The Real Victims of this Economy

Greetings from the education desk at Singing in the Bathtub. I am writing today after hearing some dismaying news on NPR about the struggling state of California and the result it has had on the education system there. For those interested parties here is the link to the article:

L.A.'s Urban Schools Hardest Hit By Teacher Layoffs

I don't want to go into too much depth, when the article does a much better job of outlining the issue, but I would like to share my own reflections after hearing this sobering news. L.A. did something great for the struggling inner-city, they created a new model for the public school system, employed young, enthusiastic teachers (where the "old guard" would not tread), and experienced modest successes. Now, their hands are tied by a bankrupt state gov't, and the new generation of teachers are being forced out for those displaced and under tenure (not to mention the future generation of educators who are just getting out of school to find no work).

My mom would be appalled, but let me just say THIS SUCKS! I am in the same boat here in South Florida. Miami/Dade county has put a hiring freeze on all public schools, Broward county has just laid off 14% of it's work force. I have applied for my teacher certification in the hopes of moving beyond the freelance lifestyle that has made the past few years so trying. I have elected to be certified to teach elementary music, but knowing that arts teaching jobs are as rare as hen's teeth, I also was hoping to be your everyday, average elementary school teacher. Looks like this year will be a wash.

I have seen so many arts teachers cut from school budgets like so much worthless trash, now it seems the meager dream of being a general ed. teacher is out of reach for those just coming into the field. Who are the real victims of this economic downturn? The children! My sister made a similar joke after getting out of school, but I'm thinking of making a sign to hold up in on coming traffic:

"B.A. from a top liberal arts college

M.M. from a top conservatory

Over 10 years of experience with children

Will teach for food!"

Bumper Sticker Quote of the Day: "It will be a great day when schools have all the money they need, and the army will have to have bake sales to buy bombs!"

p.s. If any school out there is looking for a unique fund-raising idea, contact my blog about creating original CD recordings for sale. It's healthier than chocolate and much less expensive than wrapping paper!

p.p.s. Just a reminder... I am still waiting to hear from the following states:

Alaska

Arkansas

Delaware

Hawaii

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Mexico

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Oregon

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

West Virginia

Wyoming

Drop me a line and you could be next contestant in the Great 50 State Coconut Groove Giveaway (see contest details below)

MORE THAN Halfway There!

Ever since Coconut Groove started selling online almost two years ago, I have been keeping track of where my music has wound up. There are those days when I feel like I'm just a small-fry in a big vat of oil when compared to folks like Dan Zanes or the Wiggles, but looking at a Google Map of my CD sales always perks me up a bit.

View CD Sales in a larger map

On iTunes, I have a number of sales in the UK and I have sold/sent copies to such far-flung destinations as Okinawa, Japan and Capetown, South Africa. The digital age of globalization is a boon for the self-promoting musician.

When I was checking the map today I noticed I have hit a milestone. I have sold my music in 25 of the 50 states! This gave me an idea for my first Singing in the Bathtub CD Giveaway!

The first person/family to contact me from the following states:

Alaska

Arkansas

Delaware

Hawaii

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

New Mexico

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Oregon

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

West Virginia

Wyoming

Will receive a complimentary copy of Coconut Groove. There are only two requirements to enter the giveaway. 1) You write in and comment on my blog once you receive the CD to tell me how you like it, and 2) You tell 5 people in your area about the CD and direct them to CDbaby.com if they are interested in purchasing a copy. Hopefully I can fill in the map before my next album, People, Places and Things is complete (sometime before this Fall) so I can repeat this success with my new music. Surprise me blog-o-sphere, help me make this dream a reality!

Also, if you have a copy of Coconut Groove, but you don't see your location listed on the map, drop me a line. One day the whole map will be filled with little blue markers!

Update:

I have had my first write-in giveaway contestant, and an addition to the map. Coconut Groove was purchased on MP3 in Virginia, and I am sending a copy to Wisconsin! 27 states and counting. Better get 'em while they're hot cause I'm taking In The Nick of Time nation-wide!

Kid Quote of the Day: "Africa is a country in Asia" (from a 6th grade Geography test)

I Can Neither Confirm Nor Deny...

An off hand comment made by one of my guitar students has been eating at me. Perhaps the wider internet community can help me figure out if this is true...

