In order to provide some context for a blog post on a blinking lights prop we’ve all seen in dozens of different TV shows and movies, I opened different tabs for compilations of the Wilhelm scream, the castle thunder sound cue, and the Amen break drum solo. All three of those sound effects are now playing at once, and I am…
The new logo retains the rainbow of colors but sheds the grownup curlicues: it now evokes children’s refrigerator magnets, McDonald’s French fries, Comic Sans. Google took something we trusted and filed off its dignity. Now, in its place, we have an insipid “G,” an owl-eyed “oo,” a schoolroom “g,” a ho-hum “l,” and a demented,…
Similar:On teaching coding to English studies studentsBecause this is a practical, hands-on, i…AcademiaR Grammar Gaffes Ruining The Language? Maybe Not : NPRMatthew Gordon, a linguist at the Univer…CultureHow Different Cultures Understand TimeBusiness Insider calls this article an “…BusinessHow Are Websites Made?This one chart is actually the punch lin…AmusingReading-Is-Fundamentalists Slaughter 52 IlliteratesCommitted to the eradication…
I guess Monkey Island turns 25 this month. It’s hard to tell. Unlike today, you didn’t push a button and unleash your game to billions of people. It was a slow process of sending “gold master” floppies off to manufacturing, which was often overseas, then waiting for them to be shipped to stores and the…
“The Love Bug” was one of the movies that the kids asked for over and over. I didn’t mind watching it with them, becuase Dean Jones, Buddy Hackett, Michelle Lee, and David Tomlinson did such a good job carrying the story. Dean Jones, the affable actor who starred in such classic Disney family comedies as…
Similar:Fast-paced, articulate cast shines in Viking-themed OthelloI saw my first Food for Groundlings show…CultureKinetic Theatre's "Hound of the Baskervilles" was hilarious. Kinetic Theatre’s production was ful…BooksMy 11yo, of the opening chapters of a YA novel with an orphan heroineMy 11yo, of the opening chapters of a YA…BooksWhy Marlon Brando’s Streetcar Co-Stars Couldn’t Stand Him Williams’ last…
Fan theories are no substitute for critical analysis, yet they have quickly become inseparable for so many readers online. On one hand, it’s (sadly) a small encouragement that there’s any discussion about a movie that already exists, instead of a movie that will open in two years and only has a slew of set photos…
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is usually academics’ first go-to for all things linguistic, and it cites the first occurrence of “you all” in print in 1824, from Arthur Singleton’s Letters from the South and West:“Children learn from the slaves some odd phrases;..as..will you all do this?”This example is important for understanding not only the…
Similar:Proud of My JournosI saw several heads that I recognized, b…AcademiaDress rehearsal for Mamma Mia.PersonalLaying out our anti-socialization defenses & cleaning out the penitence shack for anot…Visiting Fort Ligonier. When the girl…CultureOpening night! So great to see live local theatre.PersonalBeautifying the exterior of the fantasy cruiser from the bedtime stories I used to tell my…PersonalMemories…
In Death of a Salesman, Biff impulsively steals Bill Oliver’s fountain pen. That would be roughly culturally equivalent to a modern Biff swiping a businessman’s custom iPhone case, rather than a modern pen. This history of the ballpoint argues that the new pens cut down on leaks, but in the process made handwriting more physically…
Similar:Blender 3D Flyover of Fantasy Steampunk Spacecraft When my kids were small, at bedtime …AestheticsPlaying with depth of field (blurring details that are closer than and farther from the fo…AestheticsSo this is Pi DayMy wife says she bought the pies intendi…AmusingLiving Room PhysicsI’ve blogged before about my eight-year-…EducationImaginary vs Real Office SpaceHere’s a fantasy…
Similar:Still in her make-up from her scene as Marley's ghost, with script in hand standing i…PersonalThere are many Star Wars references in Dani Girl, so I made this tribute to Tom Jung's 197…CultureDo television and electronic games predict children’s psychosocial adjustment?Wow… what a drab, unquoteworthy, unsou…AcademiaMy parents doing their daily crossword puzzle.PersonalBetween static hand-coded…
HI IT’S ME RYAN @ryanqnorth If I climbed into this in the rain to get this picture and now couldn’t get out, what should I do? Hypothetically 2:04 PM – 18 Aug 2015 Source: Dinosaur Comics Creator Stuck in Skate Park Hole Takes His Predicament to Twitter In Real Life Text Adventure Similar:The Tyranny of Now (Appreciation…
We mostly only encounter the phrase “when asked about” in reporting, so when students start writing news reports, they tend to gravitate towards that phrase in order to signal to the world, “I am doing journalism now.” In truth, journalists use that phrase only in very specific circumstances, when omitting it would give a distorted impression of the truth.…
What do employers say they are looking for in new hires? Do they want drones who are good at following instructions and memorizing the “right answers,” who like working by themselves so their perfect grades aren’t threatened by the unpredictability of group work? No. Here’s what employers do look for: Leadership experience Ability to work…
Okay, freshly downloaded app, If you are actually going to force me to upload a profile photo, this screenshot of your error message will be my profile photo. Similar:We are the product that Facebook has been testingUp to now, I refrained from posting anyt…BusinessDozens of Plagiarism Incidents Are Reported in Coursera's Free Online Courses”If we really…
Similar:Obama vs. Romney D&D Smack-Down at NYC GalleryThis week, if you head to the Allegra La…AestheticsOn the way to closing night of "Orphans."PersonalThis friendly gangster was parked at WalMart in Johnstown yesterday.This friendly gangster was parked at Wal…PersonalT.S. Eliot: "when we do not know enough, we tend always to substitute emotions for thought…I remember being…
It can be scary outside the box. A university is a box that people choose to enter. It can be scary in there, too. I don’t feel like I’m doing my job as a professor if I don’t make students feel at least a little uncomfortable. The ultimate aim, it seems, is to turn campuses…
Dani Girl (Geyer Performing Arts Center, Oct 1-3, 2015) When Dani, a precocious nine year old, loses her hair to leukemia, she embarks on a magical journey to get it back. Simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking, Dani Girl is a tale of life in the face of death, hope in the face of despair, and the…
MACBETH: Okay, but thou wast still born, right?
MACDUFF: No. Untimely ripped.
MACBETH: Okay, but after thou wast ripped, thou wast of woman born.
MACDUFF: I don’t know…
MACBETH: Wast thou ripped from a man?
MACDUFF: No…
MACBETH: Then thou wast of woman born, what’s the problem?
MACDUFF: I think, technically, to be “born” you need to pass through the birth canal.