rambling on about SJA, Miriam Makeba, and all sorts of things

Nov 11, 2008 18:49

I just finished watching the latest Sarah Jane Adventures ep. Oh, show, how I love you. How I love everything about you. ( Cut for spoilers. )

music, sarah jane adventures, news, comics, tv talk, quotes, politics

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Comments 35

amaresu November 11 2008, 18:24:31 UTC
1. They burn them. It's in a different context though so it has a different meaning. Burning a tattered flag is respectful, burning a perfectly fine flag is in protest. I've personally never understood flag burning myself.

2. No E. I used to wonder about that when I was a kid, but eventually I just had to accept it.

3. I don't know a single Claire. Until just now I didn't realize how many people on tv were named Claire. Seems a bit odd now that you mention it.

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kattahj November 11 2008, 18:39:07 UTC
I've personally never understood flag burning myself.

Bra burning seems more fun. Especially if you're not wearing anything else. :-) (I vaguely remember a comedy where babies protested by burning their diapers.)

2. No E.

Huh. Teh weird. Sweden's considering maybe going with the A-F system, and we'd have an E in that case. Personally, I think our way-old system from my parents' time would be fun to return to: A, a, AB, Ba, B, Bc and C.

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love2loveher November 11 2008, 19:23:20 UTC
A lot of schools are officially implementing a plus/minus system in regards to grade point averages. Usually:
A=4
B=3
C=2
D=1
F=0

and an average of those numbers is commonly used to show how well you did in school (Not sure if the European System is the same)

But now a lot of places are saying:
A+=4.25
A=4.0
A-=3.75
B+=3.25
B=3.0
etc...

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kattahj November 11 2008, 19:56:04 UTC
Interesting. The grade system I had in junior high was 1-5 with 5 being the best. By high school they had changed it to a system of four: MVG (very well approved), which was 20p, VG (well approved), which was 15p, G (approved), which was 10p, and IG (not approved), which was 0p. (At university they only had G and VG - if you didn't pass the course didn't register as finished.)

And now they're changing it again, it seems, so with my parents' system, that's four national systems of grades in 50 years. Talk about fickle.

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doyle_sb4 November 11 2008, 18:25:50 UTC
Question #2: Is it possible to get an E in school?

In British schools, yes - don't know about American schools. When I was doing GCSEs the grades were A*, A, B, C, D, E, F and U for ungraded (so low it failed to even reach the level for an F).

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kattahj November 11 2008, 18:40:35 UTC
Apparently not in American schools, see above.

U sounds like our -, which is what you get if you have been to so few classes that you might as well not have taken the class at all.

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ninamonkey November 11 2008, 18:26:11 UTC
Lol! I love your American questions.

1. I think once a flag is beyond it's "sell by" date there's a ceremony for it. But I dunno, maybe that's just for military flags.

2. Nope, no "E" exists...although when I grew up you could receive an "E" for Effort, but it wasn't an actual grade. It might be different now. A lot of schools have alternative grades which is confusing as all heck (especially when they transfer those grades to colleges or high schools!).

3. Aheh. "Claire" is a semi-rare "white girl" name. It's even more rare for people of color because it sounds a lot like "Clear"...which implies the color white. I never grew up with any Claire girls - and I grew up in pretty much an all-White high school!

There's a jewelry store chain called "Claire's" and it's popular around a select few circles, but I think "Claire" is a far more popular name in fiction than in reality.

When I hear the name "Claire" (my bias is showing!) I immediately think of a blond chick with a vapid personality. Sorry, all you Claires of the world! :(

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kattahj November 11 2008, 18:44:13 UTC
When I hear the name "Claire" (my bias is showing!) I immediately think of a blond chick with a vapid personality.

What I love about the Claires in fiction is how different they all are - there are the naive young girls like Bennett and Littleton, the more jaded chicks like Fraser and Allen, and the matriarchs like Meade and Huxtable. It's like anything is possible.

It sounds kind of posh to me, can't think why. Maybe because it's a not-so-common French name? (Unlike Charlotte and Marianne, which are so common I don't really think of them as French.)

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emmaco November 11 2008, 19:21:44 UTC
When I hear the name "Claire" (my bias is showing!) I immediately think of a blond chick with a vapid personality

Ha, I think almost the opposite, of St Clare - the result of a Fransiscan high school :)

Growing up in Australia Clare wasn't common but there was generally one around in largish groups of children.

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kattahj November 11 2008, 19:58:50 UTC
St. Clare only makes me think of Enid Blyton.

Growing up in Australia Clare wasn't common but there was generally one around in largish groups of children.

Interesting. That means definitely not uncommon, then.

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hibernate November 11 2008, 18:28:49 UTC
This weeks SJA was probably the first and only time where the retcon didn't make me want to spork my eyes out. Not that I fully agreed with it, but it was still infinitely better than, oh, every single retcon TW ever did. I really need to stop comparing SJA and TW, 'cause it's just making the latter look worse and worse.

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kattahj November 11 2008, 18:46:28 UTC
I tend to see retcons as part of the genre and not be bothered unless the lack of long-term effects is really blatant. I thought this ep dealt with things well - Paul still remembers and might perhaps be a better person because of it, and of course Clyde has grown in this ep. *loves on Clyde*

I really need to stop comparing SJA and TW, 'cause it's just making the latter look worse and worse.

*g* Even with the s2 improvements in TW, the kids of SJA would still kick their collective arses.

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love2loveher November 11 2008, 18:33:23 UTC
To elaborate on the flag-burning - there is some sort of official flag-burning ceremony that makes it legal to burn a retired flag. I think it is only performed by Boy and Girl scouts, who single handedly dispose of all of the country's flags.

Did it once in Girl Scouts. It involved cutting each red/white stripe and saying stuff and throwing each piece into the fire or something (It has been a long time. I'm sure googling would give more trustworthy answers.)

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kattahj November 11 2008, 18:47:43 UTC
That sounds adorably loopy. *giggles*

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