For years, we have resisted the pressure to start a blog of our own. We worried about having enough arresting commentaries (most blog posts are eye-glazingly tedious), plus we already had the weekly Gadfly. Still, there's no denying the march of progress--even Diane Ravitch has a blog, after all (two of them, actually)--so we've capitulated. We're proud to introduce Checker Finn's blog, Doublechecked.blogspot.com. Here's a sampler of yesterday's posts.
March 29, 2007
4:57 a.m.
Sorry, I overslept. I was up late sipping an aged armagnac and watching Entourage DVDs. I love that show--Ari is too much!--but it's taking up my whole Netflix queue. I had to bump Dangerous Minds down to the bottom.... Whatever happened to that Coolio fellow, anyway?
4:58 a.m.
Just spreading some Philly cream cheese on my morning onion bagel (I import them directly from H&H on the Upper West Side) and reminded myself that the Edison experiment in the City of Brotherly Love continues to be fascinating. Maybe Fordham should do a report about that. Finally Fixing Schools in Philly, perhaps, or The State of a City? Oh, got it! From Vallas to Dallas: Edison and the Contracts They've Won; nice, that rhymes twice. With a catchy title, the report will write itself. Ideas? Am I the only one awake?
Comments (1)
GBracelet87 writes: I'm up, Finn, and I'm watching you.
4:59 a.m.
Just a reminder that next week I'll be exploring the lesser Himalayas with Ming-ma, a Sherpa I've known for years (we met in the Nixon White House). NEA President Hedge Trimmer will be your guest blogger while I'm gone, but if the Blackberry works at 20,000 feet, I'll live-blog my trip for you. For now I'm off to finish my book, write a couple of op-eds, and prepare a speech for tonight. I should be back on in 45 minutes.
Comments (1)
Regicide73 writes: Checker, I've always admired you, and I read this blog religiously! OMG! Can't wait til next week!
5:35 a.m.
Done! Back to the fun stuff. This coffee I'm sipping is first rate--shade grown, fair trade, sustainable, organic, the works. I can't help but think about the success of Starbucks and wonder why nobody can replicate that model in education (their model of success, that is, not of hawking Macchiatos). Why can't there be an Achievement First school on every block? There should be one on every corner, in fact, so kids never have to cross the street!
Comments (1)
ARotherbacon01 writes: I'd just be happy with one Starbucks within a 20 mile radius of my house. I'm in the sticks, bro.
5:37 a.m.
Of course, if this $65 million project goes through, there will be a KIPP school on every corner in Houston. But why Houston? Why not the Upper West Side? Maybe near the bagel place. Maybe where the bagel place used to be. My granddaughter needs a good public school option, too.
5:38 a.m.
BTW--If you like this blog, please check out my others: Click here for Checker's Mumbai Musings, my critical examination of Bollywood trends. Or click here for The Gourmet Grader, my review of all things gastronomical (I'll be live-blogging from Nobu later this week!); and click here for my new Arena Football blog. Finally, click here for some of my favorite YouTube videos (there's one in which a cat writes on the blackboard with his claws-hilarious!), including a couple I made myself, which pretty much put to shame that Fordham podcast. Audio-only is so yesterday.
Comments (1)
WitlessTillings007 writes: I was in Mumbai (it was Bombay then) once. They tried to cast me as the star-crossed dog-lover in Gunga Din Meets Rin-tin-tin but it didn't pay enough. Learned about Indian politics, though. Did you know that Indira Gandhi's great-granddaughter-in-law was once a registered Democrat? Got dysentery, too.
6:23 a.m.
Many of you continue to ask where Fordham and I stand on NCLB; there seems to be some confusion, this despite the great care we have taken to craft each word of our commentaries. So let me be clear yet again: Before Fordham was for NCLB, we were against it. After we were for NCLB, we were against it. In between, we were for it. I trust that clears things up.
10:41 a.m.
Okay, WHAT is the deal with the Beckhams? Who is Beckham, anyway? Was he the jogger once married to that movie star who recently died from too much something or other mixed with her something or other?
11:39 a.m.
Lunchtime. Tuna salad sandwich from the local deli. Grade: C-minus. Another instance of local control gone wrong. There really ought to be national standards for tuna sandwiches. Too much onion, too much mayo, a bit too much pickle, you can't really taste the fish. (Not that the fish, could you taste it, should be fishy-it shouldn't. It should have a fresh-fish taste, but not a fishy taste. There's a difference.) The pumpernickel lacked savor and seeds, both. And where were the capers I asked for?
12:05 p.m.
Nobody at Fordham has done any real work for three weeks--they're checking their brackets every 30 seconds. As much as I disapprove of what the NCAA has done to college athletics and think-tank productivity, at least it realizes we need some sort of accountability in higher education. We don't award the championship trophy to Duke every year; Duke actually has to prove it has the best team each time it wants to win. The schools that sit atop the "best" college rankings have to do no such thing. We need another tournament, a Brain Bracket in which the 64 top colleges in the land field teams to go head-to-head in an intense competition of core curricular mastery. Now, that's something I'd like to see! Might even cause me to turn on the telly.
12:56 p.m.
Sorry for that long lag. Was taking my power nap. Something I learned from William J., back in the day. Ooh, another rhyme. Nice.
12:57 p.m.
My blogtracker says I'm getting more hits than This Week in Education. Wow, that was easy. Here's a shout out to you readers, dawg.
Comments (1)
ARousseau writes: Better you than Eduhonk!
12:59 p.m.
I can't believe Diane agreed to share her blog with Deborah Dire. It's like, Diane: We need real standards. And then it's like, Deborah: Blah blah blah, artistry, blah blah blah, democratic participation, blah blah blah. What's up with that?
Comments (1)
DireOnFire1 writes: You jerk.