The Magic Schoolbus

OK, so being a preschool teacher 8 hours of the day, these are the things I think about. I hope you all enjoyed The Magic Schoolbus as much as I did, because it's amazing. This show is brilliant. Apparently, it's award-winning (I don't know what awards it could have won.) which it certainly deserves to be. Watching several episodes so far (because the kids love it), I have a few things to say about it.



I'm trying to give a basic analysis here. Listen, the kids are just as mesmorized by this show, as they are by Finding Nemo or Madagascar. I'm talking about 3 to 6 -year-olds being mesmorized by a show about middle-school children reading from science books. How could this possibly be? Let's take a look.

First there are some basic elements like the cast: First and foremost of course is Ms. Frizzle. Ms. Frizzle is the class's (perhaps the entire school's, the show never gives a larger scope than the < 15 character cast.) science teacher. She acts as a guide for the class on their field trips and as a "narrator." She gives them an initial direction, and often takes a back seat for the rest of the trip. She drives the bus perhaps to several locations, but her actions are not the drive of the show; instead, she often gets the class into some sort of mess that they have to get out of themselves. This provides exciting adventure for the show, as well as a form of Socratic Learning method for the show. Also, as a minor note, her dress and earrings change in each episode according to the topic; this provides a point of interest for older kids who notice such things.

Next is The Bus, and Liz, the lizzard (he he). These two act as Ms. Frizzle's cohorts, so that she does not appear to be just a strange teacher doing these trips by herself; these two aid in the direction of the field trip. Also, for a show with such fantastic adventures and events, the bus is really the only magical entity in the whole show. In this way, the show can be classified as themed with magical realism in the same form as Bless Me, Ultima and Like Water for Chocolate. One of the important students is D.A. . D.A. acts as a second narrator for the show; IE she spends most of an episode reading from a textbook, providing the boring but necessary science and fact. This is again for the older students who can understand what she is talking about. Arnold represents the scared student who doesn't particularly want to go on a field trip or learn anything new. Many students in an audience can relate to Arnold and they will tend to follow his path in each adventure. Carlos tells cheap jokes riddled with puns and word play that act as a slight comic relief (again, specifically for older students who can understand his jokes). I think there are other characters, but I'm not sure.

Another thing that makes the show successful is the consistencies in each episode:

• A field trip
• Arnold not wanting to go on the field trip
• D.A. carrying around a textbook
• Ralphie not caring at all, but still learning in the end
• D.A. saying "according to my research"
• The Friz saying "as I always say" (which she in facts never says again)

I dunno. I think that's all for this. I just think it's interesting that this show holds kids' attention just as well as massive-budget-non-educational Pixar movies.

Anyone read RedBlue? no? Well here's my rebuttal.

So in RedBlue there was a little article on how the new 5G iPod sucks. Here is my rebuttal:

Someone needs to put a little more thought when judging new technology. Does Mr.McConville own a new 5G iPod? Did he interview anyone who owned one? No. Maybe he should play with one of these before he torches it. Alright, now for some positive information. I own a new Fifth Generation iPod. He is my new best friend. Here are some quick numbers: I've already loaded him up with 5000 songs, 800 pictures, my Contacts and Calendar, 100 music videos, 2 TV episodes, and 1 full-length film. He's only half full at 28 GB. I plan to lose 20 lbs very soon as I chug away on the treadmill at the gym while watching my favorite shows and movies on the crystal clear and very bright screen. I don't understand McConville's argument about paying for TV shows: "Network TV is supposed to be a free medium." No it isn't. Advertisements. Do you think that because songs are "free" on the radio, you shouldn't have to pay for them in the store. If a movie plays on a Saturday Night on NBC, should you be able to take it out of the video store for free? That's probably the least thought-out argument I've ever read. Because the download of a TV episode does not come with the interim advertisements, you pay for it, just like a CD or DVD. The same holds for downloading music videos. Secondly, did you think that the five currently-available shows will be the only ones available ever? That Apple isn't writing agreements with other networks? Let me check right now... Ah, Apple has already added to the station line-up: NBC, Scifi, and USA. They'll certainly stop there though. That's all for sure. And you know what? You don't have to buy the videos or episodes anyways. It is no secret that the iPod's largest audience (young adults including those in college) downloads music as much as they drink underage. It's hardly a step further to download music videos, TV shows, and movies. Re-encoding them into the iPod video format (320x240 MPEG-4) takes very little searching online (I use Videora iPod Converter, Google it). With a little effort, you can enjoy the new iPods a lot more than you think. Here's to passing time in lectures, heading to the Rec daily, and falling asleep to Lord of the Rings.

