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Post by dlw66 on Jan 6, 2011 15:43:15 GMT -5
Just me being curious/nosy, Doug, but what classes comprise the Social Sciences Dept? Is that, like, the Social studies/History/Foreign Languages spectrum? Psychology/Sociology/Civics? Some combination of the previous? Am I warm? Or just lost? HB HB -- We offer World History, US History, Advanced Placement US History, Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Geography, Current Issues, US Foreign Policy and Wars, and Social Injustice (which is a semester-long course I teach on the Holocaust). At my school, the foreign language courses are in a dept. by themselves.
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Post by humanbelly on Jan 7, 2011 12:54:07 GMT -5
Good Heavens-- big school, yes? That seems like a huge department! (Son of HB goes to one of the largest in our county-- Eleanor Roosevelt HS-- around 3000 students-- and I'm pretty sure they don't have this much depth in their Social Sciences Dept.)
HB
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 7, 2011 13:53:45 GMT -5
Good Heavens-- big school, yes? That seems like a huge department! Yes, sir -- we're a large high school, comparative to most schools in Illinois. There are 16 schools in our conference; most, like us, are in the 2000-2500 student range and are spread across the south suburbs of Chicago. There are 11 teachers in my dept., but our English dept. has 19 teachers.
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Post by visionloveswanda on Jan 12, 2011 1:42:57 GMT -5
Oh, no, VLW -- I envy YOU! Because you, my friend, get to teach content for content's sake. You impart knowledge to (hopefully) minds eager to learn. I, on the other hand, constantly battle politicians, curriculum directors, poor peers, and disinterested parents. I feel like my hands are tied. I am department chair in a social science department where our elective courses have been halved due to the creation of a new reading curriculum for our freshmen instituted because -- you guessed it -- NCLB reading scores at my white middle-class suburban school are too low. But I love my job... ****************************** Doug--Sorry to be slow to respond here. I had to go out of town for a few days and trying to catch up. The above reasons you list are exactly why I think you guys are the heroes. You put up with so much more crap than we do but most still do a good job. I don't know how! The obstacles to quality education just seem to continue to grow. In Florida, on top of NCLB we also have what they call FCAT. You can probably figure out the real acronym, but I won't tell you what I think it stands for. : ) I couldn't hack it outside of high ed. I tell my students all the time they have no idea how lucky there are to have passionate, committed teachers before they get to college. It would be so easy to just keep your head down and coast considering all the obstacles... VLH
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pym
Reservist Avenger
"About 20 yards to my right…"
Posts: 200
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Post by pym on Jan 16, 2011 10:40:45 GMT -5
I must admit....I seem to be behind the times. There are so many different threads here....my head is spinning.
Would someone please direct me to the proper place for a silver age fan?
Thank you......and kindest regards.
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Post by humanbelly on Jan 16, 2011 12:23:48 GMT -5
I must admit....I seem to be behind the times. There are so many different threads here....my head is spinning. Would someone please direct me to the proper place for a silver age fan? Thank you......and kindest regards. Mornin', Pym (well, afternoon, now-) It seems like there used to be a specific menu heading on the main message board page for Silver Age discussion. It may have been redundant, as- heh- many of our threads end up there on their own, anyhow. We tend to lean a little towards Silver Age-centricity as a group, perhaps. I imagine Shiryu and/or Sharkar could be a more specific guide to finding those threads. I assure you many of us are always ready to jump right back into those topics! There just hasn't been much related discussion in that realm recently. Mostly, for following the threads of what we're talking about at the moment, I've used that "50 most recent threads" link down at the lower part of the Message Board menu page (it's small, under the "forum statistics" heading, I believe). It seems to be the least cumbersome way to keep right up on current topics. And, of course, it's always possible to just up & start a new thread on a Silver Age topic you'd like to discuss. My guess would be to aim for, maybe, the Classic Avengers heading? Or possibly the Nostalgia Board (though that may deal with a broader range of topics). Hope this helps a bit- HB
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pym
Reservist Avenger
"About 20 yards to my right…"
Posts: 200
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Post by pym on Jan 21, 2011 20:35:04 GMT -5
Thank you friend! I appreciate the help. Be well.
