Is the Guess Who song “Share the Land” eschatological in nature? Is it foretelling a not-too-distant communal future? I’m going to offer my own interpretation of the song, which may or may not fit the actual meaning. First the actual lyrics.
Share the Land
by The Guess Who
Have you been around
Have you done your share of coming down
On different things that people do
Have you been aware
You got brothers and sisters who care
About what’s gonna happen to you
In a year from now…
Maybe I’ll be there to shake your hand
Maybe I’ll be there to share the land
That they’ll be giving away
When we all live together.
Did you pay your dues
Did you read the news
This morning when the paper landed in your yard
Do you know their names
Can you play their games
And coming down a bit too hard…
Shake your hand, share the land
Shake your hand, share the land
You know I’ll be standing by
To help you if you worry….
[trailing off]
No more sadness, no more sorrow, no more bad times
every day coming sunshine, everyday everybody laughing
walking together by the river, walking together and
laughing, everybody singing together, everybody singing and
laughing, good times good times, everybody walking by the
river now, walking singing talking smiling laughing loving
each other.
Let’s dissect this lyric by lyric.
MIT Blog Survey
The MIT Blog Survey results are in. Here are some highlights.
55% Bloggers identify themselves on their site by their real name. (I do)
76% do not limit access in any way. (I limit access).
36% have gotten in trouble for what they wrote on their weblog. (I have)
83% characterized their blogs as personal ramblings. (I do), while 20% said they publish lists of useful links.
63% of the survey respondents were male. (Me)
46% were between 21 and 30. (Me)
Girl’s slurs on Web log teach students lesson in free speech
Thought this was interesting. I’m having deja vu.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-payton14.html
Chicago Sun Times
March 14, 2004
BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporter
Derogatory comments about gay weddings and blacks posted on a Web log by a junior at Walter Payton College Prep have sparked tensions among students — and provided a lesson about the First Amendment.
In a rare move, the Chicago Public Schools’ top lawyers converged on the Gold Coast magnet school Friday to explain that the 16-year-old girl was not being disciplined because she has a right to free speech. The girl has since shut down her Web log.
The girl’s comments had ranged from deriding gay marriage to belittling the impact of slavery. Despite two schoolwide assemblies at which officials addressed the issue last week, some students and parents remained angry.
“I think it’s horrible. I was outraged,” said parent Sharon Dancy. “The student made some very negative comments about black people that I won’t even repeat, and I think people like her represent the epitome of our societal problems.”
Dancy’s daughter Niema, a senior, said she and other students brought the blog to the school’s attention Wednesday, and they resented a gaggle of CPS lawyers coming to tell them the First Amendment protects the girl from being disciplined. “A lot of us felt the discrimination was disgraceful,” she said.
School officials said the most they could do was meet with the girl and discuss sensitivity and tolerance issues. “We found out that she did write these inflammatory comments. We discussed with her the contents and how hurtful they were. On Thursday, we met with her parents,” Payton Principal Gail Ward said.
School officials declined to release the exact nature of the comments posted by the girl and others on the blog.
“A lot of this stuff had to do with gay marriage. She was against gay marriage, and there were comments about slavery that certainly could be offensive,” said CPS general counsel Ruth Moscovitch, who was at the school Friday.
Moscovitch and two other lawyers were called to the school after students were still questioning why the girl faced no discipline for her comments. The lawyers explained. “The comments weren’t made in school. They may be opinions we don’t like, but they’re opinions,” Moscovitch said. “The questions had to do with understanding the First Amendment and how our society protects free expression.”
They actually had 2 schoolwide assemblies about this girl’s homepage. Wow!
Cicadas
Cicadas ready to end 17 years of silence.
Some snippets from the article:
“While her husband complains about the horrible crunching sound of trapped cicadas under his lawn mower, she said the sound of cicadas brings back memories of her childhood in Alabama.”
