A Great Opportunity

Well, here's the highlights of the rest of the Tennessee Theatre Association Convention for me:

• Co-adjudicating the High School Scholarship auditions.
  The TTA awards a $500 scholarship to a Tennessee high school senior who goes to any in-state college or university. The students prepare a 2-minute monologue and audition for us. The one whose monologue shows the most skill wins. This was interesting - I'd never done anything like this before, and there ended up being about 20 kids. Some seniors, some juniors - the juniors were ineligible for the scholarship, but encouraged to audition for the experience - but all with relative skill levels.
  
  
• Plays, Plays, Plays
  I didn't get to see many of the performances, but there were 5 colleges, 8 high schools and 3 community theatres that brought shows and performed over the course of the weekend. All were judged and presented scores at the end of the festival. Bearden High School from here in Knoxville won their competition, so kudos to them. I did get to see my wife's alma mater, Lambuth University, perform a funny show called "On the Verge".
  
  
• Nothin' Dirty Going On
  The best part of the weekend is that I was able to get this job that I talked about before... I will be musical directing a staged concert version of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" with the Royal Palm Players in Boca Grande, FL this coming February. Refer to the aforementioned article for the details of how the opportunity came up, but they will be flying me down, paying a salary and providing housing for me in a condo on the beach. Looks like my family will be able to join me for several days as well.
  
  I received the music in the mail, and while I was initially a little nervous - I play the piano, and play it pretty well but it's mostly by ear and I'm not great at interpreting full scores - I was pleased to see that it's basically from one of those "singers editions" of the show, and not the actual accompanist score. I.e. it's not difficult to play, and allows for a lot of improvisng which, if you've seen the movie or the show, you'll know that most of the songs are fast-paced, rock/country kind of numbers. One drawback - the music only includes the melody lines, and no chorus parts, which means either they'll be coming separately or I'll need to arrange the chorus parts myself. This is no big deal, really, and I'd look forward to doing it - especially since I have several months to get it done.
  
  Anyway, I can't wait to sit on the beach in South Florida in February while everyone's freezing up her in Knoxville :)

And that's the way the beach ball bounces...

State of Tennessee 2, City of Miami 0

Quotes of the Weekend:

"It's war. They're out there to kill you, so I'm out there to kill them. We don't care about anybody but this U. They're going after my legs. I'm going to come right back at them. I'm a ... soldier.''

-- U. Miami TE Kellen Winslow, Jr. after Vols 10-6 win Saturday


"As for my reference to being a soldier in a war, I meant no disrespect to the men and women who have served, or are currently serving, in the armed forces. I cannot begin to imagine the magnitude of war or its consequences.''

-- "U. Miami TE Kellen Winslow, Jr.", aka U. Miami Sports Information Office



"We couldn't run it, and we couldn't throw it. That is not a good combination.''

-- Miami Dolphin QB Brian Griese, after Titans 31-7 win Sunday

whistling in the dark

go vols.

don't get me wrong I'm ecstatic. judging by the last time the volunteer nation celebrated after a huge win - an upset win at florida in 2001 resulted in the vols losing the next week in the sec title game - i'm going to wait till after the season is over to truly celebrate the vols 10-6 win over miami.

so, golf clap for the vols then back to business against miss. state, vandy and kentucky.

yay.

Smack-Dab in the Middle

Via One Hand Clapping:


You are Psalms.


Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Random Passing Thought of the Day

Zell Miller has been making the talk show/news show rounds heavily these last few days, promoting his new book, A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat. He was even on the Rush Limbaugh show today, with whoever was hosting this week.

My thought - given this guy's appeal to both the left and the right...is he gearing up for surprise Presidential run?

If others have brought this up already, I apologize, but I haven't seen it speculated anywhere yet.

This Just In....

Wal-Mart Receives Target Letter From U.S.

"Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Tuesday it has received a "target letter" from the U.S. Attorney's Office saying the world's largest retailer allegedly violated federal immigration laws."

In related news, Target has announced it too received a letter, this one addressed to K-Mart.

K-Mart could not be reached for comment.

That's the news! Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Bach'in it

My wife's in Charleston (hi, L!), my kids were at the grandparents last night - so I had the night free!

