Truth in Reporting? NY Magazine Fails the Test Regarding Bronx Science

New York Magazine recently (12/4/2011) published an article A Bronx Science Experiment by Robert Kolker (Bob Kolker, work 212-508-0811, cell 917-743-9843) about Valery Reidy’s “experiment” as principal at the Bronx High School of Science (http://nymag.com/news/features/bronx-high-school-of-science-2011-12/).

My 2005 exploits at BxScience were chronicled in the article, and I was quoted, but do you think Mr. Kolker had the courtesy to actually interview me? Nope. I did speak with him briefly on or about 11/17/2011, offering my cooperation, but he said he was busy, and there was no rush because the article would not be published until after the first of the year. According to him:

“In May 2005, a group of Bronx Science teachers started distributing leaflets outside the school, slamming Reidy’s approach. Chief among her critics were chemistry teacher Robert Drake and ­social-studies teacher Mel Maskin, the union chapter leader. That school year, the United Federation of Teachers filed 25 grievances against Reidy. The majority of the objections involved the guided-discovery method. But there were other criticisms.

"At a faculty meeting, Reidy was reported to have explained the school’s SAT-prep courses by saying students who “speak Asian” needed them. And after receiving an honorary doctorate from the College of Mount St. Vincent, she was said to be telling people to call her “doctor” (she later denied that). Drake seized on this and began handing out buttons labeled QUACK. “Somehow I crossed her, though I still do not know how,” Drake later said. “I had 30 years of college experience as a research chemistry professor and several excellent years at Bronx Science before my fall from grace.” The protest caught on with students, and one junior reportedly accused Reidy of trying to get him to say he was coerced by Drake into protesting. Drake left the school that summer, as did a steady stream of teachers, about fifteen each year over the next several years.”

I first wrote a comment (http://nymag.com/news/features/bronx-high-school-of-science-2011-12/comments.html#comments) but it was not published:

“[One student commented:] ‘And despite Dr. Drake's creepy glass eye, he was a passionate teacher who prepared me for every science class I took at that school, and he deserved better than he got.’

“OK. I have Duane Syndrome, not a glass eye, but I'll accept the rest of the student's comment on The Bronx Science Experiment. My score on RateMyTeachers.com (one of the few sites banned by Ms. Reidy) of 4.6 out of 5.0 still is posted.

“I asked to be interviewed for this article but was not, despite the fact I am liberally quoted. I was the only faculty member passing out leaflets on the sidewalk outside a PTA meeting when I began my NO QUACK campaign. I was accompanied by a parent [Laurie Faber] and a former guidance counselor wronged by Ms. Reidy [Livia Sklar]. Her secretary answered the phone ‘Dr. Reidy's Office.’ I hardly believe she did that without permission. A member of the press who was a senior at Mt. Saint Vincent when Ms. Reidy got her honorary doctorate told me that her talk included the line, ‘Don't worry if you don't amount to anything, most of us don’t.’ True words of wisdom at a commencement, don't you think?

“Ms. Reidy is not a scientist. Few teachers are. I am. It makes a difference when experiments in research fail to give expected results. That is when true learning occurs. Many scientists do not accept the Scientific Method; not Nobelists Sir Peter Medawar nor Richard Feynman, but Ms. Reidy not only accepts it but expects teachers to teach it her way: Step 1: State the problem. In chemistry and physics you are unlikely to know you HAVE a problem. Ms. Reidy doesn't really GET science, never mind how to teach it.

“Ms. Reidy not only trashed my teaching but removed me as a faculty mentor despite my record of getting kids into quality schools and despite parent protests against my removal. Another mentor, who asked to write her son's letter herself, cried when she read my letter for him. My (unedited) letter got her son into Harvard.

“Her choice in APs was abysmal. Rosemarie Jahoda in math came with baggage from Stuyvesant and created her own mess at BxScience. Ms. Falzone in science was a poor replacement for the great Martha Szporn, and gave professional development demos for faculty that were factually incorrect. Ms. Chang in guidance was hand-picked after several great people left after one year each and collaborated in reporting problem student's parents to ACS to punish student behavior.

“The class of 2008 redid my 2005 NO QUACK campaign out of homage to me as well as to emphasize new issues. I still have a bunch of NO QUACK buttons to give away.”

Then I wrote a brief letter to the editor, but it was not published, either:

“Despite the fact that I was quoted in the article The Bronx Science Experiment by Robert Kolker (12/4/2011) I was never interviewed, though I made myself available to him.

“I was the only faculty member involved with my NO QUACK campaign. I stood outside the school on the public sidewalk the night of a PTA meeting with the parent of a senior and with a guidance counselor who had been wronged by Ms. Reidy, the principal, and distributed anti-Reidy pamphlets I had written and NO QUACK buttons. We were later joined by two former students of mine who were later grilled by Ms. Reidy for their participation.

“I am gratified by student comments about me from my two years at Bronx Science some six years ago. I thank my supportive colleagues at the time, Dr. Mel Maskin and Helen Kellert, both superlative teachers, and those seniors who revisited my No QUACK campaign in 2008, both to honor me and to address new grievances.”

