Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Academy of Miscellany

Everything you never knew you wanted to know
  (+12, -1)(+12, -1)
(+12, -1)
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You call up the Academy, tell them you'd like to book a seat in a class at a certain time on a certain day. The receptionist asks your name and age (some classes would have age requirements) and tells you what room you'll be in. Nothing about what class is being taught in that room - you can find that out when you arrive.

What room you'll be in is decided by a computer program which factors in the fullness of each class and balances them accordingly. It also accepts groups up to a certain number so you don't have to get split up from your family and friends.

You show up at the building and head to your room. For the next hour, you learn all about the art of train hopping from an enthusiastic young hobo. You decide to stop by a few days later. This time it's wine tasting, taught by the owner of a local vineyard.

Once you are in a class, you must either finish the class (they each last either an hour or a couple hours, I haven't decided) or leave. No switching mid-class.

The entire school is volunteer run and paid for by donation. The teachers are all interviewed before they are allowed to teach. To be a student in the program, you also have to go through a short interview process after which you receive your membership card. Classrooms are also video-monitored to ensure maximum safety for students and teachers alike, what with everything being public.

Finally, all teachers would be strongly encouraged to use group activities in their classes to get strangers to interact and break out of their shells.

Joolin, Oct 16 2009

Sources agree that he received his doctorate from the University with No Name http://www.askdreldritch.com/about.html
but due to the multi-dimensional aspect of that institution, the exact date is also unclear. [normzone, Oct 16 2009]

Wikipædia: Random article http://en.wikipedia...wiki/Special:Random
Try it here for free! [pocmloc, Oct 16 2009]

Satellite campus Half_20Bachelors_20degree
[normzone, Oct 16 2009]

TtF&tF (video) http://www.youtube....watch?v=rb9LhspNvzs
A famously hard-to-beat Guitar Hero song, "Through the Fire and (the) Flames" by the British power-metal band Dragonforce. [jutta, Oct 18 2009]

Random activity club Random_20activity_20club
kind of similar [xaviergisz, Oct 18 2009]

[link]






       I'm sure this is baked in some way, but I can't be bothered googling it. I'll leave that to those best at it.
Sounds like fun. I'd do it. [+]
shudderprose, Oct 16 2009
  

       Hello class, my name is [Jinbish] and today's topic is kids tv cartoons of the 1980s and early 1990s.   

       He-Man was a seminal cartoon series in a number of ways...
Jinbish, Oct 16 2009
  

       I'm attracted to the randomness of this. +
blissmiss, Oct 16 2009
  

       Why donations rather than paid for membership?

[+] Though, I'd love to both learn and teach there.
kaz, Oct 16 2009
  

       I'd like to enroll today, right now. When's the next available class?
CaptainClapper, Oct 16 2009
  

       //Classrooms are also video-monitored to ensure maximum safety for students and teachers alike,// There goes the bun.
MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 16 2009
  

       Jinbish, I am delighted to inform you that you have completed the interview process and are now a member of the Academy of Miscellany. When would you like to start teaching?
Joolin, Oct 16 2009
  

       You could set this up online straight away using Skype.   

       In fact it could be text based, instead of video.   

       Hmmm... Wikipedia, random article, see link
pocmloc, Oct 16 2009
  

       volunteers are evil... nah, probably just stoopid.
po, Oct 16 2009
  

       "Good morning, class. We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Freedom is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. You must comply......."
8th of 7, Oct 16 2009
  

       Isn't this what they do in Mensa? Random short seminars of interest to smart strangers hoping to break out of their shells?   

       I got that impression because one time I noted (incredulously!) that free beer was offered to any attending, and so audited one of their seminars.
bungston, Oct 16 2009
  

       The random nature of this, is what sets it apart, or at least that is what I get out of it. You get what you get, by whom you get it, and you don't get to pass until they finish with you. Am I right, or am I right?
blissmiss, Oct 16 2009
  

       Guitar hero class.   

       Me: I would like to teach a class on "Guitar Hero" Interviewer: What qualifications do you have? Me: (plays "through the fire and flames" on expert) Interviewer: Right this way, sir.   

       Either that or "how to pogo stick."
ultra-toaster 3000, Oct 18 2009
  

       <chants>Free-bird! Free-bird! Free-bird!<chants>   

       TtF&tF is a piece of nonsense.
<realising that this could veer wildly off topic and be a damning indictment of my use of 'spare' time>
Jinbish, Oct 18 2009
  

       This is sortof like listening to the guest of the day on NPR's Fresh Air.
RayfordSteele, Oct 20 2009
  
      
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