After all..how many chances does one really get? Yes i have had chances, yes i have blown chances, but the fact of the matter is that im still standing...i am proof that someone can come back to university at a later age, heck i went to university with people in their 50s and they have turned out well...anybody that tells me that university is nothing but a young person's game is full of SHIT and has no frickin clue what they are even talking about. I have seen people get loans and blow them... i have a real good friend of mine who bought a car with his student loan money, people who get bursaries and scholarships only to get them taken away because they did not keep up their GPA or what have you, who drank or smoked themselves till their brain was nothing but a bowl of soup... i have worked and worked for this, paid the piper and now im on the verge of having it, having that TESOL Certificate and i am only being stopped right now because of $$$... shouldn't it be on merit? Your credentials? Have people forgotten this or are profits (Making the $$$) all that university institutions care about?
Credential- A credential is an attestation of qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant de jure or de facto authority or assumed competence to do so. The academic world makes very extensive use of credentials, such as diplomas, certificates, and degrees, in order to attest to the completion of specific training or education programs by students, and to attest to their successful completion of tests and exams. Documentation of academic credentials usually consists of a printed, formal document designed to last a lifetime without deterioration. The issuing institution often maintains a record of the credential as well. Academic credentials are normally valid for the lifetime of the person to whom they are issued.
Ok enough ranting...lets think about other stuff...
Since i last wrote here...the Habs have eliminated Crosby's Penguins and are now in a dogfight with the Flyers in the semi-finals...it didn't help that the Habs didn't really do so well in Philly but once the series got back to Montreal the Habs responded by beating the Flyers 5-1... now Chicago is up on the Sharks 3-0 in their series..wouldn't it be something if the Habs pulled it out and we had an original six match-up for Lord Stanley? Wouldn't Gary Buttman shit his pants??!?!?! Oh and i must say this...i am on the side of the fence that thinks Crosby should have went overseas and joined Team Canada at the World Championships....i know the kid played alot of hockey this year...but i also remember Gretzky back in 82 after the Oilers were embaressed by the Kings in the first round hopping on a plane and joining Team Canada...he could have said no, but he felt it was his patriotic duty...and did anyone nothing how good the Russians are at the World's and how little are left in the NHL Playoffs?!?!!? Something tells me that is more important to Russian NHLers than Lord Stanley... something tells me something fishy, like some half-hearted efforts were happening...shame shame shame...i dont know about this current generation of players...
I bet she could have made me a Hartford Whalers fan...
Recently i have been thinking talk is cheap when it comes to some people..some people who never took a chance in life and now are just sitting and stuck because of some of the dumbass decisions that they have made the past 20 years...sure i am no saint if you will...but i am not just going to sit here and make shit up because stuff sucks... some people make decisions, not always the best ones..but don't sit there and tell people out and out lies..cause that is the stuff that comes back to bite you in the ass..you tell a tall tale to people and then it becomes an even bigger tale...just losers with nothing but time on their hands and jealous of how others have taken life, done the school of hard knocks and made something or done something that they are very proud of..we are all given the same chances, maybe some less than others and maybe some more so than others...maybe some didn't take the chance..no need to hit others over the head or talk smack...its despiration at its worst...other people hear their crap and well..most people i know will think the better of it and just consider the source.. people will assume..but like the saying goes, assume means you will make an ass out out you and me...but definitly more you...
Oh...Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn is finally hitting DVD in August... a little scared because according to Amazon it is listed as being FULL-SCREEN?!?!!?! This was originally in 3-D in the theatres and at a ratio of 2:35... ugh..hate FOOLSCREEN...i must agree with Roger Ebert that anyone who wants to watch a movie with the sides of the screen cut off should have their rights to operate a dvd player taken away... nothing worse than watching half a movie...how would you like it if your favorite album had the first and last songs cut off it? You would freak out!!!! Well folks it is the same damn thing!!!! Me and Dad went to see this one in the summer of 1983 at i believe the old Casino Theatre in Halifax...an awesome piece of 80s cheese i must say....
I did get up to Wolfville with Sir Justin the other day and i hit the town..it is nice to get back up there after spending all those years there and see the old spots like The Market, Joe's Food Emporium (Axemen Subs rule!) and went to Cajuns where FINALLY i saw residence shirts for sale...i was told that they were only made for convocation, but i spoke to the manager and she told me that if i phone ahead i can have a Tower t-shirt specially made as the makers are local (Always nice to see) ahhh..Wolfville has to be one of my favorite places to go in the summer...sometime i will have to get up there and get some Scots Skins from Joe's..always a favorite...
Picked up "Punk Goes Classic Rock" on CD the other day...some of these are either hit or miss with the "Punk Goes" series...some fun to be had with some of these covers especially Hit The Light's version of Boston's "More Than a Feeling" Every Avenue's "Take Me Home Tonight" originally by Eddie Money (An old pal thought his name was ERNIE Money...went to see him open for Cheap Trick in 88 and that is what my friend thought his name was....honestly...) and some of the others were ok...the only problem was sameness...the appeal of the other "Punk Goes" CD's was the fact that the songs were punked up...like what would this sound like by a punk band...kind of like how Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies can take a Jackson 5 song and make it their own...the covers here of "Bohemian Rhaspody" suffer from being straight remakes of the originals and not punked up at all... oh well it makes for a good listen in the car...
Drove my brother home to Bridgetown the other day and saw a few of the sites..including a pretty awesome antique store in Lawrencetown.. a sign on the backdoor says if no one is there you have to go next door to get the dude.. quite a collection of stuff i will tell ya, signs, stubbie beer bottles, old cans and bottles, toys and ALOT of KFC memorabilia including Col Saunders salt & pepper shakers and a MUG...$20 and a Col Saunders mug could have been all mine!!! Ahhh...i guess i will have to make a trip back there sometime and grab one before some piece of crazy wormslime beats me to it!!!!
I do want to make mention before i go downstairs to watch the Habs-Flyers game of my final chapter for EDUC 4673 and i wrote an article about how to improve my teaching...After spending the last couple of years overseas teaching, one of the best decisions i made was starting to take this course so that i can receive my TESL certification. The lesson made a point of saying for teachers to be careful about taking a teaching job overseas. From my own personal experience i must agree, make sure that you talk to others or look for notes posted on the internet from people whom have taught at this school and it is always a good idea to take extra money with you when you go to teach overseas.
A positive working environment with teachers whom get along and communicate and benefit from one another knowledge is one most teachers would prefer, especially important for new teachers. A negative working environment only leads to it showing in the classroom, an unhappy teacher is very noticeable to students, even those who speak a different language and or of a younger age. Teachers become disinterested, barely will do more that they are required to do in a day and just want their day over with when working in a negative environment.
I feel that there are too many amateurs around who think that it is enough to know English in order to teach it. This has been the case when i have been overseas teaching and there are many teachers who have just a BA and they are teaching new language learners. On the other hand there are amateur teachers who perform their classes just as well as trained professional or in some cases, even better. I agree with the point that there are too many laypersons in charge of the authority as well, many of these i saw in charge of schools overseas who do not have the qualifications to run a school, but yet can do to have alot of finances. I feel that professionalism can be increased by putting more qualified people in positions of authority such as school boards, board members, principals etc. In many foreign countries i think the education board should be more involved in teacher selection and who runs the schools, the schools should be ran by professionals, not people looking for profit which in turn is just exploitation of both students and teachers.
Have a good one folks.. :)
