Teacher Workshops Begin

<== Some of the teachers attending

We have two teacher workshops going on this week.

One is being led by John Meany and it is a teacher/coach workshop for those who want to learn how or improve their ability to lead a competitive debate program. The program will cover organization, recruiting, training, judging, tournament preparation as well as covering the major debate formats that the teachers are interested in. The program is five-days long and goes from 9 AM until 5 PM.

The other program is being led by Bojana Skrt with help from Alfred Snider and it is called "Deliberation Across the Curriculum." This is similar to last year's workshop at WDI as ell as other similar workshops that have been held in Singapore, Slovenia, Montenegro and other locations. Attending are teachers who want to use debate in the classroom to teach their current subjects. The class utilizes MANY SIDES: DEBATE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM, a book written by Maxwell Schnurer and Snider, now in its second edition. The reason it has been changed from just "debate" to "deliberation" is that many of the techniques (round table discussion, mock trial, legislative assembly) are not really debates but are still quite beneficial.

The Nada, Nothing, Zip of Writer's Block

I'm certain this happens to the best of bloggers. You have an idea. You sit down to write. A few lines come out and then, nada, nothing, zip. You stare into the abyss. And wait. Maybe you get up, walk around, touch your toes (if you can still see them). Perhaps you're inspired to open the fridge, make a sandwich, and chow down. Still nada, nothing, zip. Tick tock, tick, tock. The theme song from Jeopardy! plays in the background. Finally, desperation sinks in.

Perhaps a little diversion would help...

Now, here's where things gets a little dicey. Only you yourself know what will happen if you distract yourself. If you're like me and think you can handle it, I guarantee you will spend the rest of the morning, or afternoon, or whenever it is you and your PC get cozy, doing anything and everything under the sun except completing your article.

Words of advice: Don't be like me!

Procrastination is very unhealthy. It often leads to massive amounts of unproductive time in front of the PC. This is especially frustrating when one could be doing something fun, like sleeping. Distraction can only cure writer's block if one gets back on track in about fifteen minutes or less. Otherwise, engaging in distracting activities can and often does lead to disastrous consequences.

Like, happening upon a site like this. I cannot believe the audacity of this webmaster and anyone else who multi-level markets this site. Don't sheeple realize if they can buy this, so can a billion others? And if a billion people are trying to peddle something seemingly similar, well then, I'd have to say, at very best, they're peddling poo. But seen in the worst possible light, they're peddling plagiarism. I'm not very good at marketing, but even I can affirmatively state, poo and plagiarism don't sell.

Aren't they teaching anything worthwhile in school these days?

Oh sure. Appeal to people's baser instincts when they're at their weakest. They can't think, they've tried for hours, they've even taken the dog for a walk and cleaned the guinea pig's cage. Still, nada, nothing, zip. Is there anything a frustrated writer can do to cure this malaise?

According to the blogoshpere, plenty. If you don't mind spy ware pop up ads, try The One Word. That ought to do the trick. Or, try this handy dandy educational tutorial. I especially like the suggestion about concentrating, as if that could help when entering the writer's block zone. Doesn't excessive concentration get most people into trouble in the first place? What about the ever reliable Write-O-Matic!? Be careful, though. I hear that one has a possible patent pending. Finally, and my personal favorite, About will lure you with a tantalizing promise of creative writing exercises, then send you to a page with nothing but advertising links. If I could convince newbs to visit pay-per-click sites, why should I care a lick about writer's block? Next.

Sometimes, I happen upon an enjoyable distraction, but that doesn't happen very often. Problem is, that kind of distraction just doesn't help. When I'm done clicking all the funky buttons and examining the minute detail of myriad images, I've still got nada, nothing, zip.

Argh! I'm beginning to go pirate, whatever that means.

Yeah. Wait a blocking minute. That's the ticket! I'll pirate, pillage, and plunge. But I won't let people know I'm doing it. I'll be a little tricky, let them think they're getting good online exposure and making helpful connections. Then, I'll develop a sister site for contests. I'll make unsuspecting bloggers think I just happened upon it and get them wrapped up in the hype. So cool.

Writer's block, shmiter's block. Who needs to write when there are so many easier ways to make money online?

My first DA* 16-50 shots

A few random photos taken this weekend. Shot with K10D in RAW at ISO 200. Images processed by Photo Lab. No adjustments made to images, except setting the white point on a few of the photos taken under the shade of our patio umbrella, and minor cropping of some shots. By no "adjustments" I mean no sharpening of the image, or change to contrast or saturation during or after my RAW conversion process. Also, for those that have commented that these images are too small, please note that if you click on the small photo you should be able to view a much larger 2.8 to 3MB jpeg file.

Baseball Hall of Fame Inducts Cal Ripken, Jr.

The year was 1997. Bill Clinton began his second term as this nation's 42nd president. The Simpsons became the longest running animated series on prime time TV. Drive by shooters killed popular rapper, Notorious B.I.G. And, it was the last time the Baltimore Orioles ended the regular season with a winning record.

Ten years? Fo’ real?

Apparently, yes. Gone are the glory days of the black and orange. As far as my childerns’ generation are concerned, dem O’s are a bunch o’losers.

What went wrong? I have no idea. Nor do I plan to speculate.

I grew up in the golden age of the Orioles and the Baltimore Colts. Brookes Robinson was so popular one of my elementary school classmates was named after him. In 1983, the Orioles had just won the World Series. I watched with pride as they staged a Mardi Gras-esque parade through the streets of Charm City with Cal Ripken, Jr. at the helm. My heart swelled with pride.

Today, dem O’s couldn’t claw their way out of a wet paper bag. Our beloved Colts play for another, ahem, unmentionable city (Ravens rule!). And O’Malley still hasn’t fixed utility costs that continue to spiral out of control. How is a battle weary Baltimoron supposed to deal?

Countdown to Cooperstown!

That’s right. This morning, the Iron Man, Cal Ripken, Jr., Baltimore’s own homespun hero, will be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cal is just the right mix of legend, consecutive games record holder, and genuine nice guy. In an honor bestowed upon select few, this exclusive club accepted his bid on a first round vote. Can anyone resist those baby blues?

Thousands of victory-starved devotees are currently swarming Cooperstown. These people are intent upon savoring the moment like a cool drink of water on a desert afternoon. Sadly, I will not be among them, but I can hear almost the thunderous applause.

Stand up and take a bow, Cal Ripken, Jr. I hear that people who think Charlestown Community resident, Al Blackburn, resembles you also believe in the Tooth Fairy. No matter what they say, or think, they cannot dispute your stature as the genuine article. A role model and hero.

Thank you for once again instilling pride in the hearts of beleaguered Baltimore fans. This day has been a long time coming.

War Effort to Recruit Women

Television Programs Now Available

All three of the 30-minute television discussions staged by the Pakistani students in the International Student Leaders program at WDI are now available online.

Right click to download, click to watch right away, best viewd through iTunes:

Stereotypes of Muslims and Americans
http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/2007/07/346-stereotypes-of-muslims-and.html

The Future of the UN
http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/2007/07/346-future-of-un.html

Justifications for Intervention
http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/2007/07/348-justifications-for-intervention.html

College Policy Debate Workshop Begins

College policy senior faculty from left to right: Jackie Massey of Oklahoma, Sarah Green of Kansas State, David Register of Vermont and Kevin Kuswa of Richmond.

One program departs and another one arrives as WDI's busy summer continues. Now we have a group of college debaters who are preparing to debate the national policy debate topic next academic year.

The topic is:
Resolved: that the United States Federal Government should increase its constructive engagement with the government of one or more of: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria, and it should include offering them a security guarantee(s) and/or a substantial increase in foreign assistance.

There are four senior faculty members in the program.
Kevin Kuswa is a professor at the University of Richmond and the director of debate. One of the most respected debate coaches in America, he was the top speaker in debate at high school nationals in his senior year and as a college debater he won the national championship by winning the National Debate Tournament for Georgetown University.
Sarah Green (recently changed from Snider) is a debate coach at Kansas State University. She has previously coached at Vermont and at Rochester. While at Rochester her teams won the NDT national sweepstakes title. For three years she was the director of the District of Columbia Urban Debate League. She reached the elimination rounds at CEDA Nationals and the NDT as a debater for Vermont.
David Register and reigning national champion coach Jackie Massey are here after teaching in the high school policy debate workshop.

K10D Newspaper Ad

We're going to run a K10D newspaper ad in the US starting next Friday, August 3 which will run through Labor Day week (September 9th). The ad will run in the following newspapers (markets): New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News, Orange County Register, Philadelphia Inquirer - Daily News, Portland Oregonian, Seattle Times - Post Intelligencer and New Jersey Star Ledger. The jpeg below is what we call a generic template. Ads in each market will list the specific dealers in that area carrying the K10D in the red band at the bottom. I thought some of you might like to see the ad before it breaks. We're also launching a series of new magazine ads that I will share with you shortly.

High School Policy Camp Comes to a Close

The High School Policy Debate Workshop has ended. The tournament was completed and the students left this morning. I have to say that they were a truly outstanding group. Not only was there research work excellent, but they also debated with zest and always tried to do their best. It was a very impressive group. For example, of the many hundreds of books checked out on the topic, ALL of them were returned by day two of the tournament.

The faculty also did an amazing job, always cheerful and willing to do more when they needed so, they certainly made my work directing the program easier.

Here are the results from the tournament.

TEAM RESULTS

1. TEAM 12 STORMEE MASSEY & ALIM MOHAMMED 3-1 225.5
2. TEAM 1 JANE CAVALIER & LEANNE CONWAY 3-1 219.5
3. TEAM 7 KAYLA ANDREWS & LASHONDA TAYLOR 3-1 219-110
4. TEAM 3 JOSE RIVERA & JOSE RIVERA 3-1 219-109
5. TEAM 4 MAKIERA BUCHANAN & RYAN MOORE 3-1 218.5
6. TEAM 6 GREGORIO LIVINGSTON & MARQUIS GUZMAN 3-1 213.5

SPEAKER RESULTS

1. STORMEE MASSEY 115-4
2. RYAN MOORE 111-6
3. JANE CAVALIER 110.5-6
4. JOSE RIVERA 110.5-8
5. BERTHONY DUVERGLAS 110.5-9
6. ALIM MOHAMMED 110.5-11
7. LASHONDA TAYLOR 110-8


The most important awards we give out are the "hats." Hats go to those students who have done the most to improve the intellectual environment of the workshop. Our winners were: Brittany Brown, Michelle Likhtshteyn, Stormee Massey and Tyler Schwind. Congratulations to these students for making the experience better for everyone else.


It was sad for people to be saying goodbye, but that is the nature of the WDI experience. It comes, it happens in a storm of activity that changes lives and then it is gone and those who have experienced it are back in their normal lives, but in some ways always changed.

Pakistani Students Discuss Stereotypes of Muslims and Americans

This is a group of Pakistani students who attended the International Student Leaders Program held in cooperation with the World Debate Institute this summer at the University of Vermont. Students designed, rehearsed and then filmed a round table discussion on this issue. For more information go to: https://sharepoint.uvm.edu/sites/ce/global/isi/Academic%20Program/Forms/AllItems.aspx .

Right click to download, click to watch right away, best viewed through iTunes:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/0346stereotypes.m4v

See the whole video library with the newest additions on top at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/?M=D

Goatse is a Hoax and Other Internet Disinformation

I had originally planned to do another article about a strange Internet phenomenon called Goatse. To cool Internet people, goatse is yesterday’s news. Me? Never heard of it. Luckily, a person can google just about anything. I quickly learned more than I’ll ever need or want to know about this most disgusting, revolting, sophomoric, cannot look away online experience, otherwise known as goatse.

For those with weak stomachs or traditionally strong moral values, please stop reading this article. In the end, you will be incredibly offended and/or sickened, and I will feel quite guilty for offending and/or sickening you. For everyone’s sake, surf away. Surf away and never look back.

Still here? Think you can take it? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Anyway, as I tried to say earlier, this article is no longer about a strange virtual reality phenomenon. Not that goatse, or its gerund form, goatsing, are anything but strange. No, no, no. Just the opposite. To be polite, I will call it the stretching of a private body part not meant to be stretched, leaving it so distorted and disgusting, and the front part of the body so revolting and distended…well…I’m not going to belabor this…

Click here if you have nerves of steel and want to be goatsed.

Apparently, the phenomenon became so huge the image disappeared from the original goatse site. I think someone complained. The poor thing is now up for sale. Isn’t that always the case? Just when the party gets rolling, cops show up and it’s time to go home. Luckily, someone else picked up the banner. Otherwise, those who thought they had nerves of steel would not be uncomfortably writhing in their seats.

Two days ago, as I began searching for blogging communities, I happened upon a story on Digg.com that had been dug by more than 2,000 people (now over 3,600). That’s a significant amount. Naturally, I wanted to know what the fuss was about. I checked out the story.

Some person from beginnorth.com claimed the candidates on the CNN YouTube Democratic Debate got goatsed for about 1/24 of a second. When people start talking about images projected for fractions of seconds, I can’t help but visualize SNL’s Mr. Subliminal. Kevin Nealon certainly had a way with split seconds.

According to beginnorth's article, the goatse image caused Hillary's face to sour. I didn’t have a chance to watch the debates, so I don't know whether Hill pussed or not. It sounded a little odd that something so split second actually produced a reaction, but I guess it's been known to happen. Beginnorth cleverly uploaded an image with goatse on CNN's screen, and asked other bloggers to confirm the goatse. Some did. One was a CBS affiliate in Minot, North Dakota.

What great fodder for my blog, I thought, but couldn’t find any more stories. I spent the next two days tooling around my site and joining communities. Goatse landed on the back burner for later development.

Lo and behold, when I finally returned, the goatse story was buried. Basically, people crushed it into the ground, stomping it like a cigarette, and grinding it into a pulp. Bloggers were angry. Why?

Well, goatse was a hoax. Kindy catchy. Goatse was a hoax that had no blokes. Its friend had a yen to create dead ends. Its deal made me squeal….oh….never mind.

Not only was the whole story a hoax, but its creator later transferred the story to their blog. What I mean is, the original Digg story was not on the person’s blog. I know this because I viewed it myself. The story appeared all by itself on a white page with no links. That alone was a little weird, but newbie me didn’t catch it. Two days later, the story was on the person’s blog on a black page. That blog contains this introduction:

“[Strange blog that no self-respecting blogger will ever read again] is a new blog that is part artistic experiment and part haven for the surreal side of our world. There will be articles, fake and real, but the glue that holds the blog together are the [pun on blog name] that make it up. A detail is simply a bizarre twist on reality. It can be a story or a picture. Fake or real. Funny or scary. Anything.”

Excuse me? Anything? Fake and real? How are people supposed to know the difference? Why don’t we all just close our eyes and dream the news? I hear lucid dreaming is the new black.

Graphics whore rode in on a white horse to defend bizarro blogger’s honor. Calling people sheeple, the person said everyone should have read the front page disclaimer before treating the story as a true news item.

"To me," posted grphxo, "the really provocative parts of this article are not within the article itself, but are the astoundingly clear examples of terrifying human behavior. The fact that many people (even though they watched the entire debate live and never saw the goatse image) believed it to be true. They took their own experience, their own FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE of the event and toss it out, substituting an internet claim for their own reality, swallowing the fake with ease. Some even claimed “I thought I saw something!” to cover the possibility that they might have missed it."

Problem is, the original story was not on bizarro’s blog. Whoops. Minor detail.

Like I said before, the Internet is turning our society into phishers and byters. One cannot necessarily believe what one reads on the Internet. Some disinformation is accidental, and some, as seen here, is unfortunately intentional. Bloggers have a duty to check out all the facts before posting an article. The new media must take its cues from old media. Fact checking is a basic tenet of journalism. Bloggers must have integrity. If the facts don’t check out, then say it’s alleged. Don’t just copy a bizarro blog item and publish it as your own.

For those who are disappointed this wasn’t an article about goatse on CNN, I have a surprise for you. Again, big disclaimer. This time run, do not walk to your nearest exit.

Do not look at this image if you were the least bit offended or sickened by goatse!

There. I wipe my hands of it.

Click to see Spewed Videos du Jour.

Pakistani Students Featured in Local Newspaper

From http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770726001

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Kanza Agha, 22 (from left), works with Sultan Baber Mirza, 20; Ayesha Imran, 21; John Meany, director of forensics at Claremont McKenna College in California; David Paul, 20; and Sidra Saeed, 22, as they prepare Tuesday at the University of Vermont for a roundtable discussions that will air on cable television.



Pakistanis visit to build bridges

Published: Thursday, July 26, 2007
By Tim Johnson
Free Press Staff Writer

The overseas visitors were talking about how they keep up with world events when they're in their home country, and several mentioned Fox News.

Was Fox News their main news source in Pakistan? They smiled.

"We watch it for fun," said Mustafa Haroon, as others nodded. Some said they like CNN. Samir Anwar said he preferred the BBC.

"British media are more unbiased than American media," he said.

They were talking over lunch in the dining hall of Harris-Millis, a dorm at the University of Vermont. For these 17 Pakistani university students, spending a month at UVM courtesy of the U.S. State Department, lunch these days consists of pasta, nachos, French fries, brownies -- not exactly the spicy fare they're used to. No meat for most of them, either. Not that they're vegetarians, but halal meat -- slaughtered according to Muslim law -- isn't available. They eat a lot of cheese pizza. Eating pizza is nothing new -- Pizza Huts can be found in Pakistan -- but eating it every day is.

The students are no strangers to American culture, but this is their first visit to the United States. Part of what they find striking has to do not with American culture, but with Vermont.

They're surprised to find so few supporters of President Bush. They knew Vermont was a "blue state," having followed CNN's election coverage, but this blue?

For a little variety, one of their UVM coordinators is planning to take them on a field trip to New Hampshire next week. Among the stops: Mitt Romney's campaign headquarters.

They're surprised that government officials are so accessible. They spent 40 minutes with the governor. They interviewed Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss.

Some of that accessibility is inherent to Vermont, or Burlington, where it's not unusual for pedestrians on Church Street to cross paths with the mayor or a U.S. senator. It's also true that doors have been opened for these visitors as guests of the U.S. government. Selected students from Pakistan and about 10 other countries, including China, Nigeria and Ecuador, are staying at universities around the country and will convene in Washington, D.C., for a few days at the end to compare notes and make presentations. Another Pakistani delegation is in Carbondale, Ill., at Southern Illinois University.

The State Department's stated rationale is to build bridges to other countries by exposing future leaders to American culture. The 36 Pakistani students spending a month in Vermont and Illinois are Fulbright scholars who were selected from about 1,200 applicants. Not surprisingly, the members of the UVM delegation come across as articulate, self-assured and with a kind of worldly sophistication.

"The idea is to increase mutual understanding between Pakistan and the U.S.," said Jennifer Phillips, program officer with the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, who visited Burlington last week to check on the program. "From a foreign policy perspective, we think it will improve relations and break down barriers and misconceptions. I really think they are having a life-changing experience."

Life-changing or not, some of their experience will be unforgettable -- beginning with their arrival at U.S. airports. Anwar flew in to Newark, where immigration officials detained him for five hours without explanation, without food and without even bothering to interview him, he said. He missed his connecting flight and spent his first night in the United States sleeping in the airport.

Others arrived at O'Hare, in Chicago. The male students were detained for four hours by immigration officials. Haya Fatima, one of the female students, recalled overhearing one official calling out to another: "Hey, should the Pakistani females be included?" The answer was no, and the women weren't detained, but they waited nevertheless for the men to be released. They all missed their connecting flight to Burlington.

They tell these stories with some amusement and without apparent bitterness. Once they got through immigration, they say, virtually everyone has been friendly and welcoming.

They have maintained a full schedule at UVM, with seminars on history and culture, religious diversity and politics, interspersed with field trips (including a visit to Bread and Puppet Theater in Glover) and sessions with various government officials. In keeping with one of UVM's favorite themes, they attended daily classes for a week on facets of sustainability.

For poor people in Pakistan, Hira Sarfraz acknowledged, the notion of sustainability is largely irrelevant -- after all, people struggling to survive care less about the environment. For these students, however, the idea makes some sense: relying on local resources and thinking ahead about the relationship between community and environment, as Haroon put it.

This week, their regimen has included morning workshops on public speaking led by two experts on forensics, UVM's Alfred "Tuna" Snider and John Meany, of Claremont McKenna College in California. On Tuesday morning, they each delivered a four-minute speech on topics that ranged from cultural diversity to U.S.-Pakistani relations. They spoke fluently, with humor. They've used English throughout their school careers (it's a common medium of instruction in Pakistan), along with Urdu, the other language they share. At home with their families, they're more likely to speak a regional language.

Their forensics mentors offered some tips on how to improve their performances -- in advance of their "live on tape" appearance on "Flashpoint," a weekly TV show on Channel 15; and their upcoming presentations in Washington.

Meany was impressed. Speakers whose first language isn't English typically lack polish or confidence, he said -- but not these students.

"This is my fifth international exchange this year," he said. "The real difference with this group is how consistently excellent they are with their English language skills. They're persuasive, sophisticated, and they're so confident in expressing themselves on these issues."

"They're fantastic," he said.

Contact Tim Johnson at 660-1808 or tjohnson@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com.

Pakistan Students at World Debate Institute

On a grant from the US Department of State seventeen young Pakistani students are at the University of Vermont for four weeks attending the Study of the United States-Institutes for Student Leaders. After a rigorous selection process these students were brought to the USA and are at the University of Vermont while other groups at at eight other colleges and universities. Find more information at https://sharepoint.uvm.edu/sites/ce/global/isi/_layouts/viewlsts.aspx

This week they are attending a special World Debate Institute session held just for them. The goal is to sharpen communication skills as well as familiarizing them with some of the discourse habits of Vermont, including small group discussion and larger town meeting simulations. The instructors are Alfred Snider, director of WDI, and John Meany, director of forensics at the Claremont Colleges in California.

After one day of instruction in public speaking and argumentation on Monday, students delivered critiqued speeches on Tuesday morning and then after lunch formed small group discussion pods and began working on their presentation for the next day. On Wednesday morning the entire crew was at Vermont Community Access Media http://www.vermontcam.org/ . They were there to tape three episodes of the local television program "Flashpoint," offered by the University of Vermont debate program, the Lawrence Debate Union.

The students staged three 28-minute discussions on three topics: Stereotypes of Muslims and Americans, Modern role of the United Nations and finally Justifications for intervention. The program tapings went very well and they will soon be available at the Flashpoint website http://flashpointtv.blogspot.com/ .

Tomorrow the students will have their town meeting simulation, but the topic of it will be an international one and they will have some assigned roles.

High School Topic Lectures Online Now!

A happy team at WDI

The lectures providing background as well as debate ground for the 2007-2008 national high school debate topic about public assistance to sub-Saharan Africa are now available online.

Go to http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/?M=D and look for files like

http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07hspoltopic1.m4v
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07hstopic2.m4v
http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07hstopic3.m4v

You will find three-part lectures about the topic by Gordie Miller and Jackie Massey.

Adam Sandler Pounds Potter at the Weekend Box Office

Okay. I'm late on this. I know. Can anyone keep up with all the breaking news on the Internet? Come to think of it, I have been more distracted since I started this blog. Is it any wonder? Now I understand why most stories are reduced to a sound byte here or a video clip there. There's simply too much information to process. Eventually, I'll get the hang of things, but for now, please be patient while I develop a rhythm.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, the new flick featuring Adam Sandler and Kevin James, trounced Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the weekend box office, to the tune of $34.2M v. $32.5M. The statistics already are obsolete. The part that interests me is how the take compares to previous Sandler blockbusters. Kinda shabby. And those didn't include Jessica Biel, sexiest woman alive, semi-nudie scenes. Hmm. Could be a sign we've only seen round one of Harry Potter and the Pounding of Potter Mania.

I forgot about second runner-up, Hairspray, rounding out the field at $27.5M. Just like Ross Perot tipping an electorial win for Clinton in the 1992 presidential election, Baltimore's own star-studded musical may have tipped the weekend gross in Sandler's favor. Unlike the presidential elections, in the movie biz, there's always next week. Critics can spend the rest of this week pondering and analyzing whether Sandler's triumph was a blip on the radar screen, TKO, or down for the count.

Quite accidentally, while phishing around YouTube, I came across this amazingly funny SNL skit. Saturday Night hasn't been this good since Phil Hartman, rest his soul, was one of its stars. I can't get over how much Travolta, who must have been guest hosting, looks like his Saturday Night Fever self. And Sandler's Epstein is a riot. Yes, under that Kotter fro is the voice of Shrek. And the suprise appearances from major TV stars of Kotter's time...well...I'm not going to spoil it. You'll just have to watch.

If anyone knows who played the part of the principal, will you please let me know? This time, I'm for real.

World Schools Lectures Online

Watch them all. Check back here for more links.

This is a lecture by Bojana Skrt of Slovenia. It was the opening lecture of the World Schools Debate Workshop at the World Debate Institute. Others will follow. The World Schools format is rapidly becoming more and more popular for competition outside of the championship itself.

There are two sizes, one fairly small (36.9 MB) , and the other fairly large (podcast 399 MB).

Right click to download, click to watch while downloading, best viewed with QuickTime or iTunes.
Small file: http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07wsdc1format.mov
Large file: http://www.uvm.edu/~debate/watch/wdi07wsdc1format.m4v

Lindsay Lohan Arrested Yet Again

I don't know why I'm doing this. Maybe I have blog bite envy, or maybe I've just spent too much time at my laptop.

This story broke not too long ago on, of all places, FoxNews. Yep. Suspicion of DUI and cocaine. Awwww, and coming on the heels of her picture perfect day at Polaroid Beach with unidentified BFF. Michael and Dina are probably spewking (unless I've scooped them as well).

I just want to hold the post time over the slackers on the left coast. Unless one of those bloggers is up at 6:39 a.m., I've got this field all to myself. Details on this one to follow.

Okay, I'm back. It's 6:15 p.m. EST. Did my little blog item even get a first page search result on Google? No. Did anyone leave a comment? No such luck. Sigh. I pinged it, and Digged it, and posted it everywhere. Guess there's more to getting noticed than just being an early bird. Perhaps the pundits are right. Perhaps content does count. It's not just being the first to go to press afterall. So much to learn. So little time.

Right now, there is nothing but Lindsay's arrest plastered across every form of news media in the known world. She has/had a guest spot on Leno tonight...wonder if it got cancelled. Duh. She probably won't make it to her own movie premiere this evening. Predictions are rampant about the impending demise of her career. Could the situation be any more dire?

I'm getting pretty disgusted with all the news coverage devoted to Hollywood bad girls. Someone should develop a cable entertainment channel, call it Party Hollywood, and do nothing but cover the Hollywood party scene. The camera crew and bevy of hot hosts could then act as a third eye at all the high profile gatherings in and about town, impromptu and scheduled. They'd not only attend award shows, club parties, parties at the Playboy manse, backstage parties, and premieres, but also troll the streets of Brentwood, Bel Air, Venice, Fairfax, even Malibu ready to video partying at a moment's notice. For filler, they could broadcast images of party girls Paris, Lindsay, Britney, Tara, Nicole, Kimberly, Shannon, and any other lollipop joining the fray. I'll bet if someone had thought of this sooner, they might have caught old firecr**ch speeding after that driver and, who knows, might have even saved her tail by nipping that fateful argument in the bud.

But then who would everyone gossip and make videos about?

The Internet Celebrity Circuit

My husband is pressuring me to look for a real job. But I aspire to become an Internet Celebrity. If not me, then who? If not now, then when?

I'm thinking, if VH1 made a short about Mr. Pregnant, they'll broadcast just about anything. Some of Preggers' tubes are chuckle worthy, but some are just plain outrageous. If his rambles are a blueprint to blogging for profit, I may want to give my latest fancy some second thoughts.

On the other hand, Preggers struck a familiar chord with this one. If Letterman doesn't eventually offer this guy a guest spot, I'll eat my wiki.

SDM Lenses Shipping

A quick update to let folks know that production units of the 16-50 and 50-135 lenses have started to ship. My understanding is that first units will arrive in all markets in early August. While I can't comment on the actual number of units being shipped, based on our "current" back order status here in the US, it looks like we will not fill all back-orders until the end of September. Please note that this estimate is not 100% accurate, as I have no way of knowing if the "current" orders from dealers reflects the true demand for these lenses. In any case, this is good news. I told my friends in Japan that if we didn't start shipping the lenses soon, we'd have to change the definition of SDM to "Some Day Maybe" (smile).

World Schools Workshop Debates Challenging Topics

Senior faculty members: Peejay Garcia, Korea National Coach, James Probert, Head of the Center for Speech and Debate at the English Speaking Union in London and Bojana Skrt, workshop director and Slovenia National Coach

As you may or may not know the World Schools Debate format uses a mixture of prepared topics and impromptu topics. Half of the topics are announced in advanced and it is assumed that the students will do substantial research and brainstorming in building their cases. For the impromptu topics they get a dictionary, one almanac and one hour to, among the team, decide what to argue and which strategies to employ.

The topics for this session are listed below, and they are picked day by day, and not all of them will be used.

IMPROMPTU
This house would ban the serving of junk food in the schools.
This house would lower the voting age to 16.
This house would introduce 21 years as minimum drinking age.
This house would ban elective cosmetic surgeries.
This house believes that current media portrayal of women does more harm than good.
TH would broadcast executions.
This house would have harsher sentences for celebrity criminals.
TH would ban religious symbols in state schools.
TH believes cultural artifacts should be returned to the countries of origin.
TH believes marriage is an outdated concept.

PREPARED
This house would negotiate with terrorists.
This house would apologize for colonialism.
This house would make reparations for slavery.
This house should abandon civilian use of nuclear power.
This house believes hate speech should become a crime.
This house believes that civil liberties must be restricted in the interests of security.
This house believes free trade harms more than helps developing countries
This house would substantially decrease agriculture subsidies.
This house would tie world bank aid to women's rights.
This house believes Jerusalem should become an independent city.
This house should send armed forces to stop Darfur crisis.
This house should support a Kurdish state.

British Invasion of Katie and Peter

It's not Becks and Posh. It's not an interminable flashback to Princess Diana. It's not even the Painting Smoocher. This time, I'm afraid the American soil onslaught consists of far more inconsequential protoplasm.

I'm referring to none other than Katie and Peter. Who are these people and why should I care? Is anyone watching this reality show?

Putting aside how they are individually unrecognizable and therefore must forever traverse the entertainment world as their sickeningly cute linking moniker, does either one possess even an iota of talent? Besides having the hots for one another, I mean. If one could even call that a talent.

I wish the biz would stop trying to force acts like this down the throats of the American public. How these people play together and stay together is of no concern to me. I already know the answer. It's called moolah, as in money makes the world go around. And when this British import's fifteen minutes expire and the do re mi dwindles to regular people proportions, nubile Katie and comely Peter will be faced with the same challenges as the rest of us. Then again, with celebrities, this usually boils down to whether it's worth putting up with each other's nonsense, or time to move on to the next titillating prey. I know. I know. They have a new baby. Does this romp get any more mediocre?

Yeah. That's right. I've seen this one act play before. If anyone knows whether My Fair Brady is still in production, feel free to drop me a line. On second thought, don't bother.

Click to see Spewed Videos du Jour.

San Clemente Ocean Festival

World Schools Debate Workshop Begins

Bojana Skrt opens the session

The two-week World Schools Debate Workshop began today. Students from three continents have come to learn with and from three of the top debate educators in the world.

Bojana Skrt is the director of the program, but is director of Z.I.P., the NGO that organizes debating activities at all levels in Slovenia. She has two EFL world titles to her credit and has organized a large and thriving debate community at all levels in Slovenia as ell as promoting debating globally and especially in he former Yugoslav countries. She was recently elected to be on the World Schools Council. This is her fourth year at WDI.

James Probert is the head of the Centre for Speech and Debate at the English Speaking Union that organizes speech and debate activities globally from their base in London. James was a member of the England World Schools team that made it to the finals in 1999. James has been a judge at World Schools seven times and has taught debating in 25 countries. He was also recently elected to be on the World Schools Council. This is his second year at WDI.

Peejay Garcia smiles for the camera

Peejay Garcia is from the Philippines, but is as international as a debate educator can get. He was the Asian champion while debating for Ateneo de Manilla. After a successful coaching stint in Thailand, he became coach of the Korean national debate team for World Schools. His team has had a wonderful run in th last two years. This is his first year at WDI.

Others will drop in to lecture, such as myself (Alfred Snider) as well as John Meany.

The students began debating immediately, and will have at least 20 debates before the two weeks are up. Debate is a skill, and you learn it through practice and repetition.

The students are an incredibly diverse group, but all share a certain intensity we can already detect in their earliest performances.

Watch for lectures to be available soon.

High School Policy Camp Advances With Rigor

Here at the World Debate Institute the High School Policy Debate Workshop has achieved their goals of producing an excellent set of evidenced arguments for the first wave. Gordie Miller's group was first in the race to the finish line with his Agency for International development good/bad file was a basic one people need to have. Others followed, including a huge critique of development discourse argument produced by her students, David Register's group finished their female genital cutting affirmative, and Jackie Massey's group finished their affirmative case on providing therapy for sub-Saharan African victims of landmines.

We had an exceptionally long practice debate on Friday. We decided that we would devote the entire afternoon to a "stop-and-go" debate where at each stage of the debate you advise students, give guidance and then repeat some speeches. The results seemed to be excellent as the student felt it was a strong learning experience -- learning by doing and cooperation.

The students deserved the afternoon excursion to downtown Burlington they got on Saturday.

Zapotec Pink Ribbed

After a typically stress-filled week in Golden, it's nice to get back home to California and enjoy the fruits of my labor. My tomatoes are all starting to bear ripe fruit. This particular plant is the Zapotec Pink Ribbed. It's a heirloom tomato first cultivated by the Zapotec Indians of Mexico. The Zapotec is a beautiful heavily ribbed dark pink fruit. Its pleated shape makes it very ornamental and its taste is non-acidic and somewhat sweet. Photos taken with K10D and the 50mm f/1.4 lens. Shot RAW and converted to jpeg using Photo Browser. No adjustments to image were made. And for those that are prone to pixel peeping, the photos in no way convey the taste of these Zapotecs (smile).

2008 Pentax Photography Cruises

I thought some Pentaxians would be interested to know that we'll be sponsoring a series of Photography Cruises in 2008. The cruises will be operated by Cruise West, Seattle WA. Below is an example of the email blast that Cruise West has started sending to their customers. The destinations offer some incredible photo opportunities and a chance to meet other passionate photographers. Cruise West will shortly start to promote these cruises on their website and in their catalogs. We'll also start advertising these cruises in the Fall both in print and on the web. Bon Voyage!

Cruise West website

Harry Potter and the Spoilers Final Battle

The battle to protect the secret ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final installment in the famous J.K. Rowling series, recently morphed into full blown Armageddon. This time, the ante involves more than just copyright infringement, breach of contract, or tortious interference with business practices.

No, I'm afraid the very soul of Hogwarts is on the line. This is not, I repeat, NOT a drill.