Last September the New York Times’ Schoolbook website had an article about Reidy as well (http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/09/15/bronx-science-sees-exodus-of-social-studies-teachers/):

I wrote a comment (http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/posts/91-what-s-your-take-on-the-turnover-at-bronx-high-school-of-science) about that article as well, but it was also not published:

“Jim Litsas noted that he was impressed with the speech Principal Reidy made at a parent-teacher meeting. But why was she at a parent-teacher meeting? I asked this question back in 2005 during my No Quack campaign when Ms. Reidy was calling herself ‘Dr.’ (Mike Tyson, the fighter, has an honorary doctorate, also, but does not presume to call himself ‘Dr. Tyson.’) How can parents and teachers have a meaningful dialog if Ms. Reidy is always there to intimidate. Parents told me that they did not want to jeopardize any advantage that Bronx Science might give their child by antagonizing Ms. Reidy.

“Ms. Reidy got her job after the previous principal, who was well respected, had his career put in limbo by then Chancellor Levy, a Bronx Science grad, who decided that the school should have a Nobel Prize winner as principal. When the search came up dry, and the principal in limbo walked, Ms. Reidy, an assistant principal of science and biology teacher, was chosen. Her education credentials are ordinary at best and her charisma is nil, but what she does excel at, besides reasonably good fiscal management, is vindictiveness towards anyone who crosses her.

“Somehow I crossed her, though I still do not know how. I had 30 years of college experience as a research chemistry professor and several excellent years at Bronx Science before my fall from grace. After a summer during which I mentored new teachers for the DOE, I began a new semester in which every observation, each of the unannounced ‘gotcha’ variety, was unsatisfactory. The written critiques, probably written by the assistant principal, were nonsensical and educationally ignorant. (A chemistry or physics teacher cannot start the scientific method with ‘state the problem’ because chemistry students do not know enough chemistry or physics to know they have a problem, unlike biology students who have 15 years of life experience when they walk into a biology classroom.) And all lessons had to be of the ‘developmental’ variety during which the ‘aim’ of the lesson is elicited from the students after a demonstration. Teachers could not announce the topic of a lesson beforehand, or suggest textbook readings or homework. Ms. Reidy claimed such assignments would destroy the ‘wow factor.’ One day I was challenged by Ms. Reidy regarding giving prior knowledge after a good student used the 25¢ word ‘equilibrium’ in her discussion during class.

“Despite the fact I had an excellent job elsewhere I returned to face the DOE hearing brought about by Mr. Reidy's unsatisfactory yearly evaluation of my work. I had three heroic witnesses appear on my behalf, one of which was still teaching at Bronx Science. Mr. Reidy, testifying by speakerphone from the comfort of her office, misspoke many times in that hearing, a hearing in which the deck is always stacked against an untenured teacher. The committee never asked her how I could be perfectly competent for two years (and 30+ years prior), then a miserable failure the next. The DOE has a battery of lawyers whose job is to assist principals in building cases against unwanted faculty. In my case Ms. Reidy's superiors back-dated letters and ignored evidence in accepting her evaluation. Ms. Reidy has absolute power and she wields it absolutely. As she once told me, ‘We can do this the easy way or the hard way but I will win.’ At least she doesn't call herself ‘Dr.’ anymore! However, I cannot ever teach for the DOE again in any capacity, even as a substitute.

“Bronx Science Alumni wring their hands over the possibility that Ms. Reidy's successor might be a graduate of Bloomberg's ineffectual ‘Leadership Academy.’ That is a very real concern, given the quality of recent principal appointments in the northwest Bronx, but it is no excuse for allowing Ms. Reidy to drive experienced teachers out of Bronx Science to replace them with cheaper, more compliant novices, bringing them to tears in the process. Unnecessary roughness. Penalty.

“I will end by recalling a day at Bronx Science during which Neil deGrasse Tyson of Hayden Planetarium and PBS Nova fame, and a Bronx Science graduate, returned to the school for a visit. His grace and demeanor with students that day made me daydream about what might have been had he, and not Ms. Reidy, been appointed as principal in 2001, before the Reign of Terror. A crazy idea, perhaps, but was it any crazier than the quest for a Nobel Prize winner?”

Mark Sadok, a former BxScience teacher, asked me to rewrite that comment for his anti-Reidy website http://www.bronxsciencenewprincipalscholarshipfund.com/ where a number of ex-BxScience faculty experiences, including his own, are chronicled. Mark still pickets BxScience—there is a picture of him doing so in the NYMag article. My rewrite:

“I have a research Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry and taught at the college level for 30 years before I started teaching high school. I taught at Bronx Science from February of 2003 though June of 2005, first under the exceptional assistant principal Martha Szporn and then, on her retirement, under the unexceptional Annelisse Falzone. At Mrs. Szporn's suggestion I became a faculty mentor. I was the founding advisor of the Go Club (now combined with the Chess Club), did photography and art work for the Robotics Team and the Alumni Association, was a Lincoln-Douglas debate judge and traveled with the team to Harvard, and took photos of the production of Oklahoma! because one of my senior mentorees [Evan Faber] played Curley. For the first two years I got straight Satisfactory ratings.

“I had a blast teaching and mentoring during 2003-2004. But everything changed in the fall of 2004. In September, Ms. Reidy was blackballing me among the assistant principals. Despite the fact that I had seniority, I was assigned none of the courses I had requested the year before. A first year teacher was given honors Regents chemistry. Ms. Falzone claimed she thought the novice would do a better job with there class than me. I was given no chemistry courses whatsoever. Instead I was relegated to a freshman Research Literacy course. I filed my first grievance that month over my assignment. (I won the grievance regarding the honors course but backed off switching courses because the first year teacher begged me no to.)

