Growing up, my dad exposed us to a number of board games and, while he was open to all sorts of game mechanics, he especially enjoyed the wonkily strategic ones that might be best described as “simulations.” Yes, we’re talking cardboard chits and plenty of rules in strict number-outline order about how those cardboard chits operate. My dad was tough to beat in such simulations, because he absorbed the rules with a precision that many…
A little over a year ago, I felt the need to post a motivational video about beginnings. Today, we’re beyond beginning, into persisting with a video from Lewis Woods that reminds us that it’s not about the expectant outcome, but the journey and the journey and, yeah, we’re still journeying. And it doesn’t hurt that he references the always reliable Bryan Cranston. So keep on showing up. Keep on creating. True, one day you might…
Still thinking of The Late Show coming to an end last week, I enjoyed one of Colbert’s jokes: that he’d probably wind up hosting a cable access show. I clearly forgot that, back in 2015, that’s exactly what he did in the run-up to his tenure on The Late Show. So, in what must have been planned as part of his exit, Colbert closed his show Thursday… and then he went back to host that…
Writers are sometimes asked if they fall into one of two camps. First is the plotter: someone who outlines their work assiduously and only then begins their draft. Second is the pantser: someone who discovers the plot as they write. There is a third proposed faction called plantsers, which I may arguably belong to, but I do not identify as such. On the one hand, being a plantser sounds like a condition for which I…
Speaking of all good things coming to an end as I was on Tuesday, tonight is a good thing I definitely don’t want to end: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Tonight is its last night. In fact, they may have finished recording their final episode by the time you’re reading this. And I was reminded by a fellow theatrical how important a theater space is. That it can be like a garden where people…
They say all good things come to an end, which mainly makes me feel “They” need to stop doomscrolling and go outside. However, one thing I don’t remember them touching upon is how some good things don’t just end, they wither. And that withering often comes from a serious of decisions. For instance, take Panera… and if a bunch of you just reflectively reacted “No, please no!” you know where this is going. Back in…
I am, perhaps, remiss in having a regular post around the 17th of May, because the second oldest constitution in use deserves some democratic love, but if you haven’t seen this one, it’s a humdinger. There are many places around the United States that celebrate Norway’s Constitution Day, but no one should be surprised that towns in Wisconsin and Minnesota celebrate it. Enter Stoughton, Wisconsin, founded by Norwegian immigrants and don’t you forget it! In…
Discussions at the dayjob have included the both the risks of AI and the risks of not implementing AI. I mean, the problems of AI as an accelerator for cybercrime were already apparent and are now becoming iridescent (metaphorically). But my guess is that most of you are dealing with workplaces where there’s a cohort of people wanting to implement AI to do everything. They want a silver bullet. They really need to understand some…
Yes, given the posts earlier this week, I couldn’t resist… but let’s face it: AI, in the form of our current crop of large language models, has been touted as the technology that will change everything. Well, for humans, anyway. And for humans, AI has proven problematic. Because, when it comes to Chosen Ones, you generally want them to do good. That’s one of the reasons they get the moniker of “Chosen One” versus “Eternal…
After May the Fourth became the official unofficial Star Wars holiday (much to the consternation of Orthodox Star Wars fans, who only celebrate May 25th and maybe Life Day) the people who can start singing “Yub Nub” at the drop of a Stormtrooper helmet tried to extend the revelry into the rest of the week. Hence Revenge of the Fifth. Hence this video. I have to say, it works for me, not that I’d tell…