shift

Jilian, came crashing quickly to life
next to the interstate in 1985
born to a mother
with impulsive appetites
oh, she said “this baby is mine”
but unfit and reckless
was the charge sent out by the state
now mother’s screaming
while her child is sent away

chorus:
oh, Jilian you’re so small
To be carrying the weight of the world
on those narrow shoulders
while you’re tossed all about by everyone who knows ya
and you can’t break free from the shift that holds ya down
a different day full of the same sounds

Jilian has plastic stars on her bed
she lies awake
a pool of tears leak from her eyes
a sad halo as they form around her head
oh, she springs quickly to life
as foster parents start to scream
in drunken fights
she locks her door and whispers
“everything is alright”

Jilian, came crashing quickly to love
she finds a man
a worthless wrath-filled trash’ed punk
who shows his love to her
when hits begin with shoves
Oh, she’ll hide his baby inside
and take the money that she saved
for her new life
so that her son can have
the chances she’d never find

Jaybird

wake up
is it time to fix your makeup?
you’re on TV fella
so don’t disappoint the crowd
just talk in your circles
and finish
what the dude before you replenished
it’s the age-old tale
of “I am the better one”
so hallelujah
old man
with the fake sprayed on tan
saying “yes I understand”
the many stresses
and problems of all you little people
hey, now vote is in your hand
lemme shake it, i’m a fan
gonna fix it all
with my newest program

fakin’ it
like a politician
and naked
as a jaybird singin’

oh, decisions
they’re just the politics of winnin’
i’ll be everywhere fella
to care and lend a friendly hand
without opinions
I did it
better believe i’ll take the credit
but turn your back and i’ve moved on
to the richer man
so hallelujah
a saint
with a legislative name
playing the “i can fix it” game
who won’t forget your problems
but wait
i can’t remember all I’m sayin
so i’ll promise it again
and do the same ole same
to get the win…

hey, mr. secretary i’ve lied
when i started out i tried
to make this world a better place
but we aint forward
we’re side to side
while we argue where to hide
and watch the world get older

wake up
is it time to fix your makeup?
you’re on TV fella
so don’t disappoint the crowd
just talk in your circles
and finish
what the dude before you replenished
it’s the age-old tale
of i was the bitter loser
who wrote the book on…
disgrace
of the public official race
after all, I was the one
who played it safe
and got shut down
hey…hear a rally cheering sounds
the next election comes to town
if ya’ll think I should run…
well I’ll be around

Everything

I’m standing in this coffee line
I get to the front but know nothing
This girl has got me hypnotized
Do I just start talking?

I ask her what she recommends
Every word she says is very important (impressive)
I’m trying so hard to pretend
That I don’t notice

Well, are you beautiful on the inside?
‘cause I can’t get you out of my mind
Yea, you might mean everything
But I don’t even know your name

I find a seat across the room
You glance in my direction at something
While I am trying to play this cool
By doing nothing

But your face is such the photograph
And I just can’t ignore this potential
So, here’s a smile I’m sending back

The Friday Institute Song - 21st Century Life


We connect our schools with high speed Internet
Design new tech approaches never seen yet
Innovate and deploy – cost effective
Technology infrastructure
Scaling these ideas forward

Design new tools to teach that help our students learn
For this interactive world, we must adjust soon
To create real solutions that appeal to
A global child
Connected to this web of light

It’s a 21st century life
And we’re getting it right
We’ll save the world through better education, yea
The change begins with FI
We collaborate as we try
To inspire education through innovation, alright
(This is our 21st century life)

We’re training education leaders with the skills
they need to awe inspire
They’ll spread the innovation like a wild fire
Online or face-to-face, we’ll show them where we are
With professional development
They’re so empowered

We test effectiveness of our new methods, informing policy
They want to know the impact on learning, please
To make informed decisions about scaling new technologies
Our evaluation expertise

Improve effectiveness of schools
Through innovative policies and views
Analyze preexisting rules
Advocating for students and what they choose

I am Linux in a Box

Brian Bouterse and Lodge submit this music video to the “I’m Linux video contest.”

