Jazz or non-jazz photos

[A Lark Ascending]

Good to hear that Hastings is still covered in some schools at least - although I suspect that a lot of schools skip over it now. I remember doing a whole term dominated by Anglo Saxon and Viking history with lots of coverage of York (Erik Bloodaxe etc.) - but that was in the an area that was once part of the 'Danelaw'. I suspect that these days it is hardly covered.

I've been teaching a GCSE course for the past 5 years where one of the 4 units is called Raiders and Invaders (400-1100 AD roughly). So those kids have done the 'Dark Ages' quite intensively.

Sadly the course didn't fit the new governments criteria so it's being scrapped.

Fully expecting to be teaching Castlereagh, Canning and Palmerston within 3 years! Interesting when you're grown up but can't hold a candle to Vikings when you're 15!

I think you'll find Hastings gets done quite widely in Year 7. It's a good topic to study causation - was William a military genius or was he just lucky (or Harold unlucky)?

Edited August 26, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[sidewinder]

Yes, it seems to be a period that always has been given better school coverage in Northern schhols than the South. I ended up doing the move South right in the middle of the old 'O' level syllabus. Down here the Southern Universities curriculum was focused on 'modern social history' (Turnip Townsend, Jethro Tull and similar agricultural crap). I ended up doing the Northern syllabus European Political/Economic 1870-1945 paper (Bismarck, WW1 etc.) on my own by special arrangement (class of one, ended up sitting through a latin class effectively teaching myself in this stuff with occasional tutorials and got an 'A' ).

Back to the photties..

Edited August 26, 2011 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

When I first started teaching 'clever kids' studied 19thC political or 20thC Modern World; the less able did 18th/19thC socio-economic history (your Turnip Townsends etc). God knows where that idea came from - I've always found spinning jennys and turnpike roads dull as ditchwater.

The most common GCSE syllabus today is the 20th Modern World. We do the other popular one called the School's History Project - currently History of Medicine, a local study (mining) and a depth study on Weimar and Nazi Germany. But we ran the newer course parallel for the last few years doing a local study (mining again), heritage marketing (how is history 'sold' with reference to Sherwood Forest) and international terrorism alongside the Saxons to Normans.

Major upheavals are ahead. I'm envisaging the history curriculum to revert to a grammar/public school of the 1950s approach - knowing the key facts and dates of Britain's rise to greatness (and a pox upon developing historical skills)! Fortunately we've been through such silliness before - history teachers tend to be left of centre as a bunch and know how to subvert!

To be fair, at least the current government recognises the position of history. It's vanished, along with modern languages, in many state schools - too hard compared with the newer vocational courses and therefore not helping in the league table scramble. A lot of schools are suddenly finding they need to get it back on the curriculum to fit the new performance indicators and they have no staff to teach it!

Edited August 26, 2011 by A Lark Ascending

[sidewinder]

To be fair, at least the current government recognises the position of history. It's vanished, along with modern languages, in many state schools - too hard compared with the newer vocational courses and therefore not helping in the league table scramble.

Sadly, too many 'real' subjects have been sidelined as kids go for the easy options - 'PT' (or whatever they call it now), sociology and 'General Science'.

The rot started to creep in around 1974 when in maths the old, rigourous Euclidian geometry was kicked out in favour of the likes of venn diangrams and topograghy ! (I put the last one down to too much listening to Yes albums at teacher training college )

Spinning Jennys... it's all coming back to me now. James Hargreaves, Abraham Darby, Turnip Townsend, The Luddites....

Edited August 26, 2011 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

Sadly, too many 'real' subjects have been sidelined as kids go for the easy options - 'PT' (or whatever they call it now), sociology and 'General Science'.

You don't know the half of it! There is a genuine scandal, if only the wider world was interested, in how kids in state schools have been moved to supposedly 'vocational' courses with little rigour. It's been possible to do an all coursework ICT qualification that delivers 5 GCSEs!

All the stories in the papers about schools that have overnight gone from 27% A-Cs to 78% A-Cs lie there. But when you run a system of data and targets then institutions do whatever it takes to hit those targets.

There is a place for these new courses - they can provide motivation for kids who can't cope for whatever reason with the intensity of more academic learning. But I suspect we've had half-a-decade of kids in the state sector who have coasted through courses that have not really challenged them. But the school tables look good!

[sidewinder]

Sorry to hear that - I suspected as much. As an Engineer I take an interest in the quality and type of training these kids are getting before they come into industry. Unfortunately a lot of them are going to end up leaving school with worthless pieces of paper, even with 'As' etc (A* being the new A and all that so the current 'A' is really a 'B' or less). One thing I find particularly depressing is the way that 'Media Studies' has been trumpetted as the thing to get a qualification in over the last decade. Totally useless - we will end up with a nation of Jonathon Wosses.

'B Ark crew' ready to board... telephone sanitisers, estate agents, investment bankers to the left.

