Bacially almost all the major black and white characters were born out of homages to minstrelsy. I talk about this in my Character Design classes actually

Just back from Secret Movie Night at the Fargo Theatre! Tonight's feature: I LOVE YOU, MAN. I didn't see this when it was first released b/c I thought it looked boring, but it turns out I should have given it a chance - way more fun than I thought and a few gags absolutely killed me.

New post from the kiddo over at So Desensitized! This time it's a departure from her usual #horror content to write about the amazing costuming of Tony Cavalero's character Keefe in #TheRighteousGemstones. Enjoy! buttondown.com/blaisebalas/...

Seeing the Bill Watterson originals full of pencil lines of stuff that didn’t work, scuffs the eraser didn’t pick up, white out galore and more was something I needed to see to remind myself that nothing is perfect the first go and tweaks need to be made and you’re allowed to try again.

New cat! This is my man Hal. He's still figuring out what's going on in this new place, but we hung out with a book for a few hours and now we're bros.

We’re searching for TWO tenure-track cognitive neuroscientists here in the Wesleyan University Psychology Department! Apply here wesleyan.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/careers

Great piece about the many ways the Burgh contributed to some of our proudest scientific achievements. Yinz oughta remember, 'n'at.

Tonight's reading: Just finished @bridgetgillard.bsky.social's LITTLE BOSSES EVERYWHERE. Excellent history of the pyramid scheme in American society and downright scary in terms of how pervasive The Plan has been (and continues to be).

Oh man - I have to take moment to mark the loss of a local celebrity today, too. Marilyn Hagerty, North Dakota's (and I would unironically argue the nation's) best food columnist has passed away at the age of 99. You might know her from her viral Olive Garden review, but there's so much more. <1/2>

So many great posts about Robert Redford's work today. I'll add my absolute favorite, which is SNEAKERS. If you haven't seen it, it's smart, funny, and has an incredible cast. www.imdb.com/title/tt0105...

I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more in high school if it had included the occasional "AACK!!!"

Alright #VisionScience and #FaceRecognition friends - as of this morning (after two very busy events) the Balas Lab now has just shy of 400 jack-o-lantern drawings by kids between ages of 2-14 y.o. (mostly 5-12 tho). Got a weird data science idea? Let us know!

Illusion of the Year contender right here. #VisionScience

Some lovely cyanotypes from @minouette.bsky.social. #VisionScience #SciArt

It's been a little while, but I've got a new Science of #Chess post up over on my lichess site - this time about the challenges of trying to estimate a "Chess Personality." Enjoy! lichess.org/@/NDpatzer/b...

Exciting collaborative study opportunity with @bxjaeger.bsky.social and colleagues! #VisionScience #FaceRecognition

I'm glad to see our Interim VP for Research and Creative Activity talking to our local paper about what's happening to research at @ndsuofficial.bsky.social. It's important to keep reminding people what will be lost rather than focusing on "abundance." www.inforum.com/news/north-d...

All I'm saying is that what I really want from the future is a little robot friend that looks like this and will hang out with me at work. #bros4life

Looks like NDSU is getting an Honors College in AI. I don't love the idea for a variety of reasons, but mainly I think we could (and should) do more to establish honors offerings in established programs first. MIT lecturers are coming, you say? I was trained there & I'm already on campus - HMU.

Really excited to check this out. #VisionScience

I don't really care if the future is short videos. I like words. Words have gotten me this far and I'm gonna stick with 'em for the duration

I haven't kept up with Star Trek for a long time now, but I am still a Trekkie at heart. Live long and prosper, @georgetakei.bsky.social, and thanks for taking the Enterprise to so many amazing places. 🖖

I added #Gisnep to my morning puzzles a few months ago and love it. Easy second-place in my tier list right behind #squardle but before #nytconnections.

Prince of Persia was a groundbreaking game for its accurate character movement back in the late 80's. To do this, the creator videotaped his own brother running and jumping on the sidewalk and then did pixel mapping frame by frame as shown here at the Strong Museum of Play

Beautiful glory captured by @astrokatie.com!

Tonight's viewing: OVER THE GARDEN WALL, which the kiddo had seen before but I had not. Really excellent and made me glad that there is still plenty of good and weird animation out there for kids (and grown-ups).

