No Faith in the Moral Standards of the Players as a Group

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

PSG of course. Wayne County had to be among the funniest punks. Annie and the Shirts was a personal favorite. Suicide makes all the lists, but weren't really one of my favorites. Perre Ubu had a sort of what-are-you-doing-saturday-committing-suicide appeal. The best had to be Euphrates Volcano. 5 from the cobwebs. The only ones I've listened to in the last decade are PSG and Annie.

Patti Smith Group? She was a poet, but okay. I pick the Monkees.

[Hank Chinaski]

Ashley Madison commercials: so they kept making new ones, eventually getting to one where a husband confronts his wife because he found her Ashley Madison profile on her iPad. she tells him she can't be celebate anymore, but "their love" means they should stay together. He says he'll be okay "as long as he doesn't have to know."

When I first heard it I figured it would be off the air about immediately. It was too stupid, I mean they were preserving their love?

But it apparently hit a chord because it is on repeat, it is their main coomerical. When I was young being a cuckold was abad thing. I do not get it.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Patti Smith Group? She was a poet, but okay. I pick the Monkees.

See, Wonk, you do like punk.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Ashley Madison commercials: so they kept making new ones, eventually getting to one where a husband confronts his wife because he found her Ashley Madison profile on her iPad. she tells him she can't be celebate anymore, but "their love" means they should stay together. He says he'll be okay "as long as he doesn't have to know."

When I first heard it I figured it would be off the air about immediately. It was too stupid, I mean they were preserving their love?

But it apparently hit a chord because it is on repeat, it is their main coomerical. When I was young being a cuckold was abad thing. I do not get it.

I haven't seen the ad, but your description tells me that they've played roll reversal here so that because the man in the ad is cool with his wife having an affair, so too will the wives of the men to whom this ad is actually targeted.

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

Ashley Madison commercials: so they kept making new ones, eventually getting to one where a husband confronts his wife because he found her Ashley Madison profile on her iPad. she tells him she can't be celebate anymore, but "their love" means they should stay together. He says he'll be okay "as long as he doesn't have to know."

When I first heard it I figured it would be off the air about immediately. It was too stupid, I mean they were preserving their love?

But it apparently hit a chord because it is on repeat, it is their main coomerical. When I was young being a cuckold was abad thing. I do not get it.

I had two thoughts come to mind after pondering this while waiting for my turn at a 10 am cattle call scheduling conference at the East Podunkville Justice Complex (they get annoyed in that part of the district when you call it "the courthouse"). The first potential rationale came pretty quickly, but I am now convinced that the second one is more likely to be the correct one.

First thought: Ashley Madison is marketing to women for some reason. Maybe to just get more women in the system so the listings aren't 90 married dudes to 5 pranksters, 4 private eyes/divorce lawyers/suspicious wives, and 1 bored grad student in sociology.

Second thought: Ashley Madison has decided to give cheating husbands a reason to help them rationalize their cheating - "hey, this chick on the commercial is saying that she loves her husband but still wants/needs a little strange. That means it's ok for me to do that, too." It's probably more effective than having a smarmy dude say the same thing.

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Now that I'm becoming a citizen, I have decided to make an effort to learn about this country's history -- I'm kind of shocked at my ignorance - I had always thought that I kind of knew everything because of being raised on US network TV. Anyway, I have now watched Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl and am in the middle of The Civil War. I also watched America: The Story of Us, which was a little too rah rah, but (a) I found out that Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone were in fact real people (who knew) and (b) I think I did actually become a more optimistic person, so kudos to rah rah documentaries.

I am looking for suggestions for more documentaries, perhaps about the Revolution and the Civil Rights movement -- or if there are any good books that are not historical fiction. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by greatwhitenorthchick

Now that I'm becoming a citizen, I have decided to make an effort to learn about this country's history -- I'm kind of shocked at my ignorance - I had always thought that I kind of knew everything because of being raised on US network TV. Anyway, I have now watched Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl and am in the middle of The Civil War. I also watched America: The Story of Us, which was a little too rah rah, but (a) I found out that Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone were in fact real people (who knew) and (b) I think I did actually become a more optimistic person, so kudos to rah rah documentaries.

I am looking for suggestions for more documentaries, perhaps about the Revolution and the Civil Rights movement -- or if there are any good books that are not historical fiction. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

PBS did a series on the civil Rights movement that was good. But if you want a road trip, go to Memphis and see the Nat'l civil rights museum. Bonus you can see Graceland!

