Sister Rosetta Tharpe

I heard Dylan on his radio show say this woman would blow my mind.






I do believe he was right.

Dance For a Reason

SIT grad school girls make a dance video for a good cause.

If this video makes you laugh, please check out Race for a Reason.

Papantla

On my way to El Tajin, I went through the small town of Papantla, where I saw what I think is a rain dance of some kind.

Not really sure, though.

El Tajin

Last week I learned that Mel Gibson’s new movie, Apocalypto, was filmed in the state of Veracruz. To make it even more appealing to me, I learned that Gestalt, the school I’m teaching in, was involved in the filming. The fashion students designed and made many of the costumes, jewelry, and other accessories worn by the actors and actresses, and many students were used as extras.

Unfortunately, the film is showing here with Spanish subtitles, and my Spanish isn’t quite up to snuff to understand everything being said. I’m tempted to try anyway, just for the experience.

Apocalypto or not, my interest in Mexican history was sparked, so Anna, a fellow intern, and I decided to get out of the city of Veracruz for a day and visit the ancient ruins at El Tajin.

"The city El Tajín was the capital of the Totonac state. Tajín means city or place of thunder in the Totonac language, and is believed to have been one of the names for the Totonac god of thunder, lightning and rain." -- Wikipedia

On our way into the archaeological site, we saw five men perform the Voladores Rite. Now, I thought I’d seen some crazy things in Japan, but this ranks way up there.



According to my Lonely Planet, this is packed with symbolic meanings, which I’m sure at some point in time it was, but from my perspective, it’s just a way to sucker tourists into watching something crazy while vendors sell T-shirts made in China.

Talkin' about Teaching

Veracruz Vlog

Veracruz Music

SIT Internship

Merry Christmas!

This video is long overdue on this blog. I recorded this with my students a few years ago, and it still makes me laugh.

Happy Holidays!

Multiple Intelligences

I'm currently doing research about Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences and how they apply to an ESL/EFL classroom.

I came across this 15min clip on Google and thought it's really interesting. It concentrates more on the emotional aspect of intelligence, but if you're in the field of education it's worth taking a look.

My Morning Drive

This is a snippet of my drive up Black Mountain Rd to SIT's campus. I do this every morning and recently the weather has been perfect!

TED Blog: Sir Ken Robinson on TEDTalks

My friend Daniel emailed this video to me, and I thought it was very interesting. When you have about 20min of free time, please sit back and listen.



TED Blog: Sir Ken Robinson on TEDTalks

Sir Ken Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this talk, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. [Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 20:02]