A Texas lawyer accidentally left a kitten filter on during a video conference call with a judge and was unable to change it, eventually responding to a judge’s query about why he was being addressed by a digital feline by saying: “I’m here live. I am not a cat.” Later, the judge wrote: “These fun…
I’ve taken over teaching the English department’s relatively new career focus sequence, so I’m more than usually invested in these ideas. It’s time for faculty and administrators to be blunt: postgraduation success, more than ever, requires a demanding curriculum that includes extensive writing, facility with data and statistics, and extensive opportunities for collaboration and critical…
The media constantly takes things I say and then repeats them on their news shows and in their magazines, and they always leave something out, like the thing I haven’t even said yet that lets you know I don’t believe the thing I already said. If the media wants to be completely accurate, they should…
Enjoyed watching the restored version of the hugely influential 1927 sci-fi movie #Metropolis I hadn’t seen any of the 20m or so of restored footage. Added main title music was good, but repetitive and not always emotionally aligned with the story. The print was very clear, with crisp details. Nothing like the version I saw…
August Wilson’s Century Cycle > Spoiler-free scene breakdown Premiered: 1999; Broadway 2001 Setting: 1985; backyard of row houses; Pittsburgh Hill District Prologue (starry night) Stool Pigeon, clicking ham bones, monologues to an offstage cat (which belongs to Aunt Ester). “The story’s been written. All that’s left now is the playing out.” I.i King (30s), ex-con…
Similar:When you hear your daughter the understudy is going on for a sold-out show. Live theater i… CultureThe Case for Breaking Up With Your ParentsI already felt fairly independent from m…AcademiaThis English major will walk off the graduation platform this weekend, and into a full-tim…Be yourself. If have you a bad attitude,…CultureThe Article is Dead.…
Similar:Star Trek: Voyager Premiered 20 Years AgoI remember wanting to like Voyager a lot…CultureGetting there.Getting there.PersonalMisaligned interior and exterior portholes. Bulkheads from the deck below visible above th… AestheticsSunny but cool. Great day for a long walk with my son.PersonalMerry Christmas 2022.PersonalFaculty assembling in launch tube beneath Salvitti Gym. #classof2017 @setonhilluniversityPersonal
One former student said I’m the only adult male in their life who ever supported their creative efforts. A second former student posted an essay on social media, describing bouncing back from alcohol and cocaine addiction, and after mentioning several life-savers, mentioned me in the final line of the essay — thanking me for teaching…
Although considerable resources have been invested in helping teachers retool, not much has been done to assist their pupils. Instead, it has been taken for granted that 21st-century youth naturally become fluent in any technology, even without explicit directions. While supposedly clueless instructors are given a plethora of tips and tricks – like the OK,…
I enjoyed reading this short John Henry Newman poem for WAOB Audio Theater. Similar:A 10-page paper? Are you serious? The running you do in a 100-yard das…AcademiaResources for combating sexual harassment in the newsroom — Society of Professional Journ…The Society of Professional Journalists …CultureParable of the Polygons – a playable post on the shape of…
I’ve been a college English faculty member for over 20 years and I just realized I’ve been spelling and pronouncing “detritus” wrong all my life. A short while ago I realized I had typed “detrius” — and that’s how I heard the word in my head — “DEE tree us.” But the word has an…
Similar:Fall colors are past their peak but it's still a beautiful late October day.PersonalThe Rise of "Synthespians"”Mr. Serkis is the human actor behind th…ArtIn March, 2001, I was blogging about "All Your Base…", digital history, 3D printers, and…In March 2001, I was blogging about …AestheticsAnother section of a #neovictorian control panel for a #steampunk #blender3d…
Ford built about a half dozen of these custom cars designed by Allegheny Steel. I’m not a car guy so I can’t place it beyond that. Similar:The false link between Amy Coney Barrett and The Handmaid’s Tale, explainedOne of the weirder ways this debate has …BooksLiteracy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?A good feature from…
Playwright August Wilson Takes Center Stage on U.S. Postal Service Commemorative Forever Stamp 📬📃🖊 #AugustWilsonForever #BlackHeritageStamps https://t.co/Ezj04lKcPa — U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) January 28, 2021 Similar:Why Hoboken is Throwing Away All of its Student LaptopsUntrained teachers. Damage-prone machine…Cyberculture30 years later, Sierra's Laura Bow mysteries are still a treasureWhen I was in college and grad school,…
Don’t reject a news source just because it slants against your own slant, and don’t accept a news source just because it slants the same way you do. Update: Media Bias Chart 10.0 If you find a news source where you agree with all the content all the time, that doesn’t mean the source is…
I have shared and liked this image, and incorporated it in lesson plans. The juxtaposition suggests that the little knot of photographers is hunkering down in order to make a small fire appear more threatening in front of L’ Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I have seen plenty of cases where unrelated images were juxtaposed…
After spending several days clicking buttons and ticking boxes and waiting for pages to refresh in my school’s content manager, I really, really miss the command line interface. This video shows the 1970s computer game “Colossal Cave Adventure” running on a printer terminal (that is, its only display is text that it prints out on…
Similar:Visiting my parents. Admiring their original Hallmark Enterprise Christmas ornament. I ask…AmusingIdlewild's Story Book Forest Improves Its SignageIn the past, I have pointed out copy-edi…AestheticsChess tournament in Monroeville. Two losses, two wins.The boy’s personal best in terms of win-…CultureToiletries for a steampunk villain who needs to look dapper. Straight razor and shaving br… Nice lighting…
August Wilson’s Century Cycle > Spoiler-free scene breakdown Premiered: 1982; Broadway 2017 Setting: 1977; Becker’s cab station, Pittsburgh Act I.i (morning?) Youngblood accuses “old man” Turbo of cheating in checkers; Turbo accuses Fielding of drinking his gas money; Youngblood turns down a grocery run, which Turbo takes; Youngblood gets defensive at Doub’s silent look; Shealy…
In January 2001, I was blogging about The Onion: Clinton Not Expecting to Collect White House Security Deposit Anachronisms in the movie Titanic A textual detective who helps the FBI solve crimes and says Clement Clark Moore did not write “A Visit from St. Nicholas” A student whose client backed out needed a project, so…