Pet Peeves

[Djarskublar he/him]

@Slowswift sure why not? Copy paste or post a link. Cool either way.

1 hour ago, Magestar said:

This is one of my biggest pet peeves.

Ever.

Another problem is the idea that you can throw money at a system, to make it better.

It doen't work like that.  I'm going to not rant, because I don't have that kind of time.  But I agree.

It hurts to watch/Listen to.  Seriously.  I get some kids are shy, and that's why they trip up, but I don't get not being able to pronounce words.  I think it's because we read more.

This is why I'm homeschooled.  It works.  Of course, not all public schools are bad, and there are other methods that work, but I feel like there is a lot of bad.  I just don't get it.

 I wish I was homeschooled. That would have been waaay more interesting. School was decidedly boring.

On the other point, this is pretty much the only situation where I disagree with that. Here in Utah people are barely paid to teach public education. Throwing money at it would help if it is thrown in the right direction. Don't throw it at curriculum development. Throw it straight to actual educators. Curricula are a nightmare now, but the immediate concern to me is teacher quality. And quantity. When I was in physics, my teacher ranted about the fact that he cannot retire. There are no more qualified physics teachers in the state that aren't employed. Or for my computer science class they didn't have anyone qualified to teach it, so they literally dumped it on the new guy. He had just switched from teaching junior high. It would have been a nightmare if he had actually attempted to teach things more than once a week. Apparently a two week crash course qualifies him to teach the class. He basically came out and said he was clueless, and to figure it out on our own... That's quality education for you. Them tax dollars hard at work!

We need to get people to look at teaching as a real option. I know I would love to be a teacher, but I take one look at the pay and look the other way. I have an excellent track record for handling kids, so I'd do a good job.

And then politicians come in and say we need standardized testing, so they slash budgets and decrease standards to make it look like we did better... Ugh

[PantsForSquares he/him]

4 minutes ago, Djarskublar said:

On the other point, this is pretty much the only situation where I disagree with that. Here in Utah people are barely paid to teach public education. Throwing money at it would help if it is thrown in the right direction. Don't throw it at curriculum development. Throw it straight to actual educators. Curricula are a nightmare now, but the immediate concern to me is teacher quality. And quantity. When I was in physics, my teacher ranted about the fact that he cannot retire. There are no more qualified physics teachers in the state that aren't employed. Or for my computer science class they didn't have anyone qualified to teach it, so they literally dumped it on the new guy. He had just switched from teaching junior high. It would have been a nightmare if he had actually attempted to teach things more than once a week. Apparently a two week crash course qualifies him to teach the class. He basically came out and said he was clueless, and to figure it out on our own... That's quality education for you. Them tax dollars hard at work!

We need to get people to look at teaching as a real option. I know I would love to be a teacher, but I take one look at the pay and look the other way. I have an excellent track record for handling kids, so I'd do a good job.

And then politicians come in and say we need standardized testing, so they slash budgets and decrease standards to make it look like we did better... Ugh

I was lucky enough that my high school had a lot of funding and good teachers because of the neighborhoods surrounding it, but I've spoken to people who have had high school teachers with only a passing familiarity with their subject material. Politicians need to recognize that a short certification does not necessarily qualify a teacher to teach something like physics or chemistry at a competent level, especially if they don't want to compromise their students' future academia. I can't say how it is for liberal arts majors, but starting a STEM major at a decently competitive university without a decent foundation (or the drive and dedication to compensate for that) is a difficult prospect, to say the least.

Honestly, I wish teaching was a valid career. Personally, I wouldn't want to teach, but it's still absurdly important to ensure the competency of future generations.

[Silverblade5 he/him]

14 minutes ago, PantsForSquares said:

I was lucky enough that my high school had a lot of funding and good teachers because of the neighborhoods surrounding it, but I've spoken to people who have had high school teachers with only a passing familiarity with their subject material. Politicians need to recognize that a short certification does not necessarily qualify a teacher to teach something like physics or chemistry at a competent level, especially if they don't want to compromise their students' future academia. I can't say how it is for liberal arts majors, but starting a STEM major at a decently competitive university without a decent foundation (or the drive and dedication to compensate for that) is a difficult prospect, to say the least.

Honestly, I wish teaching was a valid career. Personally, I wouldn't want to teach, but it's still absurdly important to ensure the competency of future generations.

Such are the joys of AP classes.

