Chiggerticky

Old Fart

In podcast episode #20, Chigger examines how, in every age, those who have graduated to Old Fartdom find themselves facing a “brave new world.”   By the way, that phrase originates with Chiggerticky’s old pal, Billy Shakespeare who wrote a play in which a dude called Prospero proclaimed, "Oh brave new world, That has such people in’t." Thanks for listening. C’mon wid it! NOTE: THE CHIGGERTICKY PODCAST WILL TAKE A FEW WEEKS OFF TO RAMP UP FOR SEASON #2  MUSIC: Intro: “Yice Hole!” by CHIGGERTICKY   Outro: “I Died Using Latin” by CHIGGERTICKY

”Mom”

...about that time a white momma went to teach in a black school, and how it changed Chigger’s life late in the game. Thanks for listening. C’mon wid it!   MUSIC: Intro: “Yice Hole!” by CHIGGERTICKY   Outro: “Step Aside, Please” by CHIGGERTICKY

Eddie & the Muse

Teacher Rule #18: “Never predict a student’s future.” Chigger goes back 53 years to a torrid day in tenth grade when his English teacher told a story on herself. Thanks for listening. C’mon wid it!   MUSIC: Intro: “Yice Hole!” by CHIGGERTICKY   Outro: “Graymont Avenue” by CHIGGERTICKY including a seven-second snippet of “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” performed by THE TEMPTATIONS (Eddie Kendricks, lead vocal), composed by Smokey Robinson & Bobby Rogers

The Phantom

“The only thing we have to fear is the LOSS of our fears.” Chigger ponders his own bastardization of FDR’s famous line. Thanks for listening. C’mon wid it!   MUSIC: Intro: “Yice Hole!” by CHIGGERTICKY   Outro: “Strolling with the Phantom” by CHIGGERTICKY

Air Devils Inn

Chigger finds heaven in a dive bar in the late 1970s. Thanks for listening. C’mon wid it!   MUSIC: Intro: “Yice Hole!” by CHIGGERTICKY   Outro: “Air Devils Inn” by CHIGGERTICKY  

Family Secrets

Chigger’s ancestry holds a true tale of murder and mystery from the early 2oth century, a story his grandmother tried to keep secret. But, as Shakespeare puts it in The Merchant of Venice, “...truth will come to light;  murder cannot be hid long …at the length    truth will out.“ * * * Thanks for listening. C’mon wid it!   MUSIC: Intro: “Yice Hole!” by CHIGGERTICKY   Outro: “Back of the Barn” by CHIGGERTICKY

The Goot of God!

[This episode contains a story that some may find offensive.] A seemingly benign eighth-grade boy strikes a blow against The Man and becomes a martyr in Chigger's memory. MUSIC: Intro: "Yice Hole!" by CHIGGERTICKY Outro: "Stickin' It to the Man!" by CHIGGERTICKY  

Into the Twilight Zone

Chigger is sent on a mission from God to Indiana farmland, which at first seems like a trip into the Twilight Zone. But blessings lurk therein! MUSIC: Intro: "Yice Hole!" by CHIGGERTICKY Outro: "Down at the Two-Pump Texaco" by CHIGGERTICKY  

FOOTBALL SPECIAL!

In this episode Chigger explores the delicate matter of his recovery from college football fandom. Things don’t turn out quite as he expected. MUSIC: Intro - “Yice Hole” by CHIGGERTICKY Outro - “The Hueytown Symphony Plays ‘Rocky Top’” -- composed by Felice and Boudleau Bryant, and then very poorly performed by CHIGGERTICKY Play-by-Play Excerpt by the late, great John Ward, the Voice of the Tennessee Vols

”O my word! We taught children to cheat!”

You can teach a lesson, but you can’t control how students apply it. In fact, I get a kick out of watching  students take to heart a lesson that’s meant to bolster the status quo, and then turn it around to challenge the status quo. To be clear, I don’t want students using their learning to destroy. I do, however, want them to push the boundaries, to think creatively about how old lessons can solve new problems This episode of the Chiggerticky podcast briefly investigates three situations in which students learn lessons and apply them in ways their teachers didn’t anticipate. I like this kind of stuff because, frankly, civilization depends on new applications of old lessons. Call it creative problem solving. C’mon wid it! MUSIC: Intro - “Yice Hole!”  by CHIGGERTICKY Outro - “Shape Up or Flip Out” by CHIGGERTiCKY