Monday, October 09, 2006

your uncreative soul

Just finished watching Studio 60 (it's on after Heroes and I was still knitting that sock). I don't really care for the show so far; it's just a rewarmed West Wing, although the performances are good. But their treatment of plagiarism tonight? Awful.

The plot was that a jr. writer, worried about losing his job, plagiarized a small time standup comic. The way this writers' middle management handled it was to 1) make excuses and 2) not give him up to the lead writer. The lead writer respected the middle management for this.

This galls me no end! I mean, JT Leroy, I find terribly clever. Kaavya Viswanathan, pitiable yes, but also totally at fault.

I'm surprised a writer of Aaron Sorkin's caliber would give tacit approval to plagiarism, even under the guise of "he's young, give him a break." In the academic and publishing worlds, there's a zero-tolerance attitude. It's different in the professional world, you're allowed to riff. (Case in point: the current VW ads with Slash, which look exactly like Apple ads.) But the act of plagiarism portrayed in Studio 60 was a word-for-word ripoff. Is that okay with comedians? I wouldn't think so, maybe I'm wrong. Dave George, weigh in here.

I've ratted out two plagiarists. The first one was in highschool, in the annual poetry booklet (to which I hadn't submitted any work. No sour grapes here.) Some girl's cheesy poem -- I didn't know the plagiarist -- was taken from Seventeen magazine. I put the magazine with the poem circled on the teacher's desk, saw the light dawn, and left without waiting for further reaction. No idea if there were any consequences.

The second was a student of mine who had copied out of Sports Illustrated, which I'd read at the dentist office the previous week. I'd personally given his class the plagiarism lecture. He probably bet he could get away with plagiarizing SI, as I'm a chick. So I called him into office hours, showed him a copy of the plagiarized work, and said "guess what happens next?" -- he was expelled from the university within the month. I still gloat over that one.

That guy's probably outearning me tenfold at least by now, don't you think?

you make the rockin' world go round


Checked out the Paul Green School of Rock
show on Saturday. 9 to 15 yr. olds doing a tribute to Queen. It was aaaaawwwwesome. The kids really know their stuff and they're totally having fun (not like the dreaded piano lessons of yore). Very talented - most kids played more than one instrument, too. I don't think anybody got away with just singing (no offense meant, vocalists). And yes they did do Fat-Bottomed Girls, Tie Your Mother Down, and Bohemian Rhapsody. When Barely Larry and I chimed in on cue with the hand-claps for Radio Gaga, I thought the singer was gonna burst with delight.

So the deal is, the entire band rotates out for every song (about 25 in 2 sets) so all 20 or 30 kids get a lot of stage time. One girl, about 12 or 13, she was emanating Type A from across the room. While waiting for her next number, she'd be right up in front of the stage while her classmates were playing. As soon as the final note was played, she'd RACE up the stairs and grab the mike, before the previous vocalist had a chance to put it back in the stand, and she'd stand there, in position, on her mark, let's motherfucking GO I'm ready to SING bitches. Meanwhile the drummer from the previous song is still untangling himself from behind the kit and the guitarists are only halfway offstage. So cute.

Next quarter they're doing funk, heavy metal, and U2. Barely Larry volunteered the services of the Zoo, and their A/V setup.

Also this weekend (and ongoing) still learning the process of how to knit socks. My mom told me they're the ideal gift, as you can easily do a sock a night. Plus, the socks she's knitted me are just so divine -- they fit unlike any other, they're soft, they're absolutely my favorite. So happy when I see them in the drawer!

First I had to master the dreaded DPNs (double-pointed needles), which really isn't that bad. It's visually confusing b/c you're juggling up to five needles at a time. The trick there is a nice tight stitch as you shift from one needle to the next. Now I have to figure out turning a heel. I couldn't master it just from reading a book, so I turned, as always, to KnittingHelp.com. A very nice, generous, and talented lady named Amy has great little how-to videos of tons of great knitting skills. Many's the time I have consulted Amy - check her out, you knitters! (Which I think is only Catherine and Anne.)

Friday, October 06, 2006

The Kids Are All Right

"Despite their packed megachurches, their political clout and their increasing visibility on the national stage, evangelical Christian leaders are warning one another that their teenagers are abandoning the faith in droves."

Why? It's dorky, that's why. Read it and see.