Author Archives: Ralph Hanson

Iconic “This is Fine” Dog echos a 14th century illuminated manuscript image

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

How long has the “This is  Fine” meme been around? Would you believe the 14th century? You all know the Dog-in-the-Burning-Room “This Is Fine” meme, right? As reported in the LAist blog, Green drew the iconic image as part of … Continue reading →

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Riding With Strangers – 40th Anniversary Team Strange Airheads Grand Tour

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

NOTE: For the last eleven years, I’ve competed in a large-scale motorcycle scavenger hunt sponsored annually by Team Strange Airheads. This is a Twin Cities-based organization that got its start as a bowling team that evolved into a  BMW motorcycle … Continue reading →

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Happy ARPANet-Goes-Online-in-1969 Day for those who celebrate!

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANet), the first wide-area packet-switching  network, made its first successful computer-to-computer connection on Oct. 29, 1969. Unlike some earlier conceptions of the network, it was  intended to serve the needs of academic researchers, not … Continue reading →

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What Has Happened to the Washington Post?

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

Editor’s note: Last week, the Washington Post’s publisher and CEO William Lewis announced that the paper for the only the second time in 50 years would not be endorsing a candidate for the presidency of the United States. In a … Continue reading →

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Everyone’s Gone To The Movies – Day 2 Clips for Media Literacy

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

Dear Basketball – Oscar for Best Animated Short 2018 Here is a link to a short documentary on the Disney animator who did the incredible hand-drawn animation in Dear Basketball https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=151995019413886    Gone With The Wind – Staircase Scene – 1939 … Continue reading →

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Hip Hop’s T-Pain Goes Unplugged on NPR’s Tiny Desk

Posted on October 2, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

Back in 2014, hip-hop artist T-Pain was famous for his creative use of Auto-Tune software, not to put his voice on the correct pitch but rather to produce a sound that was instantly recognizable as his own. But that wasn’t … Continue reading →

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National Banned Book Week Has a Lot to Observe This Year

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

Editor’s Note: This week is the American Library Association’s Banned Book Week. The following blog post looks at a history of book challenges in the US and how these efforts have massively escalated in the 2020s. Books are capable of … Continue reading →

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What is “Pink Slime” Journalism, and Why is it Such a Problem?

Posted on September 20, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

Back in 2012, American consumers were grossed out by stories that found ground beef sold in plastic chubs was often supplemented with the meat byproduct euphemistically known as “finely chopped beef.” This collection of “trimmings” is sprayed with ammonia gas … Continue reading →

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After 23 Years, Memories of 9/11 Are Still Raw

Posted on September 11, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

9/11/24 Editor’s note: Yesterday morning I showed the “Welcome to the Rock” clip from the 9/11 themed musical Come From Away as my pre-class video in JMC 100 – Global Media Literacy. I then tried to tell my class the … Continue reading →

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My How Times Have @#%&ing Changed: Politicians, Presidents and Profanity

Posted on September 9, 2024 by Ralph Hanson

As I have previously written, presidents and other politicians using offensive  language is nothing new. (In fact, I wrote about this topic as early as 2006 in a media commentary for the late, great Charleston Daily Mail, now merged into … Continue reading →

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