My seminal memory of high school history class is a black and white film that we were shown about the war of 1812. It was a low budget educational film, and because of its low budget there were several scenes where it was obvious that the characters were walking around and around and around the same tree. I guess they could afford only one. We were not impressed. But we did learn something about Laura Secord.

Oliver is taking MUS801A — Styles of Popular Music this semester, a course that offers a decidedly different lens on history: he reports that this week the focus is on the 1970s, and today’s subjects included Joni Mitchell, the Eagles and Frank Zappa.

While the 1980s were certainly a more educationally enlightened decade than, say, the 1950s, the idea that Frank Zappa would ever be a subject of study in high school history would have been so outside the realm of possibility so as to never have even been considered.

We’re traveling to Halifax tomorrow and so Oliver is missing two days of school. As a result, he’s going to miss the history of punk.