La La Land is a Holiday Treat

By now you've heard the news - Hollywood is bringing back the musical - and so far the hype has been nothing but positive. Young writer and director Damien Chazelle's fun and fantastic new musical feature La La Land has been exciting audiences and making the obligatory holiday season film-going a true pleasure. La La Land is quite simply a lot of fun, and the challenge of engaging contemporary audiences with a good old-fashioned musical has been accomplished. From the opening number, you can tell it's going to be a fun ride, and if that opening scene doesn't pull you in, then you are no fan of musicals.



The story is a classic romance set against the age-old quest of seeking fame and success in the City of Angels. Emma Stone's "Mia" is the aspiring actress whose chance encounter with Ryan Gosling's "Sebastian," a jazz piano player who has dreams of opening a jazz club, sets up the central conflict and give-and-take relationship. While neither actor is a trained singer, dancer, or musician, their authentic portrayals are part of the charm of the film. Stone's voice is just strong enough to carry the tunes with a hint of amateur raspiness, and while Gosling's is clearly not a singing voice, he brings the necessary soul to his numbers. The same can be said for their dance scenes which are nothing short of adorable. I went in to the film only knowing the most basic elements, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed getting to know the characters.

SPOILERS:

Obviously the film is going to depend on some pretty standard boy-meets/gets/loses-girl conceits, and I wasn't surprised by any of the somewhat cliched beats to the film. Setting various acts and transitions against the (never-changing) seasons in LA was amusing as it should have been. And the wonderful interplay of music and drama more than made up for the obviousness. Hollywood and Broadway have been down the meta-path of staging musicals so many times that a re-tread of aspiring and artists trying to make it in a cold, heartless LA was not too disappointing. And the film put some nice touches on the genre. The cinematography alone could be worthy on an Oscar statue, and the music - along with Sebastian's passionate defense of the art form - was just a lot of fun.

That said, I don't like the ending. The mix-and-mash of possiblities at the end was amusing, no doubt. And the filmmaking was poetic. But I just don't buy the timeline or the supposed "success" of Mia. Had it been ten years down the road, I would have been more inclined to accept her success and marriage and child. Even then, she seems to be with exactly the type of man she left Seb for in the first place. And when she ends with "I will always love you," the sentiment is robbed by her quick exit into another relationship. So, Chazelle (or someone) certainly went the wrong way with that ending for obvious reasons. But it is the obvious lacking element of an otherwise beautiful film.

Learning to play the piano

I started playing piano today.

It wasn't very impressive, and I was just alone in a room trying to find my finger positions and playing some notes up and down. But it was a lot of fun, and it's exactly what I've been wanting to do for a while. Both my sisters play piano beautifully, and we had a baby grand in the house growing up. They were "forced" to take lessons, as many kids have been, but I never was. I'm sure it had to do with it being the 70s and me being a boy who played sports, but my parents never forced me to play, and I really regret that.

I love music in general and piano jazz in specific. And, as I've reached my late forties, I am realizing that there are many talents and hobbies and activities that make life more beautiful, and I need more of those in my life. So, I'm going to learn to play the piano. I chatted briefly with one of our choir teachers who also teaches in our piano lab, and he was thrilled that I wanted to learn. Rather than taking lessons, he loaned me a copy of the school's introductory piano book, and gave me some tips and a lot of encouragement. So, today after grades were filed and paperwork was completed and the school emptied, I ventured into the piano lab. And it was really nice.

I've also been watching more than a few You Tube videos for different tips on playing piano. And I realized what a wonderful world that we can access so many tutorials. The one listed below is about playing "cocktail music," and it's from a guy named Bill Hilton who has a channel with many great piano tutorials.



So, I'm off on my next great adventure - learning to play piano. Some day, probably years down the road, I hope to post a You Tube video of me playing some great piano jazz.

I'm Donating to Wikipedia

Each year about this time, Wikipedia asks for donations to support the service and keep the world's largest internet encyclopedia "free of advertising." Supporters of Wikipedia can give money to Wikimedia, which is the non-profit organization that oversees the operation of the site. I have given money to the open-source brainchild of Jimmy Wales in the past, and I plan to do so again this year. I do so for one simple reason:  I use Wikipedia regularly, and I firmly believe in the value it provides. In fact, I know of few people who don't use Wikipedia reguarly - for you can hardly avoid it in any given Google search, nor should you. Wikipedia is an excellent resource and starting point for wanting to learn about anything.

