All Things Joey
( #Phillyist, #ClassicalGuitar )
The Phillyist published an interview with Tom Amoriello, some of you might know him as GTT. Tom was kind enough to sit down with me and discuss the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society.
Give it a read:
( @wgu, #MBA, #education )
[Background]
In the summer of 2009 I decided enough was enough – it was time to finally go back to school and get my masters degree. My big hurdle was the GMATS (standardized test similar to the SATS for graduate school) – I completely forgot how to do the math. Back in 2007 I enrolled in a very expensive 10 week prep class at Drexel University that was terrible. I will admit to being distracted due to looking for a house and planning for a wedding. I decided to put the MBA on hold until after the wedding.
Back to summer of 2009 – I still had not started school. I realized if I did not start soon, it wasn’t going to happen. Mentally, I felt like I was losing a step; work was getting repetitive and I just felt “bla”. Since I wasn’t looking for kinky experiences, I had excellent success finding actual teachers on Craigslist (hi GTT!). I quickly found Adam (I don’t have a fun nic-name for him yet) and we spent a year on and off getting me ready.
As the economy imploded, I was reading books about politics, the economy, and education (Adam and I met at a library for our classes, so I borrowed dozens of books during the year). My cousin Vince was about to start college as well, so hearing what his issues and concerns were 10 years after I went through it made me even more motivated to research. I concluded that the entire educational system was broken. If you don’t want to read the article, I basically call out the high cost and poor quality of the education. Families are being saddled with insane costs and there is no guarantee that there will be a job waiting for little Johnny when he graduates anymore.
A few of the books that I read mentioned Western Governors University as a model for how education should be. The school was accredited, cheap, online, and rewarded you for knowledge you already had (you could test out of classes). After a few weeks of research, I decided “what the hell” and enrolled.
[Choosing the School]
WGU did not require students to take the GMATs, but an evaluation was needed. It was basic knowledge and did not present a problem. If you are going to ask me if I wasted my money with the GMAT tutor, I will say no; even though I did not take the test, prepping for the GMATs got me in the mode of doing homework and thinking critically again. I needed that boot camp to get ready (and I made a friend).
As soon as I expressed an interest, the school assigned a contact for me (actually two) and they answered my questions. Before I enrolled, I checked several message boards to see what the negative feedback was about the school. There wasn’t much, but there seemed to be some complaints about grading. I threw these questions at my contacts and they did a reasonable job of answering. Bottom line: with any remote school, at some point you have to say “screw it” and just sign up or move on.
One of my other concerns was “I never heard of this school, is this for real or is it just a diploma mill?” I found an article by Time Magazine proclaiming WGU “the best school you never heard of.” I felt better and found out that Google and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested in the school as well.
[WGU]
Once I was formally enrolled, I was assigned a mentor (Jim). He was a fast talking, no BS kind of guy and I liked him right away. He got me enrolled in the intro class (how the school functions which is important since it is online) and set up a weekly call moving forward.
As I progressed through the intro and added more classes to my schedule, I was shocked how the courses were directly linked to what I was doing at my job. My classes in supply chain, strategic direction, and even HR were giving me tactics that I was immediately applying. Since the school uses a combination of text books and recent articles, I am forced to read about trends in the economy and my profession that I would have ignored. The supply chain class helped me have an educated conversation with the new director of my department a few weeks ago. Like I said, very timely.
The way the MBA classes are organized work for me – no tests, but a lot of reading and long papers (I know undergraduate classes are structured differently). I could see how that might not work for some people who are looking for a more traditional experience. Since I am a fast reader and I like to write (hence this blog), it is a very natural fit. The school also utilizes online training modules that my employer also offers (skillsoft) – which feels familiar, but I am not a fan of the technology (the screens are too slow, I like to skip around and then go back and focus on important things), I usually try to find articles in the library to supplement the modules.
I started in July and managed to complete 6 classes (including the intro which does not really count). Since I have never been enrolled in another MBA program, I can’t compare it to anything else, but in comparison to my undergraduate experience at Drexel University, I am very satisfied with the knowledge being transferred and the methods being used.
[Conclusion]
I have been skirting around on of the major questions surrounding higher education at the moment – do you really need an MBA? Honestly, I don’t know if having an MBA will do much for me in my current job (in terms of requirements) – but it has been helping in indirect ways as I mentioned earlier. I certainly understand my job better and since I have been taking the courses, I feel like I have been implementing a more strategic approach to my areas of influence. Should I leave my current position, I suspect having a graduate degree would make me more attractive to a new employer.
