The Musings of Kev

Travel Advisory

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:53:00 +0000

I'm headed to the Land of Sugar for a few days to celebrate Christmas with the family. I should be able to catch up on all the unfinished posts while I'm there, and regular blogging will continue as well.

Safe travels to all who may be on the road or in the skies today as well.

The Claus That Refreshes

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:42:00 +0000

Via a tweet from Lileks, I find myself enjoying this collection of old ads from the Coca-Cola Company. While they didn't invent the modern incarnation of Santa (artist Thomas Nast, among others, can be credited with that, along with the descriptions found in Clement C. Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas," better known as "The Night Before Christmas"), the Coke ads by the artist Haddon Sundblom certainly cemented his current image in popular culture, especially the "jolly" part (some past Santas looked strict or even scary).

Read the whole story, and check out the pictures; it's fascinating stuff. And thanks to Lileks for sending me there.

All is Calm for the Palm

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:51:00 +0000

Among all the other news stories of the week, sometimes it's the simple ones which catch your attention the most.

I'd read a while back about the Division Street Palm, a tree in Arlington that was way out of its element, nestled as it was in a highway embankment near the Division Street bridge over State Highway 360 in Arlington. But the reconstruction of that interchange left the palm's future in doubt. Still, the tree had cultivated (heh) a lot of fans over the years, and one of them, Richard McMullen, did something about it. And now, the tree is out of harm's way in its new home in Carrollton. The Dallas Morning News' Jacquielynn Floyd has more:

As it turns out, the Division Street Palm (as it has been informally christened) had a little community of fans that had marveled and wondered about it over the years. Many of them wanted the tree saved.

Deliverance was offered by Carrollton city arborist Lorrie Dennis, a former Arlington resident who knew about the tree herself.

"I thought, if it was growing like that by the bridge, with no irrigation, with all that carbon monoxide, I wanted it," she said. "That tree wanted to live. It had a will."

Dennis had a perfect transplant site: Carrollton's city-owned swimming pool and water park at Rosemeade Parkway and Old Denton Road. The landscaping there already included smaller palms; the Division Street Palm would be a perfect landmark for the park's main entrance.

"I can imagine people dropping their kids off and saying, 'I'll pick you up by the big palm at 5,' " Dennis said – kind of like meeting under the clock at the Biltmore.

Read the whole thing, which obviously has a happy ending. Also interesting is the story of how the tree was planted in that oddball place to begin with; it involves a musician!

Hair We Go Again...

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:49:00 +0000

It seems like we were discussing the Mesquite school district's dress codes on this blog just a few weeks ago. Oh yeah--we were.

But this time, it's not something as new as emo pants, but rather the latest volley in a game that's been going on for decades: Hair length on guys. But what makes this one especially goofy is that the "guy" in question is a pre-kindergartner:

Four-year-old Taylor Pugh, in prekindergarten at Floyd Elementary School, likes his hair long - just below his ears and along his collar in the back. He likes it longer in front.

That length is outside the school district's dress code so the boy has been having lessons alone in the library. And his mother says the district has said he will be kicked out of school completely on Tuesday.

"He only goes two and half hours a day. He's not a distraction. He doesn't get teased," his mother, Elizabeth Taylor, said.

She spoke to the Mesquite school board Monday night, asking for help with her dilemma. But the board could take no action because the item was not on the agenda.

I love that last sentence--bureaucracy at its finest.

In case you're wondering--yes, Taylor does have some Native American blood, and his father wears his hair long (though the playing of this card is negated somewhat by Taylor's short-haired older brothers). But thus far, Mesquite refuses to give him a pass on that (the ACLU has gotten involved, for better or worse).

As you can imagine, the comments are running strong on both sides in the DMN blog post linked above, though it alarms me how many people just blindly accept the "rules are rules" idea, no matter how idiotic the rules in question may be. Such nice little sheeple they'll make! Perhaps the best points are brought up by a commenter who goes by the name Squanto:

1) This is a gender biased rule. Why must boys wear short hair? Hair grows on both males and females, period. This is not corporate America, if the kid decides to work on Wall Street then he will need to conform in order to be rewarded. And wear a tie, a strip of material that has no function.

