It certainly doesn’t happen as much today, in the age of streaming services and binge watching. But up until recently the ‘clip show’ was a staple of primetime American sitcoms. It was a cheap way of stretching already-filmed footage into another episode without incurring the costs of actors and their supporting staff. Clip shows were often used to mark milestones, such as 100 episodes or season finales.
Yours truly has been drafting and publishing entries on CR4 weekly for the past five years. Every Wednesday (or sometimes Thursday on a busy week), including holidays and vacations, you can find a new post from HUSH in the blogging column on the community front page. By my recount, there have only been two weeks where I haven’t posted a weekly blog, but there have been occasions where I’ve posted more than two in a week. The result is 288 blog entries posted since my first post about making rink ice on 12/14/2011 (but just one good answer—about tennis of all things!).
What follows is a self-referential, nostalgic look at the good, bad, weird and wrong blog posts I’ve conjured up over the past five years, along with comments where I have something to add. For all intents and purposes, this is a CR4 clip show.
But first, a major thank you to anyone on CR4 that has read, commented or shared any one of my posts. You’ve had a more profound effect on my career than what may be apparent, even when the entries have been boring or blasé.
On with the [clip] show. Iron bathtubs not included.
Top 10 most viewed/commented:
· Is Climate Change the Beginning of the End? Posted April 2, 2014; 270 comments and 1,924 views.
· Do Engineers Make Good Terrorists? Posted May 21, 2014; 163 comments and 1,363 views.
· USS Zumwalt, The Navy’s Newest Masterpiece? Posted September 14, 2016; 133 comments and 1,632 views.
· Red Light Cameras: Is It Time To Admit Mistakes? Posted June 25, 2014; 109 comments and 890 views. (HUSH’s note: Guess I was on a roll in mid-early 2014.)
· A Guide to ‘Getting Off The Grid’ Posted June 19, 2013; 75 comments and 889 views. (HUSH’s note: Kinda surprised to see this one up so high. It felt like a throw-away blog post at the time.)
· Do Women Like Jerks? Posted July 19, 2012; 15 comments and 3,422. (HUSH: Ahhh, from the failed Courtship Chemistry blog. Can we scrub that from the Internet? No? Ok then.)
· Coaster Creation: Building Scream Machines Posted Sept. 19, 2012; 2 comments and 1,868 views. (HUSH: Another surprise. Lots of reads but little to say.)
· Which 007 Car is For You? Posted Sept. 6, 2012; 17 comments, 1,820 views.
· Trying to Find ‘Fabulous’ Light Curtains Posted April 1, 2013; 2 comments 1,778 views. (HUSH: A half-joke entry on April Fool’s that some people missed the point of.)
· A Suggested DIY: The Ghost Phone Posted August 22, 2012; 2 comments and 1,692. (HUSH: Pseudo-science does really well for a STEM community, just sayin’.)
Top 5 least popular (per star-rating system)
· Velocitas Eradico (I, Who Am Speed, Eradicate) Posted Feb. 11, 2015; 1-star rating.
· Will the U.S. Navy Build the World’s Only Supercavitating Ship? Posted December 10, 2014; 1-star rating.
· NASA’s Need for Closed Ecology Posted April 23, 2014; 1-star rating
· The Most Dangerous Weapon Ever? Posted January 2, 2013; 1-star rating. (HUSH: Probably the only one here that I don’t understand the 1-star rating. Oh well.)
· Selecting Your Mixed Tapes Posted January 17, 2012; 1-star rating. (HUSH: Another ol’ GlobalSpec promo blog.)
Top 5 personal faves
· The Sailboat Diaries: Ahoy! Posted October 12, 2016. (HUSH: An ongoing backyard project gets an Internet homage.)
· Da Svedanya, Chernobyl Posted December 21, 2016 (HUSH: A personal interest in many things Soviet or nuclear.)
· In Defense of GMO Posted June 5, 2013.
· HUSH Loves Airships, Part 4 Posted Nov. 2, 2016. (HUSH: An industry I enjoy keeping tabs on.)
· The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Posted October 24, 2012
Top 5 underrated
· Sinkholes Happen Posted November 23, 2016. (HUSH: Posting the day before Thanksgiving will do that to you.)
· Engineers Save the World—June 6, 1944 Posted June 4, 2014.
· Hemp is the Healing of Industry Posted August 14, 2016.
· At the Movies (with HUSH) Posted May 1, 2013
· Operation Eliminate Landmines Posted Feb. 27, 2016
Cheers to five more years of blogging on CR4!
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