Since WGU is relatively cheap, it won’t take me a decade to complete (at most two years), and I am getting exactly what I want from it, it makes sense for me. I also want to teach part time at community colleges (just for fun) so having a graduate degree will help me with that goal. So far, I really like what WGU is doing (there have been a few hiccups, but certainly less than at Drexel) and I would recommend it to any working professional that wants to get a graduate or finish an undergraduate degree.
If you have questions about my experience, you can email me at “blog at joeylombardi.com”. It seems like WGU has not built a strong reputation in the East Coast yet:
I am happy to help get the information out there because I think it is a great school and should be a model to address many of the issues with the system today.
( #Nashville, #ThirdMan, #Hermitage )
Last week I spent a lovely weekend in Nashville. This was my 2nd trip to the city, my first was documented right here. This time we traveled with friends (Rob and Lisa) to see an Avett Brothers concert. We ended up repeating a few things and doing some new stuff. Here is the breakdown.
[Bellmead Plantation]
Website: http://www.bellemeadeplantation.com/
I knew our friend Lisa would really enjoy the Bellemead (which we visited last year). There didn’t seem to be much damage from the floods and overall was a good experience, but I am not going to re-hash.
[Cheekwood Gardens]
Website: http://www.cheekwood.org/
We also visited Cheekwood Gardens again to check out the new Chihuly glass exhibits. Last time we were there, we had to rush because they were closing, this time we walked around on a great sunny day.
The grounds were beautiful and worth checking out, but the Chihuly glasswork was “meh”. If you see one, you have seen them all.
[Bars]
Our first night in Nashville we went around the downtown area popping into as many bars as we could to take in all the bands. Most bands did mixes of country and pop tunes to appease the tourists like me. My friend Rob is a huge nerd for country music, so he really enjoyed himself.
All of the bars are essentially laid out the same in the downtown area – stage by the door, long narrow room, bar close to the stage. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
[Loveless Cafe]
Website: http://www.lovelesscafe.com/
The next morning, we were all planning on going to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast (another repeat), but the line was around the corner, so we opted for the Loveless Cafe. Allison had found about this place and the famous “Biscuit Lady.” I didn’t think we would have the time to go, but I was pleased that the Pantry was packed because the Loveless was excellent.
We opted to get a sit down all you can eat of breakfast meats, fruits, and of course biscuits. I won’t lie – I ate way too many of the famous biscuits and felt sick for most of the day, but screw it, it was worth it. The cafe is a little commercial, but if that’s what it takes for them to say in business, so be it.
[Third Man Records]
Website: http://www.thirdmanrecords.com
I wasn’t going to Nashville without checking out Jack White’s music store. As we approached, they were setting up the front for a private Halloween party (which sounded like an awesome time from the news I read last week).
Third Man Records was much smaller than I had expected, but it was charming and I am glad it is doing business. I pick up some interesting vinyl while there, which I will review at another time.
[The Hermitage]
Website: http://www.thehermitage.com
Our friend Lisa wanted to check out the historic home of Andrew Jackson. The grounds were spectacular and the staff was friendly. Touring the house and the garden was educational and very interesting.
As I mentioned in my 2009 Epilogue, Nashville struggles with their past as a Southern state with slave history. They use soft super politically correct terms to refer to slaves and they try to make it seem that the slaves lives weren’t so bad. The Hermitage tour incorporate the slaves like they were friendly characters from a book. While it is good that their stories are a main part of the tour, it seems to make their experience less harsh.
[Avetts/Ryman]
We closed out our time in Nashville with an excellent concert (that I already reviewed here). The Ryman was an excellent place to see a show.
[Conclusion]
We packed in a lot of activities for 2 days, and like any good town, Nashville had me wanting more when I left. Looking forward to the next trip to the city of music, where I might just keep driving to Memphis too.
( #Avett, #GracePotter, @dookiefinger, #Ryman )
Opening Act: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Date: Saturday, October 30th, 2010
Location: The Ryman Theater – Nashville, TN
Band Website: The Avett Brothers
[Nashville]
My wife, a few friends and I decided to take a weekend trip to Nashville to see the Avett Brothers and enjoy the “City of Music.” Fall in Nashville was excellent: the weather was mild, the downtown area was decorated for Halloween, and there was a palpable excitement in the air. I will get to a recap of our adventures in Nashville in the next few days, but I wanted to share this concert experience first.