No strings! No ties! Free as a bird like my ol' bachelor days!

What wild, exciting thing did I do last night? What hedonistic trouble did I get myself into? What dire predicament did I stumble upon that required calling the police, the national guard, 6 squads of Marines and two Cub Scout Troops?

Er, um, nothing really. I ate dinner at Savelli's, rented "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and did laundry.

Man, I'm getting old.

P.S. I've ordered a new graphics card for my home PC which should be here in a couple of days. Hopefully it will solve my video problems and I can continue my TTA story soon. Work is ok for light blogging but I feel guilty about spinning a big yarn, even if I am just waiting for my logfile tracking reports to run.....

Oh, by the way - L, if you're reading...I ordered a new graphics card. Just thought I'd let you know....(ahem)

O, John Ward, Where Art Thou?

Tennessee beat Duke Saturday 23-6 for homecoming. Boring game, team not good, yadda yadda yadda - I'll let others comment on the Vols themselves, but there's another facet of the UT game-day experience that bears some close scrutiny.

Now it's not my style to criticize, especially when the object of criticism is out of my field, but the current University of Tennessee football radio host, Bob Kesling, needs to have some serious reconsideration of his abilities as a play-by-play announcer.

Kesling, while a good sportscaster and speaker, clearly has deficiencies when it comes to calling a football game. In Saturday's game, for instance:

• His descriptions of the plays lack accuracy. Several times he would say something similar to, "He's hit at the line and slides forward for a couple of yards", when in reality the running back got 6-7 yards. You're expecting 2nd down and 8, and all of a suddent it's actually 2nd and 3. Big difference when you're trying to follow the image in your head.
  
  
• This didn't happen as much last night but it's been a big problem since he first started five years ago - getting the name of the running back or receiver wrong. Now I know it's tough sometimes to see the number of the ball-carrier in the piles of humanity but the Vol Network has spotters that are supposed to help him with that sort of thing. Worse is when the player is in plain sight, such as running in the open field. If #11 James Banks catches the ball and is sprinting toward the end zone, it's confusing and unfair to the players to hear Kesling give another player credit for the catch/run. Even when it's obvious who's got the ball, he doesn't correct himself until much too late.
  
  
• After Tennessee went up 16-6 in the 4th quarter, numerous times he said the score was 16-10 (apparently he knew in his head there was 10-point lead and misspoke). Of course, there's a big difference in football between a 10-point lead and a 6-point lead, and when the game is only on the radio without the benefit of a TV or scoreboard in front of you, it's misleading. Again, he never actually corrected himself or made it plain he had gotten the score wrong.
  
  As I said above, Kesling has spotters that feed him names and statistics from time to time. You'd think that they would also give him a hand when there's been a glaring error, such as a consistently incorrect score. The only answer I can think of is that he's very strict about not being corrected and has created an atmosphere of "the big guy's always right" in the Press Box. That doesn't quite follow his public image of an affable, fairly genial kind of sports guy so it's difficult to reconcile, but I don't know how else to explain.

There are other examples, but it would be a bit excessive to sit with pen and paper and try to catch them all. And it's not the worst thing in the world, but when you follow a favorite sports team you'd like to expect the play-by-play man to be accurate at least 95% of the time. But Bob is not, unfortunately.

The ghost of the Voice of the Vols, John Ward, looms heavily over UT radio broadcasts (well, not literally - Ward's still very much alive) and it's impossible to measure up to such a legend. Trying to follow a legendary coach or actor is always difficult and you are never able to satisfy everyone. I've always respected Bob Kesling as a sportscaster and a local personality, but it's just getting difficult to listen to the game on the radio, when you can't be confident that what you're hearing is what's actually going on down on the field. And that's a shame.

Child of the 80's

That's definitely me - started High School in 1980, graduated college in 1989. Couldn't plan it any better.

Pop Music Quiz at Sugarfused - guess the missing words to the 80's lyrics!

I scored a 52.25%, although for some reason they deducted 30% because of when I was born (like I'm to blame for the 80's? I just lived in it, I didn't create it. Ok, I did have a pair of parachute pants and a white blazer, but that's all!!). Anyway my read adjusted score would be 74%.

Quote of the Day

"The Twenty-First Century's kind of like the Twentieth Century, except everybody's scared and the Stock Market's way down..."

