At the risk of getting in trouble, I won't use the names of the towns involved, but I wanted to relate what all happened yesterday. I guess to do that, I gotta start back in the 70s. Back then, the schools were still segregated. A law was passed to end that, making it so that, say, if a child lives in District A, that child would be legally forced to attend the school in District A.
That way, the racial makeup of the schools would depend on the racial makeup of the schools' districts' population, and nothing else. Good policy, but since then, some issues have cropped up.
In the county, there are 3 K-12 schools. School A is the big one, the one for town. B & C are each about 10 miles out, and are both much smaller. As far as racial makeup goes, School A is predominately black, being in the "urban" area, or at least as close to it as we get around here. B & C are mostly white, since they are out in the country. The population roughly matches that racial makeup, but recently the ratios have been skewing. Part of it is parents transferring their children to the smaller schools, seeing those schools as being A> better academically (and those schools have done better on state tests and such), B> better funded (smaller schools would have less children to spread the money around for), and C>. I guess the nicest way I can put it is that, for many parents (and some kids), a predominately white school would be preferable to a predominately black school.
Well, at a board meeting Tuesday, the state came by, and said that with the situation as it is, it basically constitutes segregation. (They also claimed that school A has been "clustering" black students and white students). It was decided that effective immediately, every student in the county would have to attend whichever district he or she lives in.
The decision means that kids who monday would be attending School B (and who may have gone there all their lives) , as of Wednesday they would be attending School A. Did I mention that school starts in 3 weeks?
Soooo, yesterday comes. I'm at one of the schools working, come back to the office, and there's a crowd gathered. And when I say crowd, I mean one rung below a mob. I pull around back, sneak in the back door, and try n figure out what the deal is. (I hadn't know about any of this, BTW) More than a hundred kids n parents, including several babies, in 95 degree heat, outside. And that was before the news camera showed up.
Eventually it was decided that the situation would be postponed until next year. Cheer goes up from the crowd. Everyone's happy. At least until they got home and realized that next year, everyone that's going to School B who would've had to swap this year... they're gonna still have to swap next year.
Oy vey.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I Kill Giants
So, in addition to the many other kinds of a nerd I am, I'm a comic nerd. Early last summer, I heard about a book called I Kill Giants. Think it was pick of the week on iFanboy. I decided to track down Issue 1, and see if it was any good. Not only was it good, it was the best thing I read all year, and has gone on my list of all time favorite things ever.
The basic story, off of the first issue (and I won't go much beyond, just to make you go and read it yourself): Barbara Thorson (love the name) is a 5th grade girl. Just hitting that awkward stage. But where most would turn quiet, or become a trouble maker, Barbara is a confident, headstrong type. Plays D&D with some of the town's older nerds, who don't want her there because she's too good, takes it way too seriously, and, well, she's a girl... She also will tell anyone she sees that she kill giants. She sees and talks to little floating naked fairies. She carries around a heart shaped bag, in which rests the giant slaying hammer, Coveleski.
One problem is, you don't really know if what she's seeing is real. Together with the hints that you're given about something amiss at home, you're left wondering what could be real, and what might be something made up as a coping mechanism. The world seems to be ours, and noone around Barbara believes her. They simply see her as a weird kid.
As the story goes along, you're given more hints, and get more glimpses into Barbara's life. Beyond the basic, any discussion about the story will only spoil stuff, and at a certain point, words just fail me. By the end of the story, I was a wreck emotionally; but in a good way (really). One of the few things that have affected me as much was an anime called Haibane Renmei, which I also highly recomend.
Well that was a bit rambling, just go read I Kill Giants, then watch Haibane Renmei. Trust me.
