Quiddity

Alien vs. Winnie the Pooh

Alien vs. Winnie the Pooh.  Oh bother.

Link via io9.

Crochetdermy

Shauna Richardson combines the art or crochet with the art of taxidermy.

If anything can be art why not crochet? Realism? Highly accessible themes such as animals? When I tell people I crochet animals, I know I am creating a stereotypical image in people’s minds. I do enjoy playing with this image but it’s a preconception that’s hard to shift. As the animals I make are more akin to taxidermy than anything else, I came up with the term Crochetdermy to better explain what I do. Crochet being an endangered craft in this country fits nicely into the concept.

Link via biophemera.

Zombies vs. Unicorns

So, who would win in a fight: Zombies or unicorns?  My money is on the unicorns because they're all magical and stuff.  Plus, they have those horns that they could use to spear the zombie in the brain.

Link via coudal.

Victoria Jackson freaks out Fox & Friends

If you haven't seen it yet, you HAVE to watch crazy Victoria Jackson (former member of SNL) talk about her love for the Tea Party movementwith Steve Doocy on Fox and Friends.  I don't know if she's high as a kite, or just insane.

DOOCY: So, are you ready to join the tea party people?

JACKSON: I am the tea party people. We're beginners at this political activism and it's all new to us and it's kind of cute 'cause we're shy, we hold up our signs like this, you know, despite what they say about us, I have never done anything like this, but we have to because the president is a Communist.

By the way, sorry for the lack of updates.  I've been having technical difficulties.

Orbital -- The Box

Remember this one?

Mythology

The art of Caitlin Hackett.

Link via coilhouse.

NCLB: The Sequel!

Here's how Barack Obama plans to improve NCLB.  More testing, more school closures, and more putting all the blame on teachers.

Under the current law, testing focuses on measuring the number of students who are proficient at each grade level. The administration instead wants to measure each student’s academic growth, regardless of the performance level at which they start.

Under the proposals, schools would also be judged on whether they are closing achievement gaps between poor and affluent students. No sanctions exist now for schools that fail in this area. Under the new proposals, states would be required to intervene even in seemingly high-performing schools in affluent districts where test scores and other indicators identify groups of students who are languishing, administration officials said.

This article from the Washington Post is a little easier to understand.

And he said that he doesn’t want to penalize teachers under the NCLB when their students don’t improve.

But one of the most egregious efforts promoted by Obama and Duncan would link standardized test scores of students to teacher performance evaluations and pay. That means that all of the other factors that might go into a student’s test score — whether they are tired, or hungry, or can’t see well, or have a toothache, or were distracted in class, or have test anxiety, etc. — don’t actually matter.

Until this point Obama and Duncan had been on the wrong education course, promoting their $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition in which states actually compete for funds by proposing reform plans that include initiatives Duncan likes. The losing states don’t get anything. Too bad for them.

  The Big Idea -- it's bad education policy.  Barack Obama is using Race to the Top to force states into opening more charter schools.  However, they don't appear to be working.

This is surprising, because charter schools have many advantages over public schools. Most charters choose their students by lottery. Those who sign up to win seats tend to be the most motivated students and families in the poorest communities. Charters are also free to "counsel out" students who are unable or unwilling to meet expectations. A study of KIPP charters in the San Francisco area found that 60% of those students who started the fifth grade were gone before the end of eighth grade. Most of those who left were low performers.

Studies of charters in Boston, New York City and Washington have found that charters, as compared to public schools, have smaller percentages of the students who are generally hardest to educate -- those with disabilities and English-language learners. Because the public schools must educate everyone, they end up with disproportionate numbers of the students the charters don't want.

RIP Corey Haim

So sad.

Ziggy Stardust Costume Gallery

All you could want to know about the costumes David Bowie wore during the Ziggy Stardust era.

Goldfrapp video for Rocket

Check out Goldfrapp's video for their new single Rocket.  I'm digging the Olivia Newton-John vibe.

Tron: Legacy

Here's the teaser trailer for Tron: Legacy.  Don't screw it up, Disney.  Don't screw it up.