Just How Would One Afford That?

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 11/29/2008 | Think you know what traditional marriage is? Then read this: "Coontz said one form of marriage has been supported by more societies prior to the 18th century than any other.
And it's not one man, one woman.
'It's one man, many women,' said Coontz, citing examples from the Old Testament."

Well, There Is That...

MWC News - A Site Without Borders - - George W. Bush Belongs in Prison: "If moral honesty and courage have any meaning, then the nation must take seriously the concept that no president can ever be allowed to be above the law. How can President Obama not strongly support this? Surely no president must be allowed to disrespect and dishonor the US Constitution. George W. Bush broke his oath of office. His behavior was treasonous. Instead of defending the Constitution he disgraced it. Instead of protecting constitutional rights, including privacy, he sullied them. He asserted his right to ignore or not enforce laws so he could break them. Respect for the office of the presidency must never be allowed to trump truth and justice."

Ellipses...

We didn't have nearly the leftover turkey we thought we'd have... I watched SCC online Monday because I thought I'd missed it, looks like I watched this coming Monday's show... India is really hard to wrap my head around... You'd think that a trampling death would be enough to get a store to end "doorbuster" promotions... There's a whole lot of grading to do in the next two days... Still haven't seen to Bond flick... I may have to drop everything and go to Chicago... I talked to the Dinosaur people today, nice when things come together... They promoted the Steelers to the 4:15 game, guess people outside of Allegheny County want to see the game... I think I've figured out Mrs' TANBI's birthday present, if I can make it fit... Speaking of, Mrs. TANBI did a bang up job with the holiday, she's an excellent host... Do you think maybe the Lions should just pack it in for the season? Seems like the only way they were going to win Thursday was if they'd been playing "the Christians"... I do not even begin to know what to do about the goings on with my parents... We didn't fry a turkey, looking for the next opportunity... Five days of class left in the semester, gonna be busy... Funny how they're saying India is Obama's first crisis, seeing as how he isn't Presdient yet... This break has been nice, I'm looking forward to the weekend...

Shorties

• 14:15 contemplating the whole "thankful" thing #
• 19:20 digesting #
• 23:36 food over - winding down - I hope everyone had a great holiday #
• 00:09 I'm sending out a message to myself/So that when I hear it on the radio/I will know that I am fine #

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Fetch...

Can't we hold torturers accountable and still find out the truth? - By Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine: "It seems that after 9/11, the solution to the problem of too much law was to simply do away with the stuff. And the solution to the lawlessness that followed 9/11? Do away with any legal consequences for the perpetrators. If there exists a more perverse method of restoring the rule of law in America than announcing that legal instruments are inadequate to address them, I can't imagine it."

What Am I Thankful For?

It's Thanksgiving. We're supposed to celebrate all the things we are thankful for. Here's a short and certainly incomplete list of things in my life for which I am thankful:

• My wonderful wife, my sister, mother and father and all the other family that come along with them.
• Great friends, now, then and soon, near and far but always close to my heart.
• Indefatigable and creative collaborators, and dedicated and challenging students.
• The imminent end of the George W. Bush administration.
• Melissa Etheridge.

I said it would be short. It's all about the people, isn't it?

Signs of the Apocalypse

Death to film critics! Hail to CelebCult! - Roger Ebert's Journal: "In 'Toots,' a new documentary about the legendary Manhattan saloon keeper Toots Shor, there is a shot so startling I had to reverse the DVD to see it again. After dinner, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe leave the restaurant, give their ticket to a valet, wait on the curb until their car arrives, tip the valet and then Joe opens the car door for Marilyn, walks around, gets in, and drives them away. This was in the 1950s. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have not been able to do that once in their adult lifetimes. Celebrities do not use limousines because of vanity. They use them as a protection against cannibalism."

Tim-ber???

Shot with my camera phone so it's short and blurry, but I think you get the idea...



Most motion I've ever seen on it, and really it wasn't even all that windy today.

