EyewatchTV211

You're welcome. :) I actually did find him in the episode for IMDB, but they didn't list his character's name (Lafayette). They just had an actor's name and a blank space. I took a chance and clicked it, and there he was.

I knew I recognized Lafayette from somewhere. If anyone here watches Person of Interest - he was briefly on the show as Carter's young new partner who was sided with HR initially.

I DVRed this episode while visiting family. It sounds like I shouldn't bother watching...

So agree with this. I was all hopeful when we saw a lot of Ben in the beginning of the season, thinking maybe he was rising to be a co-lead with Abe. But they've really gone off course.

I wonder if the show will even bother having Peggy fall for Arnold or if they'll make that marriage more one of circumstance. Can't see her being thrilled with him after what it looked like in the previews - him forcing a kiss on her. We might never know anyway, with only 2 episodes left and the unlikely future of this show.

I can't find the posts now regarding Washington being in a tent versus the house in Valley Forge, so I will just post here. I've been in visiting my family for the long weekend, and they live about 30-40 minutes from Valley Forge. We finally decided to take a visit. One of the national park rangers there explained to us that Washington was in a tent for probably about a week when they first got there, probably until around Christmas, while his men looked for a suitable place to actually settle into. I guess the show wasn't completely off there, although they seem to have extended his time in the tent. I wonder if they will eventually have him in the actual house. The place they did eventually find is very nice, of course. Much of it is still original, despite it continuing to be a family home for about 100 years after their stay. Interestingly, they paid above what would have been considered "market value" to the owners while they stayed there, so they were very generous.

TV Guide's Description

Wonder if this means anything or if it could possibly just be for social purposes, but Hayley's tweet: Hayley Atwell ‏@HayleyAtwell 4h4 hours ago See you sooooon darling @LyndsyMFonseca ! X

This is the main reason I am concerned that there will likely not be a season 3. Especially, (I admit) Seth Numrich, but I will miss the ensemble altogether as well. Many of them are relative unknowns and/or more prevalent in the theater scene, but I've enjoyed getting to see them in the TV medium and will miss having that chance. Not sure how likely they are to get another big role (possibly by choice if not just how the TV world works).

http://edit.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-man-the-myth/the-trouble-with-teeth/ I agree with everyone's thoughts on this episode - it would be way too much to quote all. Definitely disappointed in the episode. Greatly missing Ben and Caleb and actual spy action. Time to start showing them doing a good job. *Oops. Sorry for the double-ish post.

http://edit.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-man-the-myth/the-trouble-with-teeth/ Truth and fiction about the teeth. It looks like he did buy teeth from African Americans - but beyond that, the usage and context is unclear. Apparently, purchasing teeth was common for wealthy people at the time. I agree with everyone's thoughts on this episode - it would be way too much to quote all. Definitely disappointed in the episode. Greatly missing Ben and Caleb and actual spy action. Time to start showing them doing a good job.

I am glad she didn't go there as well, because it makes me mad that gluten free has become the "popular" supposed weight loss diet. Everywhere I go, even little pharmacy stores with food, has gluten-free. I am lactose intolerant, which is much more common than actual Celiac, and there's hardly anything targeted to our group. In fact, products that I had enjoyed in the past have actually been taken out of production. So I get annoyed (I know it is petty and silly) when I see how everyone is going nuts to cater to the gluten-free group. No offense to you, since you do actually have Celiac. Really, a lactose-reduced diet would be a pretty effective weight loss strategy too, but people don't think to do it because dairy is seen as "healthy" (which it actually isn't so much). I definitely can't go crazy with all the junk food and desserts. And back on topic - I do like Simone, but I've also noticed that she seems to think she is already on her own cooking show. Has anyone else noticed that in her TH, she is always explaining what she is doing in such a specific style that it sounds like she is leading a cooking show? Damiano doesn't bother me that much. He is a bit arrogant, but I think some of what is coming off in an annoying way is really just the combination of accent/difference in language usage and culture. Looking back, I don't think he has really done that much that has been so bad. I've seen worse on these shows.

