So, we were headed out to dinner on the day after Thanksgiving.
Right before we left the house to walk to the restaurant which is only about 6 blocks away, my husband realized that our youngest didn't want to wear a jacket, just his sweater... But, the kid was wearing cotton shorts and a t-shirt and it's winter. It wasn't a freezing winter day, but it wasn't warm by any means and it was getting dark. So, hubby insisted that L wear his winter jacket. It's not one of those huge puffy ones, so it wasn't such a burden. L was about to put up a fight, but I looked at him and said, "Please, do it for your papa."
So, he took the jacket.
As we walked to the restaurant, we separated when H and I crossed the street ahead of the rest - We walked in two groups for a little while. L with his big brother and Jen on one side of the street, and mom (me) and dad on the other.
That was when I noticed that, even though everyone else in the world was wearing a coat and long pants, L was CARRYING his jacket... Yep, he was out in t-shirt and shorts.
27 November 2010
23 November 2010
Being alone gives me low blood pressure?
Damn - H is in Florida because of our family tragedy, but I'm not going to write about that (you know why). This is very selfish of me - but I'm going to whine about how my schedule is off because I'm alone...
In a way it feels like I have extra time - and I took on some big projects to keep myself busy.
At night, though, I postpone getting into bed. For the past two nights, I've have the radio archives of This American Life on, and I sort old papers - There's nobody to tell me to come to bed. Since I'm alone, when I finally get to bed I do two things designed to perturb my sleep even more:
(1) I let our two cats get in bed with me. They have fleas right now, and I'm allergic to a lot of things. I know it's bad and I keep them out of our room (door closed) till I'm ready for bed - still I don't want to sleep alone : (
(2) Then I put something on the "tv" (streaming netflix) and I fall asleep even later than I would have.
Of course, the inevitable. This morning, I realized it was 7:22 am and I jumped out of bed, ran downstairs to wake L, opened his door, threw him a shirt and said, "Get up. It's 7:20!" I closed his door quickly, but still added loudly, "L--, are you getting up?" (My stern voice... which no longer has much of an effect). Right away, I also threw some pizza bits in the toaster over to pack his lunch.
That's when it happened. A wave of - - - it. I know the feeling, but I can't describe it.
I remember it from my surgery... hmmm... Was it my C-section? Probably, because I was awake. After I got the anesthesia, my blood pressure went down. It's like you feel nausea from every part of your body, almost pins and needles, but not quite.
Anyway, not pleasant.
That's what I felt about 2 minutes after JUMPING out of bed and running downstairs.
Yuck.
Here's the good part, from my perspective. I shut up; it nipped in the bud any potential harping at L. He knew what I had said at 7:20, and my reminders would probably just darken his mood. So, here's the funny part: I'm kind of grateful. I want these constant lessons/reminders.
In a way it feels like I have extra time - and I took on some big projects to keep myself busy.
At night, though, I postpone getting into bed. For the past two nights, I've have the radio archives of This American Life on, and I sort old papers - There's nobody to tell me to come to bed. Since I'm alone, when I finally get to bed I do two things designed to perturb my sleep even more:
(1) I let our two cats get in bed with me. They have fleas right now, and I'm allergic to a lot of things. I know it's bad and I keep them out of our room (door closed) till I'm ready for bed - still I don't want to sleep alone : (
(2) Then I put something on the "tv" (streaming netflix) and I fall asleep even later than I would have.
Of course, the inevitable. This morning, I realized it was 7:22 am and I jumped out of bed, ran downstairs to wake L, opened his door, threw him a shirt and said, "Get up. It's 7:20!" I closed his door quickly, but still added loudly, "L--, are you getting up?" (My stern voice... which no longer has much of an effect). Right away, I also threw some pizza bits in the toaster over to pack his lunch.
That's when it happened. A wave of - - - it. I know the feeling, but I can't describe it.
I remember it from my surgery... hmmm... Was it my C-section? Probably, because I was awake. After I got the anesthesia, my blood pressure went down. It's like you feel nausea from every part of your body, almost pins and needles, but not quite.
Anyway, not pleasant.
That's what I felt about 2 minutes after JUMPING out of bed and running downstairs.
Yuck.
Here's the good part, from my perspective. I shut up; it nipped in the bud any potential harping at L. He knew what I had said at 7:20, and my reminders would probably just darken his mood. So, here's the funny part: I'm kind of grateful. I want these constant lessons/reminders.
19 November 2010
crossing your heart in a secular society
I was reading Cecillia Manguerra Brainard, When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, and noticed a reference to the idea of "crossing one's heart" that made me stop and think.
Say "Cross your heart" to me, and I think PLAYTEX BRAS tm television commercials from the seventies or early eighties. Before women were trained to lift and smoosh together (the better to see you, my dear), we were told it was best to lift and separate. Hence that all-important "cross" between our breasts, or on our heart, was the shape of an "X".
Of course crossing your heart has always meant making a promise, but it's only now, in 2010, that it occurs to me that maybe the "cross" isn't an x ...
P.S. A thumbs up for the book, but not a very enthusiastic one; it seemed a bit contrived.
Say "Cross your heart" to me, and I think PLAYTEX BRAS tm television commercials from the seventies or early eighties. Before women were trained to lift and smoosh together (the better to see you, my dear), we were told it was best to lift and separate. Hence that all-important "cross" between our breasts, or on our heart, was the shape of an "X".
P.S. A thumbs up for the book, but not a very enthusiastic one; it seemed a bit contrived.
The principal character was a girl who had a kind of spiritual connection to the Philippine
creation/religious myths - in general, I liked her but didn't find her very convincing as a person. The narrative
on the war and the Philippine ambivalence (often hatred) regarding the U.S. was interesting for me and
that's why the thumbs up.
on the war and the Philippine ambivalence (often hatred) regarding the U.S. was interesting for me and
that's why the thumbs up.
18 November 2010
Ghosts (reviews) *****
I went with my daughter V. and it was really great. So, even though it'll be too late for all of you - I thought I'd paste some of the reviews here so you can enjoy it vicariously.
Actually, it runs through this Sunday; you might be able to see it. Reserve your tickets on line first, though, because it has sold out a number of times.
http://www.theasy.com/Reviews/ghosts.php
Off-Off-Broadway, Play Extant Arts Company
Runs through 11.21.10 Access Theater, 380 Broadway
by Joseph Samuel Wright on 11.9.10
BOTTOM LINE: Extant Arts Company presents an abstract, experimental, multimedia adaptation of Ibsen’s Ghosts on a set of nylon thread.
Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts tells the story of a mother (Mrs. Alving), the girl she raised (Regina), her son (Oswald), and their pastor on a night when a lifetime of secrets are revealed and worlds unravel.
In this new production helmed by Sophie Hunter and adapted by Nemonie Craven, the set becomes the main character.
Walking into the downtown theatre space, the set is a vast presence. Thin nylon threads hang from the ceiling and form a box — a room. At the back of the room are plants attached to IV drips forming a line. Behind them is plastic sheeting where images and video are projected. The stage has only two chairs and three television monitors, but a canopy of light bulbs hang from the ceiling. The entire space becomes an exercise in transparency and illumination, thickly stylized.
With this set, it becomes no surprise that the lighting is also complex and deeply shadowed, which makes it all the more disappointing when in certain scenes only the bulbs are used. Still, when the lighting is designed and the theatrical units are utilized, the effect is as intricate and textural as the space itself.
Unfortunately, this visual brilliance hinders the action and staging more than it complements it. For most of the play, the audience is looking through the nylon front “wall” of the string room. And in general this artistic installation-style setting often makes more of a statement than the actors' words and actions do.
Also, the Access Theatre doesn't have an elevated stage, yet two of the three monitors are on the floor, and several important scenes take place sitting on the floor. In a space like this, moments are blocked from sight by the rows of audience before them. I sometimes couldn’t see what was being shown on the television monitors, or what characters were doing down on the ground.
And it’s a shame to not be able to see, because several performances are well worth watching. LeeAnne Hutchison plays Mrs. Alving with great nuance and clarity. The final scene between Mrs. Alving, Regina (Justine Salata), and Oswald (Paulo Quiros) is a gripping success of staging and performance, a true testament to the potential in the ambitious artistry behind this piece.