“As a bit of history, Ms. Reidy got her job after the previous principal, who was well respected, had his career put in limbo by then Chancellor Levy, a Bronx Science grad, who decided that the school should have a Nobel Prize winner as principal. When the search came up dry, and the principal in limbo walked, Ms. Reidy, an assistant principal of science and biology teacher, was chosen. Her education credentials are ordinary at best and her charisma is nil, but what she does excel at, besides reasonably good fiscal management, is vindictiveness towards anyone who crosses her.

“It became obvious in fall 2004 that I had somehow crossed Ms. Reidy, though I still do not know how. After a summer during which I mentored new teachers for the DOE, every observation that fall semester, each of the unannounced ‘gotcha’ variety, was unsatisfactory. The written critiques, probably written by the assistant principal, were nonsensical and educationally ignorant. (A chemistry or physics teacher cannot start the scientific method with ‘state the problem’ because chemistry students do not know enough chemistry or physics to know they have a problem, unlike biology students who have 15 years of life experience when they walk into a biology classroom.) And all lessons had to be of the ‘developmental’ variety during which the ‘aim’ of the lesson is elicited from the students after a demonstration. Teachers could not announce the topic of a lesson beforehand, or suggest textbook readings or homework. Ms. Reidy claimed such assignments would destroy the ‘wow factor.’ One day I was challenged by Ms. Reidy regarding giving prior knowledge after a good student used the 25¢ word ‘equilibrium’ in her discussion during class. In January 2005 Ms. Reidy removed me as a mentor because she alleged I was ‘derelict in my duties,’ though my letter for another mentor's son got him into Harvard and brought tears to his mother’s eyes. Of course Ms. Reidy was her own judge and jury in that matter, making things up as she needed to. The year made me physically ill, and when I left to go to the doctor on the last day of school I left a Mac notebook computer, a handmade walnut Go board and many, many other items that were never returned to me.

“Despite the fact I had an excellent job elsewhere I returned to face the DOE hearing brought about by Mr. Reidy's unsatisfactory yearly evaluation of my work. I had three heroic witnesses appear on my behalf, one of which was still teaching at Bronx Science. Mr. Reidy, testifying by speakerphone from the comfort of her office, misspoke many times in that hearing, a hearing in which the deck is always stacked against an untenured teacher. The committee never asked her how I could be perfectly competent for two years (and 30+ years prior), then a miserable failure the next. The DOE has a battery of lawyers whose job is to assist principals in building cases against unwanted faculty. In my case Ms. Reidy's superiors back-dated letters and ignored evidence in accepting her evaluation. Ms. Reidy has absolute power and she wields it absolutely. As she once told me, ‘We can do this the easy way or the hard way but I will win.’ At least she doesn't call herself ‘Dr.’ anymore! However, I cannot ever teach for the DOE again in any capacity, even as a substitute.

“Parent Jim Litsas recently noted in the Times that he was impressed with the speech Principal Reidy made at a parent-teacher meeting. But why was she at a parent-teacher meeting? I asked this question back in 2005 during my No Quack campaign (begun in late May) when Ms. Reidy was calling herself ‘Dr.’ (Mike Tyson, the fighter, has an honorary doctorate, also, but does not presume to call himself "Dr. Tyson.") How can parents and teachers have a meaningful dialog if Ms. Reidy is always there to intimidate. Parents told me that they did not want to jeopardize any advantage that Bronx Science might give their child by antagonizing Ms. Reidy. (I still have a bunch of No Quack buttons and duck calls if anyone is interested!)

Bronx Science Alumni wring their hands over the possibility that Ms. Reidy's successor might be a graduate of Bloomberg's ineffectual ‘Leadership Academy.’ That is a very real concern, given the quality of recent principal appointments in the northwest Bronx, but it is no excuse for allowing Ms. Reidy to drive experienced teachers out of Bronx Science to replace them with cheaper, more compliant novices, bringing them to tears in the process. Unnecessary roughness. Penalty.

I will end by recalling a day at Bronx Science during which Neil deGrasse Tyson of Hayden Planetarium and PBS Nova fame, and a Bronx Science graduate, returned to the school for a visit. His grace and demeanor with students that day made me daydream about what might have been had he, and not Ms. Reidy, been appointed as principal in 2001, before the Reign of Terror. A crazy idea, perhaps, but was it any crazier than the quest for a Nobel Prize winner?”

None of this chronicles my original appeals of Reidy’s decision, during which Elena Papaliberios, a DOE Local Instructional Superintendent in Region 1, clearly backdated a 8/7/2005 letter to me (8/7/2005 was a Sunday) since it mentions my correspondence to her through 8/13/2005—and the Region 1 attorney, Diana L. Armenakis initialed that letter!—so that she could meet contractual deadlines to prevent me from returning that September. (The “8/7/2005” letter had a postage meter date of 8/15/2005, and Papaliberios was on vacation at the time.) I requested that the New York State Office of the Attorney General Public Integrity Unit investigate the backdating, but nothing ever came of it. There clearly is no integrity in the DOE from bottom to top.

The Remarkable War Horse, Joey, and His Play

I was lucky enough to get tickets to a performance of the play War Horse at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center on the second night of previews, and want to relate my experience and thoughts on this remarkable event that involves full-sized horse (and other) puppets. You might have caught the commercials on TV which give a quick glimpse of these remarkable creations. You will want to see them up close!

