If you are so inclined -- I have downloaded meerkat to broadcast live feeds of our puppy Cheers. If you have a twitter account you might want to subscribe to www.twitter.com/@dwmegill to see all the very cool things an intensely ADD puppy does as he discovers the world around him. You will get notifications when the feed is live so tune in if you want. Dave

How do we deal with the unknown? I went to the Universalist church my daughter attends and was again impressed by how a church skirts the trappings of specific religions while trying to find one of their own. It was pretty subtle. Christian hymns surrounded by winter solstice language, etc. No real answers but assurances in spiritual goodness. I know I don't want the security of a cult but why even the lose wrappings of spirituality? Do we need this loose connection to spiritual truth to fend off the vicissitudes of life's ambiguity? Oh, well, these two women pastors are pretty hip and offer an intellectual substrate that makes for a worthwhile experience.

In the moment of sleep

In the moment of sleep our mind, seeking efficiency, pushes memories tectonically against one another seeking meaningful overlap. Sequence gives way to a surface of clustered thoughts but deeper a bedrock of personal connectedness.

White guy being profiled

Ok, like Obama here is my story. I was riding in my van (read as drug mobile from a cop perspective) in Tiburon, one of the whitest cities in Marin county. I was with my wife to go see a movie. Driving into town with my long hair I was pulled over by a Tiburon cop who said I was driving too close. We saw no cars ahead of us or behind us since we left the freeway on our way into Tiburon central. I remembered the badge number of the cop and wrote a letter of complaint to the local paper stating that I was in good standing with white Marin because my other car was a Volvo. No response! After parking in a lot that I now hoped was legal for the movie I saw the same cop ignore a BMW parked illegally in front of the theater (because he was special and probably a short haired white). Needless to say, my white anger was extremely elevated. Just imagine if I were black! And then, I was an expert witness for the Fogerty Warner Bros copyright trial in San Francisco and while staying in the Hilton on a $1000.00 a day fee (I was the cheapest expert witness at the trial) I decided to look around before going to court. My long hair and leather coat must have been the problem. I decided to look at the cool leather wear in the hotel shop. I was followed around the store by a clerk who ultimately told me that the store was not open to the public--it was a private showing as I was ushered out of the store. In both cases I was incredibly angry. But I am white! I so understand the sadness and defeat felt by the African American community. If this can happen to me with all my white privilege what chance does someone who is "other" have?

I can't believe that there has not been a new post to this blog this year! So.... I don't have a lot to say but I am still passionate about the state of affairs in all things political. I don't watch as much political news (more discerning not less interested). I just cannot believe that there are so many politicos so willing to show their intellectual short comings to a national audience. I also am having a lot of trouble sympathizing with red states who are being blasted with natural disasters. How can two tornadoes large than any in history within two weeks not be a symptom of climate change? Really?

SCOREBOARD BABY! I am so glad that lying did not become the new campaign strategy.

Focal Length

I am a fan of the Chris Hayes "Up" show on MSNBC. I've realized that what I like is that I have actually seen panelists change their minds on the show and one of the reasons, I think, is that the show constantly changes focal length on issues. The panelists offer input that does not allow the participants to set one focal length (immediate myopic issues vs. more gestalt perspectives) that tends to generate naive notions. I've even altered my own stance on issues. I guess I'm a wuss.

Poll on Polls

Discovering Home

Home is the sensation of relief.

I have had a truly incredible summer of travel and escapades.  Starting with a road trip with the Razor Babes to San Francisco, then a solo return trip to the bay area for a visit and a wedding, then off to Chicago for the Jump Rhythm Jazz Project week long work shop, followed shortly by a fantastic honeymoon in the Northern Pacific (Oregon and Washington specifically) and finally a flight across "the pond" to Germany and Switzerland for more touring and yet another wedding.

It was great.
...
I am spent!

But, this is a good thing, a great thing, because now I want to be NOWHERE else be right here in the Kubocha Cottage (our affectionate name of our little house-- details later). 

Traveling is an excellent opportunity to discover the preciousness of your daily, average life. Travel is exciting and of course I appreciate all of the different views I have seen this summer: over cities, oceans, the alps!  But, travel for me often feels like I have been frozen in time.  It serves for me as an incubation period during which I am suspended from completing my everyday tasks and thus making "progress".  Travel forces me to step back and just observe.  And, as many of you know, observing the self is often uncomfortable.  It is energetically taxing and at times frustrating, irritating, and depressing to take the time to shed light on the dark and forgotten corners of the soul, sweep them out and suffer the dust cloud that follows. But, there is no better place to do exactly that than on an 11 hour flight home from Frankfurt.  

All of the waiting time, in lines, for take off, for check in, for check out, at train stations, in a car...  All of that time is incubating time.  It feels like I truly hibernated this summer, not because I closed myself in doors, but because I divorced myself from my sense of identity in the things I do at home, namely, teaching dance, choreographing, going to yoga, going to the gym, eating at certain restaurants, taking walks...  the details are not what's important. The challenge is that we become what we do, and we start to deeply identify ourselves by our habits and our practices.  Of course in the Buddhist sense we are none of this.  We are indefinite and these aspects of life are just details.

But, through our life we can gain insight and peace if we choose. Travel is just thing thing to shake up the routine, to help you question who you are and discover you are not your daily run around schedule.  I have been reminded that I choose the routines in my life and they can be deeply satisfying and rewarding.  But, being home is not about being on autopilot.  Being home is the place where the real work needs to happen. 

I am glad to be home. 

Arm the Occupy Movement

I remember in the 60s how frightened folks were when they saw armed blacks walking the streets to police the police. I think it would be provocative to have all the occupy folk buy guns and wear them visibly when they next occupy Wall Street. Guns scare me. I would like to scare those who think guns are the solution to violence but don't think I could follow my own advice here. Guns in public spaces are just plain scary. It would seem that such scare tactics from the occupy movement might start the conversation the NRA doesn't want us to have.

Soldier Dogs

I just read Soldier Dogs and wish our American educators would approach student learning the same way. They clearly admit that dogs are diverse. They don't even try to train dogs not disposed to their needs. How would that map into student diversity in our schools? Also even dogs apparently predisposed to training do not always succeed. So... we need students ready to learn with natural instincts appropriate to the skills to be learned. Obviously the trainers of these dogs are more willing to admit the dog diversity than we are in the world of education. Can we admit that there might be students that will not be able to learn the things we want? The outcomes are obviously quite different. Students who don't cut the mustard will probably be a bane to anyone who mistakenly hires them. Dogs that are untrainable, if allowed to progress into the battle field, kill people.

OK, where did you hear this?

I hear so many blatant statements that are far from truth when researched, I'm not talking heavy research -- I mean a couple of web searches.

The problem is knowing what is true and reliable on the web. Believe it or not, there are standards to judge a site as reliable and worth having trust. Following is a link "Standard Practices for Evaluating Websites"

http://www.coastonline.org/mml/lecture/lecture.php?lecID=EvalWeb

Yes, there are tools to believe the information you have been given.

There is so much mis-information that people want to believe and it floats through all the social media with little resistance.

We need to ask "Where did you get this? Who told you this? etc."

The biggest problem is that the information (true or not) is exaggerated to make it more persuasive. Say it louder and the masses will believe it.

And with this questionable information dogma is once again re-enforced.

Sad. Who are the truth sayers? The relationship of the poor and Jesus have been forgotten in the current discussion.

Don Megill

Unionize the Robots

You may remember a previous post that suggests we export unions as well as jobs to help the working conditions in other countries to which we send our jobs. But I now think that is not enough. We now need to unionize the robots that replace workers in our own manufacturing plants. How can we be sure the line between intelligent life forms does not include robots? Just think of trying to cross a union picket line of robots.

American Taliban

This most recent move by Komen to defund Planned Parenthood is disturbing. How is it different from the Taliban who show no respect for women. To me this is just a symbolic burka for American women. Those old white men in congress who think they know best are no better than those Afghan butchers killing women in a stadium for entertainment. I'm getting rid of all my pink tennis balls!

Confused

I found myself in a Unitarian Universalist service this morning as a result of my new granddaughter's dedication. The minister's offering was on the value of a religious left. It was actually wonderful to hear someone in public pronounce unapologetically liberal ideas. It became obvious over time that these Unitarians must be ever vigilant to not allow any creed to slip into their covenant. It is the only way to keep a diverse universalist body glued together without creating exclusionary rules to define the borders between them and the rest of the world. It seems to be something that requires constant vigilance.

Vaguely related to this is the religious right that seems to abound in exclusionary rules for membership. On thing I can't resolve is the need for those waiting for the rapture to have the Jews return to Israel as a condition for the rapture. What motivated that? Is it because the Jews are the chosen people only to not be chosen at the rapture itself? Did the biblical writer not see how the later Christians would place the Jews outside their rapture even though they share a major part of their holy scriptures? Why would god require the Jews to be back home only to reject them during the rapture? Very confusing?

Dave

Some Solutions

I wrote earlier that I think the best way to stop outsourcing is to unionize the Chinese.

So now we need a pushback on the voter restriction efforts of the retropublicans. My solution there is equally simple.

Start by making the reception of any government subsidy due in November only available after they vote in November at the voting booth.

In its full implementation, any receipt of any government assistance requires voting. Implementation left to those who screw up most everything else.

So all the wrong people (from the repubs viewpoint) would be voting. The result might very well be my desire for a mild anarchy.

Dave

Get in Front of the Inevitable

I have now rationed my TV time. The political cable shows just regurgitate the same fodder hour by hour, show by show. It is of no value. The reason to support a candidate is reduced to the smallest and ugliest of sound bites.

