BillTV Style: Camp, Teachers, and Radio

So, I'm pulling a Charlie McDonnell and doing a little blog post going a bit further into some things I discussed in this week's video. Enjoy!

Camp
One thing I originally mentioned in the video but ended up cutting out of the final version was the problem of geese and their deposits on the grounds on the camp. Yes, they were annoying and something to keep an eye out for at all times. "Where are the geese? Where is their poop? Where are the campers? Where are the campers in comparison to the geese? In comparison to the poop?" ... And so on.
There was also the problem of dirt/dust and playing with it, especially in the area where all the campers waited to be picked up at the end of the day. That area was the dustiest spot of the entire camp and where most of the campers (or most of mine, at least) got the dirtiest every day. You couldn't imagine how dirty their bags were. Their parents had a harder time imagining how their children's bags got so dirty.

Teachers
Thank you to:
- my 3rd grade teacher who had us incubate chicken eggs and raise hermit crabs.
- my elementary school Band teacher who got me started and kept me going on trumpet. ... And he had a rad ponytail, too.
- my 5th grade Social Studies teacher who threatened to defenestrate things out of the window by his desk ... and ended up throwing out a fake rat. The custodian played Spider-Man and rescued the fake rat.
- my 6th grade Math teacher who once brought in a slab of ground beef to explain division.
- my elderly and spry 6th grade English teacher who did handstands.
- my 7th and 8th grade Band teacher who kept me playing trumpet.
- the other middle school Band teacher who encouraged me to stay in Annie, Get Your Gun even though I had a bit part.
- my 8th grade Social Studies teacher who wore sandals with his toenails painted the colors of the Italian flag.
- my 9th grade English teacher who was into Spongebob ... and who did pick some cool books (The Count of Monte Cristo, The Baron in the Trees, To Kill a Mockingbird, and What's Eating Gilbert Grape, to name a few)
- my 9th grade World History teacher who taught us about the sexual side of world history (ancient fertility statues, Cleopatra myths, and the Etruscans, to name a few).
- the high school English teacher who suggested I try out for one of the fall plays. And I got a lead role in the understudy cast.
- the high school English teacher who suggested I join Debate Team. I did ... and didn't really do much.
- my 10th and 11th grade Spanish teacher who let us do video final projects.
- my 11th and 12th grade AP US and AP Gov Pol teacher who loved talking about his kids and making pop culture references and more or less getting me to where I'm currently attending college.
- my 10th grade Physics teacher for making physics fun.
- my 10th grade English teacher for picking such a great reading list for the year (Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, Anthem, The Tenth Man, The Kite Runner, and Night, to name a few)
- my 11th grade English teacher who brought his bagpipes in on one occasion ... and who also picked some good books for the year (The Old Man and the Sea, Killer Angels, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Macbeth, and Inherit the Wind, to name a few)
- my 12th grade AP English Lit teacher who picked a fantastic book list for the year (Frankenstein, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and Invisible Man, to name a few)
- my 12th grade AP Environmental teacher who kept his turtles in class and was always up to talk Lost with a few classmates and me.
- my Peer Leadership teacher.
- the head of the TV club who got me interested into broadcast journalism.
- my high school Band teacher. Never a cooler guy.
- my Experimental Film professor who got me to think outside the box ... just a bit ... and appreciate film as art.
- my British Spy Fiction professor for getting me back into spy novels ... and inspiring a killer spy flick idea.
- my Evolution and Cinema professor for broadening my understanding of human actions, especially the actions taken in films and what those actions suggest for the viewers.
- my Journalism professor for reading and liking my columns in the campus paper.
- my English professor who brought her dog to class ... and had us read Sandman: Dream Hunters and the first volume of Y: The Last Man.
- my Music professor who got me back into older rock.
- my Shakespeare professor for getting me back into Shakespeare.
- my Poli Sci professor who broadened my interest in political ideologies.
- my English professor who helped me to see the symbolism of popular culture.
- my Cinema professor who showed me so many great classic flicks.

Radio
Um ... nothing more to add on the topic of radio royalties.

Well ... I'm off to watch Rushmore. Allons-y!

Brief Thoughts On: Dan Brown's Super Secret Project

I discovered a video in my subscription box yesterday from Roxanne, a web friend who attended VidCon (a video making conference set up by Hank Green of the Vlogbrothers), that showed Dan Brown talking about his life-changing idea. I watched it ... and it got me thinking ...
Before you go on, if you haven't seen the video about Dan Brown's Super Secret Project, here you go.


Now, I have three qualms about this whole project.

Qualm the First: Now, my main qualm is this: what about free will? For a year, Dan is giving control of his life to hundreds, thousands, millions of people, a good majority of whom don't know him. From what I can surmise, it seems that Dan won't be able to do things HE actually WANTS to do during the duration of this project. But we'll see how things will turn out.

Qualm the Second: Another one of my qualms is he dropped out of college for his. Sure, he can continue his education at a later date, but interrupting your pursuit of a possibly useful degree to let people control your actions for a year? It doesn't settle well with me. Yes, Youtube has become his main source of income. Yes, he has garnered a large audience, one that I'm a small part of. But ... he seems to have become a larger-than-life person ... and I would rather watch a regular Dan going through his day and living his life and talking about interesting topics than other people telling Dan how to live his life for a year. Does this mean I'm going to unsubscribe? I don't know. Maybe in the future at some point. But I'd like to see how things turn out.

Qualm the Third: As the project is based on idea submissions and voting ... what if asinine suggestions make it to the top? What if Dan doesn't like or care for the top-voted idea on a certain day? What if he doesn't like ... I don't know, the breakfast choice voted number one for the day? What if it is one brand of cereal for a week straight in the mornings? Now, I like cereal, but I don't have it every morning. I might have it two mornings in a row and then I'll have eggs or a bagel or toast the next day to change things up. So ... what if the submissions become rigged? Yes, it'll make for amusing or potentially humiliating videos ... but that doesn't mean that the videos will be engaging to the community, like a good number of John and Hank's videos, like when John ate toilet paper while discussing the political situation in Nepal. ... Just do a search for that video.

My discussion with Ruth on the matter.

So ... what are your thoughts on the matter? By the by, I'd suggest checking the comments on the video for some interesting discussion.

Allons-y!