Similar:Point Park cancels 'The Adding Machine: The Musical' after student objections to offensive…Citing student objections to offensive c…AcademiaDani Girl (Oct 1-3, 2015) at the Geyer Performing Arts CenterVinnie Tresco, Carolyn Jerz, Matthew Hom…CultureShe was a musical ingenue Sunday, filmed a slasher movie past midnight Monday, and was pre…DanceSeeing a different cast. Break all the legs!CultureI…
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:When you see a show alone often you can get really good…
With the money I saved by working on the car (watching a lot of YouTube tutorials) I bought a new midrange zoom, in the hopes I won’t miss shots by swapping lenses. And now my camera bag won’t quite zip shut. #ConspicuousConsumption Similar:Merry Christmas 2018Personal"The plain fact is that the planet does not need more…
Similar:I love my students enough to teach them the difference between passive voice and past tens…If a goggles-for-brains Lego character c…EducationHow Will Historians of the Future Run MS Word 97? How Can We Save It for Them?Just as early filmmakers couldn’t have p…CybercultureWhat would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to…
Similar:Bad Writing Costs Businesses BillionsThis is thinkpiece rehtoric rather than …AcademiaCan the multiverse explain human history?Where did this idea of parallel universe…CultureAuditioning in Pittsbugh (flanked by shots from recent performances).CultureSupport the arts in your community! #augustwilson #radiogolfSupport the arts in your community! #aug…CultureWhy Do People Share Fake News? A Sociotechnical Model of Media EffectsVerrit, like…
While doing some spring cleaning around my computer desk at home, I noticed that there are scores of old PC games that are still stacked up within arm’s reach, even though I no longer even use a computer with an optical drive at that workstation. But these are games that have sentimental value for my…
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…
The voice of Wallace has died. The silly, plummy, character-driven steampunk/sitcom hybrid Wallace & Gromit films were a big influence on the tone of the “Captain Gearhart and the Magnificent Blimpship” steampunk bedtime stories I used to tell the kids. Peter Sallis has died at the age of 96, his agents have announced.The actor…
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…
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…
Similar:They're coming in faster than I can mark them. This number will be higher tonight, so I'm …PersonalSo, what do professors do all day, anyway?Some days I am not Dennis. I am Marky Mc…AcademiaMany of these individual steampunk control panel elements are repeated, but I've arranged …AestheticsFriday 21st March 2025, the sun set on the…
Similar:If I don't design the control panels for my fantasy #steampunk project, who will? #blender…AestheticsEaster collage 2018.PersonalHelp! I may be running out of excuses for not wearing…Help! I may be running out of excuses fo…CultureYesterday my stack of unmarked assignments was about 120, so this is not bad.Nothing in this stack is pressing, but…
Could the absurd examples of bizarre public discourse please stop happening so I can investifart some of them? Similar:The reflection should show what's about 60 degrees above the shuttle, not what's in front …AestheticsThe secret police: Cops built a shadowy surveillance machine in Minnesota after George Flo…Many of the same people who reject maski…Current_EventsThe right…
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…
I remember being fascinated with and challenged by The Waste Land in high school, though it wasn’t until I read some of Eliot’s essays in college that it all sunk in. The same man who could write such clear, sensible prose when he wanted to explain could also construct densely packed, layered, gnostic verse. What…
Fake news is frustrating. Nothing new there. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Students in my freshman writing class often want to write their first college research paper on the topic of unrealistic images of women in advertising. Their first thesis is often something like “Advertisers should not damage women’s self-esteem by promoting…
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…
To believe Donald Trump, you must believe two largely contradictory things. | You must believe that there are a slew of leakers in the executive branch who are providing damning details to the press illegally, and who must be rooted out and punished. punished….You must also believe that the press makes up imaginary leakers simply…
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:A…
While Pittsburgh has become more metropolitan in the last generation, the culture here one county to the east still bears witness to its rust belt past. This may sound dull as ditch water to those who believe that the “flyover” states are inhabited largely by clodhoppers, fundamentalist zealots and loudmouthed Babbitts. In fact, Lauck’s aim…