(Boston) New England Aquarium - Part the First

The New England Aquarium was our first stop on our first full day in Boston.  As with most of the attractions we visited, I could have spent a whole day here.  Sea Lions have an external wall on their tank and are the first critters to welcome you to the aquarium.  If you look real close, you can see them in the photo just left of center. (click on pictures - they are stored in hi-res and you can blow them up big!)

The facility has a four(?) story walk around tank in the middle of the building with large (think Sharks!) sea life in it.  The bottom "floor" of the building is a gigantic penguin pool with hundreds of penguins.

Picture taking was a problem.  People using flashes kept getting nice pictures of themselves.  The flash turns the glass walls into mirrors.  I had my best success shooting in video mode.  First video clip has Seahorses, a crab, an urchin, and these strange 5 armed creepers that look like something from a SciFi movie.  There are three more videos after the jump (click the "read more")

Nerd, Geek, or Dork

I took the test and here are my results --



Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...

Pure Geek

48 % Nerd, 57% Geek, 26% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Geek, earning you the title of: Pure Geek.

It's not that you're a school junkie, like the nerd, and you don't really stand out in a crowd, like the dork, you just have some interests that aren't quite mainstream. Perhaps it's anime, perhaps it's computers, perhaps it's bottlecaps, perhaps it's all of those and more. Your interests take you to events and gatherings that are filled with people you find unusual and beyond-the-pale, but you don't quite consider yourself "of that crowd." Instead, you consider yourself to be fairly normal.

Which, you are. Congratulations!

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Take The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test at OkCupid

Sam would be proud

I remember when Wal-Mart first came to PA.  I remember the ad campaign.  Wal-Mart promised "Made in the U.S.A.".  That stopped shortly after Sam Walton went to the great Super Center in the sky.

FlowingData has a map that shows the growth of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club over the best 40-some years. Very cool to watch (in a War Games kinda way). Interesting if you pan around the map or zoom out. There are several Wal-Marts in Puerto Rico. Hawaii seems to dig Sam's Clubs.

Check it out at -- http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

Morning Joe

During the school year I wake up to "Morning Joe"  with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, and a whole slew of regular guest commentators.  The show runs 6 to 9 AM and has a very contemporary feel.  The bumper music is usually 70's and 80' tunes.  Guests wander in and out of the show through-out the morning, almost like they have stopped by to grab their caffeine and then coincidently get drawn into the conversation.  There is not a lot of fluff and the hosts (Joe and Mika mostly - Willie is more of the useless trivia/news/comedy guy) do not always agree with each other, let alone their guests.  Discussions can get very heated.  True, each individual may have a bias on any topic, but due to the wide range of guests and opinions, at the end of the conversation you truly do get a balanced view of the news.  Honestly, it's about the only cable news I watch anymore.  Most of the cable news I cannot stomach.

There is one thing about "Morning Joe" that I cannot stomach -- Their Starbucks blend of coffee.  I was so excited when I found it on the shelves of Wal-mart, I took the bag home and took pictures of it next to my coffee mess.

Then I ran a pot . . .

I spent 6 years in the Navy.  I drank a lot of bad coffee.  I have stomached some of the most dangerous grounds ever percolated in a Boy Scout Camp.  I consider myself a professional on bad coffee.  I admit, I don't have the range of taste buds to appreciate the subtleties of better brews.  I didn't need to with this stuff.  It can't decide if it is a French Roast, a dark roast "wake-me-up", or a base for all the fancy slurryups coffee houses like to dump into otherwise perfectly good coffee.  I like my coffee sans everything.  If the brew can't go down on its own, it is no good.  I understand now why Joe always has creamers, flavored syrups, sugar, and ice in his coffee.  It is the only way to make it palatable.  Morning Joe Coffee - failed.

Buy a bag anyway and put it on your shelf.  It does look cool and I believe part of the proceeds are marked for charity (not sure - can someone find out?)

Errors and Corrections

Friend Jason Kramer, who happens to be a pharmacist and e-friendly small business owner (two links in there), corrected my error of thinking Adderall was not a C-II drug.  It is.  Good news(?), Zyprexa is not and it costs more than Adderall - making it an even bigger waste of money!  Sweeter.

You may want to go back and re-read the revised post (or not).  Argument is still the same.

Thank you Jason.

You don't know JACK!

Had a decent Father's day today.  My son Dan, one of my foster sons, and Mia went up to my fathers for dinner.  Mia made chicken and shrimp kabobs for the grill, along with macaroni salad and deviled eggs (potentially a stinky situation with all the eggs involved).  At my request, dad made a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing - yummy!  Cathy came over for dinner.  All-in-all a very laid back and pleasant day.

But tonight, as I was finishing reading "Deadline" by Chris Crutcher ( a whole separate trauma) I was IMd by my friend Jack.  He is an Air Force Medic serving with the First Battalion, 110 Infantry Brigade at FOB Bullard.  I often catch him on Facebook in the evening, which is the morning for him.  Once, he hurriedly typed "things are starting off fast today" and "just found an IED have to wait for EOD".  He signed off shortly after that.  He has also described some of the gorier casualties he has had to deal with.  He's even mentioned a few fatalities.  Until June 11th, they had always been Afghan Nationals and, not that it should matter, I felt relief to know that these were not American Soldiers dieing in his unit.

June 11th that changed.  Army Staff Sgt. Bryan Hoover and Army Sgt. First Class Fike were killed by an IED.  Not that you can intuit much emotional context out of a text message, it is obvious that this loss has played heavy on my friend - as it should.  And it should effect us at home more as well.  There have been 35 American fatalities in June (as of the 20th) and I have not heard nearly as much about this disaster as I have heard of the oil spill in the gulf, the silly debate of defending the American Border in Arizona (silly in that there is already Federal precedence to check a suspects immigration status if it is suspect, so who cares if a State wants to in-act their own similar legislation.  Read all three answers.), or Armani Underwear airbrushing out Megan Fox's Abs (worth two seperate links btw).

