amedia | Entries tagged with academia

I redid the second verse of my "Senior Service" mini-vid, which I wasn't completely happy with. I think the clips go with the lyrics better now. Maybe one of these days I'll catch up with the Vexercises, good Lord willin' and the crick don't rise.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30576815

Ratty fans can rest assured that the second verse is still entirely based on "The Daredevil Rescue Raid." :-)

One of my colleagues posted this on Facebook, and my geeky little heart went pitter-pat: HOW COOL IS THIS OMG!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPVCJjTNgk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Both TODS and I had seen this movie many years ago (separately, before we met). We wanted to see the new one, but also wanted to rewatch the old one since neither of us remembered it very distinctly.( Read more... )

And no, I didn't make this one up - I would have spelled Catullus right (or made more words wrong) and used spectat instead of videt. Nonetheless, it's really funny!
( Clicky for piccy! )

Duuuuude. A very thinky movie. ( spoilery )

Just finished watching a heartachingly well-done PBS special called "Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain." A number of scholars were interviewed, and one of them struck me. Am I obsessed, or does this guy look like Moffitt might have, about ten or fifteen years after the series?

( Read more... )

I've really enjoyed reading both

maubast and

supercheesegirl's accounts of what books they're reading, so I thought I might start doing the same, though it probably won't be in as much cool detail.

I just finished The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies, which I found very hard to get through because it was way, way too much like work. Also the author thinks he's very very clever and works hard to show it, often by having his characters spout Great Wisdom, which gets tiresome after a while. It all took place at a university and there was a lot of inter-faculty politics and bits of Latin and Greek and gnosticism and I probably wouldn't have even finished slogging through it except I had borrowed it from a friend and didn't want to return it unread. I had read the sequel, What's Bred in the Bone, which was far more entertaining (my mom lent it to me), and I thought I would enjoy this one. Alas.

Now I'm reading Harry Potter et l'ecole des sorciers to get practice because we're spending a week in Paris next month and I want to be ready! *very excited*

Next up: The Lightning Thief.

One of my favorite songs - Rockapella did the version I heard first, then I learned that the Kingston Trio had done it on one of their early albums so we got that as well.

Back to back
Belly to belly
I don't give a damn 'cause I'm stone dead already, oh--
Back to Back
Belly to belly
It's a Zombie Jamboree!

Anyway, what reminded me of that? Oh, yeah, my students today. I often complain that my early-morning class is JUST DEAD, but you should've seen the afternoon section! At least they got the difference between John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham - I asked them and they said in unison, "BRAINS!" Which is, I suppose, a somewhat unsophisticated way of saying that JSM made the clear distinction between intellectual and physical pleasure, but hey, it was the first enthusiasm they showed all class period.

Got this from

maubast - it's *fascinating*! The oldest existing copy of the Iliad is being digitized - v-e-r-y c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y:

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/06/iliad_scan

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!

Ever since that multi-spectral imaging for deciphering palimpsests came out, we've been saying, "wouldn't it be great if they found..." "oh, you don't suppose they might turn up..."

They found a LOST COMMENTARY on ARISTOTLE!!!!!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6591221.stm

My brother sent me this. I love my brother. :-)

From "jean's blog" at http://www.irintech.com/x1/blogarchive.php?id=859

If ancient Rome had the Internet...
( Read more... )

$amedia: Fractal burst of white, blue, and red with sparkles of light here and there (colorful fractal)$

I know there are folks here who are interested in Gaiman,
and some who are academics - anyone at the intersection, please read!
Also, feel free to forward.

( CFP: The Comics Work of Neil Gaiman (6/1/06; journal issue) )

I appreciated all the responses on getting the video! I wound up being able to stream it after all (the classroom computers are networked).

The Gender Studies class had a lot to say about "My Humps" and I was *very* proud that they made the transition themselves - I didn't have to point it out - from the *visuals* as objectifying women to the *lyrics* as being about the exploitation of men. And they loved "Stupid Girls" and did a great job looking at it from various perspectives.

But my very favorite comment of the night was an observation about "Beep." There was a very cool and serious conversation about what the girls say in the song about how they don't care if the guy looks at their *beep*. Some of the students interpreted that as a healthy attitude toward the male gaze (shrugging it off because they're not offended); others found it to be a sad acceptance of harassment (not caring because they've been dulled to how offensive it is). Then one of the women burst out, "If she don't CARE if he's lookin' at it, she should NOT be shakin' it in his FACE!" This received general acclaim from all sides.

Is there any way to download music videos - not the fan kind, I mean the far-less-cool kind made by the original artist - from the Internet? I need a copy of "My Humps" for my gender studies class tomorrow; I've been taping VH1 all week and they're not playing it anymore. I did get "Beep" and "Stupid Girls," which will be awesome for class, and an honest-to-goodness Hasidic Jew rapping, which I'm going to copy for a colleague who teaches a course on rap - but I really want "My Humps"! I can watch it for free anytime I want from AOL or Yahoo or MSN, but I can't seem to get a COPY that I can put on a DVD and play for the class. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Why did I EVER agree to do an independent study on medieval philosophy during the summer? What psychotropic substance was possessing my brain? Where the hell are my notes on Al-Farabi?

(update: Found the notes. What do they mean? I understood them when I wrote them...)

And why did I give my sci-fi class a difficult long-answer essay test last week? Do I still feel I have to prove to somebody that this is "real" philosophy? Haven't I won this argument with myself before? Didn't I realize I'd have to FRICKIN' GRADE it???!!!! I've graded TWO intro tests in the time it's taken me to even get up the courage to look at this humongous pile of, um, writing....

And don't get me started on the fact that I agreed to teach two classes next summer session too. Vacation? What's that?

::whimper:: I'm done yelling now. Can I have a hug?

I just got an email from a group I belong to on-campus for discussing student information literacy. The email was about teaching students to distinguish sites that are appropriate to use for research from sites that are not, and it gave links to a number of "spoof sites" - sites that mimic authentic sites - which make an excellent exercise for students and frankly, faculty, in trying to figure out what sources are dependable and which ones aren't.

The email included a link to a spoof site that claims to save students the trouble of reading the Lord of the Rings. Its author promises, "I'm sure the following synopsis and suggestions will help you make the grades you obviously deserve."

http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/homework.htm

It starts off sounding like a sloppy but fairly realistic description of the plot, but by the time you get to Galadriel's chain-smoking evil sister Beruthiel, you know something's up.

I did not create a hostile learning environment in class today.

We were going over English-to-Latin exercises on the board. I was leading them through it this time (last time I made them go over them in small groups & put the consensus on the board). So we get to "Dido gives a dinner for the Trojans" and of course we started with our verb (dat) and our subject (Dido) and our direct object (cenam) and then I said, "What case do we put the Trojans in?"

And I resisted the very very strong temptation that suddenly came over me to say, "NOT your wallet!" And I kept a perfectly straight face. So I am very proud of myself.

*snicker*

So I'm at a reception last night with colleagues from work. A very classy party with hors d'oeuvres and a professional pianist and everything.

I catch up with my husband after a while and we're chatting with an adorable (and flamboyantly gay) older student, with whom we've been become friends, and my husband says something that startles him, I forget what. He turns to my husband and says, "Fuck me!" as an expression of surprise.

I turn to my husband and say, "You may NOT!" Then I reconsider, smile sweetly at the student, and say, "Unless I can take pictures."

Husband blushes. Student now worships both of us.

And I hadn't even had anything to drink!