workingdad's comments

Disagreements About Discipline - Blog Entry

05 Apr 2006 04:09 AM

Could not agree with you more. We spend a lot of time with our kids, and they really do push all our buttons. What's great, however, is that both girls are well-behaved in school. So we must have done something right.

The Sixth Sense: A Rare Film - Blog Entry

05 Apr 2006 04:04 AM

It's really an overboiled Twilight Zone episode, if you ask me -- Rod Serling covered this ground numerous times, and to tighter effect, since the show was only 30 minutes (with one season of 60 minute episodes). The kid is good, and Collette and Willis are fine, but it was pretty obvious what was happening.

Baby Time: Hours to go till Sleep - Blog Entry

05 Apr 2006 03:59 AM

Our youngest -- almost three -- has been off since just before the change, due to our mini-vacation. I think I've got her on track, with an early nap on Tuesday, but she still was up til about 9:30 tonight. As the daylight gets longer, both my kids will likely stay up later.

Where In The World Is "Song of the South"? - Blog Entry

22 Mar 2006 09:22 PM

Very complicated issue. GWTW has such an iconic status in American culture that it remains celebrated despite the stereotyping. It's hard to find many of the racist cartoon stereotypes from the thirties from many of the studios, except as bootlegs.

Disney does not want to be controversial because they fear reprisals from all sides. The left opposes something like ths film, and the right was offended when Ellen came out.

Rather than petition Disney to release the video, how about hitting them where it REALLY hurts: petition your government to repeal all these ridiculous copyright extension laws that will give big corporations like Disney the right to their works into the 22nd century! By all rights, the Mickey Mouse image and the early Mickey short cartoons -- created almost EIGHTY YEARS AGO -- should be public domain, but Disney got the gov't to let them hold on to it. This is unfair beyond my ability to explain in so few words. Imagine the thought of losing half their catalogue at the stroke of the President's pen and Congress's approval -- that might make them reconsider their market more carefully!

Televisions - Digital TV types explained - Blog Entry

22 Mar 2006 09:07 PM

Great article -- this enhanced digital seems like a very transitional technology -- I wonder why anyone would invest in that.

Does My Five-Year-Old Really Need to Know about HIV - Blog Entry

22 Mar 2006 08:01 PM

Aimee -- thank you very much for this insight. Certainly making subjects taboo only adds to irrational fears and irrational reactions.

Student Drug Testing in Middle School - Blog Entry

13 Mar 2006 03:48 AM

not sure how i feel about this. I think that there should be some proactive work on keeping kids off drugs, though many programs like DARE have been shown to be ineffective. The more adults get involved in meaningful ways the better a chance this has to succeed. As for the drug testing, I do think it's probably a necessary thing for athletes, esp. in this age of steroids, but I don't like the underlying assumption that is behind it, even if it is based on data. The message is: we don't trust you. It's the same thing about having metal detectors; of course it's scary that our kids could be going to school with other kids who carry weapons -- but do you want your kid to be automatically a suspect where he/she goes to school?

Oscar is Back! And He Was Great! - Blog Entry

08 Mar 2006 03:10 AM

I did not see the entire show, but I know that i was kind of disappointed. It didn't have much of a spark -- I felt bad for Jon Stewart, whom I admire greatly. His jokes just fell flat. Some of them I liked but clearly his audience did not. I missed Ben Stiller, whom I'm told was hilarious. But the show just didn't have a lot of life. It's always impressive, but this one didn't do much for me.

Brokeback Media - Unwanted Press and Private Schools - Blog Entry

07 Mar 2006 01:07 PM

Interesting story. I have many ideas on this, but I would say this: Mr. Hopson's best argument would have been to have pointed out that Williams left the school after the ninth grade and suggest her ties to the school were not very strong -- esp if she dropped out of school. I could see that point being important, that she didn't finish, and that that's not the kind of image you want if you run a school. Of course, now, his comments will generate more controversy and I'm sure more than a few kids at the school will find a copy of the film and watch. Which might be a good thing! I know it's rated R, but let me put it this way: one of the first R movies I saw was "10," when I was fourteen. While yes it's a funny satire on the midlife crisis, I saw it of course as something else -- a babe fantasy, one that reinforces a lot of sexist notions about women (for someone too immature to appreciate the adult content). Which would you rather have your 14-year old watch: "10" or "Brokeback"? I would chose the latter, provided I were watching it him/her. And that of course is another matter: most of these kids who will find a copy of this film will have to do so surreptitiously. That's not good.