[Mestiv he/him]

We have problems with qualified teachers in Poland too. Especially with science classes like math, physics or computer science. And that's really not surprising when you know that a good computer scientist can earn literally 8 times more in a private company than as a teacher... 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

RE: Teachers and crummy pay: Don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is to actually be a teacher. Not because of the kids—though they can certainly make the job more difficult—but because of how idiotic public schools can be about spending money. I worked as a library assistant for a high school  in a low-income neighborhood, and there was a line in the budget for colored paper. That's right—there was a spot in the budget set aside to purchase brightly colored printer paper, which was used to print flyers that went in teachers' inboxes. Flyers that most teachers never even read because they got the exact same thing in their email. You fine people might recall that I was laid off at the end of the school year because a city bond failed in the election due to poor wording….and that a few months later, at an all-staff meeting, the school unveiled their plans to renovate the football field. On my last day at that job, a week after the school year ended, they were replacing all the carpet in the front lobby and there were two brand-new gigantic flat-screen TVs in the back room of the library, upon which announcements would be shown. 

Meanwhile, teachers had to dig into their own pockets to buy any but the bare minimum of classroom supplies, were paid a pittance, and lived in dread of the arts program being shut down for lack of funding. Students on free and reduced-cost lunch got these teeny-tiny little portions that would leave a second grader hungry, because there wasn't enough money in the budget. 

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in school budgeting, and I know that a lot of these poor spending choices were probably forced on them by administration. But why? Why can't schools prioritize teachers and students over colored paper and new carpet? The football players will live if they have to play on a non-renovated field. But I wasn't the only person laid off at the end of that year. There were people who were a year from retirement and, because they were laid off that year, were unable to collect benefits. Is a shiny new football field really worth more than their jobs? Is colored paper really more important than giving high school students a decent lunch? 

[Andarist he/him]

On 30/09/2016 at 11:46 AM, Djarskublar said:

Only discovered them a few weeks ago, so I couldn't say for sure. I'm not even sure which one that is. So far Dark Passion Play is where most of the songs I really like are from. I think I will agree with the popular opinion that the new singer is the best of them. Whatever her name was...

I don't listen to Iron Maiden much at all. I simply haven't gotten around to trying them out. I have only had the freedom to listen to what I want for a year or two, so I haven't had a lot of time to just explore. (thank you spotify for weekly recommendations.)

Symphonic Metal is simply the best, for sure. It's nice to know at least one other Sharder likes the stuff.

I don't stop by here very often but I am trying to change that. 

Nightwish's latest album is Endless Forms Most Beautiful and it it awesome. And yeah their new vocalist - Floor Jansen I believe is excellent, especially if you see her in concert. 

If you are new to metal and like symphonic metal try out Kamelot as well They are very very good. Also for a very heavy metalish sound with symphonic elements and a fantasy theme try Rhapsody of Fire. 

Do you post in  the What are You Listening Thread?

[Djarskublar he/him]

3 minutes ago, Andarist said:

I don't stop by here very often but I am trying to change that. 

Nightwish's latest album is Endless Forms Most Beautiful and it it awesome. And yeah their new vocalist - Floor Jansen I believe is excellent, especially if you see her in concert. 

If you are new to metal and like symphonic metal try out Kamelot as well They are very very good. Also for a very heavy metalish sound with symphonic elements and a fantasy theme try Rhapsody of Fire. 

Do you post in  the What are You Listening Thread?

Okay I wasn't sure if it was endless forms or if something else had come out.

I have heard of Kamelot. Haven't heard of Rhapsody of Fire though.

I didn't realize there was a thread for that. As you posted I happened to be listening to David Bowie's Fame. Good stuff, that.

[Andarist he/him]

2 minutes ago, Djarskublar said:

Okay I wasn't sure if it was endless forms or if something else had come out.

I have heard of Kamelot. Haven't heard of Rhapsody of Fire though.

I didn't realize there was a thread for that. As you posted I happened to be listening to David Bowie's Fame. Good stuff, that.

I am in the listening thread browsing through all the posts. A good way to discover new music, right? 

What other genres do you listen to? I am mostly rock and metal though I am a bit out of touch at the moment. 

[marsoupial they/them]

36 minutes ago, Djarskublar said:

Okay I wasn't sure if it was endless forms or if something else had come out.

I have heard of Kamelot. Haven't heard of Rhapsody of Fire though.

I didn't realize there was a thread for that. As you posted I happened to be listening to David Bowie's Fame. Good stuff, that.

Sigh

Bowie

[Delightful]

On 30/09/2016 at 7:05 PM, Darkness Ascendant said:

@Delightful, how old are u exactly, now I can't stop thinking of you in your mid-fourties XD

O_o

On 30/09/2016 at 8:40 PM, bleeder said:

After half my life has been spent in Tennessee, I have learned that I dislike country music as well. 

If you're gonna drone on about how your pickup truck is your only friend, put some soul into it for Hoid's sake

 

And @Darkness Ascendant, she's not that old. @Delightful is probably in her twenties?

