Tag Archives: WPLongform

Sonia – Blues Radio DJ

Last week Friday I was fortunate to spend time in the radio booth with Sonia, who hosts “The Blues Drive” every Friday afternoon on 91.7 WMSE (“Frontier Radio, anti-established in 1981”), a radio station owned and operated by Milwaukee School … Continue reading

Posted in Milwaukee, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Why “The Hunger Games” should win the Academy Award for Best Production Design

I was finally able to watch The Hunger Games about a week ago and was extremely impressed by the film’s visual design – the locations, costumes, sets, props, makeup, etc.  Immediately I began thinking about writing a post arguing that the film … Continue reading

Posted in Movies and film, Popular culture, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jonah Lehrer, and the “marvellous Boy”

Well, the sad news last week was that Jonah Lehrer, one of my favorite writers, admitted to fabricating quotes from Bob Dylan in his recently published book Imagine.  I intended to purchase Lehrer’s book but hadn’t gotten around to it … Continue reading

Posted in Books and reading, Teaching, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer), Writing, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

The making of a “reader”

Are “readers” born, or are they made? If they are “born” then no amount of instruction is going to make a difference.  But assuming a reader is “made,” how can schools best accomplish that objective?  In 1955 readability expert Rudolf Flesch published … Continue reading

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Some favorite DVD bonus features

Do you ever watch the special features on your DVDs?  Here are some of my favorites. 1. “Animation Sound Design: Building Worlds From the Sound Up” – WALL●E In this nearly 20-minute long special feature, Oscar-winning sound designer Ben Burtt … Continue reading

Posted in Movies and film, WPLongform (posts of 1000 words or longer) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment