Sporadacity
It bothers me when I don't blog as consistently often as I have in the past. Almost always it's because my chronic fatigue garbage has flaired up (as it has the past two months) or I'm experiencing computer or ISP issues (as I have the past few weeks). I suppose I can take solace in that it doesn't seem to bother anyone else.
Anyway, when my sister and I were both in college, she was quite happy to take a course entitled something like "The History of Television." She studied I Love Lucy. I hate I Love Lucy. I didn't understand at the time, nor do I now, how or why it's appropriate to pay full college tuition credits for a class on something seemingly so trivial.
I'm quite sure there's a valid dialog to be had on the subject but it's not going to happen here. Also at this same time, the cost of tuition was rising something like 15% while the university faced the dilemma of divesting 40 some million dollars of investment in South Africa. Hello! If you've got that much money there, how much do you have everywhere else? And why do I have to pay rising tuition when you're sitting on such a stuffed mattress?
Again, like the Television course, I'm sure there's some sort of argument to be had here. Someone would have to care first, though, and that may be a tough bill.
I was reminded of all of this while watching the news in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre. A former classmate of the killer's was talking about their time in a class dedicated to the history of horror movies. And I've been wondering why so many college grads can't spell, use appropriate grammar, or know how to read a book without feeling punished.
The point of this entry is vague. It may not even make one. I think, though, that it will make the reader form some sort of response in his or her mind and perhaps that is the point. Are classes like this inappropriate, overpriced, and/or out of place? I think I think so.
On the other hand, perhaps a study of how Lucy managed to stuff bon-bons, rolling pell mell down a hyperactive conveyor belt, into her mouth, dress and god knows where else, might enlighten me to the point where I'd answer my own question. Or if I could understand what's really going on behind Jason Voorheis's hockey mask I might glean some additional insight.
I tend to doubt it. I can't see Einstein or Pasteur or Alfred Noble or even Steven Spielberg in classes like this. Quentin Tarrantino, maybe, but he'd probably be filming it with Bruce Willis sitting in the background. But I still wouldn't know why Ethel married Fred, not really. And that has to have historical significance in some context.
I'm glad I'm not in school anymore. Is this really "higher learning?" Has any serious (whatever that means) television savant actually taken any of these courses? Benefited from these courses? Or are they milk runs, taken advantage of by lackadaisical students, filling the quota of elective credits? Guess what I think...
Anyway, when my sister and I were both in college, she was quite happy to take a course entitled something like "The History of Television." She studied I Love Lucy. I hate I Love Lucy. I didn't understand at the time, nor do I now, how or why it's appropriate to pay full college tuition credits for a class on something seemingly so trivial.
I'm quite sure there's a valid dialog to be had on the subject but it's not going to happen here. Also at this same time, the cost of tuition was rising something like 15% while the university faced the dilemma of divesting 40 some million dollars of investment in South Africa. Hello! If you've got that much money there, how much do you have everywhere else? And why do I have to pay rising tuition when you're sitting on such a stuffed mattress?
Again, like the Television course, I'm sure there's some sort of argument to be had here. Someone would have to care first, though, and that may be a tough bill.
I was reminded of all of this while watching the news in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre. A former classmate of the killer's was talking about their time in a class dedicated to the history of horror movies. And I've been wondering why so many college grads can't spell, use appropriate grammar, or know how to read a book without feeling punished.
The point of this entry is vague. It may not even make one. I think, though, that it will make the reader form some sort of response in his or her mind and perhaps that is the point. Are classes like this inappropriate, overpriced, and/or out of place? I think I think so.
On the other hand, perhaps a study of how Lucy managed to stuff bon-bons, rolling pell mell down a hyperactive conveyor belt, into her mouth, dress and god knows where else, might enlighten me to the point where I'd answer my own question. Or if I could understand what's really going on behind Jason Voorheis's hockey mask I might glean some additional insight.
I tend to doubt it. I can't see Einstein or Pasteur or Alfred Noble or even Steven Spielberg in classes like this. Quentin Tarrantino, maybe, but he'd probably be filming it with Bruce Willis sitting in the background. But I still wouldn't know why Ethel married Fred, not really. And that has to have historical significance in some context.
I'm glad I'm not in school anymore. Is this really "higher learning?" Has any serious (whatever that means) television savant actually taken any of these courses? Benefited from these courses? Or are they milk runs, taken advantage of by lackadaisical students, filling the quota of elective credits? Guess what I think...
posted by Rick Ollerman at 1:38 PM
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