Around the World in 15 Weeks [Monday, Period Three]

[doubleohblonde]

The Danger Shop opened onto a busy street, the sun shining warmly down onto the class.

"Welcome to Antananarivo," Bond began. "Capital of Madagascar." Which was quite high on the list of places someone wasn't allowed back to any time soon after that little embassy incident.

He was about to launch into a far too detailed discussion on the history of Malagasy culture...when someone sneezed.

"SHUT! DOWN! EVERYTHING!"

Within moments the streets were deserted, windows and doors closed tightly.

Bond blinked, caught off guard for once. "That doesn't usually happen."

[ooc: wait for ocd up]

[Class Roster|Class Rules]

Spaceships 101- 1st period- Week #12

[solo_sword]

It was back in the Danger Shop today, where the students would find themselves on the bridge of a certain ship instead of looking at a sim. Jaina just hoped she could hold their attention before they started looking around. "So I went home last week, which got me a chance to pick up some new stuff, which is why you're here. This is a ship near and dear to me, called Trickster. Not its original name, but it's the name I gave it and it suits it much better. It's a frigate, a long-range reconnaissance ship, 150 meters long, so it's smaller than most ships of its kind. It's made of yorik coral and is a living ship, meaning if you don't take care of it, it will die and then where will you be?" she said. If she was being careful not to use the name of the species they'd stolen this from, well. "The version you're seeing of it is also post-modifications because of that. When I first got it, you had to fly with a cognition hood, for instance, which isn't very handy for most pilots. It's been refitted with more typical controls and a communications system, and so it's slightly more user friendly now.

"So today for class, you get to play on the ship. It's Thanksgiving week, I know most of you probably don't care, so you can take turns trying to pilot her, or you can go digging around and explore some," she told them. "Just, be careful if you're looking too closely into what might pass as controls. I take no responsibility for anything you might end up covered in." Said she who'd been covered in more ship bodily fluids than she ever cared to discuss.

The Mathematics of Quantum Neutrino Fields; Tuesday, Period 4 [ 11/23].

[ivejustinvented.livejournal.com]

"Today's lesson," Farnsworth said to his students once class had started, "should be one that you should all excel in, as we will be studying a particular branch of science that explores how the simplest and most stupid solution is often the best. I am speaking, of course, of troll science. And while troll science is a tried and true science in my century, you young people are living on the cusp of the troll science revolution! It has just started to get some notice, and so the ideas may be too new and innovative for your primitive minds, but, remember! In the past, new sciences have always been regarded with great skepticism. Gravity, anyone? Heliocentricism? Evolution?"

"I have collected for you a workbook of variety of troll science theories, and we will go through them and discuss which ones may be crap and which ones will likely live on to be discovered as legit] scientific fact. For example, the Flying Cat theory, which, in 2956, inspired governments the universe over to ban the buttering of cats when flying cats became a plague upon decent human beings. Others, however, such as the Chimney Loop are pure and utter crap, because everyone knows that Santa is a homicidal maniac, and no one would want him continually coming to their home. And some are not quite ready for this time period, as the Unlimited Uranium theory may suggest.

"Also, keep an eye out for which ones are supported by topics already discussed in this class. As you can see, the missing link theory compliments the Grandfather Paradox discussed a few weeks ago, the Sixth Dimension theory may shed some angles on our discussion of dimensions, and, of course, there is the very practical application of the aforementioned Superduper Symmetrical String Theory."

"I would like, then, to discuss some of the many Troll Science theories in class today, and would also like to see if you can come up with your own, though, let's be honest, they're likely all going to fall into the category of pure and utter crap."

[[ please wait for the OCD used magnets for infinite OCD! Some Troll Science links can be fairly NWS, slightly offensive, and...okay, probably not safe for anyone with an inkling of intelligence, but I can just be a terrible person sometime. The first one, at least, is just a simple Encyclopedia Dramatica explanation and I tried to keep the examples decent, if only offending the artistic eye and a sense of a proper grammar, except the Missing Link one. ]]

[[ previous classes ]]

Unconventional Tactics, Tuesday, Period 2

[raspberryturk]

"Yo, Rookies!" Reno gave his students a lazy grin as he settled back against his desk. This week, we're gonna touch on somethin' that you all probably ain't strangers to, havin' all been on the island as long as you have. We're talkin' alternate realities, timelines, universes, that kinda shit."

( Reno's colorful vocabulary knew no bounds. Truly. )

[Open!]

Is A Cigar Just A Cigar, Tuesday, Period 3

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

With the holiday fast approaching, Cindy knew that she might have a hard time keeping her students focused on classwork today. Fortunately, the students in class most likely to be distracted would also be at least passing familiar with the symbolism in today's lesson, so hopefully that would all work out.

"Let's start with one of the most famous poems that references seasons," she announced as soon as the bell rang. Handing out a copy so everyone to follow along, she began reciting from memory:
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate;
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date;
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd."

Papers hand out, she went back to leaning against her desk. "Before we begin the lecture proper, I want you to take a few moments and think about that he's saying in the poem, not just in the lines I recited, but in the entire thing. Figure out what you think the poem means and then I want you to think of why he chose that particular comparison to make. Why a summer day, and not roses or jewels or something else."

Once it seemed like everyone had finished writing, she continued. "So, the four seasons are packed with all sorts of symbolism, much of it similar the whole world round. Our ancestors were tied to the land in a way we've largely moved away from, but the associations they created remain with us still. Spring often symbolizes youth, new beginnings, waking up, renewal, rain and all that it symbolizes, and resurrection. In spring, the world comes to life again. Summer is the easy season. It's early adulthood, when anything is possible--you are no longer held back by youth and not yet held back by growing older. It's sexual and romantic beginnings; though spring is when the land becomes fertile, summer is when we see things begin to truly ripen. It's the season of passion, creativity, and fulfillment. Autumn is middle age; it's wisdom and knowledge, balanced by tiredness and the beginning of the decline. The world is readying itself for winter, so things fade and begin to go back to sleep. But it's also the season of the harvest, of fruitfulness. It's the twilight of life, when things are quiet, easy, and contemplative. Then there is winter. The earth is sleeping now, usually covered in ice and snow where nothing can grow. That is the season of old age, of mourning, bitterness, and resentment. Winter is the season of death, and through that death, we get rebirth, moving back again to springtime."

She'd say something about the cyclical nature of the seasons and symbolism, but then she'd have that damn lion song stuck in her head for days. The students were smart, they could notice it without her, right?

"So now, let's try another round of textual analysis." She had another handout for the class. "Let's look over this one--what is the narrator saying in this poem, and what season does he mean. Feel free to work together in groups if you'd like."

[OCD up]

Library, Tuesday

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa was more subdued than her usual, today at the library. Nothing dramatic, nothing huge -- just a bad headache that wouldn't seem to clear up. Ugh.

It was probably for the best that you mod your library today.

(method RP, yes)