[Grace Potter and the Nocturnals]
When we sat down in our excellent center-stage seats, I started chatting with the costumed college kids in front of me. They had been to the show the night before and I asked them if there was an opening act, they said Grace Potter. I had heard of her, but did not know any of the material. The college kid said she was average the night before and I guess he must have been smoking some of the good stuff because…
Grace Potter was fantastic. This woman can sing her ass off, she knows how to put on a show, and she surrounds herself with excellent musicians. Her two guitars players were really good in that understated-but-know-when-to-turn it up kind of way (very similar to Sheryl Crow’s long time guitarist) and her bass player is one of my all time music crushes Catherine Popper. I wish I had caught this band when they were in Philadelphia a few weeks ago, but they are totally on my radar now.
My friend (who doesn’t follow any music not on the mainstream country stations) started screaming like a little girl when Potter invited country musician Kenny Chesney on stage. Chesney managed to bother me by standing in front of Popper, but sounded at home on the Ryman stage. Potter and the band finished their set and the curtains closed in preparation for the main event.
[The Avett Brothers]
When the curtains re-opened 30 minutes later, the stage was decorated for Halloween. The entire band came on stage dressed as mummies (and remained in costume the entire 2 hour show) and proceeded to entertain the crowd in their typical high-energy fashion.
While the band played well, it was really hard to hear over the audience singing along. Having long heard of the Ryman’s excellent acoustics, I was disappointed I couldn’t experience it for myself (I think it amplified the crowd instead of the band). The Avetts played several crowd favorites (but not many of their singles). The personal highlight of the night was the solo performance of “Murdered in the City” because the crowd went silent and I got to really hear the song.
Being their last show until New Years Eve, the Avetts really went for broke. Costumes aside, you could tell that the whole band was really happy to be playing (and then taking a break). Cellist Joe Kwon seemed to be soaking in the crowd as he left the stage before the encore.
This would not be an Ordered Chaos concert review without a little crowd report. Overall, the crowd was super cool and respectful. It was a nice mix of younger and older fans and everyone seemed to be mindful of each other… except the kid sitting next to me. The Ryman has these wonderful church benches to sit on (which of course nobody used), but it served the purpose of breaking up the crowd and providing personal space. This kid next to me kept getting closer and closer, crossing over the divider and bumping into me. As I learned to accept that, he started doing this wide clapping thing, almost elbowing me in the face at least a half-dozen times. I shot him a few dirty looks, but he did not get the hint. Eventually my friends left early and I got the personal space I craved.
Overall, it was a great show in a wonderful city and venue. I kinda wanted to see if I could get Catherine Popper’s autograph after the show (she was a part of my favorite album of all time), but a.) I had no idea how to do it and b.) I didn’t want to be that creepy fucker bothering a musician after a show – besides, my wife and I had to pack for the flight home.
Until the next show…
( #Guster, #Philadelphia, #ElectricFactory )
Phillyist published my review of Guster’s performance last Friday at the Electric Factory, you can read it **here**
Some interesting background stories:
1. There were three younger people (just barely drinking age) that were totally rude and pissing off everyone in my area. Guster crowds are usually pretty chill, but these two boys and their gal pal were “white people dancing“, not giving a shit who they bumped into, and by the middle of the show were acting the songs out with their hands. People were leaving the nice spot we were in just to get away from them. The taller kid must have messed up 20 shots for me by throwing up his hands in Guster-ecstasy. Also, the girl had the most intense crazy-eyes I have ever seen – she didn’t blink.
I tried to take video of her, but it didn’t turn out so well.
2. My favorite security guard was on duty, but we didn’t stay in his area. He would have destroyed the “Trio of Assholes”
( #Thankyou, #LucyLawless, #Burritos )
I was checking the stats this morning to see how Sunday Leftovers did yesterday and the report showed that several people in different states viewed this totally random post from June.
This was one of those “for me” posts because I was thinking about Lucy Lawless singing about Burritos and making fun of Stevie Nicks (after ranting to my wife how annoying I found the real Nicks – and she would be far more awesome if she sang songs about Nachos). The clip was not easy to find, so I guess somebody else had the same idea and found my blog instead.
Thank you to my readers for validating my random thoughts.
Anyway, I will save you the trip over to the other link, here is the clip again….