Pomegranate Season is Back - Don't Miss Out

As we head into the fall season each year, I always lament the end of the summer fruits. That is until I remember that pomegranate season is coming. If you haven't noticed the luscious red fruits of Greek myth in the supermarket yet, keep your eyes open for the ruby goodness. For there is good reason to give in to the temptation of Persephone.

The taste of the pomegranate is reason enough to dive in, but we'd be remiss if we didn't recount the numerous reasons to eat the fruit of the fall. Rich in antioxidants - as if it weren't apparent by the rich, ruby red color - the pomegranate is a vitamin unto itself. And, healthy choices gurus like Dr. Mark Fuhrman offer plenty of support for why you should eat pomegranate.

Certainly, the best way to eat pomegranate is seed-by-seed.  However, pomegranate is a great accent for many things as well, and the phrase "pomegranate flavor" is infused with everything from tea and desserts to delicious lamb dishes at the finest of restaurants.  And, we all know the marketing of pomegranate juice by Pom, which was well-documented by Morgan Spurlock in the Greatest Movie Ever Sold. Pom took an obscure fruit that many people were wary of and turned it into the hottest new product on the supermarket shelves. It was truly a bit of masterful marketing.  In the end, though, eating fresh pomegranate is the best way to enjoy it. However, if picking the seeds apart is too much for you, pomegranate seeds can be purchased already separated.  It will cost you, though.  Whole Foods is selling containers of seeds for ... $17 for less than a pound. Wow.




 

Going Postal & The American Dream

Another mass shooting this week …. several actually. And, as Colorado prepares for the trial of James Holmes' of the Dark Night shooting, and the town of Sandy Hook levels the elementary school where its shooting took place, and Los Angeles tries to figure out why a guy from New Jersey targeted TSA agents at LAX, we continue to question and wonder, "Why?" What the heck is going on? And, for those versed in mass shooting lore as writer Michael Kimmel is, "Why Is It Always a White Guy?"

Michael Kimmel, a distinguished sociologist, attempts to answer his own question in a new book, Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era. And, he has some fascinating ideas - and data - about the "roots of modern violent rage."  Certainly, people have heard the eerie background of serial killers in American history - most, if not all, are middle class suburban white males. Generally, though, there is a common history of abuse in the families, or at least something that may have instigated the development of a sociopath. Mass shooters, Kimmel posits, also have common backgrounds, and he believes it has much to do with the contemporary age economics of America.

Interestingly, mass shootings were pretty rare - even non-existent - up until the 1980s. And now they happen with frightening regularity.  Even the phrase, "going postal," associated with such mass violence has historical precedence.  As Kimmel notes, Between 1986 and 1997, forty people were murdered in at least twenty incidents involving postal workers. Before 1986—nary a one.  So what happened? According to Kimmel, it has everything to do with economics and the frustrating myth of the American dream:

No, they were driven crazy by the sense that the world had spun so far off its axs that there was no hope of righting it. Underneath that sense of victimhood, that sense that the corporations and the government were coconspirators in perpetrating the great fleecing of the American common man, lay a defining despair in making things right. And under that despair lay their tragic flaw, a deep and abiding faith in America, in its institutions and its ideals. Like Willy Loman, perhaps the quintessential true believer in the ideology of self-made American masculinity, they believed that if they worked hard and lived right, they, too, could share in the American Dream. When it is revealed that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you work, that dreams are for Disneyland, then they morph into a tragic American Everymen, defeated by circumstances instead of rising above them.

Stack and Sherrill believed in that America. They believed that there was a contract between themselves, and guys like them, and the government “of the people” that is supposed to represent us. They believed in the corporations that they worked for, confident in the knowledge that they could support a family, enjoy a secure retirement, and provide for their families. That contract was the stable foundation for several generations of America’s working men—an implied but inviolable understanding between businesses and workers, between government and employers. They had kept the faith, fulfilled their part of the bargain. And somehow their share had been snatched away by faceless, feckless hands. They had played by all the rules, only to find the game was rigged from the start.

It is disturbing to say the least. And with the current state - and direction - of the American economy, it may appear we should expect more, not less, carnage.

Is Jon Stewart "Just a Comedian"?

Jon Stewart is a tremendously talented, incredibly witty, brilliantly insightful ... what?

Without doubt, Jon Stewart is a well-known former stand-up comedian who has crafted a unique brand of humor grounded in mostly political satire and social criticism. The Daily Show is a top-rated commentary and interview program that is popular among the younger news watching set, and it undoubtedly serves as a source of "news" for many. And among politicians and other news commentators, Stewart is hard to ignore. Yet, occasionally his commentary - especially when it seems to depart from his own ideology and criticizes Democrats and social programs - becomes fodder for the right-wing who declare that when "even Jon Stewart" criticizes the issue, it must be bad.

