Watching a National Guard helicopter lift off after an EMS display

Just spending an August evening with the boy. Similar:A selfie with a Chekov action figure after learning of Anton Yelchin's deathCurrent_EventsWorld Press Freedom Day. (Don't take the free press for granted. Journalists are not the e…PersonalI'm honestly not sure where that came from.For my summer project, teaching myself t…AestheticsColossal Cave: The Board Game by Arthur…

Marching in a parade and watching a patriotic musical

Happy Independence Day, fellow Americans. “Saltpeter, John!!!” Similar:Hermann Zapf, the font designer behind Palatino and Zapf Dingbats, has died at 96Hermann Zapf, the designer of fonts such…AestheticsFamily, I Hear You. I Love You. Go Away. This Weekend, I'm Marking Papers.No, I don’t want to see the new jacket y…AcademiaWe love us some Sherlock any way we…

Solitaire Chess

Spent a relaxing evening in playing solitaire chess puzzles with the boy. Similar:Economics in Early Computer Games(First published 27 May 2020, when I fou…BusinessI went with frisse. German uses esse “to eat” for people…AmusingTolkien v. Orwell: Who understood modern surveillance best?Interesting set of observations explorin…CultureViolations (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 5, Episode 12) Telepathic Memory Assaults…

Unity3D Maze Game Tutorial

Workspace for an in-progress Unity3D tutorial. Installing the Unity Hub. (Unity.com documentation) Tutorial Assets <- Download, unzip Place in [YourUnityProject]/Assets Video Tutorials: Unity3D Game Spaces for Beginners (#CWCON 2019 #e11)   Similar:How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s LifeA PR professional should have known bett…BusinessAllergic to Grammar ErrorsSource: Cyanide & Happiness (Explosm…AmusingSimulated iceberg, preserved…

Back in the MLA

As the humanities decline in the United States, the country is losing the craft of understanding, losing its capacity for citizenship. Even educated people are increasingly unable and unwilling to distinguish between fake and real information, becoming a community that cannot understand itself as anything more than a circulation of figures. Self-righteousness takes the place…

The Righteous Mind

I just finished “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion,” a very accessible mainstream (non-academic) book by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Takeaways: Our rational minds are to our emotional/instinctual selves like riders on an elephant. When the elephant leans even slightly to one side, the riders look in that direction…

Skin of Evil (TNG Rewatch, Season 1 Episode 23)

My rewatch reflection on the Star Trek:TNG episode “Skin of Evil,” in which the crew encounters a malignant oil slick. Some good character moments with Worf and Yar, and some good solo acting from Marina Sirtis as Troi psychoanalyzes a disembodied voice. While I appreciate the Roddenberrian argument against playing along with a power-mad enemy’s sick games, dramatizing a that philosophical concept is not enough to carry a full episode. If you’re a fan the final holodeck send-off scene is worth watching but overall it’s a weak episode.

The Crucible, Geyer PAC (Scottdale, May 16-19)

My wife is directing Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Opening night is tonight. Geyer Performing Arts Center.   Similar:Don't use that "18 school shootings since Jan 1" claim. It's Inaccurate.Don’t use that “18 school shootings sinc…CultureThe Speech Eisenhower Never Gave On The Normandy InvasionA fascinating text from an alternate his…CultureAdobe steals your colorWhat a horrible situation.…

Laughter and Light Abound in Prime Stage’s “Twelfth Night”

Kudos to Prime Stage for a Twelfth Night that truly sings. Stage director Andy Kirtland has created a lovely adaptation of Shakespeare’s 1601 comedy. A vibrant intimacy connects the players and audience, supporting a wonderful production that’s superbly enjoyable for both those who know this play and for anyone experiencing Shakespeare for the first time. Kirtland transports an ensemble…