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Greetings, TV viewers!
Some broadcast and cable programs
contain material included in the public school curriculum and on standardized
exams. Here are home-viewing suggestions for March 14-20, 2005.
The topic for this week's Media Hour is St. Patrick's Day, and the Irish in the media. People across the world celebrate St. Patrick's Day -- but why? Watch the featured show on Thursday night, and think about these questions:
What does television tell you about the Irish? How about movies? If you know anything who is Irish, ask them about how they feel they're represented in the news and in entertainment. What's right, what's wrong, what's the same as everybody else?
In Ireland, March 17 is about a Catholic saint who dedicated his life to serving his God. In the U.S., it's usually more about "being Irish" -- but what does that mean? Do folks in Canada and other countries celebrate the day, and how?
If you think you've got the smarts to answer a few trivia-type questions, you'll need to watch the shows and read the websites to be sure!
Remember to come to Saturday's Media Hour prepared. It's all about an open discussion, with everybody pitching in on a good topic -- bounce off of what other people say, too, and talk amongst yourselves while I'm down there! Explore what everyone thinks and remind us to think about what was in the shows and on the websites. The more you help others discuss things (and the more you know about the shows), the better your chances of getting on stage, or even earning clams.
What's the Media Hour? Watch the show(s)-of-the-week, jot down some ideas, then
come and talk about them with me and other citizens (including other City Workers,
if they're available). We get together at the Greek Theater (next to
City Hall), every Saturday morning at 9 a.m., Whyville Time. You'll find that
discussions are easier in the Theater, since everyone's chat bubbles overlap
a little less than in other rooms, and City Workers are able to direct people's
movement and behavior, when we need to.
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Monday, March 14
7-8 p.m. E/P -- check local listings
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National Geographic Channel
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Social Science and Geography
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Middle and High School
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"Exploration Showcase: Dark
Side of Everest"
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Why do climbers ever attempt
to conquer the highest peak in the world? What is it about this mountain
that seduces the sane and attracts the reckless? Why are people prepared
to sacrifice their relationships, bank balances, and even their lives?
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Tuesday, March 15
8-9 p.m. E/P
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Discovery Channel
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Science and Health
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Middle and High School
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"Architecture and Design
of Man and Woman???
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A six-week-old embryo is physiologically
indistinguishable as either male or female. But later a transformation
takes place. This program explains that the two resulting genders are
designed with advantages -- different for each -- for coping with life???s
challenges. (Women live longer and can handle more pain. Men die earlier
and are more muscular.)
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Wednesday, March 16
7-8 p.m. E/P
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History Channel
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Science and Economics
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Middle and High School
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"Modern Marvels: Oil"
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From the first well in Pennsylvania
to the famous gusher ???Spindletop??? and modern supertankers, the
story of oil is, in many ways, the story of modern civilization. This
program presents a look at the ingenious people who risked everything
for "black gold" and great wealth.
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For information about the future
of oil, log on to http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/030705Z.shtml
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Thursday, March 17
6-7 p.m. E/P
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History Channel
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World and American History |
Middle and High School
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"The History of St. Patrick's
Day "
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In Ireland, March 17th is a
feast day honoring the bishop who Christianized the island, but in America
it's a celebration of Irish heritage. You???ll see the march up New
York City's Fifth Avenue with over 150,000 celebrants at the largest and
oldest parade on the day all Americans are Irish. Authors Andrew Greeley
and Frank McCourt provide commentary about this day. You can already read
more about St. Patrick and his Day in a few articles in this week's Whyville
Times. And don't forget about Whyville's first-ever shamrock hunt, happening
today!
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Friday, March 18
8-10 p.m. E/P
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AMC
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American History
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High School
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"Ghosts of Mississippi"
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Based on a true story,
this movie begins in June 1963 when civil rights leader Medgar Evers was
shot to death in his home in Jackson, Mississippi. The man who shot Evers
-- white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith (played by Oscar-nominee James
Woods) -- was arrested, but later freed after two trials ended in hung
juries. Thirty years later, Evers' widow Myrlie (played by Whoopi Goldberg)
convinces Assistant District Attorney Bobby DeLaughter (Alec Baldwin)
to re-open the case. In spite of missing evidence, the death of witnesses,
trouble in his marriage and death threats, DeLaughter nonetheless fights
to bring about a conviction of the 70-year-old De La Beckwith. This movie
is rated PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned). It includes violence, profanity
and racial epithets. Available on video. This is a very serious and very
good movie.
