It's Actually Not That Complicated; Tuesday, Second Period, 10/18.

[died8yearsago]

"Alright, guys," said Rosa, "we're finally getting into the real good stuff, where Meyers has found her stride as a writer and director and really put out a string of iconic, career-defining movements that will take us through the end of the class. Starting with 2003's Something's Gotta Give, almost entirely written, directed, and produced by Meyers herself. We've got powerhouse leads in Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, as two powerhouses who, in a series of hilarious events, wind up clashing and, eventually connecting, in more ways than one. And, hey, the big climatic moment takes place in Paris, and we were just there, so that's kind of cool.

"For the most part," she continued, "it was generally well received, with most of its praise going toward the performances and the fact that it was a rare example of an 'adult romantic comedy,' aka a 'hey, old people still like to bone, too' movie. It has very flawed, realistic characters than show growth and give throughout the movie, it's a good story, gorgeous sets, great actors....and Keanu Reeves.

"And let's not entirely gloss over the fact that Keaton's character's ex-husband directed all of her plays, considering Meyers' own professional relationship with her own ex. But I'm sure that's just coincidence.

"But enough preamble," she concluded, "let's let the movie speak for itself, and we'll talk about what we can take from afterwards. I will admit, since it's clearly gear more toward an audience of Meyers' peers, it will be interesting to hear the opinion of a much younger demographic."

Unless that opinion was that it sucked, in which case you were clearly an idiot.

American Inventions, Tuesday, October 18, 2022

[heroic_jawline]

Steve wasn't joined by Tony today--or at least not by Tony as a person. There was a black cat on the desk behind him when the students arrived, methodically pushing every. single. thing onto the floor and watching with curious intensity.

"Hello everyone," Steve said with a slightly strained smile. "As you can see, Tony isn't exactly feeling like himself. Hopefully that'll wear off by next class."

There was another, decidedly coffee-mug shaped crash behind him and he winced. "Or I'm going to need to buy some more cups. But since he isn't in any place to object, let's talk about one of the greatest American inventors of my dimension: Tony Stark."

And then Steve gave the class an elaborate, almost effusive presentation about Tony's work with clean energy, discovery of a new element for the periodic table, and innovations in artificial intelligence. But...not the virtual reality immersion thing. Or anything about the Iron Man suit.

If you came away from the lecture thinking Steve was the world's biggest fanboy, you weren't entirely wrong.

"Right, so please work on an essay for next week about three problems clean energy solves, and two more that it creates," Steve concluded. "And today, sketch out an idea for your own robot."

Libraries and Books: Highlights and Dangers, Tuesday

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon met the class in a classroom today. He looked more rundown than before vacation, but he was doing his best.

"We've spent a lot of time on libraries, and we did just return from a trip, so I thought today we could deal more with the books part of class," he said. On the desk at the front of the room were a lot of cardboard, decent white paper, some decorative paper, needles and thread, glue, and different sorts of moddable fabric.

"Today we'll be learning how books are put together by making our own. You can use them for writing in, or you could put pictures in them, or I suppose you could go print something out and use that, if you'd rather. This should also give you a good idea of what a hardcover book looks like, and how you might find something in a book that shouldn't be there, whether that's hidden notes or something more dangerous."