While I’ll probably not be the smartest guy in every room I’ll ever walk into, I have to relate this story.
I graduated HS in 1983. In my 11th grade year, I missed the entire 3rd Q due to medical issues. I returned to class the day of quarterly exams. My History teacher argued with me about taking the test and wanted to send me to the library for the duration with a make up sometime later.
I refused and demanded to take the test with the caveat that pass/fail, that was the grade I’d get. Now bear in mind I sat desk to desk with the teacher so no cheating was possible.
I finished before the rest of the class and the teacher said ‘I told you you’d blow it”. I replied, “No I didn’t, I got at least a 90.”
While the rest of the class finished, she graded the test. She then called me outside and said “You got a 93. How the hell did that happen?”
The answer was that I was taught the very same material in 3rd grade by a Nun in Catholic school. And I remembered it because it was interesting to me.
Now for my point. In 1983 the educational system was teaching once 3rd grade material to 11th graders. In fact ALL of my high school English/History class material had been taught to me by G4 in Catholic school.
In 2012 I can only imagine seniors graduate by singing a partial rendition of the Barney theme song. And I am not kidding.
As a kid, I would spent hours upon hours in our den reading through the World Book Encyclopedia.
My daughter (8th grade) gave a presentation on the Holocaust for History Day a few weeks ago. At the end several boys were asking questions like “How could one guy kill millions of people - that’s impossible”. “If he did that, someone would have stopped him”. “You can’t kill people just because they don’t have the same religion as you”.
She politely answered the questions, and afterwards I told her (it was a parent’s night thing) that she did a good job with those boys teasing her. She gave me a puzzled look.
“You know - with them asking stupid questions and stuff.”
“Um - dad - they were serious.”
“Huh?”
“They were serious, they didn’t know anything about the Holocaust.”
“Huh? Isn’t that what you’ve been studying and why you did the presentation on it?”
“No, we haven’t learned it in school. I did it because it was interesting.” (We had the Diary of Anne Frank in the house that she had read a couple years earlier)
Now for my point. In 1983 the educational system was teaching once 3rd grade material to 11th graders.Indeed. Even The Federalist Papers, which were given away as pamplets to anyone when they were written, is now graduate level material!
BTW, I graduated high school in 1990. And though I'm not Catholic, I graduated from a Catholic school.
25 years ago, we had Ronald Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope.
Today we have Obama, no cash, and no hope!If you can't appreciate the pure beauty of the violin after hearing this, something's wrong with your ears.
Or you can get raw with these strings.
How about this gamechanger from America's Got Talent (which they SHOULD have won).
And finally, this, dedicated to the one and only rdb2, whose eyes are growing dim.
Either way, the violin is sweet yet LETHAL.
Do it!