Use Google Maps to plan

Your next trip to London. Pay close attention to step No. 20.

In the Grand Tradition of Socrates V. Dopey

Popular Mechanics V. Rosie O'Donnell.  (Nod to Instapundit ). Has someone started teaching science classes to the Hollywood elite?

Values In Education

If you are one of the most talented 8% and have a family of income of under $60,000 Harvard is very affordable at $2,000 a year. This can be covered by student job or loans. You could end up with a degree from Harvard with less student debt then attending KU. It helps that Harvard, has the largest endowment in the U.S. at $29.2 billion

Don't Worry Be Happy

Research from the Happiness Laboratories indicates that a personal level of happiness is 40% genetics (gruntzness is inherited) 10% circumstances and 40% a mystery. Like a person weight, happiness tends to revert to an inherited set point unless it is constantly monitored and steps taken to raise it. Win the lottery and you will increase your happiness but within a year, especially when you are surrounded by all your new friends and relatives, you will return to your set point.

conventional wisdom suggests keeping a daily gratitude journal. But one study revealed that those who had been assigned to do that ended up less happy than those who had to count their blessings only once a week. Lyubomirsky therefore confirmed her hunch that timing is important. So is variety, it turned out: a kindness intervention found that participants told to vary their good deeds ended up happier than those forced into a kindness rut.

...

Initial results with the interventions have been promising, but sustaining them is tough. Months after a study is over, the people who have stopped the exercises show a drop in happiness. Like a drug or a diet, the exercises work only if you stick with them. Instilling habits is crucial. Another key: "fit," or how well the exercise matches the person. If sitting down to imagine your best possible self (an optimism exercise) feels contrived, you will be less likely to do it.

The biggest factor may be getting over the idea that happiness is fixed--and realizing that sustained effort can boost it. "A lot of people don't apply the notion of effort to their emotional lives, but the effort it takes is enormous."

Celebration In Florida

Huge crowds turned out tonight in Orlando to welcome the return of the Brandywine Heights Band with a fireworks celebration.

Self Esteem Backlash

According to a survey conducted by Columbia University, 85 percent of American parents think it’s important to tell their kids that they’re smart. In and around the New York area, according to my own (admittedly nonscientific) poll, the number is more like 100 percent. Everyone does it, habitually.

The constant praise is meant to be an angel on the shoulder, ensuring that children do not sell their talents short.a growing body of research—and a new study from the trenches of the New York public-school system—strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of “smart” does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.

Noted Scientist Speaks Out On Global Warming

"Everyone can do their bit. But I don't know if it's not too late already. We have to think about alternative methods of fuel." said noted scientist sorry it is noted Scientologist John Travolta. So everyone should give up their SUVs so he can keep his 5 plane, two shown in the following picture at his home in Flordia, in the air. It is so much more important that he continues to earn millions making movies then some poor guy just needing to get to some ordinary job.

Mr. Kotter should be very proud of his sweathog.

Bad Case of Spring Fever

Supposedly There Are No Stupid Questions

This one is the exception that proves the rule. Slate tackles the hard-hitting issue of whether it's appropriate to invite the man who molested your child to a party

Sam's New Plan

Since the whole property tax thing didn't work out is now reading Christopher Buckley new book Boomsday.The book proposes that a cash-strapped, demographically-burdened society pay old people to do themselves in. The elderly are to kill themselves for tax breaks. So at the next tax payers meeting be careful which cup Kool-Aid you select. For more on the book go to Marginal Revolution

Pond Skimming At Bear Creek

Simplified Teacher Salary

Simplified Teacher Salary - A primer if you are interested in some of those numbers you see printed in the newspapers. Also contains comparisons between BHASD and other districts along with comparisons of a teacher's raises with that of a Social Security recipient.

We Need Some Protocols

Dave Barry on 24.

Seriously: Has there ever been a less-competent federal agency than CTU? And yes, we are including FEMA in that statement.

Hopefully next season they will start writing or change the name to 12.