Who would vote for the "most conservative" candidate? I mean, really? Isn't the conservative mission to preserve what was and resist change? How can that be of any value in a world of change? The conservatives are using the digital media and that was not here to which the world conservatives want to return.

I have long ago given up resistance as a plan of attack. I believe that one must get "in front of the inevitable". If something is going to take place, why fight it? Shouldn't we just try to shape it?

I saw that online education was inevitable in 1994. I jumped on board and started developing online courses for my own teaching and to offer quality courses to others. It was a success.

As much as the powerful interests in government and the corporate world want to ignore the inevitable move to alternative energy, it cannot be stopped. Eventually, we will be "forced" to face the issue.

Also, inevitable is the need to educate those who have no resources. I would love to spend more money on the uneducated and less on the privileged. Why should be offer educational monies to those who have the financial ability to go to private school?

The government should fund only what it needs. If we need engineers and scientists then we should fund "public" institutions to provide the best of the best. Let the rich go to the private schools with no funding from the government.

As a musician I am willing to say that the government should not fund musicians, historians, psychologists, visual artists, etc. They will find their education in the private sector. Let the government fund what we need. (My fellow artists will be sending me hate mail.) If the private sector runs out of artists, they will start a training program focused on their needs just like the government should do now.

So let's "get in front of the inevitable". Let's stop messing around. In 1958 the government was behind when Sputnik was launched by the Soviets. The educational changes limited the arts to the degree we had the 60's. This was one of those pendulum swings in the extreme. We need an education think tank to help make the moves less radical.

Do you want to be part of this think tank?

Don Megill

Response of a political junkie

Grrrrrrr...... I find I am now paying too much attention to all of this. Whenever a life or death event passes it so often proves to be of little consequence in the long run. When I was young and busy like most of Americans and only casually aware of the traumas going on in politics I might have been in a healthier relationship to all of this. But for some reason now it seems that it is imperative that more folk know what is going on as they constantly lose economic leverage with a gamed political (driven by economic forces) system. I think I am finally understanding what it took to bring out the guillotines. Suddenly a mass awakening of what has been going on. You can boil a live frog if you raise the temperature slowing enough. But.. there just might be one that sees what is going on and decides to do something about it. OCCUPY SOMETHING SOMEWHERE!

Dave

Ethics and Music Education

I am taking a course right now through Boston University for my Masters in Music Education. The course I'm taking is Foundations of Music Education: History and Philosophy. For some reason, I preferred the Foundations of Music Education: Psychology and Sociology course I previously took. Oh well, that's besides the point.

For my course, this week we're addressing ethics in music education. Quite an interesting topic, I do have to say. I'm about half way through the reading for the week.

Friday evening I have to take part in a live online debate with other classmates. As part of this debate, I have to argue AGAINST the following statement:

"Music educators have a professional and ethic obligation to teach for social justice, including teaching for equal treatment based on class, race, gender, and sexuality. Teaching music is not enough."

This is going to be a difficult assignment as I personally AGREE with this statement.

As this group is comprised of other arts educators, what are your thoughts?

Kristin

Confounded spelling

I have an admission. 

I am forgetting how to spell. Seriously. I think it is a real problem.  I write (pen to paper) so seldom that I have lost my ability to correct my own spelling.   I am dependent on spell check and that wonderfully informative dotted red line that appears to alert me of my spelling foibles.

Interesting also that i know how to spell foible but just yesterday had the darndest time spelling "editing".  Here are my retrospective attempts.  edditing, editting, edditting.  Yes, I went through them all before I finally typed editing and that damn red line finally disappeared.  There is another one disappeared. I am so irritated by double consonants. I expect them to be everywhere they aren't and forget them everywhere they should be. 

But that is with the help of a computer.  When I hand write I am absolutely hopeless. This is particularly embarrassing when writing on the board in my classes.  I realized that being a visual learner (spatial more than verbal), I have come to rely on the typed appearance of a word to know if its spelling is correct.  For instance when I type embarased I realize that the 'shape' of the word is wrong, too short. And therefore, I recall that it should be embarrassed.  It looks right from a design perspective.  But, I have so long ago given up hand writing on a daily (large scale) level that I can't remember how the design of my hand written words look. 

Also, the rhythm of a word.  Hand writing slows me down to the point that I can't imagine there being THAT many letters in a given word. it just takes TOO LONG to get it down on the paper.  Commencement, for instance, when written long hand fills up half a line! I have trained my brain out of spelling.  Instead I use the physical, spatial and rhythmic memory of typing, which I can't seem to recreate with a pen in my hand. 

I don't want to think I need to practice my spelling just to write a hand written note off the cuff.  But it seems, I do. Or, I could just give up on hand writing all together because using my smart phone to look up words mid-sentence just sucks. And, I won't do it.


Sigh. 

PS If address is spelled with two d's, then I think "addmission" should as well.   Just sayin'.