Ten on Tuesday (One Day Late)

1. Clearly, the "Ten on Tuesday" name shouldn't be taken too literally.

2. Finishing a post on Tuesday wasn't possible since yesterday was Back to School Night. This was the first Back to School Night in several years and I much prefer this format to the Report Card Night we've employed at Alta Loma High School for the past few years. I tried to address a few major points for each of my three different classes.

3. For journalism, I emphasized the idea that the Brave Times is a student run paper and that remaining timely and relevant are the staff's biggest priorities. Additionally, the main focus of the grading deals with whether or not someone has met their deadlines. A staff writer, for instance, needs to make sure to turn in each draft for both of his or her articles on time or there will be a 5% deduction of the possible points on that particular issue.

4. The emphasis for the seniors focused on the lit project. Besides the fact that everyone has to have a copy of their book by Friday, I also made sure that parents knew the lit project due dates would be posted on School Loop and that the project accounts for roughly 60% of the semester grade. Granted, it could be more and it could be less, as I don't like to lock myself into numbers like that on account of the fact that teaching English isn't an exact science. Also, puns!

5. The biggest turn out this year by far was in the Frosh Honors classes. My goal was to introduce myself and hopefully communicate my style and philosophy to the parents in the nine minutes allotted. I covered that we're smack dab in the middle of our Animal Farm unit and engaged in a fairly lively discussion earlier that day, as well as the fact that we'll (tentatively) be starting Fahrenheit 451 the week of September 26. Also notable was a parent's cell phone going off during the middle of the nine minute period immediately following my discussion about my cell phone policy where I ask students to sing a song in order to keep their phone. Said parent was very relieved that I did not ask for a jaunty tune.


6. Images from Zach Snyder's currently filming Superman reboot, Man of Steel, surfaced today and, wow, do I hate Henry Cavill's new costume. I've discussed my distaste for the new Spider-Man outfit, but, geez, removing the iconic red trunks from the Superman costume does not work in a real world setting. (And, while Cavill isn't wearing a cape in this picture, that's not a point of contention since it has appeared in pictures elsewhere which means that it was either removed between scenes or, knowing Snyder, will probably become a CGI eyesore later.) What works on the page does not always translate well to film, which is part of the reason that oft-referred-to spandex from the comics transmogrifies to stylized rubber on the silver screen. I'm not a stickler in the traditional sense that whatever appears in the source material automatically must make its way into the movie because that's just a road to unhappiness and discontent. It's a different medium, and as long as filmmakers stay true to the character concept, I accept and anticipate the changes they make as a means to allow the character to work in the new medium. Lots of people complain that "wearing the underwear on the outside" look of Superman, Batman and others turns the characters into cornballs that no one can take seriously. This is such a ridiculous argument: it's acceptable that a guy can fly and shoot lasers out of his eyes among other abilities, but trunks on the outside of a character's pants?! Oh, ho, Heavens to Betsy, you've destroyed my delicate suspension of disbelief. Those red trunks serve a purpose aesthetically because they force the eye towards the important part of Superman's outfit -- the symbolic S shield. Instead, there's now a giant blue blob that distracts from the fact that this guy represents truth, justice and the American way.


7. Speaking of costume changes, Justice League #1 hit comic book store shelves and digital newsstands everywhere today in DC's half-hearted attempt to reboot their entire universe. In my mind, the company misses the boat in more ways than one if they're trying to lure in readers who have never thought to pick up a comic book before. Case in point with this particular issue: there are seven characters on the cover of this comic book, yet only three actually appear, and one doesn't show up until the very end. Geoff Johns wants to present the first installment of a longer story, I'm sure, but if the uninitiated fan finds this cover intriguing when they see it in the supermarket, while visiting Barnes & Noble or walking by the newsstand, won't they be disappointed by the fact that less than half the characters he or she figures are promised on the cover actually show up? Heck, if someone decides to download the DC Comics or Comixology app for their iPad just to try this out, I'd wonder if they would think the endeavor was worth it.

8. All of the superhero talk comes courtesy of the fact that I'm currently reading Grant Morrison's Supergods, which is really fascinating in how well he deconstructs the characters from their infancy to today. Also, I just really like superheroes.

9. It's slow going through that book, though, since I'm currently climbing a mountain of grading. I hope to reach a summit of some kind by next week, at which point I'll make grades public through School Loop.

10. In other news, the Blu-ray edition of the Star Wars movies will hit shelves next week, and George Lucas can't seem to leave well enough alone as he's gone and added a bunch of unnecessary changes to something he added a bunch of unnecessary changes to the last two times he's released it for public consumption that used to be perfectly fine on its own. One of the big changes occurs in Return of the Jedi, where Darth Vader used to let his actions speak for themselves. Instead, now we get this.

That's just ridiculous.

Ten on Tuesday

Here's the old Batman Comment
Key wall, prior to it falling into disrepair.

