don't you guys hate it when....

[etothep]

you are doing something for school/work and you sit there and think to yourself "there is absolutely zero chance that I will ever, ever benefit from having done this menial task"?

i mean seriously, when will my knowing the differences between the manasa hindu snake handlers & the pentecostal snake handlers of appalachia ever benefit me in any conceivable way?



just realized i posted this in sports talk, not ejections...sorry (blame the boredom)

[Reade]

Well if you ever get on Fear Factor or Survivor, it might help. I'm trying

[RickD]

What ARE you studying?

[Alloutwar]

I found that knowing the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow, to the nearest millimeter-per-second, saved my entire village from destruction by a pack of chainsaw-weilding nuns who were terrorizing the countryside. Thank god for school.

No but seriously, high school just prepares you for college...though chemistry and history can be good to carry around for all time. And college...heck, even the stuff for my CompSci degree didn't translate directly into my software jobs.

Most of the **** you do in academia is jumping through hoops, either to get to the next level, or to prove some phantom level of 'basic competency' that really doesn't mean much anymore, since every stoner from my high school has a degree in engineering now.

What matters is really how smart you are...finding yourself to be capable in any situation, any work environment, and rising to the top (and management) no matter where you end up.

[etothep]

I found that knowing the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow, to the nearest millimeter-per-second, saved my entire village from destruction by a pack of chainsaw-weilding nuns who were terrorizing the countryside. Thank god for school.

No but seriously, high school just prepares you for college...though chemistry and history can be good to carry around for all time. And college...heck, even the stuff for my CompSci degree didn't translate directly into my software jobs.

Most of the **** you do in academia is jumping through hoops, either to get to the next level, or to prove some phantom level of 'basic competency' that really doesn't mean much anymore, since every stoner from my high school has a degree in engineering now.

What matters is really how smart you are...finding yourself to be capable in any situation, any work environment, and rising to the top (and management) no matter where you end up.

yeh, my paper is for Religion 300 & i have to tell you, i have yet to take a class that i think will be relevant to my future career, though im assuming this must change when i get to the GN (genetics) 400 level classes

but yeh, i have to agree that it seems most schoolwork is only there to show prospective employers how much **** you are willing to put up with & actually do for apparanently no good reason at all

[Rongar]

What matters is really how smart you are...finding yourself to be capable in any situation, any work environment, and rising to the top (and management) no matter where you end up.

Hear, Hear!...and, I would add, learning how to read....well, anyway, I was able to do the latter:( (sigh)...

[lkcostas]

Quadratic equations. When the **** have I ever used that?

I'd say that the most useful class I had in junior high or high school was typing. I've certainly used those skills over the years.

[PDog]

you are doing something for school/work and you sit there and think to yourself "there is absolutely zero chance that I will ever, ever benefit from having done this menial task"?

Yes,Yes O GOD Yes!!

[beerchaser]

Part of the reason for forcing some of that junk on you is on the off chance that you might decide you actually like some of it. My last semester of college, I had to take one more elective course so I took one on classical music. I actually liked it, whereas an ex-girlfriend of mine who was also in the class sat in the back of the classroom and slept through the whole thing. Who knows where that girl is now, but I have continued to enjoy classical music for the past 20+ years since then.

[Alloutwar]

Of course - and everyone should have a basic competency in things like writing, math, foreign language, history, etc in order to graduate from college. What would be even better is classes on what you will actually need, no matter where you fall in life:
- money management (from balancing your checkbook, to budgeting, to investments)
- guide to life as a citizen (Us/state/county laws, the political process, etc)
- courses on appreciating the arts (music, film, etc)
- comparative religions (judaism vs islam vs christianity, etc), to foster an appreciation, greater perspective, and hopefully get people to stay out of cults - and maybe out of the wedge they have been brought up in, where what their parents/friends believe is right, and everything else is horrible, wrong, blasphemy, etc.

If we taught kids this in high school, even for a month each or something, kids would not only be smarter, but also prepared for life, instead of sending them out with a quadratic equation and a protractor. Maybe over time, we'd have better elections...credit card companies and bad mortgages wouldn't put so many people in debt...and music like Britney and the White Stripes would sit on shelves, un-purchased.

:)

[ohms_law]

just realized i posted this in sports talk, not ejections...sorry (blame the boredom)
Fixed!
:)

and yea, been there, done that...

[ohms_law]

... hey, what's wrong with White Stripes? Granted, not the best music ever, but come on!

