New nickname dropped: Professor Fury.

One cataract surgery down.

The Rifftrax edition of The Star Wars Holiday Special is keeping me company as I finish my end of term grading.

I, too, often say this.

A holiday gift that I continue to love.

I wonder if Idiocracy (2006, dir. Judge) would fit in my upcoming time travel course.

Tonight on Silent Film Friday, we're celebrating the end of finals week with a Mystery Animation Bag. All silent, all black & white, and starting at 8 PM Eastern over at stream.place/atk42games.b... . Join us, won't you?

Shirley Walker gave the world quite a gift with her scores for Batman: The Animated Series. Gotham City Overture is getting me through the professionalism evals.

Thanks to @seanferrick.bsky.social and his Star Trek Toys We Love video, I pulled out my TNG Type-2 phaser to check on whether or not I left batteries in it...and I had. My sweet partner is cleaning out all of the corrosion and reconnecting any loose wires. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

This Fall, I taught a 400-level comics course at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, under our Major Authors rubric, on the comics Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. I posted a recap of each week using #comicteaching. This thread contains all of those posts, as well as a link to our syllabus.

This is one of the prettiest pieces of tech I've seen in quite some time. Their crowdfunding site is now open. www.crowdsupply.com/diptyx/dipty...

I have witnessed a whoopin'.

This is excellent. Kudos to all involved. “Tech… interventions, especially those offered as one-size-fits-all solutions for educational problems, do not improve student, faculty, institu­tional, or research outcomes. In many instances, their use harms students as well as faculty members and staff.”

Lavinia (chicken) and Igor (turkey) sharing lunch. 🥰

This is absolutely where I'm at: no one is owed my time.

It looks like it's official: I have my first student-given nickname. I should say this is the first of which I've been made aware, so there may be other ways my name is used in vain. In this case, I'm learning to answer to Dr. K.

I am so looking forward to having one pair of single vision glasses again. No computer glasses, no reading glasses, no wearing reading glasses over my already multi-focal lenses because I just can't see to read. It all starts next Monday for me.

Hello there, new interest rabbit hole.

An end of term reflection from a student that specifically called out learning about the concept of movies as a form of Bahktin's carnival. It was memorable enough she commented on it. This really is a teaching euphoria moment, particularly because this term was the first time I've taught this.

Utterly devoid of ethics or basic decency.

Silent Film Fridays is off tonight, pre-empted by Alex's work holiday party. I'll be hanging out with the good Reverend instead, watching random animation and having a delightful time. Join us, won't you?

I've never owned a baseball-style jersey, but I might think about it with this one.

Squirrel tongue!

💯💯 I like to talk about this with students so they get it! Not using AI will help them more than it will help someone who'll be on the planet less long than they will!

Does anyone else find the "year in review" creepy? It just reminds me how much data a company has gathered about me and makes me want to use them less.

Same, Pete.

Have a timeline cleanse.

I don't have much of a track record when it comes to Legos, but I'm willing to start one with this beautiful, beautiful kit.

You never know what a kindness might do to lift up someone who needs it.

I'm evaluating a paper where the header includes "Professor [Instructor’s Name] Film Studies 101." That's not my class. Author? "python-docx" Two AI screens: 100% AI. Student admits use of Grammerly, but no more than that. What am I looking at? AI overuse or student honesty?

I have found our New Year's film for Silent Film Fridays.

Tonight on Silent Film Fridays, we're on the hunt for The Blue Bird (1918). Join us for a fairy tale that includes talking food items, animals, and ungrateful children who learn a thing or two. We kick off at 8PM East over on StreamPlace. Join us, won't you? stream.place/atk42games.b...

The one of the left reminds me of my father. That man loved tough black cats.

It feels like she's about to give me a quest.

First Amendment protections? They're less common than you think.

A Turkey named Brotherhood: a classic for a reason

Very grateful for my pliers as my fingers need the help.

It's a holiday Turfucken

Be with your people if you can, but peace be with all of you. Now dinner enters the chat.

Could have used a revival of this five years ago.

The Columbia Pictures logo circa 1928

Sometimes I forget just how many costumes I've made for my kids and just how often black sweatshirts came in clutch.

I've been refurbishing a 1920s leather satchel slowly over the course of nearly two years. Leather conditioner, learning about saddle stitching, and replacing the cloth liner by using the pieces to create a pattern. I'm about to assemble the new liner and it's incredible to see it come together.

Sounds of Our House: "Is the coffee percolating?" "I forgot the fish." "You can't forget the fish, my dude."

Silent Film Fridays is off tonight due to Alex's work. Join us next week at 8pm Eastern for The Blue Bird (1918), won't you?

Sounds of Our House, classroom edition: "It's how I found out that Trump got shot. The fish told me."

In an unexpected collision between past work and present occupation, I realised that I contributed features to the ASIFA's journal back in 2005 and 2007. The same International Animated Film Association that I now reference when I teach about animation beyond Hollywood. It's.....a little whiplash.

Thank goodness for small favors.

Sounds of Our House: "Turhamken: turkey, chicken, and hamster, obviously."