Town Idiot de Jour

A few weeks ago, I wrote a little bit of prose that ended up being published in the San Francisco Chronicle's Letter to the Editor.  It was about the Town Idiot de Jour,  Donald Trump.  The problem, the big problem, is that it seems that he is more than "de jour". The news media has made him a darling, simply because he sells.  Like they say in TV news, "If it bleeds, it leads." We can't believe the crap he spouts, but we watch, and they sell their Tylenol and Viagra, their cleaning products and cars.  Their rates stay high, as do their profits.
Yes, it is easy to be cynical, but, Jeez, what is this all about? Are we as a nation really no better than this?
Also, please vote.  Think, then vote.

Cat Video

As a musician, it can be very frustrating to play to a room full of people who seem to not be listening. Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir famously said a couple of years ago to a crowd who was more interested in talking than listening, "Shut the Fuck Up".  I would probably not ever go that far, but I have been tempted to stop the music and wait it out, not unlike a tactic I use occasionally in my classroom.  The point is that musicians, like all artists, chefs included, want to be appreciated. I am pretty sure that you don't go out to some fancy restaurant, order a $35 entree, and dump catsup all over it. You wait for it to be served with great anticipation.  And when tasting it, you pay attention to the flavors, subtle and otherwise.  Musicians would alike the same consideration. Please give us a listen. You may really like it.

And thanks to Derek at Murphy's Irish Pub in Sonoma for placing this notice, written by Lauren Brenner, on his table tops.  It did seem to make a difference.

Hey, maybe we should change our name to "Cat Video"!  People love watching those!

"He not busy being born is busy dying", Bob Dylan

I just finished reading a short little book called "Show Your Work", by Austin Kleon.  My girlfriend, Lauren, bought it, and I stole it from her.  I will give it back to her someday, maybe tomorrow.

In the book, Kleon writes that it is important to share your ideas.  Who'da thunk it?  It is full of great little snippets about modern American life, and how to be heard while living it. There is a section in the book called "Behind the Scenes", a collection of outtakes made while writing it. One that hit a chord with me is "Our obituaries are written before we're dead."

Which, along with the title of this post,  explains why I have a girlfriend, and a great one at that, who's name is Lauren.

And I want my obituary to be really long, full of lots of interesting places, song titles, and people's names.

Origins

I don't like scatological humor, but in this case, it is appropriate to include here.  Because the original title of this blog had its misguided roots in autocorrect.  "Law of Attraction" became "Lava Traction'".   Otto, here's to you!

Field Trip Wrap-up

I have snarkily outlined that pitfalls that a field trip can involve.  None of that happened today. Yes, there were 60 kids on the bus, but they were fabulous.  Yes, we sat on concrete and ate our lunches, but, hey, we were in San Francisco!

And you should have heard the gasps from the kids when we exited the Waldo Tunnel, and caught the first glimpse of that beautiful city.

Field Trip

Have you ever been in charge of 20 kids traveling to, and going through, the Exploratorium?  Or been on a school bus with 60 kids?  Or tried to get this same 60 kids to sit down and eat lunch on the concrete, because there aren't enough seats?   Or…you get the idea.

Me.  Us.  Tomorrow.

Is That Funny?

I read in Leah Garchik's column in today's SF Chronicle about a troubling live theater experience, where the audience was laughing during a dramatic production. I have noticed something in my classroom over the last couple of years that is, in my mind, related.

MIllions of Americans view YouTube videos on a daily basis. "America's Funniest Home Videos" is an extremely popular TV show.  In these videos, people are falling and hurting themselves on skateboards and the like, and the videos are tremendously popular, and apparently, funny.  When someone crashes into a wall at high speed, people no longer wince and look away, they laugh.  "Oh, the sport of it!" A vicious hit on the football field, that should elicit sympathy, is shown many times over, and draws an excited "Whoa!"

In my classroom, students often laugh at things that are simply not funny.

Call it YouTube humor. It's a computer era Pavlovian response to witnessing someone else's pain.

Laughing is the new wincing.