Friday, October 01, 2010

Quack Math

For one thing, I learned that
Chrysler was run by devil worshipers.



I hadn't seen this Donald Duck Math Magic film since an Indian Guide bonfire was rained out,  and we were herded into the council lodge to watch 16 mm movies.  I'm laughing here at the thought of the first film; a circa 1950's movie of the annual Dorchester County (MD) Muskrat skinning contest.- in  faded Technicolor.   Unlike this recent, very sanitized affair, our film was hair, teeth and blood flying all over what appeared to be somebody's garage.  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre doesn't hold a candle to that demonstration.  The lodge hall, except for a few gasps and some muffled crying, was stone silenct.  Then my  repressed laughter got the better of me, and I let out in  full howl. JFC, what the hell were the Lodge mugwumps thinking?   These kids were 7-8 years old! Jesus it was funny.

Next was the Donald Duck film. I was captivated by it, and have often wished I owned a copy.  There is a scene in the original where geometry is used to make difficult pool (not billiard) shots.  I've used that magic ever since.  There are more episodes here.  If you have school aged kids, and by that I mean any age, consider purchasing the video.  This film coalesced a lot of math principles into something tangible for me, and I need that to learn..  I'd have benefited  from it, even as late as college. Won a Nobel for science, prolly.
Boned Jello
Huck and Drinking Bear


7 comments:

Mrs. Coloratura Soprano said...

Dorchester County muskrat skinning contest, ca. 1950's?

Video or it didn't happen. Sorry, Rodge. That's the intarwebs.

Tony Neville. said...

Pretty spiffy that was. It reminded me of this video made by a guy who, IMO, is a maths genius. Here he's made some computer generated art using the Golden Ratio. Best viewed in full-screen mode. Nature by Numbers This just leaves me wanting so much more. It's way too short.

pdwalker said...

Always educational!

I'd never seen that one before. Time to show it to the kids.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I remember watching it in grade school, and wondering why they only showed it once.

Casca

Esteve said...

Seems that Disney was using Donald to educate us about intelligent design. Makes perfect sense to me.

Chuck Martel said...

Maryland's Miss Outdoors pageant once featured muskrat skinning as the talent portion. And the Miss Navajo Nation pageant requires the contestants to butcher a sheep.

Anonymous said...

"I was told there would be no math": Chevy Chase, playing Gerald Ford on Saturday Night Live.

H

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