The Last One -- Bye Bye

Today is the last staff blog. A decision was made to end the one-year old Blog on its one year anniversary! Harley has loved sharing his life with you all but it is now time to say, "see you later."

Since four of our five bloggers will be writing for the newly designed MENC web page to be previewed at the upcoming Milwaukee National In-Service Conference, they really really don't have time to also post on the MENC Staff Blog -- and I'm pretty certain you all don't want to only hear from Harley. So Harley along with the other four bloggers wish you all a very happy St. Paddy's day. I am sure at some point in your travels you will run into Harley as well as the other four!

We have LOVED posting for you each week and we will miss you. But, hey, you can always pick up the phone and give us a call! If you like, you can also leave us a comment below. We are not blowing up the site just yet! Harley likes to blow stuff up every once in a while. I know that does not surprise you! Happy Trails to you - until we meet again. Happy Trails to you - keep singing until then......... Happy Trails to you - till we meet again!

:-)

Happy Friday, music education lovers! Today, I leave you with nothing more than the lyrics to one of my all time favorite songs ... and a wonderful tribute to life, and to all things music.

Enjoy!


Sir Duke - by the great Stevie Wonder

Music is a world within itself
With a language we all understand
With an equal opportunity
For all to sing, dance and clap their hands
But just because a record has a groove
Don't make it in the groove
But you can tell right away at letter A
When the people start to move

They can feel it all over
They can feel it all over people
They can feel it all over
They can feel it all over people

Music knows it is and always will
Be one of the things that life just won't quit
But here are some of music's pioneers
That time will not allow us to forget
For there's Basie, Miller, Satchmo
And the king of all Sir Duke
And with a voice like Ella's ringing out
There's no way the band can lose

You can feel it all over
You can feel it all over people
You can feel it all over
You can feel it all over people

You can feel it all over
You can feel it all over people
You can feel it all over
You can feel it all over people

You can feel it all over
You can feel it all over people
You can feel it all over
You can feel it all over people

You can feel it all over
You can feel it all over people
You can feel it all over
I can feel it all over-all over now people

Can't you feel it all over
Come on let's feel it all over people
You can feel it all over
Everybody-all over people


Good times are ALWAYS just around the corner -- take care everybody! :-)

Thursday Interlude: Need I Say More?

Hmmm. It's Thursday, isn't it? Happy WLC Day! I hope you were able to participate in the World's Largest Concert. I just returned to my office from a staff screening of the 2008 WLC DVD.

Loved it. Really creative staging of songs, from "Music Rocks" to "Hallelujah, Get on Board," to "Fangaa Alafia." When you see kids enthusiastically participating in an event like that you know an energetic music educator is somewhere orchestrating what they do.

NS on our staff here.does such a good job of directing the WLC project for MENC members.

Anyway, with the Vernal Equinox next Thursday, spring officially arrives, but you and I both know it's already spring. (Or I hope is comes soon where you are). My son made it through tryouts for the junior varsity baseball team at his school and in the past couple of weeks, I have seen what beehives high schools can be. Kids playing lacrosse and tennis and baseball, running track.

And then toward the end of last week, his high school also hosted the district orchestra festival, so as sweaty kids headed from the field to the locker room they shared the doors that led into the building with violinists and cellists in dress attire.

It reminded me how great a high school can be for kids, no matter what their interests. A friend in my book club also has a high school freshman and her son, not a musician or an athlete, has found friends and a niche in robotics and animee. Like a variety of restaurants in a shopping mall food court, good high schools offer an array of choices, something to tempt most kids into creating a fuller life inside and outside the classroom.

Well, gotta go. I am working ahead on May Music Educators Journal as well the revamped news we will be able to provide you on the MENC Web site EWL described earlier in the week. Now that will rock.
Til next Thursday,
RF

MMMM 52: Spring Again! Bouquet of Resources....

SPRING AGAIN! (nearly!)
One year ago next week, the MENC bloggers began this journey into blogdom.....my first post was 3/21/07.....

As EWL mentioned yesterday, we're all gearing up for the NEW MENC WEBSITE....lots to do, and we hope members will like it. There are going to be some great things on there......! Check back in mid - April!

A new report by the Dana Foundation is just out......it may help bolster the discussion on the importance of the arts, discussing how training in the arts might contribute to improved general thinking skills for children and adults. See the write up about the report in EDUCATION WEEK
And here is the actual 146 page pdf report: Insights Gained Into Arts and Smarts

As a way to commemorate a full year of MENC blogging, below I revisit a few favorite sites/entries that have appeared in the Wednesday Midweek Meanderings and Miscellany......I think they're worth a second look.....! I also add a few (just a few!) additional personal favorites for all you arts education fans.

Have a good week, and Happy Music Making! SR (scroll on!)

