A good exploration, in the light of current interest in “fake news,” of the troubled relationship between conservative Christianity’s understanding of truth and secular experts’ understanding of facts. (Mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism have negotiated this difference much more smoothly.) But it wasn’t Christianity, or religious faith itself in general, that helped make Republican voters more likely…
Analyzing humor, as E.B. White famously said, is like dissecting a frog; few people are interested and the frog dies of it. Nonetheless, writing humor is a highly logical exercise — fit idea X into form Y for humorous result Z — and can therefore be broken down in ways that more slippery kinds of…
Similar:Faces the girl makes during her Luisa monologue. (Four more chances to see The Fantasticks…AestheticsDo you get your news mostly from social media? I check NPR, Drudge, and news.google.com.Do you have a regular news-consumption r…CultureIt's a thing to do.PersonalLooking forward to another visit to Illyria. Support humans who create art in your communi…PersonalPop Culture…
Art conveys significance; however, much of that significance is constructed by the receiver. That’s why I care less about what a work of art “means” and more about what it “does.” Understanding what a work of art does requires interpretation. The context of a work of art can contribute to the significance of the artwork in surprising…
Similar:Overview of the Forward Ops station, one deck below the main bridge of the fantasy #steamp…PersonalHappy memories of PC games I played with my son (now 19) sitting on my lap.While doing some spring cleaning around …CultureHappily masked in center row C. (The daughter is dance captain.)DramaBlender 3D Flyover of Fantasy Steampunk Spacecraft When…
Similar:Fascination (#StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch, Season 3, Episode 10) Comic crush after crush; that's…Rewatching ST:DS9 A character-driven …AmusingSecrets of a 60 Minutes cameramanThey say polo ponies can run 35 mph and …Current_EventsI went with frisse. German uses esse “to eat” for people…AmusingFancy iPad Holder with Compartment For Storing Your BabyFisher-Price enters the Apple aftermarke…AestheticsComputers and Writing…
Phllip Lopate writes a good essay on the challenges of writing a celebrity profile. My take: Just as Plato argued that ideal leaders would be so well-balanced that they would not desire to lead (and thus would not have the power-lust that would enable them to rise above their competitors), it follows that ideal celebrity profile writers would be…
“Doctor dragged off United flight was felon who traded prescription drugs for secret gay sex with patient half his age and took them himself – and he needed anger management, was ‘not forthright’ and had control issues, psychiatrist found,” wrote The Daily Mail this week of Dr David Dao, in probably the longest headline ever…
The language in the official United response to the “re-accommodation” incident deserves some analysis . Flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville was overbooked. After our team looked for volunteers, one customer refused to leave the aircraft voluntarily and law enforcement was asked to come to the gate. We apologize for the overbook situation. If you “refuse…
Slate has a good article about William “Captain Kirk” Shatner’s involvement with a Twitter incident that involved Autism Speaks, the alleged connection between vaccines and autism, and the ready availability of easily Googled but unreliable “information.” Shatner is a celebrity, which means that he has outsized influence. That he would use his platform to lend…
Similar:Now I can relax a bit. (But just a bit.)PersonalThree different sized buildings. Still working on variations for the biggest one. #blender…Three different sized buildings. Still w…AestheticsWhen You've Already Got a Major, But You Love Books (Seton Hill English) When committee work is fun… making…AcademiaThe girl as Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn and Thorin. #proudofthegirl #notentirelysurewhy #still…AestheticsIt's…
Similar:In August 1999 I was blogging about Poohsticks Bridge, penmanship, Archimedes, and ebooksIn August 1999, I was blogging about …BooksHalf of my students have never read Hamlet. (I told them not to get too attached to any of…We focused just on Act I today — the ope…PersonalParadise Blue (so glad to be seeing more…
Peter was the lowest-ranked player to enter the tournament, but ended up tied for second place. Similar:The Missing Will, by Agatha Christie (WAOB Audio Theatre)I had a great time playing Hastings in t…CultureSupport the humans who make art in your community. Death of a Salesman. #wirerecorderlife …Support the humans who make art in your …PersonalAlas…
Similar:New Facebook Notifications Alert Users When They Not Currently Looking At Facebook “We hope these helpful new alerts will …AmusingCarolyn portrays Maria in West Side Story, Aug 9-12. #ifeelpretty #tonight #somewhereAt the Geyer Peforming Arts Center in Sc…AestheticsI am very happy for these folks, who spent 20 or so years tweaking an insanely complex, co……
This short film reminds us why art matters. Spend 8 minutes watching it. Two heart-wrenching twists, at 5:26 and 5;48 (and the story continues during the closing credits). Similar:Making Interactive Fiction Mainstream: ReadersJon Ingold describes the gamelike storyt…AestheticsOut for a walk and saw this. I hope you are having a nice day.Out for a walk…
A letter, published a few weeks ago, in which the inventor of the World Wide Web discusses personal security, fake news, and political transparency. Today marks 28 years since I submitted my original proposal for the world wide web. I imagined the web as an open platform that would allow everyone, everywhere to share information,…
Similar:I just thought of a time before you were born when I should have been kind, but I can't re… Sometimes when I’m driving along los…AcademiaI am slightly ahead of the boy. Rare.PersonalHumanities and STEM Can and Should Get Along BetterIn my lit and writing classes, I regular…AcademiaIn May, 2000, I was blogging about the…
Facebook wants you to spend more time on Facebook, so why should they promote links pointing to content that exists outside of Facebook? Facebook’s approach to content control means that communities that use Facebook have to play by Facebook’s rules. Users have limited ability to communicate with Facebook’s administrators when there’s a problem, as we’ve seen…
I am definitely on team revise-to-avoid-using-“they”-as-a-singular-pronoun, but the 2017 edition of the AP Stylebook (the industry standard writing guide for journalists) acknowledges the limited use of “they” as a singular pronoun. As always, the goal is clarity, not rigid adherence to a rule. They/them/their is acceptable in limited cases as a singular and-or gender-neutral pronoun, when…
California’s Ed Chau withdrew his proposed legislation that would have criminalized the willing sharing of “a false or deceptive statement designed to influence the vote” on any issue or candidate. (The Electronic Frontier Foundation objected to the bill: “You can’t fight fake news with a bad law.”) The bill would also make it unlawful for…