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

New post from the kiddo over at So Desensitized, this time about SCREAM and the phenomenon of the meta-slasher. Enjoy! #Horror #FilmSky #HorrorSky

My first ever completed Zine idea! "Why GenAI Sucks and You Should Not Use It" with 20 sources cited on the inside page. Thanks to all the researchers and journalists for the hard work I built from! The scanned zine to print your own and all the references can be found at padlet.com/laurenUU/antiAI

Another movie night at the Fargo Theatre! Tonight was a music double feature (we only caught the first half) starting off with Jonathan Demme and the Talking Heads' STOP MAKING SENSE. I'd heard this was the ultimate concert movie and it did not disappoint.

Definitely worth a read!

Great thread about @martinhebart.bsky.social's son discovering bistability in the Batman logo! #VisionScience

I don't understand how this paper has under 200 citations. The implications are critical for our understanding of cross modal integration. This should be a whole area of research, exploring the time course, load effects, etc. There's a whole series of careers lined up like tee balls here.

Gorgeous glass gaming pieces from the Late British Iron Age. This unique set of 24 coloured glass domes with a flattened base and spiral decoration may have been used for a game similar to ludo some 2,000 years ago. British Museum 📷 by me #Archaeology

Just back from the matinee screening of WEAPONS. Kiddo was very excited about this one & I loved the first 90 min. or so - oddly enough, I was sorta disappointed that the weirdness was mostly explained. Maybe it's my love for David Lynch's stuff talking, but I kind of prefer open-ended dread.

This weekend's reading: THE PAYBACK by @kashana.bsky.social. Loads of fun, made me miss going to the mall just a little bit, and I would definitely watch the movie. app.thestorygraph.com/books/221c71...

Today in Neuropsychology at NDSU we are working on how to solve complex problems that you don't immediately know the answer to. To practice this skill, I wrote a puzzle for my students to solve - you can try too, but it's harder if you don't live in Fargo. DM me if you think you've got the answer!

Need to control visual similarity in your experiments? A new open database by Robbins and colleagues @michaelhout.bsky.social @haywardgodwin.bsky.social, published in #psynomBRM, maps similarity among 1,200 objects in 20 categories using MDS—validated & ready to use.

Corto Maltese is coming back to print in English www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

I've never been to the Minnesota State Fair, but this might be enough reason to make the trip this time.

First day of Neuropsychology at NDSU! I admit to being a little worried about the rising tide of AI slop as I've been prepping, but I've decided we're just going to lean into some old skool tactics for engagement. I'ma go full Dead Poet's Society (first half only) and hope they come with me. ONWARD!

Alright - we made it to the potluck & our cookie salads were a hit! I was concerned I might be run out of town on a rail for my lemon oreo & blueberry blend with fresh mint (and so was @erconwell.bsky.social I think), but we made it out alright. I also had like 5 other salads that were not salads.

Job alert! The Psychology Department at NDSU is hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in Developmental Psychology, broadly defined. Please share widely & if you (or students/post-docs) have questions about the dept., about Fargo, or anything else please be in touch. #PsychSciSky #VisionScience

Hey #VisionScience friends - If your work has connections to topics like #dataviz, art, computer vision, or applied vision, consider submitting to HVEI 2026! The deadline was extended to Sept. 12 & it's a really wonderful conference. Happy to answer questions if you want to know more.

I liked this a lot.

Our new paper using transformers to understanding scene semantics has finally dropped in Open Mind. Fully open access. #cognition #percepton (If you follow me for music you can ignore this one.) direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...

ND State #Chess Championship is in Fargo this year - dare I register? Surely I can get into fighting form by October.

In Germany, scientists have made a breakthrough in treating Parkinson’s by implanting a chip in the brain that sends precise signals to restore movement. A stunning leap in neuroscience—witness the power of innovation and the beauty of science in action. Powerfull content

Just back from the Fargo Theatre's matinee of EAST OF WALL. Really interesting quasi-documentary and the Dakota Territory sure does look gorgeous on the big screen. fargotheatre.org/movies/east-...

My drawn statement on Ai as standalone from my now finished minicomic as syllabus for new liberal studies class! As promised this is shareable, printable - all from my site, feel free to make use of it, cite me & let me know how it’s received. Share away all here! spinweaveandcut.com/fall-2025-sy...