Recently watched movies

[Van Buren Supernova]

41 minutes ago, Pseudonym said:

I hated all the sports/physical classes. 

 

39 minutes ago, Artemis said:

^ Same.

 

18 minutes ago, besleybean said:

At my school, we all used to go around trying to get hurt...anything to avoid PE!

What?? Why? It's great to get outside the class and vent physically once in a while, and pretend volleyball was my teacher's head, I enjoyed it eventhough I was also the nerdy kind and did great on all except basket ball, it likes my nose too much. While it was limited in high school, there were a lot of opportunities in uni and I tried everything I could land my hands and legs on (although those in uni fall more into adventure category than sport) eventhough nothing contribute to academic performance because they are basically just hobbies with more proper facilities and organization. I still miss those a lot and sometimes regretting not making a life out of it when I was offered too. 

[Arcadia]

3 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

4 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

I hated all the sports/physical classes. 

 

4 hours ago, Artemis said:

^ Same.

 

4 hours ago, besleybean said:

At my school, we all used to go around trying to get hurt...anything to avoid PE!

What?? Why? It's great to get outside the class and vent physically once in a while, and pretend volleyball was my teacher's head, I enjoyed it eventhough I was also the nerdy kind and did great on all except basket ball, it likes my nose too much. While it was limited in high school, there were a lot of opportunities in uni and I tried everything I could land my hands and legs on (although those in uni fall more into adventure category than sport) eventhough nothing contribute to academic performance because they are basically just hobbies with more proper facilities and organization. I still miss those a lot and sometimes regretting not making a life out of it when I was offered too. 

I hated PE too, and it was primarily because: 1) we lived in Florida at the time, and doing anything outside got you all dirty and sweaty; 2) it was the first class of the day, so I'd get all clean and nicely dressed and go to school and immediately have to change clothes and get all dirty and sweaty; 3) the instructor was MEAN. If you weren't fast enough, agile enough, gifted enough to suit her, she made fun of you or accused you of not trying; 4) the showers were communal, and I was shy and raised not to expose my naked body to strangers; 5) several of the other girls were bullies, and would gang up on the "uncool" kids. Fortunately I knew how to handle them (chiefly by not giving a damn what they thought) but I saw them reduce many another girl to tears. To this day I regret that I didn't have the confidence to intervene; 6) the teacher thought she was cool by playing Jackson 5 records while we were showering and dressing. I loathed Jackson 5 records; I was already into progressive/alternative rock by then. 

When I was younger PE consisted mostly of going outside and doing whatever we wanted for an hour, and that, I enjoyed. My friends and I would explore the woods around the school, or work up a game of Red Rover, or pick the wildflowers that grew on the other side of the parking lot … all activities that I suspect are prohibited today for fear that something bad might happen to us. Everything is "organized sports" now, which I always hated because I'm no good at them.

[Arcadia]

5 hours ago, Artemis said:

My high school didn't have theater classes, but there was drama club, an extracurricular that took place after school.  The drama club performed all the school plays.  My junior high also had a drama club, which I auditioned for, but was turned down.  When I was a kid I had a strong interest in theater; and like Carol, I always tried out for plays at my church and school, but was rejected in favor of more popular students and teacher favorites.  I'm still interested in theater, but these days I'd be more interested in behind-the-scenes activities than acting.  I've looked into volunteering, but I'm always told that the theaters have too many volunteers as it is.

There weren't too many art classes at my high school, and most of them only popped up for a year or two.  The only one that stuck around on a more permanent basis was a drawing class.  I got into the pottery class while they had it, and there was a piano class my senior year only.  For music, there was band and choir, but both were after-school extracurriculars you had to audition for, like drama club.  Choir was eliminated after my sophomore year.

This is the thing I never understood about drama/choir in school. We're in school to learn, right? So why do they have auditions for acting and singing, and only pick the kids that are already good at it? How the heck are the rest of us supposed to get better if we're not allowed to participate? 