If you want to see who has died in service to our country, check out --

• http://icasualties.org/OEF/Index.aspx
• http://militarytimes.com/valor/index.php
• http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf
• http://freedomremembered.com/index.php/category/states/pennsylvania/ (this link is just for Pennsylvanians - there are write-ups for both Hoover and Fike)

And there it is!  Not that I will dwell on these thoughts, but I will be more anxious as I wait to see Jack log on to his Facebook account.  Please, keep him, as well as all of the other great Americans who serve on our behalf, in your thoughts and prayers.  And, do not forget those who have fallen.

The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. - General Douglas MacArthur

R2Egg2

I bought a Motorola Droid the day after Christmas this past year.  It was part gift for myself and part gift from others.  I have fallen in love with it.  I have become one of those people I used to make fun of.  I always have it with me, am always reading texts and emails, and struggle to put it down when dining out with friends.  It is like an addiction.  A social networking addiction?  Maybe.

I started a Twitter Account because of my droid (R2Egg2 - yes, I named it).  Egg2 has opened up other social networking applications to me.  I just started "foursquare" and I "Yelp*".  I get my daily doses of Facebook directly to Egg2.  My Google (Gmail) mail, calendar, task list, and documents sync together, so I am never without access.  My favorite podcasts (Slate political Gabfest, Radio Free Burrito, and NPR All Songs Considered) load directly to the Droid.  Egg2 plays my music, holds my pictures, and shoots video (streaming live to http://qik.com/kurteeck or the bottom of this blog).  I've even used it as metal detector at work (Tricorder App!).  It is the coolest toy ever (for now).

Plus, now that I have posted this, you can click through the links and hit me up from the net or SMS me at 570-486-4443.

Later.

A bitter pill to swallow

The amount of money wasted on medicine for foster kids is amazing.  Sometimes it seems I destroy almost as many pills as I administer.

Here is an example.  Child goes to med clinic.  Dr. prescribes a certain med.  For this example, lets say 10 mg Adderall XR Zyprexa.  He writes out a 30 day prescription with two refills.  The Dr. also puts the child on a schedule II drug, which  can only be scheduled out for thirty days and cannot be refilled without another appointment.  (This also helps feed the coffers of the Doctors who do these med clinics)  I go and fill both prescriptions for the first thirty days.  Someone screws up and doesn't schedule the next med clinic within 30 days.  (This happens more often than it should as well)  I run out of the schedule II drug but do refill the Adderall XR Zyprexa, which has refills.  Three days into the 30 pills of the refill, we get into see the doctor for the schedule II drug.  While talking to the child, the child mentions to the doctor that he doesn't like the way the Adderall Zyprexa makes him "feel".  In turn, the doctor decides to take the child off of the Zyprexa and put him on something else.  I end up with 27 capsules of Zyprexa.

Thirty 10 mg capsules of Zyprexa costs around $475.  (http://tiny.cc/p2ti2) What am I to do with them?  I have to destroy them.  Who pays for the wasted meds?  You do!  All kids in foster care in PA receive their health care through Medical Assistance, which is funded with your tax dollars.  Sweet.

(Friend Jason Kramer, who happens to be a pharmacist and e-friendly small business owner (two links in there), corrected my error of thinking Adderall was not a C-II drug.  It is.  Good news(?), Zyprexa is not and it costs more than Adderall - making it an even bigger waste of money!  Sweeter.)

Take A Pill!

It is no secret that I am not a fan of behavioral meds; especially when it involves kids I have in my home or at school.  It's not that I am totally against their use.  My father, depending on which doctor you ask, is either schizophrenic or manic depressive.  You wouldn't know it.  When he is on his medication he is as "normal" as the next person.  But get him off his meds . . . 


I was classified as a hyperkinetic child when I was in elementary school.  My parents nor my teachers (I just used "nor") gave me pills.  And, as much as I would like to say they did, they didn't apply a 2x4 or a paddle.  I did miss quite a few recesses.  There were some early bedtimes.  I was allowed to pace back and forth as I read books in fifth grade.  And I survived school.  


Most of the students I get that are labeled ADD/ADHD do just fine if they are given a little extra structure and, at times, leeway.  Same with foster children.  I've had kids, Thomas for instance, who have shown up on my doorsteps so doped up that they are doing a damn good impersonation of a zombie, except they can't even work up enough energy to growl "Brains".

WWdN: In Exile

Another summer has come and I look at my poor blog and realize how neglected it has become.  Fear not!  I am revitalized.  I have found my muse.  And it is not a feminine sprightly muse.  It is the youngest officer of Starfleet, "The Gordo" from "Stand By Me", the kid from that movie "Toy Soldiers" -- what was his real name?

I didn't think about him as having grown up.  I didn't know that he had (re)created himself as one of the most popular bloggers of the past decade (Forbes.com awarded him "Best Celebrity Weblog" in 2003 and in 2009 ranked him as the 14th most influential celebrity blogger.  He's been nominated for lifetime achievement awards in blogging and has been compared to blog powerhouses like Fark and Slashdot.); and then turned his blogging into authorship.  I'm not even sure how I stumbled onto his web site - WWdN: In Exile.
I just know that I did stumble upon it around Easter and have been letting his musings and anecdotes fill the few empty places I have left in my brain.  I even bought one of his books --

I finished it the same day it arrived.  The "He" is Wil Wheaton.  And he is much more than the characters he played years ago.  He is the geeks geek.  He writes about all the cool things my friends and I did when we were his age - Star Wars, Star Trek, Car Wars, Dungeons and Dragons, Pac-man and Dig-Dug.  And it is readable.  And enjoyable.  And - very human.

