Proust and Family Memories

No, the title doesn't refer specifically to the author of one of the most interesting novel/memoir works in the 20th century.  Proust a website that prompts the user to gather information about themselves and from others to tell their life story.  Looks interesting.


Introduction To Proust.com from Proust on Vimeo.

Global Game Jam at DSU 2012

Global Game-Jammers gathered at DSU this weekend to work together to build a video game under the tutelage of their fellows and faculty Jeff Howard and Steve Graham.  Fellow DSU faculty member Nate Edwards created this video to illustrate the goings-on of the students and others who worked and played long hours to create their games.  Nice job, everyone!  

Have You Seen These Movies? Not Likely.

We're lucky, in our small town, to have a movie theater with two screens, and every night they offer something to watch, at six bucks a head.  But I can't help but stop and notice when the two movies offered seem to be tamer versions of some of the popular films being shown elsewhere across the country.  How about taking the dragon out of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," so it's not so darned wild-sounding.  Doesn't a movie like "Girl with a Tattoo" sound a lot more like a small-town movie?  And rather than "We Bought a Zoo," how does "We Bought a Soo" sound?  That might be a little more controversial if you realize that some have, over the years spelled Sioux as Soo.  Sure, they just got the Z up there backwards, but it's interesting to mark the little things that make living in a small town so darned interesting.

(Just a little note here:  the bowling alley/lounge is NOT connected to the theater.  They just share the sign.)

New (Interim) Prez at DSU: David Borofski

The South Dakota Board of Regents just announced our interim president at DSU for the coming year as they search for a new president to replace Dr. Doug Knowlton.  It's Dr. David Borofski, currently the provost and chief academic officer at Westwood College, a for-profit school with its headquarters in Denver, CO.

Let's hope he's the man for the job.  He won't be a candidate to replace Knowlton.

At Home at the Yarn Farm

The wife, who has taken knitting under her wing, is discovering how cast-off sweaters you might find in a thrift store are really hiding places for balls of yarn.  It seems to be working out that way, as the photo to the left shows.  Having teased the seams apart, we then spooled the sections into balls, the balls into loops, the loops then soaked and cleaned.  Now, she's waiting for the five different sections (front/back/sleeves/turtleneck) to dry.  She's got 820 yards of wool yarn to work with, less than four bucks invested (but a fair chunk of time).

Walt Whitman and Robert Frost: Pitchmen

When I heard Walt Whitman's long-lost recording of "America" used in an ad for Levi's jeans, it didn't ring wrong to me; the recording is in the public domain, and the commercial seemed a soft sell, pitching American values and freedom more than any particular product.  The match between the video images and the audio (with subtitles) is nice, and the visibility it gives to the poet seems to me to be okay.  But would it hurt to name the poet?  Give him some credit.

Things seem different in the new Jeep Wrangler commercial, which shows the Jeep navigating a snowy road as an audio recording of Robert Frost reading from "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."  A small text tag at the end identifies the poet, the poem, and the copyright holder:  Henry Holt.  What's next?

"Dust of War" Trailer--SD After the Apocalypse

DUST OF WAR TRAILER from Andrew Kightlinger on Vimeo.
Friends and former students were in on the filming of this cool-looking movie using the backdrop of the territory near Pierre, SD.  I'm looking forward to seeing it.  Those costumes look great, thanks to our own Kelly Macleod here in good old Madison, SD.

Cosmic Reminder: You're Double-Lucky

January 11, 2012

Check the name of the blog:  it's a Horseshoe Seven, my grandfather's brand.  It's a symbol that calls upon two kinds of luck--the lucky horseshoe, the lucky seven.  So today, as we relish our first snow fall of the year, and the first snow fall of the winter, and a little of that good old South Dakota wind and cold, it's fitting that the day also bring something more.

And here it is, the seed catalog that says spring is not that far out, friends, and even as you're thinking that a spring break trip might be just the ticket, you'd better also be thinking about which tomato plants you're going to go with this summer.