For those of you who don’t teach at Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) or, as is the case with myself, aren’t married to someone who teaches there, then you are likely unaware of the crippling requirement that MPS imposes on its staff and the damage that it does to its students. If you are employed by MPS, you must live within the city of Milwaukee. Not Milwaukee County, mind you, but the city itself. There are, of course, a handful of nice areas to live in, but to restrict where someone is or is not allowed to live simply because you are their employer is unjust.

The reasons behind the requirement, when it was instituted in the late 70’s, seemed at the time to make sense. If teachers live in the communities that they teach in, they will send their kids to schools in the city and will therefore better relate to the schools, helping the community as a whole. After 30 years, however, one can easily see that teachers tend to live on the outskirts of the city in a few select neighborhoods, often not anywhere near the school at which they teach and many teachers send their kids to private schools, not community schools.

The socioeconomic failure of the residency requirement might not be enough to justify its repeal, but the drastic limiting of the job pool is. At any given time, there are 500+ vacant teaching positions throughout the district. Without opening up applications to teachers who already own homes outside the city and don’t want to sell or who are otherwise unwilling to move in to the city, there is simply no way to fill the open positions. There are certainly tons of excellent teachers throughout the district, but for the schools to tell themselves that they don’t frequently end up hiring bad-eggs simply because they need to fill positions that they have too few applicants for is a lie and, most important of all, is unfair to the students. For every low-quality teacher that the city is forced to hire out of desperation there are plenty of teachers currently working – or unemployed – in the surrounding areas who would jump at the chance to get the job if it didn’t mean selling their home and moving to the city. If the purpose of the residency requirement is to benefit the students to build a better future for the city, then which is more important: Hiring anyone who applies because there are too few applicants or having an abundance of applicants, even if they might have to commute, and being picky with who you choose to teach the city’s youth.

There are two ways in which Milwaukee’s teacher residency requirement can be repealed:

• Legislatively, the state senate and assembly can pass a bill which would make it illegal. This has been unsuccessful many times before, but is nonetheless being tried again this year with Assembly Bill 89 and Senate Bill 54. I encourage you to contact your representatives and tell them to support those bills.
• The teachers’ union also has the power to undo the requirement through collective bargaining. Both the MTEA and WEAC support a repeal of the requirement, but it falls below things like salary and benefits when it comes to contract negotiations and ends up being tossed in the pot as a bargaining chip.

Regardless of which how it is done away with, the residency requirement is antiquated and needs to be repealed.

There are some awesome videos floating around on the Internet, but few are as unique as getting to watch the last minute of a satellite’s life before it crashes in to the moon.

If you haven’t seen this yet, you should. He makes nerds everywhere proud. It’s long, but you’ll be laughing the whole time.

In honor of Futurama being officially renewed, I have decided to break down exactly what you need to get, from head to toe, so you can be unfrozen in the proper attire for a year 3000 Halloween party.

• Orange Hair
  Fry’s most noticeable feature, and probably the trickiest part of the costume, is his hair. Unless you happen to naturally have a unique shade of fluorescent orange hair, you’ll probably want to pick up the above linked hairspray to help out. My suggestion would be to style your hair with heavy styling mousse (unless of course you make your own), to get a nice large wave in the front, let it harden, and spray the hell out of it with the can of orange hairspray.
• A White T-Shirt
  It doesn’t get more basic than a plain white tagless (may as well be comfortable, too!) Hanes t-shirt. I’m sure Fry has more than one, or he’d likely make Zoidberg smell clean in comparison.
• Red Windbreaker
  He’s got it on in every episode, so it must be a pretty nice jacket. The jacket I linked to above is just about a perfect fit and, just like about every other part of this costume (save maybe the hairspray) will fit in to your wardrobe flawlessly after it’s use in the costume. Wear it, keep it unzipped, stay warm.
• Light Blue Jeans
  Pretty much any jeans will do as long as it’s a light blue color. You’re going to spend the whole party in them and will probably want to wear them more than once, so make sure they’re comfortable.
• Black Low Top Shoes
  I don’t know that it’s ever been truly revealed, but Fry’s shoes have got to be based of a classic pair of black Converse low tops. If you’re really anal about it, lace them up using the straight easy lacing method.
• Accessories
  What, you thought you just needed the clothes, the hair, and that’s it? No way, mister! You’re going to need some accessories to go with that costume. First and foremost, you should work hard at developing a nice healthy addiction to Slurm. You’re also certainly going to need a space ship for your new job as an intergalactic delivery boy. Last, but certainly not least, you’re going to need to dump your old friends and embrace your new best friend, Bender Bending Rodriquez.

