Bring On the Reunion

It was announced today that the legendary 80's rock group and G's Spot favorite the Police plan to reunite to perform at next month's Grammy awards. Despite their huge success and five Grammy wins, the performance at the February 11th show in Los Angeles marks the first time the group - singer Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland - have played on the Grammy stage. It is also their first performace together since the band's 2003 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=aee0902e-eeac-469b-a7be-120b06183ef2

This news comes on the heels of reports that the band has been holed up in Vancouver rehearsing not only for the Grammy performance but for a full blown world tour. It is just a matter of when and not if they announce 2007 tour dates. All I can say is it's about damn time. Not that any of these guys need the money but come on. If the Stones can roll their bones out on stage in their 60's then certainly Sting, Andy and Stewart can get that band back together again for one last blowout tour.

My last memory of the Police performing live was of their set at the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope tour at Giants Stadium in 1986, broadcast on MTV back when music was more than filler between episodes of "Laguna Beach." This was in fact a reunion as well, as they had already broken up the previous year. Midway through their performance of "Invisible Sun" Sting was joined by U2's Bono on vocals, and after its conclusion each member of the Police handed their instrument off to their U2 counterpart. Two of my favorite singers of all-time and hands down my favorite two bands of all-time on stage together. Wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvGpWksgEI8

It was a symbolic changing of the guard, as U2 was less than a year away from the release of their seminal album "The Joshua Tree" and megastardom. The supergroup of the late 70's/early 80's passed the torch to what would be the supergroup of the 80's and early 90's. Why this concert has not been released on DVD is one of life's great mysteries. The Live Aid show from 1985 is out but not this? Come on now. In addition to the Police and U2 the concert featured a typically mesmerizing set by Peter Gabriel and too many other great performances to list here. Thanks to YouTube you can do a search and check it out.

In the 20+ years that have passed since this performance, I have had to satisfy my live Police jones by seeing Sting perform various Police songs during his solo tours. It would not be hyperbole for me to say that this is the one band left that I wanted to see perform live in my lifetime, having been a little young in their heyday. Well, it looks like I will finally have my chance. Whoo Hoo!

Working for the Weekend
January 27-28, 2007

As this is my first post of 2007, I wanted to wish a belated Happy New Year to all my readers. During a visit to their home last night, my friends Greg and Mary Jo reminded me that it has been quite some time since my last posting on G’s Spot. I then realized I had recently passed the month mark since my last entry, which is totally unacceptable to both me and (I am assuming and hoping) my loyal readers. I can only imagine if my Netflix or Sports Illustrated didn’t show up at my door for a month. I’d be so irate that I’d be, um, making angry phone calls and sending pissed off e-mails to customer service, or something like that. Anyway, I am sorry and I won’t let it happen again. I promise.

So, I once again spent Saturday and Sunday out at the unnamed educational service where I have been working part-time since November. There I have been helping our youth keep their New Year’s resolutions to get a better score on their end-of-grade tests so the federal government doesn’t take their schools’ funding away via No Child Left Behind. Or, maybe it is just to pass next week’s math test so that they can play more X-Box and see “Epic Movie” with their friends. Either way, a lot was on the line here.

This weekend, I had a couple of children who went on and on about how they hated reading and that it was boring. Just the kind of enthusiasm a teacher likes to see! I looked at the information profile for one of them and saw that he liked basketball, so I said “You like basketball, right? Who is your favorite player?” Somewhat to my surprise he said his dad, and not LeBron, Carmelo or Kobe as I had expected. It would have been kind of cute, actually, if the kid wasn’t such a brat.

So I said “Do you think that your dad was just born with the ability to play ball or that he had to practice and work hard to get better at it?” Perhaps just to be argumentative the young boy went with the “he was born with it” option and I said “Even if he was born with natural ability, he’d still have to work to get better at it, right?” The kid grudgingly admitted that yes, he’d have to practice to improve. I said “It is the same with reading. You have to practice to get better at it.”

I could have predicted the counter-argument I would get next as I have gotten it many times before. All teachers have at some point. It is roughly stated as “Why do I have to do this/When will I ever need to use this?” So, I ask the child what he wants to do for a job when he grows up. “Shoot people” he said without a hint of irony. I was like “That’s not a job unless you’re a hired assassin or James Bond.” “Be a police officer, then,” he said. I went on to tell him that you have to pass a written exam to be a police officer and asked how you would do this if you couldn’t read.

The student considered this for a moment and didn’t have much more to say about the matter. Score one for the teacher! For those keeping track at home, in addition to providing quality reading instruction and assessment for roughly 20 children this weekend I also managed to defeat an 11 year-old in a debate. They don’t pay me enough for this kind of expertise. All in a day’s work for yours truly.