-- Lisa Simpson

TTA Conference Report Will Continue Soon...

My PC at home still has graphic card disease, and it's difficult to write long stretches of text. I'll get back to the report as soon as I can, promise.

Fulmer Rumors

Calm down, move along....nothing to see here...

The big bad rumor that UT Coach Phil Fulmer was resigning today at a 4:15 Press Conference due to personal scandal had more hot air in it than under a Brodie Crowell pass. It was an update on ill player Chuck Pugue.

Everyone continue breathing, and resume your normal lives.

And to those who started the rumor, which apparently flew fast and furious all over the South today - pppppptttttttthhhhh!!!!! Jerks.

UPDATE: The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that UT AD Mike Hamilton has gotten wind of this rumor and issued a statement:

"Over the last several days, and even more prevalent today, there have been a number of rumors indicating that Phillip Fulmer would be resigning as head football coach in a press conference to be held Thursday, Oct. 30.

"Obviously, those rumors have no sound basis. Coach Fulmer in no way has indicated any intention of resigning his position. Credence appeared to be given to such rumors because of a special media opportunity held Thursday regarding Chuck Prugh and his first meeting with the football team following his acute illness.

"Dr. (Joe) Johnson (interim UT president) and I have the utmost confidence in Coach Fulmer's leadership and we step forward at this time to dispel any misinformation you may have heard about his leaving the University of Tennessee.''

Now, of course, the rumor barons will a) pass this off as the classic "vote of confidence" from the owner before the coach is given the boot, or b) be assured that Fulmer chickened out on the announcement and will either stick it out or do it at a later date. Neither is correct, of course, but their "sources" will continue to provide "inside" information "straight from the Athletic Department". One wag I noticed online got their information straight from their wife, who (let's see if I get this straight) works with Fulmer's daughter-in-law and contacted the Athletic Dept. for more information. Another was told by a prominent -- PROMINENT, I TELL YOU! -- athletic department contributor that he should be in front of a TV around 4:15 for the big announcement.

Right.

These so-called "sources" are never right, because most of the time they either don't exist, have bad information themselves, or are pulling someone's leg.

So remember, your "sources" may not always be correct - be patient, and the real story will likely come out in the end.

After all, it only took 40 years for this to finally be laid to rest...

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XIV

Tommy of Big Stupid Tommy is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

This week he's featured the cast and crew of the RTB in his version of his favorite television-inspired holiday family party, Festivus.

Tennesee Theatre Association 2003 Conference - Part 1

First some definitions:

The Tennessee Theatre Association is Tennessee's official advocacy and informational organization for the theatrical arts. All state colleges/universities, secondary schools and community theatres are invited to join and participate. TTA presents an annual conference that brings together these groups from all around the state to perform, audition, attend workshops, and network with like professionals and amateurs from all levels of the art.

I have a BA in Theatre from the University of Tennessee, and as long-time visitors to the Inn know I still participate in theatre activies in East Tennessee, mostly at the Oak Ridge Playhouse. I'm a director, musical director and actor primarily though I have dabbled in accompanying and sound design. I love theatre, and I love drama in many forms. If you've never attended a play or haven't in a long time it's an experience that will stay with you for a long time - frequently longer than your average movie-going experience.

For a long time I've wanted to be more involved than just the hobby level - I do have a degree in it, after all - but work and family responsibilities have not allowed me to do more than one of maybe two shows a year. A good friend of mine who lives in Knoxville is the president-elect of TTA, and in the course of conversations he offered me the chance to design the TTA website. I agreed, and in the course of designing the site I realized that the organization was a perfect way to become more involved in the theatre business without sacrificing a lot of my already small but extremely valuable free time. He mentioned that there was an opening on the Board of Directors for an East Tennessee Representative - basically someone who keeps in touch with the various theatrical groups in East Tennessee, and serves as their liason, advocate and communicator to and from the organization. I jumped at the chance, and began serving a two-year term back in the summer.

The Conference is the highlight of the year for the Association, and most of the annual activities and plans are based on this conference. As I said before, there are competitions, auditions, and an atmosphere of networking and fellowship among people who love theatre and the theatrical arts. This year the conference was held in Clarksville, TN on the campus of Austin Peay University.