On numerous occasions researchers have analyzed and studied Wikipedia entries for accuracy and reliability, and the site has been confirmed to be overwhelmingly accurate. In fact, because Wikipedia is an open-source document with regular peer review, it can in many ways be more accurate than print sources. Rarely does inaccurate information stay on the site for long because the community of users will correct errors. For that reason, I have no problem with my students using Wikipedia, and I always encourage them to use it as a starting point for more extensive research. It is a valuable tool, and because we all use it so regularly, we should be willing to fund and support it, just as we may do for NPR or PBS or any number of non-profits and foundations.

Granted, there are many critics of Wikipedia and especially Wikimedia's fundraising efforts. Yet, I don't really understand the aversion to the fundraising drive. Even if the foundation has ample funds, there are still obvious costs associated with maintaining the site. If you use it, you should pay for it. And I plan to do so.

News, "Fake News," & All the News that's fit to Print

In the post-truth world, and the rising era of "fake news," it's worth looking back at these prescient words from social critic Neil Postman in the essay "News" from his 1988 collection of essays Conscientious Objections:

The whole problem with news on television comes down to this: all the words uttered in an hour of television news coverage could be printed on one page of a newspaper. And the world cannot be understood in one page. Of course, there is compensation: television offers pictures, and the pictures move. It is often said that moving pictures are a kind of language in themselves, and there is a good deal of truth in this. But the language of pictures differs radically from oral and written language, and the differences are crucial for understanding television news. 

Imagine what he thought of the internet and social media.

Contemporary American society is in a somewhat precarious and certainly transitional phase in regards to what we "know" to be true. Or really just what we know. Period. The foundation of successful representative democracy is the presence of an active and educated electorate. Yet, the rising division of Americans in relation to what people "know to be true" has merged with an increasingly distracted society that is less than thoughtful about pertinent issues of economics, legislation, rights and responsibilities, and more. Basically, the massive overflow of information and the ever-expanding world of entertainment has begun to cloud out the collective ability to make sense of the world.

And, that puts American society at risk of cultural malaise, decline, and decay.

AP Lang, Annie Dillard, & a Starling Murmuration

Each year around this time, my students read and write about an Annie Dillard passage on the experience of witnessing a large flock of birds. Most teachers of AP English Language are familiar with the Audubon-Dillard prompt, in which students are asked to read two passages by John James Audubon and Annie Dillard and then compare how each author's use of language reflects the experience and the effect on the observer. The descriptive passage by Dillard has a transcendental approach, reflecting a spiritual connection between Dillard and the natural world. After writing the essay, I often share this video of a starling murmuration to help the students appreciate the awesome spectacle which Dillard beheld and was inspired to write about.

Challenge Students w/ blind-topic timed writing

My students never cease to amaze me. As a teacher of AP English Lang & Comp, I will give my students nearly thirty in-class timed writings with released AP prompts each year, and these dedicated and bright seventeen-year-olds will respond with some truly brilliant essays, crafted in 45-minutes or less. The prompts are nearly always "blind-reads," which means they will not have seen the passage or question before, and they need to simply be able to "sit down and play." That approach is part of my goal of making them, in the words of the inimicable Henry James, "People on whom nothing is lost," which is an apt description of the class expectation as explained by AP chief grader David Joliffe in his book Everday Use. Jolliffe draws from the well-known parlor metaphor first mentioned by rhetorican Kenneth Burke in his book The Philosophy of the Literary Form in 1941. My students will always be able to write well on the spur of the moment as a result of the regular challenge of being able to craft an essay off the top of their head. It is a valuable skill, and I believe that sort of challenge is - or should be - an integral part of any academic environment. Challenge students to be able to read, write, and think with little or no preparation. It will help them in all their classes, it will benefit them at the time of college and job interviews, it will assist them in becoming truly educated people. And, I am always disappointed in hearing of classes and schools where students write few essays and no in-class writing. Students need to write regularly. And being able to write on demand will mean there is probably little else they won't be able to do well. Have them write - a lot.

Sugar - Society's Biggest Health Danger

If you follow the news about contemporary American life and health risks, you have probably noticed a growing number of stories about the looming danger of opioid abuse - a drug addiction/health scare that is crossing all demographics and inflicting billions of dollars of damage on communities. Prescription drug abuse joins heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and car accidents as the health problems that put America at risk and threaten to bust the ability of most people to pay their health care bills. Those are the health problems that most people fear and worry about. But there is a far more insidious toxin which is inflicting daily damage on the lives of nearly everyone - sugar.

At least that's the warning from long-time health advocate Gary Taubes.

