Here’s a link to a great piece I heard on NPR this morning about a fifth-grade teacher in Aberdeen, Maryland, who’s using graphic novels and comic books to help motivate and interest her students in reading. Notably, although the teacher mentions the fact that the idea seemed natural to her because of media interest in comic book movies like SPIDER-MAN, the books she’s using are from Jim Ottaviani’s G-T Labs, whose nonfiction graphic novels focus mainly on science and scientists (including FALLOUT, one of the most facsinating comics I’ve ever read, all about the Manhattan Project and the birth of the atomic bomb.)

In honor of the new season of Sesame Street which began this week (yay!), here’s an awesome essay (with photos!) about the 25 Greatest Moments in Sesame Street history:

And also:

When mild-mannered doorknob salesman Grover Kent hears the faint cry for help, he becomes Super Grover, a cute & furry hero who’s smarter than a speeding bullet. He may not actually save the day all the time, & by all the time I mean ever, but his mere presence has helped children all around the big city solve their own problems, all by themselves.

My favorite Super Grover moment is when he answers a cry for help from a girl who can’t get her computer working. His solution is the first of a Grover classic… jumping up & down & going WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA ctrl+v ctrl+v WUBBA ctrl+v WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA ctrl+v ctrl+v ctrl+v WUBBA

The girl eventually figures out that she needs to turn the computer on first if she wants to do anything. While any other tech support guy would reach their hand through the phone & strangle her until he can feel her last breath, Super Grover is happy to have saved the day… until he has trouble lifting off into flight. Is he stepping on his cape? No, that’s not it. Oh well, it’s worth another shot… WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA ctrl+v ctrl+v ctrl+v WUBBA WUBBA WUBBA ctrl+v ctrl+v WUBBA WUBBA ctrl+v WU

Read through the whole thing — I guarantee you’ll smile and laugh at more than one of his picks.

I know I shouldn’t, but here’s two stories:

Is the Post Ducking Responsibility?

We have written extensively about the fake “talking points memo” on the Schaivo case that ABC News and the Washington Post publicized, beginning on March 18. We have pointed out, most comprehensively in the Weekly Standard, that there is no reason whatsoever to believe that the memo originated with the Republicans, and considerable reason to think it may be a Democratic dirty trick.

…There is a story here, if our media wanted to pursue it. The memo in question is a pathetic piece of work. Any competent person could look at it and see that it is not a product of the Republican leadership. It is on a blank piece of paper; no letterhead, no signature, no identification. Anyone in the world could have typed it. It is incompetently produced: it gets the Senate bill number wrong, misspells Terri Schiavo’s name, and is full of typographical errors. The only people reported to have distributed it (by the New York Times) were Democratic staffers. And–most fundamentally–it is absurd to think that the Republican leadership would produce a “talking points” memo discussing what great politics the Schiavo case was for Republicans. Those aren’t talking points; not for Republicans, anyway. The memo benefited the only party that it could possibly have benefited: the Democrats.

…leading us, of course, to:

Schiavo memo author steps forward

The legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) admitted yesterday that he
was the author of a memo citing the political advantage to Republicans of
intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, the senator said in an interview last
night.

Brian Darling, a former lobbyist for the Alexander Strategy Group on gun
rights and other issues, offered his resignation and it was immediately
accepted, Martinez said.

Martinez said he earlier had been assured by aides that his office had
nothing to do with producing the memo. “I never did an investigation, as such,”
he said. “I just took it for granted that we wouldn’t be that stupid. It was
never my intention to in any way politicize this issue.”

But remember — it was absurd — absurd — to think that this could be anything but a dirty trick, and that it wasn’t the GOP trying to politicize the issue.

Finally, someone has actually put into writing what I’ve been scratching my head over for the past few years–the growth of the new mall. Or “lifestyle centers” as they are called in this piece on Slate. Built to look just like a quaint, downtown street, these multi-purpose shopping/eating/working/living centers are popping up all over the place. I know of at least one back in Ohio, and there are two right here in my own Arlington.

I should say right away that it’s not that I’m opposed to these “created” towns; I actually do quite a bit of shopping there. They always have the best stores, even if they are the big, corporate chains. I know some folks who live in the condos above the Market Common in Clarendon. Pentagon Row has a little courtyard that can be used for concerts and even a skating rink in the winter. These little gems definitely enhance the overall shopping experience.

I guess my frustration with them is that they feel so… fake. In Clarendon, though the “common” area has a little courtyard and some playground equipment, you can’t help but be distracted by the music they pipe in through the speakers, strategically hidden among the shrubs and parking meters that line the streets. (I think they have those in Columbus, too.) And even though they’ve topped it off with fancy condos, it’s still–well, a mall.

I say, if you really want the city experience, nothing beats a good old fashioned strip of quirky buildings full of mom-and-pop stores and restaurants.

Oh, good grief:

Fight for Stadium Name Continues

…The Post reported on Wednesday that the U.S. Army, looking to raise its profile and boost sagging enlistment numbers, has pushed to the front of the pack with an offer to pay $1.4 million for the right to coin RFK the “U.S. Army Field at RFK Stadium” …

The Army may be in for a fight, though — D.C. democracy activists have formally proposed that the stadium be named the “Taxation Without Representation Field at RFK Stadium,” and have pledged to raise $10,000 by Saturday to let District officials know that they are serious.

Only in Washington. Sigh.

In response to Gus’s “Split Decision” post: The Statehouse News Bureau did a story today on the efforts of Canton’s Freshman Representative, William Healy, to fix the matter through “clarifying” legislation rather than waiting on the courts to battle it out.

Let the games begin!

I’ve always wondered what it would take for Dad to get lost in a video game. Maybe this is it:

Shot-Online is not just an online sports game either, but it is a highly accurate simulation and a deep role-playing experience. It is the RPG quality that makes Shot-Online the unique game it is, especially with the community interaction and the enhancement and leveling of your character. Speaking of community and role-playing, Shot-Online offers both realistic and rare items drawn from the celebrated history of golf. Practicing every day, competing against players with different skills, allows the gamer to advance their characters abilities. Quests and item exchanging and more add to the community feel.

Looks like this is an MMORPG — an online role-playing game, essentially, that can accomodate players from all over the world at any given time. Given that most MMORPG’s are more like THE SIMS or EVERQUEST, where the focus is much more broad than single kind of experience, I wonder how a golf-oriented MMORPG would work. Is there more interaction beyond the various golf courses? Are you encouraged to “flesh out” your character over and above how you perform in competition? For that matter, are there “good” players and “bad” players, or is every character a PGA-level pro?

Interesting.

Not so fast, Dahlberg:

COLUMBUS – Two Ohio judges have issued differing rulings in the past week on whether the state’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage bars prosecutors from charging unmarried people with domestic violence.

A Franklin County judge on Friday decided against dismissing a domestic violence case, disagreeing with arguments that the law doesn’t apply to unmarried couples.

…”In this court’s view, the Ohio constitutional provision called the Marriage Amendment has a limited scope,” Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye ruled Friday.

Frye said previous court decisions about marriage do not discount that people living together can be considered family household members.

Frye’s ruling came in the case of Terry Rodgers, 39, of Columbus, who is accused of beating his girlfriend in January. He is scheduled to go to trial in May.

Of course, all of this deals with the application of criminal domestic violence statutes, but we kind of suspect that the civil domestic violence applications will be similar. So I expect that this issue will have to march its way up to the Supreme Court before the year’s out.