The motivating part - I did write a 50,000 word novel in November as a participant in National Novel Writing Month.  I have learned to shed my inner editor and put my thoughts into type.  I just haven't had the spirit to write (nor the time, thanks to conditions at work).  My "muse" was gone.  Wil Wheaton has shown me that it is also ok to shed the cloak of self-doubt.  They are voices in his head that he (and his wife) have learned to ignore.  I'll write.  I'll post.  If people like what I have to say, great.  If not, I will be none the worse for the effort.

I will ignore the voices of self doubt.  It is time for round three (if your counting) for the Egg Bros primary web presence.  I hope some readers come along for the ride.

Two of my favorite things.

Sorry . . . I couldn't help myself. My inner geek took over and made me post it. (Think about it. Star Wars AND Legos)

Safe Schools

I'm not sure how I've avoided venting on this issue for so long. I probably feared that I might offend someone or violate some protocol or requirement. Now that school is almost over for the year and after reading about another incident in another Alternative Ed. Program, I've decided to vent. I will avoid mentioning specifics myself and instead will let the news articles stand (mostly) on their own. Then I will gripe about the overall inefficiency of "The System" in regards to these events.

Most recently, students in my class mentioned that they heard a "teacher" at "Five Star" had been fired for beating a student. I immediately assessed this at about 5% chance of being accurate (or 95% BS). Googled it. Found --

Cops: Student choked teacher

By Amanda O’Rourke
The Daily Item

SUNBURY — A Winfield teenager faces assault charges after he allegedly choked a teacher at a city school Wednesday morning.

This is local news. Not something happening in the big city or on the west coast. Granted, Five Star is an alternative ed. program similar to the PATH AEP where I work. We get troubled kids with lots of anger issues. Still, it is not expected that they will just attack teachers. Why is this happening? And what is to be done?

Our program has had a similar incident.

Cops: Mom kicks man's face
Middleburg woman attacks son's teacher

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

MILTON -- A Middleburg woman kicked a fallen teacher in the head and face, and pulled his hair, after her student son had gotten into trouble over a cell phone, Milton police said.

Obviously, I was there. The story is not entirely accurate. I didn't get kicked. Mr. Matt did. We did restrain the youth. No one was hurt. From the PATH end, we acted very professionally.

The question, again, is "how have we gotten to the point were students and parents have no qualm with assaulting teachers"? I have heard that Five Star had an incident about two weeks after mine that involved a parent. And if you google "student attacks teacher" you'll get (drum roll please) thirty-four million hits. Why?

Our judicial system, which is suppose to provide an expeditious and timely trial, is bogged down. In my case, the assault happened in mid-February. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for the 10th of July. I suspect that the result of that hearing will push the trial back into October. By the time anything is resolved . . .

I'd like to blame national apathy. Perhaps this trend is due to a swing back towards moral relativism. My students often justify their behavior by claiming that they don't feel like they have to treat us (the teachers) with respect because we don't treat them with respect. Maybe the confusion is in understanding what "Respect" is?

(TBC)

Bull or No Bull!?

Sometimes you wish the bull would beat the bullfighter. This time the bull did win. Be warned -- this is kinda 'gory'! (only the first minute of the video has the bull winning - after that . . .)

YMCA Day Camp Training - annual recharge

I really enjoy this time of the year. Not only is school almost over and the weather getting great, but I get to go to the Sunbury YMCA, meet some old friends, make some new ones, and share some of my ideas and knowledge in the annual Day Camp training.

And again, this year was great. I feel like my motivational battery is recharged. What a great program we have in the Greater Susquehanna Valley YMCA!

This year we focused on emergency procedures, child development and effective discipline, and song leading. It all went well. I had fun teaching everyone "singing in the rain" with additional motions added in. The last verse of the song is sung with everyone dancing with their elbows together, their knees together and bent, body bent, and tongue stuck out. I figure, what better time to get out the camera?


I ended the session with a large group team building exercise that involved jig saw puzzles and blindfolds, as well as a devious trick.


Everyone worked well together. Quality staff members. I get the feeling there will be lots of happy campers this summer.

Cross Curriculum

In an attempt to maintain our high rate of cross curriculum activities, Mr. Matt integrated the social studies current events material with the rocket portion of the physics class.

Steven Rodriguez' accused murderers get day in court

An update - the three assailants in the Steven Rodriguez murder had their first day in court. read about it in the Dialy Item -

"Steven M. Rodriguez was shot dead in his apartment May 11 after he stole marijuana from one of the three men accused of killing him, a friend and witn . . ."

Who knew orgasms could be so funny?

Mary Roach has written several laymen scientific books -- "Stiff" (about what happens to cadavers - post mortem of course), "Spook" (sciences attempt to explain what happens to our souls, if we have one, after we die), and now "Bonk" (boink, bang, the home run - scientifically of course).

TED has a video of Mary Roach speaking to an audience in California. Funny and, well . . . funny. If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, you must - MUST! - check out the segment starting at 11:00 minutes.

Kindle

I pondered the decision to buy an e-book for several months. I am a closet bibliophile and wasn't (and am still not) comfortable with the idea of not experiencing the printed word printed. There is something about the feel and smell of a good book. And I like the practice of sharing or giving away my books.

