Need Inspiration?

I learned about Paul Wellstone when I had somehow weaseled myself into a Politics and the Media class at the University of Alberta class. We were taught by a lovely man who was rumored to be a draft dodger. He was from Chicago and we watched a lot of American political campaign videos by default.

In amongst the great videos, "Kennedy! Kennedy! Kennedy! Kennedy! Kennedy for me!" we saw a video for a great man, a Senator named Paul Wellstone- whose campaign commercials had an appeal it seemed, to everybody! Check this out:



Anyhow, he seemed great. He was one of the good ones, who just was in politics for the right reasons and actually fought for the people. In coming into this US Election my thoughts have been with the people of the United States who are hoping for a change and it made me remember Paul Wellstone from my class. Then I saw this inspiring tribute video.

He died in a plane crash, and I wonder what he would be doing now had he not have.



Aw man.

The Kristen Latte!

Here’s something I’ve recently been very intrigued by: The “Ghetto” Latte.

Here’s the deal. If you want an iced latte, instead order an iced Americano, without the water, and then proceed to the condiment bar to add your own milk. This is genious! If you want their versions of various flavored lattes with syrups, go for it- and you can get them free if you have a Starbucks card.

This will save you something like $2.00 a day in the “iced latte season” if you can pull this off. I just think it’s very creative, and has been floating in my brain all day. Sure it’s probably not the classiest move to pull on a date or whatnot, but if you’re short on change and want an iced caramel latte, why not right?

Obviously I wouldn’t try this at a little independent either and not on a regular basis, but if you need an extra couple bucks… go for it!

Kristen's Famous Notebook Archives

I was cleaning my notebook collection today (I have lots of random notebooks) and opened one to my notes from when I was volunteering for a children’s television/media conference in 2006. Not surprisingly, most of the technology notes are now irrelevant, but this one says the same. A lovely British man by the name of Gary Pope from KidsIndustries in London (yay!) did a lecture about childhood humour.

I love when my notes can make me laugh. This is truly where both my passions (children’s media and comedy) meet.



Notes!

Humour is when relevancy meets surprise (picture a Venn diagram)

Babies under six months: Social humour is appealing! Similing and over exaggeration make them laugh.

Six months to two year olds: Incongruity is funny as are interactive humour and noises.

Two to four year olds: Word play and sound play = hilarious.

What is funny to a child?
-Dogs with two tails
-Changing words in a song.
-Changing words- Banana to Banapa
-Jingle bells your bottom smells
-Word sounds and meanings for humorous effects. Such as: “PooPooWeeWeeBumBum”
-Repeating the same joke over and over is funny.
-Nonsense is funny. “Jam Sandwich Chair Car”

Four to seven your olds: Sudden surprise, silly stuff and high sensory stuff. Action, slapstick humour and cheeky humour!

Eight to twelve: Abstract, subtle, gross and witty humour. Sarcasm, puns and innuendo. Also, bodily noises.



Humour is a form of play. It reflects the world.

Creativity requires divergent thinking promoted by humour. We use incongruity, which violates set expectations.

In conclusion humour = good for kids.

Samantha Says Vote!

Seriously!