I haven’t imposed many blogging rules on myself, but here’s one I think I’ll honor more in the observance than the breach… “Any sanctimonious post must be followed by one that embarrasses the blogger” So, having spent yesterday’s post up on my high horse defending denominations less by pointing to their virtues than by decrying … More Guilty Pleasures
In the past couple of months, WordPress (the blogging service that hosts The Pietist Schoolman) has introduced some new metrics that help us bloggers better understand how we’re being received. My favorite is a breakdown of the countries where my readers are located. The top four, unsurprisingly, are English-speaking nations: 1. United States (76% of … More Taking Over the World, One Post at a Time…
One more post about British TV as I continue to reprise some posts from recent months during this mini-hiatus coinciding with Bethel’s Spring Break: my defense of Downton Abbey against withering criticism from one of Britain’s most popular historians. Downton has been back on my mind of late, after my wife and I watched its antecedent, the … More Best of The Pietist Schoolman: Downton Crabby
I wish it were William Farish’s fault. Grading that is. Google “history of grading” and you’ll find this Cambridge University tutor blamed for having invented grades ca. 1792 as a way to evaluate more students more quickly and thereby collect more fees. But according to Mary Lovett Smallwood’s 1935 monograph, Examinations and Grading Systems in … More Grading
As I’ve blogged about previously, making the switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar necessitated some odd choices throughout Europe, but none odder than what my ancestral people — generally noted for their commitment to reason and common sense — tried to pull off early in the 18th century. I’ll let a physicist explain: … More February 30, 1712
The big night isn’t till the 26th, but now that the Grammys are done… Let’s get our Oscar Prediction Post out of the way, shall we? Now, this isn’t really a list of Oscar predictions — in the sense that I make no predictions about who will actually win Academy Awards in these categories or … More For Your Consideration…
Earlier this month the popular British historian Simon Schama took to the pages of Newsweek to write a withering attack on the British TV series Downton Abbey — and even more, on Americans’ obsession with it — as its second series began to air on PBS. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T BEEN WATCHING I … More Downton Crabby
So here it is, December 30th, the sixth day of Christmas. And I know what you’re thinking: “Where am I going to find six geese for my true love? *Do geese even lay eggs in late December?” (See end of post for answer.) And adding to the problem, yesterday’s five gold rings didn’t come cheap … More The Sixth Day of Christmas
With the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary only one and two weeks away, respectively, more and more newspaper editorial boards, political activists, religious leaders, and other powerful individuals and groups have been weighing in with their endorsements of Republican candidates vying to face off against President Obama next November. As an opinion-shaper myself, I … More Jon Huntsman, for Candidate
Like I said in my very first post… I’m not exactly an early adopter. But however late to the party this makes me… I am just now getting into word cloud generators! Here’s how I belatedly learned of this toy… In place of a final exam this week in our Christianity and Western Culture class, … More Fun with Word Clouds
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