Just in time for the holidays - with all the sugary goodness of Christmas cookies and Whole Foods' chocolate truffles - Taubes is back on the health news front with a new book, as well as several articles asking the all important question: "Is Sugar Killing Us?"  The answer, while I hate to be alarmist and am currently revelling in all the culinary magic of my pastry chef wife, is probably ... yes. Sugar is the most addictive drug that we consume, and researchers have known for years that the addictive power of sugar - and all its subtle but nefarious variations - is more addictive than nicotine or cocaine. Additionally, it inflicts much more long-term damage to health because people so readily and regularly consume so much of it, often without even knowing.

Many argue that sugar in moderation is benign, but that assumption has been up for debate for as long as we have added sugar to our diets. Anti-sugar forces (myself included) continue to warn that sugar—both the crystalline variety that we put in our coffee and high-fructose corn syrup—may be a fundamental cause of disease, particularly a condition known as insulin resistance. If we are right, sugar has a uniquely powerful role in causing obesity and diabetes—and thus increases our risk of developing the major chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, associated with these conditions. This debate is not new. Western sugar consumption surged in the mid-19th century with the growth of the candy, chocolate and ice-cream industries. Soft drinks were added to the mix in the 1880s—first root beer, then Dr Pepper, then Coca-Cola and Pepsi. By the 1920s, as Prohibition spurred the nation to turn from alcohol to sugar, yearly sugar sales in the U.S. passed 100 pounds per capita for the first time.

So, it's probably worth considering the down-sides of sugar, even as we celebrate the sugariest time of the year. Perhaps, a few lucky ones will find a copy of Taubes' The Case Against Sugar (out December 27 from Knopf) under the tree or in their stocking, just in time for New Year's Resolutions.

Larkburger Turns 10 - the era of the "Better Burger"

In the era of the "Better Burger," with the rise of fast-casual restaurants like Smashburger, Five Guys, Bad-Daddy's, and, of course, Larkburger, I can't fathom why anyone would ever lower themselves to visiting the old fast food standbys like McDonalds or Carl's Jr. Today, the Colorado chain of Larkburger celebrates its tenth birthday in style, and business writer Emilie Rusch of the Denver Post has composed a fitting profile of the burger joint that typifies the "Better Burger" culture. Fortunately for people outside of Colorado, the Larkburger franchise is looking to expand its reach out of state.

But it all started with just one burger, a steak au poivre-inspired take on the American classic first featured at chef Thomas Salamunovich’s high-end Larkspur restaurant in Vail in 1999. “When we opened Larkspur, I wanted to have a hamburger in the menu that was truly memorable in a straightforward manner,” Salamunovich said. It was so memorable, in fact, that a version of that very same Larkburger — made with all-natural Black Angus beef and topped with tomato, lettuce, onion, pickle and house-made lemon-Dijon sauce — got a restaurant all its own in 2006, with a fast-casual spin.

Of course, the celebration of a great business model in the burger business is tempered by today's news of the President-elect's pick for the head of the Labor Department, CKE Restaurant CEO Andrew Pudzer. Pudzer, like other corporate shills in the new administration, is emblematic of the low-cost, low-brow, low-quality burger culture of McD's and Carl's Jr. It's that system of mass production of mediocrity that places like Larkburger and Chipotle saved us from. Thus, it's no surprise that a man who champions "dollar-menu" mentality would be an opponent of minimun wage measures and support for overtime pay - ideas that could save the fast food industry from itself. Higher quality products/service and higher wages are intrinsically linked to higher quality of life. I know I'm "worth more than a dollar menu," and the country would be "great again" if more people felt the same. How apropos that Pudzer is named Labor Secretary just as we await the release of The Founder, a bio-pic of the "processed burger king" Ray Kroc - the man who unleashed mass marketing of mediocrity many years ago.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, a vocal critic of substantially increasing the minimum wage and an opponent of rules that would make more workers eligible for overtime pay, as head of the Labor Department, according to a Republican briefed on the decision. Puzder, who runs CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., has been a harsh critic of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, arguing that it would increase costs for consumers and lead to fewer jobs. He also opposes the recently-delayed Labor Department rule that aimed to make millions more workers eligible for overtime pay.

Teaching classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird in 2016

Is classic literature still relevant in the contemporary age? It certainly is if you're talking about works of social criticism around race and the American consciousness like To Kill a Mockingbird. One of my colleagues, Alisa Wills-Keely of Smoky Hill High School, was recently profiled in the Denver Post for her work with the novel in the era of Election-2016. The class and the article focuses on how the Classic Novel helps students develop perspective, empathy. 