Shorties

• 13:16 Technical Direction - "The Guys" - remarkable how similar student and professional crews really are. #
• 15:19 head search candidate presentation #
• 17:05 Improptu committee meeting #
• 17:05 @bpeoples and a 13 month search apparently #
• 19:31 that's quite enough of that for today #
• 23:41 Gift =Fail #

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Kenny Can't Cope

Shorties

• 15:16 ITW strike check in, then grading grading grading #
• 23:17 crispy shrimp maki, beef brisket bowl - Soba, big fun #
• 00:16 'night #

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I Don't Get It

Do you listen to talk radio? Sometimes I listen to Glenn Beck, sometimes, although less and less, to Rush Limbaugh, and sometimes to Michael Savage. They all three run on the same station here in Pittsburgh along with the unlistenable Quinn & Rose and a very nice local sports package during evening drive. If you do listen to any of these shows then you've been hearing a lot of demonizing around "the fairness doctrine."

They've taken to calling it "the censorship doctrine."

My recollection is that this thing used to be called "equal time." That the thought was that the airwaves belong to the public and so no one particular viewpoint should get to dominate them and therefore whenever a broadcast outlet chose to air something partisan one way or the other they had to provide equal time to the opposition.

The rabid fear is that somehow the Obama administration is going to use equal time to destroy talk radio - thereby silencing their only critic.

So here's the part I don't get. These same people howl at the moon about how there's a deep left wing bias to all reporting in the legit media.

Let's skip the part about who is and who isn't legit media anymore. I always find it somewhat humorous when someone with a regular show on the radio complains about the liberal slat on the media. Um, sir, aren't you also media? Like I said, we'll skip that.

But... If there is in fact this deep liberal media bias, then isn't it the lefties that should be concerned about the concept of equal time? I mean, if every network newscast is biased then in the very least can't talk radio position themselves as the equal time balance to that bias? Or even moreso, won't that mean that the networks will be coerced to air more conservative views?

I don't think you can have it both ways. Either there is a vast liberal bias to mainstream media in which case talk radio should be fine or talk radio is in real trouble because the right wing pudits have been full of shit about the bias all along.

I leave it to the reader as an exercise to determine that one.

Also, I can't help think that the fairness doctrine was tooled for an outlet scarce environment. The idea here is that people not be forced to hear only one idea. Surely that isn't a problem now. When I am not listening to Glen, Rush, or Dr. Savage I am listening to Fresh Air, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition - and sometimes This Way Out, Counterspin, and The Allegheny Front. I am an intellectual omnivore of sorts and I seem to have no trouble pushing a different button when I have heard enough ranting from either side.

As someone oft to use the phrase "surely we can find some common ground" I believe that Barack Obama is someone that would also appreciate having a range available and nobody ought to fear their right to shout lies at the public be they Rush, NPR, or Savage.

And you too should really listen to Counterspin.

Shorties

• 14:27 errands, lunch... Saturday #
• 18:02 errands nearly successfully completed - mad mex for lunch = splurge #
• 21:25 Dinner suggestions? Pittsburgh ala 8:30ish? #
• 02:00 Robot Chicken Star Wars II - very nice #

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Why You Should Be Watching SCC

I rise in recognition and support of television's Sarah Connor Chronicles. Last week there was an article I saw that asked why SCC wasn't "the new lost." Today I saw another article explaining why, explicitly, it wasn't. And now I have the urge to say:

Thank God it isn't - and yes you should be watching.

Lost is such a lumbering elephant compared to SCC. Sure over time Lost has earned its place among the scifi TV royalty - although I am sure there are still die-hard fans that expect everything to be able to work out without anything fantastic. I am also sure they will be wrong. The point is that there are so many things going on that you almost have to become a student of the show to enjoy the show ("no, dude, if you go frame by frame you see Echo sitting in heaven steering the smoke monster with a joystick that has a dharma logo on it...")

The Sarah Connor Chornicles is just excellent science fiction television. I think they wouldn't find it surprising to hear me say so, I believe I am the bullseye on their demographic chart. I was a collegeish person when T2 came out; and I was a fan of 90210 so I am willing to give Brian Austin Green the benefit of the doubt.

Popular wisdom says it's the Cameron character that gets people to watch, that Summer Glau will bring in viewers by the truckload. If so, they are fickle viewers; not the kind that hang with a show for the long haul (also unlikely to use semi-colons in their partisan blogging). The show isn't about the protector machine or the boy king. This story is about the mother, were it a film all the rest would be noise. Since we're on TV we need a little more to break up the pace and this show is strongest when its about the mother, the uncle (the aforementioned B.A.G.) or the cop.