(2) If there is an ethnic reason, that it is an indigenous practice, it's time for Mesquite to grow up. There is no reason boys must wear their hair short. There's no biological reason, it's culturally conditioned conformity.

(3) Making him learn apart from his peers is "shunning." That is an old Protestant practice used to make non-conformists conform.It has nothing to do with rules and regulations that are debated openly by community members.

Indeed. Let me reiterate something that I said in the "emo pants" post:

Look--I understand the arguments from the other side: Kids need to learn how to obey rules; they're in school to get an education, not show off their fashion sense, blah blah blah. (And the worst one of all: They're never going to get a job in the business world if they don't dress more nicely. Never mind that many kids will never set foot in the business world, and, as I've said before, with some of the things that have happened on Wall Street in recent years, I'm not so sure that we should be holding up the business world as a role model in the first place.)

But it seems like those in charge should pick their battles a little more wisely. I still believe that there are a lot of kids out there--not the extremely smart kids, not the thugs-in-traning, but the big, big middle--who wouldn't mind school so much if it didn't seem as if the administration weren't throwing roadblocks at them every step of the way.

Blogger "Hall Monitor" of DetentionSlip.org (who became familiar to me after visiting The Musings during that earlier post) also posts about this and offers the following:

Once again, the length of a child's hair becomes the center of our education woes. If only every student would come to school with a neatly-trimmed haircut, we would be able to start focusing on the other problems our schools face. After all, it's a well supported fact that NO ONE with long hair has ever been successful.

Heh--well said. (And did anyone notice that the kid's hair just really isn't that long? This is much ado about nothing, methinks.)

By now, it probably goes without saying that I have a solution to the problem of administrative idiocy...and wouldn't Mesquite be a great place to start this practice?

Tom Hicks Hits One Out of the Park

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:50:00 +0000

The long-awaited deadline for Rangers owner Tom Hicks to announce his choice for the team's new ownership group was made last night, and I was extremely pleased to see that his selection is the group led by Pittsburgh lawyer Chuck Greenberg and current team president/local hero Nolan Ryan.

Having Ryan on board pretty much says it all for me, or I guess I should say that not having Ryan on board would have been a deal-breaker for me, had I been in Hicks' shoes. As a player, Ryan was a class act, and he brought the team a great deal of credibility that it had not previously enjoyed. As team president the past couple of years, he was well on his way to helping the team restore said credibility, even if the effort on the field fell short. Ryan's involvement had me pulling for Greenberg all along.

As I read over the profiles of the various competing groups over the past few months, I was always a little leery of the group led by Dennis Gilbert. Maybe it was his former profession (sports agent); maybe it was his ties to the Chicago White Sox (you know us Texans, not wanting them dad-blasted furriners comin' in here and messin' things up). Or perhaps it was the fact that he wanted to run baseball operations himself, which would be bad for two reasons: 1) It would guarantee Ryan's departure from the team, and 2) The Metroplex sports scene already has one Jerry Jones and doesn't need a second one. (And maybe I just have bad vibes about people named Dennis coming in from outside an organization and messing things up--part of my personal history that won't be blogged any further here.) And I didn't know enough about Jim Crane, a late re-entry into the race, except that Ryan might have stayed if Crane were the winner, so that put him as #2 on my personal list.

At any rate, the Greenberg/Ryan group sounds like a good fit; once the lawyers, accountants and fellow MLB owners go through the process, maybe we'll see the new ownership group in place by Opening Day.

Tom Hicks may have made a few questionable moves from time to time during his tenure with the Rangers, but if this is indeed his finale as top dog, he's going out on a good note.

I'll Get Caught Up on Posting Again...

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:19:00 +0000

...when I stop getting detoured by sites like this. (Don't get me wrong--it's a great read, and tons of local information, but it can become a gigantic time-suck if one is not careful.)

Tomorrow is a fairly easy day, so I might well get caught up then.

Christmas Lights and Music: The Next Step

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Ever since that guy in Ohio set his Christmas lights to music (and was featured in a beer commercial), all the cool kids started doing it. I spend a pretty decent portion of my annual Holiday High-LIghts post talking about this type of setup, and I wasn't sure anyone could top Jeff Trykoski in Frisco (both at Frisco Square and his own house) or the Zephries or Gordons in Plano, but someone's sure put a new twist on things: Check out Christmas Light Hero:

That's right, the lights can be run by a Wii guitar controller by a live human being, like the kid in the video. As developer/dad Ric Turner (formerly of Disney) notes, passersby who tune in on the FM channel can hear all your mistakes!