I suppose if I'd really been passionate about it, my parents would have tried to pay for private lessons (but not everyone has that option, dang it all!) But being told I wasn't good enough to be in the choir in 6th grade permanently squelched all the desire I had to learn to sing.

Maybe that's why I stuck with visual art; everyone was allowed to participate, irregardless of skill. Maybe that's why the visual art classes were always the first to go when budget cuts arose, too. 😞 And why the visual arts always are delegated to the back seat when new arts programs are being planned. Hmm....

[besleybean]

Our school did  a lot of arty/drama/music stuff, too and I didn't mind some sport...

[Carol the Dabbler]

I was no good at sports either, and (like Arcadia's comments about singing) thought it was odd that the "physical education" class did not educate us in physical activities.  We were given the rules for each sport, but we were never trained in the physical part.  If you didn't already know (by osmosis, apparently) how to dribble a basketball, for example, you were out of luck.

But the part of gym class that everyone hated the most was the uniforms.  They were a nice enough shade of blue, and the top part was fine.  But the lower half was bloomers.  Bloomers!  One girl had someone gotten a nearly-identical uniform that had shorts instead, and we all envied her.

[Van Buren Supernova]

15 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I hated PE too, and it was primarily because: 1) we lived in Florida at the time, and doing anything outside got you all dirty and sweaty; 2) it was the first class of the day, so I'd get all clean and nicely dressed and go to school and immediately have to change clothes and get all dirty and sweaty; 3) the instructor was MEAN. If you weren't fast enough, agile enough, gifted enough to suit her, she made fun of you or accused you of not trying; 4) the showers were communal, and I was shy and raised not to expose my naked body to strangers; 5) several of the other girls were bullies, and would gang up on the "uncool" kids. Fortunately I knew how to handle them (chiefly by not giving a damn what they thought) but I saw them reduce many another girl to tears. To this day I regret that I didn't have the confidence to intervene; 6) the teacher thought she was cool by playing Jackson 5 records while we were showering and dressing. I loathed Jackson 5 records; I was already into progressive/alternative rock by then. 

 

Geez that sounds traumatizing. It's a shame of how these people (fellow students and teacher) could ruin subjects to those who wants to learn. Luckily I didn't experience those myself but I could see what you described might have happened. I didn't belong to "cool" kids or gang but they leave me alone and treat me decently. 

Oh, the other thing that seem nightmarish but ended up "fun" for me was girl-scout-ing (?). Did you guys have that?

15 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

But the part of gym class that everyone hated the most was the uniforms.  They were a nice enough shade of blue, and the top part was fine.  But the lower half was bloomers.  Bloomers!  One girl had someone gotten a nearly-identical uniform that had shorts instead, and we all envied her.

Good god! What is thatttttt :: I'm sorry but it seems really really uncomfortable and looks kind of dumb...

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Glad I wasn’t in school in the days of bloomers and pe uniforms. The worst I had was the regulation swimsuit one year for the 2 weeks we did swimming. I was able to pick a comfy t-shirt and sweatpants or shorts. Showers (communal) were mentioned but not required except for the swimming section.

[Arcadia]

18 minutes ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Oh, the other thing that seem nightmarish but ended up "fun" for me was girl-scout-ing (?). Did you guys have that?

I was in Campfire Girls for a couple years, I loved it. More outdoors oriented than Girl Scouts, from what I understand.

 

1 hour ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

1 hour ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

But the part of gym class that everyone hated the most was the uniforms.  They were a nice enough shade of blue, and the top part was fine.  But the lower half was bloomers.  Bloomers!  One girl had someone gotten a nearly-identical uniform that had shorts instead, and we all envied her.

Good god! What is thatttttt :: I'm sorry but it seems really really uncomfortable and looks kind of dumb...

I agree. How awful!

[Pseudonym]

Bloomers! We had a PE uniform but it was fine, just a polo shirt and shorts. Or joggers if it was outdoors and cold. 

