Mr. Locke’s Classroom

Last night I finally took Amy to see Stardust, one of my favorite films this year. I’d seen the trailer for the new Beowulf movie before, but for some reason last night I really started thinking about it for the first time. I taught Beowulf to high school freshmen for many years, and have a [...]

Yesterday I was having a Samson moment. Because of some stuff happening in my life right now, I was feeling shorn of power, shorn of favor, and shorn of identity. Like Samson, it was mostly a situation brought on by my own arrogance and/or stupidity, but also like Samson, there was a certain amount of [...]

It appears (at least in this debate) that some Christians — and their lawyers — are on the side of “information lockdown” and the current draconian copyright regime, while some Atheists are on the side of freedom and sharing of information: Creationist vs. Atheist YouTube War Marks New Breed of Copyright Claim Anybody seen the [...]

If you noticed the new, alien looking thingy in my sidebar that says “From the Blogosphere” and are wondering what it’s about…so am I. I’m wondering after four years of sporadic (but fulfilling) blogging, where this blog is headed and what (or who) exactly it’s for. So, I’m in the process of overhauling it. Changing [...]

Those who know me well might argue that if I didn’t *really* enjoy stirring up controversy, then I wouldn’t blog about controversial things. And they would be mostly right in that assessment. However, the backlash at the church where I currently serve as Director of Youth and Music — over the blog post immediately preceding [...]

NOTE: In light of some recent questions and concerns, I feel the need to stress that this post reflects my own personal views and opinions, and does not in any way reflect those of my church or its staff. Though he probably would never admit it publicly, a friend of mine and I came up [...]

It’s great to see that Woody’s spirit and songs live on in the raging debate over illegal immigration: NPR Story on Immigrant Folk Songs (thanks, Jeff!) I hope America is listening to the voices of her newest adopted children.