Grant About Town - October 17, 2006

This is the first entry in a series that I am calling "Grant About Town" where I report on the various concerts, sporting events, museum visits and other happenings I experience here in Chicago. Unlike Katie Couric, who was able to solicit ideas for her CBS news signoff on national television, I did not have access to a major TV network to help name my column. However, I think that it is sufficently clever for now and if I think of something better I can always change it.

Last night I went with a co-worker to see the band The Killers perform at the Congress Theater on the northwest side of Chicago. The Killers have been a favorite of mine since I bought and subsequently wore out their 2004 debut CD "Hot Fuss" last spring. They just released their second album, "Sam's Town" earlier this month and while it is not quite the equal of the first is still a good listen in my opinion. The tickets for the show sold out in less than 10 minutes and the place was packed 3,000 strong from the front row to the back of the balcony as showtime approached.

Around 8:10p the black curtain covering the stage came down to reveal a huge flashing "Sam's Town" sign. The album is a nod to Americana so carnival music played on the PA system while the crowd waited for the band to appear. They opened with three straight songs from the new album including the current hit "When You Were Young" and from there went into a mix of new and old. The new album features more of a straight ahead guitar rock sound as opposed to the 80's synthesized Brit pop sound of "Hot Fuss." Lead singer Brandon Flowers said that the American theme came about as a reaction to talk of how British the band sounded on the first album, and how he sang with a fake accent.

That being said, the songs from the first album are catchy with better hooks and choruses that the crowd reacted a lot better to than the new stuff. The energy of the crowd really picked up with the fourth song, "Somebody Told Me," and lagged a bit in the middle when some of the new songs were played. I will say this about Flowers: When he wasn't contributing his textbook synthesizer to songs such as "Smile Like You Mean it" he was working the crowd like a used-car salesman and preacher all-in-one. This is a band and a frontman that is ready for bigger arenas than the Congress Theater, and as such they had no trouble working the entire room both sonically and lyrically.

For example, between songs Flowers sang the line "My kind of town" as an homage to the Sinatra song about Chicago and later added the line "My kind of people" to thank the fans. He also showed off this little statue of a black crow that had been given to the band by Louis XIV, the opening act for earlier shows on the tour. He explained that it is for good luck and added "I don't know what else to say, but at least it gave me something to talk about for a few minutes." Finally, before starting to play the last song of the main set, "Mr. Brightside," Flowers pointed up to the balcony and said "This one is for all you in the back."

As lead singer Flowers sang the chorus "It started out with a kiss. How did it end up like this? It was only a kiss. It was only a kiss" from "Mr. Brightside" the crowd sang right along with him. The highlight of the night for me was during "All These Things That I've Done" towards the end of the song when Flowers stopped singing and let the crowd pick up the chorus "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" for a couple of minutes before he joined back in. It was a very cool moment among many during the night.

One odd thing I noticed was that at a certain point Flowers introduced the drummer, Ronnie Vannucchi, a dead ringer for the guy from "My Name is Earl." One would then expect him to name the other two members of the band, guitarist Dave Keuning and bassist Mark Stoermer, right? Nope. The show was also short on extended solos a la the Dave Matthews Band which may have contributed to a running time of about 70 minutes. Nonetheless the rhythm section of Keuning, Stoermer and Vannucchi shined thoroughout, particularly on the opening song "Sam's Town" as well as "Uncle Jonny" from the new album.

I hope I can see The Killers in a venue as intimate as the Congress Theater the next time they come around. Chances are they'll have moved on to bigger and better places by then.

Killers Set List - October 17, 2006 at Congress Theater

Sam's Town
Enterlude
When You Were Young
Somebody Told Me
Smile Like You Mean it
Bones
Bling (Confession of a King)
Read My Mind
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
Uncle Jonny
Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll
Mr. Brightside
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My List
For Reasons Unknown
All These Things That I've Done
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Exitlude

G's Movie Spot

"The Departed"

As someone who grew up in the northeast not far from Boston I have spent a lot of time in that city. I am also a huge fan of Martin Scorsese, though his recent films ("Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator") led me to believe he was more interested in courting the Academy for his long overdue directing Oscar than he was in making films on par with sprawling, violent urban masterworks such as "Mean Streets" and "Goodfellas." With "The Departed" Scorsese has once again "found his fastball" to use a baseball term and the film is a visceral, blood soaked thing to behold.

A remake of the 2002 Hong Kong action film "Infernal Affairs" and adapted by Dorchester, Massachusetts born screenwriter William Monahan, "The Departed" quickly establishes the underbelly of Boston as a moral wasteland where law enforcement and criminals operate on both sides of the law. Over news footage of the 1974 anti-busing violence in the city we are introduced to the mobster Frank Costello, played with a menacing gusto by Jack Nicholson. He tells us early on that "I don't want to be a product of my environment...I want my environment to be a product of me." After watching his character's actions in this film you believe him.

In flashback we see Costello take a young neighborhood boy named Colin Sullivan under his wing, giving him work, money and advice, though as we will see later this mentoring is not entirely out of the goodness of his heart. Cut ahead to present day and both Sullivan (Matt Damon) and another young cop named Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) graduate from the police academy and join the force. Here's the catch though: Costigan works for an undercover unit headed by Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen) and his deputy, Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), and is assigned to infiltrate the mob. More specifically, to help bring down Costello.

Sullivan, on the other hand, is a rising star in the department and soon joins the State Police special investigative unit headed by Ellerby (Alec Baldwin), who chews up the scenery much like he did in "Glengarry Glen Ross." From here we watch Damon's smooth operating character establish himself as Costello's mole at the department while Costigan carefully enters Costello's world and ingratiates himself with the rest of his crew. DiCaprio in particular is very good here playing a vulnerable and tragic character who while he has not made much of himself in life, has a chance to redeem himself and his neighborhood by bringing down the wily, evil mob veteran Costello. He operates on the edges of sanity most of the movie, basically because he knows he could die at any moment if Costello discovers he is a cop.

There is also a love interest, Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), who is a psychiatrist for the department and is involved romantically with both Sullivan and Costigan. She figures prominently in a late plot development and there is also a major plot twist involving the true identity of the Nicholson character. The latter revelation should not come as a major shock, in that Costello is but one of the characters in the story who is not who he appears to be. Unlike many formula cops and robbers stories the characters in "The Departed" are not black and white in terms of good guys and bad guys, just varying shades of gray and moral ambiguity. As Costello says, "...you could become cops or criminals. When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"

While not quite in the class of Scorsese's finest work such as "Raging Bull" and the films mentioned earlier, "The Departed" is certainly a brilliant return to form for one of our finest directors. Nobody portrays the gritty streets of the city and its morally corrupt denizens (both criminal and cop) quite like him. I should also mention that while it is a bleak and bloody film, there are also many moments of levity. For example, in a scene when Baldwin's character is discussing the advantages of marriage to Sullivan he says "It shows a girl that you have some money and that your dick works."

Though rather profane at times the dialogue is crisp and vivid and the production shows Boston in such a way that only Clint Eastwood's recent "Mystic River" can rival. And there are few directors who can manipulate the perspective of the camera for maximum effect quite like Scorsese. As a fan of movies it is nice to know that he still has it in him. Perhaps the ultimate compliment I can make about "The Departed" is that I was anxious to see it again before it was over.

The Sub Life - 10/6/06

After being sent into some, shall we say, borderline neighborhoods my first several assignments the substitute teaching gods are smiling upon me today. I am told the name of the school and where it is located. After quickly locating it on my map I realize that it is just off Halsted St. in Lincoln Park, a very nice neighborhood north of downtown for those out-of-towners reading the blog. Though it is a 7:30 start I eagerly accept the assignment and make the 20 minute trip to the school.

I have a group of 4th graders today and for a change actually have 15 minutes or so to get organized before I have to pick them up outside. The teacher was apparently out the day before as well as today and has left very detailed plans for me in terms of what to do and the time frame for each activity. I am not always able to stay right on her schedule but it is nice to have as a reference. Indicative of the quality of the school itself and the administration/faculty, the principal proactively shows up and runs through and activity with the children while I get myself organized at the desk. The visit is very much appreciated by me, and I am assuming not so much by the kids.

The children have workbooks for spelling, grammar, math, etc. so I give them pages to do in these and circulate the room to help out kids that need it. More so than any other group I have had, these kids for the most part do the work that I ask them and cooperate with me and with each other. I am not going to say that there was no misbehavior and quite frankly I expect some as a sub. There ends up being a small handful of kids who are my helpers for the day. They are sometimes a little too willing to help, say with figuring out who paid for lunch and how to best distribute the lunch tickets, but I will never complain about too much enthusiasm.