I can't think of a single fun PE class apart from the ones I spent snoozing between the gym mats. Rugby was the only big sport in my school, I think there were some teams for other sports but the school rugby team was the big one.

[Carol the Dabbler]

14 hours ago, Van Buren Supernova said:

Good god! What is thatttttt :: I'm sorry but it seems really really uncomfortable and looks kind of dumb...

The bloomers looked *very* dumb!  But they were physically quite comfortable -- the discomfort was strictly mental.

13 hours ago, SherlockedCAMPer said:

Showers (communal) were mentioned but not required except for the swimming section.

We didn't have a pool (so no swimming lessons), but we did have obligatory showers.  We'd undress by our lockers and quickly wrap ourselves in a towel, which we kept on till the absolute last minute, showered while ignoring each other, then reversed the procedure after the shower.  Our gym teacher told us about one school where the gym towels were too small to wrap oneself in -- so the girls would wrap them around their heads, so no one would know who they were!

12 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I was in Campfire Girls for a couple years, I loved it. More outdoors oriented than Girl Scouts, from what I understand.

We didn't have Campfire Girls in our area.  I was in Scouts for ten years, though, and enjoyed it -- especially after I got into Ranger Aides, which was more camping-oriented.  We learned things like map-making, specialized use of knots, and starting fires without matches.

10 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

Rugby was the only big sport in my school, I think there were some teams for other sports but the school rugby team was the big one.

Basketball was the important sport in our area back then.  We played it quite a lot in phys ed.  There were also official teams that played against other schools, but those were only for the boys.  If girls wanted to play competitive sports, they could joint the Girls' Athletic Association.  The school let them use the gym, and the gym teacher was the sponsor, but the school provided no uniforms or transportation.  (The girls played in their gym suits.)

When I lived in Iowa, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the big state-wide high-school tournament was girls' basketball.

 

[T.o.b.y]

I hated PE with a vengeance. Mostly because of the other kids, who made fun of me being clumsy and chubby. Also, because our school was so small, boys and girls had PE classes together until we were about 16. 

And I am the opposite of competitive, so most games would have stressed me out even if I could have caught a ball. 

I didn't discover that I actually love to exercise until after I graduated high school. 

[besleybean]

To be honest, I still don't like it now.

But what I have done for my exercise routine, is to try and foucs on what I do like...dancing!

[Pseudonym]

My school was pretty big but the boys and girls still did PE together. 😕

[Carol the Dabbler]

3 hours ago, T.o.b.y said:

because our school was so small, boys and girls had PE classes together until we were about 16. 

 

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

My school was pretty big but the boys and girls still did PE together. 

Good heavens -- wearing those bloomers was bad enough in front of the other girls!  Even though we enjoyed playing baseball, we didn't care for being outdoors in our bloomers, in full sight of the classrooms and the highway.

Even from a practical standpoint, though -- how could the boys and girls do the same things?  Or did the girls and boys do things differently, despite being in the same class?

[Artemis]

I attended small schools and big schools, and boys and girls always had PE together.  We did the same things and played the same sports.  I guess the teachers didn’t care how we worked it out, it’s not like they were teaching us how to play the sports anyway, besides giving us the rules.  I think the point was just to make us exercise.  We never had a PE class where we just got to wander at will and explore, even in the early grades; it was always either sports or exercises, like sit-ups, push-ups, lunges...

For reasons already mentioned by others above, PE was miserable and I hated it.

I got around the naked showers by wearing a swimsuit under my clothes, and showering in that (which I still didn’t like, but it was better).  I brought underwear with me in my book bag, and changed in a bathroom stall after my shower.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Artemis said:

I got around the naked showers by wearing a swimsuit under my clothes, and showering in that (which I still didn’t like, but it was better).  I brought underwear with me in my book bag, and changed in a bathroom stall after my shower.