My friend, Les and I left last Wednesday afternoon (the 22nd) and drove straight out there. There were a few early birds that arrived early like us - the Conference didn't officially start until the next day - and we spent the evening having dinner and getting ready for the big weekend.

Our hotel was the Quality Inn. Um, an interesting place - some of the hallway floors weren't level, apparently due to some sinkholes, or perhaps the San Madrid fault, I'm not certain, but we would walk up a rise, then down a slope, then lean to the left, then the right...well, you get the picture. It was all the fun of walking drunk, but none of the hangovers.

Les, as President-Elect, is in charge of the whole Conference and as such was constantly checking on last-minute details: accomodations for attendees and special guests, badges, registration, etc. He's an Electrical Engineer by trade and has a lovely wife, a 1-1/2 year old son and another on the way and the poor guy was so stressed his stomach was bothering him for the first three days of the conference. I felt sorry for him, and was planning on helping with registration as much as possible but being a rookie I didn't have a lot of prior experience. I wish I could have helped more, but I was able to learn as I went.

Next up: Thursday, Day 1 (officially). Sometime later this afternoon....

UPDATE: Oh, one more thing. We stopped at the Nashville airport on the way down to pick up an adjuticator who was flying in from Florida by way of Charlotte. All the play festivals are judged and a winner is announced later in the conference for each category: community, college/university, and secondary schools. They are graded and commented on as well, which helps improve their performances. The adjuticator we picked up is the Producing Director for a community theatre on an island in Florida near Sarasota. On the drive to Clarksville, we got to talking about my background, and how I have musical directed several shows. She mentioned that she was needing a musical director for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" for two weeks in February, and would I be interested? Well, the offer was to fly me down, put me up for 2 weeks in a condo on the beach, pay a salary and it wouldn't even be a full production but a staged concert - me playing piano and a pre-cast group of players to do the show. I said that sounded very interesting, and I'd love to talk some more about it later. Ohhhh, yes. We'll talk about it later. Absolutely we will talk about it later!

Labels: Theatre, TTA

TTA Conference

If anyone's interested in hearing about my trip to the Tennessee Theatre Association Conference this weekend, let me know and I'll blog about it. It was an interesting trip.

And the Winner Is...

The award for Concept That Has Long Outlived its Usefulness goes to...

Switching back and forth from Standard to Daylight Savings Time.

I will step out the door from work today and it will be dark. Darrk (or almost dark). At 5:30.

There are two - and only two - advantages to switching back to Standard Time in the fall:

1) Extra hour of sleep Saturday night/Sunday morning (this was great when I was a kid and could sleep another hour before getting up for church, less big of a deal today).

2) It's relatively dark and spooky on Halloween.

Other than that...that's it. You have malaise and depression thrust upon you every evening going home - little time for enjoying that brief hour or so after work to run around outside with the kids, rake the leaves if necessary, walk the dog without tripping over...well, you get the picture.

No, now it's:

a) Wake up!
b) Go to Work!
c) Come home from Work!
d) Bedtime!

Or so it seems. There's no advantage whatsoever to switching back.

Therefore, I propose we stay in Daylight Savings (which is a non sequiter any more - you're not saving daylight, you're preserving it) Time all year round.

Ok, I just thought of a third advantage to the time change - changing the batteries in your smoke detectors. But that's supposed to happen both in the spring and the fall, so it doesn't really count

Who's with me? Abolish the old Standard Time, preserve daylight as long as possible!

Seasonal Affective Disorderlies of the World - Unite!

I am Federal Agent Jack Bauer. And today is the longest second-longest third-longest day of my life

24 starts its third season tonight, sans commercials thanks to a generous grant from the Ford Foundation. Or Company. Whatever. Anyway, go buy an F-150 to show your gratitude...

24 Official Website

Official Discussion Group (pretty good)

and Danielle from Missives Anonymous will be watching. I will too, at least after the kids have gone to bed and assuming I set the VCR correctly.

Tivo - bah. Who needs it when you have a VCR?

Call for Hosts

Rocky Top Brigade members wishing to host the Volunteer Tailgate party please contact me at innofthelasthomeinsolace@yahoo.com.

