The Daily News   1  Ever feel that you're going nowhere fast at 135 MPH, and you're low on gas? Yeesh. 2  Happy Birthday Dirty Jose. Yeah, I knew. We're making a huge ski lift on Julian. Since you are the best skiier since Sonny Bono, I felt it time for you to show your stuff. I had the ATFNL club ship in 60,000 tons of shave ice. 3  No chance of getting any SHAVED ice. It costes more. 4  We all pitched in and got you a subscription to Oprah Magazine too. Knew you would love to read articles about books to cuddle up with on a frosty night, and Martha's Baking Secrets Revealed. 5  Beyond that, I don't wanna spoil things. 6  After all that paranoia yesterday, I was fairly disappointed to see that only one hamster turned up in a class yesterday. I must have gotten poor information, but it was sure fun being so paranoid. 7  So the first six-week grading period ends next Friday, the end of the seventh week of school. Every year, I am always amazed out how fast the year starts to move. I still feel as though I hit the ground running, and left HUGE Fred Flintstone imprints on the pavement. 8  SOOOO sad! 9  Haha. 10 It's pretty weird not doing a play, I gotta tellya. One of the toughest things is thinking that the alumni might not have a Show to enjoy in the traditional time slot this December. Well, I STILL have the first two weekends in December scheduled for an evening of one-acts, but I am also STILL in search of a director. 11 Meanwhile, the Anti-Tobacco Friday Night Live club has been meeting and plotting a haunted house that will go up on October 27, AND maybe even on Halloween!!! 12  You really shouldn't give a guy who has been running intense things for the past few years a project THAT fun! We decided already not to have it in the wrestling room, but instead to have it in the Theatre. The ideas flowed for the past two days, and I can hardly wait to get in there with a design and make something the likes of which this school has never seen! 13  And already the same old rumors abound. Some guy hanged himself on stage. False. Heidi wears a horse's head backstage. False. If you say the word "McNugget" on stage, you will be visited by heinous albinos who will, when you're not looking, snatch your white French poodle. I only wish. 14  Oy. 15  Speaking of ghosts, I KNOW, I KNOW, I misspelled Annabel Lee in yesterday's DN. My excuse is that I have no excuse. I spelled it Anabel Lee, and for the life of me, I have NO idea why. 16  Man. 17  M'bad. 18  I'm running out of gas. 19  It's Friday. 20  I'm out. I just can't deal. 21  Happy Birthday Josie. 22  Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~h~

The Daily News

oy.

1  Who knew?

2  About a week ago, this girl came in my class with a baby hamster. As I usually do, I ignored it, knowing it would surface about sixty times during that class, and that kids would yell, "Mr. H, there's a RAT in your room!" and that if it even slightly slipped out of the kid's grip, that teenage boys would try to stomp it to death with huge shoes.

3  My usual reaction when there is a "cute" little pet is to play it off with a sense of humor, and then ignore it until the student brings it back at the end of the period, and we all crowd around and look at it like it's Princess Aurora or something.

4  Let me preface this with saying that ANY time an animal enters your classroom, your lesson is done. If a dog, for example, stands in your doorway with his tongue hanging out, it doesn't matter WHAT you are teaching, all attention will instantly go to the dog.You could be in the midst of the most romantic Shakespearean sonnet ever written, or putting the finishing touches on an eloquent recitation of Poe's hauntingly beautiful Anabel Lee, and the class will inevitably go for the dog with his tongue hanging out. It's the law. In Joe-the-Bear's Book on the Laws of Teaching, Joe sez this: Given an animal, it's over.

5  Good ol' Joe.

6  Well, this fine week I began to notice that several kids started showing up with baby hamsters, and that they began appearing in several classes. I STILL didn't think too much of it, until I soon began to notice that EACH hamster was a different hamster!

7  Sounds like a bad movie, doesn't it? Then yesterday, during sixth period, this one hamster became the star of my class. He began singing "Hello, M' Baby", seriously upstaging my riveting lecture on using sensory details in writing. I felt upstaged, and left for my trailer. Seriously. By sixth period, a cutish little RODENT was getting more respect than I was! I literally left the room because it was SO absurd.

8  I finally returned, and order was restored. In fact, after a fashion, I felt sorry for the poor little fellow, because he looked delirious.

9  Hey, he had been in there only one day!

10  Anyway, I asked Courtney, this girl who was holding the little guy, if he was okay, and she told me he was despondent, and hadn't been eating and all. So I bonded with the little fellow, and the class had an "awwww..." moment.

11  I then asked Courtney about the hamsters, and she told me that there were about 80 million of them all over campus, and that some girl had been selling them to the students...

12  Okay...

13  By my estimate, nearly 80% of the classes will have a hamster disrupting them by the end of the day today. As far as I know, only one teacher has booted a kid for holding, and the rest did the Princess Aurora thing. What a brilliant prank.

14  This particular little guy in my sixth had around twenty names too! I can't remember one of them, except Frankie, so Frankie it is.The kids started telling me hamster horror stories, stories of HUGE, savage litters that have parents eating their young.

15  I went online and found a few things out about hamsters. I found that they are rodents, that hey are generally nocturnal, that their incisors continue to grow, that they BITE, and that they are fierce, anti-social fighters.

16  I never HAD a hamster in my life, so I had NO idea. Evidently that stuff happens, AND they multiply at alarming rates. I'm now on alert. I already have roof rats suddenly running around my neighborhood at home, and I'm starting to get a tad worried.

17  And last night, while I was watching the Giants give up on their season, I heard Mike Krukow suddenly yell, "Critters!" and two RATS ran behind home plate at the Giants/Padres game. He also mused, "only at Petco Park!" Haha! Good one, Kruk.

18  But yeesh.

19  Enough for me. 

20  Tomorrow I bring my big old fat cat, Todd, aka, Mr. T, and Corey, who is one awesome mouser. 

21  Oy.

22  Hamsters, man.

23  I gotta get another job.

24  Who knew? 

 

 

The Daily News 1  Welcome to YB's 2005-6 year. 2  Yeesh! 3 The entire left side of me is out of order. 4  Ever have that? Like, whatever that stupid cold is that's knocking everyone cuckoo finally settled in to my left side. It's an Entire Left Side Cold (ELSC). School is all ABOUT abbreviations. VERY big deal. I'm now officially no longer in a Tim Burton cartoon, but in a Looney Tune. 5  I always feel that colds follow somewhere along left-brain/right-brain stuff. I always confuse the two, but then usually, the only people who absolutely remember which is which are the ones who always use their right brain. Or their left brain. Or the one on the left that controls the right, or the one on the right that controls the left... 6  I just know that physically, my right side is my analytical side. I know this, because it has MUCH less wear-and-tear than my left side. 7  So I've been going through an emotional time adjusting to a fifth period Comp/Lit class of THIRTY-SIX, count -em, THIRTY-SIX students enrolled, followed by a sixth period class of freshmen lunatics. 8  It's quite a switch from a reasonably quiet fifth period last year, and a free prep period sixth, in which I generally would take off and go on GREAT rides in the TOONDRA, listening to beautiful music, and letting the afternoon sail behind like the wind... 9  So my Entire Left Side (ELS) is like a blown tire right now. I got that stupid cold yesterday, but almost simultaneously, a spider bit my left index finger, which is now a hardened purple, and quite the size of a link sausage; my left ear went deaf, and an old shin injury I received once when my left shin got clobbered by an oak table decided to act up and throb like Yosemite Sam's temper. My left tooth feels like it just got a painful cavity, and frankly, I feel like a Toon that just got hit on the left side of his head with a frying pan. 9  Po, po, pitiful me. 10  Haha!! Nah, it's mostly little annoyances, but it never ceases to amaze me how an entire side of a person can limp off from so much bending and stretching through these cartoon days.  11  I just need to ride it out. You can't really operate fully with only half of you in gear. I know this is just like a Toon getting smashed by a safe or something, so I figure in no time I'll pop right back up and get myself back. 12  That's what something as common as a cold can do. 13  It can knock a Toon out of his game. 14  Not this Toon, man. 15  Not this Toon. 17  And hopefully not you either. 16  Peace, y'all. That's All, folks!             ~h~

 

The Daily News

1  So Don Adams walks into a bar... 

2  Maxwell Smart, Tennessee Tuxedo, and Inspector Gadget. The guy could do it all. Here he is on the world's first cell phone. A shoe.

3  Gezundheit.

4  <groan>

5  Did the Giants really move to within 3 games of San Diego? How can this POSSIBLY be? Well, why not enjoy it? The Padres can sure figure out ways to shoot themselves in the foot this year, and it was especially nice to see it happen to Trevor Hoffman, the pitcher who pretty much ended the career of Giants' fave Robby Thompson when he cracked Robbie in the cheek with a fastball years ago. Of course, I've hated the guy ever since.

