Monday, July 21, 2008
something new on the cusp
friends... I am, I hate to say, the invisible man. But not for long. I have embarked on a new endeavor sure to please. I will have a brand spanking new podcast very soon. I will link it here as soon as it gets going!
Monday, March 17, 2008
Word of the day
Hello Students.
Professor: Here.
Recently, I was speaking with my brother about the etymology of some interesting words and I remembered how interesting words and their origins can be. I was reading Hamlet again this weekend and came across the famous lines:
Lord Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
Lord Polonius: What is the matter, my lord?
Hamlet: Between who?
Lord Polonius: I mean, the matter that you read, my lord.
(Hamlet II, ii, 191-195)
"Words,words words" When you think about it, that's all we really have.
So...with that in mind I thought I would start a new feature on the
blog: WORDS WE SHOULD KNOW.
Today's word is: INVEIGLE.
Know it already? Good for you.
Inveigle is defined as "to win over by coaxing, flattery, or artful talk"
I don't mean to inveigle you my dear; I just find you to be the apotheosis of beauty and intelligence.
Watching her inveigle the crowd with her silver tongue was inspiring.
It comes from the Middle English envegle, alteration of Old French aveugler, to blind, from aveugle, blind, from Vulgar Latin aboculus: Latin ab-, away from + Latin oculus, eye.
So there you have it. Your assignment is to use it three times every day this week!
Dismissed!!!
Professor: Here.
Recently, I was speaking with my brother about the etymology of some interesting words and I remembered how interesting words and their origins can be. I was reading Hamlet again this weekend and came across the famous lines:
Lord Polonius: What do you read, my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
Lord Polonius: What is the matter, my lord?
Hamlet: Between who?
Lord Polonius: I mean, the matter that you read, my lord.
(Hamlet II, ii, 191-195)
"Words,words words" When you think about it, that's all we really have.
So...with that in mind I thought I would start a new feature on the
blog: WORDS WE SHOULD KNOW.
Today's word is: INVEIGLE.
Know it already? Good for you.
Inveigle is defined as "to win over by coaxing, flattery, or artful talk"
I don't mean to inveigle you my dear; I just find you to be the apotheosis of beauty and intelligence.
Watching her inveigle the crowd with her silver tongue was inspiring.
It comes from the Middle English envegle, alteration of Old French aveugler, to blind, from aveugle, blind, from Vulgar Latin aboculus: Latin ab-, away from + Latin oculus, eye.
So there you have it. Your assignment is to use it three times every day this week!
Dismissed!!!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Governarial disease
Hello Students.
Professor: here.
Okay students. Today's discussion is adult in nature and since we are all adults here, please, no giggling. Especially you in the back!
Since all you here today on the news is about the Govewhore of New Whork, I felt the need to vent. You see, The Professor doesn't understand. What is it that makes a governor spend 80,000 on prostitutes? Don't get me wrong, I understand wanting to be with beautiful women and multitudes of them at that. But what I don't get is why spend the cash!?!? I've never been a governor, but I would imagine in that position, you wouldn't have much problem finding good looking women to sleep with. Can't someone in that position get girls on his own? Even without the position of power...if you have 80k to drop on that kind of thing, wouldn't you be able to find some good looking gold diggers out there to have your way with? I'm not trying to be insensitive or too sarcastic, but what a loser.
The other thing The Professor doesn't understend is this. If you are going to enter that two headed transplant called marraige, why wouldn't you just get a divorce once you acheived governor status? Yeah, it would be a scandal, but you don't have to resign if you get a divorce...you just get bad press. And don't give me the whole "divorce is wrong" angle. Cheating on your spouse is wrong too!!!
I've got the same beef with atheletes. If you are gonna make 150 million over 8 years and you want to sleep around, get out the marraige, give up millions to the ex, and do whatever the heck you want. Jeez!!!
As for me, I'm gonna stick to the legal type. You know, going on dates, buying dinner, buying tickets to shows, presents...the traditional way.
Dismissed!!!
Professor: here.
Okay students. Today's discussion is adult in nature and since we are all adults here, please, no giggling. Especially you in the back!
