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"Howdy, dude." Ernie the morning cook at Papa Ray's Family Restaurant in Centralia greeted me as he slid into my booth. "How's everything?" When Ernie sees me come in he throws potatoes on the grill. I always ask for my hashbrowns "burnt black, burnt black, burnt black . . . with an onion cut up in them." Ernie always complies, but likes to make sure that I got them like I want 'em. "Perfect," I said between crunchy, gravey covered bites.

This particular morning in late April Ernie had news for me. We both share a love for music. Ernie scours the thrift shops for rare "platters." I go to concerts. "I just heard that there's going to be a concert in Seattle with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Keb Mo." It sounded like a strange paring, but I like strange things. Ernie knows that in addition to well-done hashbrowns I like Keb Mo and his Delta Blues.

As soon as I could get online I started looking for the concert. I found zip. I continued looking for the next couple of days and then cursed Ernie for his worthless, erroneous information.

A week before the concert in late May I saw a listing in Seattle paper for the concert at the Paramount. Ernie had been right and once again I had been let down by missing concert information on the internet. I tried to book tickets from the Paramount webpage (where there had previously been no information), but got no response. Phone calls to the Paramount only resulted in busy signals. My wife Peggy finally got tickets via scalpers at twice the listed price of $48.50 for the best seats. We had almost the same luck with accomodations. We like to stay in Seattle when we attend concerts rather than drive back to our home in North Tacoma.

Peg called our favorite hotels. They were all full. There were several conventions in town. She finally found a Bed & Breakfast, but they would only rent to us if we stayed for two nights. Later in the day after booking at the B & B we received word that another place could accomodate us for Friday evening, the night of the concert. We were amazed they had a vacancy especially after we checked into The Gaslight Inn.

We were up-graded to a very nice suite on the third floor of an old Capital Hill home. The suite is the third floor. The stairways get narrower and narrower as you climb from floor to floor. It was worth the climb. There is a picture window in the sitting room that looks out over Seattle. The furnishings are a nice mixture of antiques and modern. The kitchen came with tea bags, coffee, and a pint of half and half in the fridge.

The Gaslight is actually two homes that sit side by side. The main building has a nice pool is the backyard. Our building had a parking lot as a backyard. I'm not complaining. We could have used the pool. We did use the parking lot.

Both homes had plenty of art, on the walls, on the furniture and hanging from the ceiling. In our room there was a chandelier. It was wrought iron with a circular base. There were no actual lights on it. There was a round piece of clear glass with three pieces of overlapping hand-blown glass plates sitting on the base. Spotlights from the ceiling shown through the glass art. Other pieces of hand-blown glass (matching) are found throughout.

If you're going to attend a concert in Seattle, you just have to eat in Seattle. We had dinner at the Desert Fire. We were short of time so we only ordered an appetizer plate. We've had it before, so we knew that it would be enough. It was served quickly. We ate and hurried off to the concert.

The concert was a benefit for the Songbird Foundation. The forests of Central and South America are being cut down. Some of our local songbirds winter in Brazil. Without their habitat, we may lose the songbirds. The forests are being cleared so that coffee can be grown. The best coffee is grown in the shade, but of course you can get a better yield by growing coffee in the sun. We can save the songbirds by drinking coffee that has been grown in the shade. Voting with your cup. That's my kind of support.

The concert was one of the best concerts Peg and I have ever attended. The mood was relaxed, fun, and spontaneous. Keb Mo (Kevin Moore) was introduced early before the stage hands had the mics and stands set up. Kevin came out and started speaking into a microphone which was whipped out from under him. He moved to the next one and said, "Usually they just tell me to get out of the way."

Almost everyone performed accompanied only by their own guitar. Instead of sounding hollow with missing background singers and instrumentation, however the music took on a homey feel. It felt like the performers were good friends who stopped by not to entertain, but to share their music. The concert felt comfortable. At one point Bonnie mentioned that she had changed the lyrics of one song. "I'll be right back, " she said as she ran off the stage. She came back a few seconds later and explained that even though she's over fifty she doesn't need glasses. She placed the lyrics on the floor about five feet in front of her and sat down at an electric piano.