Some background on this may be found here. And my annual lights post will be up once I get a chance to see everything this year.

So Far, This Is Not a "December to Remember," and the Cowboys May Be More Yugo than Lexus

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:58:00 +0000

Things we learned from watching the Cowboys game tonight:

Head coach Wade Phillips may well be out of a job in three weeks.

Plackicker Nick Folk will almost certainly be out of a job before that.

Those naysayers who talk about a Cowboys' "December curse" may well have a point. *sigh*

This wasn't the worst game the Cowboys have played this season, but there were a few things that I bet they'd like to take back: Four shots at the end zone (running the same play?) without breaking the plane comes to mind, as do yet another missed field goal and scoring that final touchdown with only two seconds left. I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet, but things are getting dicey.

And all the best to DeMarcus Ware; I hope he's OK.

Hey, Greenies: You Can Have My Starbucks When You Pry the Mug Out of My Cold, Dead Hands

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:46:00 +0000

From Aussie blogger Tim Blair comes this post about the latest way that environmentalists would like to control our lives. And this time, they may have gone too far:

An Edinburgh scientist has revealed the best way for coffee lovers to help save the planet – drink old-fashioned instant.

Dr Dave Reay, a world-renowned expert on carbon emissions, has calculated that filter coffees pump 50 per cent more carbon into the atmosphere than cheaper instant coffees.

And he says that ditching expensive filter coffees could help reduce your carbon footprint by the same amount as a gas-guzzling flight across Europe.

The full story that spawned Blair's post is here, and it contains one more distressing quote from Reay: "If everyone ditched their pre-work coffee fix that would do wonders for the planet." Yeah, and there might also be more car wrecks from people falling asleep at the wheel minus their java jive, not to mention the fisticuffs that might ensue from those people who are pretty grumpy before their first morning cuo o' joe (and we know who we are) getting rubbed the wrong way by people who are naturally perky in the A.M. (Of course, some environmentalists think that the planet would be a lot better off if people weren't on it at all...but didja ever notice that those same people are still alive as they say that? To roughly quote the comic-strip character Pogo, isn't it funny how the people who gripe most loudly about overpopulation already went to the trouble of being borned theirselves.)

Starbucks fights back in the linked story of course. And even more interesting is that the story right below this one in the Scotsman link notes that developing a coffee habit could help men prevent prostate cancer. Interesting.

(And yes, I know that Starbucks does in fact have its own line of instant coffee, but good heavens, have you priced that stuff? I'd have to go back to the swill-in-a-can my parents drank when I was a kid if instant were the only option.)

So I have an idea, Dr. Reay: Why don't you live the lifestyle you propose but not try to require everyone else to do the same; some of us have our own way of doing things, and just because they're not your way doesn't mean that they're wrong.

And a Scotsman commenter makes a good point:

how on earth does he think they actually get instant ? ..does it come gowing on the coffee bush in tins ?

Well said. And a Blair commenter expands on this idea:

And, not for nothing, but no way does traditional coffee use more energy. Instant coffee manufacture is a far more energy-intensive practice than roast and ground, for the simple reason that it is the roast and ground process plus several more steps.

But I guess the good Dr. Reay isn't one to let a little truth get in the way of his activism.

In the meantime, the hour is late, so I'm going to bed. And when I wake up, I'm going to have a generous cup of drip coffee, just like every day. And when I go from my 68-degree house to my 30 MPG car, I won't feel guilty about my coffee habit in any way, nor will I begrudge my neighbors (who might drive SUVs or have their thermostats set at 72) their own comfort and happiness. If only the über-greenies would be so tolerant...

The Best 13 Bucks I've Spent in a While

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:13:00 +0000

For the past several days, the trackpad problem with the computer (which I mentioned here had reached a critical stage; it got to the point where I could hardly get anything done at all on here. The increased level of frustration made for an awful way to start the day, and productivity was truly suffering (and the iPhone wasn't always a good substitute; trying to copy and past multiple links into my web-based school email took a good ten minutes this morning).

