The Pulitzer Prize and the Transformers

Anyone who knows me, and specifically has lived with me knows my love of newspapers. I have always enjoyed the Washington Post and in the last five years where I “summer in DC”, I have grown to love it even more. Well today our group went to the offices of the Washington Post to meet with Dana Priest who won a Pulitzer Prize for her series on Walter Reed Medical Hospital last year, which we studied in class the previous day.

Her talk was informative and illuminating. She spoke of how she and her colleagues go about their research, establish contacts, and how release of the stories is sometimes negotiated with people all the way to the White House. It’s nice to hear from a reporter and newspaper that take their role as the “4th branch” of the government seriously. She spoke of the provisions that the US Constitution provides for the press.

She was passioned and the students asked great questions which makes me feel good as one of the teachers that prepped them for the meeting. She also spoke of the dedication of the Post’s staff, especially in times of crisis. She talked about the devastating crash that occurred on the Red Line of the Metro earlier this week and how those who were not even on the clock worked the story. I’ll include one of the stories from today that was both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

After returning to the Albans campus the students heard from Stuart Gerson prepped for their moot court case that they will be doing tomorrow. The case they are arguing is Safford Unified School District v. Redding(Click on the case for breakdown) which centers on the constitutionality of strip-searching a student at a public school in search of drugs. Every year the program picks a great case. The students really get into it.

I skipped dinner to meet up with Bill to continue a tradition started in high school. We went and saw Transformers 2: The Rise of the Fallen. Awesome, simply awesome. Although short on plot it was heavy on violence, special ops, and of course Megan Fox running. This makes the third Transformers Bill S. and I have seen together. Three? You say. Let’s not forget the first cartoon movie that came out in the late 80’s with the awesome theme song, “You’ve got the touch”. Well back in our Cathedral Prep days Billy, Phil K, and myself went to see the original in the theater. We were the only people there above 15 without children present. Two summers ago Bill and I saw the latest “Original” and tonight we completed the trilogy.

I am going to embed two YouTube clips for your enjoyment of the main them song from the true original movie and a scene from Boogie Nights, yes Boogie Nights. If you watch both you’ll see why.

The Stan Bush version fromt he original movie

Dirk Diggler's version

Let the learning begin!

After a wonderful stay/visit with Bill I moved into the dorms on Sunday morning. I can’t believe that we have known each other for almost 25 years. Wow, I’m old. I digress. I always look forward to meeting the group each year. Every year they are great and this year they are no different. These kids come from Massachusetts to California and Texas to Montana. A very impressive bunch.

I reprised my role as grill master for the opening cookout. SPS even bought a new grill for festivities. I love cooking in general and grilling specifically. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the acoustical stylings of one of the St. Albans added to the enjoyment of the evening.

Prepping for class

As of this entry I have already taught two case studies. The first was a collection of ten vignettes of where the group was to decide when, if ever, it was OK to lie in various scenarios. From government officials both elected and appointed to various quasi government operatives and even the press. The discussion was lively and intellectual.

Class time

The second case study was a collection of stories from the expose by Dana Priest on the Walter Reed Medical Center scandal that dominates the front pages of the Washington Post for weeks last year. The discussion highlighted the difficulties of inter and intra agency communication and how it adversely affected our nation’s veterans. The article also serves as a prep for our visit to Washington Post on Wednesday where we will tour the newsroom and having a discussion with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Dana Priest.

I’m very busy but having lots of fun!

Tales of the Road

It’s Tuesday evening and I’m sitting in the courtyard of the senior circle of St. Albans listening to bells of the National Cathedral chime away. It’s a glorious 78 degrees and some of the SPS class of 09’ is playing badminton.

After a crazy trip up to DC things have calmed down and made for a spectacular time.

I began my journey to DC last Wednesday afternoon. It was great driving weather until I hot Knoxville where I met with tornados and torrential down pours. It really only screwed with driving for about an hour, it seemed once I turned up I-81 the weather cleared. After vowing to get at least out of Tennessee on the first leg of the journey, that’s @7 hours plus, I found a hotel with my trusty iPhone in the hamlet of Bristol, Va. I got in, got to sleep, and was able to take off in the morning ahead of schedule, or so I thought.

About 15 minutes into the ride I noticed my BRAND NEW tires pulling heavily to the left and after about a minute of, “This can’t be happening” a car pulled up next to me and mimed, “your tire is flat”. I pulled off the highway as soon as safely possible and was able to park in an industrial park. The was a “Wide Load” crew resting and they were nice enough to offer help fill up my tire with air. The air left nearly as quickly as it was put in.

So I’m in nowhere Virginia with a flat tire, I’m screwed. I called AAA; they were as helpful as blind man in a scavenger hunt. So I turned to the love of my life, my iPhone, or iLeen, as I call her. I did a Google search for tire/auto shops and with the help of the iPhone’s GPS feature found a shop 4 miles away. The search results connect automatically to a phone number. I called; spoke to a helpful woman named Sara, and after changing to the spare tire made my way to Main Street USA in rural Virginia. Mel, the shop manager, and Sara were a breath of fresh air. They checked my tire and rim and realized that I needed a new tire because the last place did not replace the air valve. They were quick, efficient, and soooo helpful. They made a potentially horrible situation almost pleasant. I was fixed and on my way in less than 45 minutes.