Gathering data: This one goes out to Lauren, Kristin, Erin, and Beth

In last week's concert survey, it was revealed that 31% (!) of the class (Beth, Erin, Kristin, and Lauren) went to a New Kids on the Block concert as their first concert experience. 75% of the 31% shared some details.

Erin is a New Kids fan, loud and proud:

"New Kids on the Block, and I am not embarrassed, I am seeing them again on October 22."

(Fun fact: She's also President of the Milwaukee chapter of the New Kids on the Block fan club for fans aged 18-34.)

Kristin's dad is a contender for Coolest Dad Ever:

"I think it might have been New Kids on the Block. My dad took me to several of their concerts when I was a kid and sat through them with me! What a trooper! Otherwise it might have been Conway Twitty or Kenny Rogers or some other country singer I was forced to sit through as a kid in Branson!"

Lauren prefers hip, cool initials to actual words:

"NKOTB (That's New Kids on the Block, if you don't know) at the now closed Poplar Creek Amphitheater in IL."

Click here for NKOTB tour dates.

Done with Chapter 2!

I'm officially done with Chapter 2!! That is, until Linda G. (and later, my advisor) tells me what I should change about it.

One of Don's favorite concerts

Remember that test survey I sent out last week? One of the questions was, "What was your favorite concert?"

One of my favorite concerts was David Byrne (of Talking Heads) at the Modjeska Theater in 1990. He played about one third of the concert solo in front of a black curtain with only an acoustic guitar. Then, halfway through his sixth or seventh song, at just the right moment, the curtain dropped to reveal a 20-piece Latin music band, all dressed in immaculate white suits. They remained on stage for the rest of the concert. I was surprised that he played so many Talking Heads songs as well as a Latin rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil.")

Above is a video for the song, "Dirty Old Town," that should help you visualize what I experienced.

Make your own survey.

Posters inspired by the Nunan article

Photos by Stephanie

Movie recommendation: Our Song

During class last night, Lauren and I were talking about movies. She was curious about narrative movies that deal with language issues. I immediately thought of one of my favorite movies, Our Song, directed by Jim McKay. It features a young Kerry Washington (Save the Last Dance, The Fantastic Four movies, I Think My Wife Loves Me). The film focuses on Washington's character, a bilingual teen named Lanisha, and her two friends, Joy and Maria. Lanisha is bilingual because her mother is Cuban (her dad is African-American). She is teaching Spanish to the Puerto Rican Maria who only speaks English. Joy is African-American and only speaks English. This language factor is just one thing that challenges the bonds between the three girls. I highly recommend it. It's similar to the Rob Reiner movie, Stand By Me, in that both movies are about a group of friends spending time together at the end of the summer, a summer after which they will grow apart.

Here's a review from Amazon:

In Our Song, director Jim McKay takes the same concerns as in his debut, Girls Town--friendship, poverty, and suicide--and crafts a superior film. While Girls Town felt like a somewhat privileged look at underprivileged life, Our Song feels as if it were written by the young women themselves: Lanisha (Lift's Kerry Washington), Joy (Anna Simpson), and Maria (Melissa Martinez). In fact, the trio really was involved with Brooklyn marching band the Jackie Robinson Steppers when McKay recruited them to star in this Michael Stipe-produced effort, and the marching sequences in the film provide a rousing counterpoint to the difficulties with which the girls are grappling. When one of the 15-year-olds discovers she's pregnant, already-frayed relationships are strained to the breaking point. Our Song always rings true and is all the more admirable--and affecting--for its refusal to conform to the conventions of most Hollywood teen movies. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Angie's comment/question

Do blogs ever expire or disappear? Will we be able to access the blog in the future?

Gina's question/comment

Does Cardinal Stritch have it's own blog?