War Horse is a adaptation for the stage by Nick Stafford of the child's novel of the same name by Michael Morpurgo, the British Children's Laureate for 2003-05, which also serves as the basis for the Steven Spielberg film due later this year. It was first performed at the National Theatre in London in 2007 where it enjoyed three years of sold out performances. The development of the play from origins in the National Theatre Studio and the puppets by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa are chronicled on the DVD Making War Horse sold at the Beaumont and by Amazon.co.uk. The commitment to the idea from start to finish by all involved is unbelievable, particularly because the horse, Joey, in the novel, speaks in the first person, and it was clear that the horse on stage would not.

The playtext is published by Faber & Faber in the UK, but this book was withdrawn from sale at the Beaumont just as I tried to buy it, for obscure reasons, so I ordered it from Amazon.co.uk. Mr. Stafford prefaces the play with the following comments:

Joey - the central character - Alice his mother, and Topthorn are all horses. None of them speaks, but all - especially Joey - have detailed throughlines.

This involves many more stage directions than is normal in a stage play, and these barely indicate the detailed relationships between horse and human that need to be plotted to tell this story. A full description of the horses' movements and reactions would be a script in itself. Therefore what follows is indicated to be sufficient to begin.

The mother horse, Alice, does not appear in the current play, nor on the DVD, so her part was obviously cut early on. What you cannot imagine without seeing the play is the host of other puppet characters that appear, from barn swallows on long poles, to vultures on the battlefield, to a cantankerous goose that pecks and flaps and chases in comic relief that becomes as real as the horses.

On the DVD an actor playing Albert confesses that he was worried how much his acting would be needed to confer realism to the horses, but his fears were allayed when paired with the puppet horses. Handspring puppets in this and previous performances always breathe. When standing still their chests rise and fall, tails twitch, and heads bob. Although their eyes are fixed you will swear they are not as they catch the stage lights. The horses become real despite the external handlers and internal carriers. Unlike the play Peter & Wendy, in which all characters are puppets, the handlers in War Horse are not concealed. They stand in period garb, there, visible but invisible both.

Mr. Morpurgo states on the DVD that he wanted to write a book about war without taking sides. He wanted to portray the concept and horrors of war and decided that the plight of the military horses during World War I was the perfect vehicle. According to the Playbill, a million horses were shipped to Europe from Britain, but only 62,000 returned. Perhaps 5 million horses perished in the War to End All Wars. WWI saw the first machine guns, barbed wire and tanks, none of which were compatible with cavalry troops. Both sides were kind to their own horses, however, giving Morpurgo the level playing field he desired.

The play starts with a young Albert and his father, prone to drink, and, while drunk, prone to resist playing second fiddle to his brother, Albert's uncle, by making outlandish bets and purchases he can ill afford. One such purchase is the horse Joey, a "hunter," the foal of a thoroughbred and a draught horse, unfit for farm work. Albert quickly bonds with Joey, communicating with a "hoot" made with his hands and mouth. On another bet the father almost loses Albert by claiming he can be taught to plow, but Albert remarkably gets Joey to accept a harness and plow, with the agreement that Joey was now his. Unfortunately his father learns that the military is buying horses for the war and sells Joey without Albert's permission. Although the officer who rides Joey knows he is special, he cannot protect him on the battlefield. Joey falls into the hands of a German officer who is as kind to Joey as Albert. Joey's life is spared when he lowers his head, essentially volunteering, to accept the harness of a first aid wagon, which the other horses would not do. If your eyes do not fill with tears at this point you are probably the only one in the theater without.

Albert volunteers for service, now that he is old enough, convinced that he will be reunited with Joey, despite the improbability.

Albert carries with him a sketch of Joey ripped in a strip from a sketchbook. The stage has as its backdrop nothing but darkness, but overhead is a stage-wide ripped-strip shaped screen onto which dates and scenes of the farm, the village, the battlefield are projected. Flashes of light into they audience's eyes are battlefield explosions. There are also songs, chosen by John Tams, a British musical historian and performer, the lyrics of which serve to bring unity to the performers on stage at the time, whether townspeople or soldiers.

The battlefield scenes are nasty and scary. Barbed wire is, in this performance, plastic spirals of razor wire, quickly strung across the stage. (In the National Theatre production it looks more like old-fashioned barbed wire.) Horses fall and die, their handlers' bodies strewn lifeless on the stage. A puppet tank rears and rumbles across the terrain, its headlights blinding. Lights flash, smoke billows, the sound system cracks with explosions.

Of course, as is fitting for a child's story, Albert does find Joey, and their joy is palpable, as is your own. You will leave the theater exhausted, and yet with a second wind.

If there are any tickets left you ought to buy one as soon as possible. War Horse is an Event for All Time. See it!

Severe Reservations about ReServe, Inc.

It has been a while since I have blogged. But this incident regarding ReServe deserves mention.

Months ago I attended an AARP seminar on finding a job for 50+ folks in Harlem on a very stormy day. Despite the terrible weather there were many attendees. Lots of silver-haired folks clearly wanted to get back into the marketplace.

It was there that I first met John Pham of ReServe, a placement organization for volunteers which differentiates itself by offering a $10/hour stipend for ReServists. After having a brief conversation with John I went home and registered for their orientation. Since I had just missed the January orientation I signed up for the February 28 orientation at their headquarters on Broadway at 40th Street.