This whole time, I was really hoping that the problem was strictly with the trackpad and would thus be solved by simply obtaining a mouse. Thankfully, I was correct. Having both a little bit of time and money, I headed to the Giant Corporate Electronics Concern and Tech Geek's Nirvana Spot Which Shares Its Name with a Futurama Character after rehearsal tonight and parted with a mere 13 simoleons, acquiring a perfectly serviceable USB mouse in the process. (As convenient as a wireless mouse would be, I can't part with that kind of money during the holidays, and as much as I'd like to stay all-Apple, all the time with the MacBook, I knew that such things weren't a requirement.)

Sure enough, I got home, plugged it in, and the problems of the past several weeks vanished right away. (Do I really need to download software from the manufacturer, as the installation instructions suggest? It appears to work fine as it is, and I don't need to do anything fancy like programming the buttons to do special things.) I still have a few small things to work out, such as the lack of USB ports (since I'm also running a peripheral keyboard--yes, this laptop is acting more and more like a desktop these days--and my speakers, and I'm trying to find a way to use all three simultaneously without messing with the extra wires and cables of the old powered USB hub left over from my old iMac), but it's nice to be able to do things on here on demand again. I can feel the wave of relaxation settling in already.

I'll try to use some of the next few days to get caught up on old posts and the like. As always (how many times have I said this during this semester alone?), thanks for your patience.

One More Metaphorical Graduation

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:02:00 +0000

Early last week, I "graduated" from physical therapy; the rest of the work that needs to be done to rehab my left quads can pretty much be done on my own. And today, I passed another milestone: Seeing the orthopedist for the first time in two months, I was told at the end of the visit (after receiving very positive comments about how everything is healing) that I would only have to go back there again on an "as needed" basis.

As I've said in earlier posts in this saga (which is hopefully winding quietly to a close), nearly everything that's happened since surgery--and really, even during the initial healing between the accident and that time--has been extremely positive. I do have some work left to do in the strength department, and I won't be taking stairs two at a time or returning to the racquetball court quite yet, but for the vast majority of any given day, I don't even think about my knee anymore. (It's true that I can feel a little something on really cold or rainy days, so I guess I'll grow up to be one of those old guys whose knee can predict the weather, but that often comes with the territory.)

There's probably not much more to post on this topic, though I'm sure I'll make note of the day when I go down a staircase without using the handrail or hit the racquetball court again. Thanks for hanging in there with me through all of this.

Great News from Denton

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:10:00 +0000

Glad tidings from my alma mater travel in pairs this week:

The One O'Clock Lab Band's latest Release, Lab 2009, has been nominated for two Grammy awards: Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and Best Instrumental Composition (for director Steve Wiest's "Ice-Nine"). My own comments on the CD, and the release party held for it earlier in the semester, may be found here.

And from the athletic department comes the news that Todd Dodge will continue as head football coach of the Mean Green. As I've said before, I'm a big believer in Coach Dodge, and--despite this season's six heartbreaking losses by a touchdown or less--I think he's getting the program on the right track. Seeing as how the Mean Green were among the youngest teams in the conference this year, I predict only good things for the future, and I hope to see him on the sidelines in 2011 when the new stadium opens.

It's a busy four days of concerts and other things coming up; more later.

Trying to Get Back on Track(pad), or I Wish There Were a Mouse in My House

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Apologies for the lack of posting so far this week; it's not even the usual excuse (lack of time), though that certainly figures in. Rather, this week, it has to do with a computer problem--namely, the trackpad on my MacBook Pro. It just won't, well, track sometimes. I'll move my finger around and around, but to no avail; the arrow just stays in place for a while. It's almost like a very mild version of what it must feel like to be paralyzed in a limb.

The idea has hit me that perhaps the hard drive is getting full, which I realize could affect performance somewhat. To that end, I've been doing the Great Music Purge of '09 whenever I've been on the computer during the past 24 hours. I topped out at 25 days of music, so I've been deleting anything that I already had on a physical CD, saving my iTunes space for things I've gotten through eMusic or Amazon Downloads or the iTunes Store. I'm seeing slightly better performance since I've done that, but the occasional paralysis continues.