The uncle, Derek Reese, is a great add to the mythology. Now we get to see the full extent of the thrust and parry that is a war fought in different temporal zones, and it gives us a connection to the post-judgement day Earth through the person of someone other than one of the machines - something the terminator franchise hasn't had since the original movie (which I should admit I've never seen). It also puts in place an ally for Sarah and John without their having to lay out their story over and over, which would become instantly tedious.

The cop, James Ellison, is a totally new dimension to the mythology and a needed one - someone in our timeframe, native to our timeframe, not tied to John Connor directly, who believes and is trying to unravel the story. The story potential for Ellison is fantastic, and the pawn manipulation of him by the T1000 on the show is excellent.

There's just so much to like. They've set things up such that aside from Sarah, John, and Derek you really don't know who is on which side; who is working to advance Skynet and who is working to prevent it - or who is trying to protect John Connor and who is trying to kill him. Each scirmish along the way is so far engaging and interesting and slowly peeling back more of the puzzle for us to see, now we have the therapist, two girlfriends, the ex husband, the daughter, another programmer, and we're waiting for the next bad guy.

If you have any doubts, find a way to watch last season's finale someplace. There's a scene where Derek takes John to the park for an ice cream, I think it's his birthday. And there in the park is current timeline Derek playing catch with his brother, John's father, as a child. It was one of those story ideas that fully embraced the universe of the series and showed us something no other program could, one of a kind television, outstanding. The rest of the episode isn't bad either, it's where Ellison figures out something very different is afoot and his final scene with the Terminator is excellent - great sound design even, something like you might remember from culminating scenes on Homocide or West Wing years ago.

This is a great TV series. Fox is going to bury it on Friday in February, putting it head to head with BSG I think in what could be one of the bonehead programming maneuvers of all time - thank God for DVRs. If you're watching it, go ahead and spread the word, we've seen enough to know it isn't going to suddenly suck. If you're not watching it, check it out, you're missing somehting special.

Shorties

• 10:20 StudioCraft CAD - Editing Commands #
• 12:33 Dean's Luncheon #
• 14:13 Kevin says don't be grabby #
• 14:30 Meeting over, next meeting 90 minutes #
• 02:04 Bender's Game - cool flick #

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Caption Deleted...

...to preserve career longevity.


Can you guess the caption?

Shorties

• 12:44 @PunkyPicc see my sister? #
• 12:44 Tech Design II - Dynamic Counterweight? Didn't happen last time #
• 15:08 @PunkyPicc boeing boeing - Jessica Bogart #
• 16:26 email culling, I love the email culling #
• 18:42 email DEFEATED!!! - newsquizzes DEFEATED!!! - now actually reducing the backlog - unheard of!!! #
• 19:56 punching out #
• 00:34 That's also more than 8. Good game. #

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CMU Alumni Related Companies - updatedx2

Do me a favor and check down this list. If you know of any other CMU Drama Alumni owned/run companies could you give me a shout?

2008 Gift Guide

Remember this post?

Well I think I'll do a 2k8 version next week sometime. So if you have items that ought to be included send them my way!

Shorties

• 13:15 Technical Direction - Scene Shop Structures #
• 16:28 Really REALLY good Fresh Air today with Stephen Colbert #
• 23:11 Top Chef - woohoo!!! #

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Does This Make Sense to You

Yet another attempt at charting the goings on in the production department of a commercial scene shop.

Shorties

• 14:54 Tech Design II - 20/20 hindsight tower solutions #
• 16:48 just don't want to fight over gear and expendables, can't make me #
• 19:14 Finally read and reviewed that article that was due 10/26 - can take the boy out of the DP but you can't take the DP out of the boy #
• 19:41 We're auctioning Rapunzel's Tower? Learn something new every day. #
• 02:31 up too late... again #

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Say It Isn't So

I have 5 cats. I wonder what that does to the percentage?

Shorties

• 12:04 Technical Direction - finish your purchasing and/or scheduling assignments; or work on your Photo Jack if you're up to date. #
• 13:11 Newspage updated - cmuptm.blogspot.com/ #
• 14:30 Assessing Tech Expo entries #
• 17:00 getting soft in my old age - only denied two entries, not that it will matter #
• 20:40 Second Hoop! #
• 23:20 Why was Mad Mex so empty? Quiet even. #

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Second Hoop

Shorties

• 13:42 bears, then steelers, yeah nothings getting done today, damn #
• 20:08 pretty clear 8 wan't gonna get it done #
• 20:32 ok 11, 11 is more than 8 #

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Ashton Gets it Right?

