Friday Video - Invisible Drum Kit

This week's video is one of my favorite stage bits from Rowan Atkinson called the Invisible Drum Kit.  Most of the world knows Rowan as Mr. Bean, but those who only know him that way are missing out.  He has a whole slew of very funny stuff that is independent of the Bean saga.  Although, I guess I'm not exposing you all to that because the invisible drum set is also a pantomime.  Ah well.  Watch it anyway.

Friday Video - Flying Penguins?

This week I'd like to share with you guys a mockumentary bit from the BBC (or supposedly from the BBC) on penguins.  I think the title of the video gives away a lot, but I still enjoy the visuals.

Friday Video - Kiwi

This week's Friday video is a favorite of mine from a few years back.  I can't tell you too much about it because it will ruin the video for you, but in short it's a Kiwi bird with a mission.

Friday Video - Patrick Stewart Alphabet Song

Hi all.  This week's Friday video is a slightly geeky one, but it's enjoyable enough that you don't have to be a geek to appreciate it.  It's called the Patrick Stewart Alphabet Song and is, in fact, just that.  Patrick Stewart sings a song going through the letters of the alphabet.  Particularly notable is that it takes place on the bridge of the Enterprise.  I bet the cast and crew of Next Generation had a good laugh about that one....

Doing Research? A couple of good books....

So, as part of my concentrations I'm doing a certain amount of coursework related to research methodology and statistics.  School just started this week, so I just had the first session of my research design class.  In particular I want to share the suggested course texts with any grad students or other researchers out there because I think they're going to be really helpful.  For those just starting in research, there's Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology by Donna Mertens, which covers all the bases.

The extra good thing about this book is that it has little tidbits about  how to go about research that experienced researchers may have been told, but have never read or don't have a source to cite for it.

Second, for a more advanced design book, consult Foundations of behavioral research (4th edition) by Kerlinger and Lee.  This book is particularly good because it problems and hypotheses from a technical and sometimes mathematical standpoint, sometimes even using set theory.  For those of us who need to talk in terms of theory and who aren't philosophically-minded, this might be a good approach to take.

If you find yourself faced with a phenomenon that you have particular difficulty in measuing, you might consider this next book.  Fundamentals of measurement in applied research by UIC's own Theresa Thorkildsen is what she refers to as "a cookbook for creative measurement" and is a very practical book for innovative research designs.

And finally, I'm really excited to explore Barbara Lovitts' Making the Implicit Explicit, which is a handbook to dissertation writing.  It has whole chapters dedicated to writing different kinds of dissertations, such as a Philosophy Dissertation or an English Dissertation or a Science Dissertation.  This book has been recommended to me multiple times by different people, so I'm going to check it out as soon as possible.

Things to Check Out IV (Etsy)

This week's Thing is a website called Etsy.  I had Etsy described to me once as Amazon for the hand-crafted soul.  Check out this cool journal, for example.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/51825422/10-12-x-7-12-leather-vintage-look?ref=cat1_gallery_8

It's made by an Etsy user called crearting and ships all the way from Latvia.

There's also an option to shop local.  Here are a few Chicago-based shops on Etsy:

Teal Monkey EarFlap Hat

from LeafLee

Vintage Sterling Silver 3 Rolling Rings

by ueberkunst

Vintage copper cookie cutters, witch, scotties, lion and more

by Sunny Day Vintage

(extra exciting is that these cookie cutters are only $10)

Etsy's search options aren't just hand-crafted there are also filters for "vintage" and "supplies," just in case you were planning on making your own jewels.  So, while I don't think I have the budget to shop Etsy a lot, I will definitely add it to the gifts-for-a-friend list.

Midweek Update: Devil in the White City

Hey all.  I just got back from a quick trip to see the folks, and accordingly I owe you all a few posts.  Actually, I have a really good "Thing to check out" that I just heard about, but I'll save it for Sunday.  :)

However, I just started reading Devil in the White City (on my 7 hour bus ride from Ohio) and I really like it.  It alternates between narrating the story of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and the murderer who was active during it.

What is particularly interesting about this book is that its writer is not a novelist but a historian.  All the events are facts rather than speculation, but they are written in a fluid way that make you wonder what will happen next.  There are elements of foreshadowing and irony built in because, let's face it, life is ironic.

So, what I would like to be doing at the moment is eating my lovely lunch of hot and sour soup and working on this book, but alas, it is a work-day for me.  Instead I am faced with my chronic conundrum of feeling guilty whenever I read for fun.  Thus, I am working my way through an article: Lopez 2009, "Ranking the Linear Correspondence Axiom," which as it turns out is not only very readable but quite clever.  We're working on it as part of our lab meeting discussion group because we have Luis (Lopez) on hand to pester with questions.  The basic idea is that Kayne's (1994) Linear Correspondence Axiom (LCA) is simply ranked with other prosodic rules in an Optimality Theory sort of approach.  Importantly, linearization is either a product of C-command or the mapping into PF, which allows clitic right and/or left dislocation to occur.

But, I haven't finished it yet.  The soup certainly helps, though.