softantlers's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=softantlers2010-01-20T21:29:22ZLetter from Belgium (review)http://everything2.com/user/softantlers/writeups/Letter+from+Belgiumsoftantlershttp://everything2.com/user/softantlers2010-01-20T21:29:22Z2010-01-20T21:29:22Z<p>I was in middle school the summer the <a href="/title/college+radio">college</a> station began playing “<a href="/title/Letter+to+Belgium">Letter to Belgium</a>” by <a href="/title/the+Mountain+Goats">the Mountain Goats</a> over and over and over. I didn’t have my own computer or MP3 player, and I didn’t have any taste of my own until <a href="/title/The+Impact89FM">WDBM</a> became <em>my station</em>. I’d turn it on as soon as I got home, and the only three reasons I’d turn it off were 1) bedtime, 2) Monday evening, which meant sports talk and country music, and 3) “<a href="/title/Uhn+Tiss+Uhn+Tiss+Uhn+Tiss">Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss</a>,” the <a href="/title/Bloodhound+Gang">Bloodhound Gang</a>’s second most famous song, which I, budding prude, thought was the absolute nastiest thing I’d ever heard. If I heard the opening notes of that song, I would drop whatever I was doing and run to the radio to turn it off. Since WDBM had, and still has, a pretty small playlist for a radio station, it played “Uhn Tiss” and “Letter to Belgium” a few times a day. But I was so proud of myself for discovering the college station. It had no commercials, and what they played sounded so weird and<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…John Adams (person)http://everything2.com/user/softantlers/writeups/John+Adamssoftantlershttp://everything2.com/user/softantlers2009-10-19T19:53:53Z2009-10-19T19:53:53Z<p>John Coolidge Adams, b. February 15, 1947, is a <a href="/title/minimalism">minimalist</a> composer and the creator of several sensational contemporary <a href="/title/opera">opera</a>s. </p>
<p>A native of <a href="/title/Worcester%252C+Massachusetts">Worcester, Massachusetts</a>, Adams' childhood was spread out across several New England states. He had a <a href="/title/musical+childhood">musical childhood</a>: he learned the clarinet from his father when he was quite small, grew up attending <a href="/title/Boston+Symphony+Orchestra">Boston Symphony Orchestra</a> concerts, and began composing his own music at ten (it first graced his ears when he was around thirteen or fourteen).</p>
<p>After obtaining two degrees from <a href="/title/Harvard+University">Harvard</a> - earning the distinction of being the first student at America's oldest <a href="/title/higher+learning">higher learning</a> institution to be permitted to submit a musical composition as an undergraduate thesis - in 1971, he made the shift from <a href="/title/East+Coast">East Coast</a> to <a href="/title/left+coast">left coast</a> that informs his piece <i><a href="/title/Dharma+at+Big+Sur">Dharma at Big Sur</a></i>. In his own words: </p>
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<p>When I was asked by [ ... ] the <a href="/title/Los+Angeles+Philharmonic">Los Angeles Philharmonic</a>’s music director to compose a<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></blockquote>…Swine flu (event)http://everything2.com/user/softantlers/writeups/Swine+flusoftantlershttp://everything2.com/user/softantlers2009-04-27T20:13:21Z2009-04-27T20:13:21Z<p><b>Swine influenza flu</b> or <b>SIV</b>, in the strain currently getting so much news coverage, is descended from or related to a virus endemic to our <a href="/title/porcine">porcine</a> friends that developed into a <a href="/title/zoonosis">zoonosis</a>. The symptoms of swine flu in humans are identical to that of other types of flu: chills, fatigue, et cetera, although an SIV infectee may additionally suffer some diarrhea and vomiting above and beyond average flu symptoms.</p>
<p>Like other zoonoses, you contract swine flu by exposure to infected animals - whether you work with them as a vet or in a slaughterhouse, or if you are some sort <a href="/title/zooerasty">of pervert</a> - although it's also fully possible to get the disease through contact with a person who fits one of the above descriptions. The 2009 outbreak contemporary to this writing is, as Don J points out, not necessarily a zoonosis, but related to said type of disease, and began in <a href="/title/Mexico">Mexico</a>, clustered around <a href="/title/Ciuda+de+M%25C3%25A9xico">Ciuda de México</a>, <a href="/title/San+Luis+Potosi">San Luis Potosi</a>, <a href="/title/Aguascalientes">Aguascalientes</a> and <a href="/title/Oaxaca">Oaxaca</a>. In the US, cases have<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…ACT Writing Test in-class practice (essay)http://everything2.com/user/softantlers/writeups/ACT+Writing+Test+in-class+practicesoftantlershttp://everything2.com/user/softantlers2009-02-19T22:52:05Z2009-02-19T22:52:05Z<p>In <a href="/title/English+11H">English 11H</a>, we're spending the week doing invaluable <a href="/title/American+College+Test">ACT</a> prep work. Here's my response to prompt #2 from somewhere in Ms. Sanford's copy of <i>The Real ACT Prep Guide 2005</i>.
