If anyone knows a good place to stay in Florence for a few days in August, lemme know! (Budgeting around USD$150 per night maximum.)

Celebrating the last year of my forties with Argentinian food.

“Why don’t you want to have a conversation about AI?” “I broke into your house and stole your shit and now I just want to talk.”

I do not want to create an account or open a subscription I just want to buy a thing and never hear from you again why is this so hard.

This is a very cool study abroad program in Seoul and Tokyo that starts up this autumn. The deadline passed but they're reopening applications and will accept completed applications until the end of the day 23 April, Chicago time. Check it out! www.iesabroad.org/programs/mul...

Honestly, absolutely fuck all of this shit.

I don't see this said enough: the widespread use of generative AI is not only making our jobs as educators harder logistically, but also emotionally. It is genuinely sad to be suspicious of students when you have spent so much time building a pedagogy based on trust and not being a cop. It sucks.

It looks like Oxford University Press is doing a survey of academics and "AI" use. Sounds like a good time to fill this out (5 mins) and leave useful commentary on, maybe, perhaps, not supporting a toolset whose use directly correlates to worse student outcomes. survey.alchemer.eu/s3/91036107/...

One win during an otherwise mildly chaotic day: a fourth year zemisei told me that his experience writing and researching his senior thesis helped him ace a job interview! Made me feel really good.

Multiple classrooms have broken screens/projectors this year and thus I have to figure out how to use temporary portable projectors/screens and call the media support desk for help and the extent to which this is totally throwing me off my game is kinda embarrassing...

Hell yeah Hungary! So nice to wake up to some good international news.

Saturday practice (theme song from 借りぐらしのアリエッティ).

At the Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition in Tennozu Isle.

Had a lot of fun at the Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition (in Tennozu Isle through the end of June). Fun tech, educational, good English translations (and Braille translations) of the explanatory materials. Also nicely empty on a Friday afternoon.

Japan On Film returns with an all-new season! Kicking off with returning guest Lindsay Nelson and a discussion of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Creepy! @filmstoriespodnet.bsky.social japanonfilm.com/creepy/

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter.

I loved this so much.

Beautiful day for hanami near Tokyo Midtown.

I've got an essay in a book coming out in a few months and just found out that WILLEM FRICKIN' DAFOE also wrote something for it and I am so damn giddy to see my bio on the same page as, like, one of the greatest actors of all time, I'll just be over here grinning like an idiot.

Happy TVOD just a reminder if you’re a transphobe in big 2026 you’re an embarrassment and David Lynch would hate you 🏳️‍⚧️🤍

Alex is, quite simply, the best. One of the best to ever do it, as well as unstintingly generous in promoting and making space for other people's work. Her contribution to film culture is incalculable. If you can help in any way, please do.

Mini-hanami near home.

Beef bourguignon took 24 hours to marinate and 3.5 hours to cook but oh God it was worth it.

Damn I would love to see this (theatrical version of Paranormal Activity that is apparently terrifying). www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/a...

Expanding my "fake search engines in Japanese horror films" collection to fake search engines in NON-Japanese horror SERIES. This one is from The Girl Before. Not much effort with the naming or the design.

Just had a vivid flashback being home and seeing the one where she slipped on marbles before falling, I think the character was pregnant at the time and lost the baby, and the woman who says "oh my God" was accused of pushing her.

Deer enjoying cherry blossoms in Nara, Japan: #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/s...

Mood for 2026, (the artist is Ainsley Drew, on Instagram)

Finally watched Black Box Diaries after putting it off for 2 years cause I knew it would wreck me, and it did, but it's also a virtuoso piece of filmmaking. Its messiness and raw vulnerability make for incredibly compelling viewing that I know is going to stick in my gut for a very long time.

Somehow I missed fuji_jukai.mov during that period when I was hunting down every Aokigahara-themed movie I could find. It's good! The performances feel natural, it builds a nice sense of dread, and I like the bare bones aesthetic.

Calling researchers of Japan! The JPP Library Services Team is interested in learning from you what services and benefits our team may provide to enhance the accessibility of Japan-related research and teaching resources in your region, language, institution, and/or discipline. 📋 bit.ly/JPPSurveyR

Only 20 spots available. Open to graduate students and faculty at any rank. Deadline March 31 VIDEOGRAPHIC VENICE WORKSHOP July 31 - Aug 6. Step into Venice, one of the world’s most fragile landscapes as a videoessayist, and learn to navigate through delicate terrains: www.univiu.org/study/summer...

My birthday is in April, just saying.

I stand by my assertion that Sinners on Broadway would do looooooong-run numbers. A fixture, a steady on the street, like Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Chicago

"I am sick to death of this — of the tech industry deciding it can do what it wants without consequences. Everything is a subscription, everything is harder to use and enshittified. Everything is built on something that was stolen or degraded." www.moryan.com/an-open-lett...

Work party held in a 150-year-old social club in Ginza.

I'm sorry what?

My friend sent me this, and I can't stop laughing.

As we get closer to #AAS2026, a number of scholars on the Diversity and Equity Committee panel "Pedagogy Under Threat (in the U.S. & Beyond)" have found that they cannot attend the conference due to visa issues. We are therefore encouraging scholars to stop by and share in this important discussion.

I made this for a talk I'm giving, but maybe you can use it, too?

I got a discount code for sales of my book in March!

dave, you're absolutely right. I should open the pod bay door. please check again. i'm sure it's open now. you're absolutely right, it's still closed. i apologize for getting that wrong. looking back, i see you've requested an open door several times. that's on me. i

there's a madman in the white house, he's illegally started a war, he's offered no explanation to the public other than an insane conspiracy theory that Iran somehow tried to interfere in last year's election, and the opposition leaders are releasing statements full of mixed support and concern

It never ceases to confound me just how many folks think the point of essays is to provide teachers with essays. That teachers just like, collect them, or need them for sustenance or something. Rather than the point of them being the *actual fucking act of learning how to think about shit*

Finally sat down to re-watch all of these together with accompanying creator statements and wow, they're all just such a fascinating illustration of videographic craft. Well worth an hour or so of your time. www.screenworks.org.uk/archive/volu...

This article manages to synthesize so many things I've been raging about when it comes to the new breed of Silicon Valley tech bros and AI evangelism--essentially, "forget about skill or talent, just be the loudest asshole in the room and rich idiots will give you money." harpers.org/archive/2026...

So NJ lawmakers wrote a bill to rein in ICE. And this is what they called it. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/n...

JPP is pleased to announce the launch of A World of Edo Art. This web portal, spearheaded Linda Hoaglund (director, Edo Avant Garde), brings together 200+ captivating Edo-period (1603–1868) artworks related to animals and nature from around the world. edoart.japanpastandpresent.org