Holy Empress of the Universe Haidi has graciously invited me to take part in her new collaborative weblog, Top Ten Blog. After a minor scare with publishing, all seems to be well. I am honored to be included – I just added #7 to the first Top Ten List. This is great fun.
Category: words mean things (Page 176 of 223)
Science truly is a tool of the devil.
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” -Ian Malcolm
‘West Wing’ trivia:
1. There is one fruit whose seeds are on the outside. Which is it?
2. There are only three words in English that begin with “dw”. What are they?
(No fair answering if you’ve seen the episode, which is airing as I write this.)
Pleasant summer surprise: The Princess and The Warrior, starring Franka Potente of Run Lola Run. Quite slow moving, but affecting and fascinating in ways that Hollywood just can’t begin to approach. As one reviewer on IMDB said, it’s a love story without so much as a kiss. For me, it’s about the strange and mystical connections between people. Franka Potente (blond rather than the bright red of ‘Lola’) isn’t beautiful, but she has a face you can’t take your eyes off of. Highly recommended.
Ethical dilemma:
You’re paying for your purchases at the local chain bookstore. The clerk rings up your purchases, then tells you an amount that’s wildly inaccurate in your favor. The clerk should realize this, based on the number of books you are buying, but she doesn’t. Do you say anything?
“Your tax refund is on the way. But don’t take it to the bank – take it to the Home Depot.”
Actual script from a Home Depot TV ad, including a graphic of an empty safe. This is my day to be amazed.
I heard on the radio that GWB is headed to his ranch for a month’s vacation. When I heard this, I thought, “Did they say a month? They must have said a week. I misheard. That’s it – it was a week. That’s sort of long, but OK.”
No. It’s a month.
This from a man who’s already spend a total of 60 days (!) at his ranch, in Kennebunkport, etc. Two months out of six. So not only is he not running the country, but they feel secure enough about it to rub it in our faces. My jaw is on the floor, and that’s increasingly hard to do.
Lesson of the weekend: life is short, and our hold on this earth is a tenuous one at best. That’s important to remember when the petty little concerns of our lives threaten to overwhelm us. Give someone a hug.
Best movie of 2000, end of story: Chuck and Buck.
Thought some more about the whole Bush/education thing from the previous post. I guess I’m not so much mad at him as disappointed that the education community can’t strike back with any sort of coherent public relations. Why aren’t they making it easier for teachers, the people on the front lines of public education, to speak to the public directly about what it means to be a teacher, what their problems and frustrations and successes are like, in their own voices? This is basic Cluetrain stuff – there is no market for messages. What affects perceptions more: a TV commercial starring actors playing teachers, or a conversation in the produce section between a teacher and a parent? If things don’t change pretty soon, the conservative “public schools are failing and should be shut down” mantra will be gospel, and the era of public education will end.
It’s no surprise that when people are asked to rate the quality of public education, they generally rate their local district good or very good, their state fair and the country poor. But the pollsters never consider – how can every local district be doing such a capable job, when the country as a whole is rated so poorly? It’s because people know locally that their district is doing well, but they’re so awash in propaganda that they think the U.S. is going to hell in a handbasket.
Instead of encouraging people to get involved in their local schools, conservatives like GW want people to pull back, disengage, and wait for that tax refund check to come in the mail. So far, they’ve been doing a bang-up job. Educators and those who care about them better start working to reverse this trend, or pretty soon they’ll be about as relevant as a telegraph operator.