Something like that  

On 01/10/2016 at 0:38 AM, bleeder said:

My dad is the music minister at my church, I'm the bandleader of the youth band there; I still don't like Christian music. 

It's all the same structure, idea, and it's just... bleh. There are only two or three bands that I like. I believe in some cosmological deity that set the universe in motion, be that YHWH or Allah or the Holy Spirit or whatever, but I can't get with the whole Christian music thing. 

I have a similar issue with Jewish music. 

Some of it is legitimately good and emotional, IMHO generally by Israelis who are much more likely to write their own lyrics. 

Most of it, well.....I'm pretty sure the singers only listen to Jewish music aka each other aka their songs all sound the same. And then they cover each other's songs. Many of them are "holy verse + random tune that has no connection to the meaning of the words". Boys choirs are popular and are incredibly squeaky and annoying. 

The other variation of 'Jewish music' is whatever pop songs are going around with some adapted lyrics. 

And I grew up with "non-Jewish music is bad for your soul because music is deep and soulful so you only want Jewish sources of music"  

Well, uh, I don't think bland tired tunes that sounds the same as hundreds of other songs are particularly deep and soulful. 

(To be fair I understand authority figures trying to get us to avoid the "you are attractive/why did we break up" pop music variety.)

i think I've ranted about this a lot beforehand. Definite pet peeve. 

[Djarskublar he/him]

4 hours ago, Andarist said:

I am in the listening thread browsing through all the posts. A good way to discover new music, right? 

What other genres do you listen to? I am mostly rock and metal though I am a bit out of touch at the moment. 

Well I like most things for what they are good at. I like metal the most, but for a while I was really into some particular stuff from the seventies. Stuff with kinda a nasal/falsetto vocal like the Commodores' Brick House or Wild Cherry's Play that Funky Music.

I love the philosophy of Jazz. Time signatures have always felt contrived and pointless to me, so rag time is great. Plus the instrumentation is well developed. Since I sorta play clarinet, I love it when there are clarinet solos.

I like older stuff like the Beatles, but not a ton. Just not my cup of tea.

I like the concept of rap, but I have yet to hear any that wasn't so vulgar or poorly executed that I hated it.

I grew up on New Wave, so that is what I know fairly well. It is very... Inconsistent on what is good though. I'm no Bon Jovi or Billy Idol fan, but Def Leppard is the only band I've  seen in concert. New Order is great. Huey Lewis is solid. I adore The Cure's music. The Cure's Love Song is my favorite love song period, and Lullaby is the single creepiest song I've heard. In a good way. It gives me chills when I listen to it so well that I have to laugh, so good stuff there. I tend to hate New Wave with female leads. Cindy Lauper head off.

Classical is of course good, but I don't listen to much of that, and I'm just not versed in it well enough to hold a conversation on it.

Edit: I also respect punk for being gutsy enough to sing their hugely radical opinions. I still don't like their general lack of technical proficiency or song writing talent. I can still respect them, though.

Edited October 1, 2016 by Djarskublar

[+Slowswift]

19 hours ago, Djarskublar said:

@Slowswift sure why not? Copy paste or post a link. Cool either way.

Okay, here it is!  

[Andarist he/him]

5 hours ago, Djarskublar said:

Well I like most things for what they are good at. I like metal the most, but for a while I was really into some particular stuff from the seventies. Stuff with kinda a nasal/falsetto vocal like the Commodores' Brick House or Wild Cherry's Play that Funky Music.

I love the philosophy of Jazz. Time signatures have always felt contrived and pointless to me, so rag time is great. Plus the instrumentation is well developed. Since I sorta play clarinet, I love it when there are clarinet solos.

I like older stuff like the Beatles, but not a ton. Just not my cup of tea.

I like the concept of rap, but I have yet to hear any that wasn't so vulgar or poorly executed that I hated it.

I grew up on New Wave, so that is what I know fairly well. It is very... Inconsistent on what is good though. I'm no Bon Jovi or Billy Idol fan, but Def Leppard is the only band I've  seen in concert. New Order is great. Huey Lewis is solid. I adore The Cure's music. The Cure's Love Song is my favorite love song period, and Lullaby is the single creepiest song I've heard. In a good way. It gives me chills when I listen to it so well that I have to laugh, so good stuff there. I tend to hate New Wave with female leads. Cindy Lauper head off.

Classical is of course good, but I don't listen to much of that, and I'm just not versed in it well enough to hold a conversation on it.

Edit: I also respect punk for being gutsy enough to sing their hugely radical opinions. I still don't like their general lack of technical proficiency or song writing talent. I can still respect them, though.

I agree with you on the rap. 

