L.L. syzygia • Gk. syzygia "yoke, pair, union of two, conjunction" • syzygein "yoke together" |
The syzygy between
Ted Nugent and
Newton's Apple dropped on my head last week. Their connection was surprising. I realize Nugent is not one of the favorite people we've discussed in kosland. I hesitate to even mention his name. But, this odd syzygy appealed to me for a couple of reasons. One, I have been an educator all of my life. Teaching science concepts is my thing. Two, I play electric guitar a little. That caught my attention.
My job involves locating education resources which align to specific state teaching standards. The resources are used to enhance or correct a student's understanding of that concept. The company obtains permission to use the resources. I search them and provide the url so the teachers and students can access them. That's the 2¢ version of my job.
Recently, I was searching the archive of the TV show Newton's Apple which was produced by KTCA in Minnesota between 1983-1999. The web site has links to over 300 video clips from many of the episodes. They are categorized under the Browse By Category heading. Explore and see for yourself. They were usually very entertaining and quite well done. The segment below involving ice skater Scott Hamilton is an example of one. Click the image to follow the link.
Come below Scott's fancy swirls in the ice for the rest of today's story.
I was searching through the Technology and Invention section of the Newton's Apple site for good teaching resources. Now and then, the name of a famous person was listed. That person was interviewed as a spoof of the TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I wondered why Ted Nugent was listed in the Technology and Invention section. Nugent was a guitar player, among other things.
As it turned out, he went through a conceptually sound explanation of how vibrating guitar strings are able to generate electrical impulses, which are in turn amplified into loud sounds on stage with feedback effects. No doubt he had some coaching and a script for the production. But, it was interesting.
If you haven't done so yet, click on his picture above or this link to see the segment.
No. I did not select this resource as one to use at work. I don't care how well he explains something. I'm not using him as an example for school kids. But, I hope you got a kick out of this syzygy.