rambling this week

"One of These Things" ..was a song written by Joe Raposo, Jon Stone and Bruce Hart and regularly used on Sesame Street for sketches where viewers would be shown a group of four items, one of which was different from the other three, and they would have to identify the item which didn't belong. http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/One_of_These_Things THE SHELL GAME http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_game It can be played on almost any flat surface, but on the streets it is often seen played on a mat lying on the ground, or on a cardboard box. The person perpetrating the swindle (called the thimblerigger, operator, or shell man) begins the game by placing the pea under one of the shells, then quickly shuffles the shells around. Once done shuffling, the operator takes bets from his audience on the location of the pea. The audience is told that if a player bets and guesses correctly, the player will win back double his bet (that is, he will double his money); otherwise he loses his money. However, in the hands of a skilled operator, it is not possible for the game to be won, unless the operator wants the player to win. When an individual not familiar with the shell game encounters a game on the streets, it appears that bets are being placed by numerous players, when in reality, these persons around the game are shills who are all part of the confidence trick. ________________________________ SUPER BOWL...why I am with the saints I was fantacising about a win by the saints, where they were all marching around the stadium singing "when the saints go marching in" Here is some humorous "football-speak" theology/definitions that will sort of set the atmosphere for Super Bowl Sunday: The story is told that in a certain church, on Super Bowl Sunday, the time for the collection of tithes and offerings was approaching. The pastor, a true sports enthusiast, reached into his pocket, took out a quarter, flipped it into the air, glanced at it as it landed, then in typical referee fashion joyfully announced: "The ushers will receive!" http://mainefamilypolicycouncil.com/artman/publish/Pastor_s_Update_24/The_Superbowl_Christian.shtml Redefining life.....SPARK NOTES - what is cheating? http://www.sparknotes.com/ ________________________________ yesterday I was talking to my friend mr song at the laundry place. mr song is 55 years old. he wants to retire home in seol south korea. mr song says he will buy a one bedroom home by the sea....that is going to be very expensive he says.....we chatted back and forth about politics and the family and so on...then mr song said this "we have lost something and we have gained something". He was talking aboout the huge gains we have made in technology and the great loss he thought we have suffered in real human relationships. He spoke about growing up and sharing everything with the people in his community or circle of friends, playing outdoor games together often and talking a lot. today.. there is what I call 'the blackberry circle' (a whole lot of talking and listening going on) and there is texting galore (a whole lot of reading and writing going on) and facebook (a whole lot of reading and writing going on) and TV. (a whole lot of _____ and_____going on !!??) ________________________________ Digital Nation is a FRONTLINE documentary I saw last week on PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/ Jeremy Bailenson 'said' this: "The big headlines are that kid's media use is up to over ten hours of content per day, substantially up from 5 years ago. Also, multitasking is way up, and white children use media less than other groups." another comment....However, the Kaiser report said that reading of books was up. This is a very important point and should always be brought up .....Of course, people read them on-line more. But books are up! That's the good news. and this....computer screens...video gaming screens...television screens...we stopped fighting our kid, and allowed full, uncensored and unedited access about a decade ago, when he was 9 years old...we heard the criticism...the boy is now a young man, Information Science Major at Cornell...thriving. Marc Prensky.."years ago people worried about kids staring at stand- alone computers. A couple of hundred years ago, when mass books first appeared, people worried about kids staring for hours at pages....people just love to worry about changes in habits. They worried about writing (Socrates), books, telephones, radios, trains, cars, TV, recordings, sock-hops, music, stand-alone games, Internet, connectivity, interactivity, 3D, virtual worlds, and will keep worrying forever." Mark Bauerlein - I agree here when you say that people have always worried about change--not everyone, and change has always had its fans, but a fair portion of people of conservative temperament, yes, if not ideology. But the consistency of worry doesn't mean that worry is always misguided or false, nor does it mean that in previous cases someone wasn't, indeed, lost when TV and other advents came along. if you have time you can check this out HERE This is black history month..... Martin had a dream....not everyone has a dream... maybe you can participate in someone else's dream if you don't have one of your own. I find it interesting that it is the young people who have dreams. The older folk have visions !!! From my own observation some dreams although based partialy in 'reality' sometimes are totally illogical thus giving rise to the need for 'interpretation'. http://www.bible-topics.com/Visions.html Visions on the other hand are usually very logical and are usually a projection of the future. Virtual Reality as discussed in the frontline documentary may not at all be a 'new' phenomena, but may be a more 'tangible' expression of the 'dreamworld'. So the 'people' who 'populate' our individual 'worlds' in a sense maybe figments of our own imaginations ! My perception of who you are may bear no relation at all to who you think yourself to be ! There is a sense in which the 'dramas' of our lives are not at all real ! ...so "getting to know you" may be an idea worth more vigorous pursuit....in this regard eharmony and other such so-called 'dating services' may be evolving / morhping into a kind of brave new world of social intercourse. ...as the famous talkshow host Bruce Williams used to say "welcome to my world". http://www.radiohof.org/newstalk/brucewilliams.html ARE YOU READY? http://joelfoner.com/2010/01/networked-audience-is-here-now-are-you-ready/ OLD SCHOOL, NEW SCHOOL..Chatham High School students, like many nationwide, are increasingly surrounded by screens. Their teachers debate how to handle their split focus. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/learning/concentration/old-school-new-school.html?play