The basic story, off of the first issue (and I won't go much beyond, just to make you go and read it yourself): Barbara Thorson (love the name) is a 5th grade girl. Just hitting that awkward stage. But where most would turn quiet, or become a trouble maker, Barbara is a confident, headstrong type. Plays D&D with some of the town's older nerds, who don't want her there because she's too good, takes it way too seriously, and, well, she's a girl... She also will tell anyone she sees that she kill giants. She sees and talks to little floating naked fairies. She carries around a heart shaped bag, in which rests the giant slaying hammer, Coveleski.
One problem is, you don't really know if what she's seeing is real. Together with the hints that you're given about something amiss at home, you're left wondering what could be real, and what might be something made up as a coping mechanism. The world seems to be ours, and noone around Barbara believes her. They simply see her as a weird kid.
As the story goes along, you're given more hints, and get more glimpses into Barbara's life. Beyond the basic, any discussion about the story will only spoil stuff, and at a certain point, words just fail me. By the end of the story, I was a wreck emotionally; but in a good way (really). One of the few things that have affected me as much was an anime called Haibane Renmei, which I also highly recomend.
Well that was a bit rambling, just go read I Kill Giants, then watch Haibane Renmei. Trust me.
Monday, July 13, 2009
How I spent my last month
Make that my _previous_ month. Yeah, that's a lot better. Not my last. Totally.
Anyhoo.
Like I had said, went to Illinois in June, got back about a month ago. Found out they were redoing the carpet in the office. That led to 2 weeks of hell, having to move every piece of everything from one half of the office to the other, then back again, bleh. Don't even get me started (it would go into "My Crappy Life" territory and beyond.
That got done, and I decided I wanted to redo my room at home. The end of August will be 3 years that I've been in there (some bitch dropped a tree on my old room); and after moving in, I never really had to time to plan out the room. Because of that, the layout of the room has kinda been a clusterfrak; this one 12x25' room is a bedroom, living room, work room, library, and computer room. Full size bed, recliner, corner desk, 10' work table (actually a kitchen counter, but who's counting) Craftsmen cabinet for a closet, and 5 shelves full of books, dvds, and stuff.
Long story short, I had way too much stuff for too little space, and that badly organized. So I boxed up everything I could (now sitting in the living room, kitchen, porch, and anywhere I had space) and moved out everything I could.
One goal I had was being able to have company. Before, seating consisted of a computer seat, the recliner, and the bed, and 99 times outta 10 the recliner was completely covered in clothes. And if there was a place to sit, there was nothing to see. I also wanted to have some place to watch stuff, other than at my computer. So, killed two birds with one stone: used the entertainment center (which was collecting dust in a a storage room) to hold a tv, all my game systems, and the receiver I picked up in Illinois. Next I'm gonna put a seat out from the tv, so's I can have company come over n watch something or play games.
My next major bit of the project will be cleaning out junk. I want the work table to be usable, and to have floor space.
And then, I ain't doin nothing for a month. At least.
Anyhoo.
Like I had said, went to Illinois in June, got back about a month ago. Found out they were redoing the carpet in the office. That led to 2 weeks of hell, having to move every piece of everything from one half of the office to the other, then back again, bleh. Don't even get me started (it would go into "My Crappy Life" territory and beyond.
That got done, and I decided I wanted to redo my room at home. The end of August will be 3 years that I've been in there (some bitch dropped a tree on my old room); and after moving in, I never really had to time to plan out the room. Because of that, the layout of the room has kinda been a clusterfrak; this one 12x25' room is a bedroom, living room, work room, library, and computer room. Full size bed, recliner, corner desk, 10' work table (actually a kitchen counter, but who's counting) Craftsmen cabinet for a closet, and 5 shelves full of books, dvds, and stuff.
Long story short, I had way too much stuff for too little space, and that badly organized. So I boxed up everything I could (now sitting in the living room, kitchen, porch, and anywhere I had space) and moved out everything I could.