They were last here in 1987. Honestly I don’t remeber that strain too well. I do remember the 1985 swarm. That must have been the 13 year variety. I distinctly remember in 4th grade some kid (Lee Moore) bringing in a hatching cicada to class. “Shuuush It’s hatching.” he said. It wasn’t a science experiment. It wasn’t part of biology lab. It was some kid bringing in a bug and setting it on his desk to watch it hatch. Kinda gross. But we were all fasciniated by it, even though we had probably seen a hundred of their shells lying around.
I’m kinda not looking forward to this Spring. Yet I don’t remember the 1998 13 year swarm or the 1987 swarm. I guess I wasn’t outside as much as before. When you’re in elementary school and you get at least one hour each day outside, you tend to notice swarms of red eyed insects in your playground. In 7th grade you don’t. You come in from school and spend the rest of the night doing homework inside.
Hootie
Just for kicks I went over to Hootie and the Blowfish’s website ( www.hootie.com ) to see what was happening. Surprisingly I found they’ve put out a greatest hits album recently (hasn’t everyone?), a third of which of which contains such radio friendly hits that appeared on their breakthrough album everyone owns, or did own during the Summer of 1994.
Song List
1. Hold My Hand (Cracked Rear View)
2. Only Wanna Be With You (CRV)
3. Time (CRV)
4. Let Her Cry (CRV)
5. Not Even The Trees (CRV)
6. Old Man & Me (When I Get To Heaven)
7. Hey Hey What Can I Do (Led Zeppelin cover)
8. Tucker’s Town
9. I Go Blind
10. Sad Caper
11. Be The One
12. Use Me
13. I Will Wait
14. Innocence
15. Space
16. Only Lonely
17. Goodbye Girl
It was radio stations like Y-107 that killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. By playing back to back Hootie songs everyone soon found that they didn’t necessarily have to buy another Hootie album. It was already on their radio. Top 40 radio seems to do that at times. Ruins good songs. Wonderwall comes to mind. Train’s Meet Virginia.
Hootie was the type of thing that VH1 loved. What did it in for me was that music video of them playing golf. Golf? What does golf have to do radio friendly songs?
It’s not that they’re a poor sounding band. It’s that their 15 minutes of fame was already up by the time they released their sophomore album, Fairweather Johnson, which saw only fairweather fans buying that album. Do you own it? I didn’t think so.
It’s a poorly named band. Imagine if you will wearing a Hootie t-shirt out to the mall or Walmart. Then being made fun of because of it. Hootie? Someone really should rename the band. Maybe it was the band’s name that got people initually interested. Maybe it was the band’s name that repelled people.
Looking through their discography I found that they have a whole album of cover songs. “Scattered, Smothered and Covered.” Did they have to work for this one? Probably not.
Lunchroom Stories
Throughout elementary school I brought my lunch in my lunchbox. I had a Dukes of Hazzard lunchbox, a Mickey Mouse one, and a off-brand plastic one with a green dragon on it called “The Beast.” My lunch almost always consisted of 4 items: Sandwich…usually PB & J or ham; potato chips; Little Debbies (has a snack for you); and a thermos full of Kool Aid….or….and I can’t much stomach the tough nowdays…tea. I don’t drink tea now. I find it repulsive.
I still have my Dukes lunchbox, and possibly the others elsewhere. It’s cool stuff. In 1st grade there was another kid in my class who had a Dukes lunchbox too. Too many times he would mistakenly take home my lunch box (even though it clearly had my name on it). So the next afternoon I’d have 2 lunchboxes to take home with me.
The few times in elementary school where I would buy my lunch was when they had pizza. I liked pizza then about as much as I do now. It was always a treat to get some pizza. And surprisingly they always served it with milk so they could call it a balanced meal. Milk just doesn’t go very good with pizza. And believe me, I’ve tried the chocolate milk and it just isn’t as good as the Purity brand milk you can get at Kroger.
In 3rd grade in the lunchroom we were forced to sit boy girl boy girl. Somewhere in between Cara Birchett and Becky Brimm was where I landed in the seating arrangement. And when you put 3rd graders in boy-girl seating arrangement, it always make for interesting lunchroom conversations. Usually the boys would do something gross with their food and the girls would grimace and cry foul.
