Watching a National Guard helicopter lift off after an EMS display

Just spending an August evening with the boy. Similar:I’ve roughed out earthen embankments for the city walls. I know there was at some point a …I’ve roughed out earthen embankments for…CultureRepresenting the Humanities at Accepted Students Day.Representing the Humanities at Accepted …PersonalMany of these individual steampunk control panel elements are repeated, but I've arranged …AestheticsSettling…

Marching in a parade and watching a patriotic musical

Happy Independence Day, fellow Americans. “Saltpeter, John!!!” Similar:The Most Epic Demo in Computer History Is Now an OperaThis is nice, but what I really want to …AestheticsBrass desk lamp, with translucent green shade and glowing light bulb filament. #blender3dPersonalSpring 2024 Grades: SubmittedSpring 2024 Grades: SubmittedPersonalAdvising incoming majors.AcademiaIn September, 2001 I was blogging about… With a…

The Declaration of Independence (Dramatic Reading)

I rather enjoyed recording this oral interpretation of the Declaration of Independence for WAOB Audio Theatre. Similar:A selfie with a Chekov action figure after learning of Anton Yelchin's deathCurrent_EventsControlling behavior of HQ CEO hijacks what should have been a puff piece about popular HQ…A few minutes ago I heard about HQ for t…BusinessTrektacular Google DoodleAmusingI…

Solitaire Chess

Spent a relaxing evening in playing solitaire chess puzzles with the boy. Similar:Contagion (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 11)Picard faces aggressive Romulans and an …DesignCollege is not a commodity. Stop treating it like one.If we are going to treat college as a co…AcademiaCurse you, conference proposal word limits. I’m frustrated by these accursed c…AcademiaInnovative journalism:…

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:Adobe steals your colorWhat a horrible situation. The Adobe mon…AestheticsAnother random background control panel for a #blender3d #steampunk project. I wish all us…AestheticsInternet Explorer…

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:Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreamingNeil Gaiman tells us why books matter:Wh…BooksMasks (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 17) Ritual symbols start appearing on the… Rewatching ST:TNG Masks (#StarTre…AestheticsAvoiding Spoilers Gives You a Superficial Appreciation…

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…