Ghosts is an enterprising, experimental presentation of Ibsen's classic. If you like abstraction, expressionistic theatre, or are familiar with the play and interested to see a new spin on the script, take a trip down to the Access Theatre.
___________________ __________________ __________________ ____________________
http://offoffonline.com/reviews.php?id=1862 by Maura Kelley Nov. 5, 2010
Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen, produced by the Extant Arts Company
and adapted by Nemonie Craven, is both creepy and entertaining. The play is directed by Sophie Hunter, who is not at all timid when it comes to mixing multi-media with classic plays. Thank goodness that you can view the ultra-cool set by Flammetta Horvat before the show starts, or you might find yourself distracted by its very unique and disturbing elements: different length wires with working light bulbs attached dangle from the ceiling, hospital I.V. bags hang over numerous potted plants spanning the back of the stage, a transparent cage created out of fish wire maps out the main playing area and three television screens separate the stage in thirds, showing a flurry of images that echo the actors' interior feelings.
The play opens with Jacob Engstrand (Chris Haag), a poor working man urging his daughter Regina (Justine Salata), a ward of the Alvings, to come live with him. Things pick up steam when Pastor Manders (Anthony Holds) and Helene (Mrs.) Alving (LeeAnn Hutchinson), two very skilled actors, take the stage. The judgmental Pastor soon learns the err of his ways as horrifying truths about Mrs Alving, Engstrand and her son Oswald's past get revealed. Oswald Alving, expertly played by Paulo Quiros, is home visiting his mother for a mysterious, “indefinite amount of time.” As Oswald comes into the picture later in the play, more shattering secrets get disclosed and “ghosts” seem to be the cause for many people’s torment.
All of the characters in the play have dynamic revealing monologues that are pivotal to the story and possess extreme suspenseful elements. Unusual and identifiable sounds (Asa Wember), TV footage and non-naturalistic staging are used to enhance the suspense and subtext of characters in moments and scenes. But pay attention, because I found myself at times overwhelmed by visual and audio stimulation and missed key plot points. One in particular is a sexually driven scene between Mrs. Alving and the Pastor which is staged with Mrs. Alving slow dancing with the Pastor with video screens playing the couple in pre-filmed romantic embraces. All this is done while Mrs. Alving unveils the truth of her gruesome marriage.
Sometimes tension, sexual or not, is more interesting without explanation. I would have been happy for simpler staging to just allow these talented actors to act. Quiros, as Oswald, does just that and the results are excellent as he expertly plays torment, sexual desire, rage and ill health. The final moment, beautifully played between Mrs. Alving and Oswald, allows the play to end with a “wow!”
Ghosts is a dynamic adaptation, but the multi-media elements at times overpower the actors. Sometimes, less is more.
_________________ ___________________ ___________________ __________________
nytheatre.com review by Lynn Berg • November 7, 2010
There is something in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts that makes it one of his most powerful scripts, in my opinion. The relationships and situation, the story—when performed clearly, honestly, and passionately—overcome its melodramatics and soap-opera-like devices despite the now-known medical fallacy the plot hinges on. It must be more than the play's universal theme of sins of the father being visited upon the children, a subject of tragedy from at least ancient Greek and Biblical times. And it's more than just the relationship of a mother to her son, an elemental component of many ancient myths. Ibsen's play seems itself haunted by its themes and ideas. Whatever it is that makes Ghosts work, Extant Arts Company's production captures it with tormenting fire.
Ghosts takes place on the 10th anniversary of respected benefactor and patriarch John Alving's death. His estranged profligate son, Oswald, returns home to his mother who has long guarded the family secrets. Haunted by those secrets, Mrs. Alving thinks she's protecting her family from those same ghosts. The family executor, Pastor Manders, also believes he keeps those spirits at bay. Even the family servant, Regina, and her father haunt and are haunted by the Alving family legacy. And those malevolent spirits will not easily be kept hidden. Nemonie Craven's script of Ibsen's tightly woven tale is a moving adaptation commissioned for this production. Sophie Hunter's compelling direction of the action and the fine, intense performances by the ensemble give this classic immediacy.