Edited August 26, 2011 by sidewinder

[Chuck Nessa]

Rummaging around the net I discovered this 1965 shot of my home town. I can see my grandfather's building, the bowling alley, the place I bought my first record player, etc. I sent the pic to my kids and Eric said "hasn't changed much". Forgive the sentimental ramblings.

[BillF]

Rummaging around the net I discovered this 1965 shot of my home town. I can see my grandfather's building, the bowling alley, the place I bought my first record player, etc. I sent the pic to my kids and Eric said "hasn't changed much". Forgive the sentimental ramblings.

Lovely photo! Particularly nice colour. What town is it?

[A Lark Ascending]

Very evocative photo. You don't get many streets that wide in UK towns!

[alocispepraluger102]

angelo badalamenti

Edited August 30, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[cih]

I'm drawn to scenes that are kind of mundane, I usually use the photos to make paintings from but sometimes I just like the photos, when they already have the desired mood

Edited September 9, 2011 by cih

[A Lark Ascending]

Very nice.

Newcastle way?

[cih]

Thank you very much. The top one is Flamborough near Bridlington and the other two are Huddersfield

[alocispepraluger102]

I'm drawn to scenes that are kind of mundane, I usually use the photos to make paintings from but sometimes I just like the photos, when they already have the desired mood

the first of the 3 is riveted in my mind. thank you.

[Chuck Nessa]

Rummaging around the net I discovered this 1965 shot of my home town. I can see my grandfather's building, the bowling alley, the place I bought my first record player, etc. I sent the pic to my kids and Eric said "hasn't changed much". Forgive the sentimental ramblings.

Lovely photo! Particularly nice colour. What town is it?

That is a photo of Broad Street in Story City, Iowa.

[alocispepraluger102]

it's not easy being green---

Edited October 5, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[Noj]

Praying mantises are my favorite insect. Had one climb up my leg clear to my hat at an art show last Wednesday. Some people were like, "Get it off you! Get it off you!" but they're harmless. The only thing it did was tickle my neck as it made its way up. Anyway, cool bugs.

And beautiful photos, everybody.

[alocispepraluger102]

Praying mantises are my favorite insect. Had one climb up my leg clear to my hat at an art show last Wednesday. Some people were like, "Get it off you! Get it off you!" but they're harmless. The only thing it did was tickle my neck as it made its way up. Anyway, cool bugs.

And beautiful photos, everybody.

thx-- glad you enjoyed it as much as i. .......and then it was gone.

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=PluckPersona&U=59765e993e204111b3346127254f17b2&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=59765e993e204111b3346127254f17b2&plckPostId=Blog%3a59765e993e204111b3346127254f17b2Post%3aff42931b-cb06-43f7-8a59-7f302e6e6925&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest&odyssey=mod|blogs

here are a few extra shots-which i actually prefer.

Edited October 5, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[alocispepraluger102]

'everyone wants to be a blonde', and other natural beauty.

......a visit to an abandoned siding, where the sights and sounds are, er, natural and real.

2 songs

http://www.youtube.com/user/NatureSoundsCa?blend=7&ob=5

Edited October 15, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[alocispepraluger102]

[Aggie87]

Texas Tornados show, 8/11, Corpus Christi...

Augie Meyers, Shawn Sahm, and Flaco Jimenez:

Shawn guitar solo:

Augie rockin' the squeezebox..

[Aggie87]

A few photos from Goliad, Texas this past weekend:

One of the original cannons at the Presidio La Bahia (where the defenders of the Alamo unsuccessfully tried to call for reinforcements, and the site of the Goliad Massacre, and the birthplace of Mexican General Zaragoza, who defeated the French Army in the Battle of Puebla, allowing us to all drink margaritas on Cinco De Mayo):

Our Lady of Loreto Chapel at the Presidio; the first Texas Declaration of Independence was written inside this chapel:

The Goliad County Courthouse. There is a "Hanging Tree" right in front of the building, where court sessions were held from 1846-1870, and death sentences were immediately carried out. I love old small town courthouses like this one - I think it's haunted.

Some young folks two-stepping on Saturday night, inside the Schroeder Dance Hall, the second oldest in Texas. Schroeder's population is 347. Still a cool hall though - there's a George Jones flyer up on the post in the middle of the floor, and Merle Haggard is playing there in a couple of weeks, so they must be doing something right.

[A Lark Ascending]

Strange coincidence.

Last Sunday I went for a longish walk along the Thames near Abingdon - two hills were forever coming into view and I eventually climbed them. Called Whittenham Clumps.

Great views of the Dorchester-on-Thames area below:

I've been watching a TV programme on British painting and today stumbled on the fact that these were the focus of a number of Paul Nash's paintings (better known for his war paintings):

More here

At one point I spent ages waiting for clouds to pass to get a sun-filled shot of this hill beyond:

Turns out it's a Bronze Age barrow that also intrigued Nash:

Small world.

[alocispepraluger102]

\

[Aggie87]

Luckenbach, Texas - Population 3. 15 June.

Pedernales Falls State Park, 15 June.

Yours truly, exploring.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Aggie87