6  Drama Workshop update: I'm still awaiting word and searching for a director for the fall play. I'll let people know as soon as possible. Once we get a director, I'll begin petioning for parking...

7  You wanna know what's happened to me THREE days in a row? My shoelaces knotted, and I spent significant morning time trying to get the stupid things untangled. Like, no reason, right?

8  I sit there with the clock ticking, saying over and over to myself, "If you can DREAM it, you can DO it!" I focus closely on each little loop, tightened like leather sinews, and I even go into a deep chakra thing to "go under" with grace, and patience. Then I start hollering at my foot, and at the entire situation.

9  Only the knot isn't very moved by my rantings.

10 I get really frustrated when inanimate objects get the best of me. You know,  sort of...when you pull a coat off a hanger, and six other articles of clothing fall to the floor, ALWAYS when you're in a rush? And THEN when you try to hang them back up, they get all tangled at the hooks at the top, causing still MORE things to fall to the bottom?

11 Or things just...disappear, only to appear after the hour you wasted looking for them, to be right smack-dab in front of you the whole time...how...?

12  Actually, I'm just ranting here about the shoe. You oughta SEE me in action. I start yelling REALLY stupid things like, "All these guys DO is make shoelaces!!!! You'd THINK they could make shoelaces that DIDN'T get all knotted up!!!!"

13  I'm guessing that it all points to deeper issues.

14  It is, after all is said and done, only a shoe.

15  Gezundheit...

16  Go Giants.

17  Peaceout.

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily News

Don't  wanna be an American idiot
One nation controlled by the media.
Information age of hysteria
It's calling out to idiot America...

                                                              ---Greenday, American Idiot

1  I walk alone.

2  Wow.

3  There's a reason these guys are famous.

4  I had the pleasure of working the GreenDay concert Saturday at SBC Park.

5  It was the busiest, most insanely fun show I've worked in years.

"Dookie [a breakthru CD] was like being on a carnival ride that whips
you round and round real fast. It was too much..."

--Bassist Mike Dirnt

6  My friend Bill, who worked with me selling shirts inside the exclusive Club Level at SBC, laughed when I told him I had told students that I worked the concert as a second income. He has this thick New Yawk accent, and he just laughed. "Yaw STOODENTS? Yaw STOODENTS? You let them know that yaw a kahhhhnie?" Haha!!!

7  He once said, "Do you realize that what we do is we sell useless trinkets to people who have WAY too much money to spend on them?"

8  So yeah, I guess you could say that I'm a "kahnie". That's "carny", as in carnival barker to you, yo!!! haha!!! But what a fun job, which I've been doing since I was 17, just around 10 or so years ago...

9  Actually, we just have a retail biz that makes us a ton. GreenDay proved to be superstars on Saturday. At around 4:00 in the afternoon, when all was calm, and a bird would fly from the upper portions of the stadium down to the stage, the band came out and played for around an hour, and really had fun. The stadium was empty, and we had a chance to listen. Pure rock 'n' roll. Pounding, soulful, amazing. I think they have a marginal fan who finally just saw them for the superstars they truly are.

10  I'm guessing that GreenDay purists feel they've sold out. Well, if being on a level with such pantheon bands as The Who, The Rolling Stones, Queen, and U2 is selling out, then let them sell out. They just lashed, rocked, laughed, and kicked ass. Period. Billy Joe Armstrong is now officially one of the greatest rockers in history.

11  I won't even pretend to say I saw the whole concert, because I haven't been THAT busy in years. On the way outta there, I popped American Idiot into my TOONDRA and flew down the freeway like a punk version of Indiana Jones. Just amazing stuff. It made me realize that these guys are icons, and poets, and that they're REAL.

12  Long live GreenDay.

13  When the lights went down in the City, I was there. And yes, they saluted Journey.

14  Love these guys.

15  Peace.

I'm walking down the line
that divides me somewhere in my mind
on the border line of the edge
and where I walk alone

read between the lines...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~h~

 

 

Morning videocourtesy of me.

Right click zoom and go to full screen.

http://www.virgin.net/music/musicvideos/greenday_boulevardofbrokendreams_hi.html

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  I talked with Rocha yesterday, and the Club Rush really rocked the entire school yesterday. The ASB did a marvelous job of getting the day together, and it really rocked seeing so much going on. Up until yesterday, the school year had been eerily silent.

2  I became totally energized because the CGC rallied to my aid and made up a GREAT table for the Drama Workshop, which simply needed still to be a part of the grand traditions of our school. It felt great standing out there with brilliant pictures from A Love Letter and Songs We've Heard displayed with old posters of Midsummer, Godspell, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and a wonderfully alive display of the Workshop.