Things break down a little during recess in terms of my rounding the kids up when it is over. I really wish I could do one of those loud whistles but instead have to yell a lot and enlist a few of my students to help get the others. A kid twists his ankle and has to go to the office and I have to break up a near fight, but otherwise recess goes OK. The afternoon is a little rough in that I try to do this current events activity where we read an article from the newspaper and discuss it. Quite frankly these kids are not interested in most articles that appear in the Chicago Tribune; More specifically, they would rather play with the paper than read it.

I alluded to the fact that while less than usual I do have some misbehavior in the classroom. This culminates in the afternoon when a child throws something (an eraser I believe) out the window of the class. When confronted he admits the crime, and while I appreciate his honesty I still have to send him out. Along with this student go two more boys, Jordan and Jose, who have been giving me trouble all day. Hey, that rhymes! During the course of the day Jose put not one, but two “Kick Me” signs on my back, and while I have to laugh inside on the outside I have to be pissed and teach him a lesson. Having been the creator of such signage in my elementary school days, it is nice to know that the Bart Simpsons of this generation still have a respect for the classics.

Before I leave at the end of the day I am able to chat with a new science teacher. Lacking subtlety I ask her straight out how she got her job. “It wasn’t easy. That job fair in July at Soldier Field (that I also attended) was crazy,” she said and I vigorously nod in agreement. She also tells me that there is a week in November and January where CPS teachers can leave their positions without the approval of the principal, no questions asked. “It is for teachers who change their minds or who are burned out and it is not always the best schools that have openings,” she says. While not desperate, I’ll take a full time teaching job anyway I can get it. For now, I’ll take a weekend.

The Sub Life - 10/2/06

Today I was actually given a choice of schools, which I assure you is not normally the way this works. “There’s a 7:30 start and an 8:30 start,” the lady from the sub office tells me. It is currently 6:30 a.m. so the 8:30 start is looking reeeeeally good at this point. I ask her where each school is located and make my choice. 8:30 it is. The school is a little bit west and a couple of miles south of me and a relatively easy commute. My quick Internet research of the school on the CPS website tells me that it is like 80% Hispanic, 10-12% African American and the remainder Asian and white.

I get a parking space right across the street from the school, and there are moments later when I gaze longingly at my white Honda and think how nice it would feel to be in it driving home. When I go inside to the office I realize that it was a good day to be available as a sub. It is Yom Kippur and a whole bunch of teachers are out in observance of the holiday. So many so that one other teacher – Ms. Bondelon – and myself are the only teachers on the entire hallway that day.

I get to my room and quickly realize that I will have a 7th grade class today, the oldest group I have ever worked with. Unlike my previous experiences, the teacher left me very detailed plans and plenty of reading, math, social studies and science activities to keep the kids busy. Hallelujah! In fact, it ends up being more stuff than I can get through. As a sub I love having that problem. There is a bit of trouble tracking down the class roll so I can do attendance but after that is done I am able to get into the material for the day. I also have a quick chat with a student named Carlos, whose desk is right next to mine for some reason.

The primary obstacle for me during this assignment, other than the usual classroom management and misbehavior, is the fact that the kids are used to switching rooms for the different subjects. That will not be the case today due to all of the absent teachers. The kids say things like “We usually go to Mr. So and So’s room for math” and “We usually do math first instead of reading” and I repeat the phrase “I know things are different today and I am sorry, but with the teachers out that is just the way it is” over and over. I do feel bad for the kids though, because routine is still very important even for 7th graders.

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing that happens during the day is that a student from another class, Richard, tells me to “F**k off” when I ask him to leave the room after his visit becomes too much social and not enough business. “That was a first,” I think to myself and let it roll right off my back. I tell the kid to get out of the room and eventually tell the security person what he said. I also have to keep telling my buddy Carlos, among others, to knock off the “hip hop interpretations featuring the tapping pen as high hat and hand as drum” routine.

After talking to a teacher’s aide towards the end of the day, I also learn that this class started the year with a sub and just got their permanent teacher the previous week. So, basically they had a sub for two plus weeks, a new teacher for 2 days and then she took off for the holiday. This is pretty rough for them in terms of having any kind of continuity. In light of that they weren’t that bad, I thought. I clock out, head back out to my choice parking spot and head home.