So, a quick bleg to my fellow Mac users: Is there anything else that I'm not thinking of which could be causing this problem? A repair is not really in the cards right now, due to budgetary concerns. I also realize that I could just throw down for an actual mouse, bypassing the trackpad altogether, but I'd like some information about that as well: Of the Apple mice, which one have you found to be the best? And how about any other mice that aren't made by Apple but work on Macs--any yays or nays there? Feel free to enlighten me in the comments, as this is driving me nuts; it's taking up to five times as long to do simple tasks, and there are just some things that I can't farm out to the iPhone. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

A Lot to Be Thankful For This Year

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:16:00 +0000

SUGAR LAND--Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you're getting to spend today with friends and/or family, and that you've reached any travel destination you might have had in a quick and safe fashion.

I realized this morning that, in a way unlike any previous year, I have a lot to be thankful for. Not only did I get through my own challenging situation without too many complications (getting through the aftermath of my accident without a budget-busting ambulance ride or trip to the emergency room, among other things, and my recovery from surgery going on a smooth, positive arc so far), but three of my friends faced situations even more challenging than mine--ones that other people in similar straits did not even survive. But we're all still here and well along the road to recovery, if not completely recovered by now.

So, in addition to the usual things--family and friends, the chance to live in the greatest nation in the world, a bountiful table this afternoon--I'm sure that the four of us are especially thankful this year. May you and yours find joy in the big things and the small things as well.

Travel Advisory

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:23:00 +0000

I'm headed to Sugar Land for a few days; it'll be the longest drive I've taken since the accident and my only true solo roadtrip since spring break. While I've gotten a little stiff after my longest recent drives (which I think have topped out at an hour and a half), I'm reasonably optimistic that I'll make it through this trip with only a few extra stops to stretch and walk around.

If you're headed out as well, have a safe and pleasant journey.

UPDATE: No problems on the trip at all (save for a bit of traffic between Huntsville and Conroe), and I made it with only two stops, just like before. My legs may have felt like I just got off a boat at first, but I was able to walk it off within mere minutes.

Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:56:00 +0000

I hit another milestone on my recovery today: Unless the doctor orders more treatment when I see him at the end of next week, I've been discharged from physical therapy. While I still have several months' worth of work on my own to return my "bad" leg to full strength, I've completed everything that the therapist was asked to help me do.

This doesn't mean that I'm going to go running anytime soon (but again, nobody has chased me since the accident), nor will I return to the racquetball court right away, but as far as regular daily life goes, things are getting back to normal. (It should go without saying that stairs are a challenge, but that's so be expected.) Sure, my leg will get stiff if I'm standing or sitting in the same position for a long time, but the stiffness subsides once I change positions. (I guess that's the real-world manifestation of the old joke: PATIENT: "Doctor, Doctor, it hurts when I do this." DOCTOR: "Well, stop doing that.") And as long as I do even some of my exercises in the morning, I tend to be fine for the rest of the day.

As I've said before, everything that's happened during my recovery has been overwhelmingly positive, and I'm happy to have attained one more goal. And if you're in my area of Dallas and need a good therapist, email me and I'll be happy to make a recommendation.

(And yes, I really did get the T-shirt; the therapy place gives one to each new "graduate.")

All Caught Up

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:05:00 +0000

As promised, I've managed to complete the bulk of the unfinished posts from the past few weeks. So that my work doesn't go for naught, here's a list of everything that's new on the blog:

The lady in Dallas who feels "humiliated" after being ticketed for not speaking English has a problem that should embarrass her more than that.

I offer congratulations to KNTU on its 40th anniversary.

The unfortunate saga of Willis Willis, the guy who technically won Mega Millions until a corrupt store clerk took this ticket himself and cashed it in.

I give kudos to the Dallas Morning News for their features on local marching bands.

I celebrate the "return" of Zuzu Handmade Mexican Food, which was never really gone in the first place.

My knee recovery is to the point where I can start taking The Walk™ again, and I'm enjoying doing so.

Did you thank a veteran on Veteran's Day this year?

In honor of making it through Friday the 13th unscathed, I share a cool Monk tune by that name.

Ten years after the fatal collapse of its bonfire stack, Texas A&M pauses to remember.

I'm not in any way a fan of "emo pants," but I'll defend your right to wear them to school.

