My hero

Who could it be?

Is it this great man?



That marvellous combination of a great sense of humour combined with the ability to perform ballet on the football pitch ... as well as being in touch with his feminine side?

No no no, for as we know he has upset Mrs Posh one time too many.

Is it this great man,



who has more than one blog?

He has one here too. (Although I am not sure what is against his groin.)

It is not surprising at all that he has his own fansite ,set up of course LONG before he became pope. (Some people saw his potential way before those Johnny Come latelies started hanging about.)

Nor should it shock anyone that many of us will enjoy the merchandise ... wearing t shirts and drinking from cups with appropriate worshipping slogans.


BUT Ladies and Gentleman. These are not the superheroes.
The man I look up to is .....



Dr. David Hyatt.
He is the fount of all knowledge. Not only in his areas of research, but in addition, he supplied me with the photo of Beckssimpson above, with the address of the Rapzinger fansite, but also, the new word, Gluckweh.

And I am sorry. I did not reference him properly when I wrote about this before.
David, I am sorry. I worship you.
And you are a damned handsome fellow.

Pheweee

Finished my chapter for Rebekah and David's book: DIGITAL GENERATIONS. My chapter is called 'Hello newbie! *big welcome hugs* hope u like it here as much as i do!' An exploration of teenagers’ informal online learning.
It is about teenagers online and Communities of Practice and was based on a paper I gave last July (ages ago.) Aaaanyway I had to change a few bits (take out all references to school education) so now it has gone, hopefully never to return to me.
You may like to know I have referred to Anya's paper here a couple of times.

I am very excited as in two weeks will be meeting up with Sandra Weber.
She is really fab, I met her at the Digital generations conference last summer.
She has written a book about dresses.

Yes she has.



(I found this picture here!!)

But not only that ... she also is looking at the whole phenomenon of The PROM.

So it is a project about the prom dress and prom experiences and much more.
AND there is THIS PERFORMANCE PIECE about the academic robe.

So good. (You would not believe the laughs we have about gowns on graduation days!! We all have to put our gowns on and walk importantly on the stage as Mums and Dads (etc.) of people graduating take photos. We all love it really. Pomp and circumstance - so to speak.)

Ain't Cultural Studies great?

I bet you want to do some of her courses now don't you?

Well off I go now to vote Labour.

They better get in I tell you.

Lessons in being Middle Class

OK.
This is beyond a joke.
I know it is my own fault if I watched THIS television programme.
But I have to tell you it is one in a series of a whole line of biggotted reality makeover programmes about trying to make the working class takeon middle class behaviours.
The humiliation that these makeover programme families are put through, is really the pits.
This family was practically forced to send its girls to ballet, to spend a morning orienteering across the Peak district, eating particular types of food.
It is all dressed up as a healthier lifestyle (OK some of it is healthier, such as stopping the Mum from smoking) but it is mainly about exposing and ridiculing working class rituals and values.

It was the worst moment of this type of television show when I saw the self styled saviour of the family (posing as some kind of know all therapist) forcing the Mum and Dad to have meals at the table.
"But this is the best room; this is the best table; we have never eaten in this room; I am keeping it as best' said the Mum. (You may well titter, but surely this is OK?)
Anyway the social saviour woman said, "What is more important to you? The table or the future of your children?'
Yes, she REALLY said this.
Good on her, the Mum said 'My table is more important'.
But really, she just lacked the skills of the language to say, 'this is not really going to affect the futrure of my children. Why can't we have meals on the sofa while watching tv?'

In the end, the family ate at the table, and the Mum discovered the world would not come to an end if they ate there.
But I think it would have been better if the social saviour woman had discovered that the problems the working classes have in life are not about eating at the table and will not be resolved by cosmetic superficial detail.
The problems the working classes have, is the bigotry of the middle class.
And anyway, the middleclass do not really want the working class to become like them, otherwise they would have to introduce new social ettiquette rules to follow so the working class can remain below them.

This is DrJoolz, on her soapbox.

People I wish had blogs ....

Well I completely stole this idea from here, so please forgive me.

But before I give you my list I would like to say I am very glad the people I have listed on my site have got blogs, so don't you all go getting peevish now...

1. Barbie (what makes her tick?)

2. Elastagirl (From the Incredibles. She is amazing.)

3. Jackie Marsh (She is incredible too.)

4. The Singh Twins

5. Prince Harry (I need to know if he is really as stupid as he tries to appear)

6. Madonna (yes I love her)

7. The guy who I ordered a new computer from seven weeks ago (want to know the REAL reason its not here yet.)

8. Purple Ronnie

9. Tracey Emin

10. However hard I try, cannot think of number ten.


STOP PRESS!!! have found Barbie's blog. (The relief)

popepez

popepez
Originally uploaded by Joseph Ratzinger.

Am delighted to announce that these will be available very shortly.

News Flash!!

Michael jackson has had cosmetic surgery.
I don't mean from THIS



to THIS:



I mean the Geneal Mike Jackson from THIS



to THIS:


(The name must be jinxed.)

Research ethics

I am Dr.Disgusted of Sheffield.
Yesterday I watched a small part of a 'documentary' on Channel 5 which showed secretly filmed footage made by a supply teacher as she took on jobs around a range of UK schools.
The ethics of this was not discussed as she time and again taped microphones to her body and carried cameras in an especially designed briefcase. I have enough problems convincing it is `OK to show a digital still image of pupils in school when I have the consent from parents and pupils. But this footage was shown on prime time tv and has been discused on satellite tv programmes. I notice this aspect has been criticised also by the National Union of Teachers.
She slagged off the pupils in the classes and showed them in a terrible light; there was no discussion of the disrespectful way she spoke to them; the fact that she had had twenty years out of teaching and expected to go back and carry on where she left off (I have my suspicions as to why she left teaching in the first place). Her style of teaching seemed unplanned and she was doing my most hated thing in the classroom - going round saying 'Sssssh' all the time (Kids hate that, I think and it sounds STUPID.) She made no attempt to find out pupils names or to talk to them in a pleasant way; it was all very aloof stuff and she had a manner which I am sure the pupils would have found intimidating, judgemental and non-engaging.
Nevermind thst she USED to be a teacher; I would not have been likely to recruit her to the English teaching course I used to work on; syhe seemed to think it was enough to have the right paper work. As we all know, teaching needs more than that and I believe that young people are quite within their rights to have high expectations of their teachers.
New developments in teaching have raised standards in many ways in the profession and pupils are discerning. I am not saying that things are easy or always right in schools and thee are plenty of kiids who are not angels.
What I am saying is this was a revolting peice of research which should not have been televised as it was unethical and totally subjectively positioned.
UK children should be furious at the way this woman misled them and furious at the way schools have been depicted. I believe she should be blacklisted from all supply teaching lists.
In addition, at a time when the Tory party is trying to get in power by saying our UK classrooms are out of control, I think this should have been labelled as a Party Election Broadcast on behalf of the Tory Scum - which The Telegraph is supporting.

And now, for something completely different ..

I have only been to Italy twice so don't know if this is true or not ...

HOWEVER when I was in Rome I did get severely trampled on in a 'queue' to a museum...

OMG

I was not even wondering who to vote for, but did this quiz anyway.
Am shocked to see I was nearly a lib dem.
Blimey.

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Labour

Your actual outcome:

	Labour 56
Conservative -51
	Liberal Democrat 52
UK Independence Party -38
	Green 20

You should vote: Labour

The Labour Party is broadly pro-Europe and takes a strong line in favour of all anti-terrorism measures, and of course supported the war in Iraq. Labour is against explicit increases in income tax to fund public services and against the abolition of university tuition fees, but has pledged to reintroduce maintenance grants for students.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

Pope's blog

I know you'll agree.
This link deserves a post of its own ... the pope has got a blog!!!

It is here.

Toryscum and magic tricks

Sorry for those readers who are sensitive to jokes about smoking.



Thanks to the Tories for contributing such a good meme to the blogging world.

Tories are magicians and can make people disappear ...

If you cannot get enough of this, then you need to get a load of this lovely blog.

Uncanny

No Comment.

Through a window

From the brilliant Cherry Vega.

Transforming a space through the frames we place around it.

Let's get patriotic

It is St George's day today.



I have never known anyone celebrate this day, (although they did here last year) but I have seen people paint the St George's Flag on their faces on days when the England fotball team play.
I have also seen the flag used for racist reasons; drunk people yelling racist stuff, while waving the flag.
Despite the traditional views of St George, I am pleased to announce that St George was born in Turkey . He is patron saint of Ethiopia and of a number of other countries, some in Europe, some not. He lived most his life in Palestine.

So yes, he is a good symbol to have, of multi-cultural Britain.

Secondly, I wouldlike to go and see this film on Sunday at 2 p.m. at this festival in London.

Just 2 more little digs at

narrow minded blatantly racist politicians ..



Thanks to Jackie for the tip off and to Paul Speller for the Art work



I guess I should explain as this is all getting a bit parochial and unfair on international readers ... all these digs are at the Tory party and they have a big thing about not letting foreigners swarming into the country and taking over .. you know, steaing our jobs etc?
The sinking ship is The Belgrano - Maggie Thatcher ordered it to be blown up during the squabble over The Falklands in 1982. The ship had turned back away from the forbidden waters but she wantedit bombed anyway.

So that's the story ... it is as balanced as I can manage.

That sinking feeling ....

Bye Bye Michael

Keeping it real

Respect!!



This is Cardinal Rap-singer.

And now more on a German theme ...
I have always enjoyed the special frisson of 'Schadenfreude'.
I find I experience it in particular when watching those reality tv programmes where people do daft things like, try and set up a business in France when they don't speak a word of French. I, like the rest of the nation I presume, sit with my arms folded, smug expression on my face, watching the idiots have the smile wiped off their faces.

But today I was told of a new concept ... 'Gluckweh', literally, 'Luck pain'.
But it is the word which sums up how fed up you might feel when something fabulous happens to someone and you are eaten up with jealousy. This is not a nice feeling at all.

Perhaps that is how the other cardinals felt when the Rapsinger got voted in. (Although of course, they would pretend otherwise.)

Girl wide web

This is so true. It IS girl wide.
Jackie lent me this book and now I have ordered it from Tinternet.



I also think you should see the contents of the kitchen bin ...

It's all very well the government droning on about obesity, but the teenagers I live with are eating me out of house and home through health food.

Tuesday is shopping day

These are some of the books I want to buy from Amazon:

English in Urban Classrooms: A Multimodal Perspective on Teaching and Learning

I want to learn all about this so that I can do multi modal analysis LOTS. I want to get a lot of video footage from the school where I am workingon gender and achievement. I think the teachers in the project will love it.

Belonging Anya had this book on her blog and I looked it up on Amazon. I love kids' picture books and this one is about SPACES.

Literacy as Snake Oil: Beyond the Quick Fix Colin Lankshear (Editor) Jackie told me about this book over a year ago and I have notgot round to ordering it as you have to wait 8 weeks for it. My local bookshop REFUSED to try and get it as they said it was too hard to get!!

Class, Self, Culture by Beverley Skeggs I was impressed by Bev at the GEnder and Education conference where she talked about this book. It was really good.

So those are on the list at the moment but I still have plenty of books I have not time to read yet ... mostly on blogging!

Crusty Bread

Crusty Bread
Originally uploaded by simpologist.

Brown bread is good for you.