Lego My Legos

In Seattle latte sipping hippie teachers banned Legos from their classroom after they saw the results from building a lego village even one that had public facilities, and community meeting places.

“The children were building their assumptions about ownership and the social power it conveys — assumptions that mirrored those of a class-based, capitalist society — a society that we teachers believe to be unjust and oppressive.”

If you have a strong stomach here is the full article.

Willkommen

An Schüler aus Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule, wir möchten Sie in Brandywine herzlich willkommen! Wir wünschen alle einen interessanten und schönen Besuch bei uns in Brandywine.

Act 1 Backlash

Places other then here at ground zero are showing their displeasure at the ill conceived Act 1.

Views From Across The County

Two letters to the editor in the Reading Eagle today concerning school issues.

From a Kutztown Board Member

Editor:

I have been a school director for the Kutztown School District for slightly more than a year. I am proud to announce that today (March 21) I finally have heard from a constituent concerning the district and its operation.

I continually am amazed at the lack of attendance at our board meetings, but I continually hear the same complaints that every district official in the county hears.

District residents should attend board meetings and make their voices heard. The board members really do want to hear from them.

There are two seats open on the board in the upcoming primary. No one has filed for either of them.

Is this due to a lack of knowledge that the positions are available, or is it possible that no one cares?

It’s possible to run a write-in campaign. I was elected with over 125 write-in votes.

I was elected to represent my community. I can only express the thoughts of the community when I know what they are.

Don't worry about it a new High School is in the works the tax increase will solve your problems.

From Greenwich Twp

Why do some senior citizens think they deserve a property-tax break?

Were they demanding higher taxes for themselves 30 years ago to spare the seniors of the day? Were they begging for only parents of schoolchildren to pay school taxes then? I don’t think so.

Current proposals do not solve the school tax problem. They simply place another burden on wage earners who will continue to pay more because of the large number of people reaching retirement age.

We cannot expect a declining percentage of wage earners to foot the bill for Social Security, health care and now lower property taxes for an increasing population of seniors while trying to save for our own retirement.

If we want to change the current school tax structure, then phase it in over 20 years to make it fair for everyone, not one age group. Or maybe those seniors who cannot afford their property taxes could take out a reverse mortgage on their homes to pay for their property taxes.

Not planning for retirement or passing on an inheritance are not reasons to overburden wage earners.

And A Reply

the problem isn't the seniors. the problem is the disappearing dollars and uncontrollable spending habits of those in charge of the tax dollars.

i am a baby-boomer and i did not go to any fancy schools. schools were basic housing for classrooms. we didn't even have a cafeteria in my first school. we ate in the classroom. there were 5 separate grade schools across the township and they functioned quite well. we received fine educations with somewhat limited resources because our teachers spent the day teaching us.

now schools are grandiose palaces with huge designer windows housed in cathedral ceilings. every thing from desks to equipment is state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line. perfectly fine desks, chairs and myriads of usable filing cabinets and other equipment are thrown away in re-designs of these new "bigger and better" learning palaces. the furniture and equipment is not used, not sold, THROWN AWAY in huge piles. everybody gets a brand new laptop to play with at school.

that school furniture is extremely expensive. as a matter of fact, the buyers only deal with certain manufacturers, whose sole industry is to manufacture high end furniture and equipment for schools.

school districts are spending an obscene amount of money on big fancy schools, furnishings and transportation to the schools when more modest means are just as suitable and have been for hundreds of years.

our taxes are raised each and every year, far exceeding any cost of living increases that we receive in our paychecks, or that seniors receive in their pensions or social security, all because the powers that be have blank checks to a seemingly bottomless pit of taxpayer moneys.

if we could just stop the runaway spending and focus on working within a BUDGET, not only seniors, but all of us would be much better off. because i for one don't have the money for these outrageous tax increases, and loathe seeing my contributions squandered by reckless spend-aholics.

