Saturday night into Sunday morning: Details, details . . .

1. Just go see Hellboy II. It's rock-solid. It's a great movie.

"You're in love. Have a beer."

Action, music, evil elves. Tooth fairies!

Yeah, just go.

2. The raspberries are ripe for picking. And the corn is out, too. The corn's not great, because of the weather, but it's out. Strawberries are in high season, and I cannot wait to go to the Farmers' Market tomorrow.

3. Why didn't anyone tell me that the Known World Heraldic Symposium in Thamesreach (London) needed a Galley Munchies Organizer? And who is Alaric of Bangor, and can he really do a better job that I could have.

4. The cat just failed to land on the desk, skittering off the edge and winding up, pathetically, on the floor. CatFail.

5. As jenphalian will tell you, The Fat Scotsman Ale at the Adirondack Pub and Brewery rocks!

6.  Excellent piece on mountain climbing deaths, along with some great comments.

7. To match Hellboy II, I give you "Fall With Honor," Book 7 in the Vampire Earth series by eeknight. Great stuff. The first book in the series is "Way of the Wolf." This is a great future history, and I just realized this book is 7 of 9. Hehehehe.

Sunday papers

I read 'em so you don't have to . . .

1.  The New York Times tells us that Canada is taking a different approach to US Army deserters this time around.

2. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram tells the story of a father who decided to go fight in Iraq after his son was killed there.

3. Interesting discussion on waiting for a table when you already have reservations, from Steve Barnes, my favorite restaurant blogger, in the Albany Times-Union.

4. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe  understands how a lot of us feel about the Red Sox.

5. The San Francisco Chronicle asks a question, and my answer us "Media hype."

Edited to change "Iran" to "Iraq." Wow.

Teaching post: Do you find any of these offensive and why?

That was the title of a post on a teaching chatboard.

I thought I might share my answers.

The questions are italicized. The rest are my responses.

To me, everything hinges on your relationship with the student and your perception of their respect -- or lack of it -- for you.

1. A student calling you by your first name?

Once. There's a warning, then consequences.

On the other hand, kids I know do call me Mr. T. or just T."

2. A student saying "Hey, Teach" as a greeting.

Probably gonna be a kid I don't know, and a hello is a hello.

3. A student calling you Mrs. or Miss with no last name attached.

This seems to be standard in some inner-city schools.

I have had it happen to be with city students, and it happens to my daughter -- who is studying education in Boston -- all the time.

I see this one as an attempt at respect.

4. A student calling you by your last name with not title attached.

Again, once.

I will also correct students when they refer to other teachers by bare last names. I had an NHS vice president who would refer to the principal as "Larkin." I told her rather firmly that she needed to be respectful and us "Mr. Larkin." She understood.

5. A student calling you "Mr. Sir" as from the book "Holes".

I cannot imagine that happening. But again, it hinges on respect.

On choosing associates . . .

Crossposted from peerpages

"I only take squires who I believe can become knights someday."

That's what a knight I know said to me last weekend.

I have been thinking about that, and I thought I would toss it up here for discussion.

First off, what do the members of Chivalry here think about that?

How about the Laurels? What kind of inherent skills are you looking for? Does an associate have to be "peerage-bound?"

Same for Pelicans.

I can answer from my point of view.

My proteges tend to be people I know and like, whom I have seen do service and enjoy themselves while they do it. They can certainly be a little rough around the edges, but I look for folks who understand the game we play and play it in the same way I do.

I also look for folks I can learn from.

What do you think?

Related question: I have heard of knights taking men-at-arms, sometimes as a precursor to squiring.

What do you think about squires having men at arms?

Certainly, anyone can have students, but that seems a little more formal, and it's not something I would expect a protege or an apprentice to do.

(This was written for a peerage list, but certainly I welcome thoughts from everyone)

Personal button . . .

As part of the discussion about how students refer to teachers, I find myself going off on a tangent.

It annoys the fuck out of me when a colleague calls me by my last name only, and I will tell them that pretty much right away.

What do you think?