One goal I had was being able to have company. Before, seating consisted of a computer seat, the recliner, and the bed, and 99 times outta 10 the recliner was completely covered in clothes. And if there was a place to sit, there was nothing to see. I also wanted to have some place to watch stuff, other than at my computer. So, killed two birds with one stone: used the entertainment center (which was collecting dust in a a storage room) to hold a tv, all my game systems, and the receiver I picked up in Illinois. Next I'm gonna put a seat out from the tv, so's I can have company come over n watch something or play games.
My next major bit of the project will be cleaning out junk. I want the work table to be usable, and to have floor space.
And then, I ain't doin nothing for a month. At least.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
I'm not a mean, no-hearted person. And I'm absoFRAKingly not a PETA type. That being said, I just love seeing where people get gored during the running of the bulls. The damned animals are hours away from being killed; they get to spend their last day being herded through streets, having firecrackers thrown at them, having to stare at asshole's assholes all day. Only fair that they get to inflict some pain on the way.
And to the asshole that got hisself killed this morning: hope you enjoyed how you decided to spend your last day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8143744.stm
And to the asshole that got hisself killed this morning: hope you enjoyed how you decided to spend your last day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8143744.stm
An Interesting Ebay Purchase
Or, how does this kinda thing keep happening to me?
Been hitting up ebay ever since I got back from a trip to Illinois, where I picked up umpteen consoles, which I then needed games for. One of the games I been on the lookout for is Spyro: the Dragon, for the Playstation. Back in the day, I'd hang out at my friend Dennis's house; when all I had was a NES, he had NES, SNES, Playstation; all the cool stuff. I got to play WipeoutXL (which, looking back, really turned me onto racing games), Wing Commander, and Spyro the Dragon. For anyone who hasn't played or seen spyro, it's a 3d platformer, along the lines of Mario64. Real colorful, kid friendly, but not stupid simple. Good game.
Anyway, while in Illinois, I picked up a Playstation, along with some games. And by some games, I mean Tomb Raider, Gex, and 3 or 4 years worth of various EA Games crap. So, I really needed some good games (not that tomb Raider ain't good, but I just finished playing Tomb Raider Anniversary on the 360), so I hit up RacketBoy's retrogaming site, and looked at his list of PS1 must play games, and the second I saw Spyro listed, I decided I must have it. Off to Ebay...
To make a long story short, I discover that Insomniac games had released Spyro, along with it's two (even better) sequels, as a Collector's Set. Found it on Ebay, and won the auciton for $20 shipped. Got the games in yesterday, and we (finally) get to the point of this post.
Open the package, take the games out, and do a quick inspection. Take the first game, open the case n look over the disc. A bit scuffed, but not bad for a 11 year old game cd. Take the second game, and notice on the case that it says "2 CD". "Hmmm", I think. Didn't know it was two cds. Open it up, take out the first cd, looks ok. Turn over the cd holder to where the 2nd cd is, except... no 2nd cd. After several expletive deleteds, I go ahead and check the 3rd cd, already composing in my head the letter I'm gonna send the bastard, for not even warning me that he only had 1 cd of the 2nd game. Wasn't gonna be totally angry, it coulda been an honest mistake, but still... Then I'm remembering the auction details, how it said "3 out of 3 cds", but also saying "Complete set"... I put everything away, head back to work, pull up ebay, and start to send him a message. As I'm writing, I do some quick research, because in everything I'd seen so far, I hadn't seen anything saying Spyro 2 was 2 cds. Somewhere in all this thinking, I think about the first cd, how it didn't actually _SAY_ cd1, or cd2 for that matter. Then how the bit that says "2CD" was on the case, not on the cover booklet or any of the game material. Then it hits me. The guy must've replaced the original cd case, with a double cd case. Spyro 2 ain't 2 cds. I may have blanked out for a moment, as my brain tries to realign itself.
And the sad thing? This kinda thing happens to me _ALL_ the time. Why???