Since all you here today on the news is about the Govewhore of New Whork, I felt the need to vent. You see, The Professor doesn't understand. What is it that makes a governor spend 80,000 on prostitutes? Don't get me wrong, I understand wanting to be with beautiful women and multitudes of them at that. But what I don't get is why spend the cash!?!? I've never been a governor, but I would imagine in that position, you wouldn't have much problem finding good looking women to sleep with. Can't someone in that position get girls on his own? Even without the position of power...if you have 80k to drop on that kind of thing, wouldn't you be able to find some good looking gold diggers out there to have your way with? I'm not trying to be insensitive or too sarcastic, but what a loser.
The other thing The Professor doesn't understend is this. If you are going to enter that two headed transplant called marraige, why wouldn't you just get a divorce once you acheived governor status? Yeah, it would be a scandal, but you don't have to resign if you get a divorce...you just get bad press. And don't give me the whole "divorce is wrong" angle. Cheating on your spouse is wrong too!!!
I've got the same beef with atheletes. If you are gonna make 150 million over 8 years and you want to sleep around, get out the marraige, give up millions to the ex, and do whatever the heck you want. Jeez!!!
As for me, I'm gonna stick to the legal type. You know, going on dates, buying dinner, buying tickets to shows, presents...the traditional way.
Dismissed!!!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Crisis on Definite Earth
Hello Students.
Professor: Here
Mark Twain once said, "everybody complains about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it". How True. Now that we have a more international audience on this speck of blog (thanks Matt), I thought I'd share a bit of strange Roswell weather news.
Now...to flash back in time to the Pop Culture Conference a few weeks back...the weather was mild and then there was snow. As we drove back to the secret Southwestern Headquarters we hit a lot of snow...all of a sudden, that lasted about 45 miles and then nothing. Strange.
But it does not compare to yesterday in Roswell USA. First, it was about 78 degrees (Fahrenheit) during the day. And then...all of a sudden (typical Roswellian explanation), the wind started to pick up. I mean gusting at unbelievable speeds. I walked outside and saw a giant dust storm encompassing the western part of the city. As I watched in amazement, the wind changed directions and I was coated with dirt like someone had just hit me with a giant brown powder puff!!!
I quickly retreated inside thinking, how the devil did I get here, and patted the dirt off like some weary cowboy just in from wrangling some cattle. Then, the power went off and I was in complete darkness. It was a race against time to see if my lap top's battery could outlast the outage. Infatuated with the wrath of the wind and dust, I decided to go back outside and maybe see if the local Starbucks was also sans-electric and discovered it was snowing. Not just snowing, but a blizzardly mix of directional changing 50 mile per hour winds, giant snowflakes and dirt.
Sometimes I feel like I am on another Planet
Thoughts invade of things I take for granted
As stars break through the snowflakes dusty swell
I'm amazed to think: all's well in Roswell
Epilogue:
This morning something new for me. I get out the old snow brush to clear off my car and I find a layer of pure white snow with a thin layer of brown dirt underneath. Kind of an earthly Tiramasu. Hey...its better then Scorpions, giant spiders and snakes!!!
Dismissed!!!
Professor: Here
Mark Twain once said, "everybody complains about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it". How True. Now that we have a more international audience on this speck of blog (thanks Matt), I thought I'd share a bit of strange Roswell weather news.
Now...to flash back in time to the Pop Culture Conference a few weeks back...the weather was mild and then there was snow. As we drove back to the secret Southwestern Headquarters we hit a lot of snow...all of a sudden, that lasted about 45 miles and then nothing. Strange.
But it does not compare to yesterday in Roswell USA. First, it was about 78 degrees (Fahrenheit) during the day. And then...all of a sudden (typical Roswellian explanation), the wind started to pick up. I mean gusting at unbelievable speeds. I walked outside and saw a giant dust storm encompassing the western part of the city. As I watched in amazement, the wind changed directions and I was coated with dirt like someone had just hit me with a giant brown powder puff!!!
I quickly retreated inside thinking, how the devil did I get here, and patted the dirt off like some weary cowboy just in from wrangling some cattle. Then, the power went off and I was in complete darkness. It was a race against time to see if my lap top's battery could outlast the outage. Infatuated with the wrath of the wind and dust, I decided to go back outside and maybe see if the local Starbucks was also sans-electric and discovered it was snowing. Not just snowing, but a blizzardly mix of directional changing 50 mile per hour winds, giant snowflakes and dirt.
