Author: Richard Nestoff (Page 1 of 33)

Worst commencement speech ever.

May 10, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

A friend’s daughter graduated from OSU last weekend, so we made it a camping trip to Alum Creek State Park. I didn’t attend commencement, but the graduate came out to the campground afterward.

I graduated from OSU a long time ago, and know it’s a big and tedious affair. It usually isn’t so bizarre. While the graduates were processing in, someone fell from the stadium and died. Some of the graduates saw it happen. That doesn’t usually happen.

Ohio State is a big and well-regarded university. Commencement speakers are occasionally important people, but they are always competent and boring. Not this year. When the graduate told me there were two sing-alongs, that clinched it.

The commencement speaker for Ohio State University’s graduation this past weekend admitted to being high on psychedelic drugs, including ayahuasca. It’s why his speech went quickly off the rails.

I asked the graduate if OSU’s president was a diversity hire. Clearly the speaker was a bad choice and the speech hadn’t been vetted. The graduate said, “No, the last president was, but this one is pretty good.”

Yesterday, OSU President Carter said that he had nothing to do with selecting Pan as the speaker and that the process was “underway before he became President.”

“I did not review his speech. I did not know what he really was going to speak about, and again, it wouldn’t matter because once he gets the microphone, he’s got the microphone. It was certainly an interesting speech. I would say very nontraditional. There were some that liked it and a lot that didn’t,” Carter added.

I like how OSU’s president doesn’t try to defend the speech and wants to be clear that he had nothing to do with it. He sounds competent.

Biden may not be running for president in Ohio.

May 9, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

President Biden may not be on the ballot in Ohio, and it isn’t easy to find unbiased reporting on this significant issue.

TL: DR: In Ohio, there is a law that presidential nominees must be submitted 90 days before the election to be on the ballot. Democrats screwed up, so Biden won’t be on the ballot unless something is done really soon. Ohio Republicans have to pass a waiver today, or the Ohio Democrats will have to figure this out on their own.

Unfrosted is a comfort movie for people born before 1963. 9/10

May 8, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Unfrosted was written and directed by Jerry Seinfeld and is currently playing on Netflix. The movie is set in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1963 and provides a fictional account of the development of the Pop Tart. It shouldn’t be watched by anyone born after 1963.

On IMDB, Unfrosted isn’t rated highly, because it’s a tricky movie to categorize. It isn’t a satire or a parody, or even especially funny, but it is fun to watch, for people born before 1963. Imagine an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George have to explain how Pop Tarts were invented to Kramer. Jerry and George make up an elaborate tale while Kramer asks questions about superfluous details.

It’s hard to imagine how this movie was made. The cereal companies, Kellogg and Post, are in a race to develop a new breakfast product. Both companies and their actual products are mentioned dozens of times. Neither company is portrayed favorably, but it’s clear that everything is fictional except for the details. The details are what make the movie fun. Characters, products and music are all from the era, and familiar to people of a certain vintage. It isn’t nostalgia, because the story is absurd, but it’s entertaining to hear a bunch of shout-outs and references that we understand.

This is a pop culture movie that covers two eras. I’ve never seen Jack Lalanne referenced in any contemporary TV show or movie, but people of a certain will enjoy the shout-out. I also liked seeing Bill Burr play JFK. It seemed like every actor was recognizable from a TV show or movie.

Unfrosted isn’t a great movie, but for people eligible for Social Security, it’s a comfort movie. There is no strong language or message, just the joy of watching familiar actors playing long-gone characters to a good soundtrack. I’d give it a 9/10 for what it is.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson presentation on “Delusions of Space Enthusiasts”. 7/10.

May 8, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Friends invited me to attend a talk by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, last night, at the State Theater. Our group represented half of North Royalton High School’s Science Department. The half that attends a lecture by an astrophysicist is the same half that is actively disdained by the high school administration. Two of us retired early, one is retiring in a month, one is engaged in a district dispute due to unfair treatment by the principal and one was passed over for department chair so an administration shill could be installed.

Stellar Blade is under attack.

May 7, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Sign this petition on Change.org.

I am a marginal gamer, but Critical Drinker mentioned this issue. Hollywood has been hammered by pushing an agenda. The movie industry is down something like 40% from the pre-Covid days. Creative properties that used to be box office gold, like the MCU and Indiana Jones have been trashed and people are losing their jobs. We don’t need to go through this again for video games.

The gaming industry is huge, and now, studios are being pressured to surrender to DEI. Gamers are pushing back. Stellar Blade is a popular game that is getting censored by corporate. People who bought the game had to download a patch before playing for the first time. The patch censored the game in ways contrary to how the game was marketed. Here is one example.

That is a minor change, but we know the wreckers are never satisfied. If the activists capture the video game industry as they have Hollywood, another popular diversion will be gone.

Even if aren’t a gamer, sign the petition to push back.

Alum Creek State Park 7/10

May 7, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

A friend’s daughter was graduating from Ohio State, so we decided to make it a camping outing.

The campground at Alum Creek State Park is laid out very well for RV’s. The pads are level, pretty deep and have enough trees between sites that it feels private. The sites had electricity only, but the shower house was nearby and nice enough.

That’s about the best I can say about Alum Creek State Park. Oh, and it’s 15 minutes from IKEA. There was a dog park that was big enough and had a beach access dog park for water dogs.

Alum Creek State Park has water-based fun. There are several boat ramps, so fishing and boating are the big attractions. It’s a state park, so there are hiking trails. I didn’t notice any bike trails.

WaPo: Outside agitators are involved in campus disruptions.

May 3, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

WaPo: Many protesters are outsiders

More than a quarter of protesters arrested Tuesday at Columbia University and 60 percent of those arrested at the City College of New York had no connections to the institutions, according to data from the New York Police Department.

It’s time to take these provocateurs seriously. When a DA wants to, an avalanche of charges can be dropped on a defendant. Outside agents should be treated as a serious threat. They should be kept in jail as long as is legally possible to keep them from fomenting chaos elsewhere. Intelligence agencies should be investigating their background. Foreigners can be expelled, and student visas revoked.

The useful idiots from the student body should face university disciplinary hearings along with more modest charges. Academic freedom doesn’t shield faculty from punishment for criminal activity. They should be dismissed from the university.

Our government representatives should be monitoring the response by university and local officials. If these disruptions aren’t seriously addressed, those officials should face consequences.

Indulging bad behavior isn’t doing anyone any favors.

May 2, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

My old classroom at North Royalton was on the second floor. The windows opened on to the roof of the first floor. Prior to my employment, a physics student climbed out the window, on to the roof. The teacher, Miss Jen, tried to coax the student back in. She begged, promised, compromised and negotiated. The student screwed around on the roof until the period was almost over, then came in.

There are a few ways to handle a situation like this, but the main dysfunction is that the student thought climbing out the window was an action to consider.

April 30, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Those old movies, with a manly star like Humphrey Bogart or Cary Grant, made an impression on me. The tough guy could be stranded on an island, living on the prairie or on the African Queen, and they always manage to shave. Invariable, if the fella isn’t shaving, it’s because he is drunk all the time.

In The African Queen, Humphrey Bogart explains it. “A man alone, he gets to living like a hog.” Inevitably, a woman throws all the booze away and civilizes him.

NYT: Illegal campus occupations are illegal.

April 30, 2024 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

NYT: Colleges have gone off the deep end.

David French explains where the college protestors have gone wrong. I don’t recall seeing any push-back during the Occupy Wall Street or BLM actions.