1. Most of last week and a majority of this week is all about getting my class room ready for the onslaught of students come August 9. This means that I get to unpack all of the books and make my desk look like my desk again. It's also high time that I redo or update my "teacher walls," since it's been a few years since I initially committed to putting some thought into them. Most teacher walls feature a collection of student work or are based on a specific piece of literature. I decided to instead make them a reflection of myself since I'm a narcissist and a few students each year say they look cool. My Spider-Man wall is largely intact, as it features motivational frames of Marvel superheroes that my wife found at a .99 cent store. However, the Batman wall with my comment key and the Brave Times based News Flash wall are both getting makeover. I'll post pictures when everything is complete.

2. Spider-Man (the dog) achieved a milestone today by staying in the house alone for an extended period of time. Besides our dog being the normal, everyday jerk that he is also appears to suffer from this weird separation anxiety, the origin of which I couldn't begin to explain to anyone. He just tends to freak out if either myself or Angela leaves and he's aware of it. To combat these howling episodes since we moved into our house, Spider-Man (the dog) goes outside whenever we leave the premises. It's an attitude held over from our apartment living days; in both places where we lived with Spider-Man (the dog), we've received letters from management about his howling. Granted, it was one time (from each place), but it lead us to do whatever we could to prevent the world from ending. Home ownership has chilled everyone out, our dog included, it seems. I left him twice today: once for about two hours while I went to get my car serviced, and the second time when I went to work and then the gym afterward. Nothing was destroyed nor were there any accidents upon my return. He did, however, refuse to leave my side the rest of the night, much to the amusement of my wife.

3. My general rule of thumb is to keep up with two books at the same time, one physical book and another on my iPad. I recently finished The Bell Jar for my physical book and am still working my way through A Clash of Kings, the second thousand page entry in the Song of Ice and Fire series. The problem is that I don't know what physical book to read next, despite having plenty of options to choose from at home. Something light would be nice, prior to the school year beginning.

4. Instead of doing a full rundown on the absolutely cursed UFC 133 card, I'll just say that my brain says Rashad Evans will win but my heart is rooting for Tito Ortiz. This is a combination of Rashad being hateable in every way since he's trying to garner sympathy for himself despite being the one that chose to sit out a year and a half in order to avoid the position he's currently in and Tito being on a roll having beaten Ryan Bader at UFC 132. It might also have to do with the fact that Tito winning at the last pay per view allowed me to cash in on a little wager while attending the show in Las Vegas, so the Huntington Beach Bad Boy did me a solid. The least I can do is back his play against Rashad.

5. In the pages of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man this week, we find that the newest character to take on the mantle of the webslinger is Miles Morales, a fellow of mixed race heritage (Hispanic/African-American descent to be exact). This is pretty cool, and the impetus for it started last year when Donald Glover, from NBC's Community, started a Twitter campaign to cast himself in the role of Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man. While Sony went with Andrew Garfield, Glover's idea of an African-American Spider-Man does raise some interesting questions. What in Spider-Man's make up as a character makes him white? Except for the fact that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko originally chose him to be white, nothing does. He's a poor orphan living with his aunt in urban New York. Describe someone with those qualities nowadays and Peter Parker is the last person that would come to mind. Add to the fact that Spider-Man's costume covers him from head-to-toe, unlike Batman or Superman, and it allows anyone to envision themselves as Spidey, which is an important aspect of the character. I have a near complete run of Ultimate Spider-Man, and this news has me really excited to see where the story takes him.

6. Qdoba always feels like a much lighter meal than Chipotle.

7. My iMac currently runs on 1GB of RAM, so I'm contemplating purchasing some more (4GB) and installing it myself. While I'm very Internet savvy, I've never been too tech savvy, so I hope that YouTube video I saw showing the step-by-step process of how to make the switch doesn't steer me wrong.

8. The toughest part about going back to school is trying to get my sleep schedule back under control.

9. That CM Punk shirt I was so hyped up about before is now available for pre-order, and I'm wondering if I should buy that instead of the RAM for my computer. THESE ARE ACTUAL THINGS THAT I CONTEMPLATE!

10. Unfortunately, while CM Punk and his shirt are still the best in the world, WWE pretty much did what they always do and caused me to lose interest in the angle. It's too bad, too, since Summerslam is taking place at the Staples Center on August 14.

Ten on Tuesday

Because I've desperately wanted to blog but lacked the focus to do so lately, I decided to steal an idea (while giving credit, mind you, so it's technically not stealing nor is it plagiarism but it's also easier to write steal than give this kind of long-winded explanation) that I saw an old college friend borrow from someone else (language alert on that last one). The original idea is to discuss ten things (on Tuesday) going on in my life as a means of catching up, but I'm just going to modify it to apply to ten things that I've done or been thinking about. Sure, most people will be reading this on Wednesday (if ever), and a Five on Friday idea would be much easier, but it's still technically Tuesday as I begin to write and Friday would be a much more difficult day to attempt this, which leads to number one.

1. Coming on the heels of our anniversary weekend trip to Las Vegas, the wife and I are headed out there for a truncated one night stay to show some friends how to do things up right. Never in my life did I expect to be the kind of person that could show Vegas newbies around town, but with our trips over the last few years coming about every six months, I guess it's time to accept that my wife and I are those people.