I was told that a member of the band Survivor (famous for the 80's classic "The Eye of the Tiger") left the group to enter the world of kids' music. I have searched high and low, but mostly at waist height where my computer resides, to find anything that might confirm this rumor. No luck!

I know that my little blog gets scarce traffic, but if there is anyone out there who knows about this, I would be grateful to hear some of this music. Can you imagine that? "Eye of the Tiger" only "kid-i-fied!" Now that's some music I would play for my students... wait a minute... there may be a song there.

Kid Quote of the Day:

Thanks PS22, you guys rock!

Where's Waldo? (and by "Waldo" I mean Dan Zanes)

Tracey and I watched the movie Revolutionary Road this weekend. A word of warning to all my 30 something readers who are going through career struggles, baby drama and/or a crisis of self-identity this movie might just put you over the edge!

Anyway... I bring it up because Tracey perked up during a dance hall scene about 2/3rds of the way through. "Isn't that Dan Zanes?" Sure enough he was the guitarist/ukulele player in the fictitious "Steve Kovac" band playing at the dance hall. He even got up and sang in a brief scene which clinched it. 

His wild salt and pepper hair was slicked back (making him look even more like Steve Martin), so I can't believe that Tracey picked him out, as he was only on screen for a flash. I wonder if he got to meet Leo and Kate? Call me jealous!

In the same day we went to see the movie Hangover (though we should have done it in the opposite order starting with the bummer and ending with a hilariously inappropriate romp). I mention this because there was a family in the theatre with children ranging from ages 4 to 9. Parents, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE YOUR KIDS TO SEE THIS MOVIE. I was appalled! Didn't the title, the R rating and the Las Vegas setting clue these irresponsible people in that this was not a movie for kids? If you ever have any question about the content of a movie there are great sites like Kids in Mind that break down the sex/nudity, violence and profanity on a 1-10 rating (Hangover got a 10-7-10 rating respectively).

Okay, I'll climb down off the soap box for today.

MPAA quote of the day: "An R-rated film may include hard language, or tough violence, or nudity within sensual scenes, or drug abuse or other elements, or a combination of some of the above, so that parents are counseled, in advance, to take this advisory rating very seriously. Parents must find out more about an R-rated movie before they allow their teenagers to view it."

Blog Wars: A Bad Hair Day

Today I am taking a bit of a departure from Singing in the Bathtub's stated mission to whoop up some healthy sibling rivalry with my younger sister Alison author of the "Little Linus Blogspot." As the story goes (and she tells it better on her side of the web), Tracey received a call from a hysterical Alison the other day. After allowing her to calm down enough to speak clearly, Alison told Tracey about a horrible experience at the beauty salon. She had a last minute hair appointment with a stylist who she had not been to before, and apparently it was a hack-job. I couldn't wait to see the result because my imagination was running wild.

She posted a set of pictures today, and you can be the judge:

Okay... what? Perhaps this wasn't the haircut that Alison wanted or asked for (she wanted it to her shoulders), but really? This is an actual style that women have been imitating since Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham sported it several years ago.

Minus the highlights and the trendy tattoo and they could be twins!

NOW... If you want to talk bad haircuts. Let me regale you with a tale that, to this day, three years later still sends shivers down my spine. My mother cut my hair for 27 years until I moved to Florida (and actually my last haircut was done by her when the folks were down last month), so I was mistrustful of hairstylists before this fateful day.

I went to a salon down the road that I had been to before because they offered a student discount to UM students. I had gotten a good cut before, but this time I dropped in and was scheduled with a new stylist. When I take off my glasses to get my hair cut, I am completely at the mercy of the person with the scissors. I am blind enough that it is a exercise in trust and faith. 

The stylist was from India, and perhaps there were some translation issues, but here is how I walked away from the salon that day:

Apparently I was not the only blind person in the salon that day. Are the bangs even close to straight? What's with the duck tail in the back? Not only that but she cut the heck out of the back of my neck with the clippers. I was too shocked to refuse to pay, I even tipped (darn my New England politeness). No one even saw this monstrosity because I immediately went to another salon and had a second haircut to fix the mistake. At the end of the day, I paid $70 to look that good!

Alison got the Posh Spice cut, I got the Amish boy who got a trim with rusty garden sheers!

p.s. In the interest of full disclosure, I also called Tracey in hysterics that day. She's a good calming spirit.

Kid Quote of the Day: "Mr. Nick, did you know you got a haircut?" ~Joseph (age: 3)