Every year, an updated list of things incoming college freshmen, or graduating high school seniors, know and don’t know circulate the Internet. Hugh points to the latest from Beloit College.
I won’t rehash the list here, but thought I would share some of my favorite points:
+ There has always been only one Germany.
Whenever I think about this historic event, I am always reminded of Dennis Miller’s (and there’s a personality a lot of these kids may be wholly unaware of) commentary on SNL’s “Weekend Update”, when he said, and I’m paraphrasing, except for the last line: “Today, East and West Germany announced their plans for unification. France has already announced its formal surrender.”
+ A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents’.
Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s much less so for them than their parents.
+ They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams.
This has been true for a long while now, for many incoming/outgoing classes.
+ Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say.
Do they even know who Milli Vanilli were?
+ Reality shows have always been on television.
Unfortunately. Oh so unfortunately…
+ Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.
I don’t believe this is something that is new to this particular class.
+ Most of them have never had the chance to eat bad airline food.
Since when is there good airline food?
+ Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
And that is a crying shame. It was something of a rite of passage in my childhood to stay up so late that you were still watching when the anthem came on. Though these days, it’s mostly because there is no end to the broadcast day.
+ They have always “dissed” what they don’t like.
Do kids this age still use that word?
Tag: fun
- Thanks to the folks at Xerox, with help from Layer 8 Group, you can send a postcard, with original artwork by a child, to a member of the armed forces serving abroad: Let’s Say Thanks. I sent one, how about you?
[Via Susan via e-mail.]
- About.com has some good advice in its Back to School section concerning backpack selection for students. The first tip they offer, to get a bag with two straps instead of just one, to help balance the load across the body better, is why I’m a dedicated backpack guy.
- My new addiction is Armagetron Advanced, an open source 3D game of the lightcycle contest from Tron.
So with my spouse not all that interested in seeing it, I took in Miami Vice this afternoon. I went in with preconceived notions, thanks to hearing about/reading reviews and opinions from a couple of friends. I knew to not expect much character development, I knew to expect to not be able to understand every single word from the actors (they mumble a bit, especially in the early parts of the film), and I expected some decent action and good cinematography. After all, it’s a Michael Mann film.
Possible spoilers ahead. Do not click through to continue if you don’t want to know anything regarding the plot.
Last evening, my bride and I had a date night, which included a viewing of Will Ferrell’s Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Two enthusiastic thumbs-up, a Retrophisch™ Recommends.
I laughed so hard at certain points, I cried. The out takes/”alternative scenes” at the end were worth the price of admission alone. My wife was right; the movie is so ridiculous, it’s funny. Too often, comedy films are just outright ridiculous, and you’re lucky to let loose with a few chuckles. Pure ridiculousness will only get you so far with the movie-viewing public. Pure ridiculousness in the hands of a master like Ferrell, however, will garner you big laughs. Such is the case with Talledega Nights, which even includes an exceptionally brief homage to the late Dale Earnhardt. (If you blink, you’ll miss it; it’s that fast. Fittingly appropriate, given the subject matter.)
There’s a lot to worry about in our world: Israel under attack in the Middle East; Iran and North Korea with nuclear power; Islamofascist terrorism; oil prices still way too high; our jobs; our families. Sometimes, we just need a good laugh, to forget about all the troubles for a couple of hours, and Talledega Nights fills the bill. Go see it.
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In what may be the ultimate example of type-casting, there is a documentary under way about Helvetica. (It’s a font, for those of you who don’t know. Microsoft’s Arial is a blatant rip-off wanna-be of it.) I am very tempted to nab a shirt.
Director Gary Hustwit:
Why make a film about a typeface, let alone a feature documentary film about Helvetica? Because it’s all around us. You’ve probably already seen Helvetica several times today. It might have told you which subway platform you needed, or tried to sell you investment services or vacation getaways in the ads in your morning paper. Maybe it gave you the latest headlines on television, or let you know whether to ‘push’ or ‘pull’ to open your office door.
Since millions of people see and use Helvetica every day, I guess I just wondered, “Why?” How did a typeface drawn by a little-known Swiss designer in 1957 become one of the most popular ways for us to communicate our words fifty years later? And what are the repercussions of that popularity, has it resulted in the globalization of our visual culture? Does a storefront today look the same in Minneapolis, Melbourne and Munich? How do we interact with type on a daily basis? And what about the effects of technology on type and graphic design, and the ways we consume it?
Look for the film in 2007.
[Via the Iconfactory.]
Photo mosaics have become popular; I have one of Darth Vader, made up of different scenes from Episodes 4-6.
There are many tutorials online for making your own photo mosaics, but John Tolva has one where you create your mosaic with LEGOs. You’ll need Photoshop, and a healthy bank account for all those LEGO pieces you’ll be buying.
[Via Photojojo.]
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How close to you and yours does a convicted sex offender live? Find out, thanks to Family Watchdog.
[Via Daily Dose.]
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Happy Birthday to the United States Coast Guard, which turns 216 years old today.
The iPod cases from ifrogz look very nice. I like the customizable aspects of the design, but would love to be able to upload my own image for the Screenz. A Retrophisch-branded iPod case in “Gun Metal” Wrapz and “Thick Black” Bandz would rock.
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Amazon Grocery is now out of beta after more than 200,000 people have used it to shop for food staples.
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One of the recent winners of a Flickr Pro account speaks to my childhood.
This whole “Numa Numa” thing is out of control.
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What swims at 20 miles per hour, can carve out hunks of human flesh, and will attack anything that moves? The Humboldt squid. Brace yourself for a dive with the eeriest beast in the ocean.
A fascinating read.
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Jeff has an outstanding parable of the recent Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
The Cheesecake Factory always looks like a mosque to me. Only, a mosque out of Willy Wonka or something. Sort of an Oompa-Loompa faith community.
I have never really thought about it before, but now that she mentions it, the Cheesecake Factory does look like a Willy Wonka mosque! I guess I’ll have to remember not to order bacon on my burger the next time I visit.
“Life is hard when you’re Darth Vader’s less-talented, less-charismatic younger brother and you manage a grocery store.”
I love the Imperial March on acoustic guitar.
[Via Eric via IM.]