In 4th grade there wasn’t much of a seating arrangement. However one of the teachers would get aggravated and get one a microphone and say “Five minutes of no talking!” No one ever really listened to her. It was a dull roar at times. I guess they couldn’t get enough volunteer parents to watch the kids while the teachers went to the teachers lounge. Nope. The teachers were forced to sit in the lunchroom with their students. And, at times. At the same table with their students. Looking back I couldn’t imagine the general dislike that could have been for the teacher. That one break in the day where they could potentially relax and they were forced to sit and eat lunch with the kids they had to be around all day with.
I also remember in 4th grade some kid got in huge trouble for throwing a milk carton at the trashbin at a far distance. I’m not sure why it was so bad to do this. Maybe it was a potential food fight. Or maybe the teacher specifically told him not to do it, but he did it anyways. I don’t know.
Somewhere in between 3rd and 4th grade the PTA got together and painted the school lunchroom with your favorite cartoon/Sesame Street character. I can remember Bert and Ernie somewhere around there. Being 4th graders we thought it was mildly stupid, especially at the time Sesame Street was considered babyish.
In junior high somehow I decided that bringing my lunch was juvenile. And since I was in the big world of junior high, I would buy my lunch for $1.10 each day. Mistake. I barely ate it and it wasn’t worth it. Somehow it was worth it just to fit in. I don’t remember if anyone brought their lunch. Too difficult to keep up with. Too easy to have stolen.
Then in high school I began bringing my lunch again. Brownbag. Sandwich…and some cheese Pringles. Ate those almost everyday my sophomore year. Plus frozen Hi-C which would be unfrozen, but cold by lunch time. W00t!
I remember my junior year where they had a food fight or something nearer toward the last day of school. I got in there just after the mayhem had stopped. I don’t think there was much of a fight. I was sorta glad I didn’t get caught up in that.
That’s my lunchroom stories.
College Selection
In the Spring of 1993, I made the decision to go to Lipscomb University. The other university I considered was Freed-Hardeman. It was my sister’s alma mater. Throughout this whole weekend I was confronted by asking myself whether or not I made the right decision.
Freed’s Good Points:
- Strong spirituality nearer toward my point of view. And nearer toward my church’s point of view. Whereas Lipscomb’s more liberal stance on issues worried me at times.
- High caliber of students. That’s not to say that Lipscomb had a lower quality of students. Its just that when I was there this weekend, the people I met seemed sincere about trying to be friendly. And everyone seemed to know each other. Its a 1400 student school. Lipscomb was friendly. But somehow I got the feeling that some were just doing it for lipservice at times.
The short list above is not meant to be a slam on Freed. I just don’t know the school that well.
Lipscomb’s Strong Points:
- Nearby. It was only 30 minutes from my home. This was familiar to me. Home was just a short drive away. Then again, that might have been a liability. Distance could have meant eventual independence. Freed’s remoteness might have been its downfall.
- I knew people who went there. There were about half a dozen people from my high school going there. Making friends wouldn’t be as difficult when you already knew them. Sadly the friends who I started out with at Lipscomb are distant, both geographically and socially to me right now.
- Good quality academic programs in my desired major. I entered Lipscomb desiring to major in Political Science, which later changed to Government when I discovered Poli Sci was heavy on the nondescript philosophical point of view. Lipscomb was better geared toward Government majors being in the state capitol.
- And along the same point above. Good computer programs. Good computer equipment. Computer labs in every dorm (this was 1993 when the internet was just getting big). Email addresses for students. Freed had none of that. Freed might have had a few computer labs in the libary. Freed didn’t have its own webpage until 1997. Had I gone to Freed, I might not have discovered the internet until my senior year (1997). Had I gone to Freed, I might have chosen a totally different field of study, and I might have gone into a different job market. History teacher? Lobbyist?
- Diversity to some extent. Of course you’re comparing apples to oranges. Lipscomb had somewhat of a more diverse student body compared to Freed. However both schools have somewhat of a carbon copied student body compared to Vanderbilt. College is meant to be a place where you can experience different views. Some places are more difficult to experience diversity.
