New Britain Public School Events for Students that I've attended (or to which I've driven a daughter or two) in the past eight weeks

Visit with a working poet to Room 28 at Holmes Elementary School

International Food/Culture Night (Holmes)

4th- and 5th-grade district-wide Spelling Bee (Smith Elementary School)

6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade district-wide Spelling Bee (Slade Middle School)

Holmes Elementary School Singers/Instrumentalists Concert

Hall of Arts, Literature, and Science (HALS) Academy Concert

Superintendent's Book Club Dinner for elementary school students (NB Board of Ed offices)

Superintendent and Board of Education Recognition Night (NB Board of Ed offices)

Holmes Elementary School Science Fair

Room 28's Poetry Night (Holmes)

Presentation of Top 10 8th-grade Orations (HALS)

Annual Awards Ceremony (Holmes)*

Commencement (HALS)*



*Forthcoming next week

Darlene Zoller's "My Show"

This is the latest show by my tap dance instructor, Darlene Zoller, and her troupe, stop/time dance theatre.

She's a wonderful dancer and choreographer -- and a martyr of a dance instructor (with yours truly's poor physical skills and even poorer sense of rhythm as her primary torments).

I'll be giving away a pair of tickets on my radio show next Tuesday, 23 June, between 8 and 9 AM. Listen to WFCS 107.7 fm or on-line at www.live365.com/stations/wfcs to win! (Of course, buying a ticket or two or three is always an option, too.)

Of music, birthdays, and sadnesses

At his birthday party in May, the now-six-year-old's guests all received cds with a playlist of his favorite songs from the year. Here's his dad's blog about it. (We still have a few cassettes sitting around with playlists of a different kind: for car trips and hospital visits when my older daughter was undergoing regular treatments in NYC during her first three years of life. Music: it's a good thing for so many reasons.)

As usual, this birthday cd is an odd mix for such a young man, but rarely does he go wrong!

I'm currently fascinated by "Tire Swing" by Kimya Dawson (yeah, yeah, I know, who?), the chorus of which is an excellent round that should be taught to elementary school students country wide.

The chorus reads:

Joey never a met a bike that he didn't want to ride
and I never met a Toby that I didn't like
Scotty liked all the books I recommended
even if he didn't I wouldn't be offended.

What fascinates me is the way the round on the studio version plays out --with the final line sounding more and more like "even if he didn't die..."

Now, this could be simply poor enunciation by Ms. Dawson (and how many current singers do not enunciate poorly?), but I'd prefer to think it's more intentional (and touching) than that.

Of Big Boys and Colonels...

In 1985 when I left teaching at The Covington Latin School to pursue my Ph.D. at The Catholic University of America, the big news was that Big Boy restaurants were getting rid of Big Boy as its mascot. I joked in my farewell in the school newspaper that the rumor that I was leaving CLS to replace BB were, despite the resemblance and indeed suitability of my talents to his position, the story was in fact just a rumor. (If BB did get canned in the mid-80s, it’s nevertheless clear now that it wasn’t permanent.)

I recall this piece of ancient history because this past weekend I’ve learned that Kentucky Fried Chicken is looking to replace Colonel Sanders, as it pushes the new Kentucky Grilled Chicken.

First, I just tried the new grilled chicken, and, while it was very good grilled chicken, I don’t see a need to go the KFC (or is it KGC now?) for good grilled chicken. There are, after all, many places – including home – that one can get good grilled chicken. There is however only one place to get “finger-lickin’-good” fried chicken made with all those “secret herbs and spices”: KFC!

Second, they can’t get rid of the Colonel. A smart company doesn’t forsake Betty Crocker or the Maytag Repairman or even Aunt Jemima or the Marlboro Man. You might update them a bit (or they might die of lung disease), but you don’t get rid of them intentionally.

And, thank you, but, no, I’m not interested in the KGC opening right now; call me again when this chairman gig winds down...

The General David Humphreys House and Connecticut Open House Day

On Saturday, June 13th, it was Connecticut Open House Day which had dozens of arts and cultural institutions all around the state opening their doors (with either free or reduced admission) to encourage residents and non-residents alike to take advantage of all the opportunities that Connecticut offers.

My daughters performed at an open house held by the organization formerly known as The Newington's Children's Theatre, but, while there, I looked at the state-wide schedule and, at the top of the town participant list, was Ansonia and its General David Humphreys House. I headed off shortly thereafter!

Now, any reader of the "Connecticut Wit" blog should at least recognize the name of David Humphreys, who -- along with Joel Barlow, Timothy Dwight, John Trumbull, Lemuel Hopkins, and Elihu Hubbard Smith, et alia -- comprise that band of early American writers known as the "Hartford, Wicked, or Connecticut Wits." The Wits were the first to attempt to write a distinctly American writers. They came to prominence when they authored "The Anarchiad," a series of satires in in the late 1780s that argued for the need for a new constitutional convention. They met at Yale, and Humphreys would go on to become George Washington's aide-de-camp and one of the first industrialists in Connecticut when he would import Merino sheep from Spain and build Humphreysville (now Shelton, CT)...

I was excited to go to the house (and glad I went) but, I must admit, disappointed in the complete absence of any exhibit acknowledging his literary contributions to American history. Even the pamphlet about his life by Leo T. Malloy that the Derby Historical Society (DHS) sells pretty much ignores his authorial dimension. While it quotes briefly from one of his poems and mentions his "outstanding friends" Trumbull, Dwight, and Barlow, it never refers to them as "The Wits" or any of their several their collaborations.

While I commend the DHS for both maintaining the house and their undeniable dedication to keeping Humphreys' name alive, I just wish they'd give him his full due.

I recognize that it's easier (and, to judge by the many young and old who were there, more popular) to display things military (or things more generally colonial/early national), but even a little love for Dave the poet would be nice.

A little cinematic "Over/Under"

One-and-a-half (and that's my bein' optimistic)

The number of jokes in the new movie Year One (opening this coming weekend) that reflects any actual historical, social, and/or cultural knowledge of the period (like the very smart -- and funny -- "Romans, Go Home!" bit in Monty Python's Life of Brian).

I just learned that on my elder daughter's required summer reading list...

...for all first-year students at her potential high school (I'll explain "potential" in another post sometime) is Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Oy.

My suggestion for one of the five would be Mitch Albom -- because that at least would mean he won't be writing any more books.

On the other hand, I'm thinking of changing my radio show's name to Tuesdays with Gillie.

After all, if you can't beat 'em...