Here's what they have to say about that in Finland, the top-ranking country in the world on the latest math/science testing. The best part: they don't standardize-test the heck out of everyone, every year.
Also, a link to the talented Geoffrey Allen Stairs' photos. If you haven't heard, he's running for town council in Woodstock. Vote for him, support heritage, arts and a fresh outlook on the town council.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
New link
Check out the link on the right to Michael J. McEwing's website. Beautiful photos, prints, painting, more. Another NB'er doing great work...yessir.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Poverty: a state of mind?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's acceptable that anyone has to struggle to feed and clothe him or herself. But oftentimes I hear people complain about being bored, or a lack of good media, or how nobody is engaged anymore.
And then I wonder- how much external 'stuff' is really necessary for us to enjoy ourselves? Call me old school, but I think our imaginations, and 'the social fabric' have suffered as a result of too much technology. It's so easy to be distracted in this "i-universe."
In ages past, people had to entertain themselves. Director Michel Gondry elaborates on why we should still be doing this, saying:
I find it particularly shocking that people work all week long, and then on the weekend they give their money to another big corporation. I remember reading an interview with Walt Disney, and he said how he got the idea to create Disney World. He saw his grandson playing in the sand in a little park, and he assumed he was bored. And he said he could provide him a better alternative. But what you get is, you go in this park and you spend time to queue, you have a little bit of entertainment, and then basically they try to get your money. And I truly believe his grandson was having a great time when he was playing with the sand.
Read the whole interview here...
And then I wonder- how much external 'stuff' is really necessary for us to enjoy ourselves? Call me old school, but I think our imaginations, and 'the social fabric' have suffered as a result of too much technology. It's so easy to be distracted in this "i-universe."
In ages past, people had to entertain themselves. Director Michel Gondry elaborates on why we should still be doing this, saying:
I find it particularly shocking that people work all week long, and then on the weekend they give their money to another big corporation. I remember reading an interview with Walt Disney, and he said how he got the idea to create Disney World. He saw his grandson playing in the sand in a little park, and he assumed he was bored. And he said he could provide him a better alternative. But what you get is, you go in this park and you spend time to queue, you have a little bit of entertainment, and then basically they try to get your money. And I truly believe his grandson was having a great time when he was playing with the sand.
Read the whole interview here...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Arts or Cops?
No, really, the city of Saint John thinks they can't co-exist in the same building. Boo on them, if they think artists belong anywhere other than downtown.
Case closed.
Case closed.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Keeping the Home Fires Burning
The walls have a funny way of closing in this time of year. By that, I mean that I always get the urge to be outside, make plans, feel the sun on my t-shirted arms. Wearing three layers all the time wears me down after a while.
I attempt to ward of the psych ward with plans and more plans, keeping myself busy. Right now I am preoccupied with how to plan a summer concert series, and eventually a festival in 2009 that will turn people's heads around.
I don't know if it will work, or if it will be the last nail in my Carleton County coffin (metaphorically, of course). The arts are seriously undervalued here, and to me that goes hand in hand with our collective identity crisis as New Brunswickers. We can't say for certain who we are because we don't appreciate the uniqueness and value of our history, or our current lives.
Some friends and I remarked that any other province would be fiercely proud to be officially bilingual. Very European, one might say. New Brunswickers of my generation have accepted the fact that half the province communicates in a different language, and lives a different culture. But our population is so 'scattered and small,' to quote one songwriter nominated for an ECMA, that isolation often seems inescapable.
Still, I wish people would stop being so apologetic about being rural, not swimming in a sea of vinyl and concrete. We should celebrate our close families and communities, our compassion for others and the beauty of of the landscape. And I wish our politicians would raise the bar a bit more, get creative with real solutions, and start being proud of the things we have to offer.
The arts have a vital role in calling attention to the fact that we are have a lot of blessings here. Can you identify a song, story, movie or poem that speaks to us as a people? What are the cultural experiences that unite us?
Sometimes I think NB is ready for its own 'quiet revolution' - the realization that lives here are just as valid as someone in "Upper Canada" or 'out west.' And if history is any indication, cultural revelations like that usually start with works of art that voice feelings people didn't realize they had.
Sorry to ramble but this is the kind of stuff that preoccupies me. There I go, being all apologetic again...
I attempt to ward of the psych ward with plans and more plans, keeping myself busy. Right now I am preoccupied with how to plan a summer concert series, and eventually a festival in 2009 that will turn people's heads around.
I don't know if it will work, or if it will be the last nail in my Carleton County coffin (metaphorically, of course). The arts are seriously undervalued here, and to me that goes hand in hand with our collective identity crisis as New Brunswickers. We can't say for certain who we are because we don't appreciate the uniqueness and value of our history, or our current lives.
Some friends and I remarked that any other province would be fiercely proud to be officially bilingual. Very European, one might say. New Brunswickers of my generation have accepted the fact that half the province communicates in a different language, and lives a different culture. But our population is so 'scattered and small,' to quote one songwriter nominated for an ECMA, that isolation often seems inescapable.
Still, I wish people would stop being so apologetic about being rural, not swimming in a sea of vinyl and concrete. We should celebrate our close families and communities, our compassion for others and the beauty of of the landscape. And I wish our politicians would raise the bar a bit more, get creative with real solutions, and start being proud of the things we have to offer.
The arts have a vital role in calling attention to the fact that we are have a lot of blessings here. Can you identify a song, story, movie or poem that speaks to us as a people? What are the cultural experiences that unite us?
Sometimes I think NB is ready for its own 'quiet revolution' - the realization that lives here are just as valid as someone in "Upper Canada" or 'out west.' And if history is any indication, cultural revelations like that usually start with works of art that voice feelings people didn't realize they had.
Sorry to ramble but this is the kind of stuff that preoccupies me. There I go, being all apologetic again...
Sunday, February 03, 2008
The Pope vs. Galileo, version 2.0
by our love, indeed.
And in other news, Jean Arnold takes the big guns to task for greed, waste and abuse of that now-nauseating phrase: self-sufficiency.
And in other news, Jean Arnold takes the big guns to task for greed, waste and abuse of that now-nauseating phrase: self-sufficiency.
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