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fandomhigh2009-09-11 12:51 am
makesfaces.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2009-09-11 12:51 am
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Humorous History: Friday, Period 1, Class 2
When the students walked in today, a song was playing playing on Jim's laptop. He wasn't offering an explanation. He just greeted people as they came in.
When the bell rang, Jim smiled, paused the song, and started his lecture. "Let's talk about the Vice President. And let's be completely honest... Does anyone here really know what the Vice President does? I don't. And that's why I'm not qualified to teach any kind of history class but this one. I know they have some tiebreaking powers in the Senate. And take over if the President dies, but day to day work? No clue. And that's why history forgets most of them unless they became President, were killed in a duel, or were just really, really stupid."
"But there was this one guy, Vice President Charles Dawes. He was the VP during Calvin Coolidge's elected term in office. But before that he spent some time as a composer, completely self-taught. In 1912, he wrote a piece called 'Melody in A Minor,' which is a really boring name if you ask me. But the music was pretty good and everyone likes to give people theme songs. So, when he started really making a name for himself in politics, any place he went, he was usually greeted by some band playing 'Melody in A Minor' when he showed up."
"And you know how high school bands keep playing oldies for no real good reason that anyone who isn't in band can figure out? The same thing happened with 'Melody in A Minor.' The music stayed pretty popular with bandleaders for years, but then a songwriter named Carl Sigman decided to turn it into a pop song called 'It's All In the Game.' A bunch of artists recorded versions of it in 1951, but a version by Tommy Edwards was remastered in 1958 and that ended up at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks."
"For the record, that's the song you heard when you walked in."
"Since Dawes wrote the original music, he got a co-writer credit on the song, making him the only Vice President in American history to have a #1 single."
"So, two discussion questions today that I think you'll enjoy. First, what musician with a number one single under their belt would you most like to see as Vice President, keeping in mind that you probably have no clue what the VP does? Second, if you could recruit any Vice Presidents, living or dead, to form an all-star band, who plays what instruments and what would their name be? The best suggestion gets my solemn vow that if we ever have an invasion of former VPs, I'll try to get them to play a concert. And if I can manage that, you're absolutely getting backstage passes."
When the bell rang, Jim smiled, paused the song, and started his lecture. "Let's talk about the Vice President. And let's be completely honest... Does anyone here really know what the Vice President does? I don't. And that's why I'm not qualified to teach any kind of history class but this one. I know they have some tiebreaking powers in the Senate. And take over if the President dies, but day to day work? No clue. And that's why history forgets most of them unless they became President, were killed in a duel, or were just really, really stupid."
"But there was this one guy, Vice President Charles Dawes. He was the VP during Calvin Coolidge's elected term in office. But before that he spent some time as a composer, completely self-taught. In 1912, he wrote a piece called 'Melody in A Minor,' which is a really boring name if you ask me. But the music was pretty good and everyone likes to give people theme songs. So, when he started really making a name for himself in politics, any place he went, he was usually greeted by some band playing 'Melody in A Minor' when he showed up."
"And you know how high school bands keep playing oldies for no real good reason that anyone who isn't in band can figure out? The same thing happened with 'Melody in A Minor.' The music stayed pretty popular with bandleaders for years, but then a songwriter named Carl Sigman decided to turn it into a pop song called 'It's All In the Game.' A bunch of artists recorded versions of it in 1951, but a version by Tommy Edwards was remastered in 1958 and that ended up at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks."
"For the record, that's the song you heard when you walked in."
"Since Dawes wrote the original music, he got a co-writer credit on the song, making him the only Vice President in American history to have a #1 single."
"So, two discussion questions today that I think you'll enjoy. First, what musician with a number one single under their belt would you most like to see as Vice President, keeping in mind that you probably have no clue what the VP does? Second, if you could recruit any Vice Presidents, living or dead, to form an all-star band, who plays what instruments and what would their name be? The best suggestion gets my solemn vow that if we ever have an invasion of former VPs, I'll try to get them to play a concert. And if I can manage that, you're absolutely getting backstage passes."
Discussion 2 [Week 2]
Each of you has a list of US VPs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Vice_Presidents_of_the_United_States) on your desk. Take a look at it, maybe pick names at random.
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"As for a name," she added, "quite clearly, they would have to call themselves Vice."
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