During that orientation I learned of a Success Mentor program sponsored by the Mayor's Task Force on Truancy, Chronic Absenteeism and School Engagement. I was told that John Pham was the contact person for that program and so I asked to speak with him about it, mainly because I was concerned that my banishment from the NYC DOE that was the result of my trashing by the Bronx High School of Science "principal without principles," Valerie Reidy, which I clearly explained to John, would affect my placement. Mr. Pham indicated that I would be employed by the ReServe payroll company, NextSource, and not by the DOE, so my DOE no-hire situation would not apply. So I expressed interest in being a Success Mentor.

So I was pleased when John called to say they had a Success Mentor position at MS 301 in the Bronx as the result of a ReServist having to bow out. Once again I trekked to 1440 Broadway to interview with John for the specific position. Once again I mentioned my situation with the DOE and was assured it would be no problem.

Last Monday, March 21st, I got a call from John saying I had been selected and that I needed to be fingerprinted at DOE HQ at 65 Court Street but first had to fill out paperwork with Diane Perez-Cruz at 1440 Broadway, so I made an appointment to do so at 10:30 on Wednesday, March 23rd. I mentioned to John that I had already been fingerprinted, but he called back to say there was no record of them, so I would have to be fingerprinted again.

I was not feeling well on the morning of the 23rd and had gotten on the road late, without having breakfast. Ms. Perez-Cruz was, to me, a bit condescending, so I snipped a bit when asked for a canceled check to verify direct deposit routing codes and she refused to accept instead a deposit slip which I had brought with me that bore the same magnetic code. All of a sudden I was interviewed by two others who questioned both my gruffness and my status as a recipient of unemployment payments. When I indicated that I had told John Pham about my unemployment status I was told that they were unaware, and John does not make final decisions anyway.

I was next interviewed by Don Tinagero, Director of Human Resources and Administration, one of a very few silver-haired staffers. He indicated that his retirement had not sat well with his wife and that he had started as a ReServist and was hired on later as Director. I described my situation at Bronx Science and of my educational background and of my interest in the Success Mentor position because I felt I belonged in a school if not in a classroom.

I gave Don my business card which has a periodic table of the elements on the back. I asked if he knew of Tom Lehrer's Elements Song. He did not, but he surprised me by saying he used to sing the Sodium Chloride song recorded by Loudon Wainwright III to his son as a kid. I mentioned that the song was composed by Loudon's ex-wife Kate McGarrigle, and that got us started talking about an upcoming tribute concert for Kate at Town Hall in May, as well as Rufus Wainwright, the son of Kate and Loudon and Teddy Thompson, a friend of Rufus whose concert I had attended the previous Friday night. Teddy had called Rufus up to the stage to sing a duet of King of the Road which they had both contributed to the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack.

Don then said that "You talk too much," and "I have to get back to work." He gave me his card saying I should call him if I had any problem with the Success Mentor job at MS 301, and we added to the back of the card John Pham's phone number and that of Courtney Wong, a young associate who had just been to a Rufus Wainwright concert. With the exception of the session with Ms. Perez-Cruz, all discussions that day were very collegial.

I sat there completing the DOE fingerprint paperwork and called John Pham back to warn him that I would have to answer "yes" to questions about having been discharged by Bronx Science and about having my city teaching certificate revoked. John once again stated it would not be a problem. With their blessing I headed off to 65 Court Street. I figured I would get lunch afterwards.

I presented my letter of introduction on DOE stationery that stated I was a Success Mentor candidate from ReServe to the receptionist. I was told that my fingerprints already existed, as I suspected, but that there was a hold on them, and was told to report to the DOE HR Investigations office, room 200. I sent a quick email by iPhone to John Pham saying that my fingerprints did exist and that I was sitting in the investigations office.

Shortly afterwards I was escorted into the office of GoPass program investigator John Kelleher. I had not heard of the GoPass Program at ReServe, but was assured by John that bearers of the ReServe letter of introduction had to apply for the GoPass program, and that it was a simple process that entailed an on-line application and a photograph. Mr. Kelleher then discussed the hold on my fingerprints. I mentioned my total S (satisfactory) ratings from 2002 to 2004 and my U (unsatisfactory) rating for 2005, thanks to Bronx Science principal Reidy. He told me I had to gather evidence of both before and after 2005 satisfactory service and the U rating document stating the reasons for my rating. He indicated that I might be allowed to serve as a volunteer if there were no student-oriented reasons—my term, not his—for the U. He would then interview me at noon on March 28th and, if all went well, I should be on track to start work at MS 301 on Wednesday, March 30th, as planned.

I was just completing the GoPass application on line when Don Tinagero called to tell me that the "team" at ReServe had decided that I was no longer suitable for the MS 301 job, with no explanation given. I had not yet eaten, and suddenly I was sick to my stomach.

By then Mr. Kelleher had sent word that he had moved up our interview meeting to Friday, March 25th. So I went back upstairs to his office to inform him that ReServe had, without explanation, pulled the plug. He then told me that he could not interview me if I did not have the support of ReServe. He then called Don Tinagero and left a message asking for an explanation. He tried to reach John Pham but he was not in his office. He then called Courtney Wong who agreed to track down John Pham. Eventually John talked with John and learned that I should not have been directed to the GoPass Program in the first place, but confirmed that ReServe had ceased to support me. John Pham told John Kelleher that he would call me about the situation. I got home and finally got something to eat for the first time that day about 5 PM, having spent three subway fares that day, on top of the six previous fares dealing with ReServe.