[Adder]

Originally Posted by greatwhitenorthchick

Now that I'm becoming a citizen, I have decided to make an effort to learn about this country's history -- I'm kind of shocked at my ignorance - I had always thought that I kind of knew everything because of being raised on US network TV. Anyway, I have now watched Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl and am in the middle of The Civil War. I also watched America: The Story of Us, which was a little too rah rah, but (a) I found out that Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone were in fact real people (who knew) and (b) I think I did actually become a more optimistic person, so kudos to rah rah documentaries.

I am looking for suggestions for more documentaries, perhaps about the Revolution and the Civil Rights movement -- or if there are any good books that are not historical fiction. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

In the vein of quirky and entertaining history books, you can't go wrong with Sarah Vowell (Assassination Vacation, Wordy Shipmates, Unfamiliar Fishes). Related to the last of those is James Bradley's Imperial Cruise, which my dad has recently decided the whole family needs to read. (ETA: To be more explicit, one of the things that's interesting about the book is just how explicitly racist American policy in the Philippines and elsewhere was.) For popular history generally, I'm a fan of Barbara Tuchman, although hers tend not to be only U.S. history. Bill Bryson's, One Summer: America 1927, is great, albeit narrow in focus. So too Erik Larson's, Devil in the White City.

None of those are documentaries, but all work pretty well as audio books (especially with Vowell reading her own "unique" voice).

Obviously your Doris Kearns Goodwins (e.g., Team of Rivals) and your David McCulloughs sell a lot.

ETA: Oh, yeah, of course, Selma is excellent too, in case you need the obvious mentioned. (It's what I do).

[ThurgreedMarshall]

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=3366

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=3367

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=3368

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=3369

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by greatwhitenorthchick

I am looking for suggestions for more documentaries, perhaps about the Revolution and the Civil Rights movement -- or if there are any good books that are not historical fiction. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

But if you want a road trip, go to Memphis and see the Nat'l civil rights museum.

This place is also amazing (if you're ever in Cincinnati):

http://www.freedomcenter.org/

TM

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally Posted by greatwhitenorthchick

I am looking for suggestions for more documentaries, perhaps about the Revolution and the Civil Rights movement -- or if there are any good books that are not historical fiction. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

I am an ardent fan of “Drunk History.”

I recommend Stephen Ambrose’s “Undaunted Courage.” Lewis and Clark were such unmitigated bad-asses that they’re probably honourary Canadians.

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

PBS did a series on the civil Rights movement that was good. But if you want a road trip, go to Memphis and see the Nat'l civil rights museum. Bonus you can see Graceland!

Re books about the Civil Rights Movement, I believe it was Ironweed (sniff) who recommended the Taylor Branch books - "Parting the Waters" is the first of the three, and I think it won the Pulitzer for history when it came out. It's a good read.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by greatwhitenorthchick

Now that I'm becoming a citizen, I have decided to make an effort to learn about this country's history -- I'm kind of shocked at my ignorance - I had always thought that I kind of knew everything because of being raised on US network TV. Anyway, I have now watched Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl and am in the middle of The Civil War. I also watched America: The Story of Us, which was a little too rah rah, but (a) I found out that Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone were in fact real people (who knew) and (b) I think I did actually become a more optimistic person, so kudos to rah rah documentaries.

I am looking for suggestions for more documentaries, perhaps about the Revolution and the Civil Rights movement -- or if there are any good books that are not historical fiction. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most appreciated.

One of my favorite US historians is John Mack Farragher. He focuses mostly on the wild west, but he has a wonderful book (A Great and Noble Scheme) that focuses on a bit of interplay of Canadian and American history in the expulsion and resettlement of the Acadians. Schlesinger's Age of Jackson is I think a really pivotal book that helps sort out the days of the early republic and the pre-Civil War period, and it reads pretty well. Saul Cornell's The Other Founders gives a really good idea about the anti-federalists from the revolution onward. William Cooper's Town is a pretty cool book about upstate New York in the early republic. I'll think of a few other ideas, but those are all books that I think focus on limited subjects in American History but really end up going way beyond them to give a good sense of the growth of the Republic.

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Not Bob

Re books about the Civil Rights Movement, I believe it was Ironweed (sniff) who recommended the Taylor Branch books - "Parting the Waters" is the first of the three, and I think it won the Pulitzer for history when it came out. It's a good read.

Alternatively, as your simple request seems to have inspired several of us to give you a post-grad syllabus, you might consider just watching the US history episodes of Schoolhouse Rock on YouTube. "I'm Just a Bill" is great, of course, but I've always had a special place in my heart for "No More Kings" and "The Shot Heard Round The World."

And "The Preamble" and the sadly dated "Elbow Room," too. Anyway, carry on.