WIth the holiday coming up, I'll try to do better with this; most of the posts didn't take that long, so I have to just get in the proper frame of mind to blog before I get too tired at the end of the day. Just as the hardest part of practicing an instrument is opening the case, sometimes the hardest part of blogging is going to Blogger and hitting the New Post button.

OK, I'm Taking On a Project

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:04:00 +0000

As I acknowledged the other day, I'm woefully behind on posting; as I look at my list at this moment, there are at least twelve unfinished posts spanning the past three weeks. So with a fairly unscheduled weekend, I'm going to try and finally get caught up. Posts will appear in the November portion of the Blog Archive over on the sidebar, and once I'm done with everything (tomorrow?), I'll link to everything new in one of those "All Caught Up" posts.

Thanks as always for your patience; it's been a challenging semester.

Thinking About This Dress Code Makes Me "Emo"

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Let me say this from the outset: I think that "emo pants" are ridiculous. (You know what emo pants are, right? Those skinny pants that look OK on girls, but have started to be worn by some teenage boys, especially those who are fans of the punk-based musical style known as emo. If this still isn't ringing a bell, you can see plenty of examples here.)

I can't imagine for the life of me why someone of the male gender would want to squeeze his, umm, manhood in something so restrictive, and the look itself is rather gender-neutral; I've seen guys who dress in this style that I thought were girls (and girls who I thought were guys dressing like girls). I've never had a student dress like that, but if one did, and we had a good enough relationship, I might be hard-pressed not to look him in the eye and say, "Dude--when you get home tonight, please give your sister her pants back!" (I should also mention that, despite all this, "Emo Pants" would be a great tune name, so don't be surprised if I write that tune somewhere down the road.)

But even though I don't agree with this particular fashion choice, I will--to paraphrase Voltaire (or possibly his biographer)--defend people's rights to exercise it. That's especially true when stories like this appear in the news:

Seth Chamlee, a student at Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite, found that out the hard way on Tuesday. School administrators gave him a choice: Go home, or trade his skin-tight skinny pants for slacks provided by the school.

He went home. And he’s going to stay there.

“We’re going to home schooling,” the boy’s mother, Cindy Pope, said Wednesday. “He can learn more without the distraction of what to wear."

Good for you, Mom. It's too bad that more people don't have the resources to do what you just did, because that would appear to be the only way that school administrators might see the error of their ways: Hit them in the pocketbook, by virtue of the state money lost when students like Seth are no longer enrolled in the district.

I've railed against over-restrictive school dress codes in the past (just click the "Dress Codes" label at the bottom of this post for more posts on the subject), but Mesquite is about as extreme as it gets. Check this out:

[I]n the Mesquite school district, the [skinny] pants are banned outright. The district, which boasts one of North Texas’ most conservative dress codes, only this year granted female teachers permission to wear open-toed shoes and male teachers the right to sport facial hair.

“We don’t allow striped shirts or check shirts,” said Laura Jobe, a district spokeswoman. “There are certain types of clothes that are not acceptable dress style.”

I'll have to save the inquiry as to what's so evil about striped or checked shirts (they make some kids look fat and lower their self-esteem?) for another time, but let's back up a paragraph for a second. They just recently allowed teachers to wear facial hair. And sandals! (But only on the women for the latter; I guess these are the same people who ran my school district when I was a kid; down there, they outlawed sandals on male students, because they were afraid that--I swear I am not making this up--hairy toes on guys might sexually excite the girls in the classroom.) If they've only recently seen the light on treating adults like responsible human beings, I guess it's easier to see why they still treat the kids so badly.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I was once contacted about a private teaching job in Mesquite, which I turned down outright because the district's ban on facial hair for teachers was still in effect. Although the band director assured me that the policy didn't actually apply to private teachers, I considered that even worse--I would be some sort of Other walking around there, possibly incurring the wrath of male teachers who were subject to the code. But by and large, I didn't want to have anything to do with a district that treated teachers in that manner.)

Look--I understand the arguments from the other side: Kids need to learn how to obey rules; they're in school to get an education, not show off their fashion sense, blah blah blah. (And the worst one of all: They're never going to get a job in the business world if they don't dress more nicely. Never mind that many kids will never set foot in the business world, and, as I've said before, with some of the things that have happened on Wall Street in recent years, I'm not so sure that we should be holding up the business world as a role model in the first place.)

