That’s Elbert With An E

Laurel High School’s Band and Chorus held their spring concert on Thursday May 15th. My wife and I have a daughter in the chorus and a son in the band, so it’s natural that we take pictures.

Brian Cass directing the band.

Justin is either really bored or very focused.

The chorus doing sign language to “One Song, Many Voices”. Chorus director Penny Denney is at the piano.

Apryl appears to be asking, “Why are you taking pictures of me?”

The band did a medley of some Disney songs plus other selections. The chorus did “Put Your Hand In The Hand”, a medley of Four Seasons songs, “Splish Splash”, and several others. Both band and chorus did an excellent job.

Yes, you’re probably thinking that statement is biased. It might be a little, but I think Brian Cass and Penny Denney instruct and lead their students well. In my opinion it shows in their performances. Great job to all!!

Most popular for the last seven daze days: one, two, three.

I snapped these pictures today while stopped at the light:

This exit onto Woodland Ferry Road is going to be very nice. Hopefully it will all be finished soon.

I would like to point out some new blogs in the blogroll.

My daughter is trying out the blog world with Apryl’s Conspiracy. After my prodding for at least a year, The Conservative Geek made his debut recently, hailing from the town too big for one state. Finally Corey Franklin Murphy is trying his hand in the blogosphere, joining the growing list of Laurel bloggers. Stop by and say hi!

I just noticed that this blog is number 47 on the WordPress top blogs chart. Wow. In addition, this blog has been a regular in the top 10 on BlogNetNews’ Most Influential Blogs chart, this week at number 6. I am honored by both rankings. Yes, I’m tooting my own horn.

I grew up hearing Dottie Rambo’s songs sung by many different people. Certainly I had sang one myself. That style of music is no longer my cup of tea, but memories of those songs still rattle around in my head. I was saddened to hear that she had passed away during a bus accident early in the morning on Mother’s Day, May 11th. From the CMT website:

Six other people in the bus, including her manager, were injured when the 1997 Prevost bus crashed into a guard rail and an embankment around 2:20 a.m. on Interstate 44 near Mount Vernon, Mo. At the time of the accident, the singer-songwriter was traveling to a Mother’s Day performance at a church in North Richland Hills, Texas.

From the AP:

It was unclear whether the crash was related to the severe storms and tornadoes that hit the region on Saturday. Storms also swept through the area later in the night, according to the National Weather Service.

Popular singer-songwriter Dolly Parton paid tribute:

“I know Dottie is in heaven in the arms of God right now, but our earth angel will surely be missed,” Parton said in a statement. “Dottie was a dear friend, a fellow singer, songwriter and entertainer, and as of late my duet singing partner.”

She was a respected woman in Gospel music, earning a Grammy and inducted in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (twice, as a solo artist and part of a group).

The Wikipedia article about Dottie Rambo is here. Gospel Music Hall of Fame has a brief bio here and here. Her website is here.

This is from an article in the New York Times. The Dallas public school system is using an electronic tracking device to keep an eye on their kids who just don’t want to go to school.

Jaime used to snooze until 2 p.m. before strolling into school. He fell so far behind that he is failing most of his classes and school officials sent him to truancy court.

Instead of juvenile detention, Jaime was selected by a judge to be enrolled in a pilot program at Bryan Adams in which chronically truant students are monitored electronically. Since Jaime started carrying the Global Positioning System unit April 1, he has had perfect attendance.

They certainly attempt to make the devices look good.

Last year, case managers used a G.P.S. system to locate a truant student on the verge of overdosing on drugs, and they discovered that a student had skipped school because he was contemplating suicide.

So these tracking devices not only take care of truant kids, but they also save lives. They must be good! It sounds like snake oil or the promises found on an infomercial to me.

Dave Leis, a spokesman for NovaTracker, which makes the system used in Dallas, said electronic monitoring did not have to be punitive. “You can paint this thing as either Big Brother, or this is a device that connects you to a buddy who wants to keep you safe and help you graduate.”

Am I overreacting or does this just disturb you? Truancy can certainly be a big problem as it is for Dallas but even the suggestion of tagging someone with a device that will electronically keep track of them disturbs me. Apparently they are fine with it down there.

On Slashdot, from where I found the article, here is a sample of some of the comments:

*I’m just amazed that anyone can say that and not realize how Big Brother-ish they sound.

*As scary as programs like this are (and they are scary) we need to start thinking about when, not if, these kinds of things happen. At least I can see a giant transmitter strapped to my ankle. In 10 years it will be possible to pick up a box of microscopic RFID tags for relatively little cost. In 20 years it will probably be possible to create microscopic GPS systems that radio back their location.

Maybe reactionary, but it’s something to think about. Let me know what you think. Really.

UPDATE: I did overlook the fact that the kid mentioned in the article could have gone to jail or wear this thing. This may be seen as nothing more than what an adult might receive if they were given house arrest. Convicted criminals loose most of their rights anyway, right?