Most Casual Observer

Shalane Flanagan, My Most Famous Relative

Until recently, my only relative with any serious claim to fame was my cousin Sherry, who set the world record in the women’s marathon in 1971. She had a number of “firsts” — first woman with an athletic scholarship at a public university, first woman on the cover of Runner’s World, designer of the first running bra for women with larger breasts (designed after she had kids), and so on. There is a great interview with her (Cheryl Treworgy) that goes over a lot of the early history, including a male runner trying to force her off the road during her world record run. These days, she is a track and field photojournalist, with her photos at prettysporty.com.

This week, cousin Sherry has been eclipsed by her daughter, Shalane Flanagan. Shalane holds US records in the 3000m, 5000m, and 10000m. She won Olympic bronze in the 10000m on the first day of track and field competition in Beijing, and has qualified for the finals in the 5000m. There has been essentially no coverage of distance events on TV, so check out the Runners World Olympic coverage, which has been excellent, even liveblogging races. Here is their page for the women’s 5000m races. If you are really dedicated, you can join the Facebook Unofficial Shalane Flanagan Fan Club.

Photo is from Runner’s World, no credit given on site.

When my cousin was running competitively, there were no distance events for women at the Olympics. She surely would have made the team and maybe have had a chance at a medal. Shalane went to the Athens Olympics on the US team and Cheryl went as a photographer. That was a great experience for both of them, but nothing like Beijing. Go Shalane!

Big Dog Party!

I always love the “big dog party” up in the tree at the end of Go, Dog. Go! You can make a reasonable facsimile of that with a backyard pool, twenty-five dogs from Canine Companions for Independence, and enough toys for each dog to carry one at all times.

My (edited) photos from the party are at Flickr, in the CCI Dog Pool Party 2008 set.

For us, the most exciting part of the party was that when Loken needed a friend, he came to Kevin. This first year with Kevin and Loken is critical for their bond, and this was the first time he showed that Kevin was his best friend.

Loken had a good time, but he eventually got a bit overloaded by all the strange dogs sniffing him and and the energetic play. I was sitting with Kevin in a somewhat quieter spot to the side, and Loken found us there. You can see him looking squinty and stressed in this photo. After a bit, he put his head on Kevin’s lap. This is the same as the “Visit” command, but we didn’t give the command. It was Loken’s idea.

Kevin gave him a hug (I did suggest that).

Then Loken decided to hide behind Kevin, where he would be safe.

It was wonderful that Loken went to Kevin. I was right there (taking pictures, duh) and Tina was right on the other side (you can see her in the pictures). We are big safe people and he trusts us, but Loken chose his boy when he needed a hug.

Arden Shakespeare and Slings & Arrows

I’ve bought my last non-Arden edition of a Shakespeare play. I picked up a Yale edition of Hamlet to supplement the first season of Slings & Arrows. Yale is a fairly reputable institution and I’m inclined to respect their publications, but this is obviously designed for high school students, and not very good students at that.

The in-line index numbers for notes are intrusive enough, but when in Act 3, Scene 2, line 279, the note for “recorder” read “a wooden flute played in vertical position (modern flutes are metal and played transversely)”, I nearly threw the book across the room. Except that would have awakened my sleeping wife.

I’ve had similar experiences with a couple of other editions of Shakespeare, but not with the Arden Shakespeare. The editions cost two or three times as much, even in paperback, but are worth about 10X as much to a reader competent in modern English. For one thing, they don’t use in-line index numbers. If you want help, there are notes keyed to the line number. And those notes don’t stoop to explaining words that should be obvious to the educated reader.

The introductory essays in the Arden editions are extensive and detailed and helpful, if you are into that (I am), but the key difference for me is that the notes do not break the flow of my reading.

Oh, and watch Slings & Arrows. Three seasons of six shows each, set in a fictional theatre festival in Canada. Each season is built around a play — Hamlet, then Macbeth, then King Lear.

I especially enjoy three aspects of this series, the backstage action, the way they use Shakespeare, and the occasional shading away from realism. If you’ve ever worked on stage or backstage, parts of the series will feel very real. Shakespeare is pervasive in the series, in interesting ways. If you don’t know Hamlet, you can enjoy the series and learn a lot about the play. If you’ve studied Hamlet extensively, you might notice lines quoted and elements remixed in the “real life” action — betrayals, a ghost, people talking to themselves, pretense, hasty marriages, the list goes on. It could almost be a drinking game. Finally, I love how the cinematography gets caught up in the magic. At one point, a character nails his part in rehearsal and the set and costumes appear for a short while because he is creating the whole play on a bare stage.

