A Peaceful Protest

Here's a video of the silent protest that occurred at UC Davis after protesting students were pepper-sprayed, point-blank in the face, earlier in the day. The video features the university's chancellor, Linda Katehi, walking to her car after giving a news conference on campus. Earlier Katehi had ordered the police to remove the protesters - and that's when everything went very, very wrong. Many have been disturbed by that footage and I don't particularly want to show it here. I think this video instead is extremely powerful because it demonstrates the effectiveness of a peaceful protest. Hundreds of students go eerily silent as Katehi walks by, and the effect is intense and haunting. I believe in the right to protest, and I especially believe in peaceful resistance. This video shows the inherent honor that comes with non-violence.

Hot for Teacher!

    One of my favorite websites, Salon.com, just published its annual list of Sexiest Men Alive 2011. Every year Salon releases their list of the year's sexiest men in correspondence with People Magazine's popular annual contest of the same theme (People's 2011 winner: Bradley Cooper. No argument here). I enjoy Salon's list because it focuses on non-famous people who aren't actors, but also it always highlights ten genuinely great guys across all sorts of fields and industries. Innovators, artists, academics, chefs - you name it. It's great fun to read about these hunks-of-love, who are managing to pursue interesting and even groundbreaking paths despite how distracting it is to look at their faces.
    But the overall winner of Salon's contest this year, and the reason for this post, is a man by the name of Gregg Breinberg. A music teacher by trade, he has taken the children at Staten Island's PS 22 and transformed them into a full-fledged choir. Using his passion, expertise, and absolute dedication, his choir now has fans, fame, and even made an appearance on last year's Oscars. He's humble and cute, but mostly it's really cool to see a teacher at the top of his game, inspiring kids and using music as a valuable learning tool. 
    Here's the article and an interview with the dashing Mr. Breinberg: 
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/17/salons_sexiest_man_of_2011_the_interview/singleton/ 
    Studies show that participation in music programs in childhood improves cognitive thinking, social skills, and even math scores. If more schools had Mr. Breinbergs - and the money to fund great art and music programs - I imagine we'd have a lot of engaged students on our hands. (The 6th graders I taught in San Francisco Unified had music class only once a month! Sadly, I think that's become the norm).

The real treat of course is to see the choir in action (my favorite moment starts at the 1:25 mark):

       
Speaking of a "real treat," here's that other guy who won:

The Kid with the Stinky Lunch

I just wanted some carrot sticks and a juice box, Mom.

    While sometimes I scroll for hours on the web searching for evidence of something non-depressing and non-cynical to read about, today within minutes I came across an article that I find highly amusing and also kind of sweet. Entitled "The Kid with the Stinky Lunch," this article interviews adults who, as children, were regularly embarrassed by the contents of their lunch bag. Unlike their peers, who ate non-humiliating lunches composed of turkey sandwiches and Oreos, these kids dined on much different cuisine, often because of cultural traditions at home. But as most of us can attest to feeling in those early years - it's the fitting in that counts. One woman explains:
     "I can remember attempting to find a place in a hidden spot to sit in the lunch room because I usually had an Italian type of panini sandwich dripping with olive oil and oregano or a cold meatball sandwich, and for dessert Italian biscotti and a piece of fruit. 
    So terrible was her shame over this delicious-sounding lunch, that she went to great lengths to hide these decadent morsels. But Dammit-all if Italian food doesn't announce itself in other ways! 
    "Of course my lunches were difficult to hide because you could smell that fragrant tomato sauce or the panini with fresh oregano from a mile away. I would place the lunch bag in the cloak room with my coat and try to cover the brown bag so to mask the fragrance."
    Personally, I always had the cafeteria option (my disgust for fish sticks has never wained) and coveted those made-at-home bag lunches. But having read this, I should probably feel grateful because my parents were into Foodie-type food way before it became a thing.
    Another of the article's subjects, a man who grew up in a multi-cultural home, recalled the silver lining of his stinky lunch:
    "Because my meals were often food the other kids could not recognize, at least they did not beat me up for my lunch. I would have such Mediterranean delicacies as kibba, dolmas, feta cheese, stuffed squash and cabbage - even baklava and huge date cookies." 
    He then proceeded with my single favorite line: "Throw in the occasional tamales, empanadas, sausages, containers of various soups, beans and stews, a variety of homemade bread - I ate well."
    Well, here's to growing up and eating whatever we please. Also, the woman mentioned above is now a successful chef.  
    Check out the article in its entirety: The Kid with the Stinky Lunch
  

Boardwalk Empire - Ain't Nothing in this World is Free

    Three cheers for great television! While movies continue to be awful, tv is doing brave new things. I'm whole-heartedly obsessed with Boardwalk Empire, more ardently than any television series since probably The Sopranos. 
    First of all, the production value of this series is off the charts. If you have even the slightest interest in early-20th century design, or just love attractive, ornate things, you'll find that Boardwalk Empire is a visual feast. 
    There's also the compelling dramatic set-up: Prohibition is in full swing, Atlantic City is run by criminals in awesome-looking suits, women and minorities are finally gaining rights, and the new rules of this modern time have seemingly yet to be written. Boardwalk Empire explores a lot that is intriguing about this transitioning world, and does an excellent job of keeping the plot full of action and suspense. One hates to be bored on a Sunday night, after all. (HBO, 60min, Sundays, 8 pm)
    But much like The Sopranos, I think the real brilliance of this show is the character development and the way it explores the complex emotional ties that connect people in families, communities, and even businesses.

I enjoy Steve Buscemi's expression here - classic Nucky (always be suspicious)

    There's this small but great moment at the beginning of season two where one of the lead characters, Jimmy Darmody, is asked what lessons he has learned thus far as a new member of Atlantic City's underworld.   Can I take a moment to point out the highly amusing & memorable character names in this series - people called Nucky, Chalky White, Agent Nelson Van Alden, The Commodore and even Lucky Luciano are all major players.   Played by (not unattractive) Michael Pitt, Jimmy gets a peculiar look on his face and replies, "Ain't nothing in this world is free." 
    And that pretty much hits the nail on the head of the series' theme, and explains most of the characters' abundant conflicts with each other. Whether the show is exploring the relationship between a mob boss and his underlings, two brothers, or a husband and wife, Boardwalk Empire looks at how each character weaves a dense and intractable personal web. Created with the threads of ambition, desire and need, this web is quite sticky, and binds rather tightly, and thus most of the characters are deeply indebted to one another. Needless to say, the loss of personal freedom and/or honor - it doesn't sit too well (especially with mobsters).
    Of course the writers of Boardwalk Empire alone can't make this thing work, and so I'll give a big shout-out to the first rate acting, too. Standouts are the aforementioned Pitt (angel faced and violent), the abnormally large-headed Michael Shannon as Agent Nelson (weird, strange, really weird), Gretchen Mol as Jimmy's mother Gillian (inappropriate, demented, hilarious), and Michael Stuhlbarg as NYC mobster Arnold Rothstein. The latter gives a speech in season two, episode eight, explaining his life philosophy of when to hedge your bets, and when to go all in. Riveting.
    In Boardwalk Empire, no one - no matter how powerful or cunning (or good) - gets off scott-free in the drive to achieve their heart's desire. And what people desire here is often really, really screwed up...And entertaining! And while it's thrilling to watch these characters get what they want, it's equally powerful to see them discover that what they've been seeking was never really worth all the trouble anyway. In a word: life.
    Oh and, also, there's a character with half a face who wears a creepy mask. And frequent appearances by the one and only Al Capone.  http://www.hbo.com/boardwalk-empire/index.html