The Fall 2006 TV Season

When it comes to television I have to admit that I am your typical male - a sports junkie. That said, I have been known to frequent the four networks and Comedy Central to follow a program that I really like. That short list has been static for some time with "24", a long since declined "The Simpsons", "Scrubs", "The Office", "The Daily Show", "Colbert Report" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" among the shows I follow on a weekly basis.

That has all changed this year with one program in particular, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". The show was hardly a longshot given producer Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing") and high profile stars such as Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry. It had been hyped for months and I was eagerly anticipating its debut a couple of weeks ago. Suffice it to say the show is a winner.

"Studio 60" captures the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations of an "SNL" type late night sketch comedy show. The writing and acting is great, the dialogue is rapid fire a la Sorkin's "West Wing" and "Sports Night" and the hour just seems to fly by when I am watching it. I was not a big fan of "Friends" but have to say that Matthew Perry is fantastic on this show. It is a side of him as an actor - more edgy and narcissistic - that I have never seen and I like it.

I also caught the series premiere of "Friday Night Lights" this past Tuesday. Inspired by the 1990's H.G Bissinger book of the same name and the recent feature film directed by Peter Berg, the show documents big time Texas high school football through various people and events related to the fictional Dillon Panthers. Despite what you might think, you don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy this show. It works as a drama, a documentary on the culture of big time high school football and yes, as a show about sports.

The show uses a lot of hand held cameras and quick cutting to create a cinema verite effect that makes it a lot more real and powerful. It seemed much more like something I'd see on an HBO movie/documentary than on a major network, and that's a compliment. Initially hooked in by the subject matter, I gave this show a shot and was very impressed with the pilot episode. Check it out next Tuesday on NBC.

Amongst the new shows I wanted to see but missed is "The Nine" on ABC. If anybody saw the season premiere and wants to talk about it by all means do so. I am also looking forward to the new Tina Fey/Alec Baldwin show "30 Rock" even though it is based on the same premise (i.e. behind the scenes of a TV show) as "Studio 60". However, it looks like this will be more of a sitcom as compared to the more dramatic nature of "Studio 60".

The Sub Life - 9/20/06

Get call at 7:20 a.m. Am told that the assignment is on the west side just off highway 290. I fire up my computer and do a quick map on Google and see that the school is not far from Garfield Park. My knowledge of the city tells me that this is a pretty tough, high poverty, largely African-American neighborhood and that the assignment could be challenge. I could not have been more correct in that assumption.

I arrive at the school just before 8:30am, so I at least I am on time. However, after clocking in I proceed to sit in the office with another sub for 30 minutes waiting for our assignment. “Sometimes I have been a floater and not assigned to one room for the day, so maybe that’s what we’ll do,” the lady says. Nope. “Room 109,” the receptionist tells me at 9 a.m. just as the kids are arriving on the bus.

When I get to the room I realize that: a) I will have no assistant for the day so it is just me and the kids; b) There are 32 kids, by far the biggest group I have ever seen and way more than one teacher should have; c) The teacher has left me no plans whatsoever, nothing. Not even a sub folder to get me through the day. So I have 32 kids pouring into the room who will be my responsibility for the next 6 hours and absolutely no idea what I am going to do with them. Other than that, I am off to a great start!

The other 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Connelly, comes in and quickly flips through the teacher’s guide and gives me suggestions but that is it. I get no more faculty/staff input for the rest of the day in terms of lessons and activities to do with the kids. From that point forward it was a constant battle for control of the room as the children will not sit still, be quiet, or (with a few exceptions) do what I ask them to do.

Periodically, a child will come up to me and whisper “Mr. Blair, are you going to write my name on the board for being good?” and I tell them that we’ll see how it goes. At this point that would be a short list. A few students suggest that I use the “123 all eyes on me” method to quiet down the class and I thank them for their input.

I slowly and loudly work my way through the suggested lessons, one on compound words (basket + ball = basketball, story + book = storybook) and another on writing a personal narrative about their first day of school. The kids are so noisy that they can be heard from the main office down the hall, and every few minutes a different faculty member comes in to scold, yell at and in some cases remove a student, which helps for about as long as that person is in the room. After that it is right back to the storm that otherwise characterizes the room.