3  There was a beehive of activity all around that table, as rumors abounded about shows and rehearsals and the tradition continuing into '05-'06!!!

4  When I decided NOT to direct any more plays, nor to teach any more Drama classes, I NEVER intended for the Workshop to cease. My idea always was to get an awesome director in there to take over, and to bring more great moments to that stage.

5  What really made the whole scene was a sign that said, "The Yerba Buena Drama Workshop  Founded in 1982.

6  Who could ask for anything more? A magic door, with the Broadway/46th St. sign from Guys and Dolls, and all those great pictures, the best of which was a picture of All Good Gifts from Songs We've Heard, and the old 30's hollowed out Fresnel spotlight, just adding to the scene. The Midsummer fairy wings brought it all home, and ladies and gents, as of yesterday, the Drama Workshop was SO ALIVE!!!

7  Teachers walked by and their eyes twinkled. Oh, the rest of Club Rush was awesome as well, but it just felt like it all fell into place.

8  So now what?

9  It's in the hands of myself, and of destiny. But don't be surprised to be hearing of stuff beginning to happen again. There was a definite crackle of excitement, as the kids talked of the great shows, and of the tradition, and all was well...

10  Say a little prayer.

11 Everyone reading this would love to see it happen. Everyone.

12  Long live the Drama Workshop.

13  Hmmm. Once upon a time...

14  Once upon a time...in a far away land...

15  Peace.

It's ALIVE!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

~h~

 

 

 

The Daily News 1  So whatdya know. 2  It's Thursday already.  What a quick week. Yesterday just flew by, and I, for one, enjoyed the speed. Yesterday was just one of those days that needed to go fast. 3  Of course, any time you want things to go fast, they go slow, and any time you want things to go slow, they go fast. It's the law. I thought I'd get out of the chute early yesterday, because I've been cracking down on tardies first period, even though the first coupla days I was tardy due to traffic. 4  So I got out early for once, and instantly hit... traffic, which was backed up to the start of the Earth. Bumper-to-bumper, not budging. El Fricking A, d00d. 5  I got off the first turn-off and went down every back alley in town trying to get to school on time. As I turned on Story, a huge truck carrying hazardous poison turned right in front of me and took its sweet time mumbling down the road like it had a load in its pants. 6  I hit campus with about two-minutes to spare, told a couple of guys from my first period class to hop in the back, and popped on the Star Wars theme really loudly. I then drove through multitudes of students who wouldn't get out of the way if I had an Iraqui Humvee. But Star Wars blaring brought huge smiles to everyone, and I pulled up triumphantly on time for first period! 7  I parked at my room, jumped the rail, and started taking roll. After a minute, the bell rang. I had done it! 8  I always hesitate any time I say, "The bell rang." As long as I've been at YB, it has never had a bell ring. It has always had a horn honk. I THINK it honks in the key of A. I'll straighten that one out and get back at you. 9  But my running joke has been that YB should get the No-Bell prize. 10  Get it? Get it? The No-Bell... 11 Nevermind. 12  Anyway, the day that was supposed to fly by seemed to take forever. My students felt that it wasn't necessary to bring books to school, so I had to lengthen my lecture, which usually causes me to pass out at around 3:01. 13  I thought my clock was stopped, because the day was moving agonizingly slow. But I have a $5 battery operated toy clock from Target, and it's better than a Swiss Army watch, so the time just lengthened, because it's the law. 14  I took off immediately after school, my TOONDRA working as a HUGE bowling ball, again moving through throngs of people who clearly wanted me to run over them, so I did. Indiana Jones blared triumphantly behind me as several freshmen were hopping up and down holding their feet and raising their fists at me in my rear view mirror. 15  I flew down the Lucretia Freeway and within minutes picked up a goodly friend, Thuy. We took off to a great afternoon, which flew by in like four minutes to me. She had to get back though, and be somewhere at 7, so of course, the time again flew, but the traffic made it seem like forever to get her back home. 16  The actual time that passed all day was steady, I'm sure, and quite rhythmical. But it just seemed that in my mind, when I wanted time to fly, it crawled, and when I wanted it to slow down, it flew. 17  Well, in the end, it's right. 18  May your day go whatever speed you wish. 19  I think it's time for me to get outta here. 20  Peace.             ~h~

 

 

 