Stewart takes exception to this caveat, and regularly reminds people that he is "on the Comedy Network" and he is "just a comedian."  This back-and-forth banter has been front and center in recent weeks, as the Affordable Care Act comes under fire for huge problems for people seeking to enroll via the government's website. In response to the media using his criticism as "evidence of failure" of the ACA, Stewart has responded harshly. However, some are not willing to let Stewart off the hook so easily, even as we laugh at his response to a call for owning up to responsibility. To the issue, Elias Isquith calls out Stewart in a piece for Salon.com, arguing "Sorry Jon Stewart: You're Not Just a Comedian."  Isquith argues - with reasonable credibility and criticism - that Stewart is not simply another late night joke teller in the vein of Leno or Letterman or O'Brien. And that much seems obvious. Whether Isquith is correct or not, this issue is not new. For, any Stewart fan must recall his infamous pleading with the overmatched hosts of CNN's Crossfire during the 2004 Presidential campaign.

Stewart made many logical claims - and was wildly entertaining even if he didn't mean to be.  Since the earliest days of The Daily Show, Stewart has been mining the political world for the richest of humor via satire and scathingly sarcastic criticism. However, the presence of a sharp political mind with a clear agenda has always been clear. So, what is it:  comedian or political commentator. Or both. Or neither.

Maybe we should ask Bill O'Reilly:

Should We Boycott Enders Game?

How to separate the artist from the art?

For as long as people have been crafting entertainment for others, the viewing public has faced a dilemma when the beauty of the art is seemingly contrasted by the flaws of the creator.  That controversy comes front and center this weekend with the release of the film version of Ender's Game, a hugely popular sci-fi story first published in 1985. So many sci-fi fans grew up on the brilliance of Orson Scott Card's story of a child who must save the world - a theme common throughout literature and most recently developed in Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Hunger Games. This challenging theme is well analyzed by Laura Miller recently in a review for Salon.com.

The problem with the release of Ender's Game is all the press coverage of Orson Scott Card's other writings which are aggressively anti-homosexual. Card - a devout Mormon who grew up in Salt Lake City and graduated from Brigham Young University - has been an outspoken critic of gay marriage and has written some rather disturbing views on homosexuality.  These views have led to a call to "boycott the movie" so Card does not receive any further royalties.  And, this is the point at which fans and critics alike must conclude how to deal with unsavory elements of an artist that seem so disparate from what fans love about the art.  Sean Means of the Salt Lake City Tribune analyzes this complicated issue with some great history of troublesome artists.

Certainly, artists can be tortured souls whom make themselves difficult to love.  But does the life of the artists outside the art compromise the value of the creation? Sean Means poses this question about Card's life against examples such as composer Richard Wagner and his alleged anti-Semitism, Michael Jackson and his alleged sexual abuse of children, and Roman Polanski who was accused of sexual assault of a 13-year old girl and fled the United States to avoid charges. Certainly, artists can live edgy and controversial lives. Ernest Hemingway was a notorious drunk whose abuse of women and prejudiced views make him difficult to defend as a man. But does that compromise the art? What if the art seems to so beautifully contradict the public image of the artist?

As Means argues, "Ultimately, it will be the viewer's choice whether to embrace the tolerance message of Ender's Game or reject the film" based on a decision to not separate the man from the art.

More Trouble with Common Core

Even as two-thirds of Americans remain clueless and aloof to incredibly significant changes to public education in the country, the troubling stories of the downside to the implementation of Common Core State Standards continue to mount.  In the latest anecdotal evidence of poor planning and shoddy implementation, child psychotherapist and parent Katie Hurley blogs for the Huffington Post about the absurd lesson planning in her six-year-old daughter's first grade class. Certainly, Hurley's post is simply one person's experience which is neither the intent nor the inevitable result of Common Core State Standards. However, her concerns should not be dismissed. The greatest problem with the Common Core is the myopic focus on basics of literacy and math and the overemphasis on standardized tests to confirm some nebulous concept of "mastery." The Common Core has been authenticated and implemented by states and public education systems with very little training and even less general knowledge of what the goal and intent and standards actually are. I remain baffled that something so significant could have passed all the screening without an incredible amount of training to avoid the inevitable misapplications of the like mentioned by Katie Hurley. This result is not good for education.

Oh, where are you John Dewey and Jean Jacques Rousseau and Maria Montessori and Sir Ken Robinson???

Halloween Is Not What Most People Think

Lisa Morton is no expert - or at least that's what she'll tell you - but she certainly knows more than most about Halloween, perhaps "the most misunderstood holiday."  As all our little ghouls and goblins - and probably zombies this year - prepare to suit up and storm the neighborhood front doors begging for a sugar fix, while threatening mayhem, Scott Pierce of the Salt Lake Tribune profiles the woman who has literally written the books on All Hallows Eve.