A novel, set in a sleepy southern town in the 1930s and written by a young white woman in the late 1950s, is remarkably relevant to students at Smoky Hill High School in 2016. The themes explored in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” – racial and social stereotypes, discrimination, inequity and injustice – seem just as common in the world today as they were when Scout Finch was growing up in the fictional town of Maycomb nearly 90 years ago

Glenn Beck talk about the next four years of Trump

Glenn Beck has certainly been a candid and interesting political commentator over the past decade or so, and I haven't always had a positive view of him. However, I have appreciated the perspective he has brought to many political conversations, and when I first encountered him through his book Real America: Messages from the Heart and Heartland, I found a lot of common ground with his common sense approach and libertarian views. I also appreciated the recent re-evaluation he offered regarding the Obama administration. Thus, I was appreciative of his #NeverTrump position during Election 2016, which focused primarily on the hypocrisy of the GOP for nominating and supporting a man who is not conservative or Republican, but simply a egotistical demagogue who is using the office of the Presidency for personal gain. In the follow-up to the election, as Trump fills his cabinet with some "interesting" people, Beck offered some perspective on his disappointment and his concerns for the next four years.

On Thursday, Dec. 8, Yahoo News and Finance Anchor Bianna Golodryga speaks to TV and radio talk show host Glenn Beck about his thoughts on the incoming Trump administration and its Cabinet picks. The once staunch conservative was a vocal supporter of the “Never Trump” movement.

Lapham Quarterly - Get your intellect and culture on

Nearly a month after Election 2016 and the moment of Wednesday Morning, my reliable sources of information are still filled with news, comment, and commentary on the President-elect - and all that entails. I don't want to even turn on CNN or Fox or MSNBC, and my reading of the Denver Post and Wall Street Journal are hastened by my skimming for culture. Needless to say, it's worse on my social media feeds like Twitter and Facebook, no matter how I try to screen out the endless back-and-forth on the upcoming transition. Granted, I could just turn off and tune out. Because as I noted in the past month, I want to spend more time on culture and growth and less time on "info-tainment."

I've been reading more - recent titles include the brilliantly beautiful The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and the existentially intriguing Meursalt Investigation - and trying to work on the Gen X writing and reflection that I've been planning. Beyond that, I am listening to more music and working out with a renewed interest in dropping the Election-Ten before the onslaught of holiday cookies and Winter Break eating/drinking. In terms of news sources, I am really interested in returning to academics, intellectual pursuits, and culture. And, that has led me back to a great source of thoughtful composition:

The Lapham Quarterly

Lapham’s Quarterly embodies the belief that history is the root of all education, scientific and literary as well as political and economic. Each issue addresses a topic of current interest and concern—war, religion, money, medicine, nature, crime—by bringing up to the microphone of the present the advice and counsel of the past. 

Is Trump dragging the USA into war with China?

So, the Donald Trump phone call to President Tsai of Taiwan ... this could be the beginning of something altogether unexpected - a diplomatic, trade, and military conflict between the United States and China.

Having lived in Taiwan during the 90s, I am attuned to the delicate nature of relations across the Taiwan Strait. So, I understand the history of the Taiwan Relations Act and the Three Communiques regarding the United States' position on the One-China policy. And, I was living in Taiwan at the time of the first direct presidential election in Taiwan during which the Chinese military launched missile exercises and lobbed missiles over Taiwan, effectively shutting down air traffic and seeking to intimidate the Taiwanese people. This tense standoff included the United States putting aircraft carriers on both ends of the Strait. And, when President-elect Lee Tung Wei gave his acceptance speech in Taiwanese, rather than Mandarin Chinese, there were reports that very high level military officials in China mobilized forces for an invasion.

So the Taiwan Question is no small matter.

As a result, I am deeply concerned and troubled by the recent actions of the President-elect and the apparent behind-the-scenes work of his transition team to set up the phone call without informing the State Department. In all honesty, this is how wars start - though I don't want to sound hysterical, and I don't subscribe to a sky-is-falling mentality around the recent election. And, I must admit that as a former resident of Taiwan, I somewhat appreciate the more aggressive, or at least assertive, approach toward clarifying the United States' unwavering support for the autonomy of the Republic of China on Taiwan. In fact, there's a chance the phone call wasn't a blunder, but brilliant.

I'm just not sure whether this was an unnecessarily bold and risky move. I hope not.