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Post by sharkar on Jan 24, 2011 18:52:51 GMT -5
Hey Gang--New member here. I too am a teacher!... VLW Doug--Sorry to be slow to respond here. I had to go out of town for a few days and trying to catch up. The above reasons you list are exactly why I think you guys are the heroes. You put up with so much more crap than we do but most still do a good job... VLH visionloveswanda: my curiosity is getting the better of me ;D--which is it: VLW (VisionlovesWanda) or VLH (VisionlovesHela...or VisionlovesHulk...or VisionlovesHank--Pym or McCoy, take your pick)?? I know, I know--"VLH" are probably your real initials, so you have every right to use them...but darn it, now we can't build upon our neat little "-lw = teacher" theory.
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Doctor Bong
Young Avenger
Master of belly dancing! (No, really...)
Posts: 73
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Post by Doctor Bong on Jan 25, 2011 9:05:29 GMT -5
Sharkar, about that avatar you're using now... I remember the ol' ads about Cap's musical, but what I want to know is.... was it an actual honest-to-goodness musical or was it all just an elaborate inside joke...?
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Post by sharkar on Jan 25, 2011 22:45:53 GMT -5
Sharkar, about that avatar you're using now... I remember the ol' ads about Cap's musical, but what I want to know is.... was it an actual honest-to-goodness musical or was it all just an elaborate inside joke...? Apparently it was a real musical, Bong, though it never made it to Broadway (even though that was the producer's original goal). Instead, "Captain America" was supposed to have its world premiere at the Pennsylvania Stage Company in 1988 but I don't know that it actually did, as a couple of articles I found online suggest otherwise: articles.mcall.com/1988-04-03/entertainment/2639536_1_captain-america-psc-employees-musicalarticles.mcall.com/1988-03-27/entertainment/2610931_1_captain-america-musical-broadwayAlso, according to these articles, the musical never intended to portray Cap as a "Super-Serum carrier, Nazi hunter, shield flinger, top-notch athlete, well-built artist's model." Instead it was to feature a downtrodden Steve Rogers as Everyman; also, it lampooned the government and apparently this was why it couldn't find an audience because "political-image lampooning in 'Captain America' may be 'dangerous' in this age of campaigning Pat Robertson types." And here's the ad in all its star-spangled glory with its call for 10-14 year old girls to audition to play Cap's, er, "very special friend."
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Doctor Bong
Young Avenger
Master of belly dancing! (No, really...)
Posts: 73
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Post by Doctor Bong on Jan 26, 2011 10:49:00 GMT -5
Wow! I wonder what they were smoking at Marvel at the time... It makes you think that the times have changed indeed. Methinks these days such an idea would have never been seriously considered.
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Doctor Bong
Young Avenger
Master of belly dancing! (No, really...)
Posts: 73
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Post by Doctor Bong on Jan 26, 2011 10:53:00 GMT -5
Furthermore, I think this ad stayed subconciously in the mind of a young Frank Miller and that is why, years later, he brought us a female Robin in "The Dark Knight Returns"... .
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Post by sharkar on Jan 26, 2011 19:23:42 GMT -5
Wow! I wonder what they were smoking at Marvel at the time... It makes you think that the times have changed indeed. Methinks these days such an idea would have never been seriously considered. Nawww...it's déjà vu all over again... ;D
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Post by visionloveswanda on Jan 26, 2011 20:09:42 GMT -5
{{{{I know, I know--"VLH" are probably your real initials, so you have every right to use them...but darn it, now we can't build upon our neat little "-lw = teacher" theory. }}}
Sharkar-- No, its really supposed to be VLW. The whole VLH thing I think had more to do with the 1:42am posting time than anything else! ; )
So, consider that "teacher LW" thang in full effect my friend!
On the other hand VLH must have stood for Hank McCoy. Animal magnetism and all... Even and Android can... come out of the closet!
Now THAT would be an interesting storyline... : )
VLW
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Doctor Bong
Young Avenger
Master of belly dancing! (No, really...)
