Dress rehearsal for Mamma Mia. This weekend only.

Similar:‘People are rooting for the whale’: the strange American tradition of Moby-Dick reading ma…When I went off to college to be an Engl…AcademiaPopulating my simulation with a crowd. Tweaking and experimenting. #unity3d #medievalyork …PersonalNew home office setup. I was delighted to find those little storage boxes that fit in a ni…Personal“Waiting for Life” (Once on…

Celebration of Writing Fall 2018

Similar:Another 10 sq cm of details for a #steampunk control panel. Just background eye candy, not…AestheticsRichard Scarry unfinished manuscript to be publishedSome of my happiest memories of fatherho…AestheticsCarnegie Science Center: Roboworld (and a bit of SportsWorks)Here’s a brief video, made up of clips I…CultureYou come very close to successfully combining argument and explication here… I…

Woodward dismisses CNN’s lawsuit against the White House; Fox sides with CNN

Bob Woodward, half of the Washington Post team whose coverage of the Watergate scandal brought down the Nixon presidency, told an audience at the Global Financial Leadership Conference in Florida that media figures are letting their emotions affect their reporting. NBC journalist Dylan Byers quoted Woodward as saying, “In the news media there has been…

Journalist Nellie Bly Began her Around the World in 72 Days Tour Nov 14, 1989

From Wikipedia: In 1888 Bly suggested to her editor at the New York World that she take a trip around the world, attempting to turn the fictional Around the World in Eighty Days into fact for the first time. A year later, at 9:40 a.m. on November 14, 1889, and with two days’ notice,[19] she boarded the Augusta Victoria, a steamer of…

CNN sues President Trump and top White House aides for barring Jim Acosta

CNN has filed a lawsuit against President Trump and several of his aides, seeking the immediate restoration of chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s access to the White House. The lawsuit is a response to the White House’s suspension of Acosta’s press pass, known as a Secret Service “hard pass,” last week. The suit alleges that…

Yep, it’s time to read student papers on Flannery O’Connor.

Similar:FULL BLOOM at Latrobe’s Olde Main, Aug 30-Sep 2.CultureBooks Come Alive! Catalina Magdalena Cast (Stage Right Greensburg)  The cast for “Catalina Mag…BooksHollow Pursuits (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 21) Misfit Crewmember Faces…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….AmusingUnscheduled Disasters in Journalism: Learn to DealIn school, we expect our professors to a…AcademiaWhat Can You Do With a…

Don’t Want to Fall for Fake News? Don’t Be Lazy

Fake news is not a problem caused by those dishonorable people whose political values differ from yours. Misinformation researchers have proposed two competing hypotheses for why people fall for fake news on social media. The popular assumption—supported by research on apathy over climate change and the denial of its existence—is that people are blinded by partisanship,…

I let her tend the rabbits.

Great production of a very moving story. The production did a good job dealing honestly with the misogyny in the script. When Curley’s wife came in wearing a red dress, Carolyn muttered, “This isn’t going to end well.” Similar:8 Questions for 'Star Trek' Superfans Restoring Galileo ShuttlecraftThis nerd’s geek heart grew three sizes …AestheticsBehold this…

My Student Calls Out a Mental Health Stigma in a Biased Headline — But Here’s Why We Shouldn’t Blame “The Media”

This morning a journalism student told me a friend in a different class was complaining that “the media” was stigmatizing mental illness in its coverage of yesterday’s mass shooting in California. My student told me she remembered I had mentioned that reporters often don’t write the headlines under which their stories are published, but she…

A study in breaking news headlines.

For the UK Guardian, the news is the words the White House used while accusing Acosta of an action caught on video. For Fox, Sanders was accused of sharing an allegedly  “‘doctored’” video of a neutrally-identified “interaction.” For the Washington Post, the White House “shares doctored video” — no accusation, no scare quotes.   Read…

Writing Tips for Critical Thinking

  Critical Thinking Matters Personal Essays vs. Academic Writing Summary vs. Original Ideas Filler: “There Are Many Reasons to Avoid the Filler Phrase ‘There Are’” Bloom’s Taxonomy: Hierarchy of Critical Thinking Skills Similar:Nerd Break! Listening To: Wilhelm Scream / Castle Thunder / Amen Break (While Watching Lig…In order to provide some context for a b…AestheticsThe…

Perspective | After Hannity’s travesty, Fox News redeems itself (just a tad) with a bold election night decision

Fox News was the first major outlet to predict the House would flip to blue, in a show of professional confidence that drew praise from journalists. The decision desk’s call made me think that somewhere — under all its appalling propaganda and conspiracy peddling — a beating heart of news is still pumping away, however…

Just finished a good literature class discussion on this powerful play.

Would love to teach it to healthcare students someday. Similar:Simon Newman Resigns as President of Mount St. Mary’s Simon P. Newman resigned on Monday eve…AcademiaNo, Dr. Anthony Fauci did not write the "How dare you you risk the lives of others so cava…A copy-paste meme I’ve encountered recen…CultureTaking the Lid Off the McDonald’s Coffee CaseHave…

My college writing students are out making short videos responding to a prompt.

While my students are out of the room making a video, I’m quickly marking the homework that was due today. When we reconvene we’ll discuss both assignments, and then it’s on to the next task. Similar:Male Supporting Characters in Recent Disney Princess Films Dominate the DialogueThe silly click-baity headline in the Wa…BusinessTell-all crime reporting is…

Trump’s war on the media is driving students to journalism

Twenty-one-year-old political science student Kieran McMurchy says he’s shocked at how quickly Trump supporters have “lost faith in pillars of free speech like the Washington Post and the New York Times.” A few months ago, he was planning to go to law school. Now, he says he’s fired up to be a journalist. “It’s definitely concerning the way…

The girl on Halloween 2018. (The boy and I were watching the 1931 Frankenstein at the library.)

Similar:They've got magic to do. Carolyn is the Leading Player. (Pippin, Oct 21-29) AwesomeMore #steampunk control panel bits for a #neovictorian #blender3D project. I have a master…AestheticsAdded a pilot and cockpit details to my flyby of a #steampunk scout ship. Costume is a pr…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyvR90jm…AestheticsEnjoying an ice cream cake, apple pie, and the classic Star Trek…

Updated Media Bias Chart — Left/Center/Right, Facts/Analysis/Partisan/Propaganda (Ad Fontes)

Update — Media Bias Chart 10.0 All human endeavors are biased. Vanessa Otero’s chart, which places various news organizations on a 2D chart with a left/centrist/right X axis, and a quality/garbage vertical axis, is a good opportunity to remind ourselves that seeking out and relying on quality reporting from “the other side” is an important…