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:Once again, The Onion gets it right: Clinton Not Expecting To Collect White House Security…Once again, The Onion gets it right. …AmusingAt Computers and Writing #cwcon for the weekend.Am I wise now? At an event for encouragi…AcademiaDon't call it "social distancing" or you just might get a polite correction from the admin…AcademiaFacebook’s Censorship Problem Is…
Similar:At the Stage Right Gala.PersonalMarching in a parade and watching a patriotic musicalHappy Independence Day, fellow Americans…CultureNo I didn’t exactly *plan* to spend my Sunday evening tweaking the pedestrian access to th…AestheticsThe lighting doesn't really convey that this is supposed to be a slightly curved scroll of…AestheticsGil Gerard (1943-2025) I built a model of the…
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:Exploring Myst's Brave New World”We wanted a true persistent world. If y…CybercultureNew "Adventure" Details from Will Crowther in Mammoth Cave BookThe new book from the University of Kent…BooksThe Struggle to Save Ballet From ItselfA former dancer reckons with the rigors …AestheticsThe Rhetoric…
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:Carolyn at about 7yo drew Titania in love with Bottom. #tbt #midsummerArtI just had some fun spotting a possible source of the word "dongle" (the plug-in security …The word “dongle” has long existed as a …CybercultureWhy Marlon Brando’s Streetcar Co-Stars Couldn’t Stand Him Williams’ last play, The Glass Me…CultureTop deck of a #neovictorian #steampunk cruiser needs…
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:Dear students, no need to apologize for anything unless…AwesomeHow to be a Medieval Spectator (Intro to Toronto York Plays 2025)This is what I’m in Toronto to observe.&…AcademiaTwo Artificial Intelligence…
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:Reading fiction early in life is associated with a more complex worldview, study findsThis study relied in part on the reponde…AcademiaThey've got magic to do. Carolyn is the Leading Player.…
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:I rather like my instructional page on writing effective dialogue. I created this new grap…HumanitiesA question I find myself thinking all the time.PersonalTin Man (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 20) Sad telepath bonds with starshi…Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break….CultureEvita in Zelionople CultureThe girl is the Dew Drop Fairy in @laurelballetperformingco The Nutcracker Saturday…
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…