disjointed mumblings
Apr. 6th, 2004 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ciroccojRather full day today. Two review classes, study study study, bus ride home with Justin, sign-up at the Sunnyside Community Centre for Justin's ballet classes, then home for dinner and bed. Sotired.
The bus ride with Justin was kind of cute, though. He was in a talkative little mood, much to the amusement of the people sitting near us.
(kind of reconstructed from highlights of a 1.5hr conversation)
"A woman can't marry a woman!" he said out of the blue.
"Actually, yeah, she can."
"But that would be silly!"
"Why?"
Puzzled look. Like, he knew it was silly, but not why. "Oh! You know what was a stupid rule?"
"What?"
"A black person can't marry a white person! Isn't that silly?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Why is that lady wearing a chain?" (pointing at anti-smoking poster)
"Because, remember I told you that when you start smoking it's very tough to stop? It makes you feel like you're chained to the cigarettes."
"I'm never going to start smoking."
"Good for you."
"Because I don't like chains."
"M-hm."
"I'm going to have a wedding."
"Yeah? Are you going to marry Gillian?" (classmate of his)
"No. She doesn't like me. She doesn't want to have a wedding." (oddly, he didn't seem terribly concerned about this)
"Oh, that's too bad. But you know, kids can't get married anyway. You have to be a grownup to get married."
"Well, when I'm a grownup and you don't like Daddy any more, I'll marry you!" (ah, Freud, your wisdom knows no bounds. Except when it comes to penis envy and stuff like that)
"Sweetie, that doesn't work. You can't marry somebody who's already in your family."
"But then who will I marry?"
"I don't know. You've got a long time to make up your mind, though."
"Can a man marry a man?"
"Yup."
::thoughtful nod, filing away this information:: "I like scrambled eggs. Can I have scrambled eggs for dinner?"
"Sure."
"Look! There's a big HOLE in the street!!"
(spent the next ten minutes or so looking at huge holes - the city's fixing some sewers or something)
"Wow. That was GIANT holes." ::pause:: "Why do you need somebody else to help make a baby?"
"Um..." (steadfastly ignoring the muffled giggling of the other passengers) "Well, you just do. You can't make a baby by yourself."
"But that's so weird."
"I don't think so."
"Do you have to be married?"
"No, but it's better if you are."
::thoughtful nod::"Can you fix my unicorn tonight?"
Funny thing about kids, they don't get dizzy with sudden topic changes.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bear, I had to laugh when I read beautifulday72's conversation with the 7-yr old, because she caught the tempo of kid-talk so very well ;)
***
Justin is signed up for ballet classes. Got to the community centre 20 min before the doors opened and there was already a line about a block long. Stood in line for 45 minutes, and when I got to the front I nearly had a heart attack - Pre-school Ballet II was already full. Luckily, he's going into I, not II. Phew.
Hope he likes it. If he doesn't, no biggie - it's only for 9 weeks at $47. Much easier to contemplate than the dance school I went to as a kid - 12 weeks for about $200. Eep.
***
Did you know the Battle of Helm's Deep, from LOTR, really happened?
No? Then you obviously have a stronger grip on reality than these poor sods:
Hitler mythical but Conan real, some believe
~~~~
06.04.2004
By CAHAL MILMO
LONDON - The Battle of Hastings never took place and Adolf Hitler is a fictional character.
Robin Hood really existed, Harold Wilson saved Britain during World War II and Conan the Barbarian is a bona fide figure from early Nordic history.
It might sound like the latest attempt by revisionist extremists to pervert the past but the reality is perhaps far more disturbing: this is how a significant chunk of the British population, confused by Hollywood and unmoved by academia, sees history.
A survey of the average adult's level of historical knowledge has uncovered "absurd and depressing" areas of ignorance about events, from battles to royal marriages, and widespread confusion between characters from cinema blockbusters and real figures from the past.
Researchers, who conducted face-to-face interviews with more than 2000 people, found that almost a third thought that the Cold War was not a real event, while 6 per cent believed that the War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells's fictional account of a Martian invasion, did take place.
Some 57 per cent thought that King Arthur existed, and 5 per cent accepted that Conan the Barbarian, the sorcerer warrior played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a 1982 movie, once stalked the planet slaying his foes for real.
Almost one in two believed that William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish resistance leader played by Mel Gibson in Braveheart, was invented for the silver screen.
The study sparked an impassioned response from historians and politicians and raised new questions about the teaching of history, particularly after it was found that 11 per cent of respondents said Hitler did not exist and 9 per cent said Winston Churchill was fictional. A further 33 per cent believed Mussolini was not a real historical figure.
Lord Janner, chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the survey results were "utterly bewildering".
"It shows that in our schools we are not conveying sufficiently the recent past - a past in which many of us lived and so many people died. If we are to prevent the return of Hitlerism in any form in our present or future, we have to know what happened in the lifetimes of many of us."
Critics of the survey's findings laid much of the blame for the apparent lack of knowledge at the door of Hollywood and television.