I’m not here to try to rethink or regret decisions made 11 years ago. I am merely contemplating how life might have been if I had chosen a different road.
Finger, TN
There is a town near Henderson called Finger. We drove there this afternoon. Not much to it. There’s the “Finger Christian Fellowship” and “First Baptist Church at Finger, TN” and of course “Finger Church of Christ.” I took a picture of it. I can imagine the town leaders about 150 years ago. “Well, we have this community here. What should we call it?” “How about “Finger” ?” And so the town’s name stuck. Or it could have been the finger part of a river or creek something.
Jackson was interesting too. We stopped by Union University to check things out. Seems very sparse. And there’s one big building where all of the classes appear to take place. Wow this campus is small. I later found out that this is not the original campus. They moved from downtown Jackson in 1975 to the bypass area. Which brings to mind, what happened to the old Union campus? Did they sell it off piece by peace, or did they dismantle it (ala “Little House on the Praire”? I’d like to find out. Surely not much is left as it happened almost 30 years ago. Unless another university moved in on the territory.
There is a building on Union’s campus called “Hyran Barefoot Student Union Building.” Which apparently is the Union Student Union Building, home of the Department of Redundancy Department.
Freedville 2
The town of Henderson has a McDonald’s, Burger King, Baskin Robbins, Jack’s, Taco Bell, Subway…and (so I’m told) a Dominos, and a Pizza Hut. So I could survive here. Maybe. When I was here last…maybe about 8 years ago, they only had a Subway and McDonald’s. You’ve come a long way baby. You can tell that all of the restaurants above were built primarily because of college kids. Taco Bell is a main staple of a college student’s diet. You’ll note that there is no sign of Cracker Barrell, which I would term old people’s food. When was the last time you heard a bunch of college kids say “Hey, let’s go down to Cracker Barrell” ?
I’ve been told that the town sometimes really doesn’t like the college. Sure it brings alot of money to the town, but I’m sure that it has alot of influence in governmental decisionmaking. Is Chester County a dry county? I’ve been told that the local public high school doesn’t have prom…instead it has a banquet…possibly due to the influence of the town.
Todd doesn’t leave his door locked. I don’t know what his thinking is. Sure this is a Christian college, but so was Lipscomb. And I kept my doors locked all the time…actually the doors locked on their own. So there was no choice. It is 2004 and people, even some so called Christian people steal. Don’t leave yourself open for a tragedy in the making.
I think Ultimate Frisbee is in the making for today. Not sure what else. The town closes down at 9PM, while the curfew around here is 12:30. So don’t look for an extended night on the town. Might put in a movie. Who knows. Todd has no money. So I’m sure whatever happens will have to be cheap.
More to come later…
Henderson/Freedville
So I’m visiting Todd at FHU right now. So far its been uneventful. Freed is dead on weekends. We’ve been surfing the internet mostly. Not even left the dorm room.
Freed blocks MTV and VH1, but doesn’t block the USA Network. Go figure. Lipscomb didn’t block VH1. Oh and we’re watching Se7en on TNT right now. Now tell me that isn’t any worse that what you’d see at a Superbowl Halftime show.
I stopped a Wendy’s in Dickson on the way down there. All over it was a Baptist youth group. As I standing in line for my Wendy’s Single with cheese….some kid came up behind me and was standing pratically on top of me. I don’t know if he was trying to cause trouble or if he was just anixous to see Dave. (Dave’s dead, you know). So I turn around and the kid sorta gives me the “what’s up look to his eye.” To which I give the same stare. I think this kid was sorta the outcasts, because when he sat down no one else was sitting with him. “Come on, guys someone sit with me.” Well maybe if he wasn’t so much of a close talker (think Seinfeld). Anyways eventually someone did sit down with him…and it was the kid who spilt his drink on the way to the table.
There. I can’t believe I wrote a paragraph on everything at happened with the Baptist kids at the Wendys. Ok whatever. Oh yeah. The Wendy’s was out of ketchup too.
Tomorrow there’s a frisbee golf tourney or something Todd has signed up for. Fun.