Posts: 73
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Post by Doctor Bong on Jan 27, 2011 4:53:25 GMT -5
Wow! I wonder what they were smoking at Marvel at the time... It makes you think that the times have changed indeed. Methinks these days such an idea would have never been seriously considered. Nawww...it's déjà vu all over again... ;D I guess I wasn't clear enough in my post... . I'm aware of Spidey's musical (which, by the way, from what I understand, seems to be plagued by technical problems). What seemed so weird to me was your description of the way they were gonna portray Steve Rogers.
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Post by humanbelly on Jan 27, 2011 7:27:02 GMT -5
Nawww...it's déjà vu all over again... ;D . The links Sharkar provided to the old McCall's articles about Cap's musical were very illuminating-- and reading between the lines was almost as informative as the article itself. It's an anatomy of an abortion of a large-scale musical-- with many, many contributing factors to its failure. There's really no way to know whether or not the music & lyrics were, in fact, good, bad, or adequate-- but that would probably be the first culprit to look for. I wouldn't be surprised if they were pretty good, though, otherwise the production wouldn't have progressed as far as it did, nor would it have pulled in (and sustained the commitment from) Broadway royalty, John Cullum. Although, yeesh, that big beak of a nose protruding from under Cap's mask- even on stage- is a tough vision to resolve oneself to-- ;D. I daresay, though, that using Cap as a vehicle for 1960's-style political satire in the mid-to-late 80's may have been the barely-referred-to reason for its demise. The plot sounds unbearably campy (ala the 60's Batman TV show)-- and clearly there was never any consideration for trusting the source material, which is a producer mistake that is almost habitual in its frequency. Of course, in the mid-80's, to the hard-core theater world, comic books would equal hokeyness--- kind of hard to get around that. The Superman musical in 1966 (a flop, ran about 5 months) may have had the same problem, in a way, but was still more successful because it had very solid lyrics/score, and an above-average cast. BUT- the show centers obsessively on a non-canonical antagonist (played by star Jack Cassidy), and Superman/Clark is kind of a supporting character in his own musical. Again, not trusting the source material. However, folks that saw it claim to have had a great time, and the cast album is surprisingly well-liked. I've heard it a couple of times & think it's quite listenable. Spidey's musical has already become fodder for Broadway legends, with all of the accidents, expense, delays, etc. And oddly enough, one has to wonder how necessary all of that huge spectacle is for Spidey's story? Especially in a show that isn't treating it with a behind-the-hand smirk? There's also the very-practical question of how successful can it be post-Broadway if the technical requirements are so impossibly difficult to install in other venues? Do it w/ choreography & gymnastics (well, they probably still do. . . )-- but as soon as we see flying harnesses, wires, and bungees, we're gonna be taken out of the moment, anyhow. . . HB
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Post by sharkar on Jan 27, 2011 9:40:16 GMT -5
On the other hand VLH must have stood for Hank McCoy. Animal magnetism and all... Even and Android can... come out of the closet! Now THAT would be an interesting storyline... : ) LOL...yeah, Vizh always did go for those brainy types! And thanks for clearing up the "mystery", vl w.
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Post by sharkar on Jan 27, 2011 9:48:42 GMT -5
I guess I wasn't clear enough in my post... . I'm aware of Spidey's musical (which, by the way, from what I understand, seems to be plagued by technical problems). What seemed so weird to me was your description of the way they were gonna portray Steve Rogers. No, you were clear, Bong--sorry if I implied otherwise. I cynically threw Spidey into the mix because Julie Taymor (Spidey producer) has been quoted as saying things like this musical will overtly incorporate elements of Greek mythology; Spidey will forget about the girl back home; etc. In other words it doesn't really sound like the Spider-Man comic book fans all know and love.
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Post by sharkar on Jan 27, 2011 9:58:25 GMT -5
HB, I agree with you--I cannot see Cullum as Cap at all (despite Cullum's penchant for playing Americana roles). And apparently there is some original cast recording floating around somewhere.