The multimedia production of the play emphasizes elements of fluids and fire. The initiating and recurrent video image by Gary Breslin and luckydave is of dripping rain playing in onstage video monitors and projected onto clear plastic curtains in the back of the set. The enveloping sound design by Asa Wember is lush. And Fiammetta Horvat's set integrates the monitors and cleverly uses wire and IV bags to represent the cold transparent walls of the Alving house.
The multimedia elements of Extant Arts' Ghosts render exciting spectacle that's not normally seen in the play such as interpreting the panic of a raging fire. At other times the concept and design of the production seem to take the task of making the hidden seen and heard almost too literally. In this Ghosts there is always interesting spectacle but sometimes instead of enhancing the action or illuminating the story they become obstacles for the performers to overcome. For the most part, the performers ably do so and even when the production seems lost in its own concepts it seems to be trying to capture the play's essence.
The cast of this Ghosts is excellent and gives fierce, haunted performances. Paulo Quiros avoids Oswald's maudlin trap with devilish charm, at once lovable, dangerous, and damned. Justine Salata and Chris Haag are pitifully human as Regina and Jacob Engstrand trying to twist free from their fates. Anthony Holds is complex as Pastor Manders, wrestling with his demons. And LeeAnne Hutchison gives graceful gravity to Helene Alving's struggle, raising the drama to tragic heights.
Ghosts can seem perplexing in its simplicity. But it's more than the sum of its parts, as if the play itself is possessed by unseen forces. Whatever it is that makes Ibsen's haunted tale work, Craven's incisive adaptation captures it and this ensemble's powerful performances let it loose to possess its audience.
__________________ __________________ ___________________ ___________________
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?EID=&showCode=GHO7&BundleCode=&GUID=
Extant Arts Company presents GHOSTS
Friday, November 05, 2010 through Sunday, November 21, 2010
Extant Arts presents GHOSTS, a re-imagining of the Henrik Ibsen's groundbreaking drama. Director Sophie Hunter leads a dynamic cast and international, award-winning creative team from the worlds of opera, Broadway, film, and installation art in transforming this 19th century Norwegian classic into a timeless and searing piece of theatre. Performances begin November 5th at the Access Theatre, located at 380 Broadway.
Enron's Sophie Hunter returns to New York to direct GHOSTS, after touring Europe with Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. She explains the visceral grip of Ibsen's classic, "GHOSTS is a series of violent encounters between characters ultimately concerned with survival: their own, and that of the faded ideals that haunt them.”
Innovative but true to the spirit of the father of modern theater, this is a GHOSTS for our present moment, as shocking and provocative as ever.
The cast of GHOSTS features Anthony Holds*, LeeAnne Hutchison*, Chris Haag, Paulo Quiros, and Justine Salata. The creative team includes: set designer Fiammetta Horvat, lighting designer Melissa Mizell, video designer Gary Breslin, costume designer Hunter Kaczorowki, sound designer Asa Wember, assistant director Sarah Outhwaite, design assistant Danica Pantic, and stage manager Julia Singer. The production is an Equity Showcase.
Actually, it runs through this Sunday; you might be able to see it. Reserve your tickets on line first, though, because it has sold out a number of times.
http://www.theasy.com/Reviews/ghosts.php
Ghosts.
By Henrik Ibsen; Adapted by Nemonie Craven; Directed by Sophie Hunter Off-Off-Broadway, Play Extant Arts Company
Runs through 11.21.10 Access Theater, 380 Broadway
by Joseph Samuel Wright on 11.9.10
BOTTOM LINE: Extant Arts Company presents an abstract, experimental, multimedia adaptation of Ibsen’s Ghosts on a set of nylon thread.
Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts tells the story of a mother (Mrs. Alving), the girl she raised (Regina), her son (Oswald), and their pastor on a night when a lifetime of secrets are revealed and worlds unravel.
In this new production helmed by Sophie Hunter and adapted by Nemonie Craven, the set becomes the main character.
Walking into the downtown theatre space, the set is a vast presence. Thin nylon threads hang from the ceiling and form a box — a room. At the back of the room are plants attached to IV drips forming a line. Behind them is plastic sheeting where images and video are projected. The stage has only two chairs and three television monitors, but a canopy of light bulbs hang from the ceiling. The entire space becomes an exercise in transparency and illumination, thickly stylized.