Lyrics:

I am Linux in a box
Yea, I’m super-stable, peer-reviewed, Gnu enabled
You can put me in your box
To get your home computer to be
Faster and so secure
Yea, well Redhat is sure
That their support is the cure

The community is ready
If I’m bugged or unsteady
This is who we are
I’m an open source heavy
Operating system everywhere
that’s going far

I am Linux in your box
I’m your custom system
Express your needs, the community listens
I am linux in your phone, your Tivo and playstation
The right solution, and now it’s time
For my OS to shine
future is mine all mine

A weekend of Ben & Lodge

 More at benandlodge.com

Another Life or Two

Hold

Coffee Stains

Leave the World - by Gavin McCammon

This song was written by my dad this weekend. We recorded it together on Saturday morning. He is playing the piano and doing all the lead vocals.  My mom and I did some supporting background vocals.

Crumbling Tower

 This is a song calling for transparency with our government’s spending. The citizens have a right to know where their tax dollars are being spent.

crumbling tower lyrics.pdf

Lodge’s Music Video

Nicole’s Music Video

Mash-up

Jefferson Davis Music Video

This is a song and music video about the Civil War - according to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

Meredith Jones - There there

This is the third and final song for Meredith Jones’ EP called “There there.”

Kaitlin & Lodge - My Heart

This is a duet featuring Kaitlin McKeown.

Ethanol from Substrate

This is a song and music video (one created by Nicole Cebula and then I copied her) explaining the process of creating ethanol from corn using enzymes.

Lyrics.pdf

Download

All of Me - by Meredith Jones

This is a song written almost three years ago.  The lyrics are partly from a poem that I read which was written by a friend of mine.  I finally found a style and reason to do up a recording of “all of me.”

Fallback - by Meredith Jones

This song was written, recorded, and posted on December 22nd.  This is a new song…and a new style for Meredith Jones.

Superhero Luck

This was recorded a few years ago at Overdub Lane in Durham…produced by the same guy who did one of the Squirrel Nut Zippers’ albums.  It’s supposed to be about a young boy with a healthy obsession with a famous, but local, musical artist…within reach, but not really.

eInstruction finalists!

Help our music video win $25,000 worth of classroom technology!

Please vote for our video:
http://eimakeover.shycast.com/contestant/456/

Jamie Hall, 6th grade math & science teacher at Centennial Campus
Middle School (CCMS)
, a group of almost 20 CCMS students, and Lodge
McCammon from The Friday Institute collaborated to create a music
video about how Mr. Hall and his students use technology in their
classroom.

We entered this video into an international competition put on by the
company eInstruction. With almost 300 entries, our video has made it to
the top 5 in the middle school category!!! If we win the contest,
then Mr. Hall and CCMS will receive over $25,000 worth of technology
to be used in his classroom.

Interesting facts about the video:
1. A 7th grade CCMS student is singing lead vocals (amazing talent!!!)
2. Almost 20 other middle schoolers are singing back up vocals
3. The entire video was filmed using a $130 Flip Video Camera

However, we need your help! 30% of the final “score” for our video
will be based on public voting. So, please check out the video, vote
for “eInstruction - it’s time.” Help us spread the word by
forwarding this email to others who enjoy supporting Centennial
Campus Middle School, NC State University’s College of Education and
The Friday Institute.

Please vote for our video:
http://eimakeover.shycast.com/contestant/456/

**you will need to register for an account on the site before you
vote but it only takes a moment!

PBS Music videos

Last May PBS was here from Minnesota and filmed two music videos to the songs “Nanotechnology” and “Scale.” The star of those music videos…me. I know. Really…I know. Here they are:

Nanotechnology

Scale

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Trophy Wife

Written and recorded on August 30th - during the flood!

trophywife.mp3

CCMMS News Jingle

I was asked to write and record a new jingle for Centennial Campus Middle School’s “Wolf News” - how could I say no? They are going to hold a contest for the students and allow them to create music videos…the best of which will make it on to the news in the mornings. I wish middle school was this awesome when I was there….20 years ago.

Here it is: Wolf News.mp3