I have no patience for TV news, and feel my blood pressure rise when I see the fear-mongering (“What was the chemical spilled on Route 66 that 10,000 motorists drove over on their way home from work? Will it cause you and your family to die a horrible death? Janice will have that story after…
Historically it’s been nearly impossible for a new Christmas song to break the impenetrable monopoly of “Away in a Manger” (1885); “The First Noel” (1823); “Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful” (1743); “Silent Night” (1818); “Deck the Halls” (1862); “Jingle Bells” (1857); “We Three Kings” (1857); “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” (17th century); “Hark! The Herald…
What we know: The package contained an incredibly detailed replica of “University of Chicago Professor” Abner Ravenwood’s journal from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It looks only sort of like this one, but almost exactly like this one, so much so that we thought it might have been the one that was…
Leapin‘ Lizards! There are four versions of the adorable little orphan with the big voice in Stage Right‘s holiday production of everybody‘s favorite musical, “Annie.” They‘re not on stage at the same time, and John Noble, who plays the one-and-only Daddy Warbucks, says each of the girls adds a little something different to her performance…
“Reality TV” star is shocked — shocked — that his own show is faked. Storage Wars Sued By Its Star; Show Is Faked And Execs Were Confronted By Cast, Court Papers Charge | Radar Online. Similar:The Future of College Is Facebook Meme GroupsInteresting to see how large groups of c…AcademiaI was perhaps a bit more…
A Quick and Comprehensive Guide to Type Similar:The Problems of Real-Time Feedback in Teaching WritingSometimes my students get nervous becaus…AcademiaA Matter of Perspective (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 13) Multiple-POV Courtroom …Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….Ethics'Peter Pan Live' Was Never Intended to Be EnjoyedI didn’t watch the show (our cable-less …AestheticsBacon Starry Night MemeI’ve…
Face it—eBook sales are up, analog eBook sales are down. Pretty soon collectors are going to realize that normal people no longer share their bourgeois fascination with things like the bittersweet aroma of ink on paper, or the satisfying heft of a classic hardcover, or the fact that books don’t randomly turn off when you…
If you’re a veteran gamer you’ll remember the golden era of text-based adventures. The Hobbit, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Zork… titles that conjured whole worlds out of narrative descriptions and two-word player inputs. That genre never went away, of course – interactive fiction communities still thrive on the web (a good place to look is…
Bad Doggy — practicing “Tomorrow” with a human Sandy – YouTube. Similar:A brief respite from grading. A brief respite from grading. PersonalBe Kind, for Everyone You Meet Is Misattributing This Quote in a MemeBe kind, for everyone you meet is fighti…AmusingThe elements, in haikuEach element of the periodic table gets …AmusingIn the Hands of the…
As the typewriter become popular, it was sometimes referred to it as a “literary piano,” or “the sewing machine of thought.” But the piano and the sewing machine both require a more complex interaction between fingers and machine parts than does the keyboard, which essentially requires you to press whatever button features the letter or…
Similar:Networks cut away from Trump’s White House addressNEW YORK (AP) — ABC, CBS and NBC all cut…Current_EventsMedia Bias Chart 8.0 (Liberal / Moderate / Conservative on the X axis; Factual / Opinion /…Don’t reject a news source just because …AwesomeA hedge fund’s ‘mercenary’ strategy: Buy newspapers, slash jobs, sell the buildings For Alden and its…
…Amherst thinks that there may be long-term gains — both for scholarship and the economics of academic publishing — by publishing books that are subject to traditional peer review, edited with rigor and then published in digital form only, completely free. Some university presses issue some of their works in free digital formats. And Rice…
The headline is provocative — I wouldn’t have phrased it that way, but this anecdote was certainly interesting. [W]hen I asked him about his BA in English, which he had earned about five years earlier, he got nervous. “What was your favorite century of English literature,” I asked. But he hadn’t really focused on any…
Tonight we’ll be blocking my big scene as FDR in Annie. In this speech, delivered to students at UNC, Roosevelt is more playful than he is in his better known more formal speeches (his first inaugural “The only thing we have to fear” and the Pearl Harbor “A date that will live in infamy“). Here.…
John Paul II was a master of communication and enjoyed a special connection with youth. I’m curious to see how Benedict XVI will use this medium. Benedict XVI (Pontifex) on Twitter. Similar:Rob Rogers' firing is a frightening omenPulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Nick A…CultureUnnatural Selection (ST:TNG Rewatch Season 2, Episode 7)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaExcessive Copyright…
What was the quality control process behind the creation of this logo? Should that be “Discover Your Interest” or “Discover You’re Interesting”? I’m not sure I associate owls with curiosity. Owl from the Christopher Robin stories is pompous and oblique. The owl from the Tootsie Pop commercial is impatient and destructive. The Owl in “I…
Increasingly book vendors provide options that allow us to purchase e-books instead of print when both are available. We’ve now formally committed to purchasing e-books when given that choice. —UMD Libraries Similar:Ray Harryhousen, visual effects pioneer, dies The Harryhausen family regret to…AestheticsIt's reckless and dangerous for a leader with a habit of doubling down in…
Have I mentioned lately that I have awesome students? For a “Creative Critical Presentation” in my online American Literature survey, English major Tyler Carter created A Message from Hester Prynne, a 9-minute video that explores Hester’s psychology and spirituality, through music, dance, poetry, and cinematography. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivxfKoZmF5k All the technology Seton Hill offers to its students…
My daughter delivered the opening “Marley was as dead as a doornail” speech as the narrator in the Stage Right! homeschool production of A Lyrical Christmas Carol. My son played Scrooge. The show was great. During the bows, I was already pretty misty-eyed when my daughter threw her arms around Scrooge and proudly announced, “He’s…
Dictating student feedback, I said “Would a rational person argue against your claim that Poe is a Gothic poet?” My Mac typed: “What irrational person would argue against your claim that hoe is a Gothic punk?” Similar:Imagine all the people. Just reading their damned syllabus.These are not the rhetorical choices I w…AcademiaThere's No Substitute for…