A New Adventure

A two generation book that was started in 1918 by the author of Lord Of The Rings J.R.R. Tolkien will go on sale April 17. The Children Of Hurin was completed by Tolkien son over a 30 year period based on the notes and the drafts left by his father.

If you are looking for a good book try one from the Wall Street Journal "Five Best" . The link goes to a list of mysterious named categories with a link to the five best for each.

Flaky Fashions

Excellent article in today's Eagle on last night fashion show.

Designs inspired by breakfast-cereal icons Tony the Tiger, Cap’n Crunch and Snap, Crackle and Pop came to life Saturday night in outrageous paper outfits modeled by Brandywine Heights High School students.

The models displayed art students’ creations during the art club’s 12th annual fashion show, held in front of a full house in the Topton school’s auditorium.

An Apple A Day

The Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) is a social network for educators. Find a wealth of content ranging from simple lesson ideas to in-depth curriculum units for K-12 educators as well as a new channel for Higher Education faculty showcasing campus projects, research and more.

If you are a parent with an iPod and already have every song ever recorded, ideals on how to put it to some fun educational use for both young and old.

Teacher Evaluations By Student

What would students evaluate Socrates as a professor?

I would advise him, though, that he doesn't know everything, and one time he even said in class that the wise man is someone who knows that he knows little (Prof. Socrates, how about that sexist language!?). I don't think he even realizes at times that he contradicts himself. But I see that he is just eager to share his vast knowledge with us, so I really think it is more a sin of enthusiasm than anything else.

I don't know how in hell he ever got tenure. He makes students feel bad by criticizing them all the time. He pretends like he's teaching them, but he's really ramming his ideas down student's throtes. He's always taking over the conversation and hardly lets anyone get a word in.

He's sooo arrogant. One time in class this guy comes in with some real good perspectives and Socrates just kept shooting him down. Anything the guy said Socrates just thought he was better than him.

He always keeps talking about these figures in a cave, like they really have anything to do with the real world. Give me a break! I spend serious money for my education and I need something I can use in the real world, not some b.s. about shadows and imaginary trolls who live in caves.

He also talks a lot about things we haven't read for class and expects us to read all the readings on the syllabus even if we don't discuss them in class and that really bugs me. Students' only have so much time and I didn't pay him to torture me with all that extra crap.

Also, I believe this Republic that Prof. Socrates wants to design — as if anyone really wants to let this dreadful little man design an entire city — is nothing but a plan for a hegemonic, masculinist empire that will dominate all of Greece and enforce its own values and beliefs on the diverse communities of our multicultural society.

Socrates is bias and prejudice and a racist and a sexist and a homophobe. He stole his ideas from the African people and won't even talk to them now. Someone said that maybe he was part African, but there is noooooo way.

After reading these reviews he may have volunteered to down the hemlock cocktail.

What Did You Believe?

I used to believe A collection of what readers thought as a child.
* Teachers live at school
* All music on radio stations are performed live by the band in the studio
* Brides become pregnant at the wedding
* Car signals tell you where to drive
* Cheques (checks) and cash from the ATM are free money
* Chocolate milk comes from brown cows
* Drinking and driving applies to all drinks
* Earwigs crawl into your ears
* Eating crusts makes your hair curly
* Firemen start fires.
* Girls don't fart
* Ice cream vans only play music when they've run out of ice cream
* If you don't hold your breath as you pass a cemetery you will die or become possessed.
* If you pick your nose your brain will fall out or cave in
* If you play with your belly button your bottom will fall off
* If you swallow a seed a plant will grow inside you.
* If you swallow chewing gum you will die
* In the alphabet, L-M-N-O-P is one letter, pronounced elemenopee
* Oral sex is talking about sex
* Parents have eyes in the back of their heads.
* Quarter of an hour is 25 minutes
* Salt cools food down, pepper warms it up
* The song "Bad Moon On The Rise" is actually "bathroom on the right"
* The world was black and white before colour photographs and colour TV
* There are monsters living under your bed
* Thunder is the sound of God bowling
* Weeing in the pool turns the water a different colour
* You can get sucked down the plughole
* You must marry someone with the same surname as you.

Good to know that I am not the only one that has been sing "bathroom on the right" for years. It did make more sense then singing about a Cross Eyed Bear in church.

Antietam Bars Boys From Girls Field Hockey

The Antietam School Board agreed Monday night to vote at its meeting next week on a proposal to prohibit boys from playing on girls sports teams.

Background: The action is a result of threats by the Schuylkill Valley School District and Lancaster Christian School to forfeit any future girls field hockey games if boys are allowed to continue to participate.

Dr. Lawrence Mayes, Antietam superintendent, told the board a survey has shown that 17 students — including three boys — want to play on the girls field hockey team next year.

Couple in Their 70s Adopt 5 Children

A couple in their 70s have adopted the woman's five great-grandchildren, four girls and a boy ages 3 to 8. Virginia Crawford has cared for the girls intermittently for several years. Home is a 1963 trailer attached to a small building that serves as a family room. Charlie Crawford receives a government pension. His wife said that her Social Security checks are small but that she does not expect money to be a problem.

"I'm conservative, from the old school," she said. "You don't buy everything you see."

Jobs That Americans Aren't Hired To Do

After the Swift meatpacking raids in Greeley. Colo., Americans lined up out the door of the hiring office seeking the newly freed-up positions. Then, after the Crider chicken plant in Stillmore, Ga., was cleared of its illegal aliens, "For the first time in years, local officials say, Crider aggressively sought workers from the area's state-funded employment office." And now, after the raid on a New Bedford, Mass., military contractor guess what? (see cable news video here)

Quotes On The War

On the mid-term elections:
"The army regard the result of the late elections as at least prolonging the war.” - US Army Surgeon

On the President:
“May God Almighty forbid that we are to have two terms of the rottenest, most stinking, ruin working smallpox ever conceived by fiends or mortals…” - La Crosse, WI Democrat.

From The "We Support The troops Crowd"
One Connecticut peace democrat told his neighbors that he hoped that all the men who went to fight would “leave their Bones to Bleach on the soil”

Sounds familiar today but these were quotes from the Copperhead Democrats during the War of Northern Aggression. A little historical perspective never hurts.

The Secrets of Victoria

Mark Steyn essay in defense of the Victorian era and the most remarkable you probably never heard of William Wilberforce. William Wilberforce, writes Eric Metaxas in Amazing Grace, "was the happy victim of his own success. He was like someone who against all odds finds the cure for a horrible disease that's ravaging the world, and the cure is so overwhelmingly successful that it vanquishes the disease completely. No one suffers from it again -- and within a generation or two no one remembers it ever existed."

We children of the 20th century mock our 19th century forebears as uptight prudes, moralists and do-gooders. If they were, it's because of Wilberforce. His legacy includes the very notion of a "social conscience": In the 1790s a good man could stroll past an 11-year-old prostitute on a London street without feeling a twinge of disgust or outrage; he accepted her as merely a feature of the landscape, like an ugly hill. By the 1890s, there were still child prostitutes, but there were also charities and improvement societies and orphanages. It is amazing to read a letter from Wilberforce and realize that he is, in fact, articulating precisely 220 years ago what New Yorkers came to know in the '90s as the "broken windows" theory: ''The most effectual way to prevent greater crimes is by punishing the smaller.''

The Victorians, if plunked down before the Anna Nicole updates for an hour or two, would probably conclude we're nearer the 18th century than their own. A "social conscience" obliges the individual to act. Today we call for action all the time, but mostly from government, which is another way of excusing us and allowing us to get on with the distractions of the day. Our schoolhouses revile the Victorian do-gooders as condescending racists and oppressors -- though the single greatest force for ending slavery around the world was the Royal Navy. Isn't societal self-loathing just another justification for lethargy? After all, if the white man is inherently wicked, that pretty much absolves one from having to do anything. And so the same kind of lies we told ourselves about slaves we now tell ourselves about other faraway people, and for the same reason: because big changes are tough and who needs the hassle? The hardest thing in any society is "the reformation of manners."

Today we call for action all the time, but mostly from government.

Iran Does It Right

They don't rely on some namby-pamby taxpayers group keeping teachers pay in line. They use the full force of their riot police. When 10,000 teachers protested outside their education ministry for higher pay 1,000 were arrested and the leaders thrown into the notorious Evin prison. An average university-educated secondary-school teacher earns £160-180 a month, below the poverty line and much less than workers in other government sectors. The article didn't mention if they had summer off.

Wait Till Next Year

PHILADELPHIA - Wildlife authorities have found the first bald eagle nest in the city in more than 200 years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said Friday. Fans of the Eagles were spotted booing and throw beer bottles at it.

Bong Hits 4 Jesus Goes To SCOTUS

Makes one wonder if the sign had said Bong Hits 4 Mohamed whose side the ACLU would have been own, would it be "hate speech" would the then 18 year old student still be alive? If you ever wonder why school administrators aren't like they were when you were in school read this article.

Home Ownership Causes Unemployment?

An interesting take on the conventional wisdom of home ownership.

English economist Andrew Oswald has shown that across European countries, and across U.S. states, high levels of home ownership are correlated with high levels of unemployment. More conventional factors such as generous welfare benefits or high levels of unionization don't explain unemployment nearly as well as the tendency to own houses. Renting your home and staying flexible do wonders for your chances of always finding an interesting job to do.

Justice Isn't Blind

Two teachers convicted of having sex with young male students. One receives 10 years in prison and one receives probation and some house arrest while hubby gets book deal. See if you can tell who got the better deal.

For Those Under 21

Check your fake ID and make sure it is not one from a wanted felon.

Serious About That Permaent Record Threat

SUPERIOR, Wis. (AP) Jeff Rolson is just relieved he didn't get sent to the principal's office.

The 40-something Rolson last week dropped by Superior Senior High School, where he graduated in 1977, to get a copy of his transcript for a plumbing apprenticeship. That's when he found out he had two outstanding debts $7.95 for a missing algebra book and $5 for an unpaid physical-education fee.

A secretary told him he had to pay up before he could get his transcript.

``I told her, 'do you realize this was 30 years ago?''' he said.

Rolson says he doesn't understand why the school didn't contact him earlier. After all, he still lives in Superior and his daughter attends the school.

....

``It was 13 bucks. If they had charged me interest all these years compounded for 30 years I don't know what the bill might have been,'' he said.

Maybe he didn't have the algebra book after all

Happy St Patrick Weekend

Can't start too soon

May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven
half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.


Here's to me, and here's to you,
And here's to love and laughter-
I'll be true as long as you,
And not one moment after.


Here's to you and yours
And to mine and ours.
And if mine and ours
Ever come across to you and yours,
I hope you and yours will do
As much for mine and ours
As mine and ours have done
For you and yours!


Health and life to you;
The mate of your choice to you;
Land without rent to you,
And death in Eirinn.


Here's a toast to your enemies' enemies!


When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
So, let's all get drunk, and go to heaven!


Here's to a long life and a merry one.
A quick death and an easy one.
A pretty girl and an honest one.
A cold beer—and another one!

Here's to those that wish us well;
and those that don't can go to hell!

Here's to our wives and girlfriends:
May they never meet!

A Philosophical Time Waster

for a snowy Friday.

Identify three foods A, B, and C such that any two of these are complementary (taste good in combination) but the trio does not. So A and B must be complementary, B and C must be complementary, and A and C must be complementary, but A, B, and C must be foul when combined together.

Possible Combinations

Candidates For School Board

Six school board candidates have filed the necessary forms by the March 6 deadlines for both the Republican and Democratic May primary. There will be five open positions this year.
Carol A. Emrick - Rockland
Ken Heffner - Rockland
Robert Lowry - Rockland
Elizabeth Stehman - Longswamp
Bryce Blair Newsham Jr - Rockland
Lori Ann Yocco - Longswamp

Cell Phones In Foreign Lands

If you or you child are planing on traveling outside the US, guide to using the cell phone. If you are not careful a couple of calls could cost more then the trip

Hope You Enjoyed Spring

Friday Night Forecast
Low: 25
Periods of snow. Total accumulations possibly 4 to 8 inches. Lows in the mid 20s. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 90 percent.

Remember Pi Day

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982...
March 14 or 3.14 will be here this Wednesday Welcome to the Church Of Pi. In anticipation of the yearly event here is a piem where the number of letters in each word represents a digit of pi, beginning with 314. The sound O represents the digit 0.

Musings of a Mathematician
by
Liz


Why, Π! Stop, Π! Weird anomalies do behave badly!
You, madly conjured, imperfect, strange, numerical,
Why do you maintain this facade?
In finite time you are barbaric!
You do wonders, mesmerize minds!
O, do elements numerous have a beautiful meaning-
A system isolating all mysteries, solutions for puzzles, chaos, a
O snafu apparent in O Universal Concept from believing lies?
That there, obstinate in you, O Strange Constant,
A Divine Sign O exists is unlikely unless
Is O revealed Something Brilliant, negating belief!
In formulas, O, you show yourself in Greek and math as a Π forever--
O hidden wonders absconded, infinite, in a tiny constant, O, sneakily, rather?
Never, I say!

Remember Daylight Savings

We could have afforded to waste it. Sunrise tomorrow 7:30 AM so all you kiddies be sure to think your congressman who enabled you to wait for the bus in the dark.

Religious Literacy

USA article on the lack of knowledge people have not only of other religions but also of their own. Calls for courses in comparative religion in middle school. Sounds good who could possibly protest that.

Parents Of Teenagers

For the sake of the world please check your teenager's room seems thousands of square kilometers of the earth crust is missing. While you do that some of us will be looking in the back of our van, everything else seems to end up there.

Rule of Thumb

If you have been concerned about global warming, worry no more. Global warming is now officially over. When it rates an article in the esteemed scientific publication Sports Illustrated you know it is an over hyped. SI should stick to overrated and overpaid sports figures and scantly clad models in swimsuits.

Will PA follow MI

For the past few years Michigan has been having its own 1 state recession. High taxes, lots o'spending, and compulsory unionization — the Michigan story.

Besides It Only Encourages Them To Keep Running

DontVote.org's mission is to combat the "Get out the Vote" movement that is pushed by organizations that would like to increase the number of uneducated voters to help their cause. DontVote.org encourages people to Vote, but only AFTER they have educated themselves on the policies and individuals for which they are voting. Voting should be considered a privilege and exercised with responsibility and discretion. Just like a final exam, responsible voting requires self-education and thought. When the time comes to cast your ballot, if you don't know for what or whom you're voting, then DON'T VOTE,

Bono Keeping Africa Sick

Advertising Age calculates that around $100million has been spent blanketing billboards and magazines with images of Bono and other "celebrities", while the total sum raised for Africa is $18million.

Just to be clear...

• Total spent on making Bono more famous = $100million.
• Total spent on drugs for Africans = $18million.

Hating Bono Again

Turning The Principal Into A Newt

shouldn't be a reason to deny tenure claims a Long Island teacher, "After all he got better." The judge being a man of science will determine if she weighs more then a duck and hence a witch tomorrow. Article

Banning The Boo Birds

In the state of Washington a ban on booing during high school sporting events is in the works. Seems the referees and coaches are suffering from low self-esteem. Article

Melissa Bands

The 9th grade officers would like to show support to one of their classmates, who recently had a liver transplant. The officers and their advisers are selling silicon wrist bands in a pink/green tie-dye with Melissa embossed on them. They are $1.00 each and the profits will be donated to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). To find out how you or your group can help contact the adviser at the HS. 610.682.5102 ext 2170

Is TV Resposible For The Rise In Autism

Since parents of toddlers have nothing else to worry about,Cornell researchers are now reporting that there is at least a casual link between the number of children under 3 watching TV and the rise in autism. The increase in the numbers of children diagnosed started in the 1980's at the same time as cable TV and VCR usage became popular. Steve Levitt author of Freakonomics is skeptical.

Ms Emily Goes To The Movies

Review by Emily Trosprel
9th Grade BHHS Senior Entertainment Editor

Pan’s Labyrinth

The haunting melody that opens Pan’s Labyrinth is symbolic of what the film itself becomes, a resonant experience that remains with the viewer long after the final notes have died out. “A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world.” In Spain, 1944, a mythical faun speaks these words and tells eleven-year old Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) that she is the princess of this land. In order to return to her world, she must complete three tasks, including facing a horrendous monster from a twisted imagination, the Pale Man (Doug Jones, who also plays the faun). Or does she really face it? Could her fantasy world just be a creation to help Ofelia cope with the cruel reality of fascist Spain towards the end of World War II? She lives with her step-father Captain Vidal (Sergi López) and pregnant mother in a military outpost, where brutality is second-nature. The sadism of Vidal, by far more ruthless then the Pale Man, and the savagery of war contrast with the magic of Ofelia’s imagination which may provide her a means to come to terms with an overwhelming life.

For such a brutal tale, Pan’s Labyrinth has a unique beauty to the way it’s shown. Writer and director Guillermo del Toro must have certainly had a vision for he presents such a rich visual feast of a world. A blend of digital effects, makeup, and puppetry create the creatures onscreen, and the makeup artist team deserved their Oscar for the job done on the Pale Man alone. Of course, you couldn’t have a movie without actors, and little Ivana Baquero gives a heartrending performance. Sergi López as the captain is just as remarkable and manages to make the audience loathe and fear him within his first minutes on screen. While the film is a tale told about the imagination of a child, it is by no means a children’s film. Its violence is strong but not excessive for it is necessary. It is just as necessary as the fantasy storyline, for it is the interweaving of brutality and supernatural, the real and the miraculous, that give Pan’s Labyrinth its impact and make it a sure masterpiece.

Four Out Of Four Stars for Pan’s Labyrinth.
***************
A special thanks to the Strand in Kutztown that offers a venue for such movies.

Kitlers

No educational or community value what so ever but it is a rainy Friday. A link to a site that specializes in cats that look like Hitler somehow seemed in order. Have a nice weekend and don't forget to enjoy the music and food at the Brandywine Jazz Festival tonight.

Conserving Society's IQ

"New Zealanders who emigrate to Australia raise the IQ of both countries." - Sir Robert Muldoon, former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Interesting thought with links to other views on how a society can improve and conserve IQ. Along with is IQ even a measurable quality. Good comments from readers as well.

*%^#&@* Amazing

A recent look at different blogs based on their left or right political leanings found left leaning blogs used one of George Carlin infamous "seven-words" 18 times more then right leaning blogs.

Great Article In Today's M-Call

On the discussion board some complaints about the Eagle's wrestling articles well try today's
Morning-Call.

On Sunday, less than 24 hours after Brandywine Heights won the team title at the District 3 Class 2A Wrestling championship in Hershey, the entire team took the trophy to Lehigh Valley Hospital.

They shared the trophy with Mike Bond, who was hospitalized with an infected cut that is having a very difficult time healing. The remarkable thing about the visit is that the Brandywine wrestlers visited not a teammate but a fan.

The 50-something Bond, confined to a wheelchair and paralyzed from the waist down, is a huge booster for the District 3 wrestling power. He attends just about every Brandywine match when able, is an avid photographer at the matches and has made photo albums for the team over the years. Because of his condition this year, Bond did not see the Bullets win their second straight district title.

''It says a lot about our boys that they would want to go see Mike,'' coach Sam Lovello said. ''The whole team went and took the district trophy to him. This is probably the most cohesive team I've had. They're really together. They root for each other, they watch every match together and they hang out together.''