As I get older, I am recognizing the need to shed some of my material wealth, my stuff. I even did spring cleaning twice this year, just to get rid of clothes and other junk that has accumulated in my closets and other spaces. Compound this desire to not accumulate any more clutter with the rising costs of books, and you can understand why I committed what I thought was a sacrilege. I bought a Kindle. The Kindle 2, to be more precise.



And I love it! It is as thin as a pencil, fits in my book bag, can hold more books than I could haul in a car, let alone a backpack, and (thanks to e-ink technology) holds a battery charge for almost a week. E-books are generally cheaper than the book store price. And the Kindle uses cellular network to download books to my Kindle. Anywhere I can get a cell signal (in the United States), I can order and download a book. Immediate satisfaction.

I did make some concessions. I decided to justify the initial expense by banning myself from Borders and not buying any real books for four months. (I was spending around $150 a month at Borders. By not spending that money, I have made up the expense of the Kindle) I have also had to accept that I won't be able to share my books with others. E-books cannot be shared (legally) with other Kindles.

Another benefit of the Kindle is the subscription services to periodicals. I would never spend the money to subscribe to a National Newspaper like the Washington Post or the New York Times. It would be to expensive and the paper waste would rub against the few "green" nerves in my body. Kindle allows me to get the Washington Post at a very reasonable price without the waste or annoying advertising inserts. Currently, you can try a trial 2 week subscription of any of the periodicals offered on Kindle.

Biggest disappointment - within weeks of me getting my Kindle 2, Amazon came out with the Kindle DX (a 9.7" screen vs a 6" screen). It is more expensive and has some new features. I would have liked the new features. I'm not sure I mind having a smaller screen. My Kindle 2 'feels' like a paperback because of it's size. I think the bigger Kindle DX would remind me of a text book. And, although the cost difference was not prohibitive, I probably would have opted to save a few dollars and stay with a model I can chuck into my book bag.

Check the Amazon site for more details on the Kindle. I looked at several other e-books and settled on Amazons Kindle for many reasons, but I encourage you to do your own research. If your looking for a device for just reading e-books, the Kindle is it.

Bear in the backyard (my backyard is an alley!)

Trash has been an ongoing problem in downtown Milton. I'm not sure if it is an economic issue or if it is just a matter of people being lazy, but trash has piled up in the streets. The pile below sat on the opposite side of the road from the MOOSE for one week.



Other people have stacked the trash in the alleys behind the apartments. And now, look who has stopped for dinner!



The poor bear made the mistake of coming into downtown Milton for a meal. He managed to get himself cornered by a bunch a the downtown bar patrons and resorted to climbing the telephone pole. I snapped a quick shot and got the heck outta the way. I didn't want this guy to become smokey. Milton PD came by and chased away all the ogglers. Not long after, the bear climbed down, grabbed a snack, and hightailed it out of downtown.

Fringe Season Final - An Enterprising finish

Without getting into a lot of what the Fringe is about - if you cared you'd watch it - I did want to share that the series took a wild, almost Star Trek Movie like, twist at the conclusion of the season. Not only did the show introduce the possibility of an alternate reality, it also introduce Leonard Nimoy as the long hidden nemisis! I guess your never to old to get into Sci-Fi.

If you have not been watch Fringe, you can catch back episodes on Fox.com.

Star Trek

Yes - I went to see it.
Yes - It was worth a full price ticket. And,
Yes - I will go see it again; which is something I haven't done in many years (see a movie in the theater twice)



The sci-fi plot was as tight as you can get with a universe as big as the Star Trek Universe. Time travel has always been a mainstay of Star Trek. The newest movie uses time travel and alternate versions of reality to lay open a whole new frontier for the reincarnations of the original crew of the starship Enterprise.

The movie had some surprising twists (compounded by some deceptive advertising and well kept secrets) and plenty of action. The new actors seemed to comfortably take on the mantles of their predecessors, assuming some of the quirks of the original cast, while bringing along their own unique foibles. I particularly got a kick out of Scottie's new sailor worthy vocabulary. And I continue to cringe at Kirk's nut smashing leg cross when sitting in the command chair.

I'm sure their are many die hard trekkies out there who have found faults with the movie. Don't look so hard! This entry into the saga is as worthy as the best of the other movies. My question - what's next? A second movie? A TV spin-off? A couple hundred new Star Trek Novels? The universe is wide open once again.

Local shooting strikes close.

I don't often get specific with names and such when it comes to most of my students, but on this occasion I'll make an exception.

Back during the Nicole era (Nicole Bingaman and Nicole Snyder), we had a particularly difficult student. I remember a particular "run in" he had with Nicole Snyder.

Sadly, I have heard today, that he was killed last night in a shooting.

3 in custody following Snyder County murder


By Marcia Moore
The Daily Item

SHAMOKIN DAM — Three men allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man at an apartment off Routes 11-15 late Monday are in state police custody.

Steven Rodriguez was shot at an apartment at 2-78 Susquehanna Trail around 11:30 p.m. Monday and died about an hour later at Sunbury Community Hospital. An autopsy is scheduled for today at Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown.

Law enforcement were on the alleged suspects' tails shortly after the shooting.

Sometime around 12:30 a.m., Fred Loreman, 43, was listening to his police scanner inside his house at the corner of Old Route 15 and New Columbia Road when he heard a vehicle was being pursued in his neighborhood.

"My ears perked up," Loreman said.

He stuck his head outside the kitchen door and saw a fast-moving vehicle traveling north on Old Route 15 with police cars in close pursuit.

"Thank God the cops were behind him with lights and sirens because that guy was really moving," he said.

Loreman said it appeared the suspect may have been trying to get onto Routes 15 or 80 and made a wrong turn and crashed into a tree behind a Short Stop convenient store next to his home.

"I was scared," he said. "I thought he was going to hit my house. I've got two young kids and they were asleep."