Today is March 28th and I have still not heard from John Pham or anyone else at ReServe.*

Let me tell you a bit about the ReServe paperwork and that of their payroll company NextSource:

It is made very clear that you serve as a volunteer "at will," meaning they can fire you on the spot with no notice and with no reason—as they had just done with me before I even got started.

The nominal $10 per hour payment (subject to standard tax deductions) comes with many strings. The employer has the right to work you for five hours straight on a given day without a break. (My workload would have been 8 - 1 Monday, Wednesday and Friday.) If the employee takes an unauthorized break it may be charged against him based on the fraction of an hour break time taken, reducing the $10/hr payment. Payment is biweekly. Electronic time sheets had to be completed by 5 PM Friday by the employee and approved by his supervisor by 5 PM Monday or payment would be denied until the following pay period. I was warned by Ms. Perez-Cruz that supervisors can get "busy" and forget to approve timesheets. Lovely.

The ReServist Code of Conduct states that "every person in the ReServe family (partners, payroll vendors, fellow ReServists)" shall be treated "with respect and dignity."

I leave it to you, dear reader, to decide whether the ReServe staff treated me with respect and dignity.

*ADDENDUM, 3/28, 4:30 PM: My blog prompted a subsequent conference call from John Pham and Don Tinagero meant as an apology and explanation for the mess described above. It seems that a supervisor (unnamed), whom I had never met, decided that I was wrong for the MS 301 job after I had left the ReServe office on my way to 65 Court Street. Don has apologized for the tone I perceived in his phone call notifying me that ReServe had withdrawn support, and stated that he did not know I was at 65 Court Street when he called to pull the plug. Both he and John Pham apologized for the GoPass fiasco at 65 Court Street. In this conversation Don suggested that I was "loquacious" and that what was needed in the Success Mentor position was a capacity to listen, not talk. My experience tells me that students will not talk unless they trust the listener. You build trust with conversation.

I am convinced that someone at 65 Court Street, if not John Kelleher, the GoPass guy, would have had to investigate the hold on my fingerprints. But it will never happen for reasons stated. I was told that they would work with their contacts at 65 Court Street to resolve the confusion I experienced. While that is certainly good news it does not really help me. My reservations about ReServe persist.

Nowhere Boy, Nowhere Man

The Latest Non-Beatles Beatles Film

Years ago I discovered the 1994 film Backbeat about The Beatles before they became famous. That film was directed by Ian Softley and starred Ian Hart as John Lennon, Stephen Dorff as Stu Sutcliffe, Sheryl Lee as Astrid Kirchherr, Kai Weisinger as Klaus Voorman, Gary Blakewell as Paul McCartney, Chris O'Neill as George Harrison, and Scott Williams as Pete Best. (Mr. Hart had played Lennon in an earlier film, The Hours and Times (1991), a fictionalized account of what may have happened when John Lennon and Brian Epstein, who was gay, went on holiday together to Barcelona in 1963.) Not only did Mr. Hart look like Mr. Lennon, but he was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, and spoke with a Scouse accent—supposedly closer to Irish than English. The tagline of Backbeat was "5 guys, 4 legends, 3 lovers, 2 friends, 1 band."

The plot of Backbeat takes The Beatles to Hamburg, where Stu Sutcliffe, a very close friend of John's from the art school in Liverpool, and the original bass player, develops a relationship with free-spirit Astrid, who took some classic photographs of The Beatles. When Stu leaves the band for Astrid, John is at a loss, and the suggestion is made that John loves Stu which is clearly true. (Astrid's former lover, Klaus Voormann, displaced by Stu, later played bass on John Lennon's album Imagine and designed The Beatles' Revolver album cover.) When Stu dies of a brain hemorrhage, John is inconsolable, but the band plays on, with Paul switching to bass and Ringo replacing Pete Best as the drummer. The music for the film was generated by Don Was, who assembled a band that was probably better than The Beatles were at that time. He could not use any Lennon-McCartney songs so he used Long Tall Sally and the like. I liked the soundtrack so well I bought it as well as the DVD.

Anyhow, Backbeat was then, Nowhere Boy is now. The film was released last fall in the U.K. but will not be released in the U.S. until October, 2010. It has already been released on Blu-ray disc in the U.K., which I how I saw it. I was interested in the earlier work of Aaron Johnson after seeing him in Kick Ass a few weeks ago. After learning he was British I looked through the Amazon.co.uk catalog and came up with a few things he had done. One was Gurinder Chadha's (Bend It Like Beckham) film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)—sort of a chick flick. The other was Nowhere Boy (2009).

Nowhere Boy starts earlier than Backbeat, even before there was a group called The Quarrymen. It stars Aaron Johnson as John Lennon, Kristin Scott Thomas as Mimi Smith (Lennon's aunt who raised him from the age of 5), Anne-Marie Duff as Julia Lennon (Lennon's mother), Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney, and Sam Bell as George Harrison. This debut feature of Sam(antha) Taylor-Wood tells the never-seen-before story of John Lennon's childhood. It was nominated for four BAFTA awards, and won other awards for both Aaron Johnson and Anne-Marie Duff.