Among the revelations Morton offers: trick-or-treating is only about ninety years old, the connection to Satanic worship is thin at best (and probably linked to one man's shoddy research), there is somewhat of a relationship to the Catholic tradition of All Saints Day, the holiday is spreading outside the United States, and Halloween's colors used to be brown and yellow.

Are People Naturally Good at Math ... or Art?

"I can't draw."

"I'm no good at math."

Americans have long seen the world in terms of absolutes and natural ability, rather than an uncertain world of potential and possibility. And that naivete and prejudice has been one of the nation's greatest weaknesses. These myths are increasingly challenged by the likes of Ken Robinson and Daniel Pink and, now, Miles Kimball and Noah Smith who are writing about "The Myth of ..." being bad at math. As in Daniel Coyle's book The Talent Code, it's becoming more clear that success has much more to do with hard work and the simple belief that ability is a result of effort and attitude. Of course, there is certainly evidence on the side of biology as well, and this is nowhere more evident than in David Epstein's fascinating book The Sports Gene.

One of the key components for improving performance in any task or skill is the idea of "deliberate practice."  This concept was well-extrapolated in Malcolm Gladwell's well known book Outliers in which he brought the concept of the "10,000 hours to true mastery" into the public's consciousness.  However, the 10K hours was only effective - or perhaps most effective - when it was deliberate practice.  That is, the practitioner challenges himself with the most difficult practice regimen with the express intent of "getting better."  Drake Baer of FAST Company summarizes a lot of this when he argues "Why Deliberate Practice is the Only Way to Get Better." Perhaps if we started focusing on these concepts in school, we might be much more effective in motivating students toward successful paths.

So, whatever we do know about skills and mastery, it's certainly not just nature or nurture - that much is true.

Are Standardized Tests and School Rankings Unreliable

The American school system is not "falling behind" the rest of the world - or if it is, we don't really have any reliable measurements to conclude that. For years, we have heard that American students trail many industrialized nations when comparing international test scores and test rankings.  Of course, most people don't have the slightest idea what they mean when they refer to such measurements. I've had too many conservations with educated adults who make these claims, yet have no idea what NAEP, PISA, or TIMSS are.  Those acronyms refer to some of the standardized tests by which some people like to compare countries.

That on-going debate continued this week with the release of a federal report that, according to some, indicated "most American states surpass" the scores of countries long believed to outperform America. By many measurements, American students in many states do outperform other countries. And, when American schools with greater than 25% poverty are removed from the equation, American students scores often lead the rest of the world, including countries like Singapore and Finland. The problem with any of these comparisons is the inconsistency in gauging student performance on tests that have no student accountability. Many have long argued that the NAEP is a rather weak indicator of American students' academic skills because American students simply may not try. And that's not the last word on the topic.

Education writer Marc Tucker has some more thoughts on the supposed NAEP-TIMSS study.

Best Analysis of Cardinals-Red Sox Bizarre World Series Ending

The Fall Classic has produced many bizarre and improbable games endings - from Bill Buckners' "booted ground ball" to Don Denkengers' blown groundball out to David Freese's late inning heroics - and many of them have included the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox ... or both. And the baseball folklore only added another twist and wrinkle that will be talked about for years after last night's bizarre ending with an infield obstruction call leading to the Cardinals' winning run in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off win.  It's being called the "Trip-off Win," "The Classic Fall" and the "Walk-off Obstruction."

This win - or whatever we call it - is truly one for the ages that will be fodder for sports commentators and fans for years to come. It was just such a bizarre play that will and should be replayed in the minds of all involved.  Of course, there really isn't that much debate because the general consensus is that umpire Jim Joyce got the call right.  There is, perhaps, no better explanation and commentary than the analysis provided by Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci who argues, "Obstruction Wasn't the Rule that Cost the Red Sox." Verducci offers a step-by-step explanation of why the Red Sox objections don't hold water. But more importantly, Verducci indicts the entire American League for the use of the designated hitter as the reason the RedSox made many errors leading to their loss in the pivotal game six. Kind of reminds me of the beliefs of Crash Davis:

There absolutely should be a Constitutional amendment outlawing the designated hitter.  Because the mental game required of National League managers is the heart of baseball. The American League's silly little rule just ... isn't. The fans and the players and the commentators have been writing and talking non-stop on the issue, and certainly we have to start with the local sportswriters.  In St. Louis, you have to start with St. Louis Post Dispatch sportswriter Bernie Miklaz who coined the phrase "Classic Fall" deciding the Fall Classic.  Bernie sings the praises of Allen Craig who stumbled, hobbled, limped, and dragged himself to the plate for a run that had already been awarded. It was ... exciting to say the least. And, of course, it's important to give the Boston sportswriters, such as Dan Shaugnessy, to weigh in on the instant classic of game 3. Regardless of your point of view, this was a game not to have missed.

