FIRST things FIRST

[Charmander]

Will.i.am. Refrenced FIRST in Super Bowl halftime... So epic

[tomy]

He didn't were the hat though...

[Libby K]

It's claimed that a Triangle-Circle-Square scrolled across his helmet. I'd like to see some pictures... I must have missed it!

[Marc P.]

I watched it repeatedly in HD on my DVR, I can only see red squares going by on his helmet LCD.

Edit: Watched more of the show in slow motion, found this:

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3043/william2g.jpg

[dtengineering]

Um... I know the Black Eyed Peas are pretty famous, and that for a lot of people the Super Bowl is kind of a big deal, but... well... I'd have to say that the references here are kind of like a Dave Lavery game hint.

Didn't somebody once say something about "You get what you celebrate?" I'm not getting the sense that there was a lot of celebration of science, technical innovation and higher learning taking place today.

Jason

[kgzak]

Originally Posted by dtengineering

Um... I know the Black Eyed Peas are pretty famous, and that for a lot of people the Super Bowl is kind of a big deal, but... well... I'd have to say that the references here are kind of like a Dave Lavery game hint.

Didn't somebody once say something about "You get what you celebrate?" I'm not getting the sense that there was a lot of celebration of science, technical innovation and higher learning taking place today.

Jason

Unless you look at all the special effects and lights. You could say that they were celebrating Science and Technology with all the Science and Technology in the show. I personally think he did the best he could do to display FIRST and I thank him for that.

[Basel A]

Originally Posted by kgzak

Unless you look at all the special effects and lights. You could say that they were celebrating Science and Technology with all the Science and Technology in the show. I personally think he did the best he could do to display FIRST and I thank him for that.

There's a difference between celebrating things that are "cool" (video games, music, light shows, surgery by robots, rovers on mars), and celebrating what makes them work. FIRST is all about getting us kids into developing cool stuff, things that save lives and make people go "Wow!" I think we can pretty conclusively say that showing off that which is cool, like the SB Halftime Show, isn't the best way to inspire people to make more cool things. FIRST offers a more personal approach, and I hope will.i.am is truly interested in making that happen on a larger scale, and more sustainably. Mainstream support is a good way to do both of those things, and I think attracting popular artists and figures like will.i.am attracts that support we crave. will.i.am did a nice job of bringing a little bit of FIRST into the Super Bowl, and I thank him for that.

Someone mentioned an ad for FIRST in the Super Bowl, and while FIRST doesn't exactly have money just lying around, I think that would be pretty epically cool. Guys?

I also like how there's 3 different threads on this topic.. heheh

[Phoenix Spud]

Like Bill, I'm a HUGE Steelers fan so watching the SB this year was a must. (though it was a little hard finding a place to watch it in Sydney Australia!) Most years, my family avoids the half-time show. However, this year, we were glued to the TV for the whole time! When will.i.am said "first things first" we were astounded.

Whether or not will.i.am intended to point people to FIRST is a side issue, the most important point is he brought (inter)national attention to many of the issues the world currently faces. That alone is amazing. The fact that he used the word "first" in his song made it even more special.

[Chris Hibner]

Originally Posted by Basel A

I think we can pretty conclusively say that showing off that which is cool, like the SB Halftime Show, isn't the best way to inspire people to make more cool things.

This is very true, however...

There is still a good reason for interjecting FIRST into something like the SB halftime show. Unfortunately, most high school students see a dichotomy: if you're into FIRST you're not cool, and if you're cool you're not into FIRST. It's the old "only geeks do that stuff", and "if you try too hard to be smart, you're just a nerd". That's a very unfortunate attitude, and I'd be willing to bet that there are a number of high school students that wanted to do FIRST but shied away (ever watch "Glee"?).

Sooner or later there needs to be an attitude shift that shows that people can do smart things and cool things at the same time. They don't have to be mutually exclusive.

The big step is that we need someone that actually does smart things along with the cool thing. It's nice that Will.i.am or Will Smith say that we should do FIRST. It would be much better if you could find someone that actually does it.

[Carol]

When did he say "First things first"? I missed it.

[Bill_B]

Who is kidding whom? Which came first. F.I.R.S.T. or "for inspiration and recognition of science and Technology?" FIRST is a conjured acronym using a common English word. Taking nothing away from the objectives of the organization, the name makes it easier to slide them into everyday conversations by virtue of that word. If you think the goals and mission of FIRST are important, you are at liberty to use this to turn a phrase or sentence toward those goals.

What do you think the lyric from the superbowl halftime should read?
"First things F.I.R.S.T." or
"F.I.R.S.T. things first" or
"First things first"
(remember the singer's propensity for injecting periods?!? . . .)

I'm still thinking about FIRST things - something like thirty or forty times so far today. I'm not going to attempt a running tally. That minibot won't get up the pole and back by itself.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Carol

When did he say "First things first"? I missed it.

Carol,

This is a post in another thread that shows the change in lyrics.

Jane