Watching a National Guard helicopter lift off after an EMS display

Just spending an August evening with the boy. Similar:College student makes masks for the deaf & hard of hearing Other than one trip to the grocery sto…Current_EventsFinally — the pace at work subsides a bit.PersonalNew home office setup. I was delighted to find those little storage boxes that fit in a ni…PersonalWhen you hear your…

Marching in a parade and watching a patriotic musical

Happy Independence Day, fellow Americans. “Saltpeter, John!!!” Similar:The Enemy (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 7) — LaForge and a Romulan Cooperate to …Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….EthicsVery interesting adaptation of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. #pptlaytime @thepublicpghCulturePage Layout 101: Proximity creates context. Don't let this happen to you.DesignSeton Hill University's New Media Journalism Program Named…

The Declaration of Independence (Dramatic Reading)

I rather enjoyed recording this oral interpretation of the Declaration of Independence for WAOB Audio Theatre. Similar:Playing video games linked to breast-feeding, not crimeGreat piece from Ben Kuchera at Ars Tech…AmusingHorrifying deepfake tricks employee into giving away $25 millionNo names in this single-source anecdote …BusinessReporters accurately repeat what VP spokesperson says; different official cites "misreport…The…

Solitaire Chess

Spent a relaxing evening in playing solitaire chess puzzles with the boy. Similar:The Portable Writing desk — the Victorian laptopFocusing on the materiality of writing, …AestheticsStage Right offers four versions of its musical 'Annie' | TribLIVELeapin‘ Lizards! There are four versions…CultureThe Terrible Things I Have Said and Done My Entire Life, and Right Up Until…

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:Internet Explorer cheated its way to the top, and I won't miss itI started teaching myself HTML in earnes…AcademiaBlog ten-beat lines of verse, like…

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…