The observation car Pearl sings of her love for Rusty, in the “Like ‘Cats’ but with Trains” show “Starlight Express.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma4FusuIgSM By the way, that’s a Star Wars Stormtrooper outfit, with pink accents added by my wife. Post by Stage Right. Similar:'Star Trek': The Story of the Most Daring Cliffhanger in 'Next Generation' HistoryAround…
My wonderfully geeky tween made these Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde pendants with her Rainbow Loom. Next on her list: making Pac-Man. Similar:A practical application of close reading skills: Nazi-spottingWhenever I teach a literature class, I p…AestheticsOkay, a lot of the world is pretty awful right now, but here's an uplifting video about th…https://youtu.be/umW4koJU3e0AmusingEmpathy in…
I was never a fan of Sinéad O’Connor, but I remember being impressed back in the 80s when Madonna’s bohemian antics were threatening to overwhelm her talent (not that I was a fan of Madonna, either), and a wise-sounding O’Connor told her some of the same things she has just told Miley Cyrus. You are…
Jon Ingold describes the gamelike storytelling philosophy of Inklewriter. (I’ll be teaching a “Digital Narrative” creative writing class in J-Term, so I’m on the lookout for resources.) Our stories tend not be about “choosing what happens” – if readers wanted to control a story, they could write one of their own! Instead, the idea is…
“I know I get a lot of grief for that,” Abrams admitted. “But I’ll tell you, there are times when I’m working on a shot, I think, ‘Oh this would be really cool… with a lens flare.’ But I know it’s too much, and I apologize. I’m so aware of it now.” The director tells…
When I was interning at a radio station in the late 80s, the power went out. A generator kept the station on the air, but with no computers or phones, we had no news to report. As it happened, I had brought a copy of the university paper with me. The news director pointed me…
For Apple, “change” no longer refers to revolution. It refers to fashion. Apple is becoming more like Prada and less like Edison. This has been the case for some time, it was just harder to notice as the iPhone was undergoing large-scale adoption. But in retrospect, Steve Jobs’s keynotes functioned more like catwalks than like…
Similar:Thespian robot doesn't let stiff acting stop it from applying for Screen Actors Guild cardA clever little stunt, getting a little …AmusingThe Crucible, Geyer PAC (Scottdale, May 16-19)My wife is directing Arthur Miller’s The…CultureThe poetry of deafnessMy auditory processing disorder makes it…AestheticsEnjoyed watching "Queen of Katwe" (Ugandan girl chess prodigy movie)I enjoyed watching this chess-themed…
As a fan of Colossal Cave Adventure, I’m curious to know whether there’s an active volcano in this cave. Or at least a gold nugget room. Jonathan Sims catches up with me. Between us and the sunlit passage ahead stands a stalagmite that in profile resembles the paw of a dog. “The Hand of God…
A typographic engineer, Connare was working at Microsoft in 1993, when he was asked for his input on a new program’s fonts. “When I loaded the CD a little dog came up. He talked in a speech balloon like you would get in a newspaper cartoon strip, but it was in the system font Times…
Draft: “As my classmates tormented, I shrank into my turtle-like shell.” Suggestion: “The school mocked; I turtled.” (Yes, I am #marking.) Similar:Apple’s new diverse emoji are even more problematic than beforeThis author did a great job articulating…AestheticsNellie Bly statue to be unveiled at Pittsburgh airport ThursdayIn 1889, Bly became famous for an-around…AwesomeThe Hidden Feminist Messages…
Green and Larson both admit that even the most seasoned gamers might be disturbed when they realize they can’t simply “win” this level by battling some final boss or shooting at a group of hungry zombies. But this discomfort is part of the point — by allowing player to fail in a certain sense, they…
While I’d rather see a reminder that we need to know the rules of formal writing, so that we can choose to ignore them deliberately, otherwise this author makes a good case for the value of poetry. (Great training for the art of writing engaging headlines and story leads.) (See also “Poetry Writing Tips.”) Poetry…
My daughter, having just received a hand-me-down paperback, is annotating it and consulting it as she cannibalizes multiple generic Lego sets for what looks to be an epic DIY “Lego Hobbit” video. (We did buy her a small “Riddles in the Dark” set so she could have a Gollum, Bilbo, and ring, but everything else…
Being a word-oriented thinker, I don’t have much interest in emoji icons. I dislike it when an autocorrect turns a traditional sideways smiley into an icon. My daughter, who at age 11 is too young for a Facebook account, sometimes uses my Facebook account to chat with her slightly-older teen friends, which means that when…
Words many of us never want to hear: “It’s the transmission.” “We can’t get a technician out there until next Tuesday.” “Your ex will be there.” And, of course: “Welcome to our redesigned site!” —Why I Resist Web Redesigns (And Maybe You Do, Too) : Monkey See : NPR. Similar:Beautiful, meditative video shows how books…
This “Histomap,” created by John B. Sparks, was first printed by Rand McNally in 1931…. This giant, ambitious chart fit neatly with a trend in nonfiction book publishing of the 1920s and 1930s: the “outline,” in which large subjects (the history of the world! every school of philosophy! all of modern physics!) were distilled into…
I spent more time than I’d like to admit this summer redesigning my WordPress website. The new theme emphasizes thumbnails, which are very easy to create on an iPad or handheld and upload via the WordPress iOS app. Most important for me, though, is the fact that this new theme is responsive — that is,…
Christian Goldeman felt compelled to match beard illustrations with their typeface equivalents. Similar:Help! I may be running out of excuses for not wearing…Help! I may be running out of excuses fo…Culture"What Teachers Make" Sequence of AssignmentsEvery year I rewatch Taylor Mali’s passi…AcademiaSave The WordsIn honor of the cold I am fighting, I ju…AmusingI touched up…
At a certain point, the transit papers will get so complex that you will, inevitably, start making a lot of mistakes. This can become a serious problem as every incorrectly reviewed passport will deduct more and more cash from your pay at the end of the day. With your family’s lives on the line and…