Left to Right: Colin, Aubree, Julie, Raphael, EW, Amy. Thanks to Shaun Clark for the photo!

Pizza was just the start last Wednesday as the computerCENTRAL interns met to chat about our experiences in the lab. Amy, E.W., Julie, Raphael, and I all met with CCTV’s Community Media Coordinator (and friendly intern shift/party organizer) Colin Rhinesmith. All good conversations start with good food, and we sat down to some really yummy dinner. Maybe (ok, probably) it was the smell of the pizza , but we were fortunate to visit with several of the CCTV full time staff members as well. Susan dropped in to thank us for our work, which we all really appreciated. We offered her a slice for the road. Not long after Shaun stopped by to say hi (and grab a quick slice). On Shaun’s second trip to say hi to us (or just to grab another slice of pizza, you be the judge) he brought Jason to also say hi. And, perhaps, to enjoy a slice of pizza. ;) read more...

<---- This is me thinking hard. Thanks to flickr user Regalore for the image.

Last night was a full agenda for CCTV's June Board Meeting! It was a night full of teaching and learning. Our Treasurer Steve did a great job teaching us a bit about financing, Steve Shultz and Rika contributed their knowledge about and experience with franchise negotiations, Amy brought us up to date on the MAC, Sean Eiffel, Associate Director of CCTV, shared with us all the hard work that goes into submitting to the Hometown Video Festival, in which CCTV won TWO Overall Excellence awards (Congrats again CCTV!!), and Susan gave us a "Sedentary Tour" of CCTV, generating lots of excitement about exactly HOW MANY THINGS are going on at CCTV!

All in all it made for a very fun meeting! My head is nearly aching from all the new knowledge. Well, either from that or these strange metal wires coming out of my ears. ;)

/aal

Pretty sure I'll have to settle for Derby Dame groupie though, I could never cut it in that league!

Some friends and I went last night to see "The Dames" at the (little) Enormous Room in Central Square. WOW those women are tough and PROUD, and so very inspiring.

There were so many precious 'moments' in the film it's hard to pick a favorite! One of them though was definitely during one of the bout scenes. The camera was fixed on two coaches intently observing the action until the action came to them - literally! All at once several competitors came tumbling into them, well, ONTO them, taking one of the women out entirely. In seconds she was back up on her feet. "Are you ok?" asked her partner. The coach's focus already back on the game she dead-panned, "Yes. That was exciting." After a moment's reflection added, "I should have worn my knee pads." It's a serious sport when even the coaches are at risk! read more...

(Left: Ms. Carmichael hangs out at an assessment station on SL English, while (a younger) Ms. Lawrence instructs an ESOL class for BA&CE)

Second Life is has incredible potential as a learning platform. I was excited to read on Forbes.com that an English language school in Germany has launched an island "Second Life English." The island is dedicated to offering FREE (yes, you read that right, FREE) resources for learning English, including virtual ESOL lessons. According to the article, Educator (and island owner) Kip Boahn "feels a new medium calls for a new way of teaching language. Even using the game's English interface gives students a chance to practice what they've learned." I couldn't agree more! I enjoy his approach: