Rubber Chicken’s Dojo

i switched on the computer last night to be greeted by a flash of surprise and sparks of desperation. it’s been raining lately and the power box on the pc decided now was the time to short circuit and ruin my plans for report card procrastination. luckily inyoung was on it and contacted her old boss at the computer services company. he hooked us up for a saturday morning service and was done within an hour, replacing the power box and generally fixing things. all for $70. not too bad at all. crisis averted

gearing up for report cards is hard yakka. i’ve got most assessment done and marked. i’ve made my comment bank and put in most of the general comments. it’s going to be a long couple of weeks with long hours and deadlines screaming by and past me. good times, good times…

i found this alternate ending to i am legend. i thought the movie was ok the first time i saw it, but was disappointed with the cliched ending. however, this one is pretty damn good and deserves a look. apparently it’s closer to the book’s ending. makes me want to read it now.

There is absolutely no research correlation between success and family background, race, national origin, financial status, or even educational accomplishments. There is but one correlation with success, and that is ATTITUDE.

the first day of school

as thunder rumbles along the unnaturally apricot-hued sky outside, the season’s first storm is sweeping in and it sets me to pondering. mainly about work though.

the year 7’s completed their national standardised testing and now i’m back to the report card grind. i also have to organise fund raising for the canberra trip. this week i start a three-part assessment immersion professional development seminar, which will look at constructing rubrics and the way that assessment is produced in units of work. it’s useful and semi-interesting but i now doubt will feel both intellectually and scholastically inferior by the end of it.

the storm still rages and as vonnegut said: “and so it goes…”

i’ve gotten my hands on a couple of audio books: ray bradbury’s, fahrenheit 451, and harman ellison’s, voices from the edge. both of them are completely different in terms of their presentation. fahrenheit is told very coldly, not very emotive, very pseudo-guy montag. voices on the other hand, is manic. i’m pretty sure it’s ellison himself doing the ready. he babbles, spits and curses with fervor and passion. the stories come alive as he spews words out at a hundred miles an hour. brilliant…

these are from last weekend’s buddha birthday festival. the only ones that came out ok in my opinion…

i recently acquired sepultura’s 2006 album, dante’s xxi, and have seriously not turned it off for about four days straight. it is such a cool album; it’s hardcore beats and demonic guitars just get me all jazzed up. just like their album, arise, which was my first sojourn with the brazilian band way back when i was about 14.

i ‘ve found myself reaching back to my hardcore roots lately, especially with the commute to work. loud, angry music helps me groove along and forget the fuckwits that i encounter everyday. slayer’s last studio album, diabolus in musica, also works a treat.

sheffield wednesday beat norwich comfortably in front of a full house at hillsborough to secure their place in the championship division, winning 4-1. ticket prices had been dropped to ten pounds to ensure the team played in front of a packed stadium and the fans delivered as over 36 000 fans crammed in when the gates opened.

despite norwich going ahead inside the first ten minutes, the owls’ enterprising play saw them draw level thanks to a penalty before the half-hour mark. three goals in the second half, and they were home and hosed. with the three points and other matches going their way, wednesday have climbed to 16th. leceister was the unlucky team to be the thrid team relegated, despite drawing with premiership-bound stoke city. results just didn’t go their way.

after an injury-plagued season, it’s good that we have stayed up. the takeover bid may now go through successfully and hopefully we can attract some players to the steel city. mid-table and staying healthy should be our goal i think. and now i can breathe out…