Please check this out on YouTube, it's just so wonderful:

YouTube: A Protein Synthesis Primer

This is a 1971 film of a dance illustrating protein synthesis, with an introductory chalkboard explanation.  (Keep watching you attention deficit folks, the dance kicks in at around 3 minutes.)  (Hat tip to JWZ's Blog.)

Yeah, it's completely hilarious.  'One of the funniest things I've ever seen.  But there's more going on here...

This is an vivid account of a slice of American youth culture in 1971.  The performance mixes science, poetry, dance and music, and is filled with joy.  It's a celebration of hard science recognizing one of the major engines of life, as well as a celebration of life itself, performed with optimism and fun.

(Hah!  And you thought it was just a bunch of hippies rolling around in the grass.)

Now, you can chalk this up as an old fart defending his formative years, sure (I turned 14 in 1971), but the point still stands.  You don't see stuff like this nowadays.

"tRNA!  Wooo!"