Rowling's fantasmical concoction of muggles, wizards, and witches is a unique benchmark in popular literature. No other work of fiction can claim simultaneous creation through pages and celluloid. Book parties, book store campouts, stroke of midnight release dates, numerous virtual Hogwarts communities, contests, games, and touring buses texture the layers of its spellbinding mystique. Proof of the series' cultural icon status include its immensely popular main characters, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, as well as the movie actors who portray them, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.

For each new installment, its extremely fortunate publisher, Scholastic, employs more and more creative marketing techniques to induce Potter mania. This strategy always includes strictly enforced restrictions on public distribution. By placing each new cash cow in a, shall we say, chamber of secrets, Scholastic perpetuates a highly successful method to build media buzz, along with enchantment in the collective hearts of Harry's loyal fans.

But now the swill has hit the fans. Sorry, pun intended.

Of all unlikely places, the stench permeates Baltimore like a thick cloud of deatheaters on a muggy playground afternoon. Yesterday, the local rag's front page headline, The Spell is Broken, hearlded unauthorized delivery of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Davidsonville, Maryland, to one Jon Hopkins (not to be confused with Johns Hopkins, notable Baltimore philanthropist), ostensibly the cousin of one Mary Carole McCauley, local rag reviewer. Along with Michiko Kakutani, reviewer for the New York Times, Ms. McCauley gave away plot tidbits, cloyingly refused to reveal what happens to who, then tartly dubbed the ending predictable. I don't know how others will interpret this, but to me, her little cat out of the bag means Harry doesn't die.

To make matters worse, some lowlife uploaded individual page images of the entire book for free distribution. Authenticity is questionable, but that didn't prevent thousands of downloads. Then, someone tried to sell a copy of the unreleased book on eBay. Webmasters claimed no responsibility. They were just doing their jobs. Yah-vold!

I wonder if this will change the odds in Vegas.

Rowling and Scholastics are so outraged, they're not only seeking injunctions, they're also issuing heart wrenching appeals to leagues of loyal followers. "I'd like to ask everyone who calls themselves a Harry Potter fan to help preserve the secrecy of the plot for all those who are looking forward to reading the book at the same time on publication day," implored Rowling.

Aw, isn't that nice? Let's make the fans feel like filthy rotten mugbloods if they dare disobey the midnight dissemination edict. Can anyone else picture Peeves pounding a framed version of the edict into Hogwarts Castle?

Wait. There's more.

Israeli citizens are gearing up to join the ranks. Merchants who plan to participate in the release date by operating their businesses on the Jewish Sabbath are suffering a terrible backlash. A segment of the population is deeply offended while people in Tel Aviv don't much seem to care. Muckety mucks are now involved and they're taking names.

Will everyone please take a deep breath? Slowly...exhale...Ahhhh.

Harry Potter is just a figment of J.K. Rowling's imagination. And while I have the utmost respect for the woman and her ability to weave such an enthralling tale of good versus evil -- in the world of wizardry no less -- in the end, Harry Potter is just a well-constructed fairytale. Certainly, people responsible for violating contract agreements and the author's copyright should pay and I imagine they will. What sticks in my horcrux is how we, the fans, are so easily manipulated to eschew the story's final conclusion before an arbitrarily decreed deadline -- a deadline mandated solely to create media and consumer frenzy -- simply because the people in charge appealed to our basic human desire to share a simultaneous moment as a homogeneous community, albeit contrived.

Listen up, people. This isn't Woodstock!

For those of you who can't wait until the witching hour to learn the fate of Harry and friends, or because of religious reasons won't be able to grab your copy at the stroke of midnight, I've discovered a link to the ending. But I have to warn you, the person who wrote it also babbled something weird about Islam on a linked page.

If this is the kind of person you would trust to violate J.K. Rowling's copyright and Scholastic's business practices, then by all means, be my guest.

High School Policy Debaters Face Deadline

As we near the seven day mark for the National High School Policy Debate Workshop today is the day when research assignments are due. Each research group has thought of and designed a strategic argumentative position and today they are supposed to deliver it for printing and distribution.

Each group goes through a process of argument development, research, review and then publishing. They began with a series of discussions about various ideas, and from these discussions they develop a major affirmative or negative argument that they want to work on. The students and instructor then develop a comprehensive research plan utilizing all facets of the global information architecture. Quite often students check scholarly volumes out from the library and read them in pursuit of ideas and evidence that can support or defeat the major argument they are developing. This reading phase is very important to develop the understand that complex issues of public policy need comprehensive examination and research. Then the evidence is processed into arguments. Then the overall position has to be refined based on the actual evidence that exists. After this a comprehensive argumentative position will be published, indexed and summarized before distribution.

So, needless to say people are rush to copy, print, download and adjust a variety of information bits. Groups with laptops are "tagging" evidence and processing before final assembly. People with flash drives full of digital materials are getting them printed and processed. The final sheets that the text will be put on has been designed and distributed.

It is coming up on dinner time on Thursday. Some will cut dinner short to come back to the Tyler Theatre to finish their work. The work period for today will end at 8:30 PM, and people hope to be finished.

You can get a report tomorrow on how the groups did.