Ben Balas
@bjbalas.bsky.social
Vision Scientist, Dad, Would-be artist & dreadful chess player. Check out my new #visionscience textbook here: https://www.routledge.com/Practical-Vision-Science-Learning-Through-Experimentation/Balas/p/book/9781032691121 All opinions my own.
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Ben Balas
@bjbalas.bsky.social
· Nov 4
Practical Vision Science: Learning Through Experimentation
This workbook provides a collection of experiments and observations that use physical materials (rather than digital displays or resources) to reveal fundamental properties of the human visual system....
www.routledge.com
Hey there #visionscience and #psychscisky friends! I wanted to take a moment to (finally) do a proper promo 🧵 about my new textbook: Practical Vision Science, which is now available from Routledge books. <1/n> www.routledge.com/Practical-Vi...
If you're a fan of STRANGER THINGS, @blaisebalas.bsky.social's post is an excellent bit of #popculture and horror analysis. Go like, share, and subscribe! #horrorsky #strangerthings #horrormovies
Happy New Year’s Eve to everyone, and happy Stranger Things finale to all who celebrate! Coming on here to do a quick plug for my #strangerthings post from before s5 aired to celebrate this wonderful show. Check it out!
#strangerthings5 #horrorsky #horrorwriting
buttondown.com/blaisebalas/...
#strangerthings5 #horrorsky #horrorwriting
buttondown.com/blaisebalas/...
Totally Tubular Thinger Strangs Spectacular!
Hi all, and welcome back to So Desensitized! I took a little break, as you may have noticed, to get myself back together after the Spooktacular took a bit...
buttondown.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:12 AM
If you're a fan of STRANGER THINGS, @blaisebalas.bsky.social's post is an excellent bit of #popculture and horror analysis. Go like, share, and subscribe! #horrorsky #strangerthings #horrormovies
Happy New Year! We're off to the Nth annual Ben Balas Memorial Crokinole tournament, but 2026 is just a few hours away here in the Frozen North. The sun decided to put on one more show for us in 2025, so thought I'd share this look at the ND sky with you all. #happynewyear
January 1, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Happy New Year! We're off to the Nth annual Ben Balas Memorial Crokinole tournament, but 2026 is just a few hours away here in the Frozen North. The sun decided to put on one more show for us in 2025, so thought I'd share this look at the ND sky with you all. #happynewyear
Weekend reading: Just finished @blacktopkid.bsky.social's BLACKTOP WASTELAND. This one doesn't let you go - I don't usually read straight through a book in a sitting or two, but I couldn't help it with this one. Definitely one of the best I've read this year. app.thestorygraph.com/books/9f10d1...
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
A husband, a father, a son, a business owner…And the best getaway driver east of the Mississippi....
app.thestorygraph.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Weekend reading: Just finished @blacktopkid.bsky.social's BLACKTOP WASTELAND. This one doesn't let you go - I don't usually read straight through a book in a sitting or two, but I couldn't help it with this one. Definitely one of the best I've read this year. app.thestorygraph.com/books/9f10d1...
I didn't grow up with these as a holiday tradition, but I now think of @nancykanwisher.bsky.social every year when we get them from our stockings. The 1st time I got one I was gently tapping it on the table to no avail & Nancy showed me the proper technique of whacking the hell out of it. 🎄🍊🔨
December 25, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I didn't grow up with these as a holiday tradition, but I now think of @nancykanwisher.bsky.social every year when we get them from our stockings. The 1st time I got one I was gently tapping it on the table to no avail & Nancy showed me the proper technique of whacking the hell out of it. 🎄🍊🔨
Heck yeah! The Thin Man is fantastic.
It’s hard for me to pick my favorite Xmas movie bc there are so many sub-categories: nostalgia, comedy, action…but tonight’s is at the top of most lists, including non-xmas.
a man in a suit is holding a small black cat in his arms .
Alt: Nick Charles pulls a face at his wife Nora in The Thin Man. She gives it right back.
media.tenor.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Heck yeah! The Thin Man is fantastic.
Reposted by Ben Balas
Happy 21st December evening everyone. May the Great Veiled Bear pass over you house tonight and not present you with one of his cursed Christmas cookies.
December 21, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Happy 21st December evening everyone. May the Great Veiled Bear pass over you house tonight and not present you with one of his cursed Christmas cookies.
I've been hooked recently on a solitaire game called Scoundrel that plays with a standard deck of cards and an optional D20. It's a dungeon crawl with weapons (diamonds), monsters (clubs and spades), and health potions (hearts). Finally won with the 10H last in the deck! <1/3>
December 21, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I've been hooked recently on a solitaire game called Scoundrel that plays with a standard deck of cards and an optional D20. It's a dungeon crawl with weapons (diamonds), monsters (clubs and spades), and health potions (hearts). Finally won with the 10H last in the deck! <1/3>
I've been in a bit of a #chess playing slump for the past few weeks, but the end of the term seems to have given me some of my brain back! Pretty pleased with this blitz game today - I've been working on learning the Grand Prix and I feel like it's started going a little more smoothly of late.
