A FEW QUICK THOUGHTS FROM THE WEEK

1. I showed the original 1936 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town in class this week staring Gary Cooper and directed by Frank Capra. This movie is an example of my teaching techniques. I like showing movies because it gives my students a sense of what people were thinking at the time. This movie was made in the middle of the great depression and it shows how people were viewing the new deal. In the end of the movie, Deeds is on trial for wanting to give away his money, and he was being accused of being insane and ruining the economy and government foundations. If you get a chance to view the film, watch it through the eyes of the new deal and how people felt at the politics of the time.

2. Jake and I just finished the Time Machine by H. G. Wells. I know this is a Sci-fi classic but I was not too impressed. I have never understood the end, I understand he was trying to be mysterious, but I like when all the questions are answered at the end. Most movie adaptations have him returning to live with Weena at the end, but Wells mades no such hints in the book, in fact just the opposite. Also when you have a son who tends to get scared, reading a book about monsters that come out at night and eat people is not a wise choice in a bed time book. I had to constantly change the monsters into fun loving creatures who like to play games and act silly.

3. I do not understand the judges on Next Food Network Star. They ask contestants to simplify a dish that takes hours and days to make, but only give them 45 minutes. Then when the contestants give them a different version that is possible to make in the time, the judges complain that it is not the same as the original dish. What were the judges expecting. I thought all three dishes were very creative and generally had the same components as the original dish and was not that the idea. Outside of Bobby Flay you wonder if the saying holds, those that cannot do, judge.