In the end, there is not much anyone else can do, other than to simply shake our heads and reflect. Sam Miller of Slate Magazine does his best to help us do that.

Game 4 on the agenda. Play ball.

President Obama - "The Insurance Salesman"

It is doubtful that when he was a young man studying political science at Columbia or law at Harvard that President Barak Obama was considering a future as an insurance salesman. Yet, with the passage of the Affordable Care Act - or Obamacare (note: Obama "cares") - and the recent challenges to it with the recent government budget shutdown, the job of "selling health insurance" is basically what Obama must do now.  At least that's the assessment of William Saleton, as he outlines it in a recent piece for Slate, "Barak Obama, Insurance Salesman: The President Peddles Health Insurance - and Pounds the GOP." This theme will probably run through the media for a while. Garance Franke-Ruta makes a similar claim for The Atlantic with his piece, "Barack Obama: Insurance Salesman-in-Chief." Clever guys, those media types.

The framing of the job as "selling insurance" is certainly an entertaining look at the health care battle, and it's not an entirely unrealistic or exaggerated claim.  The President's signature piece of legislation has faced many challenges, not the least of which was a challenge to the Supreme Court, which upheld it as a constitutional "tax." And, of course the persistent GOP-controlled House of Representatives has voted to overturn it some 200 times.  The budget showdown - and government shutdown - was Ted Cruz's attempt to make his political career by defeating it.  And, finally, the roll-out of the website has been plagued by mishaps and technical difficulties - which may be a result of its popularity, but don't make the President look good.

So, we will see how effective the President is at sales. And the 2014 midterms is probably the barometer by which we'll measure his "salesmanship."

Famous - or Infamous - "Artist" Banksy Tests Boundaries of "Art" in New York City

Is "graffiti" art? What if it's really, really good?

The world renowned artist - or "vandal" - Banksy has captured headlines and attention in recent weeks, as his artwork has been appearing around New York City in what The Guardian has called a "Guerrilla Graffiti Art Blitz." Apparently, the reclusive artist out of London is in the Big Apple and on one of his more well publicized campaigns to bring art to the masses, wherever he chooses to display it.  The artwork - like all graffiti - turns up on buildings and immediately creates a media sensation with people gathering and talks of preserving the pieces competing with the conflicted interests of the property owners.  Regardless of a person's view of Banksy and his work, there is no doubt it creates a buzz, and to possess a piece is a real treasure to some - especially if it only costs $60.  Or if you think it may be worth $1 million.

Banksy is an "urban artist" who gained prominence years ago after he was profiled in a fascinating bit of guerrilla filmmaking called Exit Through the Gift Shop.  

Like all things Banksy, the film was cryptic and controversial and in many ways created more questions than it answered:

Certainly, Banksy and the idea of "graffiti" versus "art" is complicated and controversial, and my conclusions on Banksy are still not fully formed.  The issue of vandalism and property rights in conflict with the creation of art is easy to decide - at least for me - when talking about something like "gang tagging"or other seemingly destructive pieces.  But it becomes more complicated when the art is just so captivating and, well, good:

Banksy, I think, truly serves the definition of artist in his ability to challenge the conventions of society. And that's probably a good thing.

"We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves."

— Banksy, Wall and Piece

Lakewood High School's Roar Impresses Katy Perry

It was the Roar heard across Colorado and across the country. That was the moment when Lakewood High School students burst into celebration after Katy Perry announced that LHS won Katy Perry's high school lip dub contest - with the prize being a private concert at the school next Friday on Perry's birthday. The contest was put together by ABC News and Katy Perry as a way to promote the song and album, as well as promote school spirit and a sense of community.  Certainly, the kids of Lakewood met that expectation.

The lip dub phenomenon is a simple but engaging concept that simply means to develop a sense of spirit and community, as kids come together in fluid continuous video lip sync. There have been some pretty impressive examples which have gone viral. And it's often inspiring to see kids come together around a singular activity that simply exists to bring people together.  Often, the format is to take a popular song, like Katy Perry's Roar and put images to it.

The contest was a great idea, though is isn't the first time Katy Perry has done something really cool for kids. Perhaps you remember Katy Perry's surprise appearance on the Oprah show to join a group of kids from the choir at PS 22 in New York who had performed Perry's "Firework" the night before on the Grammy Awards.  Perry flew in from London for the day to film the version with the kids before hopping right back on the plane to London where she had a concert that night. It was a pretty cool moment, even for Perry who said, "When Oprah calls and tells you to get on a plane, you do it."

Katy Perry represents many of the good things about the entertainment industry that is far too often considered a negative influence on kids. Perhaps Perry's model will inspire more positive behaviors, like the high school lip dub fun.