But it seems like those in charge should pick their battles a little more wisely. I still believe that there are a lot of kids out there--not the extremely smart kids, not the thugs-in-traning, but the big, big middle--who wouldn't mind school so much if it didn't seem as if the administration weren't throwing roadblocks at them every step of the way. And I defy the Mesquite administration to tell me exactly how these pants detract from someone's education. (Evidently, they said that "his appearance was disruptive when he sat down." But what were the administrators doing looking down there in the first place?) As Seth's mom said in the linked story, "To not be getting your education because of pants...I don't want him to learn that."

I just have trouble believing that this anything more than the administrators' desire for power and control, even at the expense of actual education. And it's why I'll continue to shout this from the rooftops: Education won't be truly improved until we require all of them to remain teachers in addition to performing their administrative duties. It's obvious that their time in the proverbial ivory tower is often spent thinking up new ways to control people's lives--time that would be better spent on actual teaching.

Oh, and I can't let this story go without one more quote from MISD spokeswoman Jobe:

In Mesquite, Jobe said that although district officials don’t necessarily have a problem with skinny pants outside of class, they’re not appropriate for school.

They don't necessarily have a problem with the pants outside of school? That makes it sound like they would control students' lives there as well, if they thought they could. Be afraid, Mesquite parents. Be very afraid.

And if anyone can tell me exactly what causes Mesquite to frown upon striped or checked shirts, please hit the comment button. (Want to see what the fuss is all about? Seth appears in a FOX 4 video here.)

Aggies Remember Their Fallen

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:04:00 +0000

Even though I never attended a day of class there, I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Texas A&M. It's my sister's alma mater, for one thing, and it became my "school away from school" while she was there; I got to attend more than a few football games (including a couple of Cotton Bowls), and I was always sort of a secret honorary member of whichever class she was in (at a school where being a freshman, sophomore, etc. actually means something).

A&M is a special place with a lot of traditions, many of which stem from the university's military origins. And for nine decades, one of the most revered of those traditions was the event simply known as Bonfire. Symbolizing the Aggies' burning desire to beat the University of Texas (known as Texas University or "t.u." in College Station) every Thanksgiving, the tower of logs took months to collect, around a week to build, and stood nearly 60 feet tall.

But ten years ago today, the unthinkable happened: In the early hours of the morning, the stack collapsed well before it was meant to be lit, with students atop the structure; twelve Aggies lost their lives that morning. Inadequate supervision and student's cutting corners were said to be the cause, according to a commission that investigated the disaster; no blame was assigned to any specific group or individual.

In the years since then, a memorial was constructed at the site, and the bonfire hasn't been held on campus since, though one has existed as a tradition in exile since 2002. And this morning, Aggies gathered to remember the fallen:

More than 3,000 people cupping candles that flickered in the cold morning air gathered at the collapse site on campus at 2:42 a.m. – the exact time of the Nov. 18, 1999 accident that also injured 27 people.

Current and former students, victims' families and others filled the grassy hills where a concrete and metal circular memorial now stands. The 30-minute event was somber but also musical as long stretches of silence were mixed with the crowd singing "Amazing Grace" and school songs such as "The Spirit of Aggieland.

I'll leave the debate as to whether the bonfire should ever return to campus--in a much more supervised state, of course--to Aggies themselves (including Gov. Rick Perry, who's gone on record as supporting such a thing). But today, I join them in pausing to remember the students who gave their lives in support of school spirit; may you never be forgotten.

(A moving video tribute to the fallen, along with other Bonfire memories, may be found here.

I'm Getting Rather Blogged Down Here

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:22:00 +0000

As I sat down tonight to possibly catch up on one of the many unfinished blog posts from the past few weeks, I managed to look at the main list of posts, where I discovered a troubling thing: Over half of the posts from that time period are unfinished! And I'm afraid that it's not going to get any better tonight either, as other things got in the way, and it's time for bed now.

I'll get caught up eventually, of course, but I thank you for your patience, and I wanted to at least put up something new today, so that regular visitors aren't continually greeted by last Thursday's post (which was, ironically, about how my workload just got lighter; I guess that hasn't translated to blogging yet).

Here's hoping for more stuff in the next few days, and, as always, I'll link to the old posts once they're done.

