My wife reports: “There was one smart aleck walking along the street who exclaimed: “Look, it’s the Ghost of Plastic-Waste Past!” and his friend said worriedly “Are we gonna get… milk?”

Similar:What About “The Breakfast Club”?I made three movies with John Hughes; wh…CultureTreasure peaceful moments in a turbulent world.AestheticsEnjoying the “Science of Pixar” 3d computer modeling and storytelling exhibit with my son….Enjoying the “Science of Pixar” 3d compu…PersonalAnother delightful section of #steampunk control panel, for a personal #blender3d project….AestheticsTrying out a new lens to capture creepy-toy-come-to-life…

The Mind’s Eye (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 25) LaForge Abducted by Romulans

Rewatching ST:TNG (Not sure where this review went!) Similar:Meet the guys who tape Trump's papers back togetherI tell this old newsroom tale to my stud…CultureTaking Harassment Seriously Requires Serious DistinctionsEditor and columnist Jonah Goldberg ques…CultureThe disinformation system that Trump unleashed will outlast him. Here’s what reality-based… Highlights from a column by Margaret S…UncategorizedI'm really enjoying…

In Theory (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Four, Episode 25) Data Gets Boyfriendzoned

Rewatching ST:TNG (Not sure where this review went!) Similar:Daughter doing a thing. Interviewing the Pittsburgh Dance Council’s Randall Miller for Bur… AcademiaFake News Is Not the Real Media Threat We’re FacingConservative talk radio predates the Int…CultureBig Calculator: How Texas Instruments Monopolized Math ClassMy math education predated the widesprea…BusinessPittsburgh Post-Gazette reducing print edition to 2 days…

Friday 21st March 2025, the sun set on the British Empire for the first time in 200 years

This the sunlight at that time is shown on the map above, when the sun is set on Pitcairn, there’s still around an hour until it rises in Akrotiri and Dhekelia, meanwhile as it’s just after the spring equinox, the sun will have set over the south pole beginning it’s 6 month long night, and therefore setting on British Antarctic Territory.

I’m not really a royal watcher but I’m fascinated that the UK has de-royalized the king’s brother over his misbehavior

Prince Andrew has lost all of his royal titles, including “Prince,” in an unprecedented move by King Charles He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and has been ordered to surrender his lease at Royal Lodge The move comes amid renewed scrutiny of Prince Andrew’s ties to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein…

Everyone thinks AI is replacing factory workers, but Amazon’s layoffs show it’s coming for middle management first

Amazon announced Tuesday that it will cut roughly 14,000 corporate jobs, or about 4% of its white-collar workforce, as part of a restructuring meant to “reduce bureaucracy” and “remove organizational layers,” according to a memo. In the memo, Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience at Amazon, said the cuts are designed to make the…

Wood pile stacking animation (Blender 3D)

For a medieval project, I wanted a wood pile, but I didn’t want to have to stack the individual wedges manually. I’m experienced enough with Blender 3D that it only took me a few minutes to get this simulation running — but as this video clip attests, I need to adjust a few parameters. …

The poetry of deafness

My auditory processing disorder makes it hard for me to process speech when I can’t see the speaker’s lips. My wife is being treated for an ear infection. We are asking each other “What?” after somebody coughs, after we ask each other “What did you say?” and after we answer each other “Never mind.” In…

New stamp commemorates Irish priest who saved thousands from the Nazis

I recall being very moved by the 1980s Gregory Peck / Christopher Plummer made-for-TV movie “The Scarlet and the Black,” which dramatized this story. From the late summer of 1943, O’Flaherty worked with “The Organisation”, a massive partisan network, to save more than 6,000 Allied prisoners of war, anti-Fascists, and Jews from Nazi concentration and…

Let’s talk about AI art (long, scrollworthy post from The Oatmeal)

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art Similar:The cultural implications of the myth that English majors end up working permanently at St…Would you like facts with that? English …AcademiaTom Bissell writes a letter to Niko Bellic about Grand Theft Auto VI haven’t played GTAV, and probably neve…CultureF-16 pilot was ready to give her life on Sept. 11She was a rookie in…

Maybe it wasn’t a sensible idea to hold 5 hours of student consultations on the day midterm grades were due, but I really enjoyed it.

