Tuesday This 'n That

I was thinking about The Ed Sullivan Theater where David Letterman does his show.  I was remembering the hours I spent watching that show. It was on Sunday nights and my grandmother would throw her shawl around her shoulders and come in to relax and watch the TV with the family. (Sunday was a big day.  She worked in the kitchen and cooked a big dinner and a lot of the family came by.  She always cooked, was the best cook in the family.) She sat in a wooden rocker.  We all watched the Variety show which included Virtually every type of entertainment; opera singers, popular artists, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, dramatic actors performing monologues from plays, and circus acts were regularly featured.

I think that is the reason I grew up loving dance, drama, opera and Broadway Musicals (I still remember Paul Lynde singing "Kids" ) -   Ed had them all.  He put together a "really big show." 

You can read about his show here.

Elvis Presley and the Beatles also on his show as well as circus and animal acts.  He would introduce people in the audience, most of whom I did not know.

I was probably thinking of them because I called WOI Radio today and had a really nice conversation with the manager.  I called to see when the Classical Music Station was going to be available in Ames. Right now the signal is weak and full of static.  It seems the FCC is the hold up as they have filed all the paperwork to get permission to go full signal so we all just have to wait.  In the meantime I am not able to listen to the classical music that I used to listen to nor have I been able to hear the Met Operas that are broadcast on Saturdays.

I was not happy when they made the change and I asked him why they had done it.  It turns out the the Regents have decided not to support the Iowa Public  Radio after 2016 so they will lose a significant amount of money.  (They won't get mine until the signal comes in again.)  I did enjoy speaking with him and since there is not much I can do about it I am forced to listen to my CDs.  I have a machine that is connected to my Boise Radio.  It holds 300 discs and I can play them one at a time or I can set it on shuffle and let it surprise me.  I am enjoying doing that.

I did watch the halftime show for the Stupor Bowl on YouTube.  I wasn't impressed. It reminded me of the time I came into my classroom one day and found one of my girls (who was already developed in 5th grade) standing on top of a chair in short shorts and a tight top dancing to music on the radio.  It was indoor recess.  I told her that it was not appropriate to wiggle like that in the classroom.  I found out later that she was a big Britney Spears fan and she was aping her.  

It also reminded me of the time the Junior High school girls performed for a teachers/administrators dinner and they did a pop song and were dancing and wearing very short skirts and wiggling their bottoms and shaking their tops in a suggestive manner in the face of the old men administrators who were drooling over them  I let my inner prude come out and did not approve.  But I didn't say anything. I blamed the teacher/choreographer. She was the one who allowed the behavior. But I didn't think Beyonce's show was all that good even though I love her singing.

I think perhaps I should have been born in the Edwardian Era where people dressed up. I just think things have gotten casual to the point of poor taste.  And don't even get me talking about the guests on David Letterman's show who sit there in flimsy dresses and spend half the time pulling their way to short skirts down.

Back to the Ed Sullivan Theater.  Chris Christe, the Governor of New Jersey, was on the David Letterman show tonight. Video here. He is a big guy (as am I) but he is someone I admire.  Letterman has made many many jokes about him and the first part of the show they spoke about that. Christie said that he loves the show, David Letterman and doesn't mind the jokes if they are funny.  While he was talking he took  a jelly doughnut out of his pocket and started to eat it.  It broke Letterman up.  I mean he lost it. It was so funny.  I laughed out loud for a whole minute. 

Christe knows that he is big. He also sees his doctor and his Cholesterol blood sugar and other health signs are good. He spoke about his frustration in getting help for the thousands of families and businesses that are still displaced by the Hurricane.  The people of New Jersey are lucky in their governor.  He is out there working to get things done.  Yes he is outspoken and can be abrasive but he is usually justified and he is doing it for the people of his state.  The only thing I hold against him is his veto of the same sex marriage bill.

Our governor in Iowa is a different matter.  Instead of working to get things done he is holding the children of the State of Iowa hostage and the and the Republithugs will not pass the allowable growth bill which was (by law) supposed to be passed within 30 days after the legislature began LAST YEAR. He won't sign it unless they pass his school reform and the Republithugs are just against public education.  Grrrrr.

The Republiscum are always talking about "public sector jobs" and how they don't count because they are not jobs in the private sector.  Those "public sector jobs" are the most vital to our nation, they are not bureaucrats, they are teachers, police officers, firemen, people who work on the infrastructure (which is aging) and they need to realize that those are really important.

Speaking of Education.  More and more I think we need to have a radical change in the way we do business.  Read, study, listen to lectures, look at videos, take tests are not the things which will make you a success.  Yes you need certain basic information but more than all of those iterated you need to know how to work with others, how to find and use information, how to work alone when necessary.  Finding balance is also important and how do you show your success. You show it by producing a product, whether it be a research paper or a model that works.  

It is now my bed time and I have gone on long enough.  Enjoy your day.