At the beginning we see a directionless John Lennon at 15, failing at school and pulling pranks, living with his stoic aunt Mimi and boyishly playful uncle George. When George dies suddenly, John is shaken. Mimi is hard to approach—similar to my own English aunts. At the funeral John sees his mother among the mourners, but does not pursue her. A short time later a friend takes him to his mother's home nearby which she shares with her two daughters and their father, Bobby. Julia Lennon seems to have the hallmarks of a manic depressive. She introduces John to rock'n'roll, telling him the name means sex, and teaches him to play the banjo. They travel to Blackpool and have a blast, but it feels uncomfortably close to a date. But she is neglecting her daughters and pissing Bobby off. It is Mimi who buys John his first guitar, for £7, but she later takes it and sells it when he neglects his studies. Julia gives him the money to buy it back.

The plot gets heavy when we learn how Mimi took possession of John at the age of five as Julia bottoms out when John's father wants to take him to New Zealand and nearly kidnaps him. Julia's death after being struck by a drunk driver occurs just after the two sister reconcile and just before John's 17th birthday. The Quarrymen at this point have Paul McCartney, who lost his own mother and consoles John, and George Harrison, the youngest of the lot, whose age would become a plot device in Backbeat, and are developing a following. John mentions that his apartment is sparsely furnished but has some of "Stu's artwork." However, we never meet Stu in this film, and the only Pete in the film is not Pete Best, though John announces to Mimi that the band is going to Hamburg. The name The Beatles is never spoken.

The film does start, however, with the opening chord of A Hard Day's Night (TWANG!) with John running as if away from a bunch of screaming girls, but it is only a dream—and a clever script device. There are complaints that Aaron Johnson is too handsome as John, too much older than Paul and other boys in The Quarryman, and without the edge displayed by Ian Hart in the two earlier films. I think Ian Hart did the better job, but Lennon is younger here. Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney looks young, is a bit fey, and is too goody-goody. (The real Paul claimed to have sex at 15 with an older baby sitter.) The film has an overvoice of the real John Lennon in a couple of places, and has him singing his song Mother at the end. Yoko Ono is thanked among the credits. Paul McCartney reportedly made some suggestions regarding the script, but did not participate and is not thanked. To its credit the film captures Liverpool in the 1950s pretty well. We see ferries on the Mersey, a quick glimpse of a Strawberry Field sign, John's school, and John's house.

IMdB.com has the film rated at 7.0/10.0. I might go a notch higher. All in all I liked the film, and plan to watch it again.

Mr. Johnson, then 18, got Ms. Taylor-Wood, then 42, pregnant. There is a brief scene in the Extras on the disc that show them together, looking like a couple. (Supposedly the child was due in January, 2010.) In the extras, Taylor-Wood states that Mr. Johnson was one of the first to read for the part, and she wanted him, but that she interviewed many to satisfy others with a stake in the film. One has to wonder what was on her mind from the beginning.

Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies

And Some Sophisticated Gents, As Well

Road trip! Road trip! Road trip! It was a long day, but worth it.

I was on the #1 train at 6:15 AM headed to 33rd street, and jumped to the #3 express train at 96th street only to learn that 42nd was the last stop on the #3. So I had to wait at 42nd for the same #1 local train I had just left. I ended up in my original seat on the #1 to travel one stop. An inauspicious start. But that was the only screw-up during a very pleasant day.

The Bolt bus left the corner of 33rd and 7th Avenue on time at 7:30 headed to Washington, DC. My friend Bill had started off at 4 AM from New Haven, CT, to join me on the trip. We got to the bus site at 10th and H in DC at 11:30 and took a cab to 12th and U for a lunch at the famous Obama hangout Ben's Chili Bowl (1213 U, www.benschilibowl.com), which celebrated its 50th year as a U Street ("Black Broadway") institution in 2008. Bill and I each ate a chili half smoke (beef-pork sausage with mustard, chopped onions, and pungent brown meat chili, $5.20) and shared a basket of cheese fries ($4.10). We both left full, and left some cheese fries behind in the basket. The staff is very friendly and the food is truly excellent. We visited the gift shop, which is above Ben's Next Door (1211 U), a new restaurant recently opened. Then we headed next door (1215 U) to the Lincoln Theater for a 2 PM performance of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies.

I had heard an interview on NPR's All Things Considered between Maurice Hines (tap-dancing sibling of the late Gregory Hines) and Michele Norris in which he described his recent discovery, tap-dancing siblings John (17) and Leo (15) Manzari who would perform with him in his choreography for the production of Sophisticated Ladies. I immediately looked up several YouTube videos of Mr. Hines and the brothers and decided that a trip to Washington was in order.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126802535

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhxi4JrTiwY (Maurice Hines introduces the Manzari Brothers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ElA7KUPPA (John & Leo Manzari improv)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viYIaDt46S0&feature=related (Sophisticated Ladies ad)

As you can see, both Manzari brothers are pretty sophisticated tapping gents even as teenagers!

John is a senior at the Field School, an independent day school in DC with about 300 students. His brother Leo is a freshman at the Field School. In interviews (see NPR above), John has said that he wants to attend Marymount Manhattan, some four hours away, but he still hopes to continue dancing with his brother.

So, Bill and I were obviously disappointed to learn that John Manzari was sitting out this Sunday matinee performance. The good news was that Leo was taking his place in some dance numbers. But we would not see the brothers in a duet. Bummer? Not as it turned out.

