Monday, January 14, 2013
School Shooting Threat in East Cobb, the year of Columbine.
I remember when a sophomore male at the East Cobb HS where I taught threatened to kill students in my class and in the school at large because he was continuously bullied by this group of boys. One female student was very upset when she heard the boy say it out loud,so she was crying in class, so I sent for an administrator to come talk to the girl and to talk to the boy. The A-team refused to come,saying to my Department Chair, that I was "overreacting", so I wrote a letter to them, documenting the case and talking about the danger held within student threats. I also mailed a copy of the letter to myself through the USPS so that would have a legal record of my report. I wrote that we we lived in a dangerous society where school shootings had already occurred in Kentucky and Arkansas,and that we should take every threat seriously. The administration laughed at me and called me "overly-dramatic." Two weeks later, the Columbine shootings occurred and the U.S. entered a new age of terror in schools. Though no one died that day in East Cobb, and we were blessed and spared, would it have been so hard for the school leaders to listen to the children and the teacher?
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
How the Poor Folks Live (a repost)
by Robert Robinson on Monday, August 23, 2010 at 8:33am ·
One day a father ofa very wealthy family took his son
on a trip to thecountry with the firm purpose of showing his son how
poor people can be.They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of
what would beconsidered a very poor family.
On their returnfrom their trip, the father asked his
son, "How wasthe trip?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poorpeople can be?" the father asked. "Oh Yeah" said theson. "So what did you
learn from thetrip?" asked the father.
The son answered,"I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool thatreaches to the middle of our garden and they
have a creek thathas no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and
they have the starsat night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the wholehorizon. We have a small piece of landto live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants whoserve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We havewalls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect
them."Withthis the boy's father was speechless. Then his son
added, "Thanksdad or showing me how poor we are." Too many times we
forgetwhat we have and concentrate on what we don't have. What is one person'sworthless object is another's prize possession. It is all based on one'sperspective. Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks forallthe bounty we have, instead of worrying about wanting more. Take joy in allyou have, especially your friends. Pass this message on.
13Random Things about Me!
13Random Things about Me!
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the application then click post).
1) I will start with melancholia: I can't believe that I survived growing up in Deliverance, Alabama, during the 60's Civil Rights Movement and the 70's Disco Era!
2) I lived in a trailer in college. The address was 13 Cherry Street & the phone number was 435-HUMP!
It was the best experience.
3) I miss my college roommate, Therman Mosely. If you ever ate one of his cakes, you will remember how good it tasted.
4) The best part and best memories of my teaching career were first ,COLORGUARD & WINTERGUARD and second, my Shakepeare Students.
5) My best winterguard memory is posing for a group picture in "The Tunnel" at WGI Finals.
6) I taught 7500 English students before finishing teaching in the English classroom! This doesn't count all of my guard girls, band members, college students, and band camp students!
7) I love our farm in Alabama--it is tranquil, bucolic, and private. It was a Cherokee Indian Reservation a 100 years before us, and they called it "The Valley of No Storms."
8) When a group of three people are together, there is always "the smart one", "the pretty one," and "the slut!" Choose groups wisely. LOL
9) I prefer being "surrounded by the best" because I am in good company. Number 1 always stands alone.
10) I am blessed to have a great family.
11) I have travelled to Europe: 7 times with students and 4 times with friends. My favorite place on earth is VENICE, Italy; it is the most tranquil. Then Rome, most passionate; Then Florence, most reflective;and the Greek Isles are most spectacular.
12) Beware of "contaminated advice" from false friends and mates--they will play upon your worst fears because they are jealous of what you cherish in your heart. Literature shows this to be true. It is the Iago or Iaga [Iago-ette], that will turn your life into a tragedy. [Friends are jealous of spouses; spouses are jealous of friends]
13)That said, I am blessed to have great friends and a circle who continuously look out for my best interests.
(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the application then click post).
