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October 30, 2006
I'm going on a killing spree
I get to go see this with Jerry on Thursday night.
I love the original films, so I'm quite intrigued by a musical version. People have said that my singing is like the undead.
UPDATE: The show was fantastic. The same whimsy and gore of the films was present in the show, especially with numbers like "All the men in my life keep getting killed by Candarian demons" and "What the F__K was that?"
You have to have seen the films first, otherwise many of the jokes will be lost on you. The songs are occasionally weak, but the dance of "Let's do the Necronomicon" was an ideal blend of Rocky Horror with more gore. The coherence of the plot is actually better than the original films, plus the ability to have fake blood sprayed across the first five rows makes it fairly interactive. The audience really loves to participate, yelling out during certain scenes. Boomstick!
If you liked the films, go see the show.
Posted by G at 09:59 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
October 29, 2006
Student Logic
Not quite a conditional/converse relationship, but it seems to work for kids:
Student with an A:
Look! I EARNED an A!
Student with an F:
Look! The teacher GAVE me an F!
Parent-teacher conferences are so fun.
Posted by G at 05:47 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
October 28, 2006
My movie list
My sister (who is quite fond of randomly calling me and asking me random questions) called me and with no preamble, asked me what five movies every person should have seen- movies that you basically have to have seen at some point in your life.
The list that immediately formed in my mind and provided over the phone to my sister:
Gone with the Wind- I remember the first time I watched it as a kid. Romance, action, the South, and crazy strong women. Statistically everyone had a good chance of seeing it, as it was shown at least annually.
Sound of Music- What the hell will we do with Maria? Beat her? No.
Alien- Science Fiction at its best. Kick ass female figure.
Matrix- Mock it all you want, but I love the fight scenes, the music, and the whoa.
Godfather- Well, I've heard it was good.
Oops. Yep, I've never seen the Godfather. I've accidentally flipped onto the channel showing it, but always at some point in the middle. My sister almost dropped the phone in horror, and she bought them for me as a birthday gift.
There are other movies that I should have seen, but I haven't: ET, Grease, Saturday Night Fever. Not necessarily for quality, but just for availability.
Again, I've seen parts, but not the whole shows- other movies that I just can't get through: Dog Day Afternoon, Raging Bull, Dances with Wolves, the Exorcist.
Then there are the movies I love to watch, feel guilty about watching, yet would still recommend to people: Showgirls, LA Story, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Army of Darkness, Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2, Unforgiven. What is on your list?
Posted by G at 07:38 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
October 22, 2006
Math Solutions
I love math so much, as it always surprises me how everything is connected. I solved the problem algebraically, as the equation of the left side of the triangle is y=x, and the right side can be derived using the two ordered pairs. If the square intersects the left side at (n,n), then the right side of the square intersects at (2n, n). When you subsitute the (2n, n) in for the y and x values for the right line's equation, you get the measure of the side of the square. 20/7
(I'm not including certain key words or equations, again just in case one of my industrious kids is searching.)
Then, my sexy harness-clad friend in Astoria wrote about the math problem, and one of his readers made me feel very silly. He pointed out that the top triangle is a similar triangle to the larger one, making them proportional. Base of big triangle 10, height 4. Little triangle base X, height 4-x. Set up a proportion, cross multiply, and you've got it.
Even more elegant. I am SO JEALOUS. The other math teachers will be so excited when I show them the other solution.
Yes, I know this is sad.
Posted by G at 06:21 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
October 18, 2006
Intrinsic value
I've been working at the school late every night, including my birthday. This is a good thing.
See, I love making contests for the kids. Solve a complex math problem, get a reward. Previous prizes have been UNO game systems, a marshmallow launcher, science baubles, chess sets, stuffed animals, homework passes, that sort of thing. Their goal is to get the prize, and my goal is to get them to learn math.
A few weeks ago, someone donated a sweet $200 MP3 player as a prize. I almost started giggling when I showed all the kids the prize. They were so eager that they almost started vibrating in their 300 seats. I created this problem (taken with my NEW camera, by the way). I put the text in the drawing so that my students' frantic google searches for a solution won't point them to the blog.
Here's the beauty of this problem. It can be solved at a very low level, using graph paper and guessing/checking. It can be solved at a higher, much more elegant level. I love this problem, and so has every other math teacher that looks at it.
They had solutions within two days. A few kids cheated, but were unable to explain a really complex task. What I really loved was watching kids working in teams after school, because at my school, they help each other. Kids were absolutely YEARNING to learn math (although the yearning was for a music player). A few times, it drifted into just learning math to learn math. One kid accidentally learned the rules for the equations of perpendicular lines, and then began showing it to others. They were frantically looking in the books for skills they had forgotten, searing certain knowledge into their young brains. Quite a few came up with the correct solution, and we had a really rich discussion on other variations of this rule. We agreed that there has to be a runoff contest, similar problem. They also want to help create the next contest. I see kids slowly discovering the value of doing something challenging just because it is challenging.
I've got the ideas, I've got an amazing group of kids. I want to make this something regular. I need some contributions of schwag. Anyone want to help?