Except for metal I don't really listen to much of the pre-80s music though the exceptions are Led Zep, Beatles and Dylan.

Have you tried some of the new alternative stuff like Of Monsters And Men?

I like Jazz though I don't know as much about it as I would like to, So far I have  listened to Coltrane and Charlie Parker. 

I don't know much about classical but I love listening to classical. I find it soothing and calming especially violin works like Vivaldi.. 

Have you listened to Trans-Siberian Orchestra? Very nice blend of Classical and Metal. 

In metal I prefer heavy, thrash and symphonic. I don't really like death metal and its variants as I prefer clear vocals. Love Maiden, Dream Theater and Opeth. 

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

Islamic music genuinely sounds good. Even if you don't understand what they are chanting. 

[PantsForSquares he/him]

5 minutes ago, Andarist said:

I like Jazz though I don't know as much about it as I would like to, So far I have  listened to Coltrane and Charlie Parker.

Honestly, the best way to familiarize yourself with jazz is to get your hands on a book of jazz standards. These are famous (of course, varying in fame) jazz pieces that a lot of artists will cover, and just looking them up on youtube will expose you to different artists, and their styles.

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Weather Report, though. How can I say no to Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Jaco Pastorius?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Heh. So far as music goes, my taste is "everything, except the songs I don't like." I have a variety of genres on my phone—alternative, progressive rock, experimental, pop, punk, country. Some of those songs might be considered lowbrow (I have both Cyndi Lauper and Simple Plan there ) but I like them, so there they are. 

Though when it comes to country, I agree that a lot of it is country bros singing about trucks and exes. My favorite country artist at the moment is Kacey Musgraves, who strays pretty far from that stereotype. 

[marsoupial they/them]

Alright, so: Dawes. Dawes, the indie rock-SoCal-alt-modern 70's-Americana soul-totally awesome band.

Spoiler

Also, Real Estate, Alabama Shakes, Michael Kiwanuka, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and some other stuff, too.

[KnightRadiant she/her]

I dislike it when someone takes my books. Without asking. Don't ever, ever, ever take my books.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

When a book summary begins AND ends with gushing praise for the author's genius. 

Look, if you have to hype it up so much, it's probably not as good as you're trying to convince me it is. 

[Kaymyth she/her]

On 10/1/2016 at 8:54 PM, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Though when it comes to country, I agree that a lot of it is country bros singing about trucks and exes. My favorite country artist at the moment is Kacey Musgraves, who strays pretty far from that stereotype. 

Heh.  A local alt-rock radio station around here goes through phases of doing a weekly bit called "Country Psychic."  Basically, one of the duo picks three country songs.  The other one gets to hear their names, recording artists, and the intro/first few bars of verse on the karaoke track.  He then attempts to sing the song accurate, never having heard it before.  They then play the actual song to see how close he got.

It's both hilarious and creepy how often he gets into the right ballpark with his lyrics.

[marsoupial they/them]

People confusing gender and sexual orientation. 

Website: There are sixty-three genders.

Me: Okay, tell me more about this...

Website:

Spoiler

I'm all good with male, female, neither, both, other, et c., but this is nonsensical...

To the extent of my knowledge, gender has nothing to do with your sexual preference.

If you can explain this to me please do so I can make sense of this person's personal truth.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

1 minute ago, bleeder said:

People confusing gender and sexual orientation. 

Website: There are sixty-three genders.

Me: Okay, tell me more about this...

Website:

  Hide contents

I'm all good with male, female, neither, both, other, et c., but this is nonsensical...

To the extent of my knowledge, gender has nothing to do with your sexual preference.

If you can explain this to me please do so I can make sense of this person's personal truth.

Their personal truth is that they're confused. 

[marsoupial they/them]

1 minute ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Their personal truth is that they're confused. 

4 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Their personal truth is that they're confused. 

 

4 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Their personal truth is that they're confused.

4 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Their personal truth is that they're confused. 

 

4 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Their personal truth is that they're confused. 

 

4 minutes ago, TwiLyghtSansSparkles said:

Their personal truth is that they're confused. 

 

AHHHHHHHHHHH HELP AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Orlion Blight he/him]

It really is a problem of classification. Over classification, I would say. Risking getting to the point where there is a term for a male that considers himself male in everyway except he likes to eat pink ice cream.

[marsoupial they/them]

3 minutes ago, Orlion Determined said:

It really is a problem of classification. Over classification, I would say. Risking getting to the point where there is a term for a male that considers himself male in everyway except he likes to eat pink ice cream.

"Pink" is broad. 

There's strawberry, which is tolerable, but there's also bubblegum... bubblegum ice cream is not something I would recommend to feed to the starving on the street. Bubblegum ice cream is not an okay thing to have exist.