Baldwin's Blitherings

Learning to defend and believe...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:24:06 -0500

Sorry HE2ers, I’m cheating on you with my other class :-( I wrote a blog post for MCS and think it’s relevant based on our discussions in our class. So I’m opting to use it as my post this week. I promise you’ll get your own personalized blog next time!

: A Movie Director's Thoughtful Response

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:15:16 -0500

: A Movie Director's Thoughtful Response :

invisible:

In response to a not-so-shiny article in Washington Post regarding Invisible Children and KONY 2012, director Jon Turteltaub wrote the following response to the author/interviewer & interviewee:

My name is Jon Turteltaub. I have directed several movies…

Allusions galore! Love Weezer!!

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 07:58:13 -0500

Allusions galore! Love Weezer!!

Beach Blanket Bingo (by BoredBoardPoster) So here’s that...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:58:53 -0500

Beach Blanket Bingo (by BoredBoardPoster)

So here’s that awkward “beach dancing” of the early sixties that we were discussing in class… I told you it was kinda like the Peanuts gang dancing in “Charlie Brown Christmas”

Many students in HE2 yesterday were making connections between...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:05:00 -0500

Many students in HE2 yesterday were making connections between The Notebook and Salinger’s short stories… this upset me because I hate Nicholas Sparks. I will say that while the argument that both authors seem to often deal with class issues is totally relevant I can’t help but cringe and retch a little at the sound of his name.

I’m sorry people, he’s a one-trick pony, a recycler, a heart-string puller… you all fell for it! It’s okay though, so did most everyone. I even have male students that are forced to watch a Sparks flick with their girlfriends and they say, “Ah, I thought it wasn’t bad…” and I’m like, “Really?” Really really? Are you just saying that because she’s standing next to you?”

Honestly, if he just had The Notebook, I probably wouldn’t be so adverse. It would be one sad love story of class differences, and star-crossed lovers—but then he did it again… and again… and… again. Anne-Marie Bowman writes an interesting article about “The Rise of Movie Remakes”—and while Sparks is an author (making the offense much more heinous) I feel that she is right in that directors and producers recycling old ideas is now trickling down to the authors of books; “Well, people liked this one… why not just change the setting and names, and add a new disease… yea, that’ll win ‘em over!” And it does!

Am I against love stories? No. I did like Water for Elephants. I love Princess Bride (who doesn’t—it would be “inconceivable!”) But I am against super sappy love stories where everyone ALMOST gets together but then someone dies and you’re left crying your eyes out at the calamity of it all. And for Nick Sparks—this is a “rinse and repeat” type of plot line.

Random, Interesting, Amazing Facts - Fun Quizzes and Trivia - Mental Floss

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:53:02 -0500

Random, Interesting, Amazing Facts - Fun Quizzes and Trivia - Mental Floss:

If you want to procrastinate, rather than read the endless amount of song lyrics your friends are posting on Facebook (don’t get me started…) why not floss your brain instead?