Why Nice Guys Finish Last

I think that I've finally figured it out. After talking to many men and women about the subject, I feel that I have pinned it down with a very simple and accurate analogy.

Attractive guys are like food that tastes good.
Nice guys are like healthy food.

Everyone loves food that tastes good. Thats just a given. I'm not saying explicitly candy or ice cream. Cuz baby carrots and salad taste good. Its just that people typically eat food that tastes good, and then they may attempt to filter unhealthy food. So in deciding dinner they may narrow it down to "food that tastes good" ruling out beets and a bottle of chocolate syrup. They are left with ice cream and ravioli. From here they may choose ice cream, get sick, and make a mental note to eat ravioli next time.

Girls (and I imagine guys) do the same thing with men. They narrow down potential mates (say, at a party or in their group of friends or something) to the attractive ones (the ones that taste good). This is the set of date-able men. They date men and then break up with the not nice (unhealthy) ones, hopefully finally settling on "nice guys."

Now, that only explains the universe, not why nice guys finish last. The food analoy holds though. Most of the time, when cooking dinner, you will choose (from your good-tasting food) the unhealthier foods. Soda, chips, nuts, snack foods and stuff. After any negative results (stomach ache, weight gain, vomitting), you slowly learn to choose the healthier food. This is how people (and women) work.

I don't blame women at all for this any more. I would choose the nice guys last. It's hard to choose something with long-term benefits over short-term. There is something else about how the venn diagram of attractive guys and nice guys has a very small intersection of the two. I think. At least from the horror stories i hear from women. Maybe I'll refine this theory. But I like it for now.

The world and how it changes

So... I was talking to my dad today about how he hates tattoos and doesn't understand why anyone would ever get a tattoo of any sort anywhere on their bodies and it was my duty as a wild teenager to explain it to him.

Aside from that, I find it interesting how the world is, in my humble opinion, becoming more and more tolerant of everything, but especially three things: body alteration/decoration, race/gender, and sex. My dad thinks people who get tattoos are crazy. But what about my mom, who has ear piercings? Who were the first women to pierce their ears? Their moms were pissed off, I guarantee. They asked themselves "What is the world coming to? when our daughters enjoy mutilating their ears and hanging gems from the gauged holes." People who had tattoos would not be hired at elementary schools as recently as 20 years ago. Yet now many of my coworkers have visible tattoos at the elementary school. Surely I will not worry about my children getting tattoos and breast implants at age 16 but instead I will put my foot down at tongue-splitting. They will of course allow tongue-splitting but ban full-body tattoos.

My parents gawk at teen girls with shorts I consider to be normal length. Their parents gawked at dresses higher than the knee. Their parents gawked at dresses higher than the calf. I will of course, allow my daughters short shorts and thongs at age 12, but they will want to wear bikinis to school. Im not even joking.

Race/gender is simple. Black people are free from slavery, women are free to vote, Indians are allowed casinos, gays are allowed marriage in 3-4 countries. Its progressive. Sooner or later we will have a president who is ethnic, gay, female, or something else minoritied. I also think that soon after gay marriage is legalized, bigamy and polygamy will follow suit. Perhaps not in the Church, but in the Government. Trust me.

Sex is ridiculous as well. Supposedly their is a law in NJ forbidding holding hands of an unmarried couple in public. Now two thirds of the people I consider friends have experienced "friends with benefits." This isn't just happening yet forbidden, its becoming more accepted. I remember reading in Grapes of Wrath about old women bitching out the kids because when they danced, they held hands. They "knew" that those kids were going to hell for those sins. Nowadays fucking priests are being forgiven for raping little boys. People dance with their hips instead of their hands. Its all a bunch of crap and soon people will dance with less and less clothes and sexual activity will not be just commonplace in clubs and dance halls, but accepted, expected, and encouraged.

I think the world is turning out to be a beautiful place.