There you have it! Everything you need to show up to your next costume party as everyone’s favorite unfrozen fool from the stupid ages, Philip J. Fry.

It’s been a long time coming and Comedy Central has, according to an exclusive report at Collider.com, ordered 13 new episodes of what, in this writers opinion, is one of the best animated series ever made. I would like to think I did my part in helping it return by buying all four of the movies and, apparently, I was not alone. Comedy Central’s appetite for the series just could not be whet when they just recently aired the final movie and they, like all of the fans, they needed more. No news yet on when it’ll be back or if the usual suspects will continue doing the voices, but I’m sure that info will be available soon. In the mean time, I’ll just be wandering around with a stupid grin on my face.

UPDATE 6/10/09: A spokesperson for 20th Century Fox Television has confirmed that they have ordered 26 new episodes of Futurama to start airing (again!) in 2010.

UPDATE 6/11/09: Here’s the official press release from Comedy Central…

“FUTURAMA” RETURNS TO PRODUCTION WITH AN INITIAL ORDER OF 26 NEW EPISODES TO PREMIERE MID 2010

Emmy Award-Winning Animated Comedy Series Confirmed To Run On COMEDY CENTRAL; Broadcast Network Run Also Possible

NEW YORK, June 10, 2009 — 20th Century Fox Television, the animation powerhouse that brought “Family Guy” back from the dead five years ago, has done it again: Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy “Futurama” will return to production on 26 new half-hour episodes more than six years after the series aired its last original episode. The move comes on the heels of the series’ blockbuster performance on DVD and on COMEDY CENTRAL; the announcement was made today by Twentieth Century Fox Television Chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden, and David Bernath, senior vice president, programming for COMEDY CENTRAL.

“Futurama” was a staple of Fox’s Sunday night animation block from 1999 to 2003 before ceasing production on original episodes. In June 2006, COMEDY CENTRAL acquired the rights to the existing 72 episodes of the series, which the channel began airing in January 2008, and four recently-produced extended length “Futurama” adventures: “Bender’s Big Score,” “The Beast with a Billion Backs,” “Bender’s Game” and “Into the Wild Green Yonder,” which enjoyed enormous success both on COMEDY CENTRAL and in DVD release. This new deal marks the show’s return to episodic series production on original episodes. “Futurama” becomes only the second series in the history of the medium to go back into production based on the strength of its DVD sales and repeat airings on cable.

The new episodes will be available in mid 2010 to be shown on COMEDY CENTRAL. Twentieth Century Fox Television retains the option to license the original runs of the new episodes to a broadcast network.

“We are excited to continue our relationship with Matt, David and 20th Century Fox TV and to be able to offer COMEDY CENTRAL viewers the first opportunity to see new episodes of ‘Futurama,’” said Bernath. “As evidenced by the strong performance of the extended length epics, there remains a deep and passionate fan base for this intelligent and very funny show that matches perfectly with our audience. It’s fantastic that we can add brand-new installments of Leela, Fry and Bender’s adventures to our existing library.”

Quipped Matt Groening, “We’re thrilled ‘Futurama’ is coming back. We now have only 25,766 episodes to make before we catch up with Bender and Fry in the year 3000.” Added David X. Cohen, “We’re excited and amazed that the show is coming back, perhaps due to some sort of mysterious time loop. We look forward to working with COMEDY CENTRAL and 20th Television to make this the best iteration of the loop yet!”

“When we brought back ‘Family Guy’ several years ago, everyone said that it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing – that canceled series stay canceled and cannot be revived,” commented 20th Century Fox TV Chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden. “But ‘Futurama’ was another series that fans simply demanded we bring back, and we couldn’t have been happier when Matt and David agreed that there were many more stories yet to tell.”

“Futurama” focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a “diverse” new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed alien and Bender (John DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws. The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including “Outstanding Animated Program” in 2002. It featured guest stars such as Sarah Silverman, Hank Azaria, Bob Odenkirk, Pamela Anderson, Beatrice Arthur, Lucy Liu, Beck and Coolio.

“Futurama,” created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television, with Rough Draft Studios, Inc. contributing the animation.