Posted by G at 08:25 PM | Comments (18) | TrackBack
October 17, 2006
I need an earthquake in Mexico City RIGHT NOW
Something around an 8.0 should be just enough to level the building.
Thank you Allen for traumatizing me.
Posted by G at 07:06 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
October 16, 2006
My last prime product
No really. Today is the one and only time I'll be the product of 2 different primes squared. The next time, I will be 225 years old. There will be other combinations of primes, but this is the only one of its type. How old am I?
Posted by G at 07:43 AM | Comments (26) | TrackBack
October 14, 2006
Hopefully I won't murder again
I think I've got Joe beat, at least when it comes to killing stuff. I've managed to kill two Canon Elph cameras and 5 iPods in NYC. I dropped my iPod into a toilet, down a flight of stairs, plus crushed a camera while on a roller coaster. Plus we shouldn't ignore my numerous incidents of dropping babies down stairs. Maybe I'm just twitchy from all the caffeine.
I've decided to get something more durable. My aunt and uncle basically bought this one for me, but with a proviso that I buy a case, which is also on order. Supposedly I can drop this from 5 feet, or drop it into 10 feet of water, and it will be fine. It even can take movies underwater. It has all sorts of cool features, including an internalized zoom lens.
I still can't guarantee I won't drop babies. I just recommend keeping them away from me.
Posted by G at 05:36 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
October 11, 2006
Upcoming event
Next Monday, I won't be dead, but I'm getting closer.
Posted by G at 07:33 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
October 07, 2006
The death of my favorite boxers
This morning, I got out of the shower, dried off, and put on my favorite pair of boxers. They're reddish, kinda plaid, and I've had them for about ten years. They have a paint splash across the top where I accidentally spilled paint all over my chest in Lubbock and a tear on the side where I got caught on a nail in Uzbekistan.
Lately I've been ignoring the signs. The looseness of the waistband from the broken binding. The thinness of the fabric. I kept thinking that they were just getting more 'comfortable.'
Today I couldn't ignore the obvious. They're too old. I threw them out, then put on a different pair.
Demolition work at Jerry and Patricio's just wasn't the same without them.
Posted by G at 07:11 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
October 05, 2006
School is still good
Please don't be annoyed with me. I know that I just keep raving and gushing to everyone. I guess I'm becoming the educational equivalent of those proud parents who had a string of hideous evil children, but finally have a pretty, smart, and well adjusted child. Maybe that's a bad analogy.
Okay, just like the perfect child, my new school isn't perfect. Every day I have to leap through the dog poop obstacle course within the three final blocks of my school. Apparently no owner of a dog in that area feels like they should pick up poop. New York is not a great place for clean sidewalks, but my school's neighborhood is exceptional for its poop to concrete ratio.
And the smell! I'm no longer talking about the poop. Teenagers STINK. My school is one of the newer ones, so it has air conditioning. Conditioning the air is merely cooling it, not filtering it. I'm going to buy some car air fresheners and hang them as my own earrings. Mmmm, pine freshness....
Kids are kids, so I still have the same kids who struggle, the same kids who give up without struggling, and the same kids who are just having one of those days. Some days the lessons work great, some days the lessons are disastrous.
Yet every day I feel good as I walk to school. I cross over the bridge from Harlem to the Bronx, sucking in lungfuls of carbon and exhaust, listening to the new Bananarama song. I have so many kids who actually see their futures as positive, because their parents, administration, and teachers see those futures too. Public education isn't hopeless at all.
I'll stop now.
By the way, I'm not coming to DC this weekend. Geek Night on Friday, Open House NY on Saturday/Sunday, plus hopefully room demolition at a friend's place.
Posted by G at 06:42 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
October 04, 2006
Tye made one just for me
He hadn't told this one yet, as it is how he says goodbye on his flight. Give him love. Again, don't shoot milk. Isn't he the sweetest?
Posted by G at 07:49 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 03, 2006
Advanced Geek
A few weeks ago, a super-connected friend invited me to something special. He had an advance copy of the FIRST FIVE EPISODES of the upcoming season of Battlestar Galactica.
Without giving away any plot points, I have to say that this is the best writing I've seen in some time. The characters are fleshed out, the plots are bold, and I'm fighting the urge to look at the plot summaries for the entire season in the back of the book.
I might go down to DC this weekend, but everyone else had better be recording/watching the premier episode.
Posted by G at 09:19 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
October 02, 2006
Tye's preflight announcement
Tye is a dear friend of mine from Lubbock, now living in Chicago. He works for an unnamed airline, and he finally taped his preflight announcement. He had to edit out specific references to his airline, but you'll get the high points. DO NOT WATCH WHILE DRINKING LIQUIDS, as they will shoot through your nose.
Leave him a comment of love and appreciation.
Posted by G at 01:56 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
October 01, 2006
Scandal!
Do you know why Republicans from Florida never use bookmarks?
They like their pages bent over.
Sick bastard. Who is worse- the sick pervert or the people in power who ignored the problem?
Posted by G at 04:14 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack