5.23.2005

Just Act One.

So I gave a No Fear (SparkNotes) copy of Hamlet to A to read.

Just Act One, I said. We'll go over the play together after you've read Act One. I did not ask him to mark up his copy of the play with notes.

When I checked with A to discuss Hamlet, he informed me that he read the play in its entirety. Both the Shakespearean English and the modern.

Yes, I tested him to make sure. What does this mean? I asked. He knew, and translated to the modern English from memory. And what does that mean? He knew that, too. He knew everything.

I felt like Julia Roberts' character in Mona Lisa Smile.

Also, A refuses to go to any "Children's Books" section in bookstores. He hit puberty last year, and is now taller than me (love when Joey Ramone's mother said, "Oh, well, when Joey was your age, he was already six feet tall..."). He's growing up fast, but not quite a teen yet.

We are studying Afghanistan and Cuba for the Geography Bee.

We saw Star Wars: Episode III last night, and today we discuss the Shakespearean elements in the film.

5.15.2005

anyone try...

incorporating Ayn Rand into their studies at all?

A is currently reading The Pianist for pleasure.

I just finished The Fountainhead (yes, it was my first time reading it).

I think both stories resonate with an individualist theme.

A is back at the River Project, studying for the Geography Bee for next year, among other things. I'll post our curriculum soon.

After current Big Project is done, I intend to make our classroom a reality for other students. You know I thrive on this stuff, right?

5.07.2005

So...here it is. My Press Release.

I have been moving mountains for the past two months. Boy, do my arms hurt...

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

CELEBRITIES and Others URGE NYC TO DECLARE CBGB AN OFFICIAL LANDMARK

New York City, May 5, 2005 – What do Jonathan Demme, Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, Deborah Harry of Blondie, Juliette Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Tommy Ramone, Charlotte Lesher (mother of the late Joey Ramone), Arturo Vega (artistic director for the Ramones), Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads, Richard Lloyd of Television, Little Steven, Legs McNeill, Richard Hell, Fab 5 Freddy, Seymour Stein of Sire Records, Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys, Bob Gruen, the Bullys, Richard H.D. Manitoba, Dennis McNamara, Daniel Wolff, John Holstrom of Punk Magazine, John Foxworthy of Garage Radio, cultural sociologist Dr. Donna Gaines, Rockefeller University Professor Dr. Sanford Simon, an entrepreneur and survivor of spina bifida, and a teacher in Honolulu all have in common? They are supporting efforts currently underway to help CBGB & OMFUG stay on the Bowery (the club currently faces a rent dispute and lease expiration on August 31, 2005), and are backing a campaign to preserve the club's legacy with an official New York City landmark designation for 313-315 Bowery.

CBGB’s is already featured as a New York icon and destination location in ads by NYC2012, Continental Airlines, and real estate developments such as Avalon Chrystie Place; club t-shirts have been worn by television stars on shows such as “ER” and “Gilmore Girls.”

“CBGB is a treasure of New York culture,” says Tommy Ramone, “It was the original magnet that drew people from every corner of America to come to New York and participate in its rebirth.” In a statement to Project Save CBGB, Seymour Stein of Sire Records says, “At all costs, CBGB’s must be preserved. It is more than a landmark. CBGB is an international treasure!”

CBGB’s, launching bands since 1973, receives on average about 1,500 visitors a week who do not necessarily attend its shows but who just want to step inside and take a look. “With daily visitors from Japan, Argentina, Norway, to New Zealand among other countries, CBGB functions as an historic destination in New York as much as does the Dakota Building,” says Athena of Project Save CBGB.

Widely acknowledged by music critics as the birthplace of the Punk and Underground Rock movement, CBGB’s is also credited with launching the careers of some of the most important artists in musical history --- including The Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith Group, Television, and Blondie. More recently, CBGB’s has become a shrine to punk’s departed music heroes---the club resides adjacent to the street corner designated by the City of New York as Joey Ramone Place.

“Project Save CBGB” organized with the intention to keep CBGB's on the Bowery, and to preserve it for future generations. We invite you to join us in requesting landmark designation for 313-315 Bowery, under the guidelines established by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. ### "