Studio moguls have regularly found themselves in hot water in recent years for skewing historical events to fit audience profiles and lift profit margins.
The film U-571 sparked fury in Britain four years ago when it told the story of how American servicemen altered the course of World War II by capturing the Enigma code machine from a German U-boat.
In fact, British and Canadian sailors captured the machine in May 1941, before the US had entered the war.
The survey of 2069 adults aged 16 or over, conducted for Blenheim Palace to mark the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Blenheim, highlighted similar cases of the blurring of fiction and reality in the popular imagination.
More than 60 of those interviewed said they thought the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, featuring slavering Orcs, actually took place.
Even the more outlandish creations of television fiction are thought by some to be founded in reality. At least 20 people approached by researchers said they thought Rowan Atkinson's Edmund Blackadder and Lucy Lawless' bodice-busting Xena Warrior Princess were real historical figures.
Historian, television presenter and Shakespeare biographer Michael Wood said the "dumbing-down" trend was damaging people's knowledge of the past.
"If you don't give an audience a clear idea of how we know things, I believe this is a problem.
"Hollywood distorts history the whole time and once you get that far down the line, it's not history, it's entertainment," he said.
"History is there to give value to the present as well as to entertain. You do diminish it if you take the mickey out of it in an attempt to make it 'accessible'."
The advent of the historically challenged Briton is not restricted to knowledge gained from sitting in front of the television or munching popcorn at the cinema.
More than a quarter of the survey respondents did not know in which century the Great War took place and 57 per cent believed that the Battle of the Bulge, the Nazi counter-offensive in the Ardennes in 1945, didn't happen.
A further 53 per cent thought that the military leader who took British troops into battle at Waterloo was Horatio Nelson, and a quarter felt that the admiral's fatal triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar was fiction.
Nearly one in five believed that Harold Wilson, not Winston Churchill, occupied Downing St during World War II.
John Hoy, chief executive of Blenheim Palace, said history had become too boring.
Many people associated history with dry dates and facts.
"Once they realise that history is about people, the way we used to live and the way we live now, it becomes more relevant and more exciting."
~~~~
Can I please quit the human race?
***
Got home and made scrambled eggs for dinner for the boys, egg white fritatta for me. I've fallen in love with that recipe, despite an unfortunate tendency to start unconsciously singing "zucchini fritatta" to the tune of "Hakuna Matata" as I cook.
The bus ride with Justin was kind of cute, though. He was in a talkative little mood, much to the amusement of the people sitting near us.
(kind of reconstructed from highlights of a 1.5hr conversation)
"A woman can't marry a woman!" he said out of the blue.
"Actually, yeah, she can."
"But that would be silly!"
"Why?"
Puzzled look. Like, he knew it was silly, but not why. "Oh! You know what was a stupid rule?"
"What?"
"A black person can't marry a white person! Isn't that silly?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Why is that lady wearing a chain?" (pointing at anti-smoking poster)
"Because, remember I told you that when you start smoking it's very tough to stop? It makes you feel like you're chained to the cigarettes."
"I'm never going to start smoking."
"Good for you."
"Because I don't like chains."
"M-hm."
"I'm going to have a wedding."
"Yeah? Are you going to marry Gillian?" (classmate of his)
"No. She doesn't like me. She doesn't want to have a wedding." (oddly, he didn't seem terribly concerned about this)
"Oh, that's too bad. But you know, kids can't get married anyway. You have to be a grownup to get married."
"Well, when I'm a grownup and you don't like Daddy any more, I'll marry you!" (ah, Freud, your wisdom knows no bounds. Except when it comes to penis envy and stuff like that)
"Sweetie, that doesn't work. You can't marry somebody who's already in your family."
"But then who will I marry?"
"I don't know. You've got a long time to make up your mind, though."
"Can a man marry a man?"
"Yup."
::thoughtful nod, filing away this information:: "I like scrambled eggs. Can I have scrambled eggs for dinner?"
"Sure."
"Look! There's a big HOLE in the street!!"
(spent the next ten minutes or so looking at huge holes - the city's fixing some sewers or something)
"Wow. That was GIANT holes." ::pause:: "Why do you need somebody else to help make a baby?"
"Um..." (steadfastly ignoring the muffled giggling of the other passengers) "Well, you just do. You can't make a baby by yourself."
"But that's so weird."
"I don't think so."
"Do you have to be married?"
"No, but it's better if you are."
::thoughtful nod::"Can you fix my unicorn tonight?"
Funny thing about kids, they don't get dizzy with sudden topic changes.
bear, I had to laugh when I read beautifulday72's conversation with the 7-yr old, because she caught the tempo of kid-talk so very well ;)Justin is signed up for ballet classes. Got to the community centre 20 min before the doors opened and there was already a line about a block long. Stood in line for 45 minutes, and when I got to the front I nearly had a heart attack - Pre-school Ballet II was already full. Luckily, he's going into I, not II. Phew.