The occupants of the car fled the accident site, running across a creek and into a housing complex where they were nabbed.

"There were dozens of police in the area, swarming like bees," Loreman said, describing the action as like "watching an episode of 'Cops'" on television.

And from TalkRadio 1380 WMLP News --

Three charged in Snyder County homicide

SELINSGROVE – Three men have been charged with felony counts of homicide after the shooting and killing of 19-year-old Steven Rodriguez Monday night at an apartment near Runyon Road along Routes 11/15 in Monroe Township, Snyder County. 25-year-old Abdul Malik Saeed Walker of Williamsport, 25-year-old Ibrahim Musa Wells of Mill Hall and 27-year-old David Cannie of Philadelphia were arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Edward Mihalik. Rodriguez was shot around 11:30p.m., and died about an hour later at Sunbury Community Hospital. Walker, Wells and Cannie all fled the scene of the crime in a vehicle, which was later spotted in Union County. That vehicle then reportedly crashed near the Short Stop gas station in New Columbia and the three were taken into custody.
Snyder County District Attorney Mike Sholley says he believes the three knew Rodriguez. He says he does not believe the shooting was gang-related and would not confirm if it was drug-related. He says there were several witnesses to the crime. Weapons known to be involved include a shotgun and a 9mm pistol. Walker, Wells and Cannie are being held without bail in Snyder County Prison.

This is the second young person who was in our program to have died a tragic death since I started working for PATH. (the other was Ryan Francis - who I had living with me in Foster Care) It calls to question the role we - the teachers, foster parents, caseworkers, and all the others involved - have in the lives of the young people we interact with.

The pessimist might say that incidents like this one show that we have failed. But I wonder, how many youth have we had in our program that we have managed to detour onto a less destructive path?

My Facebook was hijacked by pirates (Arr!)

Seriously - my language was switched to "English-Pirate" and it was cool.

You need to try this if you are on Facebook. Log in and go all the way to the bottom of the page. On the left, just to the right of the Facebook (c) is your current language. It probably says your using English. Click on the language and look for "English - Pirates" in the language selection screen. Click it and check out you Facebook page. It will be in pirate-ese. Aarrr!

Wolverine

Took the kids to see the new x-men movie - wolverine. I enjoyed the movie, despite some glaring inconsistencies within the movie and within the franchise of movies. Most troublesome to me, in the movie, was the horrible sequence in the alley with Gambit (you'll have to see the movie to follow this). Logan knocks out Gambit and goes after Sabretooth. There is a scene cut, and we see Gambit running across the roofs of New Orleans and flying into the alley -- where he was last seen unconscious -- wielding some wicked powers from a staff. Bad editing or poor choice to include run across the roofs?

Despite the incongruity, it was a great summer flick (first of the season for me) and should be judged as such. The action was paced well through the movie. There were scenes with different characters that you wish would have gone longer, but the movie was about Wolverine, not all the mutants. And Liev Schreiber was a kick butt Sabretooth (much better than Tyler Mane in the original X-men movie). I'd say - x-men geek or not - brain candy that is worth the ticket for an entertaining evening.

And some pics of my niece

Nephew Pictures

My brother sent down a batch of photos. Here are a few of Sam.

Milton Spring Clean-up

Tony, Roy, and Lenny helped me clean the Capitol Theater Lot on Saturday. Sadly, more cigarette butts than weeds.

Good news - By the time we were done, the site looked great and is ready for the summer.

eggbrosinc.com logo?

messages

This is one of those serendipitous moments that lets me know that God does try to give us messages. I recently posted a poem by Darrell Scott.

Yesterday, my boss brought back information about our schools re-authorization process. Although we are a private alternative educational placement, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Education still 'approves' our program.

Start with an insane list of data. Insane because we must go back three years into our old records and pull out information that we were never tracking because the decision to track this information was just made - oh, and by the way, we are going to so poorly phrase the directions for data collection that most of the information is going to be useless because the different programs collecting it are going to record it in different ways. For example --

"C. Average Daily Attendance for AEDY student population at every grade level."

What? How do you calculate this? From the FAQ --

Q: For data reporting purposes, how should AEDY programs determine “Average Daily Attendance?”

A: Average Daily Attendance should be calculated by taking the daily attendance of your student population by grade level (# of students you have in school that day by grade level) and dividing by the daily membership (# of students your AEDY program serves by grade level, even if they are absent that day).

That looks like the formula for a percentage. Not an average!!!

How about these two items.

M. Of the number of students in column B, how many at every grade level passed all 4 core content subjects (science, math, English, and social studies) while in your program?

N. Of number of students in column B, how many at every grade level passed at least 3 of 4 core content subjects (science, math, English, and social studies) while in your program?

Do I recount the students who passed 4 core content subjects for item N? They did pass at least 3 of 4 core content subjects. What if someone else doesn't? Then the data collected is useless. I do not have a problem collecting and submitting data if it is a useful exercise. This is going to be a very time consuming and useless exercise.

AND NOW THE KICKER -- Going back to my original thought. Darrell Scott wrote this poem which I read in the intro to Chuck Norris' autobiography. I post it on my blog. Next day I start reviewing this packet of information regarding the application for our school. The first page I randomly flip to when I get the packet - the first item my eyes fall upon is as follows --

(3) A private alternative education institution shall: . . .(III) Be nonsectarian in all operations and shall not provide any religious instruction, nor shall it display religious objects and symbols on the premises of the institution.

No God - in any form - allowed.

(FYI - 2008/09 AEDY Guidelines)

Like Father; Like Son

Darrell Scott Poem

I finished reading "Against All Odds - My Story" by Chuck Norris. Of course, it was about Chuck Norris. The first item in the book is dedication to Rachel Joy Scott. Rachel was one of the victims of the Columbine shooting. (Rachel Scott Dedication Site).

