Around the Water Cooler...

You know what tonight is? Humming begins....

Well it is not really water cooler talk since we are all siting or standing out side the front office of the school. But there was a buzz today as the talk turned to the new tv season. Tonight is the start of SciFi Friday on the SciFi Channel. Stargate Atlantis Season 4 premieres tonight. Several of my fellow teachers are SciFi fans like me and really enjoy Stargate. In fact last year one of the other teachers recognized me at a staff meeting as his "Stargate Buddy". So we were excited about the start of the new season. We all agree that the new "Flash Gordon" is really bad and we will not be watching it tonight. However we are happy that we all have either DirecTV or Dish so we can watch SGA at 7:00 pm tonight and not have to wait until 10:00 pm.

Other shows we talked about during break today included "Heroes", "Bionic Woman", "Journeyman", and "Pushing Daisey's". It was funny because one of the teachers that joined in on the discussion was a math teacher that has given us a hard time in the past about being geeks and today one of the teachers turned to her and said you are really a geek aren't you? She smiled and said yes - I just like giving you a hard time. I'm so glad I work with teachers that enjoy SciFi as much as I do. While they do not go to conventions like I do at least they watch the same shows I do and enjoy seeing my pictures when I come back from a convention.

Stop NCLB

Stop NCLB - Reauthorization in Congress!

NEW NCLB Proposal - authored by George Miller & Nancy Pelosi

1. Pay teachers based on student test scores
2. Privatize public schools
3. "Brand" teachers under statewide data system based on student tests
4. Destroy collective bargaining rights for educators

Bad for Students

Bad for Teachers

Bad for Schools

Call your Congressional Representative and tell them this is a bad idea for Students, Teachers and Schools

Fall TV Season is upon us...

As a TV buff I love the new show fall season. NBC put a few premiere episodes of new shows up on Amazon Unbox for early preview. I did check out three of them to see if I would be interested enough to watch the shows.

My personal viewing habits have changed since getting a Tivo a few years ago. I rarely watch first episodes live anymore. Instead I will record shows that previews look good on and then watch them later. This way I can fastfoward through commercials and if the show does not interest me I can just stop it and delete it from the recorder. This way I don't blow an entire hour on a new show.

So what shows did I download via Amazon for early preview and what new shows or new seasons of current shows am I looking forward too? Here is a list;

Bionic Woman - The first episode was okay. Did not interest me enough for me to say this is a must see new show. However it was good enough that I will watch a few more episodes to see were the show goes.

Life - Okay I downloaded the first episode of this show because I heard that Claudia Black will have a guest spot on the show and I wanted to see what the show was like. Interesting premise for a show, a cop that is wrongly convicted of a crime sentenced to life in prison and then found innocent and released after 12 years. Part of the settlement is that he is back on the force as a detective. Again like with BW it was okay and good enough for me to watch again but not good enough to be on my must see list.

Journeyman - This one sparked my interest a little more. I admit I want to watch this show again to figure out why Dan is traveling in time.

Stargate: Atlantis - Well Stargate SG1 was one of my favorite SciFi shows for years. Although I have seen every episode of SGA, it has not interested me as much as SG1. The final episode of S3 was really good and one of my favorite episodes of the series so far. This leads me to looking forward to seeing what is in store for season 4. There are several cast changes for season 4. Torri Higginson is a recurring character and only set to be in 4 episodes this season. Amanda Tapping as Col. Samantha Carter is set to be the new commander of Atlantis. Only time will tell for sure but I am looking forward to seeing how season 4 turns out.

Other shows on my Tivo list:

Law & Order: SVU
Lost
24

Fox started their new season last week. I did check out the new season of Prison Break but truth is it did not hold my interest so I don't think I will be watching this season. I also checked out K-ville the new show set in New Orleans. While the story was just so so, I did enjoy the music so I will watch a few more episodes to see if the stories get any better.

Another show I'm interested in at least giving a try is Pushing Daisies

I usually start each fall season with a dozen or so shows on the Tivo list which is quickly narrowed down to 2 or 3. Only time will tell which shows make the grade for me this season.

GO GATORS!

FLORIDA 59 TENNESSEE 20

I love College football and SEC teams are my favorite. I spent many a Saturday in the Swamp watching the Gators play as a kid. Florida has an awesome offense this season with Tim Tebow leading the team at the QB position.

Could the Gators be smelling a repeat at the National Title in football like the basketball team has done the last two seasons?

Tower of Power - Live & Free

I have not gone to the Tulare County Fair in several years. But a free concert (Well free if you don't count the $7 to get into the fair grounds & $5 for parking) by one of my favorite bands "Tower Of Power" was a good reason to go to the fair.

ToP has been around for almost 40 years. Last nights concert was the 5th time I have seen them live. The concert was loads of fun. You do not hear many live bands these days that have great horn sections. ToP is one of if not the best. Doc is one of my favorite Bari players and I love to hear him play.

How do you describe ToP's music? Well here is what they have to say on the bands website. It has always been difficult to describe TOP's music; even band members, when asked, give a myriad of responses. Says founding member and saxophonist Emilio Castillio, "What Tower plays is urban soul music." Former lead singer Brent Carter calls it "old school funk with new school flavor." And says former Tower saxophonist Lenny Pickett, now musical director for the Saturday Night Live television band, "TOP is the world's greatest rhythm and blues band." In reality, Tower of Power's horn driven, in-your-face sound is all its own, and verbal descriptions fail. You have to experience it for yourself.

One of the fun things about a ToP concert is standing at the front of the stage listening to the horns blow. As a reviewer from the Fort Worth Star Telegram recently wrote, "If you see someone sitting still at a Tower of Power concert, don't bother checking their pulse -- they're already dead!" Well last night you might have said I was dead. Because of a bad infection from surgery a few weeks ago I did not go up and stand in front of the stage this time. But I did enjoy the concert from my seat and did stand a few times to get a better view of the band and enjoy the sound.

TOWER OF POWER WEB SITE

Diggin' On James Brown - click to see clip







After the concert I walked around the fair grounds. Played a few games and took a few pictures before heading home for the night.

Family Love & Hate

After a tragic event in my life many years ago I had to wrestle with both Loving and Hating my father at the same time. For years it tore me up inside and I thought that because of his actions it was wrong for me to love him. That the love I had for him was wrong and made me a bad person. It was after years of wrestling with my feelings that I finally came to the understanding that God teaches us to love everyone. That the love I had for my father because he was my father was okay. It was his actions that I hated and that was okay as well. God teaches us that we are to love the sinner (which we all are) but not the sin. It was so freeing to me to come to this realization. I was able to love my father again freely and unabashedly.

Once again this past week I had to put this belief in action with a family member. My sister and I have not been as close I would have liked in years. In fact she has hardly spoken to me at all in the last year. Last Thursday I found out why she has not taken or return my phone call for most of the last year. She has sinned big time and she is having to pay for the price of her sin. What she has done in no way lessons my love for her. But I also do not at all condone what she has done and agree that she will have to pay the price for her sin.

NFL Season Kick-Off

Tomorrow is the first game of the NFL season. Saints vs Colts in Indianapolis - I love football, it is my favorite sport to watch in TV. DirecTV NFL season ticket is paid for and the Jaguars, Dolphins and Bucs schedules are all printed.

As much as I love NFL football if I could see anyone play live it would be to attend an SEC college game. My dad started taking me to the Swamp to see the Gators play when I was just 5 years old. I was hooked - the excitement of a good college game is the best.

Here is to hoping the Jaguars and the Gators both having winning seasons this year.

Passport

Well it is time to renew my passport. My current one has extra pages that were added at the US Embassy in Kuwait.