Hope he likes it. If he doesn't, no biggie - it's only for 9 weeks at $47. Much easier to contemplate than the dance school I went to as a kid - 12 weeks for about $200. Eep.
Did you know the Battle of Helm's Deep, from LOTR, really happened?
No? Then you obviously have a stronger grip on reality than these poor sods:
Hitler mythical but Conan real, some believe
~~~~
06.04.2004
By CAHAL MILMO
LONDON - The Battle of Hastings never took place and Adolf Hitler is a fictional character.
Robin Hood really existed, Harold Wilson saved Britain during World War II and Conan the Barbarian is a bona fide figure from early Nordic history.
It might sound like the latest attempt by revisionist extremists to pervert the past but the reality is perhaps far more disturbing: this is how a significant chunk of the British population, confused by Hollywood and unmoved by academia, sees history.
A survey of the average adult's level of historical knowledge has uncovered "absurd and depressing" areas of ignorance about events, from battles to royal marriages, and widespread confusion between characters from cinema blockbusters and real figures from the past.
Researchers, who conducted face-to-face interviews with more than 2000 people, found that almost a third thought that the Cold War was not a real event, while 6 per cent believed that the War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells's fictional account of a Martian invasion, did take place.
Some 57 per cent thought that King Arthur existed, and 5 per cent accepted that Conan the Barbarian, the sorcerer warrior played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a 1982 movie, once stalked the planet slaying his foes for real.
Almost one in two believed that William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish resistance leader played by Mel Gibson in Braveheart, was invented for the silver screen.
The study sparked an impassioned response from historians and politicians and raised new questions about the teaching of history, particularly after it was found that 11 per cent of respondents said Hitler did not exist and 9 per cent said Winston Churchill was fictional. A further 33 per cent believed Mussolini was not a real historical figure.
Lord Janner, chairman of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said the survey results were "utterly bewildering".
"It shows that in our schools we are not conveying sufficiently the recent past - a past in which many of us lived and so many people died. If we are to prevent the return of Hitlerism in any form in our present or future, we have to know what happened in the lifetimes of many of us."
Critics of the survey's findings laid much of the blame for the apparent lack of knowledge at the door of Hollywood and television.
Studio moguls have regularly found themselves in hot water in recent years for skewing historical events to fit audience profiles and lift profit margins.
The film U-571 sparked fury in Britain four years ago when it told the story of how American servicemen altered the course of World War II by capturing the Enigma code machine from a German U-boat.
In fact, British and Canadian sailors captured the machine in May 1941, before the US had entered the war.
The survey of 2069 adults aged 16 or over, conducted for Blenheim Palace to mark the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Blenheim, highlighted similar cases of the blurring of fiction and reality in the popular imagination.
More than 60 of those interviewed said they thought the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, featuring slavering Orcs, actually took place.
Even the more outlandish creations of television fiction are thought by some to be founded in reality. At least 20 people approached by researchers said they thought Rowan Atkinson's Edmund Blackadder and Lucy Lawless' bodice-busting Xena Warrior Princess were real historical figures.
Historian, television presenter and Shakespeare biographer Michael Wood said the "dumbing-down" trend was damaging people's knowledge of the past.
"If you don't give an audience a clear idea of how we know things, I believe this is a problem.
"Hollywood distorts history the whole time and once you get that far down the line, it's not history, it's entertainment," he said.
"History is there to give value to the present as well as to entertain. You do diminish it if you take the mickey out of it in an attempt to make it 'accessible'."
The advent of the historically challenged Briton is not restricted to knowledge gained from sitting in front of the television or munching popcorn at the cinema.
More than a quarter of the survey respondents did not know in which century the Great War took place and 57 per cent believed that the Battle of the Bulge, the Nazi counter-offensive in the Ardennes in 1945, didn't happen.
A further 53 per cent thought that the military leader who took British troops into battle at Waterloo was Horatio Nelson, and a quarter felt that the admiral's fatal triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar was fiction.
Nearly one in five believed that Harold Wilson, not Winston Churchill, occupied Downing St during World War II.
John Hoy, chief executive of Blenheim Palace, said history had become too boring.
Many people associated history with dry dates and facts.
"Once they realise that history is about people, the way we used to live and the way we live now, it becomes more relevant and more exciting."
~~~~
Can I please quit the human race?
Got home and made scrambled eggs for dinner for the boys, egg white fritatta for me. I've fallen in love with that recipe, despite an unfortunate tendency to start unconsciously singing "zucchini fritatta" to the tune of "Hakuna Matata" as I cook.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-04-06 09:16 pm (UTC)If you quit the human race, can I come stand on the sidelines with you?
no subject
Date: 2004-04-07 12:57 pm (UTC)Sure, but let's not be cheerleaders. Let's heckle instead ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-04-07 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-04-07 12:58 pm (UTC):D :D Yeah, I got a little glow of happiness at being able to answer Yes to that question.
Now let's just hope the Feds don't get cold feet on making it statutory reality instead of just common law.
Nice
Date: 2007-05-14 02:14 pm (UTC)Cheers,
-Amit