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Post by sharkar on Jan 29, 2011 17:17:19 GMT -5
I must admit....I seem to be behind the times. There are so many different threads here....my head is spinning. Would someone please direct me to the proper place for a silver age fan? Thank you......and kindest regards. Welcome to the AA boards, pym. You may want to take a look at the "Beginners Guide to the Marvel Universe" thread in the General/Nostalgia board--this topic is Owene's overview of of Silver Age Marvel issue-by-issue, starting from the beginning (FF, Hulk, Ant-Man, etc.). It's a thread that should interest any Marvel fanatic, and in particular fans of the MU Silver Age.
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Post by pulpcitizen on Jan 31, 2011 7:35:11 GMT -5
New member of the board. Avengers fan since the early 80's on and off, and loving revisting some old stories as well as the newe ones.
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Post by canadianavenger on Dec 23, 2011 13:16:06 GMT -5
I'm a 38 year old IT Security Analyst living in Toronto, Canada. I have been an Avengers fan since the early 80's. I am a huge fan of Iron Man and have the entire 1st and 2nd volume collections. Iron Man and the Avengers are my favorite comics, but I read all titles. You can't beat 'Contest of Champions' or Secret Wars'. My favorite runs were the Avengers and Iron Man of the late 70's/early 80's. I loved Busiek's run on both titles during Heroes Return, but like I said I read all Marvel titles as I loved most of their characters. I was an avid follower of Marvel for 20 years before stopping in mid 2001. I lost interest when they Busiek left both Avengers and Iron Man. Couldn't stand it when they started drawing Tony like he was a manga teenager dating a spoiled brat Rumiko with such pathetic stories. I lost interest. Last year I decided to give my two favs a try again, but this time I went back in time. I started buying trade paperbacks of all the issue and events I missed from 2001. I started with Avengers: Kang Dynasty and have read through Avengers Disassembled, where I then picked up Iron Man (Extremis). So , I began reading both titles simultaneously in which ever order they were supposed to be read in. When I hit a major summer event such as House of M, I then buy the main Event trade paperback along with all the tie-in trades to have a complete story along with a checklist. I then continue with Avengers/Iron Man trades until I hit Civil War, bought all the hard covers of this event. Read them all, then continued with New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Avengers Initiative and Iron Man: Director of Shield. Currently reading the World War Hulk event and all of it's tie ins. I also went back and read Planet Hulk - that was fantastic. Boy, did I miss a lot. Right now I am stuck in 2007 and enjoying reading stories in hardcover/trade format. This costs a lot, but I love this hobby. I read one comic a night, as I am too busy during the day. At this rate I think I will hit present day by 2014. Anyway, thought I would share my story.
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Post by sharkar on Dec 28, 2011 21:10:37 GMT -5
Welcom to the AA boards, canadianavenger!
I, too, had a lengthy hiatus from comics and when I came back (around the time of Disassembled) I discovered the trade paperbacks. I then set about buying every Avengers or X-Men tpb that I could get my greedy hands on. These collections were invaluable for filling in the gaps. Tpbs remain my preferred method of reading today's comics, though at times I can't wait and I buy the actual issues (Children's Crusade for example).
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Post by ultron69 on Jan 2, 2012 15:48:00 GMT -5
Hey Ulron--I went to school at Brockport State! Cool!! That's about 20 minutes from where I live.
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Post by canadianavenger on Jan 26, 2012 23:04:30 GMT -5
Sharkar - Thanks for the welcome. looks like you've been a member for a very long time.
I find trades so much easier to collect and to read. You don't have to wait for the next month to read the next issue. I'm hooked on Marvel again and I'm really happy to see how Iron Man is playing such a major role in all the yearly main events. Right now, I just finished the Mighty Avengers Assemble trade which contains issues # 1-12. Next I'm reading Avengers Initiative:Killed In Action trade - all leading up to Secret Invasion.
If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of my trade list, let me know. It concentrates on all Iron Man and Avengers trades along with special events listed in reading order from 2001.
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Post by ultron69 on Jan 27, 2012 8:24:08 GMT -5
Welcome, canadianavenger. How do you like the newer stuff? I agree with you that trades are really convenient.
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Post by canadianavenger on Jan 27, 2012 23:36:10 GMT -5
Thanks!