20th Century Fox Television, a division of News Corp, is a leading supplier of entertainment content domestically and around the world.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 95 million homes nationwide. COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.’s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks. COMEDY CENTRAL’s Internet address is www.comedycentral.com. For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit Press Central, COMEDY CENTRAL’s press web site at www.comedycentral.com/press.

MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company’s portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, Gametrailers and Xfire.

There have been a lot of Google “Doodles” over the years for various different holidays, anniversaries, or events. The following depicts what, at least in my opinion, have been the best of the best based off the creativity and originality in the alteration of their standard logo.

1. Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! – March 2, 2009
2. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Birthday – June 8, 2005
   
3. First Day of Spring – Design by Eric Carle – March 20, 2009
   
4. 50th anniversary of the LEGO brick – January 28, 2008
   
5. VOTE – November 2, 2004
   
6. Leap Year – February 29, 2004
   
7. Happy Halloween! – October 31, 2003
   
8. Earth Day – April 22, 2008
   
9. Louis Braille’s Birthday – January 4, 2006
   
10. Google’s 10th Birthday – September 27, 2008
    

Either you’ve read the title of this post and immediately thought to yourself, “It was just renewed for another season, so there’s nothing to worry about!”, or you’re wondering who Joss Whedon is and what’s wrong with his dollhouse. If you fall in to the latter category, you are missing out on one fantastic new TV show. As soon as season one is available on DVD (July 28, 2009), I highly recommend that you go buy a copy and catch up on one of the smartest and most original new Sci-Fi shows on television. Given the chance, Dollhouse will surely end up being Joss Whedon’s finest work. Are curious yet? Read the following short description for more info on the show.

They can be anyone you want.

The Dollhouse is a very secret, and very illegal, place where wishes come true. Clients with the right connections and enough money can hire “Actives”, people who have been programmed to perfectly fulfill the needs, and desires of their clients. The Actives are people who have chosen, for their own reasons, to surrender their bodies and minds for a five-year stay in the Dollhouse. Now they can be imprinted with any personality, skill, or even muscle memory. They can be the perfect companion, lover, spy, assassin; and when the job is done they forget everything.

If you are already a fan of the show and, like me, let out an audible sigh of relief when Fox announced they’re giving the show a second season, you can’t just rest there. Nothing speaks to network executives louder than money and poor DVD sales will make Fox think twice about letting Dollhouse go beyond its second season. If you’ve enjoyed the first season as much as I have and want to see how the show plays out if it is given the chance for a full run, then the absolute best thing you can do to help it is buy the DVD and watch it when the next season starts. So please, because we know Fox doesn’t know what to do with a good show when it gets one and it will inevitably end up on the bubble again when they’re looking for their Fall 2010 lineup, do what you can now to show support for the show and keep it going.

Pre-Order Dollhouse Season One Now

I love my iPhone 3G. It’s fun, it’s useful, and it continually amazes me that Apple was able to enter a market it previously had zero role in and instantly cause the rest of the industry to start playing catch-up. Anyone who who has one will tell you that the absolute best part about it is the variety of applications, or “apps”, that are available for it, both free and paid. Having used it for several months now, I’ve compiled a top ten list of free iPhone Apps that every single user should have. I attempted to organize them in order, but they’re all great in their own regard, so, without further ado and in no particular order:

