"Fame! I'm Gonna Live Forever..."

It has been an interesting week in the news.

There have been 3 celebrity deaths this week. Ed McMahon died at the age of 86 on Tuesday, and today Farrah Fawcett died after a long battle with cancer. As usual, not to be upstaged, Michael Jackson, that sometimes wacky King of Pop, was found in his home unconscious apparently from cardiac arrest and later "died at the hospital". He really died at home and was kept 'alive' in an ambulance and at the hospital until officially pronounced dead. (I kind of feel bad about my Michael Jackson post a while back).


As for world news, the Iranian Elections have taken place with much discord due to alleged ballot rigging (not really surprised about that in that interesting theocratic country). A big story has been the "accidental murder" of Neda Soltan, a young Iranian woman who was killed as she was supposedly thought to be another person who is a member of a terrorist group. I am not too clear on the details, but it all is pretty fascinating. Her death was captured and placed on YouTube, which I will not be posting.

In local Korean news, North Korea is being that pain in the butt again. I think the news in the US is actually a lot more hyped up than here in Korea, as they have live with threats from the North on a daily basis for the last 50 years. The DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea aka North Korea - don't be fooled by the whole "Democratic" part of the name) has been threatening to nuke the US if provoked and considers anything the US does an act of war. This is mainly a bolstering move to push Kim Jung Il's son into power. I don't worry about it that much. I figured, if they are going to nuke SK, they are basically nuking themselves -- literally. The DPRK capitol of Pyongyang isn't far from Seoul. Maybe they will just hope the wind blows the right way?

On the home front has been interesting as well - mainly in the dramatic world of infidelity. Jon & Kate of Jon & Kate Plus Eight, have filed for divorce. Wow. Shocker. But still are planning on documenting it on their "reality show" starring their 8 kids. I have so many issues with this. (1) It is not reality TV. Like most "reality shows" everything is planned or re-shot to make it look or sound better, cuter, or more dramatic. (2) The 'big announcement' just happened to coincide with a hype up to their season premiere? I don't think so, this is something that has been going on for quite some time now. (3) The show is completely fake, and every thing the family does is basically an effort by the parents to get stuff for their kids or themselves so they show will pay for it (family trips, hair transplant, tummy tuck, etc). All of this done through clever product placement or mentioning the doctor's practice and other free advertising. (4) Enough is enough. Stop the show and focus on the kids - not your wealth, book signings, TV appearances and your personal popularity. (Especially Kate - I can't stand her and her doofus hair-do!) I could care less about their marriage, but don't put the kids through a televised divorce and all the drama that it is sure to entail. Those poor kids are going to have some big issues when they're grown.



Also, in keeping with the infidelity topic, there have been a lot of politicians in the news coming out about recent affairs - mostly Republicans, who are all righteous, family oriented people, right? Gov. Mark Sanford of S.C. came out about his affair with a woman in Argentina. Also, Sen. John Ensign of N.V. reportedly cheated on his wife. This was the man that called on Bill Clinton to resign for his infidelity, but as of today isn't resigning his seat.



As for me, things are going well. I've had some fun classes and some...., well let's call them "interesting" ones. My 2nd graders (8th) seem to be smarter and more awake than my 3rd (9th) graders. The 2nd graders love playing games and are really interested in my lessons. My lesson this week has been About Me and they have learned where I am from and the things I enjoy. They all have been taught what Marching Band is, and I even showed them a 2002 DCI Championships clip of the Cavaliers show Frameworks (only one of the best shows ever).
They thought it was really cool! You're welcome DCI for the free international publicity!



I've had some funny quotes I felt like I have to share from 2 of my classes though:

Nick: (showing a picture of a tractor on a farm) "Does anyone know what this is called?"
Student: "A Transformer!?"

also...

Nick: (explaining to the class the Indian Casino's near my house) "Near my house are Indian Casinos. They are big casinos that are owned by Indian tribes"
Co-Teacher: "The Indians own the casino?"
Nick: "Yes"
Co-Teacher: "Why do they own them?"
Nick: "It's a long story, but basically, they lived on a reservation and the state told them it was ok to build the casinos"
Co-Teacher: "Really? I thought the Jews owned everything."

Wow.