No Black Cats Crossed My Path Today...

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:11:00 +0000

...nor did I teach anyone named Jason. I guess I made it through Friday the Thirteenth unscathed. (And there have been years where I've taught Jasons on that day, which was always good for a laugh. The best one may have been on one of the days when I was subbing for an out-of-town band director, and I queried the class as to how many Jasons were in it; about eight kids, including two girls, raised their hands.)

If anything, I may have had my personal Friday the 13th last Thursday, which was the day when nothing seemed to go right for me. And while I didn't have to deal with black cats, broken mirrors or ladders today, I wonder if I would have been defiant in that situation, just because.

Since my Friday the 13th was so normal, I might as well share a great tune by Thelonious Monk by that name (unfortunately, no videos by the man himself). Hope you like it...

How did your Friday the 13th go? Feel free to comment if you had something unusual happen.

My Shoulders Feel Lighter Today

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:03:00 +0000

I experienced a strange element this afternoon--one that I hadn't encountered in a while. It's called "free time"--perhaps you've heard of it? I've had traces of it on weekends every now and then, but rarely on a school day recently.

But with my colleague's return from sick leave yesterday, I'm back to normal duties at school for the first time in a few months. And it's the first time in nearly seven months that I'm neither nursing an injury or doing extra work. (Sure, I'm not quite 100% with the knee, but it's rarely a factor nowadays; update on that soon.) And while I enjoyed the extra work I was doing, the real challenge was, as I told said colleague a few weeks ago over lunch, trying to be him and trying to be me. There almost needs to be a few more hours in the day to pull that off, although everything turned out fine.

The free time thing won't last, of course; nature abhors a vacuum, and there's always something else for a musician to do: Practice more, write more (although, taking a walk through Watters Creek this afternoon, I was reminded how disappointed I am that they closed the Starbucks there; it had become my favorite place for writing last year). And I've already taken on an adjudication job for Saturday morning, because extra income is always good this time of year.

Now that I've experienced "free time," I'm hoping to get reacquainted with its cousin, "sleep." I've missed you lately, buddy. So I'll save the slew of unfinished blog posts for another time and call it a night.

Once Again, I'll Ask:

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:11:00 +0000

Did you thank a veteran today?

I guess I'll have to let this post suffice, as i didn't (to my knowledge) run into one yet. And I can't think of anything more appropriate than what I posted last year at this time, so I'll excerpt that one here:

Veterans Day is one of those holidays that can be easily overlooked if you're not careful; nobody gets the day off unless they work for a government office or a bank, Macy's doesn't have a "white sale" for it, and it doesn't even get moved to a Monday to give the celebrants a long weekend. But it's obviously very important to this nation, because it honors the sacrifices made by those who have worked to keep this country free.

Here's a great quote that came across my fraternity's listserv today:
What is a veteran?

A ‘Veteran‘ — whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve — is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America,” for an amount of “up to, and including his life.”
The author is unknown, but thanks to Matthew Fuger of Mackenbach, Germany, for submitting it.

Last year, I had two veterans in my music ensembles at school; today was not an ensemble day, but I'm thinking of their service as I'm writing this. Thanks, guys...

Have you ever thanked a veteran for his or her service? There's still time...

Return of The Walk™

noreply@blogger.com (Kev) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:27:00 +0000

For the first time since before the accident, I got to take The Walk™ all the way through Firewheel tonight. While I'd made it through parts of the place in the past few months, this was the first time I'd managed to traverse the entire streetscape, and it felt great.

As my recovery nears its completion, it's a good feeling to be able to return to some of the physical activity that I used to do all the time. While I'm not quite up to running yet (though I may be cleared for same at my next visit to physical therapy in a few weeks), and racquetball may be a while off, there's always been something about a good walk at the end of a long day (or even in the middle, on those rare days when I get an extended lunch break). It's invigorating, it's good for me, and it allows not just the recovering leg, but both of them, to "wind out" a bit after a day of sitting in small practice rooms.

After nearly a month without the cane, I'm enjoying the fact that, for much of the day, I don't even think about my knee anymore. And after nearly seven months of this saga, I'm sure you're enjoying the fact that I'm not blogging much about it anymore, either. But so far, everything about this recovery could be graphed on a steady upward arc, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the process.