With this set, it becomes no surprise that the lighting is also complex and deeply shadowed, which makes it all the more disappointing when in certain scenes only the bulbs are used. Still, when the lighting is designed and the theatrical units are utilized, the effect is as intricate and textural as the space itself.
Unfortunately, this visual brilliance hinders the action and staging more than it complements it. For most of the play, the audience is looking through the nylon front “wall” of the string room. And in general this artistic installation-style setting often makes more of a statement than the actors' words and actions do.
Also, the Access Theatre doesn't have an elevated stage, yet two of the three monitors are on the floor, and several important scenes take place sitting on the floor. In a space like this, moments are blocked from sight by the rows of audience before them. I sometimes couldn’t see what was being shown on the television monitors, or what characters were doing down on the ground.
And it’s a shame to not be able to see, because several performances are well worth watching. LeeAnne Hutchison plays Mrs. Alving with great nuance and clarity. The final scene between Mrs. Alving, Regina (Justine Salata), and Oswald (Paulo Quiros) is a gripping success of staging and performance, a true testament to the potential in the ambitious artistry behind this piece.
Ghosts is an enterprising, experimental presentation of Ibsen's classic. If you like abstraction, expressionistic theatre, or are familiar with the play and interested to see a new spin on the script, take a trip down to the Access Theatre.
http://offoffonline.com/reviews.php?id=1862 by Maura Kelley Nov. 5, 2010
Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen, produced by the Extant Arts Company
and adapted by Nemonie Craven, is both creepy and entertaining. The play is directed by Sophie Hunter, who is not at all timid when it comes to mixing multi-media with classic plays. Thank goodness that you can view the ultra-cool set by Flammetta Horvat before the show starts, or you might find yourself distracted by its very unique and disturbing elements: different length wires with working light bulbs attached dangle from the ceiling, hospital I.V. bags hang over numerous potted plants spanning the back of the stage, a transparent cage created out of fish wire maps out the main playing area and three television screens separate the stage in thirds, showing a flurry of images that echo the actors' interior feelings.
The play opens with Jacob Engstrand (Chris Haag), a poor working man urging his daughter Regina (Justine Salata), a ward of the Alvings, to come live with him. Things pick up steam when Pastor Manders (Anthony Holds) and Helene (Mrs.) Alving (LeeAnn Hutchinson), two very skilled actors, take the stage. The judgmental Pastor soon learns the err of his ways as horrifying truths about Mrs Alving, Engstrand and her son Oswald's past get revealed. Oswald Alving, expertly played by Paulo Quiros, is home visiting his mother for a mysterious, “indefinite amount of time.” As Oswald comes into the picture later in the play, more shattering secrets get disclosed and “ghosts” seem to be the cause for many people’s torment.
All of the characters in the play have dynamic revealing monologues that are pivotal to the story and possess extreme suspenseful elements. Unusual and identifiable sounds (Asa Wember), TV footage and non-naturalistic staging are used to enhance the suspense and subtext of characters in moments and scenes. But pay attention, because I found myself at times overwhelmed by visual and audio stimulation and missed key plot points. One in particular is a sexually driven scene between Mrs. Alving and the Pastor which is staged with Mrs. Alving slow dancing with the Pastor with video screens playing the couple in pre-filmed romantic embraces. All this is done while Mrs. Alving unveils the truth of her gruesome marriage.
Sometimes tension, sexual or not, is more interesting without explanation. I would have been happy for simpler staging to just allow these talented actors to act. Quiros, as Oswald, does just that and the results are excellent as he expertly plays torment, sexual desire, rage and ill health. The final moment, beautifully played between Mrs. Alving and Oswald, allows the play to end with a “wow!”
Ghosts is a dynamic adaptation, but the multi-media elements at times overpower the actors. Sometimes, less is more.
nytheatre.com review by Lynn Berg • November 7, 2010
There is something in Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts that makes it one of his most powerful scripts, in my opinion. The relationships and situation, the story—when performed clearly, honestly, and passionately—overcome its melodramatics and soap-opera-like devices despite the now-known medical fallacy the plot hinges on. It must be more than the play's universal theme of sins of the father being visited upon the children, a subject of tragedy from at least ancient Greek and Biblical times. And it's more than just the relationship of a mother to her son, an elemental component of many ancient myths. Ibsen's play seems itself haunted by its themes and ideas. Whatever it is that makes Ghosts work, Extant Arts Company's production captures it with tormenting fire.
