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We Didn’t Start the Fire

Nick — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:30:10 +0000

In my next life as a history teacher, I already have one lesson plan figured out. And with oral presentations from the students, it could probably be extended to take up a few weeks of class time. The gameplan is to use We Didn’t Start the Fire as a 4-minute overview of 20th century history.

Billy Joel’s 1989 #1 hit song, We Didn’t Start the Fire, chronicles the major people and historical events between 1949 (when Joel was born) and 1989. Despite it’s commercial success, We Didn’t Start the Fire was named one of the 50 worst songs ever by Blender magazine. The song covers 119 items, presented in chronological order.

Assignment #1: Listening to the song, write down as many as you can. Maybe listen a couple times before handing out the lyrics.

Assignment #2: Pick a topic and teach the class about why it’s important.

Here’s a video with captions for each person / event:

How many have you heard of?

We Didn’t Start the Fire Lyrics:

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, “The King and I”, and “The Catcher in the Rye”

Eisenhower, vaccine, England’s got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

CHORUS
We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire
No we didn’t light it
But we tried to fight it

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez

CHORUS

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Zhou Enlai, Bridge On The River Kwai

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California Baseball,
Starkweather homicide, Children of Thalidomide

Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo

CHORUS

Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land,
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion

Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say

CHORUS

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock

Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah’s in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz

Hypodermics on the shores, China’s under martial law
Rock and Roller cola wars, I can’t take it anymore

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning since the world’s been turning.
We didn’t start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on…

CHORUS x 2

We didn’t start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning
We didn’t start the fire…

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Woot “We Got Acquired By Amazon” Rap Video

Nick — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:30:22 +0000

Woot.com, the famous one-deal-a-day site, was bought by Amazon this week. So they made a video explaining the sell-out in a very non-sell-out kind of way.

I thought the video was pretty great. And love the Zappos shout-out in there too.

Maybe someday I can sell my company and make a monkey puppet rap music video about it. Which is every entrepreneur’s dream.

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What NOT To Do After a 9-mile Run

Nick — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:30:11 +0000

Trapeze school! I mean I won’t be joining the circus anytime soon, but it was still pretty sweet. If you’re in the area, check out Trapeze Arts in Oakland for a unique and high-flying experience. I kind of had a hard time trusting my knees to hold me on the bar, but it worked out ok.

They don’t mess around — it was pretty much climb up, clip-in, and go. Fun times.

Bryn was all-pro and even made this video:

But I was seriously crippled afterward. The backs of my knees / upper calves were annihilated. Either I was doing something wrong (a definite possibility) or they were a little tight from my earlier run.

Thanks Grace for organizing!

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A History Lesson With Jon Stewart

Nick — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:30:58 +0000

I enjoyed this one.

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Nick — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:30:41 +0000

Is this for reals?

OK I kind of want to try now.

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Cap and Trade: Indulgences for the 21st Century

Nick — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:30:15 +0000

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic church sold “indulgences” that would absolve the buyer of his sins. Wealthy sinners could make a donation to the church and the clergy would let them know they were forgiven. Martin Luther was disgusted by the idea of salvation being put up for sale, and indulgences were an important facet of his Protestant Reformation.

Fast forward 500 years.

Cap and Trade is one idea to limit carbon emissions and slow climate change. The proposal makes carbon pollution an environment “sin,” and mandates good clean behavior. Sound familiar? But instead of the threat of eternity in hell, we have fines, and instead of indulgences, we have proposed “pollution permits,” that wealthy companies can buy to make their pollution OK.

I find this uber-liberal narrator uber-annoying, but she gives a good overview of the problems with Cap and Trade. And if both the climate-change-deniers and the hippies think it’s a bad idea, maybe it’s not that great an idea.

The moral of both the indulgence and cap and trade story is: if you have money, you can do pretty much whatever you want.

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Nick — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:30:01 +0000

Haha if we register I can totally see myself in this guy:

Looking forward to abusing my scanner gun privileges.

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Only in America

Nick — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:30:30 +0000

When destroying a brand-new $500 toy is what kids do “for fun,” I fear for our future.

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Sky Cake

Nick — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:30:33 +0000

Patton Oswalt on the origins of religion:

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Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials – 2010

Nick — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:30:54 +0000

1. Google. Does Google even need to advertise? I believe this is the first time I’ve seen a Google ad on TV. Very clean and simple, yet tells a great story.

2. eTrade. I love these talking babies.

3. Bridgestone. A Hangover-inspired whale rescue mission, made possible by great tires.

4. Hyundai. The future is full of uncertainty, but your Hyundai warranty will still be there. Well played.

But there were a ton really bad Super Bowl ads too. And I won’t even include the creepy Denny’s chickens.

1. Monster.com’s beaver violinist.

2. Bud Light’s book club.

3. Dove soap for men.

4. Dodge Charger.

5. Emerald Nuts / Pop Secret’s human SeaWorld.

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