The hardest thing for me is to see the small handful of the children in the room who actually want to work be demoralized and overwhelmed by the misbehaving masses. The low point for me, and the moment that absolutely breaks my heart, is when a girl asks me if she can read her narrative in front of the class. I say yes and after repeated futile attempts to quiet the class am unable to get them quiet enough to hear her. The frustrated girl went back to her desk and told me “I am going to write (transcribe) it again.” I dress down the class for disrespecting both her and me but it is of little use.

When I first got into the class I think that I was so shocked by what I was witnessing that I considered walking away. It was very traumatic for me to be in a class like that. However, the longer I was in there raising my voice, sending kids out of the room for punishment and observing children doing no work whatsoever a strange sense of calm came over me. Like I knew that I was not going to be able to change the situation and that what I was doing had little to do with teaching. I almost felt like a babysitter or a warden or something.

It was a very rude lesson for me on the realities of urban education in the inner city. I have never felt so frustrated and helpless in a classroom before and I hope I never do again. The kids deserve better than this and while I know that the problem extends well beyond the school itself – parents, home environment, race and socioeconomic status all play a role as well – I am very discouraged by what I see and experience today.

Note: This is the first post of a series that will describe the trials and tribulations of my life as a substitute teacher in the city of Chicago. I am posting the first two reflections from September today and will try to post these regularly from now on. Enjoy!

The Sub Life - 9/11/06

Today was my first substitute teaching assignment in the city of Chicago. The good news? The school is only about 4 miles from my apartment and more or less a straight shot down Western Avenue, a major north-south thoroughfare in the city. The bad news? It took me 15 minutes to cover the first mile of that four as the traffic was at a virtual standstill until I got past the expressway. No problem polishing off that bagel I brought with me in the car.

Perhaps this slow start was an omen of the news I would receive when I got to the school itself. First off, the teacher did not leave me any lesson plans. Second, the teacher’s aide is brand new this year and, while well intentioned, is not able to help much. Last but not least, I also learn that I will be working with a group of 4 six year-olds who have autism. Never done that before!

I meet the crew as they arrive on the bus and grab some breakfast in the cafeteria, which is in the basement of the school. Here is the roll call:

1. Luis - I am told does not like to sit and he shows it by bouncing around the room after inhaling his Fruit Loops.
2. Oliver - A whisp of a kid who will spend the day giggling, grabbing my legs like they are a piece of playground equipment and giving me the most aggressive hugs I have ever had, adults included. He virtually head-butts me each time to the point that I have to ask him to stop before I get hurt.
3. Corey - A rather quiet kid who it turns out really likes to get comfy on the classroom floor.
4. Jaquan - The Energizer bunny of the group. Upon returning from music class proceeds to lead me on a high-speed foot chase through the schools’ rather spacious second floor. Oh yes, and he periodically goes into screaming fits.

The day gets off to a solid start with my reading “Old MacDonald” complete with little finger puppets for the various animals. I give each child an animal after I read that animal’s part of the story. The kids seem to enjoy it, but their attention spans being what they are start to lose interest after about 10 minutes.

From here we transition, and I use that term loosely with this group, into some educational games on the computer. A “Blues Clues” CD-Rom seems to do the trick for two of the kids and a science game takes care of another. That leaves Oliver, who basically giggles, grabs my legs and hugs/head-butts me in between brief periods of doing his counting.

I somehow manage to make it through the day, though there are times when I swear the clock is going backwards on me. On the way out I get some kinds words from one of the teachers. “That’s basically the way they are every day, you did fine,” she told me. I smile and thank her as I take my weary self to my car.

And So it Begins...

Though I actually set this blog up about a week ago, I wanted to make G's Spot official and welcome myself to the wonderful world of blogging. I still don't know exactly what this site will look like or what direction I will take it.

I will probably talk a lot about my teaching experiences good and bad, things happening in Chicago with my friends, my three nieces in California, sports, "The Simpsons," U2, how bad "Saturday Night Live" is these days, my thoughts on the new fall 2006 TV season, pop culture, movie reviews, the upcoming college basketball season, the brilliance of Tom Brady and whatever the hell else I can think of.

I look forward to you, my friends and family, joining me for all or some of the ride and I welcome your comments as G's Spot gets off the ground and becomes the world wide phenomena that I know it can be. Just remember that you can say you knew me when this blog was an unknown, up-and-coming fighter out of the Windy City before I sell the movie rights to Miramax, Matt Damon plays me in the movie and U2 does the soundtrack.