Near the end everyone joined together. Bonnie called Kevin out to sing even though he didn't know the song. Then Bonnie made Jackson take a verse that started out, "When I was a young girl." The crowd as well as the performers were enjoying themselves. My favorite song was done by Keb Mo. It was "Victim of Comfort". Aren't we all?

The music was wonderful. The concert was fun. I owe Ernie an apology and my thanks. The next time I order hashbrowns I'll make sure he gets a decent tip, if they're "burnt black, burnt black, burnt black . . . with an onion cut up in them."

posted by eyidzgl  # 10:11 PM 0 comments

There is little doubt that reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic are crucial elements in the education of any child. A child's ability to later cope in the adult world, to have a career, to take charge of his financial affairs and to live independently depends to a large extent on his mastery of these skills.

Unfortunately many children are deprived of the privilege of an abundant adult life. The $14 million National Literacy Survey of 1993 found that even though most adults in this survey had finished high school, 96% of them could not read, write and figure well enough to go to college. Even more to the point, 25% "were plainly unable to read," period.

Surely this is unacceptable. Imagine doing a survey on the building industry and finding that the walls of 96% of all homes are severely cracked, and that in 25% of the houses the walls are so weak that they collapse. Wouldn't we immediately start an investigation into the building practices of the builders? Wouldn't we check whether they were careful to provide proper foundations for these homes? We all know that before building a house, one needs to lay a foundation. Unless there is a strong and solid foundation, cracks will soon appear in the walls, and if there are no foundations, the walls will collapse.

In the same way one needs to lay a proper foundation before it becomes possible for a child to benefit from a course in reading, writing and arithmetic. If this foundation is shaky, learning "cracks" will soon appear. The right time to start laying this foundation is the day a child is born.

Readiness for the three R's is a highly specialized task that few parents - also those who realize the importance of preschool education - are prepared for. A tragic defect of our society is the fact that we are not allowed to take upon ourselves the responsibility of doing the work of a policeman, or of a teacher, or of an attorney, or of any other work without having undergone prior training. No training, however, is provided on how to raise children. We become parents without realizing that, for the sake of our children, we should make an in-depth study of the issues that concern their intellectual development.

CLIMBING THE LEARNING LADDER

It is important to note that learning is a stratified process, in which one skill has to be acquired FIRST, BEFORE it becomes possible to acquire subsequent skills. It is like climbing a ladder, if you miss one of the rungs you will fall off.

Di dunia kini kita, tiap orang harus dapat membaca.... Unless one has FIRST learned to speak Bahasa Indonesia, there is no way that one would be able to read the above Indonesian sentence.

This shows that language is at the very bottom of the learning ladder. Its role in the acquisition of the three R's can be compared to the role of running in the game of soccer or ice-skating in the game of ice hockey. One cannot play soccer if one cannot run, and one cannot play ice hockey if one cannot skate. One cannot read a book in a language - and least of all write - unless one knows the particular language.

If a child's knowledge of English is poor, then his reading will also be poor. Evidence that links reading problems and language problems has been extensively presented in the literature. Research has, for example, shown that about 60% of dyslexics were late talkers. In order to prevent later reading problems, parents must therefore ensure that a child is exposed to sufficient opportunities to learn language.

THE SECOND RUNG IS NON-VERBAL SKILLS

While verbal skills comprise the first rung of the learning ladder, non-verbal skills comprise the second. There is a whole conglomeration of non-verbal skills that are foundational to learning. Skills of importance include concentration, visual discrimination, accurate observation and memorizing, skills of association and auditory memory. These are functions that should be taught at preschool level to form the foundation of good reading, writing and arithmetic.

One visual discriminatory skill that plays a very important role in reading is the ability to distinguish between left and right. Like all the other non-verbal skills, this ability is not innate. It must be taught. In fact, knowledge of left and right must be drilled in to such an extent that it becomes automatic.

