Ben Stein is so funny in this clip.Don't be put off by the slow beginning; at about minute 2 he begins a hilarious anecdote about a couple of teenage or young adult "models."
I think he makes a good point at the end about what today's TV shows teach kids: knowing stuff takes a backseat (a WAY, WAY, WAY, back, back, backseat) to singing, dancing, and fighting. I might also add, a backseat to texting, and all kinds of electronic gimmickery.
INCIDENTALLY: Stein's first teaching stint was as an adjunct professor, teaching about the political and social content of mass culture at American University in Washington, D.C., and then at University of California, Santa Cruz. He also held classes on political and civil rights from the United States Constitution at UC Santa Cruz. At Pepperdine University in Southern California, Stein taught libel law and United States securities law and its ethical aspects. He was a professor of law at Pepperdine University Law School, from about 1990 to 1997.
Showing posts with label Ben Stein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Stein. Show all posts
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Christmas Ponderings (by a Jew)
Me: Dara has put up her Christmas Tree; Ben brought up the Holidays and is dreaming of Christmas (or at least Thanksgiving). I guess I started it by talking about "Presents or NOT" a few Blogs ago. So, continuing in that same vein, I thought you might enjoy the following video of Ben Stein, who is Jewish, talking about Christmas.
Sorry you have to endure the 30-second advertisement before you can view the video.
[Now turn off (pause) the video's next ad, so you can read on: ]
More of Ben Stein's Ponderings on Christmas:
Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:
I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.
Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.
Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?
I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
Me: It's refreshing to get a Jewish perspective on Christmas as it's celebrated in the US, isn't it?
Sorry you have to endure the 30-second advertisement before you can view the video.
[Now turn off (pause) the video's next ad, so you can read on: ]
More of Ben Stein's Ponderings on Christmas:
Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:
I have no freaking clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.
Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.
Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?
I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.
Me: It's refreshing to get a Jewish perspective on Christmas as it's celebrated in the US, isn't it?
Monday, November 10, 2008
Speaking of Thinking
On Saturday, The Knight and I watched the DVD "Expelled." It was surprisingly interesting and even slightly humorous in places. Ben Stein is the "star" or narrator of this movie. You may remember him as the really boring teacher in "Ferris Beuller's Day Off": ". . . anyone? . . . anyone?"
The following is the super trailer for "Expelled." [You might want to pause the music box at the bottom of the page before you start.]
I was particularly interested to see that I was already familiar with one of the featured Darwinists, having read a 16-page critique of his latest book. I am now looking forward to reading another book mentioned in the film: written by a brilliant philosopher with whom I was previously unfamiliar.
The following is the super trailer for "Expelled." [You might want to pause the music box at the bottom of the page before you start.]
I was particularly interested to see that I was already familiar with one of the featured Darwinists, having read a 16-page critique of his latest book. I am now looking forward to reading another book mentioned in the film: written by a brilliant philosopher with whom I was previously unfamiliar.
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