2. Aside from the time I spent lesson planning with Ms. Windt last month, today was one of the most productive of the summer. I replaced my car key battery, took Spider-Man (the dog) to get his vaccinations, saw Transformers: Dark of the Moon, got some quality reading time in, and went to the gym. This is what passes for accomplishment during the summer.

3. Spider-Man (the dog) has been having a bit of a rough time today due to said vaccinations or just the visit to the vet in general. Either way, dog vomit is annoying but also a great name for a hardcore punk band. He's fine now, thankfully.

4. Speaking of lesson planning, thanks to mine and Ms. Windt's foresight, we have the first four weeks of Frosh Honors English planned out. This is an amazing feat. Trust me.

5. A trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man leaked today. When it comes to comic book movies, I really try to give them the benefit of the doubt until their release, but so many things bug me (HAH!) about the choices Marc Webb and company are making for the film that I'm beginning to wonder if the director got the gig based solely on his name (See what I did there?). The costume hasn't wowed me mostly because I don't like the rounded off red section that remains disconnected from the belt, however, I understand the need to set the costume apart visually from the Raimi movies. I don't even mind that Sony has chosen to reboot a franchise whose last movie came out just four years ago. Despite the so-so box office returns, The Incredible Hulk was a short-term reboot that fixed and addressed the problems with the Ang Lee original. What kills me is the idea that we, the audience, have such short-term memories that they need to once again do another retelling of Spider-Man's origin. The same applies to the upcoming Superman reboot, Man of Steel. You know those "Previously on..." segments at the beginning of one hour dramas? That's how long it should take to tell the origin of any comic book character that's had a film in the past 25 years. Comic books have told interesting stories about superheroes for nearly 80 years now and have done so without needing to constantly spend a third or more of their content space devoted to the origin of the character.

6. CM Punk really is the Best Wrestler in the World right now, and I'm glad I spent money watching him put on a classic match at WWE Money in the Bank. I won't bore anyone by recapping his recent phenomenal storyline here; it's hard to appreciate if you're not a long-term fan. However, Punk's exit that night (a screencap of which I included) was one of the greatest in recent memory. By the by, if anyone knows a way to get me a copy of the shirt he wore to the ring for his match that night, I would really dig it. The current asking price for an XL on eBay has been in the neighborhood of $250, since it was a limited edition deal that was only available at the show in Chicago. But I figure the many people who will see this are industrious and/or richer than I am, so it never hurts to ask.

7. Why isn't there a Dunkin Donuts presence here in Southern California? Granted, not having access to yet another donut chain is probably good for my wallet and waistline, but I am a glutton for movie tie-ins, especially comic book movie tie-ins. After getting a Thor Big Gulp cup back in May, I assumed that 7-Eleven would handle all of my Marvel needs by handling the Captain America stuff, too. Then I could have a matching set of Avengers cups prior to the team finding their way to the big screen next summer. Unfortunately, Dunkin Donuts scored that particular license, and none exist in a 50 mile radius. Seriously, I looked. It doesn't help that the franchise still advertises in California, thus rubbing it in my face that I can never drink a Captain America Coolatta. I don't even know what a "Coolatta" is but if Captain America puts his name on it, then it can't be bad.

8. I also wanted to devote an entire entry to testosterone replacement therapy and it's use among UFC/MMA fighters, but I devote too much space to the latter subject on this blog as it is, so I'll just speak to the former here. It's cheating. Men that do genuinely need testosterone replacement therapy fall into two camps: those who are later along in life (usually in their late 40's to early 50's) and experience a genuine drop in their body's level of testosterone and those who have artificially boosted their level of testosterone through the use of steroids and damaged their endocrine system to the degree that they now need to bring their body's amount up to normal levels. If fighters fall into either of the two camps, they should no longer be professional fighters. Period. Here's what most people seem to forget about the use of steroids in mixed martial arts: they don't make a fighter stronger, granting an incredible Hulk-like physique. They aren't a super soldier serum that will suddenly make scrawny Steve Rogers into taller and buffer Captain America. A person taking steroids will not wake up with more muscles the next day or the next week. Steroids allow people to recover from workouts faster so they can workout more without the fatigue and muscle soreness associated with working out. It doesn't matter if a fighter tests positive for steroids on the day of their fight, as is the norm for testing with almost every state athletic commission these days. Should a fighter test positive on that day, that person is an idiot who didn't get the full use out of the steroids in the first place. Taking steroids during their training camp is where the benefit lies. This is why UFC should pay for truly random out-of-competition testing for their fighters as condition of the new health insurance the company has provided for them. Anyone who claims a need for therapeutic use should be shown the door, which sadly includes Chael Sonnen, a fighter I happen to enjoy a great deal.

9. Noticing gray hair in my beard is really cool because I feel like I'm one step closer to that distinguished professorial look I've always wanted to achieve. Next stop, corduroy jackets with suede elbow patches!

10. Man, Transformers: Dark of the Moon was an awful movie. However, Sam Witwicky's mom is still the most entertaining character in the entire franchise. Even if Shia LeBeef fails to return for the next one, I sure hope his parents make an appearance.