Tag: general discussion

The song I can’t get out of my head right now.

This came about because I wanted to hear the song “I do” by J. Giles Band. When seized by this desire of late, I have taken to finding the song on YouTube. If there isn’t an official video there, someone has done their own mediocre slide show/video that I can not watch while still hearing the song. While listening to “I Do,” I stumbled across someone’s 80’s play list and it was quite good. I YouTube spiraled for a bit until I stumbled across this song.

Reading the title, I thought to myself “I have no idea what John Couger Mellencamp song this is.” I hit play and dimly from the back crannies of my mind remembered it from so long ago. And bam! Stuck in my head. I really like the lyrics, though. In a sparse song way, they rightly capture young love and all its fumblings

Civics test

This post has been hanging around since January!

Always one for a good test, I took the American Civics Literacy Test back on January 26. There are 33 questions and the header for the test proclaims “OUR FADING HERITAGE.” As a certified Social Studies Teacher, a proud American, a History Major, I can tell you that it is important that people know the items on this test.

I was gunning for 100%, but only got 28 of 33 correct. That gave me an 84.85%–I love that they give your score to the hundredths place–which wasn’t as fabulous as I wanted it to be, but better than the average score of 73.8%.

Aside from testing you on knowledge I find important to know, you will receive an email with your results, what questions you missed and their answers and also a link so you can see how citizens and elected officials scored on each question. Answer: not as well as the citizens.


I missed the following questions: 7, 13, 15, 29 and 33. Can you do better?

http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

Why you should stop what you are doing and subscribe to your local paper.

I mean it. Right now. You can even do it while sitting in front of your computer. I can wait.

You want reasons? Okay here are a few.

  • Newspapers are having trouble making the digital transition. For the most part, reading things on the internet is free, but the ad revenue generated from internet ad sales does not begin to meet traditional sources of ad revenue. While most newspapers are available in online form they aren’t the presence they have traditionally been in their paper form.
  • The ad revenue in print sources pays for the reporters who have the time to do the investigations about issues that are important to your life. Issues that you didn’t know you cared about until they are reported on. Coming this Sunday, the Oregonian will publish a report about placing foster children with relatives in other countries. The reporters’ work led directly to a moratorium placed on this practice.
  • Newspapers are an essential part of creating community. Do you want to know what is going on in your town, city or state in the government, entertainment or sports? The newspaper has the answer.
  • Reading newspapers makes you sound smart. Can I talk intelligently about the proposal to bring Major League Soccer to Portland? Yes. Why is that? Because I’ve read every article about the issue that was published in the Oregonian, Willamette Week and Portland Mercury.
  • Reading the newspaper introduces you to so many cool things. I can’t tell you how often someone has said to me, “How did you even hear about that?” and the answer is always that it was something I read in the newspaper.

Excuses I don’t want to hear:

  • I don’t agree with the political opinions of my newspaper. Okay stop. I grew up wildly liberal and reading the Idaho Statesman, which does not fit anywhere close to the definition of liberal print media. I disagreed with most of the editorials, their coverage of education and half to three-quarters of the letters to the editor. I still found out incredible amounts about what was going on in my community, as well as following the lives of the Patterson Family in For Better or for Worse.
  • I don’t have time to read my newspaper. I didn’t say you have to read the newspaper, just subscribe to it. You know those micro-loans that are so successful in third world countries? Think of your subscription as that. Ad revenue is based on the number of subscribers, not on the number of subscribers who read the paper. And really, you don’t have time to read even one section? Even the fluffy section? Please.
  • Newspapers waste too many resources. All that paper is expensive and needs to be recycled and I don’t want to do it. This is true. It may waste much fewer resources to read things online. But, quite frankly, online newspapers aren’t very good. Oregonlive.com, the Oregonian’s website recently had an upgrade. It is now simply bad instead of maddeningly frustrating. Like I said above, newspapers are having a tough time making the digital transition. Once they have and are okay, you can discontinue your paper subscription and cease the odious task recycling mounds of paper. Until then, buck up and buy some carbon offsets or something. Also, if you are that person above who doesn’t read the paper, recycling becomes much easier.
  • I can’t afford it. Yes, yes, times are tough. But as a former colleague once remarked, “I can’t believe you can get all that stuff in one paper and it only costs fifty cents.” It is a marvel. My monthly subscription is $13.95, which is about the same price as a movie and popcorn. For that I get untold hours of reading enjoyment and grumbling, not to mention the side bonus of being well-informed.
  • I don’t really care. You should. For all the reasons pointed out above and in the This Modern World Cartoon from 03/03/09. Remember that trained journalist make a difference.

So don’t delay. Subscribe today. Now. I’m not kidding. Do it.

Kate Winslet’s crow’s feet…

…rock.

Last night while watching the Oscars, more than one comment was made about the lines around Kate Winslet’s eyes. Age was brought up, children were brought up, but I think it boils down to one reason I love Kate Winslet. She seems entirely unconsumed with the “Hollywood” part of acting, yet remains a Hollywood star. She doesn’t seem to let people push her around about her weight, she followed up the biggest blockbuster of the late 20th century with a strange independent film set in Morocco, and she comes to awards ceremonies with her aging skin on view. Granted, her aging skin is in its early 30s, but still. The above things alone would propel me to see nearly every movie that she makes; the fact that she is an incredible actress is just the cherry on top.

I want to see my actors age! I want their skin to soften and go slack and the wrinkles creep across their face. When I look at their 40 year old selves, I want to see something different than their 20 year old selves. I don’t want to see an immovable, porcelain forehead, I don’t want to see a 50 year old without wrinkles and I really don’t want to see a bunch of women looking like Sophia Lauren, whose strange appearance on screen caused more than a few “aaaaahhhhs” in the room.

All the rest of you regular people out there, same goes for you. Let us age as we age. There is no fighting age. Let us enjoy it.