Her father, Darrell Scott, wrote a poem that Chuck Norris included in the opening of his book. With school starting in just a week, I though it would be appropriate to post it.

Your laws ignore our deepest needs
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage.
You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms.
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere.
And ask the question "WHY"?

You regulate restrictive laws.
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand.
That God is what we need!

Supernatural

Dylan and I started watching downloads of Season One of Supernatural. I wasn't sure if I would like what seemed to be a re-hatch of an X-Files like show.

I was wrong. Supernatural has a well maintained feel and flavor. Seventy and Eighties Rock (Led Zep, Metallica, Motorhead, etc.), Big Engine Car (1967 Chevy Impala - that I think is enchanted), Two Brothers, a road trip, and lots of angry spirits (from Urban Legends, Mythology, and Religion).

The show is tied together, episode to episode, with a story involving a yellow-eyed demon that killed the mother of the two main characters (Dean and Sam). Each episode stands well alone as well. To get the full effect, it would, of course, be best to watch all the episodes.

The show is also filled with allusions and references to popular culture. Quotes and references to other movies and TV shows are present in every episode. It adds a level of interactiveness as you try to figure out where a remark by one of the characters came from because you know you have hear what they said somewhere before.

We are about half way through the second season. The new fourth season starts on September 18th. Who would have thought that CW could have created a show as good as The X-Files?

Olympics

I just spent 4 and 1/2 hours watching the opening of the Beijing Olympics. WOW!

I know it was pre-recorded, with the east coast of the US being 12 hours off of China, but ... What a thrill! The opening ceremony was epic. Filled with symbolism, it highlighted the history of China, displaying accolades to the three major religions/philosophies of China. The show then matured and payed tribute to the modern China. With more special effects than Star Wars (including a 500 foot LCD TV)and routines that involved the seamless co-ordination of over 2500 dancers or performers, I was drawn into the spectacle.

Ongoing coverage on any of the NBC channels or,

Yahoo Olympic Coverage or,

MSN Olympic Coverage

New Dot Com - eggbrosinc.com

My brother keeps talking about starting a formal branch of our small projects. We have been calling ourselves "Egg Bros Inc". I decided to buy the .com for a year and see what we can do with our own web presence (other than my blog).

Egg Bros Inc

Vacation Videos

Took the kids to Boston and then New Hampshire. Here are the videos.

50 Books in 50 Weeks Challenge

I have joined the 50 books in 50 weeks challenge. You can check my progress (I'm vain enough to think you might) right here!

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Newest Net Addiction

I like Boggle. I like Scrabble. This "wise old duck" has created an online game, free and plays against real people, that brings the best of both games together. I have been playing every night for about a week. I'm an addict. I'm not as good as some of the long term regulars, but I can hold my own.

The game is called -- ZChurk

Follow the link. I play as kurteeck.

Mom's Eulogy

Mom's eulogy, written by my brother Todd and read at the funeral by long time family friend Dan Danaker.

Sorry about the resolution. I'm working on getting the actual file vs using the scan. In the meantime, click the image to view at a more readable size.



Link to -- I Corinthians 13:1 thru 13




Link to -- I Corinthians 15:50 to 52

March Madness

I don't really follow NCAA Basketball that closely. Nor do many of my colleagues at work. That hasn't stopped us from playing "The Bracket". We are doing the 10 points for first round, 20 points for second round, thirty points for third round system for scoring. No money. Losers buy winner lunch.

Here are our current scores (first score is 10,20,30,40...second score is based on 10,20,40,80...) --

• Tiff -- 610/760 points
• Carrie -- 680/990 points
  
• Karen -- 670/750 points
  
• Michelle -- 810/1130 points
  
• Kurt -- 940/1680 points

updated 2:18pm on April 1

I'm in a snotty mood and Liz Dietrich is not right

I won't go so far as to say Liz Dietrich is wrong. She asserts in an interview in the Daily Slightem that there is a myth about bad parents. She says --

Liz Dietrich, clinical supervisor, said the agency wants to dispel the “myth of the bad parent.”

“Parents think, ‘My kid is acting this way because of something I did,’ ” she said. “We want to show them it’s not their fault. Some kids have these issues because of a chemical imbalance. You could be the best parent in the world; kids are still going to make mistakes.” (from the Daily Slightem)

Sure, there are families out there who have done everything "right". The parents were good parents. Something is just wrong with the child's wiring. And yes, Concern does a great job with these families (especially with clients who fall into the category of autism spectrum disorders).

However, it is naive to think that all parents are good parents. Sometimes the parents are the fault. Dad is a heroin addict and mom is a welfare leech trading her food stamps for smokes while the kids are running the streets. The kid steals. Why can't we blame the parent?

I think parents should be asking themselves if their child's behavior is a reflection of their parenting. In cases other than those with a true biological abnormality which effects behavior (autism, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorders, etc.), the cause must be partly a reflection of parenting.

Where do we learn how to behave, what is acceptable, our moral character? If your children are 'acting out', maybe it is your fault.

A short video in memory of my mom

Carol Eck

Carol Ann Eck, 66, of 442 McElhattan Drive, McElhattan, Pa., went to be with her Lord surrounded by her family on Thursday, March 6, 2008, at her home.

Carol was born August 9, 1941, in Jersey Shore, the daughter of Gordon Glaes and the former Vivian Maffett.

