Rambling Rhodes

Is this another case of you just being unbearable? Cuz I've never seen any evidence of the ACLU shying away from a case like the one you describe.

Yorps. I see your point, David. That wasn't what I meant. I'm not slamming the ACLU here, I was trying to point out that I don't think the Winona public would be quite so quick to come to the defense of boys wearing such pins. I should update this to make that more clear.

The pin the boys should start wearing should be "I (heart) your vagina too." To, ya know, show their support for the noble cause.

I have such a deep admiration for guys who roll around on the floor with other guys

Oh, Gawd, save it, David. That stuff was cutting edge humor in fifth grade. Nothing like taking one of the world's oldest sports, going back to ancient Greece, and making a gay joke about it.

I did, however, according to teammate reports, reportedly have an opponent sprout wood while wrestling against me. Whether he found me cute, or it was incidental, or my teammates were lying, I guess I'll never know.

I could join the wrestling team. All I need is a lobotomy and some tights.

Ahh, school yard taunts from the athletically challenged. Takes me back. Takes me back.

Ryan, you're failing the pop culture quiz in a big way here.

Oh come on...don't be half-assed about it. The button should be "My penis hearts your vagina too".

Or something similarely crude and tasteless

I better watch it, or Ryan is going to "total" me, man. Totally? Totally.

I get the sneaking suspicion that David's pounding me with "Breakfast Club" references, but since I've never seen the movie, because I absolutely hated Ringwald and all she stood for, I can plead ignorance.

Ryan's response as it appears after inspection with the "Hi, I have a degree in Mass Communication/Journalism" decoder ring:

I get the sneaking suspicion that...

"I got sick of not knowing what the hell he was talking about so I just googled some of these phrases and realized that..."

David's pounding me with "Breakfast Club" references...

"David was mocking me with 'Breakfast Club' references. However, since I totally overreacted, I'll have to say he's been pounding me."

but since I've never seen the movie, because I absolutely hated Ringwald and all she stood for...

"But since I've never seen the movie, because I was far too insecure about my masculinity as a teenager to see a film that didn't involved machineguns and explosions..."

...I can plead ignorance.

"I can plead ignorance."

(sorry. couldn't resist.)

Didn't do a Google search, but I did recall fellow students parroting those lines in high school, so it was kind of a "ding! Oh yeah!" moment. Besides that, what any of THAT had to do with me having a mass communications/journalism major beats the hell out of me.

Pounding vs. mocking: Yeah, I put THAT much thought into a comment I write three minutes before jetting out the door to drive to the Cities. For crying out loud. These are comments, not psycho-analytic exercises. This isn't Plain Layne.

And I did hate Ringwald. I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about her. But even beyond that, growing up in a town of just over 1,000 people, featuring a one screen theater with scant weekend offerings, I didn't see much for movies in general.

I know, I know, you were just being flippant and you're typically irritating self, so I'll just go into the porch and try one last time to put joint compound on the walls to cover those fucking seams that just won't go away!!

The MassC/Comm degree line was part of my ongoing internal monologue about how j-school (and related specialties) seems to produce a lot more spin-doctors and boosters than it does actual journalists. I guess that's one of those connections that seems obvious to me but isn't.

My experience with j-school was one that was inundated with largely liberal professors, to the point where I had to sit through Michael Moore's "Roger & Me," which was held up as an ideal way to conduct investigative journalism. It's not, by the way.

As for the spin doctor aspect, one thing that was constantly smashed into our heads was how to best make a story interesting to the readership. Therefore, a story about a fight that occurred on campus had to lead with how alcohol was involved. *gasp* Obviously, that's a form of sensationalist spin.

Also, a lot of j-school classes coincided closely with their related counterparts, such as marketing and public relations classes, which are quite obviously all about spin, so there was a lot of overlap in that regard.

Of course, the Winona State University j-school program isn't exactly world-renowned, so experiences may vary for students in more recognized j-school programs. But, I have this sneaking suspicion that even the renowned j-schools are pretty similar in this regard.

So long as you know how to write, chances are you can be a competent reporter. Heck, Nick Coleman proves you don't even have to know how to write. The most valuable aspects of j-school, for me, were found in the graphic design and photography classes.