Similar:Greensburg student wins Shakespeare contest A Greensburg student did the Bard pr…CultureAnother random background control panel for a #blender3d #steampunk project. I wish all us…AestheticsAnti-globalism Is Common Factor in Social Media Conspiracy Theories, says UW ProfFascinating academic effort to find a pa…AcademiaDogmeat and I may yet win this game. Yes, this was the decisive moment.…

Surprised by Mama Cass Elliott’s “Different” — powerful folk-pop ballad in trippy 60’s “H.R. Pufnstuf” TV show

I miss the convention in movies and TV shows in which the main characters visit a music hall or club, and we watch them watching an entire number. Maybe they exchange a few lines during a musical bridge, but mostly they’re just in character, sitting through a performance. I have only fragmentary memories of H.R.…

Folger Shakespeare Library on “The Fate of Ophelia”

Similar:My mom’s Lionel train set (a gift from her father in 1948) had been in storage for 35 year… My mother wants me to thank John at …AestheticsThe Digital-Humanities BustDinosaurs evolved into birds. Not all of…AcademiaThe Bill That Could Save College Students $1,200 a YearFaculty who need to publish for professi…Academia'Facebook is simply not cool…

Folger Shakespeare Library on “The Fate of Ophelia”

On my ride into work yesterday, my mother mentioned “That popular singer has a song about a Shakespeare character.” I had seen social media posts about Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” but hadn’t investigated yet. I watched the video right before teaching my “Shakespeare in Context” class, and I felt kind of overwhelmed. I…

When backwards newbie poets write…

Similar:Who choked up while reading aloud Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” during a lesson on creative nonf…Who choked up while reading aloud Sagan’…PersonalLooking forward to more live local theater. (Support the arts!)PersonalFind yourself someone who makes you plomeek soup like Nurse Chapel makes for Spock.PersonalToday’s adulting was brought to you by a failed motor vehicle inspection.…

Empok Nor #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 24) Horror-themed visit to derelict Cardassian station

Rewatching ST:DS9 Dax, Worf and Kira arrive at an otherwise empty bar. Before Quark can take their order, a mechanical noise drives them away. In a service tunnel (the source of the noise), Nog is expertly assisting O’Brien, but something goes boom, critically flabbergasting all the station’s jimberjams. The only way to unflabbergast them is…

Where are Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, etc. in your “American Literature” syllabus?

The following comment appeared recently on one of my YouTube lectures, “Historical Context for American Literature.” American???? So where are: CANADA, MEXICO, GUATEMALA, CUBA, COSTA RICA, BRAZIL, CHILE ARGENTINA, PERÚ, COLOMBIA, PANAMÁ, URUGUAY, PARAGUAY, EL SALVADOR, HONDURAS, VENEZUELA… ETC ETC ETC. STOP SAYING THE UNITED STATES IS AMERICA! Here’s how I responded: Geography and names…

The dawn of the post-literate society

The world of print is orderly, logical and rational. In books, knowledge is classified, comprehended, connected and put in its place. Books make arguments, propose theses, develop ideas. “To engage with the written word”, the media theorist Neil Postman wrote, “means to follow a line of thought, which requires considerable powers of classifying, inference-making and…

Excited for Annette Vee’s visit. My journalism students have to submit a story by midnight tonight. @setonhilluniversity

Similar:A colleague bakes Irish soda bread to share on the Humanities floor every St Patrick's DayPersonalThe girl's entrance as Marley's Ghost.PersonalI saw this Friday night. Great fight choreography, lighting & staging, adaptation of t…PersonalMore Adventures in Suburban AdultingAbout four years ago I bought an electri…CultureThoroughly enjoying Company.PersonalHeard any good stories lately?My daughter has a terrible…

Is it okay to say clanker?

Clanker is a derogatory term used to insult AI and its products and services such as delivery robots, therapist chatbots and automated customer service. Why try to hurt the feelings of something that, oh wait, has no feelings? Like most slurs, it has more to do with the speaker using it than the object of…