Been hitting up ebay ever since I got back from a trip to Illinois, where I picked up umpteen consoles, which I then needed games for. One of the games I been on the lookout for is Spyro: the Dragon, for the Playstation. Back in the day, I'd hang out at my friend Dennis's house; when all I had was a NES, he had NES, SNES, Playstation; all the cool stuff. I got to play WipeoutXL (which, looking back, really turned me onto racing games), Wing Commander, and Spyro the Dragon. For anyone who hasn't played or seen spyro, it's a 3d platformer, along the lines of Mario64. Real colorful, kid friendly, but not stupid simple. Good game.
Anyway, while in Illinois, I picked up a Playstation, along with some games. And by some games, I mean Tomb Raider, Gex, and 3 or 4 years worth of various EA Games crap. So, I really needed some good games (not that tomb Raider ain't good, but I just finished playing Tomb Raider Anniversary on the 360), so I hit up RacketBoy's retrogaming site, and looked at his list of PS1 must play games, and the second I saw Spyro listed, I decided I must have it. Off to Ebay...
To make a long story short, I discover that Insomniac games had released Spyro, along with it's two (even better) sequels, as a Collector's Set. Found it on Ebay, and won the auciton for $20 shipped. Got the games in yesterday, and we (finally) get to the point of this post.
Open the package, take the games out, and do a quick inspection. Take the first game, open the case n look over the disc. A bit scuffed, but not bad for a 11 year old game cd. Take the second game, and notice on the case that it says "2 CD". "Hmmm", I think. Didn't know it was two cds. Open it up, take out the first cd, looks ok. Turn over the cd holder to where the 2nd cd is, except... no 2nd cd. After several expletive deleteds, I go ahead and check the 3rd cd, already composing in my head the letter I'm gonna send the bastard, for not even warning me that he only had 1 cd of the 2nd game. Wasn't gonna be totally angry, it coulda been an honest mistake, but still... Then I'm remembering the auction details, how it said "3 out of 3 cds", but also saying "Complete set"... I put everything away, head back to work, pull up ebay, and start to send him a message. As I'm writing, I do some quick research, because in everything I'd seen so far, I hadn't seen anything saying Spyro 2 was 2 cds. Somewhere in all this thinking, I think about the first cd, how it didn't actually _SAY_ cd1, or cd2 for that matter. Then how the bit that says "2CD" was on the case, not on the cover booklet or any of the game material. Then it hits me. The guy must've replaced the original cd case, with a double cd case. Spyro 2 ain't 2 cds. I may have blanked out for a moment, as my brain tries to realign itself.
And the sad thing? This kinda thing happens to me _ALL_ the time. Why???
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Second Post!!! AKA Mission Statement
What this blog will cover:
...
OK. Er. Maybe what this blog WON"T cover:
1. My crappy life.
2. Politics
3. Religion
4. "Entertainment"
1, because noone wants to know about my crappy life; 2 & 3 because I'm getting to the point where I realize that there is no changing people's minds when it comes to religion, and it really seems that people are starting to feel as strongly about politics as they do about religion. People believe what they believe, and the more you argue with them, the more convinced they become that they're right, and the less they would consider accepting another's opionion. And on 4, what I mean is, well, just about anything that would be covered on Entertainment Tonight, or the entertainment segment on any news program.
I'll probably wind up making exceptions, but only limited. Might give myself, say, one religion based post a month, something like that.
...
OK. Er. Maybe what this blog WON"T cover:
1. My crappy life.
2. Politics
3. Religion
4. "Entertainment"
1, because noone wants to know about my crappy life; 2 & 3 because I'm getting to the point where I realize that there is no changing people's minds when it comes to religion, and it really seems that people are starting to feel as strongly about politics as they do about religion. People believe what they believe, and the more you argue with them, the more convinced they become that they're right, and the less they would consider accepting another's opionion. And on 4, what I mean is, well, just about anything that would be covered on Entertainment Tonight, or the entertainment segment on any news program.
I'll probably wind up making exceptions, but only limited. Might give myself, say, one religion based post a month, something like that.
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