I am enjoying the collecting and reading of the newer trades - there's some really good stuff here. Although, some things seem way out of sorts, such as the way Reed and Tony acted in Civil War and how powerful Hulk is during World War Hulk - no one could touch him. The thought balloons being used by Bendis are pretty useless - makes me wish writers would use the thought balloons like they were back in the day. Some other whacky things I disliked were how the Heroes for Hire group were able to defeat the Avatars during Civil War - are you kidding me?? It took Iron Man and Force Works combined to take them down during the Hands of the Mandarin story in 1994. How could a bunch of kung fu girls in tights take down supernaturally powered super villains? The New Avengers are ok, but how they beat over 20 combined villains when the Hood's team invaded Dr. Strange's sanctum Is beyond me - again we are talking about heroes that tare used to fighting normal powered villains, not the magically enhanced Wrecking Crew and the Blood Brothers among all the rest!! C'mon, it took Iron Man and Thor all they had to defeat just the Blood Brothers way back when. Anyway, seems like Bendis is losing his touch as I'm going along here, but I'm enjoying it. I assume your an Ultron fan because of your nickname. You must have hated it when bendis brought him back as a woman? Nothing will ever beat the Ultron stories of the late 70's and early 80's!
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Post by humanbelly on Jan 28, 2012 15:28:26 GMT -5
Thanks! I assume your an Ultron fan because of your nickname. You must have hated it when bendis brought him back as a woman? Nothing will ever beat the Ultron stories of the late 70's and early 80's! Oh man, "Ultron mark Hot-Naked-Jan". That was just. . . so wrong. On so many levels. (Well, maybe not aesthetically, exactly, but still. . . ) It just had absolutely nothing to do with any previous aspect of Ultron's mental pathology. I do believe it's important to be faithful to- and consistent with- the well-established Oedipal model. Oedipus marries his mother; has children with his mother; but at no point does he ever want to BECOME Clytemnestra, and start dressing like her. That would be, um, a whole 'nother play. One that I'm not sure Sophocles was quite ready to put down on parchment. HB
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Post by sharkar on Feb 7, 2012 22:24:59 GMT -5
Oedipus marries his mother; has children with his mother; but at no point does he ever want to BECOME Clytemnestra, and start dressing like her. Clytemnestra was not Oedipus' mother/wife; C. was a major figure in a different myth, the House of Atreus (dramatized most famously by Aeschylus in The Oresteia). You're thinking of Jocasta (and obviously, so was Marvel when it came to naming their version of Jocasta). That would be, um, a whole 'nother play. One that I'm not sure Sophocles was quite ready to put down on parchment. Well, maybe not Sophocles though we don't have enough of his oeuvre to be sure...but based on the evidence we do have, some historians think it was not uncommon for the classical Greek playwrights to rework myths. Basically, while certain mythic elements were unalterable, the playwrights could and did embellish. Euripides for one did it (more of his work has survived): his Iphigenia in Tauris and Helen can be seen as "what if" scenarios, as these works play fast and loose with traditional versions of the myths. Euripides also wrote two versions of Hippolytus. Why? Well, apart from (I assume) creative satisfaction, there were commercial reasons--his original version didn't go over well with the audience or win first prize at the Dionysian Festival, so later on he reworked the play and changed some elements. The reworked play was a hit with the audience and won first prize. Hmmm...so it seems like it not just today's comic book personnel who change familiar scenarios and characters to make stories more commercially palatable and relevant to a changing audience, right?
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Post by humanbelly on Feb 8, 2012 7:47:49 GMT -5
Oedipus marries his mother; has children with his mother; but at no point does he ever want to BECOME Clytemnestra, and start dressing like her. Clytemnestra was not Oedipus' mother/wife; C. was a major figure in a different myth, the House of Atreus (dramatized most famously by Aeschylus in The Oresteia). You're thinking of Jocasta (and obviously, so was Marvel when it came to naming their version of Jocasta). ) Omigod, did I really make such an obvious & fundamental 9th grade Basics of Dramatic Literature error?? Ha! I certainly did! How terribly embarrassing-- yes, Clytemnestra is, of course, Agamemnon's terminally untrustworthy spouse-! Yeesh-- thanks for keepin' me sharp, Shar-! HB ;D ;D ;D
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