Ghosts takes place on the 10th anniversary of respected benefactor and patriarch John Alving's death. His estranged profligate son, Oswald, returns home to his mother who has long guarded the family secrets. Haunted by those secrets, Mrs. Alving thinks she's protecting her family from those same ghosts. The family executor, Pastor Manders, also believes he keeps those spirits at bay. Even the family servant, Regina, and her father haunt and are haunted by the Alving family legacy. And those malevolent spirits will not easily be kept hidden. Nemonie Craven's script of Ibsen's tightly woven tale is a moving adaptation commissioned for this production. Sophie Hunter's compelling direction of the action and the fine, intense performances by the ensemble give this classic immediacy.
The multimedia production of the play emphasizes elements of fluids and fire. The initiating and recurrent video image by Gary Breslin and luckydave is of dripping rain playing in onstage video monitors and projected onto clear plastic curtains in the back of the set. The enveloping sound design by Asa Wember is lush. And Fiammetta Horvat's set integrates the monitors and cleverly uses wire and IV bags to represent the cold transparent walls of the Alving house.
The multimedia elements of Extant Arts' Ghosts render exciting spectacle that's not normally seen in the play such as interpreting the panic of a raging fire. At other times the concept and design of the production seem to take the task of making the hidden seen and heard almost too literally. In this Ghosts there is always interesting spectacle but sometimes instead of enhancing the action or illuminating the story they become obstacles for the performers to overcome. For the most part, the performers ably do so and even when the production seems lost in its own concepts it seems to be trying to capture the play's essence.
The cast of this Ghosts is excellent and gives fierce, haunted performances. Paulo Quiros avoids Oswald's maudlin trap with devilish charm, at once lovable, dangerous, and damned. Justine Salata and Chris Haag are pitifully human as Regina and Jacob Engstrand trying to twist free from their fates. Anthony Holds is complex as Pastor Manders, wrestling with his demons. And LeeAnne Hutchison gives graceful gravity to Helene Alving's struggle, raising the drama to tragic heights.
Ghosts can seem perplexing in its simplicity. But it's more than the sum of its parts, as if the play itself is possessed by unseen forces. Whatever it is that makes Ibsen's haunted tale work, Craven's incisive adaptation captures it and this ensemble's powerful performances let it loose to possess its audience.
http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?EID=&showCode=GHO7&BundleCode=&GUID=
Extant Arts Company presents GHOSTS
Friday, November 05, 2010 through Sunday, November 21, 2010
A New Vision of Ibsen's Classic.
Extant Arts presents GHOSTS, a re-imagining of the Henrik Ibsen's groundbreaking drama. Director Sophie Hunter leads a dynamic cast and international, award-winning creative team from the worlds of opera, Broadway, film, and installation art in transforming this 19th century Norwegian classic into a timeless and searing piece of theatre. Performances begin November 5th at the Access Theatre, located at 380 Broadway.
Enron's Sophie Hunter returns to New York to direct GHOSTS, after touring Europe with Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. She explains the visceral grip of Ibsen's classic, "GHOSTS is a series of violent encounters between characters ultimately concerned with survival: their own, and that of the faded ideals that haunt them.”
Innovative but true to the spirit of the father of modern theater, this is a GHOSTS for our present moment, as shocking and provocative as ever.
The cast of GHOSTS features Anthony Holds*, LeeAnne Hutchison*, Chris Haag, Paulo Quiros, and Justine Salata. The creative team includes: set designer Fiammetta Horvat, lighting designer Melissa Mizell, video designer Gary Breslin, costume designer Hunter Kaczorowki, sound designer Asa Wember, assistant director Sarah Outhwaite, design assistant Danica Pantic, and stage manager Julia Singer. The production is an Equity Showcase.
08 November 2010
Longitude + pedagogy
This, I guarantee it, will be boring. Just skip it. It's a note for myself because I'm taking a class in pedagogy.
It's not that this is a new concept for me, but we hear a lot about how one learns - The key is that the new knowledge should be meaningful to the learner. Try "learning" this: Zer tuga mon yugo. Herdsl thiz soditgh cotlld.