There were eighteen Ellington numbers in the first half and seventeen in the second, all played by a big band that was onstage in the background at all times. They included Take the A Train, Caravan, Drop Me Off in Harlem, In A Sentimental Mood, Satin Doll, Mood Indigo, It Don't Mean A thing If It Ain't Got That Swing, and Sophisticated Ladies. We need not have worried about the missing Manzari brother. The rest of the young cast were pros and knew a lot about tap as well! Leo had his red-brown floppy hair pulled back when he was dressed in a suit but it was let loose when he was less formally dressed. And he was a hoot!

http://www.localkicks.com/marketHome/images/insidePhoto/5032.jpg

http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/.a/6a00e553a80e1088340133ecaae944970b-500wi

Maurice Hines may be 67, but his feet have not slowed down at all. His outfits—as were all the costumes—were gorgeous, as was the staging. The Lincoln Theater is a refurbished palace from the 20s, with brass railings and carved ceiling. It was the perfect stage for a classy Ellington retrospective.

After the performance I stood in line at Ben's for a couple of take-out chili half-smokes while Bill remained outside. While he was waiting, Leo Manzari exited, in shorts, looking, according to Bill, like the typical 15-year-old. After being congratulated by audience members he walked off down U Street with some friends, incognito. But he and his brother John will be famous soon. Gregory Hines mentored tap-master Savion Glover, and reportedly told Maurice that some day he, too, would mentor prodigies. He has done so. And one has floppy red hair.

The Bolt bus back to New York City was absolutely full, and the driver did not stop as had the driver on the way to DC. Bolt buses (a division of Greyhound) have free Wi-Fi, AC sockets, and $20 fares (+/-). Bill slept. The guy to my right watched a DVD of Zoolander on an ASUS laptop from beginning to end, while the woman next to him watched an episode of Glee. I watched part of Avatar on my iPhone, read part of a book using the iPhone Kindle app, and checked email and Websites. I love my iPhone! Still, the trip back seemed longer than the morning ride. Luckily the #1 train came quickly, and I got a seat immediately. Bill, poor guy, had to get an 11:20 train to New Haven. But he texted that it was worth it.

I got home a few minutes ago. It was a long day, but I would do it again!

A Day of Rest

Dr. Steve

Entertained Dr. Steve with stories about Chris, Pete and Nick Kowanko. Fond memories.

Independent Film Center

Perrier's Bounty

I had read about the film Perrier's Bounty somewhere, perhaps IMdB.com, and so I noticed the review in the New York Times. It is sort of a Guy Ritchie Rock'n'rolla-type film starring Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Sunshine), Jim Broadbent and Brendan Gleeson. The Times noted that these three can make something insubstantial into something substantial. So I hopped the A train and headed down to Greenwich Village to the old Waverly Theater, now the IFC Center.

I was the only one in the small theater. That is a first here in New York City. Like the Quad Theater, the films there seem to be projected digitally from a DVD, or possibly a Blu-ray disc.

As I expected, I enjoyed the film. Jim Broadbent as Murphy's dad is perfect. He first tells his son he is going to die of cancer, but we soon learn that he had a dream in which the devil sat at the end of his bed in a suit and told him that he would die the next time he falls asleep, so he spends the rest of the film trying to stay awake and acting recklessly, as if he didn't care. Gleeson plays the Irish mobster Perrier to the hilt, his red-brown wool long coat the color of his hair. There is a lot of violence, as with a Guy Ritchie film, but I liked it.

A reviewer from IMdB.com said:

I picked up on a couple of reviews of PERRIER'S BOUNTY in the daily newspapers and thought — that is worth a look over!! Good cast — Brendon Gleeson Liam Cunningham Jim Broadbent Cillian Murphy et al - and a story of the shady underworld inhabiting Dublin......drugs, guns, violence, dog fights and other such delights.

So today I packed myself off to the local multiplex and gladly bought my ticket.

The premise goes that Michael (Murphy) owes Perrier (Gleeson) a sum of money, which he hasn't got - two of Perrier's thugs tell him he has four hours to find the money - or he will have two bones broken. That sets him haring off to the local dive looking for The Mutt ([Liam] Cunningham), the local loan shark. The Mutt tells Michael he is short — but is doing a job that night and needs a third man ...

So starts a hectic forty eight hours for Michael as he has run-ins with his father (Broadbent), the girl in the flat below, her on/off lover, two sadistic car clampers, the local dog fraternity, the snooker hall drug pusher, the [cop]-dodging car thieves ... I could go on, mentioning the double-crossing and the underlying love story triumvirate.

Funny in parts but more chuckle-some than guffaws, the whole leaves you wanting more meat to chew over — there is not much to bring you in to the story completely. When it concludes —and I had a doubting question over the way it ends, up in the hills (not to give it away but there WOULD be repercussions after the fact) — it leaves you with a sense of it having just petered out.

I give this film a seven out of ten — the violence is gritty and realistic — Brendon Gleeson is a marvel! - but is bogged down by unnecessary plot angles and sidelines. A tighter script would have made this experience more enjoyable.

I, myself, might go as far as 8 out of ten.

Vampires

For some inexplicable reason I re-watched the film Twilight: New Moon. Maybe it is the energy of the young cast that I enjoy, having now been out of the classroom for almost an entire school year.