The Daily News 1  So...Simon Wiesenthal walks into a bar... 2  You know, while absolutely no one was looking, the San Jose Giants won the California League title two days ago. Who knew? They had a best of five series against second-half champs Lake Elsinore, and after having lost the first two games, they won the last three, clinching it at home, and yeah, ALL of us are shaking our heads saying, "I keep WANTING to become a SJ Giants fan..." 3  Shame on us! 4  Just another day. I had noticed recently all sorts of  kids taking to grabbing bookcovers and rubbing them all over their faces. I had NO idea why, and also had noticed that at the end of each school day, my room would smell like a French brothel on Wednesday. 5  Turns out that the bookcovers they gave out to over 1600 students at our school alone had Scratch 'n' Sniff perfume patches on them! 6  Now, just think of that, for a minute. 7  Some guy HAD to come up with that brilliant idea. Like THAT wouldn't be disruptive. Besides the covers becoming the usual sailor's hats, Pirate telescopes, Stealth bombers, and ha-UGE joints, THESE little babies had freshmen boys sticking their tongues through them in a macabre scene right out of American Pie, leaving my portable smelling like the Mitchell Brothers on B.O. night. 8  Not pretty, man. 9  I was sort of hoping someone would crack a stink bomb just to nullify the horrid sweetness. 10 No such luck. Stink bombs are only cracked when we are getting red-assed by the WPC (White People with Clipboards), who walk around every now and again  taking notes on how to make YB a better planet. 11 Gotta love it. 12  I wonder what it would look like if they walked in right after five periods of "ho-house" bookcovers followed by a cracked stink bomb that reeks of boiled eggs and warm beer... 13  Wouldn't reflect very admirably, I'll tellya that much. 14  Alumni will be happy to hear that they are FINALLY installing air-conditioning in the Performing Arts building. For all my talk, this latest version of the WPC is actually putting pressure on schools to fix things up, so although I laugh and criticize, this particular "study" should improve some of the looks of our facilities. 15  Now if they could only get the clock in the Band Room to stop being 9:27... 16  Yep. Thank goodness that some things NEVER change. 17  There's always a nice bit of hope in hopelessness... 18  That makes utterly no sense, but it SOUNDS cool. 19  I'm outta here. I need a dose of perfume and B.O., just for the sake of sanity. Maybe if I get a horse, and park it in my room, it might help kill the smell... 20  Good luck tonight, music peoples. Back-to-School Night. VERY big deal. 21  Kick some butt. Make someone happy. 22  Peace.

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  Update on Katrina Relief: The relief effort at YB continues this week. We have collected over $200 so far, but we need more. The clubs are currently collecting money, but I'm working to do a better campaign as we speak. The $200 will already be matched by Yahoo! so that already becomes $400.

2  Meanwhile, tonight at 7 p.m. on Pay-Per-View, a concert called From the Big Apple to the Big Easy: New York City's Concerts for the Gulf Coast will include benefit concerts taking place at both Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall.

3  Madison Square Garden is underwriting 100% of all concert production costs related to the concert, and an additional one million dollars to begin fundraising efforts. All the money raised will go directly to relief organizations, including Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, Habitat for Humanity, MusicCares Hurricane Relief Fund, and the Children's Health Fund. 

4  The artists performing include such megastars as Elton John, Lenny Kravitz, Dave Mathews, Simon and Garfunkel, John Fogerty, John Mayer, Trey Anastasio playing with many New Orleans stars, including Dave Bartholomew, The Neville Brothers, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and many more.

5  For more information, you can call 212-465-6133 or you can visit the following link:

http://www.fromthebigappletothebigeasy.com/

6  If you come by the school and donate, the money will be matched by Yahoo! AND you will get a leaf on the Tree of Hope which hangs in my room.

7  It's been tougher this year to do this because it's just happened so early in the school year. Clubs have barely gotten officers, and the organizational line that normally would jump on this is just learning how. But we are on it, and have been on it since that terrible tragedy hit.

8  We will continue to move swiftly on this and make it happen as quickly as possible. Feel free to e-mail me at gfharrington@aol.com and I will answer any questions you may have. You can also call me at 408-347-4700, ext. 4824.

9  Thanks a bunch for showing you care!

10  I'm exploring the possibilities of doing other events at the school, and perhaps having a table at Club Rush this Thursday and at the Food Faire on Friday. Stay tuned.

11  Well, I sure hope the starting time of 7 p.m. for the concert is accurate. You might check your local cable for details.

12  So let's just keep going on this, and taking it to the limit.

13  Short DN today. Show you care.

14  Peace.