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Saturday, March 19
7-8 p.m. E/P
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History Channel
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Science and Economics
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Middle and High School
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"Mothers of Invention"
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Did you know that hang gliders,
brown paper bags, windshield wipers, Barbie dolls, and liquid paper were
invented by women?. From the early 1800s when women weren't allowed to
hold patents to today, this program reviews the stories -- and struggles
-- of unrecognized women and their well-known inventions that we just
can't live without.
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For information, log on to http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blkidprimer6_12w.htm
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Saturday, March 19
9-11 p.m. E/P
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Lifetime Channel
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Social Science
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High School
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"Homeless To Harvard: The
Liz Murray Story???
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Wow. Wow! Imagine being
a young woman raised in poverty by loving, but drug-addicted parents...
now imagine rising above it all and ultimately making it to college --
and not any old university, but Harvard itself. This movie is based on
the true story of the life of Liz Murray, who, by the age of 15, live
a life in a downward spiral. Alone and living on the streets, Liz was
profoundly affected by her mother's AIDS-related death. She took a serious
look at her future and turned her life around by getting off the streets
and going back to high school. After earning her diploma in just two years,
Liz won a New York Times scholarship for needy students, enabling
her to attend Harvard.
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For information, log on to http://www.lifetimetv.com/movies/info/move3222.html
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Sunday, March 20
7-7:30 p.m. ET, 4-4:30 p.m. PT
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CNBC
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Science and Health
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Elementary, Middle and High School
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"d-Life: Your Diabetes Life"
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This is the initial episode
of a new weekly television series for the diabetes community - focused
on information, inspiration, and lifestyle issues in an entertaining format.
Each week, Nicole Johnson Baker (Miss America 1999); well-known TV Personality
Mother Love; comedian and radio host J. Anthony Brown; actor Jim Turner;
and Olympic swimming champion Gary Hall, Jr. -- all of whom live with
diabetes -- host this "clubhouse" for people with the disease,
their loved ones, and those at risk. Dr. Bob Arnot, former NBC Chief Medical
Correspondent, serves as "dLife's" Medical Contributor.
Featured on this episode: Diabetes
and its impact on families, including Pittsburgh Steelers' Kendall Simmons
and his wife. The series will air in this Sunday timeslot for 13 weeks.
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Sunday, March 20
8-9:30 p.m. E/P
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Animal Planet Channel
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World History and Technology
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Elementary, Middle and High School
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"Dragons: A Fantasy Made
Real"
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Dragons have appeared in the
myths and legends of almost every world culture since the dawn of time.
They appear in medieval mythology and in Chinese text and culture. In
Babylonian legend, the slaying of an evil dragon spurred the creation
of man.
With all these accounts of
dragons, can we dismiss their actual existence? If they were real, would
they have flown and breathed fire? How? This program imagines dragons
as real animals and supposes that all the human myths and legends about
dragons recall a time when people really did encounter these fantastic
beasts. Using computer-generated imagery from the same graphics company
that made creatures for the Discovery Channel's "Walking With Dinosaurs,"
"Walking With Prehistoric Beasts" and the Harry Potter movies,
"Dragons" offers viewers a look at these creatures from the
inside out.
The show imagines how dragons
would have evolved into a number of different species through the ages
and around the globe, and how each dragon species was endowed with physical
adaptations and behaviors specialized for its environment. It features
pictures based on biological science of their "internal workings"
to show how dragons could fly and breathe fire. In this program, the creatures
protect their young and their territory, struggling to survive human encroachment
just as animals have done throughout human history.
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For a good list of books about dragons, log on http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/dragons/reading/reading.html
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