Ha ha.
So, what is meaning? It grows from anything that, for whatever reason, seems relevant to the learner. Maybe it was something that produced an epiphany - or maybe it was boring, but at least it followed a pattern that you understand (as in learning a new regular verb in French). Behind this "meaning," in other words, is a learner who is able to connect that knowledge to something.
Once in awhile I'll read a book that answers a question I didn't even know that I had - and then it seems so vital to me to learn it.
For example (and I'm wondering if other people find this incredibly boring) - I couldn't get enough of a book by Dava Sobel, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Problem of his Time. It's very simple: before about 1760 sailors didn't have any feasible way to figure out their longitude at sea - so they had to travel by latitude... Hence the phrase "sea lane" which refers to the safe latitudes at which ships traveled.
When I read that, I understood more about WHY the Spanish were so vulnerable to pirate attacks at sea on their journeys to America. Sobel doesn't even talk about this... But, the light bulb lit up for me; Spanish captains couldn't take advantage of the vastness of the ocean to avoid attack. The Brits could sit and wait for them. Actually, much of piracy meant attacks on land - British, French or others attacked Spanish colonial cities which were accessible by sea - so - maybe my new "understanding" needs more research.
Still, this idea of sailing without longitude, led me to colonial trade policies.
In general, greed, bureaucracy, even cultural norms regarding labor or land or honor or wealth all partly explain the rigidity of the Spanish trade laws, but another part was the fear of losses caused by pirates. In the end, one begins to understand that this hyper-regulated trade system was a reflection not just of a Spanish mind-set, but also of a technological limitation. (Without claiming it was a direct result of the advance in navigation across the sea, the second half of the XVIII century ushered in a gradual opening up of trade for the Spanish colonies by the new royal family of Spain).
So, the book about English policy and the history of science didn't transform my vision of the Spanish colonial period in America before the mid 1700s but it enriched it. And I will remember much of what I read in Sobel's book.
If I could find this sort of "AHA" book or moment for all my students. . .
In longitude, I need to know that same difference - where the sun is for ME at a certain time relative to where it is in Greenwich, England (see what I mean about arbitrary). It gets complicated because when the sun is at a certain point it is noon, but that point is reached seconds or minutes apart depending on where you are on this rotating earth. (Before time was standardized it might be noon in New York City but 11:56 in Pittsburgh.) To calculate longitude, you need to know the DIFFERENCE between your local noon and noon in Greenwich. As amazing as it seems now, it was as simple as a reliable time piece, one that could work in the rocking humidity of a ship.
Okay - I'm going to add an impressive anecdote from the book some day (whenever I find my copy). --> Finally! (March 2011) found some old notes I wrote after reading the book:
p. 27 March 7, 1741, a British ship leaves patagonia w/ holds already stinking of scruvy. Anson sailed the Centurion through the straits Le Mare, from Atlantic to Pacific Ocean. As he rounded tip of Cape Horn, a storm blew up from west - 48 days. Anson holds his latitude until he figures he's gone 200 miles westward. So finally Anson sails north and hits Tierra del Fuego.
Primary competition for using clocks to figure out longitude is using night skies. Position of moon in relation to stars at what time. A lot of progress in this line of work. Moon's position is tracked faithfully for years (Minimum would be 18 years). This works -->quadrant --> sextant --are instruments that use celestial bodies. But it's HARD to do these measurements, errors.
p. 26 This research also leads to being able to see speed of light (nobody had ever been able to see it because no measurements have involved light far enough away). The time was going to be calculated by looking at eclipses of Jupiter's moons. They have very regular eclipses. If you know the time they are happening one place... (Galilleo - died 1642). When Jupiter is closest and when Jupiter is farther - the eclipses would differ by at leat 4 minutes.
1714 NAVIGATION ACT prize $$ is never officially collected.
It's not that this is a new concept for me, but we hear a lot about how one learns - The key is that the new knowledge should be meaningful to the learner. Try "learning" this: Zer tuga mon yugo. Herdsl thiz soditgh cotlld.
Ha ha.