She is survived by her husband, Edward L. Eck, they were united in marriage July 11, 1964, in the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jersey Shore. Ed and Carol purchased a home in Avis. It was at their home in Avis where they raised their two sons, Kurt Edward and Todd Matthew. While raising their children, Carol served as a member of the PTA, was a Den Mother and volunteer in the Scouting program, and a member of several bowling leagues. For many years she was a member of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Jersey Shore.

Carol graduated from Jersey Shore High School in 1959 and continued her education at the Williamsport School of Nursing. She practiced nursing throughout her life, initially working in the Maternity ward at Williamsport Hospital. During her career she worked fro Dr. Dunkle, Dr. Nicholas and at Susqueview and Manor Care Nursing Homes. When she left Manor Health Care she was the Assistant Director of Nursing. Carol would want mentioned that it was during this time that she made the acquaintance of Cathy Brooks, also a nurse. Cathy has always been more than a neighbor and Carol recognized her as family. Carol’s sons think of her as their older sister. After Carol retired from nursing, she and Ed moved to McElhattan. She continued to be active, helping with Red Cross Blood Mobiles, distributing food at local churches “Angel and Food Program,” and dressing up for her jaunts with the Red Hatter Society.

She also enjoyed having the time to sit on the front porch of the new home and watch the birds and squirrels play in the multitude of feeders and bird bathes in her front yard. Carols also took care of her pet cat Sparkles. Sparkles was a diabetic and, like Carol, required daily insulin shots. Carol never really retired completely from nursing and never stopped caring for others.

Also surviving are two sons, Kurt E. Eck of Milton and Todd M. (Janine) Eck of Woodsville, New Hampshire, two grandchildren, Daniel L. Bucharski Eck and Samuel V. Eck, one sister, Vivian L. Davis of McElhattan, and one brother, Alan G. Glaes of Avondale, Arizona,

Funeral services will be Monday, March 10, 2008 at 12 p.m. in the Trinity United Methodist Church, corner of Allegheny and Glover Streets, Jersey Shore. Friends may call from 10 a.m. Monday until the time of services at the church. Burial will be in the Jersey Shore Cemetery. The Rev. Richard Cartwright, her pastor, will officiate. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made in her name to the Trinity United Methodist Church.

Frederick B. Welker Funeral Home, 125 N. Main St., Jersey Shore, is in charge of arrangements.

CNN Student News

We (Ms. Carrie and I) have been using CNN Student News every morning with our students.

It has been a very worthwhile endeavor. The students seem to retain a good bit of the information. Most of the students can name the major candidates in the primaries. They all seem to grasp where Iraq and Chad are on the world map. They may be getting smarter. Scary.

To help check for retention, each daily news cast comes with a ten question news quiz. Friday's quiz tests knowledge for news from the entire week. Most students get the answers correct. Sometimes we do get an answer that causes a good laugh. Most recently, two examples stand out.

A question on Monday dealt with the upcoming Super Tuesday Primary. When asked which candidate they would vote for, one student answered with "John McRomney". A hawkish liberal Republican who could balance the budget and capture the Evangelical and LDS vote?

On the same day, the news covered the violence in Chad. The questions on the quiz dealt with the current political situation in Chad and how the violence could lead to many deaths. The United Nations and US intervention were discussed. The final question asked the students to explain what they thought would happen if no-one intervened. I enjoyed, being a sarcastic and sardonic personality myself, one of the students answers. He explained that if the violence continued, there would be a lot fewer starving people in Africa. (Waa waa waaa)

I can't feel my hands

You know the rest of the jingle --

"I'm freezing at Pee Wee Hockey."

Then dad shows up with Dunkin' Donuts Milky Way Hot Chocolate.

The kids and I fell for the promotion and went to Dunkin' Donuts and bought the Hot Chocolate. They got the Milky Way and I got the traditional Hot Cocoa.

Sorry Double D - not as good as advertised. Mine tasted like burnt Styrofoam and I don't think the boys could discern any Milky Way Carmelness in their drinks. Kudos for a good advertising campaign though. We got pulled right in to the excitement and you got my money.

Finished Painting

The classroom has been painted. We still have a few items to finish.


I didn't get the border for the wall screen painted out yet, but you can see where it is by the blue painters tape.



I've also put an American Flag behind my desk. I'll get a picture of that up later.



After we add a few more plants, I think we will be ready to start the exclusion room.

They're Back - American Gladiator

Oh yea!!!

After all these years, they are back - bigger and badder and twice as tacky. I love it.

I watched the first double episode tonight and will be glued onto the TV tomorrow night as well. The Hulkster (Hulk Hogan) is the perfect commentator. The contestants are vetted better than the original and I felt like I got to know them. And the Gladiators are HUGE! My favorite gladiators to date are Wolf and Siren (varoom - she can pugel me anytime), but it is to early to tell who will reign as the ultimate BA.

Check out the NBC site -- AMERICAN GLADIATOR

A Christmas Video

Thank You Aunt Lee

Mom has been undergoing chemo and radiation therapy. She has not been doing well and feels miserable most of the time. My Aunt Lee hosted our family dinner so that our family could get together for dinner.

I like to refer to this clan as the 'Eck'stended family.

Thank You Aunt Lee for all you do!

Return to posting

I have not been posting. The three or four of you who actually continue to check my blog already know what happened. For the few stragglers who stumble across my little project, I now offer an explanation for the gap between this and my past posting.

In the first week of November I was assaulted with a storm of personal crisis. In the span of five days I was informed by the IRS that my 2007 taxes may have been wrong, was accused of sexually molesting three of my past foster kids, found out that my mom’s cancer had returned, and was puked on by a kid in swimming lessons.

Getting puked on wasn’t all that bad.