America probably was lacking then. Historians and various sources have reported how, over time, women have gotten more attractive while men have stayed about the same. Not sure what they look at in making that assertion, considering the traits we consider attractive have changed over time. But there you go. Regarding 355, I did not read A. Rose's book, but I read the other book on the same topic (by Kilmeade and Yaeger). I looked back at the book today so I wasn't relying on my terrible memory. They do not have the same theory as A. Rose that Anna Strong was 355. They mention her as a possibility, but apparently the reference to 355 as "Lady" versus "Woman" said one thing about the person, and other information available made it seem to them like 355 would have had access to elite parties in Manhattan and interacted with Loyalists and likely had the trust of British officers, interacting with Andre. They find it doubtful that a "fortyish housewife, mother, and spouse of a well-known Patriot rabble-rouser would have ventured from Long Island to Manhattan to attend parties..." Though Anna and Abe do get into Andre's one party on the show. Their theory is someone who was actually attached to a prominent Loyalist family, whether a daughter with her own mind or extended relation staying with the family in the city. Also, they theorize that 355 was introduced to Woodhull and the ring by Townsend. She started showing up in Woodhull's letters starting the day Townsend and Woodhull first met and after, never before. So interesting! This is what makes history fun.

I'm kind of dreading it because it looks like more of the team cleaning up messes instead of moving the spy stuff forward. I've enjoyed the faster pace of this season, but I am starting to become frustrated that Ben and the ring are not getting ANY useful intel. I know I've shared before that it was a slow process in reality, but there's slow and there's nothing. I enjoy the actor who plays Andre and the character, but with the fan reaction to him, the writers seem to have gone too far in portraying his all-around awesomeness at the expense of making the Culper Ring seem very incompetent. I get trying to make the Americans the underdogs to fit with the rest of the war, but the ring was actually pretty professional and successful pretty fast and Andre actually wasn't so great. I'm eager for Townsend to join the group and hope that they don't wait for the finale. Hopefully that will up the spying and successes. I think some people have been right on that Simcoe heading to Oyster Bay to look for Culper will be what pushes him to join the ring. I read somewhere that the real Simcoe did actually cause problems with Townsend's family and that this led to his joining.

Very little is actually known about Agent 355 besides that 355 actually just means "Lady." I think she was also based out of New York only. The writers decided to create this character to be 355 and anything personal with Abigail and her son is fiction created by the writers of the show and did not actually happen. I wonder - if her son does come to live with her and she has no reason to spy - would the writers make someone else 355 in the future? Since there is no specific name associated with 355 like the others, just Lady, maybe they are going to change it up and have that spy be more than one person over the course of the show. Or they'll just find some other way to complicate the story and continue to have Abigail be 355.

Well, crap. Now where will I get my Bradley James fix? His new show isn't the type I'm into. :-(

Don't know if this goes here or in small talk, but oh well. I had heard that Seth was having a tiny house built. Here is a video of him showing the progress being made on his house:

Bolded part - you're talking about America. Good luck with that argument, lol. I totally agree myself, though. Basically, there do exist school systems who have excellent teacher evaluation systems based on specific standards for teaching that rely more on real life measures, observation, demonstration of student success through other factors, and other administrator-led ratings. Relying purely on student performance is impossible because there are tons of factors involved in how a student will perform besides just teacher effectiveness. It sounds like Canada is using standardized testing appropriately - in small amounts, there is a reason to have them. While it's nice in theory, the use of "rewarding" good teachers with higher pay to encourage better teaching has been proven completely ineffective, and it is not surprising. Teachers typically do not go into the field for money. And as others have already mentioned, much of teaching is an art (though there is a science aspect). So you can't really just motivate someone to "do a better job." I think most teachers would say that they are trying their best because they really want to help students. A lot of people try to apply business-model practices to education, but it doesn't work. If anyone is interested in more information related to any of this, catch up on Diane Ravitch's blog/books, etc. She has done a lot of important research. And this is a turnaround for her, after previously being part of Bush's education leadership and supporting high stakes testing initially.

Poor Ben. He finally had a win (in terms of correctly judging who was the spy), but his knowledge that he was correct came with such a high cost. :( And that's two huge boo-boos for Washington this episode. Yikes. Abe just continues to be a boy, playing a man, playing a spy. I'm eager for next week!