1. Urban Spoon & AroundMe
   I’m clumping these two together because although they are very different in many aspects, their basic purpose is the same: Help you find what you need nearby. Urban Spoon is obviously focused entirely on food and has everything from lowest rung fast food through five star restaurants. It can randomly offer you selections or allow you to scroll through options narrowed down by location, type, price, or whatever else. AroundMe, however, shows you a nice neat list of whatever is near you. Restaurants, banks, hospitals, bars, gas stations, the list goes on. Using the GPS, it will essentially offer you a radius of things nearby in whatever category you choose and has a very extensive list. If you’re ever in an unfamiliar area or just looking for something new, both of these are mandatory.
2. The Weather Channel
   Sure, the iPhone comes with a basic weather app. The Weather Channel puts it to shame. In-depth current, hourly, 36 hour, and 10 day forecasts as well as radar, severe weather alerts, and even local weather video clips can be a true life-saver.
3. Shazam
   You’re listening to the radio and a song comes on that you like. You’d download it or go buy the CD, but you’ve got no idea who sings it, what album it’s on, or even what it’s called. In comes Shazam. You’ve seen the commercials for it and it is exactly as awesome to use as it looks. Just open up the app, tap on “Tag Now” and you’ll know the artist, title, album, year, and (if available) the music video on YouTube. It even keeps track of what you’ve looked up in the past so you can remember it later. Excluding the iPod app itself, this is my favorite music-themed app available.
4. ShopShop
   For some twisted reason, Apple has yet to see the iPhone as an ideal shopping list tool. Until the day that they do, though, ShopShop is filling in. There are dozens of different shopping list apps out there, some are free, most aren’t, but this was the one that really stood out to me. It’s basic, it’s easy to use, you can have multiple different lists at once, it keeps a memory of what you’ve typed in before, and it it makes trips to the grocery store a breeze.
5. Sol Free Solitaire
   Offering six different variations of solitaire games, this is easily the best solitaire game available for the iPhone. It has a lot of great features, good statistics tracking and, of course, is free.
6. Dictionary.com
   Install this and you can keep the Random House Unabridged Dictionary in your pocket. If that isn’t enough, it also contains Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus, keeps track of recent words you’ve searched for, and even offers you a “word of the day” to help expand your vocabulary. To top it all off, it downloads the entire database on to your phone, so you don’t need to be connected to a 3G or WiFi network for it to work.
7. Flashlight
   Plain and simple, it opens up to a bright white empty screen to help you find stuff in the dark. Seems almost too obvious, but it works quite well. If white isn’t your color of choice, you swipe across the screen to easily change it to red, green, blue, black, or set your own custom color. I initially installed it more as a joke app, but I’ve found myself using it to find something at night more often than I ever imagined.
8. Now Playing
   Read movie reviews, find nearby theaters, view show times sorted by theater or movie title, get info on upcoming movies, buy tickets if it’s available for your chosen theater, see all recent DVD releases, and even manage your Netflix account (if you have one). If there are any other features you could possibly want in a movie application, I can’t think if them.
9. Amazon Mobile
   This is the ultimate shopping companion. Any time you’re at a store and looking to buy something that you think Amazon might carry, open this up and search for it. Even if you’d prefer to buy it in a good old fashioned brick and mortar store, this app will let you easily read reviews, see competitive pricing, and see comparable products. This free little app has helped me save money countless times and I’ve even dodged a few bullets from crappy items which I might have otherwise purchased.
10. 9-Toolbox
    I couldn’t decide whether or not to list this one, because it’s only free for a limited time. It is, however, awesome. The second this was released, there were about four other apps that got immediately axed off my phone. This single app offers you quick and easy currency conversion, a “days until” calculator, a “days until” reminder, every holiday ever for just about any religion or country, an inclinometer, a loan calculator, a menstrual cycle calendar (less exciting for us guys, but I’m sure the ladies would find this useful), a tip calculator, and all types of unit conversion. With a list like that, how can you not install it while it’s still free?

Is this list the definitive collection? Certainly not. Do you love an app that you don’t see on this list? Please feel free to reply and tell me about it.

Dear Dick,

There’s been a lot of talk about you lately in the MSM. They can’t seem to stop talking about you because, frankly, you won’t stop talking. Since leaving the office of the Vice President of the United States, you’ve made more public appearances and done more interviews with the media than I can ever recall you doing while in-office. Liberals and conservatives rarely agree on much, but the talking heads that represent both sides of the spectrum have come together as of late, albeit for different reasons, in one loud voice telling you to go away. The Republicans want you silenced because every time your snarl appears on network television, it hurts them. The liberals want you silenced because they’re sick of you. Me? I want you to keep talking. Do more interviews, press releases, YouTube videos, talk show appearances, or whatever else you can to make your presence known. I can’t seem to tell if you’re intentionally trying to tear your party in two or if you sincerely think you’re helping, but regardless of your true intentions, it is entertaining to finally see the party that crippled our nation struggle to stay intact. So please, Dick, I’m begging you, don’t listen to the yelling. Continue doing what you do best: leading your party towards disaster.

Ok, so not completely smoke-free, but as of July 5, 2010, all bars, restaurants, and workplaces in the state of Wisconsin will be non-smoking. Governor Doyle signed the measure in to law earlier today, saying, “It’s time for every person in Wisconsin to breathe freely at restaurants, taverns, and workplaces across the state. A smoke-free Wisconsin will save money in health care costs, improve public health and save lives.” Having lived in Minneapolis when this was passed in Hennepen County, I look forward to once again going in to Restaurants and not being asked “smoking or non” and being able to go out to drink without reeking of smoke.