[Wassit3]

you are doing something for school/work and you sit there and think to yourself "there is absolutely zero chance that I will ever, ever benefit from having done this menial task"?

i mean seriously, when will my knowing the differences between the manasa hindu snake handlers & the pentecostal snake handlers of appalachia ever benefit me in any conceivable way?



just realized i posted this in sports talk, not ejections...sorry (blame the boredom)

one day you might be appointed a diplomat and avert a war by correctly identifying what type of snake handlers you were sent to negotiate with....

[Alloutwar]

I'm sorry - you can sub in 'The Strokes' or 'The Killers' for my bad-band reference.

But as a musician, seeing bands make it big, while sounding like you did when you first picked up a guitar 10 years ago, is frustrating. :)

[ohms_law]

ah... it's who you know, not what you know!
(or, in this case, how good of an artist you are)

[Rongar]

Who knows where that girl is now,

She's probably one of the Spice Girls!:p

[beerchaser]

She's probably one of the Spice Girls!:p

Hah, not likely, that girl was an engineering major. She had a little bit of geek in her and didn't care much for "the arts". She could pound beers as well as any guy twice her size though, and she... ah.... had other talents as well.

On the other hand though, I always did want to bwn that red-headed Spice chick, Ginger or whatever her name was.

[etothep]

I'm sorry - you can sub in 'The Strokes' or 'The Killers' for my bad-band reference.

But as a musician, seeing bands make it big, while sounding like you did when you first picked up a guitar 10 years ago, is frustrating. :)

should have made addicitive & catchy music videos w/ a drummer who i find very hot cause come on, its a chick drummer

[Alloutwar]

That's the musician's equivalent of hiring a hooker, instead of dating/getting married. Maybe it gets you what you think you want, and quick, but that doesn't mean it will last or that the foundation was there (or that you would have gotten anything without paying :) ).

And addictive, catchy, poppy tunes are the auditory equivalent of eating a rice cake. Sure, it feels/sounds like something real, and maybe it sort of fills you, but in the end it's empty, tasteless, with no nutritional value.

In case anyone wants to see the actual Rules of Songwriting: Rules of Songwriting (http://www.emptyorchard.com/Songwriting.htm)

[MeetDaMets]

And addictive, catchy, poppy tunes are the auditory equivalent of eating a rice cake. Sure, it feels/sounds like something real, and maybe it sort of fills you, but in the end it's empty, tasteless, with no nutritional value.



not quite true. i used to feel that way.
but what if a song of that style that simply happens to be whats inside the writer. if what inside them is gooey drippy piano pop, so be it. at least they are being honest.

as compared to something that contrived to be "catchy".
and made mostly by sampling and machinery.

[Alloutwar]

That's a valid point; let's make it clear, people that sit down with a band (or alone) and make a few, or all, catchy poppy tunes is infinitely better than a 'pop-star' who gets songs engineered for them, with all kinds of production, full orchestra/synth/drum machine.

I write catchy, poppy tunes as well; it's very tough to get people to listen to an entire set of your music without one or two of those at the front of it.

I am just saying, 100% poppy stuff, either in what you write or what you listen to, and you aren't getting your full diet. Heck - if you absolutely must continue to write all poppy stuff, try doing it over a different beat (7/8, like Solsbury Hill), with a different rhythm, or anything else to actually show artistic talent or growth.

That's all. :)

[MeetDaMets]

try doing it over a different beat (7/8, like Solsbury Hill), with a different rhythm, or anything else to actually show artistic talent or growth.

That's all. :)

i grew up listening to the dregs, weather report, dimeola, rush,yes
(jazz fusion prog rock vibe)
i thought of motown as being contrived.

i now realize that motown featured one of the greatest bass players ever,
and feel alot of prog/fusion tries too hard to be complex and therefore loses its soul.
(so what if you can play a 1 6 2 5 3 6 2 5 1 in phrygian mode using only neopolitan 6 chords at 175 bpm in a syncopated 13/8 , if it sounds like *** ?)

contriving to be catchy and contriving to be complex are equally false ;)

be honest with whats inside of you.

music and art of all form , is for the artist.;)

[Alloutwar]

Motown? What's that? I've never heard of them.

(I love being in my 20's)

[MeetDaMets]

ive been in my 20's for over 20 years ;)

[rockiesfan4ever]

Yea. I am like why do I need to use Imginary Numbers?