Tina and I have watched two seasons and it is already in our top ten TV series of all time. That puts it with My So-Called Life, thirtysomething, the good episodes of The X-Files, the first few years of Saturday Night Live, The Carol Burnett Show, and Sesame Street.

• Slings & Arrows at Netflix
• Slings & Arrows at Wikipedia (many, many spoilers!)
• Slings & Arrows is at the Palo Alto Library, but their catalog isn’t linkable

If you get it from Netflix, I strongly recommend getting both discs for a season at once. I also recommend setting aside a couple of hours, because by the fourth episode you might need to finish the entire season. That has happened to us with both the first and second season.

Give it at least three episodes. The first one is a bit slow, but by the third, oh my.

If you’ve ever worked on stage or backstage, you’ll recognize the good and the bad, the awful and the magical. I’ll give you one lovely clip with a terrible actress and marvelous directing. Watch Geoffrey Tennant desparately try to elicit a real performance from Claire Donner playing Ophelia.

If you don’t believe me, read Tim Goodman’s review of Slings & Arrows, since that is what convinced me to watch it.

You Know You Might Be A Scoutmaster If ...

I’m scoring well below 50% on this test, but I do have several hits. Here they are:

• You hoard tent stakes.
• You cannot walk by a piece of trash without picking it up. (ever since I was a Scout …)
• You carry a duffle bag size first-aid kit in your car. (meatloaf size, really)
• You know all the words to “Little Bunny Foo-Foo”, but can’t remember where you left your briefcase. (I know where my briefcase is, but I misplace plenty of stuff)
• You always cook enough food for twelve. (but this comes from growing up around Cajuns; if you are cooking something good, why wouldn’t you invite all your friends? Adults don’t cook for Scouts anyway, so this is a bogus one.)
• You open letters with a pocket knife. (only when the sterling letter opener isn’t handy; I was raised in the south)
• You know 365 one pot meals. (maybe only 30 or so)
• You really do use those emergency sewing kits. (but they never have buttonhole twist, and sewing buttons back on is #1)

On a more serious note, I finally found the job description for Scoutmaster. It isn’t in the BSA Scoutmaster Handbook (a real Dilbert Moment); it’s in the Troop Committee training materials. It isn’t even in The Scoutmaster’s Other Handbook. For the uninitiated, the Troop Committee hires the Scoutmaster. The Dilbertness is for the hiring manager to know the job description and never tell the new hire. Geez. Hello Bob Mazzuca, put this on page one of the Scoutmaster Handbook.

So, here is the job description. I’ve tweaked it for our troop, changing Patrol Leaders Council (PLC) to “Greenbar” and adding notes about Scoutmaster conferences.

Scoutmaster (excerpted from BSA Troop Committee Guidebook, 1990):

• Train and guide boy leaders
• Work with other responsible adults to bring Scouting to boys
• Use the methods of Scouting to achieve the aims of Scouting
• Meet regularly with Greenbar for training and coordination in planning troop activities
• Attend all troop meetings or, when necessary, arrange for a qualified adult substitute
• Attend all troop committee meetings
• Conduct periodic parents’ sessions to share the program and encourage parent participation and cooperation
• Take part in annual membership inventory and uniform inspection, charter review meeting, and charter presentation
• Conduct Scoutmaster conferences for all rank advancements (in T-14, for Scout, First Class, and Eagle ranks, others are by patrol liaison ASMs)
• Provide a systematic recruiting plan for new members and see that they are promptly registered
• Delegate responsibility to other adults and groups (assistants, troop committee) so that they have a real part in troop operations
• Supervise troop elections for the Order of the Arrow
• Make it possible for each Scout to experience at least 10 days and nights of camping each year
• Participate in council and district events
• Build a strong program by using proven methods presented in Scouting literature
• Conduct all activities under qualified leadership, safe conditions, and the policies of the chartered organization and the BSA

Kinda big for a volunteer, spare time position, eh? The only saving bit is that you are required to delegate.