December 21, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I've been in a bit of a #chess playing slump for the past few weeks, but the end of the term seems to have given me some of my brain back! Pretty pleased with this blitz game today - I've been working on learning the Grand Prix and I feel like it's started going a little more smoothly of late.
Weekend reading: Miles Harvey's THE KING OF CONFIDENCE. This is one of those books that makes you wonder how this piece of US history isn't taught more widely - fascinating and strange (like the antebellum period in general) and very readable. 📚
The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch by Miles Harvey
The "unputdownable" (Dave Eggers, National Book award finalist) story of the most infamous Americ...
app.thestorygraph.com
December 21, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Weekend reading: Miles Harvey's THE KING OF CONFIDENCE. This is one of those books that makes you wonder how this piece of US history isn't taught more widely - fascinating and strange (like the antebellum period in general) and very readable. 📚
Welcome Yule!
The Shortest Day Read Aloud
YouTube video by William Fogg Library
www.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Welcome Yule!
One of my favorite memories of college was being Omelette Man for Finals week breakfasts b/c I didn't have any exams. Cook on, Omelette Man!
December 19, 2025 at 2:09 PM
One of my favorite memories of college was being Omelette Man for Finals week breakfasts b/c I didn't have any exams. Cook on, Omelette Man!
It's Williams-Sonoma time, people! I was just saying to @erconwell.bsky.social this morning that it hadn't quite set in that #Christmas was coming, but now I've got that holiday spirit.
GREAT NEWS! This year’s Williams-Sonoma catalog is powered by AI! defector.com/the-2025-hat...
December 17, 2025 at 3:25 PM
It's Williams-Sonoma time, people! I was just saying to @erconwell.bsky.social this morning that it hadn't quite set in that #Christmas was coming, but now I've got that holiday spirit.
One more #ArtAdventCalendar post for your evening and it's another #StudioGhibli #snowflake design. Tonight, we switch to HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE and the fiery Calcifer! This one is especially for @k-a-baker.bsky.social who requested this guy a few snowflakes ago. ❄️✂️🔥🏰
December 17, 2025 at 2:50 AM
One more #ArtAdventCalendar post for your evening and it's another #StudioGhibli #snowflake design. Tonight, we switch to HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE and the fiery Calcifer! This one is especially for @k-a-baker.bsky.social who requested this guy a few snowflakes ago. ❄️✂️🔥🏰
A hallway conversation today about AI, my Neuropsych students, and upcoming movies led to a brief moment of confusion for one of my colleagues who thought we were talking about a Phineas Gage biopic starring Nic Cage. Here me out - whatever's in the trailer, it ends with CAGE. IS. GAGE.
a close up of a man 's face with a tear coming out of his eye .
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with a tear coming out of his eye .
media.tenor.com
December 16, 2025 at 11:41 PM
A hallway conversation today about AI, my Neuropsych students, and upcoming movies led to a brief moment of confusion for one of my colleagues who thought we were talking about a Phineas Gage biopic starring Nic Cage. Here me out - whatever's in the trailer, it ends with CAGE. IS. GAGE.
Excellent piece about Ben Grimm (The Thing) being acknowledged as Jewish for the first time in Fantastic Four #56.
Ben Grimm was modeled in part on Kirby, his creator, although his Jewish faith was never overtly stated in the comics during Kirby's tenure at Marvel, or even during Kirby's lifetime. Writer Karl Kesel and artist Stuart Immonen made Ben canonically Jewish in 2002: bookriot.com/ben-grimm-yo...
The Yom Kippur Comic That Made Ben Grimm (Officially) Jewish
Despite being coded as Jewish for decades, it wasn't until 2002 that the comics officially acknowledged the Thing, aka Ben Grimm, as Jewish.
bookriot.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:58 AM
Excellent piece about Ben Grimm (The Thing) being acknowledged as Jewish for the first time in Fantastic Four #56.
Took in WAKE UP DEAD MAN at the Fargo Theatre this afternoon. I quite liked the different tone of this one - KNIVES OUT and GLASS ONION are great fun, but I liked that this one embraced genuineness more than snark. I do feel Andrew Scott was under-utilized, however.
a man wearing a brown jacket and a plaid shirt is looking up .
ALT: a man wearing a brown jacket and a plaid shirt is looking up .
media.tenor.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Took in WAKE UP DEAD MAN at the Fargo Theatre this afternoon. I quite liked the different tone of this one - KNIVES OUT and GLASS ONION are great fun, but I liked that this one embraced genuineness more than snark. I do feel Andrew Scott was under-utilized, however.
