It's Not Easy Being Green

When I was a kid, I was fortunate enough to go on several long cross-country trips with my family. From Connecicut to California and back, up the spine of the continent from Arizona to Montana, and even to Alaska!

Now this was in the days before Ipods and portable DVD players. Probably you had an AM radio in the car. And no air-conditioning. One of the things that we did to pass the time (when we weren't squabbling and picking on one another in the back seat) was to "collect" plates. We had a pad of paper, and added to the list each time we saw a new one. It was very exciting, because as you got into a new state, the plates changed -- in color and style of numbers. Some had state slogans ("Live Free or Die") or even pictures (a rider on a bucking bronco in Wyoming, for example. There's a lot more of that now).

If only Ohio had been doing back then what they're doing now. If you've been convicted of drunk driving, you get a special license plate (yellow, with red letters). And they're proposing a new one -- bright flourescent green for convicted violent sex offenders and child predators.

Originally they were going to be pink (but Mary Kay Cosmetics, among others, put the kibosh on that).

Can't think of why they wanted to choose pink in the first place. . . unless they were falling back and false and hurful sterotyping!

Bang for the Buck!

Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.

~Hamlet

I don't know if you saw this article in the Courant the other day, but it turns out that the Tolland school system is the seventh most efficient in the state, in terms of how much money it costs us to educate you. That is to say, out of 169 towns, only six spend fewer dollars per pupil! Wow! In fact, here in Tolland, we're able to educate each one of you for about $2,000 less than the state average. And let's not even think of what those wealthy, big-spending towns are shelling out!

Well, Here's One Bit of Bright News. . .

Thanks, AP. It's a job well not done!

Know Your Rights!

In Block IV today, we covered "Know Your Rights" by the Clash. It's a way to make Percy Bysshe Shelley more accessible to kids today, if there are any outsiders peeking in. (Actually, it's getting to the point where I need something to make the Clash accessible before I Can start to make the bridge to Shelley. Sigh!)

Anyway, here are the lyrics.

And here is a YouTube video. (Kids, be sure to get your parents' permission before logging on.)

But I also came across some other interesting things while googling "know your rights".

Know Your Rights concerning. . .

1. the police;
2. civil rights;
3. physical and mental disabilities;
4. about insurance;
5. being a female;
6. as a photographer;
7. getting your car fixed;
8. being an American Muslim;
9. owing people money;
10. owing medical bills;
11. child labor;
12. being a bike messenger in NYC;
13. organizing your workplace;
14. being an expectant mother;
15. funerals;
16. being audited;
17. religious freedoms;
18. gifted education;
19. lost luggage;
20. a recovering substance abuser;
21. home schooling.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Block IV: Coincidence. . .

Those of you who were doing the Sunday Times Crossword may have noticed this --

83 Down: Something to be thankful for

The answer: B - O - O - N.

Coincidence? Some would call it that.

Then, of course, there was 34 Across: Head-scratcher.

Answer: E - N - I - G - M - A.

So? So, the name of one of the production companies for Local Hero? Enigma Films.

There's more in heaven and earth, Horatio . . .

All: Saturday Night Special (Galactic Edition)

If it's clear. . a total lunar eclipse.

All: "Into the Silence"

There's a new movie out -- well, if you live in the Big Apple. It might get to Cinema City, maybe CineStudio at Trinity (a great place to go see a movie, by the way. It's got a balcony!). Perhaps Real Art Ways. (Actually, it is -- beginning May 4th!) Fortunately, there's video, now, so the two or three of us who might want tot se this movie will get a chance to, where it's not economically feasiable other. (That's what they call "The Long Tail", but that's a whole 'nother story.)

Anyway, the movie is called Into Great Silence. It's about a bunch of monks who almost never talk. (Maybe because part of what I do for a living is talk, I'm drawn to the idea of voluntary silence.)

So, that immediately put a musical phrase into my head: "in-to the silence" from one of my top five all-time songwriters, Van Morrison. (If you made me choose a number one, I'd probaly name him.) Of course, I was misremembering the actual lyric, which is "hymns to the silence"

But whatever. Call it kismet, call it serendipity, call it wyrd. I put "into the silence" into Google, and came up with this poem by e. e. cummings.

up into the silence the green
silence with a white earth in it

you will(kiss me)go

out into the morning the young
morning with a warm world in it

(kiss me)you will go

on into the sunlight the fine
sunlight with a firm day in it

you will go(kiss me

down into your memory and
a memory and memory

i)kiss me,(will go)

Now I'm not a huge fan of e. e. cummings, but I thought this one was lovely, and I wanted to share it with you.

(I like to think that certain poems/stories/movies are meant for certain people, and sometimes I'm the postman chosen to make the delivery. So I don't know which of you is supposed to have this, but here it is.)

All: I Guess It Wasn't His Time Yet

Check this out.

(And don't forget to check out BBC radio while you're over there.)

All: Sunday Night TV

There's a new show premiering tonight on FoxNews at 10 p.m.  It's called The Half-hour Newshour and it's the conservative answer to The Daily Show.

The early reviews aren't great, but we should watch and see for ourselves.  There's too much anger on the political scene today, so a humorous, satiric look at poltics and the news can only be a good thing, right?  If you go to the article in the link, you'll find links to a couple of clips.

Also, (and this is for Block 2, but you'll be getting it later in the semester, Block 4), tune into BET around 11:30 p.m. to see Geoffrey Chaucer's Pardoner in action.  He goes by the name of Robert Tilton these days, but it's basically the same schtick.

And, of course, I daresay you're all as sad as I am to realize that the final two episode of Reba air tonight on the CW (7:00 and 7:30).  Alll I can say is, thank goodness for syndication.

All: At Least We're Not Last!

When I was a kid, on Halloween when we went door to door saying "Trick or treat for Unicef!", holding out our little orange boxes for spare change that went to help poor, sick children in foreign countries.  

Now to be fair, when you see the United States listed by UNICEF as 20th out of 21 nations as far as the well-being of children, that's in industrialized nations. We're still way ahead of the thrid world nations. 

The run down:

CHILD WELL-BEING TABLE
1. Netherlands
2. Sweden
3. Denmark
4. Finland
5. Spain
6. Switzerland
7. Norway
8. Italy
9. Republic of Ireland
10. Belgium
11. Germany
12. Canada
13. Greece
14. Poland
15. Czech Republic
16. France
17. Portugal
18. Austria
19. Hungary
20. United States
21. United Kingdom
Source: Unicef

What exactly are the criteria they used?