1) I will start with melancholia: I can't believe that I survived growing up in Deliverance, Alabama, during the 60's Civil Rights Movement and the 70's Disco Era!
2) I lived in a trailer in college. The address was 13 Cherry Street & the phone number was 435-HUMP!
It was the best experience.
3) I miss my college roommate, Therman Mosely. If you ever ate one of his cakes, you will remember how good it tasted.
4) The best part and best memories of my teaching career were first ,COLORGUARD & WINTERGUARD and second, my Shakepeare Students.
5) My best winterguard memory is posing for a group picture in "The Tunnel" at WGI Finals.
6) I taught 7500 English students before finishing teaching in the English classroom! This doesn't count all of my guard girls, band members, college students, and band camp students!
7) I love our farm in Alabama--it is tranquil, bucolic, and private. It was a Cherokee Indian Reservation a 100 years before us, and they called it "The Valley of No Storms."
8) When a group of three people are together, there is always "the smart one", "the pretty one," and "the slut!" Choose groups wisely. LOL
9) I prefer being "surrounded by the best" because I am in good company. Number 1 always stands alone.
10) I am blessed to have a great family.
11) I have travelled to Europe: 7 times with students and 4 times with friends. My favorite place on earth is VENICE, Italy; it is the most tranquil. Then Rome, most passionate; Then Florence, most reflective;and the Greek Isles are most spectacular.
12) Beware of "contaminated advice" from false friends and mates--they will play upon your worst fears because they are jealous of what you cherish in your heart. Literature shows this to be true. It is the Iago or Iaga [Iago-ette], that will turn your life into a tragedy. [Friends are jealous of spouses; spouses are jealous of friends]
13)That said, I am blessed to have great friends and a circle who continuously look out for my best interests.
Ordinary, No! NY Times Film Review (blog) of "A Single Man" directed by Tom Ford.
by Robert Robinson on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 at 1:12pm ·
February 16th, 2010
9:09 pm
Rating:
60.
Ordinary, no!
Firth's characterization and Ford's choices in the film do not rather cause a distraction between the grayness of grief and the colors of life, but rather juxtapose the vibrancy of life and love to the starkness of loss and death. This emphasis is especially true in a time and place where homosexuality is an invisible minority. We, the audience, see that George lives in a glass house but he and his sorrow are invisible to his neighbors, invisible to all but the few who choose to peek inside his enclave and into his soul. To the world, George is an ordinary man, but Firth and Ford hint to his exceptionality by the use of his impeccable dress, his attention to detail, and to his fury within his class room, where eventually when George opens up, his voice is loud and clear, even defiant. It is this fanfare of the common man that allows us to understand and empathize with George’s grief. We again get the chance to understand his sorrow when George opens up to Charley as she dismisses his love, and therefore, his grief, as a substitute for the real deal.
You may say that Ford’s work is flawed, especially if you view it as a formulaic drama built on the paradigms of a heterosexual perspective. I say, it is an exceptional work of art, worthy of the Academy Award because it shows a glimpse into the fervent world of George and his repressed passions. It shows the grayness of invisibility amid the colors of life and in the sudden bursts of hope and desire a gay man faces even today.
– idealist rob , atlanta
9:09 pm
Rating:
60.
Ordinary, no!
Firth's characterization and Ford's choices in the film do not rather cause a distraction between the grayness of grief and the colors of life, but rather juxtapose the vibrancy of life and love to the starkness of loss and death. This emphasis is especially true in a time and place where homosexuality is an invisible minority. We, the audience, see that George lives in a glass house but he and his sorrow are invisible to his neighbors, invisible to all but the few who choose to peek inside his enclave and into his soul. To the world, George is an ordinary man, but Firth and Ford hint to his exceptionality by the use of his impeccable dress, his attention to detail, and to his fury within his class room, where eventually when George opens up, his voice is loud and clear, even defiant. It is this fanfare of the common man that allows us to understand and empathize with George’s grief. We again get the chance to understand his sorrow when George opens up to Charley as she dismisses his love, and therefore, his grief, as a substitute for the real deal.
You may say that Ford’s work is flawed, especially if you view it as a formulaic drama built on the paradigms of a heterosexual perspective. I say, it is an exceptional work of art, worthy of the Academy Award because it shows a glimpse into the fervent world of George and his repressed passions. It shows the grayness of invisibility amid the colors of life and in the sudden bursts of hope and desire a gay man faces even today.
– idealist rob , atlanta
Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps (taken from Wikipedia 2012).
Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps (taken from Wikipedia 2012).
by Robert Robinson on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 2:38am ·
Founding
In 1976, Freddy and Linda Martin and Bob Hoehn met with the management of an Atlanta area television station to discuss starting an Atlanta-area drum and bugle corps.(See:Note) After a series of successful meetings, Spirit of Atlanta was founded. The corps was originally named "Concourse"[citation needed]. A contest was held to find a new, more appropriate name, and "Spirit of Atlanta" was chosen. The corps was a DCI first in that it was sponsored by television station WXIA, making it the first corporate-sponsored drum corps. The founding director of the corps is Mr. Freddy Martin.
[edit]1970s
With Freddy Martin as corps director, members were recruited (including several from Jacksonville State University [JSU] in Alabama), a program with no particular musical style was worked up, and Spirit of Atlanta was introduced to the drum corps public at contests in at least nine states in the South and Midwest. At the 1977 DCI World Championships in Denver, Spirit finished twenty-third of forty-five corps.[2][3]
A first year finish of twenty-third was respectable, but Spirit of Atlanta wanted more and an effort was made to secure the finest instructional staff possible. Two new caption heads were hired; brass head Jim Ott from the DCI Champion Blue Devils and percussion head Tom Float from Toronto's Oakland Crusaders, a corps renowned for their drumming. With these two hires, the core instructional group was in place which would take the corps to new heights. Adopting a style that has been referred to as "Southern Jazz", Spirit stunned the drum corps world in 1978, vaulting into eighth place at DCI Prelims in Denver; then at Finals, the corps rose even higher, finishing in sixth place and losing the High Brass title to the Phantom Regiment by one tenth of a point. Both the brass and percussion were among the best in the drum corps activity, and Spirit moved up into a fourth place finish at DCI in Birmingham, Alabama in 1979, featuring the song that would become the corps' trademark tune, "Georgia on my Mind."
[edit]1980s
Tragedy struck Spirit while the corps was on tour in 1980. When one of their vans was in a traffic accident on Interstate 55 near Grenada, Mississippi, brass arranger and caption head Jim Ott was killed. Spirit's members and staff were devastated, but the corps recovered to honor Ott's memory by repeating their fourth place finish at DCI Finals in Birmingham, AL.[2][3] In 1980, the percussion line had the high execution score at finals and tied for the overall high percussion title.
Prior to the 1981 season, the corps lost its corporate sponsorship from WXIA. Financial adjustments were made and the corps continued on. Following the loss of Jim Ott in the 1980 season new staff members were needed to fill the vacancies. For the summer of 1981, the drill designer was Steve Moore; horn caption heads included Gary Markham and Joel Schultz. Visual Designers were Freddy Martin and John Armstrong. The guard instructors brought in the varied talents of Julie Gilbert of the Crossmen, Cindy Anderson of the Guardsmen, and Robert S. Robinson of Jacksonville State University and Chapter V Winter Guard. Tom Float remained percussion caption head and Mike Back, who was a percussion instructor in 1980 returned to the staff. Spirit of Atlanta repeated the musical program of the 1980 season in 1981, with the exception of the concert number, hoping for higher levels of competitive success. This was not to be the case, as the corps finished in ninth place in 1981. The percussion was the highest scoring caption for the year, but Tom Float departed at the end of the 1981 season. At the end of 1982, the corps finished 12th place with the guard ranked 11th in their caption at DCI finals.
After two disappointing years competitively, in 1983 the corps rallied to a seventh-place finish behind the new visual staff of Sal Salas, Scott Chandler and Tam Easterwood along with long time marching instructor Brad Carraway.
In 1984 the Spirit drumline under Mike Back made a run at the high percussion title as they were the "host corps" for the 1984 World Championships.
The 1985 corps saw Tam Easterwood and Scott Chandler's colorguard win the guard trophy, a feat they would repeat in 1987.
In 1986, the tenth competitive season of the corps, the "throwback" show of Southern blues, jazz and gospel earned them a sixth place finish and an all-time high score for Spirit of Atlanta of 94.1 at the DCI Championships.
In 1988, after a disappointing competitive end to the 1987 season, a decision was made to turn away from jazz and blues to the classical idiom. Although the corps' competitive placement improved from tenth to ninth place and scored in the 92's just weeks prior to finals, the classical show based on Stravinsky's "Petrushka" was panned by drum corps fans used to the high-powered brass and exciting shows for which Spirit had become known.
In 1989, Spirit dropped from finals for the first time since 1978.
[edit]1990s
In 1990 Spirit of Atlanta regained Finalist status, but their success would not last long. Financial and management challenges plagued the corps. From 1991 to 1993 the corps' competitive status declined. The financial problems culminated leading into the 1994 season, when the corps announced it would be inactive that summer.
The corps returned to the field in 1995, and began a long rebuilding process. These years would prove challenging, but saw some increased success as the corps progressed from 23rd place in 1996 to a regained semi-finalist status in 1997, and peaking at 14th place in 1998. The corps changed uniforms along the way to a navy blue top with cream pants.
Financial challenges would continue to hound the corps leading into the 2000 season, which saw a mid-summer management turnover and a difficult touring year. Nonetheless, the corps finished 15th, and a majority of the membership from that season would continue with the corps over the next 4 years.
[edit]2000s
In 2000, while the corps was rehearsing at JSU just prior to the start of tour, the corps director attempted to fold the drum corps. Due to a very strong response by corps alumni, parents, staff and other members of the drum corps community Spirit of Atlanta got through the season, finishing in fifteenth place at DCI Finals in College Park, Maryland. Following the management challenges of the 2000 season, Spirit of Atlanta re-organized in preparation for the summer of 2001. It officially relocated to Jacksonville, Alabama, and officially became known as "Spirit, from Jacksonville State University". This relationship with the university provided a foundation of stability the corps had not experienced for more than a decade. The 2001 season saw a significantly more competitive drum corps finishing in 13th place while wearing baby blue uniforms again. In 2002, Spirit regained finalist status for the first time since 1990 finishing 10th overall - the highest placement since 1988. Spirit of JSU would make DCI Finals again in 2003 and '05-07. Going into the 2008 season the association with Jacksonville State University was essentially dissolved, resulting in a simplification of the corps' name to "Spirit Drum and Bugle Corps from Jacksonville, AL". The corps continued to operate out of Jacksonville, AL for the 2009 season.
[edit]2010s and Return to Atlanta
In 2010, the corps surprised the drum corps community by announcing its return to Atlanta. After the 2010 season, it was announced by the corps' Board of Directors that for the 2011 season, the corps would once again be known as "Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps." Spirit of Atlanta surged back into finals again in 2011, jumping from 16th place the preceding season to 12th at DCI Finals.
Note: The television station management had the idea of starting new corps across the country, with a corps in every city where the Atlanta station had sister stations. Such was never to happen, and the station sponsored Spirit for only four years.
[edit]Sponsorship
The Spirit of Atlanta Drum and Bugle Corps is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that has a Board of Directors, corps director, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The Executive Director is Dr. Todd Snead.[4]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)