Updating a villain’s lair in #Blender3D. Still a work in progress.

Similar:A pallet of cabinet fronts and structural elements to flesh out #neovictorian #steampunk i…PersonalServing at midnight breakfast.PersonalHad a blast watching all the amazing entries in Pittsburgh's 48 Hour Film Festival, b…PersonalFall 2023 Grades: Submitted! AcademiaThe Little Girl from the 1981 LEGO Ad is All Grown Up, and She’s Got Something to SayGreat article featuring the…

The Nightingale (WAOB Audio Theatre)

I haven’t done any audio theatre recordings in a while (thanks, coronavirus) and I miss it. Here’s my interpretation (recorded some time ago) of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Nightingale.” The nightingale is considered the most beautiful thing in the kingdom… until a mechanical nightingale wins over the citizens, and the true nightingale is banished. But…

Introduction to The Skin of Our Teeth (optimistic, absurdist metatheater; Thornton Wilder, 1942)

Similar:West Side Story (One-Minute Preview)From Mrs. Lovett two weeks ago to Maria …AestheticsHow Common Core Testing Damaged High School English ClassesHelping my students understand how my ro…AcademiaBeautifying the exterior of the fantasy cruiser from the bedtime stories I used to tell my…PersonalThe Myth of the MegalithI have found that archaeologists are sel…CultureParallel Structure vs. Faulty…

When People Only Read the Headline — Misuse of Journalism

The Society of Professional Journalists links to an interview with an MIT professor who’s studying misinformation on social media (which is not the same thing as bad journalism — some bad actors take journalism out of context in order to deceive). Responsible journalists are aware that sensational headlines can harm the public. The truth is…

Which of my colleagues wants attention?

Similar:Merchant of Venice Part 2 live, now! #PPTPlaytimeDrama''Uh…''And yes, Liz’s face registers the shift …AestheticsMy Summer Project: A WordPress Website for Stage Right, a Local Non-Profit Not too shabby, if I do say so mysel…Aesthetics#PPTPlaytime Tartuffe @thepublicpgh (Looking forward to Part 2 of this live videoconferenc…CultureElderly woman who botched religious fresco demands royalties – TelegraphThe…

The girl asked me to read R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) to her. #quarantine #partylikeaprofessor

Similar:My 10yo Sings "Hopelessly Devoted to You"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq81GeqAY…PersonalProto iPads and Paper Coexist in Classic Star TrekRewatching the classic Trek episode “The…CybercultureGingerbread USS EnterpriseMr. Sulu, set phasers to delicious! Whic…AestheticsMy contribution to WAOB Audio Theatre’s plan to record all the proverbs.My contribution to WAOB Audio Theatre’s …CultureMore delightful #steampunk control panels. These are computationally efficient bitmap rect…PersonalThose…

In “World Drama” I’m adding the absurd, optimistic “The Skin of Our Teeth” (dropping bleak “Waiting for Godot”)

In light of current events, I’m dropping the bleak Waiting for Godot from my World Drama class (actually I’m making it optional; students could drop a different play) and adding Thornton Wilder’s absurdist but optimistic The Skin of Our Teeth.   Writing while World War II was still raging, Wilder depicts a representative American family…

The Survivors (ST:TNG Rewatch, Season Three Episode 3) Charming geriatric love and a pacifist morality play

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. After the Federation colony on Raina IV is obliterated, the Enterprise discovers a perfectly preserved house with two elderly survivors. The standoffish Uxbridge impresses Worf by confronting strangers with a non-functional hand phaser, and the hospitable Rishon tells a charming story of how the two fell in love on Earth.…

What gives you comfort? I collect lights. Some of these have magnets!!

Similar:Can you tell the difference between factual and opinion statements?I got a perfect score. How did you do on…CultureThe Physics Behind Traffic JamsIn between today’s various events, I das…CultureFascinating, and very sad, story behind an iconic National Geographic photo.Fascinating, and very sad, story behind …AestheticsThe End of Headphone Jacks, the Rise of DRMWhen you plug…

MoonBot is back. This time he fights a new adversary. #Blender3D physics practice.

I submitted midterm grades at about 11 last night, quickly modeled a new object, and let the animation render overnight.   Similar:Most Television From Before 2000 Is Trapped in the Uncanny ValleyJust as the technological innovation of …CultureThis is what the techbros are excited about? Really?Some 2300 years ago in ancient Greece, P…AcademiaHappy Sweet Sixteen,…

How are you holding up? What difficult choices have you made? How can we all help each other get through COVID-19??

Carolyn and were recently cast in a historical film. I recorded my video audition last week, feverish with an upper respiratory tract infection, coughing and gulping from a mug of tea between lines. Our characters are in different time periods, but we each get to fight someone in a duel. Filming for our scenes was…

Confessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling Dad

Similar:Kristin and Haley's Discussion on Poe's "The Raven"I gave my literature students 30 minutes…AcademiaWhen Perception Trumps Reality: Republicans aren't nearly as rich as Democrats estimate. D…Democrats wildly over-estimate the perce…AcademiaInside the utopian, brick-loving world of LEGO's adult fandomI used to enjoy buying my kids a $4 set …Aesthetics8yo who found 1500-year-old artifact in a lake:…

Confessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling Dad

Are you unexpectedly home-schooling your kids? Every family is different, and every kid is different. But I think anxious parents who are in unexplored territory probably need to hear this: you won’t hurt your children if you don’t keep them academically occupied for a block of 7 hours. On a typical brick-and-mortar school day, kids…

Oedipus Tyrannos (Oedipus Rex) — Brief Introduction

My first lecture screencasts for my newly-online class. (Thanks, COVID-19.)     Similar:Writing a Cutline (Caption) for the News: Three examples of an often overlooked journalism…In journalism, the “cutline” is the text…AestheticsPHD Comics: It's in the syllabus  PHD Comics: It’s in the syllab…AcademiaMan of the People (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episode 3) When a…

Trump, finally, takes the coronavirus emergency seriously

CNN’s Stephen Collinson praises the president’s Monday press conference. This version of Donald Trump will save lives. The President offered Americans something they have rarely seen from him in his latest and most somber press conference yet on the coronavirus pandemic on Monday. He dispensed unimpeachable information based on fact. He called for national unity and…

Kitchen utensils for my steampunk villain’s hideout. #Blender3D.

There’s nothing particularly steampunky or villainous about kitchen utensils, but I am glad I feel well enough to get back to Blender3D. Similar:When the art director was too cheap to buy the graphic designer a protractor.AestheticsSigma Tau Delta English Honors Society induction ceremony. Congratulations new members. #s…PersonalMy Latest Classic Tales Online PurchaseJust finished listening to…

Coronavirus Tribute to Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks” (1942)

I found this image on Facebook (where it was being shared without attribution). Similar:The Case Against High-School Sports”I’ve been in hundreds of classrooms,” s…CultureJournalists call out White House claims on terror reportingThe easily-disproved surface-level claim…CultureAn apology to Donald Trump, from the "fake news" mediaA good example of the power of satire. …CultureWhy won't the University…