Everything else stressed me out pretty bad. I just couldn’t find the mental calm to type anything worthwhile. It wasn’t that I require a lot of serenity to write; it was that my mind was that chaotic. I was reduced to reading Anime’. I couldn’t concentrate enough to read a novel or anything longer than an article in a newspaper.

It took almost forty days to resolve the allegations against me. As a result of the length of the investigation I lost a foster kid I really enjoyed having in my home and had thoughts of adopting. The whole experience has really soured my outlook on being a foster parent. It has also enlightened me (further) on how screwed our State’s Child Welfare system is.

Now that my life is more stable, I will be writing further on topics relating to my recent experiences. Be patient. I will try not to rant.

That’s all for now. More to come.

One of the first Egg Bros Inc vids

This is one of the first Egg Bros Inc Videos. I made it about a year ago after I attended a friends baby shower. It is, as always, a little rough.

I have posted it at the request of some of my coworkers.

Yep - I'm going to try the NaNoWriMo again. 50,000 words in thirty days.

I only made it to 15,000 words last year. I had kids at home all the time. This year, the kids will be at the program center until 7 four days a week, so I should be able to find more time to write.

If you are interested, you should check out the website. If you decide to write, let me know so we can suffer together.

Concert!!

The concert was six hours long! The line up was Seether, Collective Soul, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, and LIVE. It is the only concert I have been at where I was hollered a for standing. I also had beer thrown on me. I have had that happen before; just never thrown on me because I was standing at a rock concert.

The weather was summer weather. Due to a late start, Jerry and I did not have much time to tailgate. We did get lucky enough to park next to truck that was playing the Penn State game. We were, for a short time, the Penn State HQ at Hershey. Everyone who walked by just needed to know what the score was. Shame we didn't have a portable white board. We could have posted the score and avoided unnecessary conversations that cut into my pre-show tailgating feast.

Seether was just opening the show as Jerry and I made our way into the stadium. It was very sunny and warm. The crowd was happy. Jerry watched our seats while I went to get the requisite concert t-shirts (let's not ask how much). Then I went and bought the infamous six-dollar beer. That's about 25 cents an ounce. Uumm, uummm. Good beer.

Seether only had a 35 minute set before they had to leave the stage. It took about 20 minutes for the next band, Collective Soul, to be set up. They played for nearly 50 minutes before another break. Three Days Grace set-up and started playing.

It was during this third performance that things got whacky in the stands. I picked the front row of section six because it is above the crowd and I have a railing to lean on while I'm standing. Every concert I have been to, the audience stands and goes nuts while the band is rockin' away. As I get older, I like having something to lean on. Apparently the lady (well, she wasn't acting very lady like) behind us a row or two bought stand tickets so she could sit. I'd like to think that she was older than I, but I probably beat her by a decade.

She starts demanding that I, Jerry, and the 5 or so other people in front of her sit down so that she can see. If we wanted to stand, she informed us rudely, we should have gotten tickets on the ground. Jerry remained calm. The girls to his right did not. They told the . . lady (I don't really know why I feel compelled to censor this) to . . . be quite. (OK - they told the f***in B**ch to shut up.)

The lady continued to go on a tirade, trying to gain support from other less enthused members of the stands. Some jumped into the shouting, but most just ignored her. I think I may have asked her something stupid like "why do you think they call this the 'stands'?" or something. Then to further irritate her, Jerry had one of the girls climb up on his shoulders in order to further block this woman's view.

That is about when it started to rain beer. And at 25 cents an ounce, it was a very expensive shower.

I don't know what happened to the lady. Two of the girls went down on the stadium floor and asked for security. Eventually, after the yellow shirt security person contacted a red shirt security person, who in turn found a 'suit', the 'suit' said he didn't have the time to go up into the stands to deal with a crazy woman. He told the girls to go get her friends and he would let them go up to the stage.

By the beginning of the Breaking Benjamin set, Jerry and his new friends were about 5 rows back from the stage taking in the concert. I was happy to stay in the stands and, well . . . stand.

I was thrilled when Jerry came back and said he liked LIVE. He originally thought that they would be 'gay'. Turned out he really liked them. He listened to them in the car on the trip home as well.

Concert!!!

Jerry and I went to see Seether, Collective Soul, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, and LIVE at the Hershey Stadium.



More on the concert in the next post.

In case you didn't hear

Steelers 2-0
Eagles 0-2

The Pig Roast Video or Worst Music Video Ever!

It took a while, but I finally put together a short video from the pig roast. I didn't have a lot of video to work with and I decided to use Michael singing. Most of you won't get it, but I do; and that is all that matters.

What a great weekend

Pig Roast and Trace's Birthday party were wonderful, but let me mention the other excitement from this weekend --



Penn State beats Notre Dame! Roar!



Then Pittsburgh beats Cleveland! Wooo Whooo!



Then, to make it the perfect weekend -
Eagles get BEAT by Green Bay! Yessss!

A&P vs College Student Parody on YouTube

First - Read the article in the Daily Item.

http://www.dailyitem.com/lifestyles/local_story_241084310.html

Then my response -

I have just read an article picked up in my local paper about your companies suit against the D’Avella brothers. I have not watched the video that they produced. But your heavy handed over-reaction has piqued my interest and I may have to see if I can find the parody on the web.

I do not shop at your grocery chain. There are no A&Ps near where I live.

The article in my paper (Sunbury Daily Item) stated that your company has “at least one” customer who was offended enough by the video to no longer shop at our store. “At least one”? How many really were offended? Two? Three? A dozen? “At least one” is deliberately vague.

How many customers must you lose to make it worth all of the legal fees that you will incur by pursuing charges against these young men?

Frankly, your reaction to this situation is more distressing than any video spoof could be. Your over-reaction will likely disenfranchise you from your customer base more than these young men’s video.