Check out the updated calendar at the top right of the page, or just go to http://calendar.yahoo.com/innofthelasthomeinsolace.

The next available slot is November 27th (as of this writing).

Thanks!

See Ya

I'm headed to Clarksville for the 2003 Tennessee Theatre Association Conference. Be back Sunday. Looks like I may be adjudicating some of the high school auditions, which sounds like fun....

Don't do nothin' while I'm gone.

Why We're There

I'm no political or military expert. I don't even play one on TV. But here's my two cents worth on why we are, and should remain, in Iraq.

Bill Hobbs says:

"The flypaper is attracting the flies.

A taped message purporting to be from the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden declares for the first time that Iraq is the new battlefront in the jihad against the US.

Beats having them bringing the jihad to our shores. Much better for the jihadis to come to Iraq to be killed by the American military than to fly planes into buildings in New York.

Isn't that the bottom line of the "we're losing 2 soldiers a day over there since the war's over - we have to get them out of there!!" debate?

We're fighting a war against an army of militant fundamentalist Islamic terrorists, which number in the who-knows-how-many thousands. They've proven they can and will attack America on our own soil. If our armed forces have a chance to combat them away from American soil, and reduce their ranks on a daily basis so that the chances of other terror strikes against the US is diminished, how is this different from any other armed conflict we've engaged in in the past?

The liberation of Iraq - lack of real resistance notwithstanding - was much more like the traditional war. An invasion, territories attacked and held, people freed, battle lines drawn and re-drawn, inexorable push toward a geographic destination and achievement of a goal - the ouster of the Saddam regime. This task was finished in a couple of months. Now Iraq has become a new battleground where American troops fight those who've been co-opted into the fight by their ideoligical leaders, and are keeping them from traveling to American shores. This is an unfamiliar battleground - on the surface it doesn't make sense to see servicement falling for what seems to be no reason. But soldiers die in battle, just as surely as if it were a push up the beaches of Normandy, across Guadalcanal, or guarding the progress of freedom in Iraq - only the tactics of the enemy is different. We've had to take the attack to them, on their soil, on their terms.

That said, we must be able to see progress...

South Knox Bubba sez:

"What I want to hear is that either the situation is secured or our troops are coming home."

(...)

Otherwise, save all your "things are going great in Iraq" bullshit, or better yet tell it to the families of these people, especially the ones who died after George AWOL Aviator Bush declared victory on May 1st.

I don't believe the job could possibly be over now, even if we wanted it to be. There's no way the situation could possibly be secured, nor could or troops come home. The area is still too unstable, and the potential risk is too great to leave now.

Every day that there is not another terrorist attack on American interests is another day of victory, but it can only be a partial victory if every day does not also see hope and building for the future in Iraq. Setting up a free, noncorrupt and stable government in Iraq will be extremely difficult and tedious, but it will be a very important step toward lessening the tension. Again, it has to be above-board and honest - something people are looking for, and that the US boasts of in its "charter" but has been seen in short supply in practice. We must be true to ourselves, and to what the US is really all about.

And then, nothing succeeds like success - if the future terrorists in the Middle East see how the people of Iraq can improve their lives by viewing it first hand, maybe that will give them less reason to believe in and join the jihad. And that will indeed be a victory.

Kinda Sad

I went to O'Charley's today for lunch, the first time I've been back to one since the Hepatitis A scare a month ago.

I didn't go to Turkey Creek, but the one in Alcoa near the airport that's close to where I work. At lunchtime, it was only about 1/2-full and a lot of the wait staff were standing around looking for something to do. In fact, they were going out of their way to be courteous and welcoming. Probably under instructions from the management to make O'Charley's more inviting and friendly than ever.

I had no problem going there and there's no real reason I hadn't gone before now. But it was sad that half of Knoxville is still uptight over a problem at one restaurant that, as it turned out, had nothing to do with the cleanliness of the employees or the food or utensils themselves. It was a bad shipment of onions.

I like O'Charley's, and I hope business picks back up for them soon.

Radio

I had the good fortune Saturday evening of attending a Knoxville sneak preview for the movie "Radio", starring Cuba Gooding Jr. Mr. Gooding was in attendance and spoke to the crowd gathered at Knoxville's West Town Mall Regal Cinema.

I've only seen Cuba in a couple of movies, "What Dreams May Come" being the one that comes to mind first. I was quite impressed with his warmth and spirit.

The movie was good, and a tearjerker in parts. It tells the true story of a mentally handicapped man who for the past thirty years has been an assistant football coach for a high school in Anderson, SC. I thought it was very similar in tone, structure and even dramatic "beats" to another recent high school football movie, "Remember the Titans".

If you're planning on seeing the movie, I won't spoil it but if you do, come back and tell me your opinion of the coach's relationship with his daughter, and how you think the movie might have improved on that aspect of the story.

Spammed...?

A lot of bloggers had their comments spammed recently.

(Looks down at his mostly-empty comments sections)




I'm not sure whether to be relieved or insulted...

Volunteer Tailgate Party - Vol. XIII

Les Jones is hosting the latest Volunteer Tailgate Party, a bi-weekly compilation of the best and brightest blatherings of the Rocky Top Brigade.

Broken Hearts

Any UT Fans who are also Cubs fans can't take much more of this....

1) 99 yard fumble return for Georgia at end of first half to take 20-7 lead into the locker room

2) 8-run 8th inning for the Marlins after the Cubs were 5 outs away from going to the series.

Game 7 tonight....

You Gotta Believe.

Welcome to the Rocky Top Brigade

Big RTB welcome to the newest Brigadiers:

SemiPundit, Evil Hippy at Filthy Hippy Speak, Diana at Beyond the Whispers and Jay at Drawing Dead,

Put Me In, Coach

To the world's biggest baseball fan, SayUncle, and all you other fans out there:

Ball, strike, out, safe, foul, single, double, triple, home run, first, second, third, home, outfield, infield, pitcher, catcher, hitter, batter, left, right, center, suicide squeeze, bunt, pop-up, fly ball, grounder, Spring Training, Opening Day, All Star, diving catch, play at the plate, "Holy Cow!", "What's interesting here...", the Babe, Mick, sandlot, in the dirt, four-bagger, around the horn, bases loaded, ducks on the pond, double play, triple play, riding the pine, off the bench, pinch runner, pinch hitter, designated hitter, inning, wins, losses, saves, Pete, Earned Run Average, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, Sandy, Ted, "if you build it, they will come", Little League, "Walk of Life" video from Dire Straights, Jackie, Cal, sacrifice fly, hot dogs at Fenway, Budweiser at Wrigley, sushi at Dodger Stadium, "...and DOWN the stretch he comes!!", Johnny Bench, hit and run, double steal, extra innings, Mr. October, bottom of the ninth, runners on the corners, fast ball, slow ball, slider, curve, change-up, eephus, knuckler, Neikro, "K's", The World Series, The National Anthem, "Take me out to the Ballgame", low and away, high and inside, brush-back, bean, bench-clearer, balk, walk, strike-out, hit-by-pitch, cut-off man, rounding third, relaying the throw, making the tag, out at home.

Glove, bat, ball.

Kids.

Put Me In, Coach, I'm ready to play.

Love Thy Neighbor, Even if it is Rush Limbaugh

One of the signs of a mature soul is to be concerned about your enemies.

I don't like Rush Limbaugh. I don't like what he stands for, I don't like his ideas, his scruples or his attitude.

But I hope he recovers from his Oxycontin addiction, because he's a man, a human, an American, and all people deserve to improve their lives and put their past behind them.

If it causes them to make changes in their life - great. I hope he's able to be enough of a man to learn something from the addiction, the recovery, and the legal troubles.

If he doesn't, well that's his fault and his loss.

But caring for others because they're people and not just because you agree with their politics is one thing that makes us human.

To wish for his early death, or trouble in prison, or any of the other things I've heard advocated on other sites - that's unconscionable. And you should be ashamed.

We're trying to help the Iraqis build a new country, by showing them the best things about America and Americans. Why would you expect someone to emulate an American when the examples they see aren't ones of compassion, understanding and forgiveness but scorn, vengeance and hatred?

And if you profess to any Christian values, you'll realize your teacher never scorned, hated or wished revenge, but forgave.

Even if you don't profess to Christian values, those are pretty good lessons from a pretty good teacher.