a teaching moment

While certainly NOT a fun topic, the current seismic activity in the Pacific is causing some problems in the world. (see http://earthquake.usgs.gov/). Amazing thing is how much the announcements let the folks on the North American west coast know they are out of harm's way, when countless deaths can be directly attributed to the Tsunami. In class this morning, I tried to link to some other tsunami website, but can imagine the heavy traffic looking for the same info.

Need a laugh

I used to check out the various video sites (before YouTube) and caught this funny flash mob dancing to Hammer. It makes people laugh and that is good.
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/song_dance/Hammertime_Flash_Mob

Nuttin' like a bad SCI FI film to round out the summer

So folks, you see, we show 16mm films in the backyard. Typically these are classic Drive-in favorites that you probably saw from your parent's car in the sixties or seventies. You know the type, films that have monsters that either make your skin crawl, or the kind that make you brake out in laughter. Well, anyway, last night, we showed "The Brain that Wouldn't Die", a classic that I picked up from Greg out in Sinister Cinema. (check out his website for thousands of titles on VHS or DVD, see http://www.sinistercinema.com/).

What a way to wrap up the summer. It was chilly last night so folks went after the hot tea and coffee over the cold drinks.

I wonder how many people show 16mm films in their backyard during the summer. I bet a lot!

getting to know the students

In my Quantitative Methods class I asked the students about their hobbies, music and film tastes and some background academic information. It was all to get to know the students a bit more. Out of a class of 18, two stated that "The Shawshank Redemption" was their favorite flick. What are the odds?

For my taste, one student claimed "Cool Runnings" and "Nosferatu", both high on my list of great films.

I downloaded the trailers from YouTube, and will add these to my PowerPoints.

back to school today

OK, I'm back to school today and in the classroom. Haven't taught for a few years, so it should be interesting. I'll teach Recreation Geography in the spring, so in the meantime I'm doing Physical Geography and Quantitative Methods. The quant class will do an urban heat island study of our city park, so I will keep you up to date.