Just watched the season finale of Real Time with Bill Maher which was really, really good. Good because he came up with the real question Americans answer with "Yes We CAN!" (Do you think we could fry that?) Good because in conclusion he says America is a lot like Jessica Simpson, yes she is often embarrassing, but just look (sic) at that rack!

Also, apparently his staff looked up something I've been wondering about for a little while and confirmed for me that the US is the first democracy in history to peacefully elect a minority candidate. In his words "Take that Canada!" (Upon further consideration I believe that men have always been a minority, so perhaps the first democracy to peacefully elect a member of a racial minority would be more accurate if somewhat less of a sound bite.)

But the true as the ringing of a bell moment came from one Ashton Kutcher - regrettably, since I would like to ridicule him, he seems to have his head screwed on properly. In a discussion of whether or not we should bail out the big three automakers Ashton positted that perhaps that bailout should not come from the public sector but rather from provately held money. The idea was that we shouldn't bail out the big three, but rather that the big three ought to turn their tin cup in the direction of big oil.

What a scary vertical integration that would be, but man if it doesn't make sense. Nobody needs GM, Ford, and Chrysler as much as Standard, Exxon, and Chevron. Gauranteeing continued production of automobiles is simply good business for them. Also, taking a custodial role in the domestic automotive industry might put them in a position to drag out any development of more efficient engines, something on the order of "federal CAFE standards and nothing more - and don't hurry."

If anyone has the discretionary money to take on the project on their own it's big oil. Gee golly I am glad Ashton Kutcher doesn't speak for them.

Shorties

• 13:19 Comcast people making me upset: "You already have 2 discounts,"... Well, delete those discounts and give me better ones, is that so hard? #
• 17:51 trying to make the weekend not completely unproductive #
• 01:13 talking to my parents answering machine is not my favorite #

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Shorties

• 13:14 its not clear, but I may be taking the day #
• 14:30 quick office pit stop? we'll see how quick #
• 15:57 and out! pretty decent pit stop #

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Ellipses...

Game night went ok, even with diminished attendance... Not sure I can get behind Hilary for SecState, wondering about McCain for Secretary of Veteran's Affairs... Hoping that when concerning the CRC no news is good news, but I don't know... I did pretty much take Friday off, but I worked extra hard on Thursday... There are now less people that haven't responded than people not coming for Thanksgiving on Facebook, if you want to come send me an email... Booked me some USITT this week, full conference, PDW, big fun... My weather thingy says there's a 100% chance of rain tomorrow, so sad... 4:00pm on a Friday is an excellent time to go to CostCo in case you were wondering... I think we may be making some headway on hiring me a new boss... I missed Ms. Etheridge on Oprah talking about Prop8... Even while falling behind I have made a huge dent in my email que, pretty much up to date there... It doesn't seem fair that none of the wii recharge gear is compatible across brands... This week I had a glorious phone conversation with my mom, really cannot wait to do that again... Plywood prices have me perturbed. I was going to buy nice stock for this project my kids are doing, but it looks like we're going to have to go with OSB... It's getting harder and harder to prevent three consecutive Shorties... I bought the cats a new toy, it's freaking them out... The DVR is up to 92% got to watch me some TV... There's a new hardware show in Denver right now I wish I could have gone to... Cleaning the carpets helped everywhere but in the basement, still got to figure out something more there... Should I get a t-mo G-1? I kinda want one... If this post is any evidence, I am a little out of the news loop this cycle... Here's hoping for a productive weekend...

Shorties

• 12:59 Tech Design II - ITW Notes, fix the tower already #
• 17:44 tower not fixing gracefully #
• 18:40 Head search meeting - overseas phone call #
• 21:20 almost felt like I worked at an actual theatre today #
• 02:11 email compacting again #

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Shorties

• 11:30 Technical Direction - Integrating Mechanical Elements #
• 17:04 Common course index... David hearts Excel #
• 18:50 Pounding through email, gonna clear that pending folder already! #
• 19:54 ok, enough, on the way home for chicken fajitas #
• 23:11 Paying bills, getting set for Top Chef #
• 00:58 You knew the culinary student would buy it, yes? me too #

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Don't Work Harder Than You Have To

no grad two's, no grad two schedule.

Shorties

• 14:57 Technical Design II - CNC Layout... We're having another interclass competition, oops. #
• 16:29 I started a small family tsunami with Facebook. #
• 18:34 Common course scheduling meeting - better wear a cup #
• 00:28 ok, starting the home office portion of the working #
• 01:28 quiz thankfully done #
• 02:21 ok, punching out. tomorrow is CRC review day, wish me luck! #

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Fingers Crossed

Today (Wednesday) is a big day in my career. It's not really going to be any kind of different day. I am going to teach Technical Direction class. I am going to answer a metric truckload of email. I am going to do some much need organizational work. If I get to it I will do some grading. I'll eat my lunch at my desk while updating the green page. I might go to a meeting or two or three. If I am really fortunate I will spend some time talking to students and other faculty. If you followed me around you'd have absolutely no clue that it was a day of particular importance.

Following me you wouldn't know because I am not on the CRC. But today is the day that the College Review Committee reviews my tenure case.

The way it works if I am approved I get to wait through another layer of review - the University level; I cleared the School Review Committee back in September. If I am not approved then the clock starts running on my remaining time at Carnegie Mellon. Policy says I would have another full year, academic 09-10 to work here and look for something new. Many people though leave right at the end of the current academic year rather than hang around as lame duck faculty.

Tenure has always been a weird concept for me. When I came to CMU I hadn't had an academic position yet, so I didn't even think about the Renewal, Tenure & Promotion policies and how my life fit with them. It just seemed like this alien thing that comes with working at a University: "and if it works out well you can't be fired!" How odd is that.

Truthfully the concept of tenure for academic technical directors is weird across the entire country. Amongst all the tenured drama faculty I think one would be hard pressed to find even a dozen tenured technical directors, and from that group a great many of them actually made it to tenure on the back of having a design component to their gig. Many, many academic technical directors are actually staff instead of faculty and so therefore don't even have the opportunity to be rejected as tenure is a faculty thing. That's a fairly formidable first hurdle.

After even making it to faculty there's a distinction between those faculty that are tenure track and those that are lecture track (aka teaching track) - there's also such a thing as research track but its not all that common to theatre programs. Teaching track faculty aren't eligible for tenure. My buddy Mr. Hines is lecture track. He can't get tenure, but as a tradeoff he can remain indefinitely without it as long as he clears a periodic renewal. Once granted tenure there are no more reviews for tenure track faculty. Seeing as the percentage of TDs that get tenure is so low maybe it's a good tradeoff.

For those TDs that are fortunate enough to be both faculty and tenure track you also have to actually get the tenure, and here there's another awkward bit. The university standards that tenure stands on are based on research. A professor develops or discovers something, gets it published in a juried professional publication, and those things make up the evidence that someone deserves tenure. There's other stuff, but the truism "publish or perish" is a truism for a reason.

As it turns out there isn't much in theatre that fits the traditional reserach model. Artistic "experimentation" doesn't really equate with academic "research," and there aren't really all that many dramatic academic journals. For drama the standard appears to have shifted somewhat to "Professional Prominence" i.e. have you made a name for yourself in the industry. Here, yet again, TD types face an unusal challenge. A tenure track faculty member is supposed to be building their professional prominence during the time they are on the faculty. Often having the summer off is supposed to provide an opportunity to work in the field. The problem here is that although this works well for Directors, Actors, or Designers, casual employment for Technical Directors at a sufficiently high level just isn't available is small chunks. People hiring a TD want one for the season at least not typically show by show. Even in the rare instance of big time industrials where a casual TD might be possible and the job might be significant enough to matter it turns out to be work that you can't drop in and out of around another gig. They want the guy they had last time or from the last gig, not someone that hasn't worked for 9 months.

It's been an interesting professional exercise.

I've done well I think in the professional prominence arena for a TD. I've got some standing with USITT. I'm known within ESTA, and I was a subject matter expert on the development of the ETCP rigging certification which I parleyed into one of the very first ETCP Recognized Rigging Instructor designations. If alphabet soup can get you tenure I should be fine.

I've done what little I could to try to beat publish or perish too. I've had an article here and there, not juried but then that's really hard to find for the field. I've been an editor for USITT, albeit small time; and I publish a professional website that's got a few hits. There's certainly a book or two I could have written, but like many of my thesis students I never do seem to get around to the actual writing. It is what it is.

If in the final analysis alphabet soup appears to look more appropriate to them under "service" instead of "research" and if a website with 70,000+ hits is also "service" instead of "publishing" - well - then I'm doomed. All the glossy photos, high quality office supplies, and interesting graphics won't do the least bit of good.

It's not really a depressing doomed though, because if that's what it is then there wasn't much I could have done from the very start, except perhaps asked if my appointment could have been lecture track rather than tenure track. Beyond that, looking back I think I have done everything I possibly could have done under the circumstances I was dealt. It's rough trying to develop outside work while also being the coordinator of one's department. It's hard to get much else done when teaching four or five sections per semester. And though this probably sounds like complaining it really isn't. In the end I was responsible for the balance of the kind of work I was doing, and if getting tenure was the over-riding motivation then I guess there were things I could have said no to or moved down on the never ending list. I've made the best balance between my personal interest, the department's interest, and the student's interest I could, and I am really very proud of the work that I've done.

But like I said before: I'm not on the CRC. So for the time being my fingers are crossed.

Yeah, What's it to You?

Shorties

• 11:29 Technical Direction - Structural Interface? Maybe. Happy Veterans Day. #
• 13:17 I believe I will begin today with the "on fire" pile - but I bet I get sidetracked #
• 18:33 Clocking out. Fires still burning. #
• 19:51 Rearranging the furniture for Mrs. TANBI #
• 22:43 @renelae that thing is the WORST #
• 23:12 Sending the mother of all Thanksgiving Invites - let me know if I miss you. #

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Anyone Know How To Make This Happen?

So I have a Facebook Friends Status Update RSS feed. I read this feed along with too many others in Google Reader. The reader allows me to tag posts of my choice however I want and as a bonus will generate a web page based on those tags - see The Greenpage or My Shared Items.

Lately I have become enamored with updates like these:

Shannon Nickerson is back at programming.

Dana Hesch - boeing boeing bags will be the death of me.

Lavina Jadhwani is rehearsing show #4, dry teching show #3, and is up 52 points on Holzfeind.

Celeste Santamassino overslept and is late for work now. Crap. I hate working this much.

Evan O'Brient is decoding cue sheets from 1972. At first it was fun like a crossword puzzle, now it's fun like a root canal.

So here's what I want. I want to tag these as a stream and then I want a wifi enabled device for my office that posts maybe the five most recent ones as a picture on the wall. I'd like it to automatically update and do all its business without my helping once it's set up. They don't have to be links or followable or anything - just text on a screen in a frame, on a wall.

The technology has to be there. Anyone know which bis to connect?

How To Pick Up Chicks

Like I would ever have a chance...



Video from our ZFX Flying Workshop last week. More to come.

Shorties

• 13:02 SOD admissions interviews, two transfer candidates #
• 13:16 work triage - on a Sunday - have successfully separated "on fire" from "should look at that" from "whatever" from "recycle" #
• 16:09 go out for lunch, come back with MarioKart - not going to save for retirement that way #
• 19:10 stillers #
• 20:14 Steelers can't get it done. How sad. #

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A Bug

It was like it was saying "Take my picture!"

So I did.

A Good Start

BBC NEWS | Americas | US Elections 2008 | Obama 'to use executive orders': "John Podesta said executive orders by President George W Bush on issues such as stem cell research and oil drilling were at odds with Mr Obama's views.
He said they could be easily repealed as no Congressional action was needed."

...Or Go Home

Obama, be progressive! | Salon: "Obama rose on a promise to eschew those triangulations, and he won because America realized invertebracy and sail trimming will not solve problems. Voters rejected Clinton-style incrementalism in the primary, then scorned conservatism in the general election, meaning that the Democrats' best response to Bill McKay's 'What do we do now?' question is a two-word answer: Go big."

Shorties

• 12:05 getting ready for carpet shampooers - then into work for a bit #
• 01:33 wow, that was a L O N G day - off to bed hopefully to not think about interviews tomorrow. #

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Shorties

• 12:20 CAD - coordinates, osnaps, from, point filters #
• 14:00 note to self - don't go for lunch on campus at 12:30 #
• 17:01 London Cuckold's put to detail #
• 18:46 Friday Crazy Scheme scheduling meeting and then: weekend #

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More Photo Catchup

Or really just next to the Catsup...


April! They're ready for you in the UC!

There's the Real World and the Joke World...

Albert Brooks: Lighten Up, America: "We want a real live breathing human, who can talk to us, occasionally make us laugh a little, and God forbid insult someone. And by the way, I've met Nancy Reagan several times and she seemed to have a fine sense of humor and probably was the last person on earth offended by this. I am sorry he was bullied into calling her. That kind of comment does not warrant an apology. And I hope -- I hope -- this is not the beginning of the robotization of Barack Obama. Go ahead, Mr. President-Elect, be who you are. That is the reason we voted for you."

Shorties

• 12:55 Head Search meeting #
• 13:57 evening meeting canceled - woohoo! #
• 16:32 Wading through student whitesheets, wondering about students long gone but not finished #
• 19:27 falling... further... behind... #
• 20:01 @aerdin just harder to get to #
• 01:36 after the notes meeting, it's time to go home - call's over: move it. #
• 01:36 @PunkyPicc did you get the coolest job or what? #

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No Mitch for You

Continuing to try to clear the backlog of images taken for the blog...


I don't think there's much a sadder thing than seeing Mitch in your lot and knowing you can't have any. How sad.

Cultural Astronauts

I continue to slowly develop this argument that not only is conservatory undergrad right for drama students, but that for many reason conservatory might be the right approach for all undergraduate students. While riffing on this idea with one of the new head candidates I found myself saying "there's a reason we have a program so tough it has on more than one occasion caused a parent to ask What are you running there, some kind of boot camp? There's a reason they train Marines that way. There's a reason they train astronauts that way. It works. That's why we do it here. Graduates of our program are Cultural Astronauts.

It's a new thought, and just a label, but I really do think it is appropriate.

In response the candidate proffered that the White House's own Condeleeza Rice trained as a classical pianist. Today I heard that incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is a former dancer.

Maybe it's not just talking.

One Man's Insanity...

Daniel Craig: Real man as superhero :: rogerebert.com :: People: "Now, in the era of Computer Generated Imagery, anything is possible. When an actor like Christian Bale insists on personally jumping off the Sears Tower, he uses safety wires and nets but there is a word for what he's doing, and that word, in my opinion, is insane. As Bond, Craig performs many or most of his own stunts, and you can't safely assume you're looking at CGI. I asked him about the arm sling he was wearing. He laughed. 'Not a stunt. Old rotator cuff injury.'"

Shorties

• 13:52 Technical Direction - CNC intro #
• 15:30 Catch Up, Wake Up, Shape Up, Get it together already David! #
• 17:08 No conflicts in the Grad1 Spring schedule - that's unexpected #
• 01:13 Spying on tech thanks to David H. #

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Last Night's Late Night

Photo Jack

Get your own at Scribd or explore others: Education Degree Programs

Fingers Crossed

This land was made for you and me - Roger Ebert's Journal: "Our long national nightmare is ending. America will not soon again start a war based on lies and propaganda. We will not torture. We will restore the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of privacy, and habeas corpus. We will enter at last in the struggle against environmental disaster. Our ideas will once again be more powerful than our weapons. During the last eight years, the beacon on the hill flickered out. Now the torch will shine again.

We will bring our troops home, in the right way. Am I against the war? Of course. Do I support our troops? Of course. They were sent to endanger their lives by zealots with occult objectives. More than 4,000 of them have died. Even more lives have been lost by our coalition forces than by our own."

Shorties

• 08:50 going to vote #
• 10:22 #votereport Pittsburgh, PA (Forest Hills) no line and no waiting!!! #
• 10:24 Getting set up for the second round of Flying Workshops #
• 15:08 that's lunch #
• 17:50 Note to Obama people: "Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully/Just look about/You owe it to yourself to check it out...' #
• 01:29 ok, now I have to get ready for tomorrow #
• 03:06 That, took longer than I thought. #

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Yes We Can!

Everybody look around
'Cause there's a reason to rejoice you see
Everybody come out
And let's commence to singing joyfully
Everybody look up
And feel the hope that we've been waiting for

Everybody's glad
Because our silent fear and dread is gone
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?

Everybody be glad
Because the sun is shining just for us
Everybody wake up
Into the morning into happiness

Hello world
It's like a different way of living now
And thank you world
We always knew that we'd be free somehow
In harmony
And show the world that we've got liberty

It's such a change
For us to live so independently
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?

Everybody be glad
Because the sun is shining just for us
Everybody wake up
Into the morning into happiness
Hello world
It's like a different way of living now
And thank you world
We always knew that we'd be free somehow
In harmony
And show the world that we've got liberty

It's such a change
For us to live so independently
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?

Shorties

• 11:27 Check in with flying workshop - triage morning email - go teach Technical Direction: "Layout" #
• 14:35 and now - workshop video #
• 19:28 Trying to put three classes on a blank page without conflicts - harder than it sounds apparently #
• 23:04 Here we go Steelers, here we go #

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Shorties

• 14:31 Aerial rigging installation with ZFX #
• 16:54 Rigging install complete, now the weekend may begin #
• 22:36 I think maybe I didn't get all the weekend I could have - even with the extra hour #

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Ellipses...

It's not enough to think about it... Quicklinks and passing chain and e-tape, oh my!!! I actually read the Craigslist adds in my feeds, I never do that... This weekend was a high water mark for work email I think...It's not enough to talk to friends about it... I missed the Steelers today, but tomorrow will be all Steelers. I guess it's worth it... RoLaren is in jail, two days down on a seven day sentence for peeing on her human... If you really don't know how your video camera works, you probably shouldn't delete things... All the leaves are gone, it's great having a drainage ditch in the back yard... I was hoping my grausing would turn up on Consumerist. It didn't... Mrs TANBI did all my laundry. How cool is that? I'm gonna have to come up with something good in exchange... It's not enough to argue with friends about it... I don't think my parents are ever going to move to Pittsburgh. Not sure how to feel about that... I hardly noticed the World Series. No Cubs, no attention... I "space-bagged" my shorts and golf shirts today. I guess the summer is really gone... McCain wasn't half bad on SNL, not that I think it will get him any votes. That man could come paint my house and I still wouldn't vote for him... It's not enough to talk to strangers about it... Didn't strike me until tonight, but Caribou Barbie is the new Katherine Harris... Did I mention how cool my birthday was this year? No? Well it was... Don't blame me if you don't like the crits schedule. Someone else was the culprit this time - for work-study... Looks like we're having an orphan Thanksgiving at Casa de TANBI. Let me know if you need a place to feast... It's not enough to donate your Facebook status for it... With all the shows posting their closing notices and regionals closing their doors around the country, it's not the best time to be in the theatre career evangelizing business... Those people at AOL deleted all my early images. Who would have thought AOL would have dumped me before I dumped AOL? Not me... I begin to wonder if I have ruined facebook for my students... After 8 years one can reasonably buy a new mattress without fretting about it, yes? That's what I thought... It's not enough to blog about it... David Tennant is quitting Doctor Who. I've really enjoyed his work, but I don't know if I care... Good thing I didn't post my junk on the tubes. That would have been embarrassing - Google never forgets... Think it means anything that even with only 2 or 3 assignments everyone needs extensions? Makes me think I should have stayed with the 8 assignment plan... My Gorillapod needs replacing. I'm uncertain the designers have longevity in mind...When the day comes, you have to get up and go at 7am to DO it... I wonder if there's still any hope of the folks coming here for Thanksgiving... Got to remember to pay bills this week, and grade papers... I just watched "Recount" on HBO. Do you think if Gore could have seen into the future that he would have kept fighting? Do you think it would have made a difference? I don't think hindsight really is 20:20... My doctor friends have added another to their brood. Congratulations Debi & Noam... This is going to be a historic week. Don't miss it... SO THIS TUESDAY GET OUT OF BED AND DO IT...

Shorties

• 09:38 Working Saturday: schedules - flying workshops, semester reviews, spring classes - sucks to be behind #
• 10:58 Anyone got a car available for Grease's "Greased Lightening" in the Chicago area? #
• 11:20 So busy yesterday I never got to the greenpage #
• 11:59 Draft Semester Reviews schedule posted: www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/db4r/public/F08SemetserReviewsDRAFT.pdf #
• 12:27 Two days of greenpage posts complete #
• 13:40 ok, I think the Into the Woods ZFX stuff is set #
• 14:43 Spring PTM Schedule is up - off to do yardwork #
• 19:01 yardwork complete, cat in kitty jail #

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Shorties

• 12:43 Head search meeting, then the second sketchup workshop, fingers crossed that the computer doesn't crash like last night #
• 15:19 @pegele03 score! you are my hero! #
• 16:12 Sketchup workshop is over - no machine crashes - definitely have to do this again #
• 18:11 Brecht-fest: Most important meal of the day! #

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