American National Government & Monty Python

This morning I am working on constructing a quiz for my American National Government classes. To date, the classes have not done exceptionally well on these quizzes, which consist of questions solely from the reading material combined with questions from the power point presentations. Consistently half the students or more have made either D's or F's.

Jokingly, I had suggested to my family over the weekend that I should have three of the questions be as follows: 1. What is your name? 2. What is your quest? 3. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? So this morning, as I was making out the test and therefore looking for a way to avoid working on it, I decided to Google "what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?" My quest ultimately led me to this site where someone had actually done some research and worked it out, all with a Monty Python theme.

So if you ever find yourself on the Bridge of Death, just remember, the answer is 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour. Hum, too bad it was 24 and not 42, then we might have found the question to the ultimate answer, but that's an entirely different story.

Happy Groundhog Day!

And in celebration of the this most unimportant holiday, a YouTube clip of one of the best movies ever made about an unimportant holiday. I love this movie!I'm not sure why it has German subtitles, but that's really unimportant. The movie still rocks! Maybe I'll go see if Movie Gallery has a copy I could rent. . .

More from Moore

Via CNN.com - Healthy praise for Moore's 'Sicko'

"Sicko," Michael Moore's ferocious and funny attack on the U.S. health care system, got a warm welcome at the Cannes Film festival Saturday. At home, it has started a firestorm.

The movie doesn't open until late June, but it has already been criticized by conservative politicians and sparked a U.S. government investigation that could land Moore a fine or jail time.

[. . .]

Moore's previous films were praised and reviled in equal measure. Americans will likely be just as divided by "Sicko" -- especially scenes in which Moore takes the sick 9/11 rescuers to Cuba for treatment.

The trip led the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate Moore for possibly breaking the U.S. trade and travel embargo on Cuba.

[. . .]

Moore says the criticism of the Cuba trip is misplaced. He said he intended to take the workers to Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. naval base on the island where terror suspects are held -- and, the film claims, receive top-notch medical care.

"The point was not to go to Cuba but to go to America, to go to American soil ... being in Cuba was just an accident in a sense," he said.

I've only ever watched one Michael Moore documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, and I found it interesting. However, one must always consider the source when receiving any information. I think that Moore has some good points to make, but I don't think that he always makes them in the best possible ways. And any incendiary material in the film is doubtfully there by chance.

This country does need health care reform. Too often it seems like insurance is nothing more than a racket. People pay and pay believing that they will be covered if they have medical problems, but when a problem actually arises, the insurers want to do as little as they can get away with. It is true of all types of insurance, not just health insurance. I'm not really sure how Michael Moore's film is going to change that any though. The people who already agree with him will watch it and agree with him. Those who do not agree with him will likely not watch it and dismiss it out of hand because of the source from which it originates.

It ultimately boils down to entertainment. For those who agree with Moore, it can serve as a cathartic device or a voice for what they already believe. For those who hate Moore already, it just gives them further justification for the hatred. Ultimately it affects nothing and changes nothing.

He's got Hogwarts on his Voldemort

CNN - 'Potter' star Radcliffe stirs storm with naked pics

"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe, who strips for his new role in London's West End revival of the play "Equus," has ignited a bit of a media firestorm by posing for racy promotional photos for the production.

The Tony-Award-winning drama tells the story of a stable-hand who has an erotic fixation with horses. In one photo, Radcliffe, 17, dares to bare it all alongside a white horse; in another, he is pictured with a naked Joanna Christie, the actress who portrays his girlfriend.

[. . .]

Part of me wants to shake up people's perception of me, just shove me in a blender," Radcliffe said in a recent interview with Newsweek magazine.

"It's a really challenging play, and if I can pull it off -- we don't know if I can yet -- I hope people will stop and think, 'Maybe he can do something other than Harry,' " he said.

I know it is always challenging for young actors to break out of the "child star" mold. It can also be difficult for actors who are closely associated with a character with a cult following to lose that image. It is a fine line though. One doesn't want to end up a major joke like Britney Spears.

Yesterday, on the John Boy and Billy radio show they made a joke about Daniel Radcliffe and his promotional photos for the play. That is where the post's title comes from.

Good Night and Good Luck

Last night my husband and I watched a movie, which is actually rather rare in our household. We rented Good Night and Good Luck, a movie about Edward R. Murrow's stand against Joseph McCarthy's communist witch hunt. I found the movie particularly interesting in today's context of the war on terrorism, as many conservative pundits cry "treason" or "terrorist sympothizer" to anyone who dares to exercise his or her constitutional right to free speech. I must say, however, that we are still far from McCarthyism at this point, but a little reminder of where we have been in the past is probably good at this point.

The movie also gives an interesting look into world of mass media and the affects that profit motive and advertising have on what we see on the news.

The movie begins and ends with Murrow addressing a crowd at the 1958 convention of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. In his address, he warns against television becoming simply entertainment and not being used to educate and inform, a good message even today.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in politics or American history.

Crossposted at Troy PoliSci

Movies You'd Rather Forget

As usual, I'm a day late and a dollar short, or more accurately a week late and paycheck short. But anyway, here's my addition to last week's Friday Fun Meme. I know I've seen many a bad movie, but the problem is remembering them. Here's what I could come up with.

1. Congo - although based on a Michael Crichton novel I enjoyed, the movie was AWEFUL!

2. No Retreat, No Surrender - my dad loved to watch karate style movies in the 80's and so many were aweful, but this is the one I specifically remember. Jean-Claude Van Damme does a split, enough said.

3. Cabin Boy - we rented it because David Letterman was in it (for one scene). As Dave always says, that's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back.

4. Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo - I saw this in the theater. I think I must have been on a date and there was nothing else to see.

5. Gigli - (T.J. if you happen to read this, I'm sorry.) One of my best friends recommended this movie to me because it is her favorite movie of all time, but in my opinion, if you want to see a movie with gratuitous cursing and Ben Affleck getting it on with a lesbian, Chasing Amy is a much better choice.

6. January Man - I love Kevin Kline, but this movie was nothing like I expected. Very dark and not very funny.

7. Anything in 3D. I remember when I was fairly young, I went to see a 3D movie at the theater and I had to take the glasses off and watch it blurry because of the glasses. The movie was so bad that it didn't really matter though. Can't remember what the movie was called though. UPDATE: I think it was Metalstorm - The Destruction of Jared-Syd


Dishonorable mention goes to:

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas - It might not be that bad a movie if I saw it now, but it is the only movie I can remember getting up and leaving the theater during the show. I was only 11 at the time and my parents took us to see it. One has to ask. . .what were my parents thinking!?!

Max - Not an especially bad movie, but we did rent it and never finished watching it.