasoned actor and has worked with directer Steven Spielberg before in Bridge of Spies. I was most excited to see Penelope Wilton (known from Downton Abbey) as Queen Victoria. I know she will do an excellent job! Pictured above are Penelope Wilton, Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Bill Hader, director Steven Spielberg, Rebecca Hall, and Rafe Spall.
WHY should you see this film?
The last movie inspired by a Roald Dahl story was Fantastic Mr. Fox (which was nothing like the book, and I like to pretend it doesn't exist). You can't leave this branch of films on that note. The BFG has the potential to be as beautiful as the book. I think any Roald Dahl fan should give it a try.
WHEN is this film released?
TODAY, July 1,2016
WHERE is it playing?
A theater near you!
Will you be watching The BFG?
Anna Catherine, book adaptations, Disney, movies, Roald Dahl, Steven Spielberg
Heather July 3, 2016 at 10:11 PM
I really loved this book when I was a kid so I'm sad that it didn't do well at the box office this weekend.
Anna Catherine July 6, 2016 at 8:02 AM
It didn't? That's too bad. I really love the book, too. I just reread it this week.


MIAMI (WSVN) - Ten South Florida families received a surprise visit from Heat legend Alonzo Mourning, who went door to door with his wife Tracy to deliver full Thanksgiving meals.
The families from Little Haiti and Overtown were handpicked by Mourning and his team as some of the most deserving in the community, Thursday.
The visits were part of the Mourning Family Foundation's annual 33 Thanksgivings program, where hundreds of meals are distributed during Thanksgiving week.
"My kids understand the importance of giving back, and the beauty of that is truly understanding the impact that others have had on our lives and just having an opportunity to pay it forward," said Mourning.
This is the 18th year Mourning's foundation has taken part in these Thanksgiving donations, and he said he plans to keep it going for many years to come.
The Thanksgiving meal donations were made possible by the Mourning Family Foundation, Publix and FedEx.


If you can't see the embed, try the direct link.
Sad to see my childhood dentist died. Long time friends will remember how much I loved Dr. Tom, my dentist in lovely downtown Noho, but that's nothing compared to how much I loved Dr. Warmflash as a kid. I actually looked forward to going in to see him.
Not that I ever loved getting fillings, but he was so gentle and soothing. And as I recall they used the laughing gas for us really young ones while you being drilled so that helped. You got to pick a little prize from the treasure box at the end of the visit and I loved the Highlights magazine for kids in the waiting room.
Looking at the comment page attached to the obituary, I see I'm not the only one with fond memories of the good dentist. He had a loyal patient base that reached across several generations. A lot of people who saw as kids in the 50s. I even recognized one of the names.
Great loss to the profession. Aren't that many really great dentists in the world. Rest in peace.
I have a little collection of foreign soaps and matchboxes from my travels. The matchboxes are actually even better but I liked this little photo gallery of European soaps. Here's one. I have someting similar to this one from Belize.
More soap here and scroll down to the bottom of his page where there's a cute little moving graphic called "feed the fish." Usually hate moving graphics, but this one is a fun interactive and more mesmerizing than annoying.
I'm all mellow from a wild afternoon on the beach. Got there, the sun was shining. Stopped to hang out with this gigantic freaking heron who wasn't afraid of people. Ten minutes later, a fog rolled in. Within two minutes you couldn't see ten feet in any direction. Stayed for three hours anyway. It alternated between fog and sun the whole time.
Fog burned off for the last time just at at sunset. So that was cool. Also, too, I cut my hair this morning, and it was the perfect cut for this environment. Which is pretty much 100% humidity. At the end of the day it looked great. So there's that.
MOSCOW — It was an Ice Age squirrel's treasure chamber, a burrow containing fruit and seeds that had been stuck in the Siberian permafrost for more than 30,000 years. From the fruit tissues, a team of Russian scientists managed to resurrect an entire plant in a pioneering experiment that paves the way for the revival of other species.
To be clear, they extracted the material from a fossil. As in a piece of stone. Amazing.
Photo credit and full story here.
I forgot to watch The Voice last night but thanks to the wonders of the internets, I could watch a woman I've literally known since she was a baby win a spot on Blake's team on the computer. She even had two choices, and she turned down Cee Lo. Which I think was wise. I didn't like the way he was looking at her. Blake was much more sincere about admiring her talent more than her beauty.
Can't embed it, but click here to watch Naia Kete nail that performance. Of course, music in her genes. That's her mom in the video at the end, an old friend of mine from the Happy Valley, who's also a tremendous musician and pretty sure the tall guy with the dreads is her baby brother, also a talented performer.
I haven't seen any of them in well over ten years but still feel as proud of Kete as if she was my own family. I was so happy for her, I really did cry watching the vid.
See the rest of his art here.
Boys seem to love fart jokes. Me, I'm not so keen on them but have to admit I found these Japanese fart scrolls kind of amusing. It was hard to chose which one to feature.
Lots more here. Worth clicking over just for the one with the cat.
If I had a dollar for every time someone sang that jingle to me when I was young, I could have retired by the time I was 30 years old. I was very glad when they retired it. Hadn't thought about it in years but then I ran across this site of vintage ads. This predated that jingle.
I think it predates all these ads too but it may be somewhere on that site. It's kind hard to navigate these live journal things. You have to view the archives through the sidebar and the tags. I actually arrived there following a link to vintage pin-up produce ads. But cool site if you have the time to fool around with it.
Apparently this is one of the few places flamingos breed, and they help them hatch the eggs.
Posting this one especially for my friend Michael who loves hummingbirds as much as I do. Always amazed by these sort of mutations in nature.
I was thinking about this song the other day. Really nice cover of an old Bob Dylan classic.
Meanwhile, still busy with real life stuff but nothing interesting enough to talk about.
Music business is deadly. Fully three quarters of the friends I've lost in the last three years at too young an age have been musicians. RIP Whitney. Only 48 years old.
Sorry, all is well, just been busy with real life stuff. For now, here's your cute overload of the day. Compared to the rest of the photos, this guy looks like he's really enjoying it.
I've been to Disney World but this restored 1957 home movie of a Disneyland visit from the Disney History Institute reminds me I always wanted to go the original Disneyland in California. Love this video. Speaks of a more innocent age. And love the clothes. Notice that the women mostly all are wearing dresses. Back in those days, a lady didn't wear slacks in public.
I call them lightning bugs, but these time lapse photos of fireflies in the wild are incredible no matter what you call them. When I lived in lovely downtown Noho, there was a certain time of year when you could stand at the top of the big hill going down into the meadows and it looked very much like this, except they were blinking. It was like walking into a fairy tale.
Been busy with real world stuff so light posting. No big news but just ran across this cute overload.