Some school districts were encouraging students (or students' parents) to opt out of tests in protest. It has had some success. Increasingly, states are decreasing the number of required assessments or refusing to participate in Race to the Top. I am currently a school psychologist, and I have also studied special education. So glad John took on this topic. Everything he said in that report is true (including being trained on protocol for what to do if a student gets sick on the test), and that barely even scratches the surface of why it is problematic to judge performance on standardized assessments. I've worked in a few Title I schools, and I can't tell you how many cases I've dealt with or heard about involving: CPS, homelessness, incarcerated parents, parents being deported, children living with people besides their parents, other poverty-related issues, etc. Not every student is going through something this severe, but many are experiencing something these days, and we have to consider the likelihood of these kids being able to just focus on their learning when they're concerned about so much crap in their lives. If anyone knows of Maslow's hierarchy, they know that people need to deal with safety/physical needs first before anything else. It is also unfair when US students are compared to students in other countries on many of these tests because it's usually not comparing apples to apples. You have countries who only educate a small portion of their population (those expected to be the best and brightest) or who separate out the kids early on to different educational tracks based on early school performance. Or countries with homogeneous populations. Or where it's the norm for children to all be tutored everyday after school and on the weekends. Statistically, the US students actually aren't doing worse (or better) than in previous periods of time when people may have fond memories of "better schools" and when the US was going through such a boom scientifically/technologically. There is definitely always room for improvement, but standardized testing is not leading to that. *Apologies for the long rant

For some reason, I have always been more fascinated in Revolutionary War history than in the Civil War, despite also being intrigued by history in general. I'm not really sure why. But we also didn't really hear about the Culper Ring. So when I saw the book George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution in the bookstore window, I knew I wanted to read it. http://www.amazon.com/George-Washingtons-Secret-Six-Revolution-ebook/dp/B00C5R7FP4 Then I got lucky and discovered the show being made on the same topic soon after, although based on the other book. Apparently Robert Townsend's role was discovered the most recently, after all the others (besides 355, who is still mostly unknown). So amazing. These people were truly devoted to the cause as opposed to being in it for the glory. Benedict Arnold could never have been a part of the spy group! And yes, Washington was always desperate for the information and impatient with how slowly it came in. The other book refers to this as well. That's why I've mentioned somewhere else that the show definitely has to balance giving the ring enough "wins" to keep people invested without making up too many fictional wins too quickly. It has been awhile since I read the other book, so I can't remember too much else to comment on that I haven't already here or elsewhere. But eager to read other people's information and thoughts.

I read the early Stephanie Plum books and finally gave up, partially due to the dragging on of the triangle. I hate triangles with a passion. I believe that is why I stopped quickly with the series this movie is based on. I actually did read a few. Can't remember much about them or the character, so I can't say if she was more annoying in the movie. I just remember being made aware that the triangle would go on and on, so I just chose to stop. I've also read some where the love interest is a private investigator, so they can get involved that way; I think occasionally they manage to find a way for the main character to be involved without the love interest being directly tied to investigative work, but that is rare. If I remember correctly, Wine Lover's Mysteries is an example.

This has a fun summary of the ring, mostly surrounding the role of Tallmadge. http://www.jcs-group.com/military/war1775fought/tallmadge.html I hope Ben's real-life awesomeness translates onto the show, soon. They seem to be making him stumble a lot more than he did in real life - I guess so we can be excited for a turnaround. Meanwhile, Andre was actually the inexperienced one. The site also highlights again that Townsend was really the key spy.

A picture of Ben Tallmadge, if anyone is curious: http://images.library.yale.edu/madid/oneItem.aspx?&qn=8785 And excerpts from his memoir, which is interesting. Don't read if you don't want specific spoilers about his interactions with certain characters. :D http://www.btdistrict.org/HTMLobj-808/Benjamin_Tallmadge_Memoir_Excerpts.pdf

Fun! My parents live near Washington Crossing. When I visit, I imagine the river crossing as well. I love looking out for all of the old houses in that area.