Recent Posts - page 111

  • Pi plate

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    A solstice present (from my sister Ellen, of course):

  • The Yiddish Policeman's Union

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    Just finished listening to the audiobook of The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon. This hybrid novel fits squarely in the hardboiled-detective genre — except that it also fits into the alternative-history genre. The premise is that the state of… Read More ›

  • There's nothing like promoting stereotypes

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    Overheard in Weston: “She’s even more Asian than we are.” “How could that be? She’s blonde. She doesn’t look the least bit Asian.” “She gets better grades.”

  • Achilles and Odysseus

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    A really interesting report on NPR’s All Things Considered the other day dealt with two different but intertwingled issues. One was the psychological reality of fictional characters. Some readers challenge the appropriateness of discussing the sexual orientation of Dumbledore, on… Read More ›

  • Cheating and imaginary property, Part Two

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    This is a follow-up to my post of December 26. There are two separate and distinct issues here: Has there been a decline in ethical attitudes and behavior among students in recent years? Are some lines that used to be… Read More ›

  • New Year's Eve at Brasserie Jo

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    Some time ago, Barbara and I decided that we would celebrate New Year’s Eve this year by going out to eat at Brasserie Jo. Verdict: definitely OK, but not worth the price. First of all, as the name tells you,… Read More ›

  • Ratatouille

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    I wasn’t completely convinced that I wanted to watch Ratatouille, but it seemed like a good choice for light entertainment over winter vacation. And indeed it was. Don’t let the fact that it’s a Disney animation make you think that… Read More ›

  • Dangerous Admissions

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    Almost any reader would enjoy Jane O’Connor’s satire, Dangerous Admissions, but it resonates especially well for anyone connected with an elite high school, public or private. The setting is the fictional but completely plausible Chapel School, an upper-class K–12 independent… Read More ›

  • Adventures at Microcenter

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    So I’m at Microcenter on Wednesday to take advantage of their post-Christmas sale, and I walk in clutching their flyer with the descriptions of two external hard drives highlighted. These are advertised as being for both PCs and Macs, so… Read More ›

  • Quadratic equations will help Dorchester!

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    Sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? How could quadratic equations possibly help Dorchester? Well, I should first note that we’re talking about quadratic relations —in particular, those represented by hyperbolas — not about quadratic functions in the familiar form of f(x)=ax2 + bx + c, represented… Read More ›

  • Cheating and imaginary property, Part One

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    David Pogue has written a fascinating article about cheating and intellectual property — or imaginary property, as some call it. Pogue is a technology writer, but his article is aptly entitled “The Generational Divide in Copyright Morality.” Nevertheless, technology has… Read More ›

  • Match Point

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    How can a Woody Allen movie be so boring? I just couldn’t make myself care about any of the characters in Match Point. There was no wit, no humor — in a Woody Allen movie of all things! Maybe I… Read More ›

  • Trees and rocks

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    How tall is a tree? What color is a rock? These may sound like silly questions, but they have thrown themselves in my face as I build my model railroad. In the process, I’ve discovered a couple of facts that… Read More ›

  • Dorchester Open Studios

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    Delayed post (originally written 10/28): I highly recommend visiting Dorchester Open Studios when it comes around again next year. This year’s event was well worth seeing, though Barbara and I only got to visit a fraction of the over-100 studios… Read More ›

  • Harry Potter movie #5

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    Delayed post (originally written 8/24): Sigh. The movie of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix turned out to be a disappointing mess. I had carefully avoided all reviews beforehand, but maybe they would have warned me. Usually I… Read More ›

  • Is 85% a B? Grading by percentages is not the way to go

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    In a strictly non-scientific survey, 89% of all students and teachers indicated that they believe in traditional percentage-based grading, where an 85% would be a middling B, a 75% a middling C, and so forth. Actually, I just made up… Read More ›

  • Some Like it Hot-buttered

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    Some Like it Hot-buttered, by Jeffrey Cohen, is an amusing and well-written mystery about popcorn. Well, no…though the title correctly suggests popcorn and old movie comedies, the popcorn is actually quite peripheral — merely a vehicle for delivering poison to… Read More ›

  • Musicophilia

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    I just finished reading Musicophilia, by the well-known neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks. The Wikipedia page on Sacks includes the following observation: Sacks considers that his literary style follows the tradition of 19th-century “clinical anecdotes”, a literary-style [sic] that included… Read More ›

  • Too many applications, too little time

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    One of my colleagues returned from her first-period class this morning, Dec. 17, to find a very thick manila envelope on her desk. There was a note on top: Dear Ms. Jones, Here are my recommendation forms. I am applying… Read More ›

  • Model railroading at museums

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    Is model railroading an art, or is it a craft? Or is it just a hobby, as most people believe? Surely some would admit that it’s not only a hobby but also a craft, and perhaps there’s someone somewhere who… Read More ›