Sometimes I feel like I am on another Planet
Thoughts invade of things I take for granted
As stars break through the snowflakes dusty swell
I'm amazed to think: all's well in Roswell
Epilogue:
This morning something new for me. I get out the old snow brush to clear off my car and I find a layer of pure white snow with a thin layer of brown dirt underneath. Kind of an earthly Tiramasu. Hey...its better then Scorpions, giant spiders and snakes!!!
Dismissed!!!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Back in the saddle
Hello Students.
Professor: Here
So, first let me apologize for my recent absense. When last we met, I was on my way to Albuquerque for the Pop Culture Conference. We had a really good time there and met some fantastic folks from Manchester, England. I spent most of my time hanging out with them and wishing I lived in the UK. But then it was time to go back to Roswell USA and so I did.
For the last week or so, I have been trying to catch up with work. No fun. I have also started on two projects: Laundry Reclamation Project (LRP) and Office Organization Ordeal (OOO my goodness!!!). I don't know about you, but for some reason The Professor has a lot of clothing. I mean like tons. Some of it is more recent and some goes way back to The Professor's childhood days. Also, my secret headquarters...not so big. My plan is to organize all of the clothing and donate the stuff that is so old there is no way I'll ever fit into it again (or stylistically, there's just no way). My main problem so far is that I have a small stackable washer dryer and I am a large man. So, it takes a good amount of time to get a very little bit of it done. Add to it the amount of clothing that needs to be washed for my weekly wardrobe and it seems impossible.
The OOO project is going a bit smoother. The office itself was reorganized by my workstudy earlier the semester, but everything still needs a once over to be filed in the proper place. The biggest headache is the computer. I have thousands upon thousands of files that need organization. Up until now I have relied on my super memory to locate things when I need them, but I have reached my storage capacity and now can not remember anything new. So, my plan is to organize, clear my memory of all of that info and start anew.
Besides that, lots of other stuff going on, but more about that later.
Dismissed!!!
Professor: Here
So, first let me apologize for my recent absense. When last we met, I was on my way to Albuquerque for the Pop Culture Conference. We had a really good time there and met some fantastic folks from Manchester, England. I spent most of my time hanging out with them and wishing I lived in the UK. But then it was time to go back to Roswell USA and so I did.
For the last week or so, I have been trying to catch up with work. No fun. I have also started on two projects: Laundry Reclamation Project (LRP) and Office Organization Ordeal (OOO my goodness!!!). I don't know about you, but for some reason The Professor has a lot of clothing. I mean like tons. Some of it is more recent and some goes way back to The Professor's childhood days. Also, my secret headquarters...not so big. My plan is to organize all of the clothing and donate the stuff that is so old there is no way I'll ever fit into it again (or stylistically, there's just no way). My main problem so far is that I have a small stackable washer dryer and I am a large man. So, it takes a good amount of time to get a very little bit of it done. Add to it the amount of clothing that needs to be washed for my weekly wardrobe and it seems impossible.
The OOO project is going a bit smoother. The office itself was reorganized by my workstudy earlier the semester, but everything still needs a once over to be filed in the proper place. The biggest headache is the computer. I have thousands upon thousands of files that need organization. Up until now I have relied on my super memory to locate things when I need them, but I have reached my storage capacity and now can not remember anything new. So, my plan is to organize, clear my memory of all of that info and start anew.
Besides that, lots of other stuff going on, but more about that later.
Dismissed!!!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Pop Culture Conference
Hello Students.
Professor: Here.
So...this week the Professor and Sidekick are off to the enchanting city of Albuquerque, the Duke City, for the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture Conference. I began attentding this conference about 6 years ago whilst I was working on my PhD. at UTD and had a blast. The first talk I gave there was about humor in Postmodern Theatre and I was on a panel with good friends Daniel Bartlett and Jay Ingrao. Now, years later, because of the hardwork and dedication of Sidekick, there is actually a theatre portion for the conference (which he is chairing).