That is brilliant! 

 

[Arcadia]

8 hours ago, T.o.b.y said:

And I am the opposite of competitive, so most games would have stressed me out even if I could have caught a ball. 

I didn't discover that I actually love to exercise until after I graduated high school. 

Right! If hiking and bike riding had been offered in school, I might have been a PE star! As it was, running was my only strong suit, and even that went downhill fast after puberty hit. A lot went downhill after puberty hit.  

[besleybean]

Yeah, I'm blessed with healthy mammary glands....

put an end to my sprinting career!

[Van Buren Supernova]

Actually I found talents in sport after puberty, and I think I have generous..eh.. those.

But that was good time, the younger days, now I think there is a risk of pulling a muscle by just sitting on the toilet.

 

Anyway, no good movie out there so I stayed at home rewatching Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (I'd give it a 9/10), somehow I didn't have memory of the details and how it ended, watching it with full concentration this time, and, this is the type of rom-com (if it's a rom com) that I like and appreciate. I like how they tell the story, how they unravel layer and layer of them, how each characters and storyline are developed, how f-up some of the things they actually are and how believable everything is (despite the piece of advanced technology). Which one is more painful, erasing or being erased? Or driven to the need to do so?

It's really sad though, I think. Many aspects of it, the characters and their life choices and struggles, the realism and pain of relationship.

This is probably the only Jim Carrey's role that I really like, and how could I forget that Mark Ruffalo was in here as well. 

[Artemis]

I just remembered, 'Frankenstein' tomorrow!  Yaaay!

 

[Arcadia]

First Man … hard to rate, because I suspect it will be too slow for many viewers. But I really liked it, so I'll give it an 8/10. 8 because the special effects weren't very special. (No stars in the lunar sky? No earthrise?) But they also get a little bit of a pass from me, because I think it may have been poetic license.

At any rate, the movie made me think a lot about the way men were expected to be in the 50's/60's … stoic to the point of coldness, utterly defined by their jobs, etc. … and how maybe, just maybe, things in that area have improved maybe a little bit since then? The handshake with his son (because real men don't hug) almost broke my heart. Maybe because my Dad never hugged my brothers, but we girls got all the hugs we needed, and I see how it affected them, and how much closer my nephews are with their own sons because it's okay for them to show affection.

Anyway, I liked the movie because it made me think about stuff, and also because I remember those ancient times so well.  

[Artemis]

27 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

At any rate, the movie made me think a lot about the way men were expected to be in the 50's/60's … stoic to the point of coldness, utterly defined by their jobs, etc. … and how maybe, just maybe, things in that area have improved maybe a little bit since then?

That's very interesting.  I saw this movie with my mom last weekend, and she was loving this aspect of it.  She turned to me during the movie and whispered, "Now that's when men were men."

I knew the movie was going to be serious, but I wasn't expecting it to be quite so sad.  It was good though, and I think it effectively got across at least some of what it was trying to show: How amazing it really was that we managed a trip to the moon at that point in history.  If just one of those nuts and bolts had been even a little off, the whole thing could have gone kablooey.  The fact that everything had to be just right, and was, is truly incredible.

 

[Arcadia]

Yes, I got that from it too. The technology looks so primitive!!  

And yes, that's when men were "men", and I hope we don't ever go back to that era. I admired him far more when he was playing with his kids than when he could barely be bothered to acknowledge their existence.

[Carol the Dabbler]

5 hours ago, Artemis said:

If just one of those nuts and bolts had been even a little off, the whole thing could have gone kablooey.  The fact that everything had to be just right, and was, is truly incredible.

Yup, that was back before NASA officials got over-confident, back when they still took their engineers seriously -- back before Challenger.

[J.P.]

6 hours ago, Artemis said:

How amazing it really was that we managed a trip to the moon at that point in history. 

This was what I got from Apollo 13 (haven't seen First Man yet). They flew to the Moon using beeping slide rules!