Annie: A Study in Contrast and Complement

I enjoyed using clips of Renata with the little girls in her life, to contextualize her role as the child-hating Miss Hannigan. Showing the kids singing “Happy Birthday” not one but three times amplifies her comments about patience and growing up. This video was the most fun to edit. http://youtu.be/WEQQoAta8Uo Similar:Ready to teach another set…

The Tempest, According to My 9yo Daughter

She’s 10 now, but here is her response to seeing The Tempest at Seton Hill University last year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcxnHUQf5rk&sns=em Similar:Journalism has become ground zero for the vocation crisis When scholars of journalism study the …BusinessThe Essayification of EverythingThe word Michel de Montaigne chose to de…EssaysWhat can you do with an English Major?AcademiaThe daughter is performing…

Peter’s Evil Overlord List

Peter Anspach posted this list. Here are some of my favorites. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu

When the Reporter Becomes Part of the Story (Aggressive Reporter Covering Pittsburgh Zoo Death)

Students who are new to journalism often introduce a quote like this: When asked about a habit he’d most like his journalism students to break, Dennis Jerz said, “Usually when I see the phrase ‘when asked about,’ I look for things to throw.” We only encounter that phrase in reporting, so when students start writing…

Seton Hill Student Journalists Launch Local Election Coverage

Students in my journalism class are publishing short articles on the U.S. election, starting with advance stories today, then continuing with live updates on Election Day and afterwards. This year, students have already started publishing articles online as soon as they are ready, rather than waiting until after the print edition has been sent to…

Why ‘Gangnam Style’ Is Actually a Study in Mind Control

I’m not sure “thank you” is the right way to acknowledge this painful link from Paul Crossman. “Oh, come on,” you’re probably saying. “It’s not the music that’s addictive. It’s the dance, from the goofy video. That’s what went viral.” (There’s that word again.) Well, it turns out that this programming effect could be embedded…

Shatoetry iPhone app lets you put… words… in… William Shatner’s… mouth

William Shatner and technology go way back, but it’s taken him until today to get his own smartphone app. Then again, he is a man known to take long pauses. Dubbed Shatoetry, the new app (iPhone-only, for the moment) lets you string together a variety of pre-recorded words — each with three different versions —…

Cover your Backside with B-roll on Vimeo Video School on Vimeo

Great resource. Cover your Backside with B-roll on Vimeo Video School on Vimeo. Now consider this:   Similar:It’s been a while since something got me into a movie theater. Obviously I wasn’t in a rus… It’s been a while since something got …AmusingSchisms (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 5)Rewatching ST:TNG Riker is having troub…DesignPR…

Addis, LA: Little Orphan Annie stopped for speeding

  Addis, LA: Little Orphan Annie stopped for speeding | #Beet’s B.O.O.T.. Similar:Universities must stop presuming that all students are tech-savvyAlthough considerable resources have bee…AcademiaNipper Hears "His Master's Voice"As a kid growing up in Fairfax County, j…BusinessA friend asks: "Would it be bad form to point out the typos in my class materials?" My ans…After…

FDR in Annie

I’ve accepted the role of FDR in the upcoming Stage Right! Production of Annie. Auditions for the little ‘uns are Friday afternoon. My 10yo daughter and her tweeny friends are sticking out their chins and grinning and singing “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” or whatever…

Google Trends: blog, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook (2004-2012)

I rather expected this — popularity of the search term “blog” from 2004-2012. And this, too, was not a big surprise — Similar:The 22 rules of storytelling, according to PixarMy favorite: “Once upon a time there was…ArtTwitter, after 10 years, hasn't been a money-makerRake-thin and bearded, Dorsey radiates a…BusinessThe Emma Watson nude pictures hoax shames…

Monsters are People Too

Study used D & D characters to test how subjects responded to eyegaze in human, humanoid, and monster characters. Observers were presented with images selected from the popular fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D; figure 1a). The images could be of humans, creatures with eyes in the centre of the face (humanoids), and creatures with…