Never Fear, Dear Coop Responses Are Here!

ALI COOPER '09

Puzzled Over Politics wrote...

Dear Coop,
I am horribly politically unaware and surrounded by insanely opinionated people. All I do is sit back and nod (and then quickly change my expression and shake my head when everyone else gets enraged). I want to become more informed but every time I try to educate myself my eyes glaze over with boredom. What should I do?

Help!
Puzzled over politics

Dear Puzzled Over Politics,

Despite their facade, I am sure that many of your friends feel similarly to you. I know I’ve been in the same boat for quite a while…and then I started taking Mr. Adjout’s Global Media and Politics class…

So there’s my first piece of advice: Take Mr. Adjout’s class! Haaa…no but really…it helped me get some great insight on current events and even develop a few opinions of my own. Now, for all I know, you’re already a senior and your chances to take this class have passed, maybe youre already IN my class. So. If for whatever reason you can’t take Adjout’s class, or you’re maybe in his class and…not paying attention?? Here are a few things that I’ve learned.

Now, as someone whose eyes also tend to glaze over with boredom when trying to educate myself about the world, I like to go to news websites and just browse the headlines. If something stands out, I skim the article and when I get bored I skip to another one. We’re starting out slow. No one says you have to diligently read through entire articles in order to become more politically aware. Clearly, neither of us have quite developed the necessary attention spans to be fully invested in today’s lengthy news articles. The headlines are great: the font’s big, they usually get the main points across, sometimes they’re even a little funny…what’s so wrong with that? Chances are, you’ll find something that strikes your fancy and actually want to read the whole article. You’ll most likely find a favorite website that posts the types of articles you have the desire to read in full.

Another source: blogs. If you Google whatever you’re thinking you want to learn about, some blogging sites or specific blogs will almost always pop up. If they don’t, add “blog” to the end of your search criteria. Bloggers often have clearly stated opinons about whatever topic they’re writing about. See what you find.

Hopefully, your eyes haven’t glazed over after reading this article…good luck!
(P.S. Blinking a lot can sometimes cut through the eye-glaze.)

-Coop

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Mimi's Phrase of The Week

Bon Jour Beaver! It’s Mimi coming straight out of the junior class. OH 10! Anyways, as most of you know, I am of Haitian decent and speak Haitian Creole fluently. My column will give you a chance to learn some of my native language. Every week there will be a new phrase or word. SO HAVE FUN! If there is anything you would like me to post , feel free to ask.


Phrase of the week: Mwen remen’w anpil
Translation: I like you a lot
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I Declare It Time For Random Awesome Things

MICHAEL FIRER '09

This Week in Random: Hyper Music Videos

In other words, generally fast music that makes you feel like standing on a table and spinning in circles with one leg outstretched, kicking over anything in your way.

A few of these aren’t really all that hyper, but you know what? Don’t worry about it. Also, I’ll try to aim for more obscure stuff, but it’s not a rule. Also also, count how many times I say “these guys.”


Start Wearing Purple, by Gogol Bordello
The lead singer, a Ukrainian gypsy, has a fondness for mustaches and a distaste for shirts. A winning combination if I ever saw one. Every song is a bizarre, alcohol-fueled “gypsy punk” extravaganza. Watch American Wedding to see what I mean. Or for that matter any of their stuff.


Night Boat to Cairo, by Madness
These are the guys that wrote Our House, which most people know better as “that coffee jingle.” Madness is, without a doubt, the happiest band I’ve ever seen. Every song is this upbeat, even one named Cardiac Arrest. Clearly the planning for this video never went beyond “everyone dances, jiggly guy sings and jiggles (simultaneously!), everyone dances some more,” though I can’t say I don’t love it.


Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru, by Gruff Rhys
Apparently, Gyrru is Welsh for “driving.” Who knew? Gruff Rhys is the singer of Welsh band Super Furry Animals, though his solo stuff is, without a doubt, better. This is when all two people out there who know and love Super Furry Animals send me death threats. Also check out Y Gwybodusion and, unless you’re afraid it’ll compromise your manliness to even consider it, Candylion.


Dreaming of You, by The Coral
This is the only song I know by these guys, but it never grows old to me.


Girl Anachronism, by The Dresden Dolls
The Dresden Dolls never cease to creep me out, which doesn’t mean I listen to them any less.

Dashboard, by Modest Mouse

Pork and Beans, by Weezer

Here it Goes, by OK Go

Okay, so these three aren’t really all that obscure, but I could listen to each one on a loop for an hour straight before getting sick of them, so I figure that earns them a place here. That’s all I’ll say about them. Those are the links, go click 'em if you want to hear the songs.


Moskau, by Dschinghis Khan
Okay, after those three it's time for something really obscure. A German band whose name means Genghis Khan (hence the costumes, I suppose). This is the only song of theirs I know, but please, watch the video while you listen. It's simply not the same without it. Believe me, I wish I could dance like that.


Go-Go Gadget Gospel, by Gnarls Barkley
This should be pretty self-explanatory, methinks. These are the guys (well, there’s only two of them) that made Crazy.


Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured, by Arctic Monkeys
No video here, just the song, but I’ve had that opening stuck in my head for a good week now. Maybe putting it here will appease the angered music gods.


Dr. Worm, by They Might Be Giants
Every song these guys write is hilariously bizarre. Also check out Ana Ng, one of their saner songs, The Mesopotamians, one of their saner weird songs, and Birdhouse In Your Soul, one of their not-so-saner weird songs.


I Feel Fantastic, by Jonathan Coulton
Internet nerd sensation Jonathan Coulton writes songs about zombies, robots, supervillains, you name it. The song has no music video, but I like this fan-made one, so here you go. Go here and check out Code Monkey and Chiron Beta Prime and pretty much everything else. Oh, and the guy in the video looks so much like my brother that the similarity weirds me out enough to end this article here.



More randomness next week.
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Ask Coop is Back!

Hello, fellow students. It's a new school year, which means we're all simmering with summer stories, curiously crowded with questions, and dying to divulge new drama. Ask Coop is back and better than ever. Post your questions, you little advice-seekers, you!
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Carrie's Top Five

CARRIE WIDMER '10

My name is Carrie Widmer and I'm a member of the junior class. Each week I will put up a section called Top 5. I will rank different subjects accordingly and come up with the Top 5 of each. If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to e-mail me at widmerc10@bcdschool.org

This Week: Top 5 Places To Work

1. Library cubicles
2. Graphics lab
3. Computer lab
4. Bau's room
5. Alex Cohn terrace


Old Top 5's....

Top 5 Lunches
1. Mexican (tacos, quesadillas, nachos)
2. Chicken patties
3. Hamburgers
4. Brunch (french toast sticks, eggs)
5. Pasta with meatballs

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Ask Coop No. 2: Crushes, Cats, and a Reminder

ALI COOPER '09

Helloooo Beaver! Remember me?! I've been checking my "Ask Coop" column every day, but I'm sooo lonely as I've gotten no recent posts. I know that we're all stressed with finals coming up. I know we're all freaking out that our beloved seniors are off on senior project. But seriously. No one has any problems in need of solutions? No questions in need of answers?! We are high school students! Were BEAVER high school students! Plenty of drama to go around, people!

Ask me a question by adding a comment onto this article, or even slip a note into my box at school!

Below are the responses to the two most recent posts. They are a bit strange, so enjoy!

-------------------------
Dear Coop

I am in love with my teacher. I know its completely inappropriate but I cant help it. He's perfect. I think about him constantly.What should I do?

Sincerely
Classroom Crush

Dear Classroom Crush,

GO FOR EXTRA HELP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

Just kidding. Bottom line: you can’t control who you’re crushin’ on. My only advice is: don’t act on your feelings…it will end horribly. It sucks to have to contain your feelings, especially if they are as strong as you say, but I don’t think you have much of a choice in this case! As long as all evidence (hearts with his and your initials in them, sketchy love notes, etc.) has been hidden and/or destroyed, your only worry should be trying to contain yourself in his class…

Good luck!
Coop


Dear Coops,

I used to have a certain penchant for felines. With years of grooming, petting, nursing, and feeding has come a certain progression of my feelings towards these cats. No longer do I take quick glances to check on my little furry friend. I stare longingly into her eyes, her blue pearl eyes, hoping that she too will stare into my eyes.

But she never does. She would rather invest herself in a game of "untangle the ball of yarn." One day, I hid the ball of yarn, and watched her struggle to find it. When she finally gave up, she focused her attention back on me, and I, conversely, focused my eyes on her. Yes, sadly, I had to resort to a game of "hard to get" to entice her, but in the end, it was all for a good cause.

Coop, I am writing you this letter because I just don't know what to do anymore. How do you express love to a friend for whom you clean the litter box? Please help me!

Sincerely,
Changing


Dear Changing,

I…I just…I think this one goes a little beyond me………

Sorry,
Coop

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Trivia Tuesday No. 2

Answer to last week's trivia question:
The largest tire producer in the world (by number of tires produced yearly) is… the LEGO Group. OK, so they make miniature tires, but still, they make more than any other manufacturer.

More LEGO trivia: On average, there are 62 LEGO bricks for every person on Earth. Eight LEGO bricks can be combined in 8.3 trillion different ways.

An Irish syndicate once gamed the Irish lottery by brute force attack, buying up almost all 2 million combinations of lottery numbers. They ultimately made modest gains of about half a million dollars.

Challenging the Rokokas alphabet mentioned last time, but arguably not a genuine alphabet, the Beghilos alphabet contains only ten letters. You may know it by its other name, Calculator writing.

The International Space Station has a hefty multimedia library, including Star Wars, Lost, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Apollo 13, and so on—but, oddly enough, no Star Trek.

Hydra are apparently biologically immortal, and do not undergo aging.

To be answered next week:
The internet can be aptly described via metaphor as what enemy of seaborne vessels around (parts of) the world? And why?

Note: yes, we realize we skipped a week, but we had even more trivia than before in an effort to make it up to you. :)

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