Although it's only a stone's throw from Roswell USA (and by the way...a stone's throw to folks out here is a 4 hour drive) it's still a nice getaway at a typically fun conference. I don't know if I'll attend any of these particular panels, but here are some of my favorite paper titles on the schedule:
"American Women Explore Sexual Desire in Italy"
(uh...let me know when the Italian women do that here!)
"There’s Always Some Killing You Got to Do Around the Farm: The Monstrous Hillbilly in Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"
"The Dead and the Frugal: Buffy, Angel, and the Economics of Demon Slaying"
(uh...because nothing is more realistic for our economy then killing demons)
"Karate Chopping Feminism: Miss Piggy, Feminism and The Muppet Show"
(she gave plus models a leg up)
"The Gendered Palate: The Role of Women in Japanese Culinary Comic Books"
(who knew?)
"Knitterati: West Coast Knitting Culture"
(again...who knew?)
"Will the Real Lamb Stew Please Stand Up: A Question of Authenticity"
(where do you think Obama and McCain stand on this?)
" The Power of the Rod: How Wands Function as Phallic Symbols in Harry Potter"
(see...it's much more than just blasphemous anti religious propaganda!)
and...
"The Cowboy Hat: Icon of America and Texas"
(giddy-up!)
So you think about those for a while and I'll be back to let y'all know how it all went down.
Dismissed!!!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Godspell
Hello Students
Professor: here.
Many of you ask..."Professor, what are you doing to keep yourself so busy these days?" As if fighting crime and teaching (sometimes the same thing) isn't enough to rule out much of a social life, I figured I'd share with you a new endeavor.
The craziness of theatre has rutured to the Professor's life. For those who know me, you know I teach acting and direct theatrical performances from an undisclosed location somewhere deep in the desert of New Mexico. Well, this time I have teamed up with a long time crime fighting pal to put up GODSPELL, the musical. Last November I directed DOUBT: A Parable. Some of you thought it ironic for someone with my religous backround to be doing a show that's setting was a catholic church, so being involved with GODSPELL, basically a musical about the book of Matthew should either be no surprise or a bigger one.
For this show I will be serving as Assistant Director. Now I know what you are thinking: demotion!?!? Not really. I just thought that since I have never been involved in a musical in any capacity (except for some shows where we had live music, and of course playing music myself), this would be a really good way to get to see first hand how it's done. It will be directed by Dallas Jeffers-Pollei and the musical director is Crystal Jeffers, both of whom have tons of theatre, music and musical theatre experience.
It will be a great show and I recommend everyone coming to see it. It goes up April 10-13 at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. For those of you who have come out for our shows before, hopefully you have seen them get better and better. This will be no different. It will be the best we have done.
So there you have it. So when the Professor signal goes off and I am nowhere to be found until mid-april, you'll know where to find me...in the theatre!!!
Dismissed!!
Professor: here.
Many of you ask..."Professor, what are you doing to keep yourself so busy these days?" As if fighting crime and teaching (sometimes the same thing) isn't enough to rule out much of a social life, I figured I'd share with you a new endeavor.
The craziness of theatre has rutured to the Professor's life. For those who know me, you know I teach acting and direct theatrical performances from an undisclosed location somewhere deep in the desert of New Mexico. Well, this time I have teamed up with a long time crime fighting pal to put up GODSPELL, the musical. Last November I directed DOUBT: A Parable. Some of you thought it ironic for someone with my religous backround to be doing a show that's setting was a catholic church, so being involved with GODSPELL, basically a musical about the book of Matthew should either be no surprise or a bigger one.
For this show I will be serving as Assistant Director. Now I know what you are thinking: demotion!?!? Not really. I just thought that since I have never been involved in a musical in any capacity (except for some shows where we had live music, and of course playing music myself), this would be a really good way to get to see first hand how it's done. It will be directed by Dallas Jeffers-Pollei and the musical director is Crystal Jeffers, both of whom have tons of theatre, music and musical theatre experience.
It will be a great show and I recommend everyone coming to see it. It goes up April 10-13 at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. For those of you who have come out for our shows before, hopefully you have seen them get better and better. This will be no different. It will be the best we have done.
So there you have it. So when the Professor signal goes off and I am nowhere to be found until mid-april, you'll know where to find me...in the theatre!!!
Dismissed!!
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