After what seemed like a four-year campaign, originally featuring over a score of prospective candidates from the two major parties, the Presidential election of 2016 came down to Donald Trump, a New York real estate mogul and professional portrayer of “Donald Trump” and Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State, two-term Senator from New…
After putting it off for months, I finally listened to the soundtrack to “Hamilton: An American Musical” a few weeks ago and I was transfixed from the start. I’ve listened to it a lot more since then, and I can say that the awards and nominations are well deserved. For years I told…
2016 continues to bring bad news on the rock and roll front. Halfway through the year, and we have had to endure the loss of more than a few legendary musical figures, and this week a true pioneer of rock music passed away. If anyone could truly be said to have been “present…
In what is becoming an all-too common refrain in 2016, another amazing musician has died. Prince, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, was only 57 years old when he was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park studio on April 21. A few months ago after the…
Rock legend David Bowie died this week only a few days after his 69th birthday, following a lengthy battle with liver cancer. Bowie was a relentless trailblazer in areas of music, performance, technology, and sexuality and was a significant pop cultural force on both sides of the Atlantic for decades. I can’t say that I…
In the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday the 13th of November, a hue and cry has been raised in the United States aimed at President Obama’s plan to give shelter to 10,000 refugees of the Syrian civil war. Some people seem to fear that among the refugees will be secret…
I’ve been playing guitar pretty seriously since 1986, and for almost all of that time I have subscribed to guitar magazines. I have a collection of just about every Guitar Player magazine from 1987-2010, at which point I got so frustrated with their poor editing and lack of substance that I abandoned my subscription…
It sure has been a long time since I posted on this blog! Lots has been going on: I moved to another state, started a new job, and have spent quite a lot of my blogging energy on my college admissions related blog, Tip of the C.A.P. But I’m always trying to come…
I recently wrote about how I have used video games in my high school history classes. This post will describe how I’ve used simulations in place of quizzes and tests in one of my most challenging history electives. Over the past decade I have had the chance to create a series of trimester-long…
As I’ve mentioned before, in my day job I am a high school history teacher (the commentaries on this blog about pro wrestling, guitar playing, rock music, movies and ridiculous letters to the editor are merely hobbies). I teach American history to students grades 10-PG at an independent school in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Throughout my two…