That's Amore: Best Friends @ C&O Trattoria

Having both lived and worked in the Marina del Rey/Venice area off and on for the past decade, I'm a loyal and adoring fan of C&O Trattoria on Washington Blvd. It's hard to go wrong with a place defined by jugs of Chianti served on "the honor system" and overflowing plates of garlic knots that awaken the inner glutton in even the most reserved of eaters.

But last night's dinner offered an additional bonus: Our server, after noticing the Best Friends Animal Society logo on my bag, proudly announced that he adopted a rescued pointer mix from Best Friends' annual Westchester Park spring adoption festival 6 years ago.

Enough said. Yes, your big bottle of wine, plate of garlic knots, and willingness to adopt a shelter pet will get you a bigger tip from us. That's amore!

Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog

Best Friends finally released the new website for their Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign.

As a soon-to-be volunteer news writer for this campaign, I'm really hoping this information gains some momentum quickly.

Save a Drunken Duck

(Photo Credit: Bridget Jones/Associated Press)

I think my cynicism is getting to me this morning.

I know, particularly as a resident of Michigan, I should be more concerned about the financial and personal woes felt throughout the state and country as GM locations everywhere close, cutting thousands of jobs and creating a ripple that will be felt many times over in all types of industries.

However, I can't help but find the English version of this sad tale far more disconcerting: the loss of the local pub.

Henry Chu reports in the LA Times this morning,

Colorful and often iconic establishments that managed to survive civil wars, frowning Victorian teetotalism and tales of being haunted are increasingly buckling under to modern market forces, higher taxes and lifestyle changes.

Every week, 39 alehouses call for "last orders" one final time, according to the British Beer and Pub Assn. All told, more than 2,000 taverns have shut down since March of last year, at a cost of 20,000 jobs.

It's an especially distressing turn of events for those in the countryside, who warn that villages may eventually be reduced to little more than rural dormitories, stripped of the shops, services and gathering places that gave them a sense of identity and cohesion.

The Belfast Telegraph reports a similar scenario in Ireland as pubs cut hours and employees or close altogether.

I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that I have yet to visit either country. Maybe it's my already very Irish and English leanings . . . but I would most definitely consider giving up my own identity and exchanging my protein shakes for pints to help save theirs!

Teacher Ed Headed to the Hill

Deborah Ball, Dean of the School of Education at University of Michigan, will be testifying before Congress on June 18th on teacher education.

Having had the pleasure of watching Dean Ball at work during my time at Michigan, I'm thinking that if anybody can break through the bureaucratically-bound, archaic understanding of teaching and learning that has plagued our federal government (and most everyone else too) for decades, it's probably Deborah.

Fingers crossed and hats off.

Here is a snippet from her drafted testimony:

Many people have ideas about how to improve “teacher quality.” Some proposals focus on how to identify and fire incompetent teachers. Other proposals seek to increase the pay of teachers who are effective in producing student learning. Still others create incentives to attract more bright people to the teaching profession. Although these all make sense, at least in part, not one of them sufficiently addresses the core problem.

The core problem is one of ensuring that every teacher, in every classroom, can do the work we are asking of them. This is a problem of training, both initial and continuing, and not merely one of sanctions, rewards, and other incentives.

Let me explain why: Despite how commonplace it may seem, teaching is intricate work. Doing it well requires detailed knowledge of the domain being taught, a great deal of precision and skill in making it learnable, as well as good judgment and a tremendous capacity to relate to a wide range of young people. Accomplished experts and very smart people are not automatically good at making their expertise explicit to others. And as we seek to increase the academic standards and demands that we want our young people to meet, the problem will only escalate. Teaching
complex academic skills and knowledge, not to mention skills of collaboration, interaction, and resourcefulness in an increasingly networked world, is still more difficult than teaching more basic skills.

From "The Office" to "The Santuary"

So glad to see that one of the many celebrities that supports and visits Best Friends is a cast member from my beloved show, The Office.

Phyllis Smith (aka Phyllis Lapin) just recently visited with her mother: "The Office Visit"

(Photo credit: Molly Wald, Best Friends Animal Society)