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<blockquote>In some high schools, many <a href="/title/teachers+and+parents">teachers and parents</a> have encouraged the school to adopt a dress code that sets guidelines for what students can wear in the school building. Some teachers and parents support a <a href="/title/dress+code">dress code</a> because they think it will improve the learning environment in the school. Other teachers and parents do not support a dress code because they think it restricts <a href="/title/the+individual+student%2527s+freedom+of+expression">the individual student's freedom of expression</a>. In your opinion, should high school adopt dress codes for students?</blockquote>
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<a href="/title/Hems+are+soaring%252C+pants+are+drooping%252C+and+debate+is+raging">Hems are soaring, pants are drooping, and debate is raging</a> about the single most important issue facing educators today: what on earth should be done about the dress code? In my opinion, the answer is clear: students should be forced to wear full-b<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…What would Jesus buy? (recipe)http://everything2.com/user/softantlers/writeups/What+would+Jesus+buy%253Fsoftantlershttp://everything2.com/user/softantlers2008-12-04T03:41:01Z2008-12-04T03:41:01Z<strong><!-- close inline tag into block --></strong><blockquote><strong><!-- reopen inline tag after block -->"WARNING: <a href="/title/Stop+Shopping+Gospel+Music">Stop Shopping Gospel Music</a> has been known to induce fits of subversive singing inside subway cars, bus shelters, automobile interiors and food co-op shopping aisles."<!-- close inline tag into block --></strong></blockquote><strong><!-- reopen inline tag after block --></strong>
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<p><i>Mother, father, that godly mystery,<br />
Will you come here and teach me<br />
When the lowest prices hit me<br />
Wal-Mart will it always reach me?<br />
Mother, father, that godly mystery<!-- close inline tag into block --></i></p></h4>
<p><i><!-- reopen inline tag after block -->"What Would Jesus Buy?" is the title of a documentary about a man who goes by <a href="/title/Reverend+Billy">Reverend Billy</a>, who is the (sole?) <a href="/title/pastor">pastor</a> of the <a href="/title/Church+of+Stop+Shopping">Church of Stop Shopping</a>. The <a href="/title/Church">Church</a> of <a href="/title/Stop+Shopping">Stop Shopping</a> is an unusual organization. Their work is part <a href="/title/theater">theater</a> and part utterly clearheaded <a href="/title/rhetoric">rhetoric</a>; part culturally referential <a href="/title/irony">irony</a> and part <a href="/title/complete+sincerity">complete sincerity</a>.<!-- close inline tag into block --></i></p><h3>
<p><i><!-- reopen inline tag after block --><em>Working people and working families<br />
Whether they’re halfway around the world<br />
Or they’re standing right here next to me.<br />
Wal-Mart says you’re losing money<br />
Well,<!-- close unclosed tag --></em><!-- close unclosed tag --></i><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></h3>…Romanesco broccoli (thing)http://everything2.com/user/softantlers/writeups/Romanesco+broccolisoftantlershttp://everything2.com/user/softantlers2008-11-27T17:56:16Z2008-11-27T17:56:16Z<p><a href="/title/Romanesque+broccoli">Romanesque broccoli</a> is a naturally occurring hybrid of <a href="/title/cauliflower">cauliflower</a> and <a href="/title/broccoli">broccoli</a>. I have a feeling that text cannot do justice to <a href="/title/the+countenance+of+this+vegetable">the countenance of this vegetable</a>, which appears completely inedible. Maybe it's an <a href="/title/evolutionary+niche">evolutionary niche</a>: be <a href="/title/charming">charming</a> enough that the humans can't bear to let you die off, but keep your numbers plentiful by being off-puttingly odd enough that nobody will eat you.</p>
<p>If you do dare, the first peril you face is an <a href="/title/OD+on+math">OD on math</a>. Every intimidating head of Romanesque broccoli sports dozens of greenish-white <a href="/title/floret">floret</a>s, each of which is an individual <a href="/title/Fibonacci+spiral">Fibonacci spiral</a>. Fibonacci spirals are what happen when a <a href="/title/nerd">nerd</a> draws a <a href="/title/Fibonacci+tiling">tiling</a> of squares with side lengths equaling successive numbers from the <a href="/title/Fibonacci+sequence">Fibonacci sequence</a> and connects their opposite corners with curved lines. Romanesque broccoli is also <a href="/title/fractal">fractal</a>, which means that it has the geometric property of <a href="/title/self-similarity">self-similarity</a>: if you split it into parts, each part is a rough copy of the whole<!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…