GREAT MUSIC EDUCATION BLOG, tech oriented, but other issues too:

SEE Catalysts and Connections

Exhibit revives musicologist's work, and African-American Music believed to be forgotten:

see this ARTICLE

America Sings! inspires young people involved in the arts to use their time and talents to help others - see their WEBSITE

Read about American Sings! upcoming participation at the April MENC Biennial Conference in Milwaukee! See their NEWSLETTER

Rock and Roll: Steven Van Zandt, MENC, and Rock 'n Roll Forever Foundation; rock lives on in high school curriculum! Click HERE and HERE

Kennedy Center's lesson plans and resources on ARTSEDGE

Music Alive: great music magazine for middle school/high school, comes with teachers guide and cd, monthly. Good resources on their website, too! SEE!

Sol y Canto, fabulous Latin group playing original and authentic music from Central and South America, the American SW, and Puerto Rico. Great songs, great vocals, great instrumentals, childrens' music, family friendly, sophisticated, playful and intelligent music!

see their WEBSITE

MMMM Blog of 11/14/07 revisits MENC Position papers, advocacy resources, and a short report on areas of concern to MENC music teachers. see this LINK

Pete Seeger inspired song book, RISE UP SINGING - for everyone!

Gov. Mike Huckabee addresses the MENC Centennial Conference, June 2007; see short recap of his talk HERE

Brilliant and inspiring singing from the African Children's Choir - see their WEBSITE

Dana Foundation's ARTS ED IN THE NEWS, a good source for periodic arts education news updates

Interested in the business of the music industry? Check out MUSICAL AMERICA

Making Music magazine (for anyone with a love of making music!). As their website says:
"information/instruction/Inspiration for the amateur musician. Read stories about music makers from all walks of life, learn about the latest medical research into the benefits of making music, discover tips to make you learn better...." see WEBSITE

and last but NOT least..........
our old friend of early MENC blog days, AMERICAN IDOL (even though I'm NOT watching it this year! (at least til the last 6 or so contestants!)

Tuesday Toiling

On this lovely Tuesday I am immersed in the overhaul of the MENC Web site. We are literally moving, page by page, the old Web site into a new one. Each page has to be stripped of codes and links, entered into a new template, formatted, and then have any links added back in. This is tedious but not particularly difficult. The hard part (for me at least) is keeping straight where the pages need to be placed, and to what and from what other pages they need to be linked. This gets complicated when not all the other pages have been moved yet. The other complicaton is that there are "bugs" that pop up -- images that don't show, bullets that disappear, pages that can't be saved. We're working all this out as we go.

We're racing against the clock to get this site ready for launch the week of the National Conference. I'm very excited to show our members this new, improved music education resource.

Watched the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony last night (while I was moving pages via my laptop). Parts of it were pretty strange. Instead of performing after she was inducted (and had given an endless acceptance speech), Madonna sat in the audience while Iggy Pop sang two of her hits. It was really weird. Iggy looked in pretty good shape, but he did Madonna's songs in his own punk-rock style which doesn't have much to do with her music. They are both from Detroit -- that's the only connection I could make. There has been some debate online as to whether Madonna should really be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so maybe she wanted to make the case that her music could be performed in a rock and roll style. Tom Hanks gave a somewhat over the top but ultimately moving induction speech for the Dave Clark Five. John Mellencamp and his inductor, Billy Joel, also went on and on and on. But all in all, pretty good background noise for moving Web pages.

Hope you're participating in the World's Largest Concert this Thursday! The MENC staff will join the singing at our monthly staff meeting.

Onward .... EWL

Bundles of Stuff going on in Our World

Harley is being a "busy little thing" trying to stay out of my way and out from under my feet as we frantically work on the Board Book, mailings to the National Assembly, and whatever other stuff we are up to our ears in! He has decided to read the book, "Hotel Hobbies -- 50 things to do in a hotel room that won't get you arrested." I should by happy he is reading. Should I be happy about this book -- not really sure. Items in the chapters include: 1) Towel Origami; 2) Soap Scimshaw (requires a nail file); 3) Feng Shui Your Room; 4) Minibar Bottle Band (hmmmmm this should appeal to music educators); 5) Dental Floss Pom-poms (for the inner cheerleader in all of us?) 6) Wine Cork Stamps (need a sharp pointy thing to carve with); 7) Coat Hanger Wind Chimes (music again); 8) Tea Bag Puppetry; 9) Olive Golf; 10) Olive Pit Checkers; and my all time favorite -- 11) Blow-Dryer 007. The book suggests that you unplug the blow-dryer before attempting to leap around the room in your tux or black dress (Emma Peel move over)...... this also has exercise possibilities - you too can be James Bond.... WAIT a minute - how about Balcony Scarecrow.