So, what is meaning? It grows from anything that, for whatever reason, seems relevant to the learner. Maybe it was something that produced an epiphany - or maybe it was boring, but at least it followed a pattern that you understand (as in learning a new regular verb in French). Behind this "meaning," in other words, is a learner who is able to connect that knowledge to something.
Once in awhile I'll read a book that answers a question I didn't even know that I had - and then it seems so vital to me to learn it.
For example (and I'm wondering if other people find this incredibly boring) - I couldn't get enough of a book by Dava Sobel, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Problem of his Time. It's very simple: before about 1760 sailors didn't have any feasible way to figure out their longitude at sea - so they had to travel by latitude... Hence the phrase "sea lane" which refers to the safe latitudes at which ships traveled.
When I read that, I understood more about WHY the Spanish were so vulnerable to pirate attacks at sea on their journeys to America. Sobel doesn't even talk about this... But, the light bulb lit up for me; Spanish captains couldn't take advantage of the vastness of the ocean to avoid attack. The Brits could sit and wait for them. Actually, much of piracy meant attacks on land - British, French or others attacked Spanish colonial cities which were accessible by sea - so - maybe my new "understanding" needs more research.
Still, this idea of sailing without longitude, led me to colonial trade policies.
In general, greed, bureaucracy, even cultural norms regarding labor or land or honor or wealth all partly explain the rigidity of the Spanish trade laws, but another part was the fear of losses caused by pirates. In the end, one begins to understand that this hyper-regulated trade system was a reflection not just of a Spanish mind-set, but also of a technological limitation. (Without claiming it was a direct result of the advance in navigation across the sea, the second half of the XVIII century ushered in a gradual opening up of trade for the Spanish colonies by the new royal family of Spain).
So, the book about English policy and the history of science didn't transform my vision of the Spanish colonial period in America before the mid 1700s but it enriched it. And I will remember much of what I read in Sobel's book.
If I could find this sort of "AHA" book or moment for all my students. . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NOTE: Why couldn't they measure longitude at sea?. . . . . . . . .
Lines of longitude are arbitrary or imaginary. Latitude, think about it, is about a specific distance from equator and the poles, right? The position of the stars or the sun at noon tell us a lot regarding our position relative to the equator (and sailors had charts that helped them translate that info. to latitude). Let's see if I can clarify. At noon the sun will be directly above one, but it's course across the sky won't go directly through the middle of one's sky. So, to see latitude we measure it's position relative to the middle of the sky (or to the position it would take on the equator).In longitude, I need to know that same difference - where the sun is for ME at a certain time relative to where it is in Greenwich, England (see what I mean about arbitrary). It gets complicated because when the sun is at a certain point it is noon, but that point is reached seconds or minutes apart depending on where you are on this rotating earth. (Before time was standardized it might be noon in New York City but 11:56 in Pittsburgh.) To calculate longitude, you need to know the DIFFERENCE between your local noon and noon in Greenwich. As amazing as it seems now, it was as simple as a reliable time piece, one that could work in the rocking humidity of a ship.
Okay - I'm going to add an impressive anecdote from the book some day (whenever I find my copy). --> Finally! (March 2011) found some old notes I wrote after reading the book:
p. 27 March 7, 1741, a British ship leaves patagonia w/ holds already stinking of scruvy. Anson sailed the Centurion through the straits Le Mare, from Atlantic to Pacific Ocean. As he rounded tip of Cape Horn, a storm blew up from west - 48 days. Anson holds his latitude until he figures he's gone 200 miles westward. So finally Anson sails north and hits Tierra del Fuego.
Primary competition for using clocks to figure out longitude is using night skies. Position of moon in relation to stars at what time. A lot of progress in this line of work. Moon's position is tracked faithfully for years (Minimum would be 18 years). This works -->quadrant --> sextant --are instruments that use celestial bodies. But it's HARD to do these measurements, errors.
p. 26 This research also leads to being able to see speed of light (nobody had ever been able to see it because no measurements have involved light far enough away). The time was going to be calculated by looking at eclipses of Jupiter's moons. They have very regular eclipses. If you know the time they are happening one place... (Galilleo - died 1642). When Jupiter is closest and when Jupiter is farther - the eclipses would differ by at leat 4 minutes.
1714 NAVIGATION ACT prize $$ is never officially collected.
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