Well, as long as he was going to be here, and I work across the street from the UN, I tried to catch a glimpse of the Pope, but it was no go. The best I could do was see the two stretch limos with Papal flags and tinted glass go by as he left, one of which he might have been in. Seeing all the security - UN, Feds, cops (with horses, too), various helicopters, some hovering and some making circles, all sorts of specialized vehicles, and who knows what else - was interesting.
In Hammarskjold Park, across First Avenue from the UN, where there are usually anti- this and that demonstrations, there was a pro-Pope group for a change, dancing and singing songs with "Hallelujah" in them, and waving flags of all nations. The German Consulate, which is just down the block on First, was all abuzz all morning, and there are "Wilkommen" banners all over the place.
It was a nice change from what usually goes on in front of the UN.
A Propos of Nothing
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jdb1
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movieman1957
- Administrator
- Posts: 5522
- Joined: April 15th, 2007, 3:50 pm
- Location: MD
Judith, I've lost my favorite cartoon, but it is as follows:
Two businessmen are standing in front of a desk piled to the ceiling with papers. One man says to the other: "I know she's in there, I can hear whimpering."
Have a good PSASF Day!
I'll be lucky if they don't send me out to GET lunch for them!
Two businessmen are standing in front of a desk piled to the ceiling with papers. One man says to the other: "I know she's in there, I can hear whimpering."
Have a good PSASF Day!
I'll be lucky if they don't send me out to GET lunch for them!
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jdb1
Thanks, friends.
As I suspected, the two attorneys I work for have completely forgotten, even though the firm itself is giving us a luncheon, which has been spoken and emailed about for the past two weeks.
The young woman who sits next to me emailed one of my attorneys to remind him, and he reponded "Wow. I had no idea! [Yeah, right.] What do you suggest I get her -- something thoughtful." [Hah!]
I have no particular interest in receiving any gifts - but it's the principle of the thing, you understand. We are now trying to come up with something outrageous to suggest to him.
As I suspected, the two attorneys I work for have completely forgotten, even though the firm itself is giving us a luncheon, which has been spoken and emailed about for the past two weeks.
The young woman who sits next to me emailed one of my attorneys to remind him, and he reponded "Wow. I had no idea! [Yeah, right.] What do you suggest I get her -- something thoughtful." [Hah!]
I have no particular interest in receiving any gifts - but it's the principle of the thing, you understand. We are now trying to come up with something outrageous to suggest to him.
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jdb1
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jdb1
Bogie wrote:There's a fine line though, at some point ignorance can dig at the root of intelligence and destroy what vestiges of intelligence there is.jdb1 wrote:I always tell my daughter: Not stupid, just ignorant. At least ignorance can be cured.JohnM wrote:My youngest son is 17, and he is always exclaiming that his generation is stupid, compared to mine. Of course I agree!
Personally I believe that all this technology may have led to the decline of intelligence. If you really think about it we've become very lazy. We have spellcheckers, the internet, video games, dumbed down movies and TV.
It's as if we've exchanged the gifts of multi-tasking and becoming tactile with technology with our God given intelligence. God forbid that we lose Earth based satellites, the electrical grid and telecommunications due to a solar flare or something like that. We'd all devolve to barbarians!
My son says he's learned more grammar in German class than he ever learned in English and that he learned more Histroy from the video game "Age of Empires" than History class. And I have fought with my kids for years about their spelling and grammar, neither of which seem to have much importance (OMG don't ask them to spell correctly--it will inhibit their language flow! Curse the whole language approach)
It's not new though. I remember when I was in HS (20-odd years ago) I used to help the regular Senior English (as opposed to Advanced Placement English)teacher edit papers. And even at 17, I was appalled that my fellow Seniors couldn't write a grammatical sentence or put together a coherent paragraph to save their lives. Had a similar experience in college as an Education student--my professor asked me if I would tutor some of my classmates and help them write decent papaers. I agreed to do it, but I was thinking was "Hello? These are college students and future teachers. Shouldn't they have learned to write already?"
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. "~~Wilde
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movieman1957
- Administrator
- Posts: 5522
- Joined: April 15th, 2007, 3:50 pm
- Location: MD
What is really scary is that kids write, according to my daughter, their papers in this text message langauage. (I've even seen news reports of it.
It happens now and then at TCM and I have to double check what I just read.
Even though I have to send a text message now and then I can't bring myself to use the shorthand.
Anyone still write letters to friends?
It happens now and then at TCM and I have to double check what I just read.
Even though I have to send a text message now and then I can't bring myself to use the shorthand.
Anyone still write letters to friends?
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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jdb1
Doesn't anyone tell them not to? I see this all the time - elementary and high schools are simply not setting any standards for the students to follow. How can they operate in such chaos?
My daughter tells me that at her college almost all of her professors have begun each semester by announcing that they won't accept any papers written in "casual or colloquial" English, and that when the students email them, they are not to address their professors as "Dude" or "Hey" or anything else other than the old-fashioned, respectful way. That gave me a brief feeling of relief.
My daughter tells me that at her college almost all of her professors have begun each semester by announcing that they won't accept any papers written in "casual or colloquial" English, and that when the students email them, they are not to address their professors as "Dude" or "Hey" or anything else other than the old-fashioned, respectful way. That gave me a brief feeling of relief.
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jdb1
I just happened upon the bio of actor Stacy Keach on IMDb, and it ended with this sentence:
When he played Ken Titus on the sitcom "Titus" (2000), he would sometimes receive tips from the actual Ken Titus (before he passed away), on how to portray him better.
Did you catch that? He received tips from the actual Ken Titus (before he passed away). Are we to draw the inference that Keach might have received tips after Titus passed away as well?
Hmmmm . . . . . I smell a guest spot on The Ghost Whisperer.
When he played Ken Titus on the sitcom "Titus" (2000), he would sometimes receive tips from the actual Ken Titus (before he passed away), on how to portray him better.
Did you catch that? He received tips from the actual Ken Titus (before he passed away). Are we to draw the inference that Keach might have received tips after Titus passed away as well?
Hmmmm . . . . . I smell a guest spot on The Ghost Whisperer.
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jdb1