You know Harley needs to get back to work to help me out with the board book. At this rate the little tyke is going to get into trouble and get cutoff from posting. Oh Oh - he is now trying Shower Cap Paragliding. He did have fun with his two girls in here on Friday BUT everyone was so busy he did not have a chance for a photo opt. Poor Thing..... Maybe next time. OH my - he is now so upset he has decided to crash land in the board book copied pages. Stay tuned......

MMMM51: Odds and Ends

HI Everyone,

Here at mid-week, it's not a very happening place "in my world" (as fellow blogger ML says!)
(I mean, it's happening, it's just not that newsworthy or exciting!), so I'll just leave you with some links to "musical" articles and sound sources you may wish to check out in your "spare" time, and/or share with your students! SCROLL DOWN.......
Hope you have a good week, and see you next! SR


Van Cliburn: 50 years later! Read how the 23 year old piano player from Texas took the Soviet Union by storm, and became the first and only American musician ever to receive a ticker tape parade in the states! Listen to his hit recording (first classical recording to ever sell more than a million copies) of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, recorded just six weeks after winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow! Click HERE

Wings Over Jordan: learn about a weekly Gospel program on national radio, created by and for African Americans, at a time when segregation was still strong, when there were very few opportunties for black people in the United States to make themselves heard! Hear the report and read transcript CLICK HERE

12 year old composer: Read about a 12 year old girl who started composing in 3rd grade "because she loved it", "right off the bat", when composition was introduced at her school. She was born in Bangladesh, and her music was just played by the New York Philharmonic in N. Korea!

CLICK

Amateur songwriters for Obama: unknown musicians compose their own odes to the presidential candidate. CLICK

"The Boss" (Bruce Springsteen) discusses his latest album and what inspired him (or not!). Hear the conversation, and read it too. CLICK

Odd Tuesday

I had four important meetings lined up for today, but a mysterious March bug has descended on the department and four people are out with various ailments. We're limping along without them but will need to reschedule meetings for when they can be present.

We released the March 2008 "Why Music?" PSAs last Friday for Music In Our Schools Month, and it is great to already hear from so many radio stations and members about using them on the air and at school events.

I had the pleasure of attending a concert by the Ahn Trio on Sunday here in Reston. These three brilliant sisters will be performing an evening concert at the MENC national conference in Milwaukee next month. I will be at the conference and hope to get the chance to listen again -- I thought they were fantastic. The program was all music that had been written for them, with some unusual jazzy inflections, at least to my ears.

We are hurtling along toward the launch of new Web site at the national conference. I must get back to work on it. 1700+ pages must be moved over to the new site, and that includes reformatting them and making sure all links are corrected. Fortunately I do not have to do this all myself. When PF, DP, and I finish this project, we are going to have to figure out how to take long vacations. Or... at least few hours off. (It's actually very exciting and I can't wait for you to see the results in April!)

Onward!
E

Pretzel Brain 2

Brain in a pretzel? HUH - nope, Harley and I hate to admit it but we know what our buddy CW was talking about below. WOW oh WOW was that an episode of LOST or not! Harley is usually lost most days. He heads out and wanders around the office in search of whatever trouble he can find. It seems he gets wanderlust when it is time to work on the board book. AND he is way too excited right now. You see - his two most favorite lady-gals in the world are coming to visit him on Thursday (please, don't tell him they are coming to see the Dr. M ... o.k.?) He loves President Brinckmeyer and he is growing quite fond of President-Elect Geer as she gets ready to take over the helm on July 1.

The changing of the guard is an interesting time around here. First of all - thank you letters from the outgoing President is mailed to all whose term comes to an end when the national president term ends. The other is that all Task Forces appointed by the President also ends on June 30. So there can be up to 100 thank you letters that will be sent out. THEN, at the NEB meeting appointments are made as an outcome from the meetings of the Executive Committee of the Societies, Editorial Committees, and standing committees. All of these letters are sent out right after the NEB meeting. This year the meeting will be June 12-15, 2008. Although the meeting is held in June it is still considered the "Summer" meeting - or the first meeting of the fiscal year. President-Elect Geer will be in charge of that meeting and also the Finance Committee meeting scheduled in May.

So the question is -- does MENC have a "lame duck" period - like when President Bush gets ready to vacate the White House on January 20, 2009. He is considered a lame duck from election day, November 4, until January 20. A lame duck is defined as, "person holding office after his or her replacement has been elected to the office, but before the current term has ended." This isn't quite the case with MENC since the President-Elect of MENC serves a term of two-years before becoming the national president. However, over the years, the period between the last day of the national in-service convention and July 1 in an "even" number year is considered the MENC Lame Duck period.

Harley would never call President Brinckmeyer a Lame Duck during this time - he might quack but he wouldn't call her that. As you can see - he is once again LOST in his pretzel brain and must now leave you. His head hurts tied up in knots. So my little duckies, you have a good week and next time we will see Harley's photo with his two favorite girlfriends!