Limited Editions, 1994, Hardback in Dust Wrapper.
Condition: Very Good - in Very Good DJ. Inscription to front pastedown.
Illustrated. Insearch of perfect impact, Includes Seve Ballesteros on how to control the backswing. Jack Nicklaus on how to line up your target. Greg Norman on practising your pitching. Nick Faldo on correcting your address position. Nancy Lopez on holding short putts. 223pp. Index. Size: 4to Crown (9¾" x 7½") Illustrated by Paul Trevillion. Introduction / preface by Seve Ballesteros.


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text:
Pinewood derby remembered
By: InsaneScouter Posted On: 2018-05-07
I was a year later than the rest of my friends in starting into Cub Scouts. Most of my friends and schoolmates were already Bear Scouts but I had yet to complete the Bobcat achievement. I spent the fall of that year working hard on all my achievements and arrowheads and was just about caught up to the other Cub Scouts in my Pack when the Pinewood Derby was announced. Some of the fondest memories that I have of the Cub Scout and Webelos program are about getting ready for the Pinewood Derby race and of course about the race itself. I remember getting the Pinewood Derby car kit and taking it home and sharing it with my mom. Mom told me that she couldn't help me, that I would have to wait for my father to get home and that he would help me. My father worked the afternoon and evening shift at one of the local cereal factories, and sure enough, when he got some time on the next weekend he knew exactly what needed to be done to the car because he said that as a boy he also had made Pinewood Derby cars.
Inside a wooden carrying case
I remember that my dad had an X-Acto knife kit that was kept inside of a wooden carrying case. My dad told me that he would do most of the carving and that I would do all the sanding and that we would work together on the rest of the car. I asked if I might also carve but my dad said that the knives were very sharp and that he would rather do that and that I could watch and tell him how to shape the car. My father told me that when you make a Pinewood Derby car you must keep checking the weight as you're building the car because you want the car to weigh as much as it is allowed but not over that amount or else you would be disqualified from the race. After the shape of the car was achieved with the carving knife my dad gave me two or three different grits of sandpaper and told me that I needed to get rid of the sharp edges and make the car rounded in appearance. I put in many hours sanding that car until it was very smooth and had no sharp edges on it anymore. We painted the car dark green in color with some paint that dad had down on his workbench. After the paint was dry my dad handed me two or three fishing sinkers and we put all the parts of the car on the scale and added two or three of those sinkers for weight until the car weighed just under the maximum amount allowed. He watched me as I very carefully drilled the holes to put the sinkers into the car and then we put wood putty over the openings and painted over those spots until… once again the car was all one color and smooth in size and appearance. My dad had some graphite on his workbench and we made sure that the nails for the wheel axles were polished and had a little of the graphite on them to make the tires spin with as little friction as possible.
The evening of the Pinewood Derby race came, and it was held at my elementary school. As soon as I saw some of the other boy's cars I was worried because most of their cars were wedge-shaped and mine was rounded and I wondered what difference that might make. The Pack leaders weighed each of our cars to make sure that they were legal for the race and then we were lined up in groups of four and were told that each heat of the race would begin by racing four cars against one another because there were four lanes in the track. I was absolutely amazed and surprised at the first couple of the races, that my car won! In a very short amount of time, the race was down to just my car and one other boy's car and the Pack leader told us that whoever won this race would win the Pinewood Derby. As soon as the cars left the gate I knew it was going to be super close between myself and the other boy. I remember that race because it was so close that they couldn't tell who won between the two of us. They decided to let us race again and the second time I clearly won because the other boy's car wheel fell off his car and his car stopped before it made it down to the bottom of the track. I was declared the winner of that year's Pinewood Derby and there was applause and I was given a nice trophy. I won the Pack championship in my very first race!! I still have that trophy and all the cars that I ever raced in the Pinewood Derby almost 50 years ago.
National Parks and Isle Royale
The Second Troop Meeting for my Sons
Working with challenging Scouts
Thirteen Steps to Build a Campfire
Eagle Tip Going with the Flow
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Fuzzy and Scout April 2010
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Uses For A Disposable Pie Tin
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Lessons from the past Walking Backpack
InsaneScouter Campfire Grill Contest