After 25 years as the editorial cartoonist for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, I was fired on Thursday. I blame Donald Trump. Well, sort of. I should’ve seen it coming. When I had lunch with my new boss a few months ago, he informed me that the paper’s publisher believed that the editorial cartoonist was akin to…
John Stubbs reviews Stephen Grenblatt’s Tyrant: Shakespeare on Power The psychology and spectacle of villainy and the intoxicating nature of power clearly preoccupied Shakespeare. The grandeur, amoral freedom of action and sheer theatrical potential of tyrants must have moved and excited him. The case of a confirmed murderous dictator, after all, especially one with the…
“Parents normally set these rules to promote their children’s scholastic development and to make sure that they invest enough time in schoolwork. But that evidently can also backfire,” commented Hargittai. But why exactly? The study can’t say definitively, but I emailed Hargattai to see what hypotheses she might have. “One possibility would be that such…
A few years ago, I told myself I would start making a bigger deal about such things. It’s too easy to obsess over the students who don’t care, don’t like how I teach X, stopped submitting the assignments, didn’t apply my feedback, etc. I do wish I could get more students to feel grateful before…
My son and I saw “Won’t You Be Ny Neighbor” at a special showing in Greensburg (not far from Fred Rodgers’ hometown of Latrobe). My daughter performed PICT’s Jane Eyre in the Fred Rogers Studio at WQED (where part of the floor is still painted like the path in the Neighborhood of Make Believe. …
I tell this old newsroom tale to my students: An angry editor sees a cub reporter coming into work. “I sent you to cover a concert,” says the editor. “Why didn’t you file the story?” The cub reporter says, “The concert hall burned down.” Sometimes the story you set out to cover is not the…
Similar:Yes Virginia the Musical coming to ConnellsvilleCarolyn Jerz may be only 11 but is alrea…Current_EventsUsing a Typewriter Simulator to Teach Media HistoryWorking on the syllabus for my “Media an…CultureMy daughter who sometimes does things will be singing & swinging August 16 – 25 with @fron…My daughter who sometimes does things wi…CultureTrying something a bit different…
Similar:My 4Cs StoryI chaired a session on Friday, and gave …AcademiaCarolyn performed as Ariel yesterday in the New Renaissance Theatre Company's production o… Carolyn performed as Ariel yesterday i…AmusingSupport the arts in your community! I’m here for the daughter and the rest of the cast. @j…Support the arts in your community! I’m …CultureAnother fun 10…
Similar:What About “The Breakfast Club”?I made three movies with John Hughes; wh…CultureIn February 2000, I was blogging about "The Heist" (Sorrels); the "Instant Muse Poetry Gen… In February 2000, I was blogging abo…CybercultureOne of the benefits of teaching at a small college, with small classes…In a final reflection video for a freshm…AcademiaProgress.PersonalSo peaceful and majestic.…
Similar:The Sacramentality of Teaching and LearningFor the one-credit journalism class that…AcademiaDuet (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 1, Episode 18) Kira is convinced an ailing Cardassian…Rewatching ST:DS9 Kira is convinced s…CultureEnjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropo…Enjoyed watching the restored version of…AestheticsThe Last Jedi: Oh, the Feels.No spoilers here. (I managed…
Similar:Physics simulation demo: crate made up of mostly loose boards. #Blender3d #design #practic… https://youtu.be/OqqlWZvWaqM Physic…AestheticsTwo classes will turn in final revisions at midnight Sunday, and final multimedia project…Still plenty of work to do before I fini…AcademiaMaking a villain's lair in #Blender3D (this weekend's relaxation)AestheticsPreppers for the win. Kinda.The euphoria of getting my grades in Fri…PersonalA…
Similar:Your Brain Does Not Work Like a ComputerThe brain-as-computer is a powerful meme…HealthThe GE Mascot That Proves They've Never Seen 'The Matrix'On a scale of 1 to 10, this definitely r…AestheticsMesmerizing Video of a Printer Terminal Running "Adventure" on a PDP-11/45After spending several days clicking but…AcademiaMy son showed me Seven Samurai. I had never seen…
Context matters. Good journalists should go out of their way to avoid creating a mistaken impression. Fox News apologized Tuesday after receiving a torrent of criticism over the network’s use of photos of various players for the Philadelphia Eagles kneeling in prayer, creating the misleading impression that they were demonstrating during the national anthem. The…
He could have built, you know, a junkyard mechanic droid, or a general manual labor droid, or a Bitcoin-mining droid, or a freedom-fighter droid? No, he builds a fussy butler. The silliness of this just hit me. Similar:The Offspring (StarTrek:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 16) Data Experiences FatherhoodRewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CybercultureThine Own Self…
Similar:"Shakespeare in Love" with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra and Stage Right!When I teach Shakespeare, I will from ti…CultureOverview of the Forward Ops station, one deck below the main bridge of the fantasy #steamp…PersonalIn November 1999, I was blogging about books, camomile tea and Skylon 4, the death of Star…In November 1999, I was blogging about…
Similar:Random gauge design, for background details in a fantasy #steampunk project. #blender3d #b… AestheticsLoved part 1 of Alec Silverblatt's Mon Valley Medium. Part 2 tomorrow at 7. #pptplayt…CultureThe heir to the throne of Gondor and and a scruffy looking nerf herder are handing out can… PersonalGetting a little bit better with each #blender3D scene I render.AestheticsYeah…
This story offers evidence to challenge the stereotype that under employed humanities majors are stuck working in service jobs years after graduation. STEM jobs are indeed the most marketable, but a recent study found that after five years, business, health professions, education and psychology make up far more of the underemployed graduates than English or…
Facebook is discontinuing the “trending” list. After the employees hired by Facebook to curate the trending news items were found to bury news they didn’t like, Facebook fired them all and tried to automate the process. If it matters to you whether their bias was liberal or conservative you can look it up, but my…
As an American studying in Toronto during the Clinton administration, I encountered some non-negligible anti-American bias. I learned to pronounce the last letter of the alphabet “zed” when I was spelling my name. When I sang “ahh-men” in a church choir, the music director stopped the rehearsal to express his surprise that I hadn’t sung…
Don’t blame “the media” for using this photo, often identified as immigrant children separated from their parents and placed in a cage. I saw this image in my social media feed numerous times over the weekend; it wasn’t journalists who kept sharing it, it was random people (and probably a non-trivial number of bots) on…