Author Archives: Katherine Wikoff

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About Katherine Wikoff

I am a college professor (PhD in English, concentration rhetoric) at Milwaukee School of Engineering, where I teach film and media studies, political science, digital society, digital storytelling, writing for digital media, and communication. While fragments of my teaching and scholarship interests may quite naturally meander over to my blog, this space is intended to function as a creative outlet, not as part of my professional practice. Opinions are my own, etc.

The Weather Channel’s amazing new “Immersive Mixed Reality”

Posted on June 24, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

The Weather Channel this week introduced new technology that will add astonishing visual effects to their broadcasts. Check out this Co.Design article, with video, where you can see a demo in which the anchorman barely escapes being crushed by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, News, Popular culture, Technology, Television | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Homage in The Shape of Water – Monsters who like candy

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

Colonel Strickland, the cruel government agent who pulled the amphibious fish/man out of the river muck in South America, continually crunches on green (lime?) hard candy throughout The Shape of Water. Strickland isn’t cinema’s only early-’60s  antagonist with a sweet … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Homage in The Shape of Water – Odessa Steps

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

The last movie we watch in my film studies class every spring is always whatever has won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. This year we’re watching The Shape of Water. This is a really brilliant movie, and I … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Creativity, Movies and film, Popular culture | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Fog rolling in off Lake Michigan

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

A foggy start to the day in Milwaukee yesterday morning. Looking east up State Street from the Grohmann Museum.

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Nature, Photography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mesmerizing music visualization

Posted on May 12, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m reading paper drafts from students in my film studies course, and one of them is writing about the baptism/assassination montage in The Godfather. I was pretty sure the music playing through that scene is Bach, but I looked it … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Movies and film, Music | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Hemmed in, but still a beacon

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

For decades Milwaukee’s favorite weather forecast has been the flame atop the Wisconsin Gas Building. It changes color and flashes to announce rising/falling temperatures, snow/rain, or a steady state (no change from current conditions). There’s even a little poem to … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, History, Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

New Milwaukee Bucks arena changes color as light shifts

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

Street construction on my usual route to work has me driving past the new Milwaukee Bucks arena from different directions and at different times of day than usual. These literal shifts in perspective have led me to discover something kind … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Random photos from yesterday

Posted on April 21, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

I’ve been super busy trying to keep up with midterms and paper grading this week while also mourning the death of my sister-in-law, so obviously no blog posts lately. But I took a few photos yesterday of things encountered as I … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Photography | 6 Comments

A Reminder: Count Your Blessings

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

Every time I drive past this burnt-out house, it serves as a stark reminder that bad things can happen to any of us at any time. It’s too easy to focus on what’s not going right in my life. Seeing … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Milwaukee, Photography | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

YouTube: In the Beginning

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Katherine Wikoff

I’m teaching a mass media course this quarter, and while doing class prep recently, I needed to look at something in the internet archive, aka the “Wayback Machine.” (Wikipedia article here) Have you used this super cool  site before? You … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, History, Learning, Life, Popular culture, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments