Earth doesn’t need more ‘successful people’.
The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage wiling to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane.…
The Measure of a Man (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 9)
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Data’s autonomy is at stake in a taut, character-driven courtroom drama that resists pandering — no distracting fist-fights or space battles. This episode not only succeeds as a stand-alone meditation on the human condition, it meshes narratively with events from past shows and offers affordances for future story arcs…
A tale of two headlines: CNN and Fox shade their reports of UFC crowd’s reaction to Trump
Headlines from CNN and Fox shade in different directions, but both articles agree in substance that Trump got a mixed reaction from the “Ultimate Fighting Championship” in New York yesterday. The Fox reporter carefully cites the phrasing of other journalists who saw the reaction as mixed, as opposed the CNN reporter who confidently describes the boos overpowering the cheers.
Fact check: Trump lies about CNN at Mississippi rally
I tell my journalism students they won’t hear me talk about Trump’s policies at all. But I do talk about his interactions with journalists, which I frequently find appalling. Here’s the latest example.
Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.
First runner-up for the girl’s Halloween 2019 costume.
Facebook just dealt another potentially lethal blow to local journalism
Facebook will pay some publishers millions of dollars a year for access to their journalism. It will include an all-star lineup of what Facebook referred to as trusted sources, including CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Bloomberg, Fox Business, Business Insider, NPR, the Boston Globe and the LA Times, to name a…
In October, 1999 I was blogging about college application essays, Willie Crowther, and Elizabethan English for RenFest workers
Jessica found herself wishing that somebody — anybody — in her family had died: ”Because then I could write about it.” — College application essays. >As a young man I needed someone to look up to, someone to emulate. I was something of a nerd: I needed someone who’d integrated highly technical talents with the…
Saint Crispin’s Day Speech from “Henry V”
Dennis Jerz performs the famous speech proclaimed by the titular king before the Battle of Agincourt, from William Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” (WAOB Audio Theatre)
She was a musical ingenue Sunday, filmed a slasher movie past midnight Monday, and was prepared for dance kinesiology class Tuesday morning.
Fanciful Fun in Theatre Factory’s “The Fantasticks”
A great review from Pittsburgh in the Round: Aided by Kirk Howe’s skillful musical direction, and the excellent instrumental work of Howe (Keyboard 1) Beth Minda (Keyboard 2), Dave Minda (Bass Guitar), and Jesse Wall (Percussion), the performers of Theatre Factory’s latest production dazzle and elate throughout the many silly twists and turns. Fantasticks is wonderfully…
Fantasticks (Theatre Factory, Oct 18-27)
My big brother and my son facing off at chess. I am outclassed!
Preview of “The Fantasticks” (thanks, Tribune-Review, for covering the arts community)
For Luisa, Jerz’s character, “the world is still a magical place, full of epic characters and situations and — above all — romance.” She says the audience should like Luisa and care about her, not wanting the world to hurt or change her. A fun show to perform “‘The Fantasticks’ music is uniquely beautiful, and…
The Fantasticks (Oct 18-27, Theatre Factory)
Man enough to sew my own computer bag. Insecure enough to seek validation on social media for doing so.
Come see Carolyn as “The Girl” in The Fantasticks, Oct 18-27.
I have two scenes in a horror film. My head appears in a third scene.
During Fall Break, I filmed my scenes for the horror indie The First Night of Summer. My character is a cheesy dad who’s trying too hard to engage with his sullen teenager — played by my daughter. While coaching us on the set, director Mark Sciubba described the dynamic he was looking for, and asked…
Let’s conſider ſome ſurpriſing old type: “Did you ever hear ſuch a wind-ſucker, as this?”
I ſhall always treaſure the pleaſant ſurpriſe of ſeeing the “long s” while reading Epicoene, by Ben Jonſon.
A Matter of Honor (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season 2, Episode 8)
Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Riker accepts a temporary assignment as first officer of a Klingon vessel. “A Matter of Honor” offers a thoughtful, enjoyable dramatization of differences between Federation and Klingon culture, and a good B-plot in which Wesley helps a visiting officer adapt to routine operations on the Enterprise. It’s a nice touch…