Let me tell you what I did at work this afternoon:
I'm not sure why I was thinking about this, but I had been talking to some friends about the song "American Pie" by Don McLean and I had no idea what day it was that "the music died." (I know, everyone knows that and it's SO sad that I didn't). These friends mentioned that it was the day Buddy Holly, etc. died in a plane crash (by the way, I only know who Buddy Holly is because of Weezer...). So, since I didn't know anything about it, I Wikipedia'd it (hey, if "googled" is a word, so it Wikipedia'd). I learned the whole story about the plane crash and what other things the song is about (apparently, it makes references to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, etc).
Did you know that?
Then, that got me thinking (because Wikipedia mentioned it) about the song "We didn't start the fire" which I have ALWAYS loved, though the only words I knew were the chorus. I just loved the beat and it was popular when I was really little. SO I got going on that with the help of Wikipedia. It had a list of all the things mentioned in the song and what Billy Joel was referring to, so on any that I didn't know about or wanted to know more about, I clicked on the link.
Did you know, by the way, that the song is all about things that happened throughout Billy Joel's life? It starts with the year he was born. Pretty cool idea I think.
ANYWAY, this whole post is just to say how COOL Wikipedia/the internet are. I know there are definitely problems with the internet, but I'm so much smarter than I was 2 hours ago!
PLUS! I was reading about the Berlin Wall (mentioned in Billy Joel's song) and it reminded me of this movie I saw about 15 years ago. I couldn't remember the name, I just knew it was about some people who built a hot air balloon to cross the Berlin Wall. So I googled that: "movie about people crossing the Berlin wall" Lo and behold, the 23rd link was to Yahoo Answers where someone asked the SAME question and I got the name of the movie! (it's Night Crossing by the way).
I've made a list of movies and book I want to see and read because of all this reading (The Color Purple, Bridge on the River Kwai, A Streetcar Named Desire, read the Catcher in the Rye again, etc.)
GO WIKIPEDIA!
(I'm sorry there are no pictures - our camera has been in the closet for WEEKS. I'll try to post pictures soon...)
7 years ago
6 comments:
Very Cool! I also love Wikipedia for those "I wonder..." type questions! I always recommend checking there! Although, that can be incorrect because it is stuff posted by random people just like you and I, so be careful with it too!!
Yes, we would also love to see pictures too!!
You'll have to tell me what you think of A Streetcar Named Desire. I watched it because of the infamous "Stella" part and to see what it was all about, but I thought it was kind of weird. Good stuff. I love how connected everything can be because of the internet.
"We didn't start" the fire held no mysteries for me - I loved that song from the first time I heard it - because it was my life too - right to the "Children of Thalidimide", a reference to why my friend Ginger has no fingers...
But "Miss American Pie" has always been a mystery to me, other than the Buddy Holly connection (and I only learned that much later than the song was popular); I think I'm pretty slow on the pop culture stuff. But I will check it out now, thanks to you! So, thanks for spreading the fire - of information! Love you!
And Happy Birthday, Nathan Andrew Frakes! Glad you're in our family!
Much love, Yomama
I prefer Dwight's version of "We didn't start the fire"...namely "Ryan started the fire!"
And yes, I did know about what American Pie was all about but that isn't saying much...I have an incredibly vast store of completely useless information (which by the way has been rapidly increasing since the advent of wikipedia).
Alisa,
Great post! Yes, I love Wikipedia for the same reasons. People rail that it's not perfect, but it's sure smarter than me and much faster than doing academic research when I'm just curious.
I watched "A Streetcar Named Desire" and was very disappointed because the protagonists were unlikeable and the plot was disturbing and depressing. Oh, and I also used Wikipedia to remember the name of the "Berlin Wall Movie!"
Sorry,
That last comment was made by Darren.
Darren
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