Keep an eye on the prize: Education

By Jimmie Garland, Sr. | November 1, 2007 |

Parents. Get your head in the game.

The slogan, “get your head in the game,” is a profound statement that alludes to one’s taking responsibility for acts they are either required to or have failed to accomplish. You hear it recited in many places where its application is directly attributed to the degree of success associated with a desired outcome.

In some circles, this phrase is nothing more than a cliche, in others a chant, but in this venue it is a call for parents to wake up to the challenge that comes with raising their children. Please do not take this as an indictment on the methodology you have chosen to meet your objectives in child rearing.

This appeal challenges each of us work cohesively to ensure the best possible course of action when choosing the education tract for our children. In doing this, we must approach each decision that affects the success of our child as parents, not merely your sibling’s friend. Friendship has its place, but it should definitely take a back seat when making decisions that impact the growth and successful assimilation of our children into the global market. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Issues, Opinion, Politics | 1 Comment »

Across the Universe: ‘Hair’ meets ‘Rent’ in a rock musical for the 21st century

By Christine Anne Piesyk | November 1, 2007 |

Once in a great while a movie comes along, a film that is perfection, a film that is a coalescing of sight, sound, story, imagination, message, heart and history that warrants a slot on the best movies of the year list. For Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe, that title may be extended to my list of best films of this decade.

Across the Universe is a vibrant collision of modern rock musical (as in Rent) and vintage rock musical (as in Hair), Broadway hits turned feature films, with song as the dominant method of moving the story forward. Across the Universe does that brilliantly.

Across the Universe is tatamount to time travel for us baby boomers. It begins sweetly, siftly, sentimentally, with a lonely youth, sitting on the shore in England, singing the wistful lyrics to Girl and looking out over the waves. yet there’s a hint of things to come, images superimposed with a suddenly wild surf, images of dissent and violence and anti-war sentiment that erupted in the 60s.

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Sections: Arts and Leisure | 1 Comment »