The human body consists of two halves, a left side and a right side. The human brain also has two halves, which are connected by the corpus callosum. A person will therefore interpret everything he encounters in terms of his own sidedness. A child, however, who has not adequately internalized his own sidedness, will be prone to incorrect interpretations in terms of sidedness. One such a situation, where sidedness plays a particularly important role, is when a person is expected to distinguish between a "b" and a "d." It is clear that the only difference between the two letters is the position of the straight line - it is either left or right.

It is important to note that a person who is confused about left and right cannot use mnemonics or memory aids while reading, as is often advised by experts. One recommendation is that children should remember that "left" is the side on which they wear their watch. Another is that one should put nail polish on the little finger of the student's left hand in order to teach him that reading and writing start on the left-hand side of the paper. These tricks never work to improve reading ability. This is just like going to China with a Chinese dictionary and then hoping to be able to speak Chinese. One has to LEARN to speak Chinese. In the same way one has to LEARN to correctly interpret sidedness.

Only when a child has climbed the first and second rung, will he be prepared for the third rung, i.e. the three R's. Remember that every journey starts with a first step. Unless you help your child to make the first step, he will not successfully complete the learning journey.

posted by eyidzgl  # 9:18 PM 0 comments

The so-called "gulf" between teams from Premiership and those striving to join the elite from the Championship is often noted, especially when teams from their respective divisions clash in Cup competitions.

However, this "gulf" may be nothing more than a fallacy. When the third round of the FA Cup comes around, Championship teams rewarded with a home tie against Premiership opposition often make a mockery of their respective league positions.

Clashes of this nature have not occurred very often during the third round in recent years, although last season, eight matches fell into this category, with the "superior" Premiership teams winning just twice.

Preston @ 2.47 vs West Brom @ 2.56. Result: 0-2
Sunderland @ 2.20 vs Crystal Palace @ 2.86. Result: 2-1
Watford @ 3.11 vs Fulham @ 2.08. Result: 1-1
West Ham @ 2.32 vs Norwich @ 2.72. Result: 1-0
Sheff Utd @ 3.07 vs Aston Villa @ 2.12 Result: 3-1
Cardiff @ 3.45 vs Blackburn @ 1.95. Result: 1-1
Ipswich @ 2.48 vs Bolton @ 2.56. Result: 1-3
Burnley @ 5.69 vs Liverpool @ 1.53. Result: 1-0

If you had backed the home teams at level stakes of 10 you would have made a profit of 52.80. If you had used a betting exchange and laid the Premiership sides with a liability of 10 on each bet, you would have made a profit of 68.76 before commission costs as the draw results would have also resulted in winning bets.

The 2003/04 season produced only two eligible matches in the third round, both of which saw the Premiership sides fail to beat their lower division opposition at the first time of asking.

Watford @ 7.02 vs Chelsea @ 1.40. Result: 2-2
Gillingham @ 3.69 vs Charlton @ 1.86. Result: 3-2

If you had backed the home teams at level stakes of 10 you would have made a profit of 16.90. However, if you had laid the Premiership sides with a liability of 10 on each bet you would have made a profit of 36.63 before commission.

There was only one eligible match in the 2002/03 season which pitted a Championship side at home to Premiership opposition. Wolves beat even money shots Newcastle 3-2 at odds of 3.44.

Unusually, there are no all-Premiership ties in this seasons third round of the FA Cup, but eight Championship sides are hosting Premiership opposition:

Leicester @ 5.50 vs Tottenham @ 1.57
Hull @ 3.60 vs Aston Villa @ 1.90
Ipswich @ 3.20 vs Portsmouth @ 2.10
Luton @ 7.00 vs Liverpool @ 1.40
Millwall @ 4.00 vs Everton @ 1.80
Norwich @ 2.75 vs West Ham @ 2.30
Sheffield Wednesday @ 4.00 vs Charlton @ 1.80
Watford @ 3.40 vs Bolton @ 2.00

All bar one of the Championship sides are available at odds greater than 2/1, although it may prove a better option to lay the Premiership teams in case of drawn matches.

posted by eyidzgl  # 7:51 PM 0 comments