We are back in the #papercraft business! Thanks to the lovely @erconwell.bsky.social for making the run to get a new Cricut blade - tonight's #ArtAdventCalendar design is another #StudioGhibli #snowflake: Kiki and Jiji from KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE. ❄️✂️🧹🐈⬛
December 14, 2025 at 3:16 AM
We are back in the #papercraft business! Thanks to the lovely @erconwell.bsky.social for making the run to get a new Cricut blade - tonight's #ArtAdventCalendar design is another #StudioGhibli #snowflake: Kiki and Jiji from KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE. ❄️✂️🧹🐈⬛
Reposted by Ben Balas
This Fall, I taught a 400-level comics course at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, under our Major Authors rubric, on the comics Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. I posted a recap of each week using #comicteaching. This thread contains all of those posts, as well as a link to our syllabus.
December 12, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This Fall, I taught a 400-level comics course at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, under our Major Authors rubric, on the comics Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. I posted a recap of each week using #comicteaching. This thread contains all of those posts, as well as a link to our syllabus.
Alas, we had a busy evening & so for tonight's #ArtAdventCalendar I must give you a #snowflake from year's past. Part of tonight's schedule was a trip to the movies, so here's my @mst3kofficial.bsky.social Tom Servo and Crow designs from a few years ago. Enjoy, and stay tuned for new patterns soon!
December 11, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Alas, we had a busy evening & so for tonight's #ArtAdventCalendar I must give you a #snowflake from year's past. Part of tonight's schedule was a trip to the movies, so here's my @mst3kofficial.bsky.social Tom Servo and Crow designs from a few years ago. Enjoy, and stay tuned for new patterns soon!
Tonight was movie night at the Fargo Theatre and our feature was DIE HARD. Still probably the best action movie there is and watching with a crowd was great fun.
a blurry picture of a police officer with a badge on his chest
ALT: a blurry picture of a police officer with a badge on his chest
media.tenor.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Tonight was movie night at the Fargo Theatre and our feature was DIE HARD. Still probably the best action movie there is and watching with a crowd was great fun.
Link to my in-depth interview about snow removal: www.inforum.com/news/fargo/w...
With shovels and snowblowers, Fargo residents welcome the winter pace
Fargo residents responded to Tuesday’s snowfall with teamwork, determination and good humor, clearing sidewalks and driveways quickly.
www.inforum.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Link to my in-depth interview about snow removal: www.inforum.com/news/fargo/w...
For Day 9 of #ArtAdventCalendar I managed to eke out one more #StudioGhibli #snowflake out of my ailing Cricut - tonight it's another look at San from PRINCESS MONONOKE, this time in full-on attack mode and masked. I love this image and think it makes for a pretty dramatic design. ❄️✂️👹🗡️
December 10, 2025 at 4:14 AM
For Day 9 of #ArtAdventCalendar I managed to eke out one more #StudioGhibli #snowflake out of my ailing Cricut - tonight it's another look at San from PRINCESS MONONOKE, this time in full-on attack mode and masked. I love this image and think it makes for a pretty dramatic design. ❄️✂️👹🗡️
I did a "Man on the Street" interview today with one of our local news stations about my snow-shoveling philosophy and in retrospect I both left a lot out and probably said too much. It's probably fine, right? Should I have given a fake name?
a man is shoveling snow in front of a house with the words " another snowday " below him
ALT: a man is shoveling snow in front of a house with the words " another snowday " below him
media.tenor.com
December 10, 2025 at 12:46 AM
I did a "Man on the Street" interview today with one of our local news stations about my snow-shoveling philosophy and in retrospect I both left a lot out and probably said too much. It's probably fine, right? Should I have given a fake name?
Tonight's #ArtAdventCalendar is a little bit of a disappointment: My #StudioGhibli #snowflake design is pretty cool, but my poor #Cricut finally hit its limit and needs a new blade. As a result, I've got the Forest Spirit from PRINCESS MONONOKE in graphic form, but no cut paper yet. ❄️🖊️🦌
December 9, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Tonight's #ArtAdventCalendar is a little bit of a disappointment: My #StudioGhibli #snowflake design is pretty cool, but my poor #Cricut finally hit its limit and needs a new blade. As a result, I've got the Forest Spirit from PRINCESS MONONOKE in graphic form, but no cut paper yet. ❄️🖊️🦌
It's Day 8 of #ArtAdventCalendar and I'm switching #StudioGhibli movies for my next #snowflake design. Tonight it's PRINCESS MONONOKE's San in all her wolf-girl glory. This was too much for paper - had to switch to vinyl. Any chance @cricutexplore.bsky.social wants to send me a bigger model? ❄️✂️🐺🩸
December 8, 2025 at 4:30 AM
It's Day 8 of #ArtAdventCalendar and I'm switching #StudioGhibli movies for my next #snowflake design. Tonight it's PRINCESS MONONOKE's San in all her wolf-girl glory. This was too much for paper - had to switch to vinyl. Any chance @cricutexplore.bsky.social wants to send me a bigger model? ❄️✂️🐺🩸