Watching a National Guard helicopter lift off after an EMS display

Just spending an August evening with the boy. Similar:Angry 10yo Edits the Paper Heart She Gave Her MotherAestheticsThe annual patriotic showing of #1776 has begun.CulturePict Classic Theatre Romeo and Juliet. PersonalNational Dance DayIn the restaurant parking lot after dinn…CultureSubtle Stylesheet Tweaks for Mobile SiteOn the mobile version of my WordPress we…AestheticsBackstage opening night.Personal

Marching in a parade and watching a patriotic musical

Happy Independence Day, fellow Americans. “Saltpeter, John!!!” Similar:AnniePersonalJanuary 6th … the board game? About 20 of us are here in Brooklyn to …ArtRoyalty: For the Irish, it’s like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and, also, y…When I lived in Canada, I had friends wh…AmusingWhat Was the TED Talk?The title borders on clickbait, but the…

The Declaration of Independence (Dramatic Reading)

I rather enjoyed recording this oral interpretation of the Declaration of Independence for WAOB Audio Theatre. Similar:Inaccuracy Of Every Single Detail Forces Student Paper To Pull Story At Last Minute“We at The Recorder strive to ensure tha…AmusingThe Google Classroom TeaseJoshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed: “Google Cl…AcademiaSperm whales in 19th century shared ship attack informationFrom whaling…

Solitaire Chess

Spent a relaxing evening in playing solitaire chess puzzles with the boy. Similar:What’s Wrong With Being From the South? Just Ask an Academic in the NorthAs an American studying in Toronto durin…AcademiaThe Media Pyramid: “Any content where ideology leads to falsehood is bad for you.”You Are the Media You Eat CultureThe Last Outpost (ST:TNG Rewatch.…

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:The Emma Watson nude pictures hoax shames our ‘news’ cultureDid you hear that a shady group of antis…CultureFacebook shrinks fake news after warnings backfireIn…

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:Liberals and conservatives dislike reading opposing viewsMost research subjects, when offered the…CultureItalian journalist to be beatified for helping Jews escape persecutionJournalist who helped saved Jews from Ho…Current_EventsOn Her One Free Day Between Two Shows…[View the story “On Her…

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…