Trying out a new lens to capture creepy-toy-come-to-life choreography.

Similar:Dance Nation @barebonesblackboxCulture'We're back': Bushy Run's 2023 battle reenactment will be heldI’m glad to know that this recent contro…CultureMy students seem increasingly confused by the difference between journal title vs. article… Sometimes students will submit bibli…AcademiaThe right — and surprisingly wrong — ways to get kids to sit still in class When it came time…

Updated a “Gender Neutral Language” handout

MTV recently ditched the “Best Actor/Actress” awards in favor of “Best Actor,” which suggests the gender-specific term “actress” is less popular among MTV’s target audience. I added that detail, fixed some broken links, and updated the graphic. See Writing Tips: Gender Neutral Language. Similar:How to Use the Feynman Technique to Identify PseudoscienceSimon Oxenham quotes physicist…

Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Similar:Lower Decks (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 7, Episode 15) Junior officers star in a comin… Rewatching ST:TNG As Riker and Tr…EducationThe problem I just learned about calls for tea in the big mug.CultureExplore – Laconic history of the world in a typographic map…Explore – Laconic history of the world i…AestheticsClose Reading: Introduction to a College…

The Language of Gender Violence

Oppressors deny their own agency and dehumanize their victims by using the passive voice. I want my students to recognize this deliberate strategy, and to look for hidden actors and dehumanized recpients of injustice. (I try to teach about active and passive verbs in a more lighthearted way, but I only bothered to photograph and…

Harvard revokes admission of several students for posting “offensive” memes

The First Amendment of the constitution protects the incoming students’ right to say whatever they like, even if Harvard doesn’t like it. And, as a private institution that is not regulated by the First Amendment, Harvard has the right to kick out incoming students unwise enough to exercise their rights in this manner. (The government…

Shakespeare’s Genius Is Nonsense

Just as comedians generally don’t laugh at their own jokes, Shakespeare doesn’t call too much attention to his own linguistic cleverness, which is one reason his work rewards close scrutiny. It’s not that he was being deliberately obscure or flowery — though some of his obsequious characters definitely exhibit such speech patterns. One line of…

I had a singular time voicing Sherlock Holmes in The Mystery of Dr. Watson (WAOB Audio Theatre)

Similar:Let's face it, it's time to give up on those Portal and Half-Life sequelsReserving judgments is a matter of infin…BusinessTrouble importing UMA clothes from Blender 3.6In Blender3D, I created a jumpsuit, rigg…CybercultureI have a daughter who does things. Here’s what she’ll be starting on next week. @frontporc…I have a daughter who does things. Here’…CultureIt's a…

I should be writing my “Fake News” paper for this weekend’s “Computers and Writing.” Instead….

Could the absurd examples of bizarre public discourse please stop happening so I can investifart some of them? Similar:Karate, Wonton, Chow Fun: The end of 'chop suey' fonts Close your eyes and imagine the font y…AestheticsThe Bremen Town Musicians (WAOB Audio Theatre) My daughter plays the narrator, my…HumanitiesInterface changes make it a little harder to…

Liberals and conservatives dislike reading opposing views

Most research subjects, when offered the chance to win $10 and read essays that opposed their views, or $7 and read essays that confirmed their views, chose comfort over the higher potential prize. Liberals and conservatives reacted basically the same–with liberals slightly less willing to read conservative views. (I changed the click-baity headline, which sensationalized the issue…

Trump and JFK: Masters of New Media

I didn’t use Newsweek’s clickbaity headline: “Trump and JFK Are More Alike Than We Like To Think.” They are different in many ways, but JFK was remembered for mastering the new medium of television (people who listened to the Nixon/Kennedy debates on radio were more likely to believe Nixon won, but those who watched the…

Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way

The girl was singing lyrics she learned from a friend. They were so bad I had to Google them. But the animation and tune were better than I expected. Wocka-chicka makes everything better, including this cheesy-but-catchy orc song from the 1980s animated Return of the King. Saving this for the next time I need motivation. Similar:Carolyn…