Watching a National Guard helicopter lift off after an EMS display

Just spending an August evening with the boy. Similar:My colleague Dr. Cusick bakes Irish soda bread every year to honor Saint Patrick's Day.Academia"Oliver Twist" is a story of redemption for PICT Classic Theatre.Carolyn started rehearsals for PICT Clas…BooksI'm nerdy enough to give my 15yo a used copy of "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." I’m…

Marching in a parade and watching a patriotic musical

Happy Independence Day, fellow Americans. “Saltpeter, John!!!” Similar:"Do Date" vs "Due Date": Do Profs Really Have to Explain the Difference? If there really are teachers who lis…AcademiaI accidentally did too much DuoLingo. I don't want to advance to the harder league. Come o…EducationPublic service announcement! If you are feeling awkward at a social event and…

The Declaration of Independence (Dramatic Reading)

I rather enjoyed recording this oral interpretation of the Declaration of Independence for WAOB Audio Theatre. Similar:Students must learn how to get things wrong. Only one subject does that. [English.]I invest a lot of energy asking my colle…AcademiaTwo Cheers for the Middle Ages! by Eric ChristiansenI love good writing. “Even those who dou…CultureUPDATE: BREAKING: 'Star…

Solitaire Chess

Spent a relaxing evening in playing solitaire chess puzzles with the boy. Similar:After a pretty crappy day, I found shreds of joy in this clip of socially distanced salsa.In my discipline, teaching small seminar…AestheticsUpdated Syllabus for Journalism 101By the end of the semester you will be a…AmusingSeven reasons why blogging can make you a better…

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:Blender Griffin, Part 3Okay, that’s enough work for one evening…AestheticsDogmeat and I may yet win this game. Yes, this was the decisive moment. I…GamesTom…

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.

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…