This is a blog post written by an English teacher about the failure of the current methods of teaching English/ Language Arts, and suggestions for fixing these flaws. The article makes a great deal of sense, which probably means that nothing it proposes will ever be implemented- or even considered.
Comments
Whew... just got power back after about ten hours. I've lived here for about 5 years, and this is the first time the power's been out for more than a few minutes. There wasn't even a storm. Huh. I don't know what happened, but suspect:
I've been warming up with a cup of hot coffee; my choir spent about an hour singing Christmas carols outside at the Alderley Landing Farmer's Market. Alderley Landing is right on the waterfront, so it's pretty chilly there at the best of times, let alone at night in December. Cold or not, we had a lot of fun, and it was really pretty, with all of the Christmas lights up around the market. We were on a stage set up near the carosel, of which I took a picture (below). It's not the best shot... I was taking it with my 'phone while juggling a music book, mittens, and a clip-on light which didn't want to stay clipped on. It actually looked a lot prettier than it appears here. After Joe Cairo leaves, Sam goes out for dinner and notices that he is being tailed by a young man. Spade then goes to the Hotel Belvedere to speak to Cairo, but he isn't there. Knowing that Cairo has a ticket for a show at the Geary Theater, Sam then goes there to intercept him. When he finds Cairo, Sam asks him if he knows who the youth is who's following him. Cairo denies any knowledge of him, so Spade heads off to see Brigid O'Shaughnessy at the Coronet, noting that he's still being followed. Brigid- if that's her real name- acts very, very happy to see Sam Spade. Though flirting, the two are also fencing with words, Sam trying to get information from Brigid while she parries and dodges, avoiding giving him any answers. Suspecting that she has some connection to Joe Cairo, Sam mentions that he offered to pay him to retrieve the black bird. Brigid asks him to set up meeting with Cairo, and Sam arranges for them to meet at his apartment later that night. He and Brigid go to his apartment building, but when they arrive, Sam sees Iva waiting for him in a car. He goes over to her car, and she demands to know who Brigid is. She becomes angry when Spade refuses to tell her anything and advises her to go home. She furiously drives away. In Sam's apartment, he begins to tell Brigid about one of his previous cases, a missing person whom he tracked down. Joe Cairo then arrives and says that the building is still being watched by the mysterious young man. Cairo reiterates that he will pay for the figurine, but Brigid says that she doesn't have it. Both she and Cairo refer to a third party, "G," who seems to make them both nervous. They begin to argue, but are interrupted by the arrival of the police; it is Polhaus and Dundy again. Sam talks to them at the door, refusing to let them into his apartment. Dundy, still playing "bad cop," accuses Spade of having an affair with Miles' wife Iva, but doesn't get anything out of Sam. They're about to leave when there is a commotion inside, there's a scream, and so the officers force their way in the door. There they find Joe Cairo holding a gun with blood running down his face; he says that Brigid attacked him. She, on the other hand, accuses him of attacking her, saying she was defending herself. To keep either or both of them being arrested, Spade steps in and tells the police that Brigid and Cairo were merely play acting; it was all a joke. Realizing that attracting police attention is a bad idea, Cairo calms down and agrees with Sam's story. Of course, the officers don't buy this, but have no proof of any wrong-doing so they leave, but take Cairo in for questioning. Once they're gone, Sam tries to get the truth from Brigid, and she tells him another version of what's going on. She says that the bird figurine is a black falcon about a foot tall, and that she was offered money by Floyd Thursby and Joe Cairo to help them get it from a Russian named Kemidov. She says that, after locating the bird, she found out that Cairo was planning to double cross them and take the bird himself. To prevent this, she and Thursby beat him to it and ran off with the bird, but then- she says- Thursby refused to pay her her cut, which is why she hired Spade and Archer. Sam thinks that this is another big lie and says so; Brigid doesn't deny it. Sam kisses her. The next morning, Sam slips out of bed, careful not to wake Brigid (tsk, tsk). He goes through her pockets until he finds her hotel room key and quietly leaves. He goes to the Coronet and searches her rooms thoroughly, but doesn't find the bird. He goes back to his apartment and wakes Brigid, pretending he just went out to get breakfast. After they eat, Sam drops her off at her hotel then goes to Hotel Belvedere in search of Cairo. In the lobby, he sees the young man who's been tailing him and decides to confront him. Bluffing, Sam tells the youth that "G" is going to have to deal with him. The young man rather profanely denies knowing what he's talking about and leaves. Shortly afterwards, Cairo shows up, having been at the police station all night. Sam tells him that he searched Brigid's rooms and she doesn't have the falcon. He then goes to his office where Effie tells him that a Mr. G called; he said that he got Spade's message and will call back later. (To Be Continued...)Related Posts: |
About MeI'm a lover of good books, classic movies, and well-written shows (as well as some pretty cheesy ones, to be completely honest). Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
Fun SitesOdds & Ends |