bad teacher (2011) - jake kasdan

Cameron Diaz is Elizabeth Halsey, the (eponymous?) Bad Teacher from the title, who has to stay on at school when her rich boyfriend ends their engagement. She has little interest in the job or the pupils, and is just after doing as little work as possible and having a good time (who isn't?).  While she is killing time, she is also on the lookout to find and snag another rich man, this time to marry and retire with.  Nerdy and dull substitute teacher Scott Delacorte then arrives on the scene (in the form of Justine Timberlake), and as he is from a very wealthy family, Halsey tries to woo him.  Unfortunately for her, she faces competition from another teacher, the neurotic but dedicated Amy Squirrel, played by Lucy Punch (as though that would have happened in real life).  Deciding to save for a boob job, Halsey then discovers there is a monetary prize for the best class results, so she changes tactics, and decides to win the money by any means possible.  All the while, she herself is being wooed by the gym teacher, who, because of the fact he is just an ordinary joe with no money, she bats off (but of course, grows to like).  Don't bother asking me who she ends up with, l think it wouldn't take much brainpower to work that one out.  There's drug use, swearing a plenty, boob inspecting by Diaz (I thought that was my job), drinking and a general all round bad attitude (once again, my job). A much better film than l anticipated, but although it is not as good as 'Bad Santa', it is still one of the better rom com films out there (although let's face it, that's not saying a lot).


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letter from prison and education for the poor

My English leaves a lot to be desired, but that is mainly because l hardly had to write anything until the last few years, as l worked in jobs that did not require much paperwork.  I passed my English exams (language and literature), but my spelling and grammer was a lot better back in the day (although my vocabulary has increased).  However, this is put into perspective with the people l come into contact with and communicate with, both at work and away from it.  I then find that most people are not as good at using and understanding the language, and some are shockingly bad at it.  To demonstrate this, l accidentally opened a letter that had been wrongly addressed to my house, and it turned out to be from a prisoner, writing to try and get a visit from somebody.  The letter was resealed and handed back to the postman the next day, and l was obviously not going to scan it or reveal it's full contents, but before l resealed it, l couldn't help but be amazed at some of the mistakes.  The grammer was terrible, but these are a small selection of the words spelt incorrectly (with the correct spelling afterwards)

wiv - with
were - where
dose - does
thay - they
intill - untill
wot - what
anuff - enough
afhter  - after

Now the prisoner may well be dyslexic, but l have a sneaking suspicion that they have been poorly educated, not encouraged, come from a broken home or violent background,  and had no opportunities, therefore leading to a life of crime.  A lot of it may be their own fault, and they have made their own choices in life, but what real chances do they have of gaining meaningful and rewarding employment with so few writing skills and lack of education.  Unless something miraculous happens, this person will probably be a habitual re-offender, and may go onto major crime.  Surely it's better to throw money at educating and providing for the poor while they are young and a difference may be achieved, as it will only cost a lot more money (and harm to society) in the future.  Capitalism needs a poorly educated and cheap to employ workforce, but there are limits.

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