We had people over last night. It felt really, really strange.
My primary interaction with anyone for the last two weeks has been on a screen. I have Zoom classes, Zoom meetings, Zoom reunions; we've even done two Zoom Shabbats. Mrs. T has been doing meetings in Teams. Even Gib5on has been on screens: he had Zoom kindergarten, Zoom Sunday School, Zoom Karate, a Facetime playdate, and a Facetime visit with his cousins.
Screen, screen, and more screen. But last night we had guests for dinner, right there in the same room.
A little over two weeks ago Uncle Brooklyn left New York with his family ahead of the COVID-19 wave. It has turned out to be a decent decision I think. They've been notified by their landlord that there was someone who tested positive in their play-yard, someplace they certainly would have been had they remained home. Aside from that specific information, just in general the news from NYC is a little more ominous than anything in Pittsburgh.
So a little over two weeks ago they arrived in Pittsburgh and moved into an AirBNB on the Southside to self-isolate for two weeks to try to determine if their moving in here would be safe for us and safe for them. That two weeks ended last Saturday.
All in all I am the biggest risk. Mrs. T has been out for walks in the neighborhood and so has Gib5on and Sabian - but none of them has been in contact with other people at all. The same is true of our visitors. They've been out around their neighborhood but they have done all of their shopping through delivery. Of everyone, I am the only one that has had any real contact outside the house as I have been shopping twice in three weeks.
The first time I went out since they closed the schools (but before the official imposition of social distancing) I brought a mask and gloves, but nobody else was wearing a mask so I felt silly and took it off. I did wear the gloves though. The second time there were enough other people there wearing masks that I did too - and gloves. I also went to Home Depot without gloves or a mask - I probably won't do that again. Senator Toomey is on record now saying PA residents should wear masks in public. The CDC hasn't changed their recommendation that we shouldn't - but I think that is more about not causing additional shortages more than it is about it not being a decent idea.
So we're all hoping that I was careful enough while I was out. I guess we'll see.
Treating that optimistically we had my brother in law and his wife and son over for dinner. It was so strange to have other people in the house. We routinely have had 20 for dinner in the past but it has only taken two weeks to re-calibrate to being alone pretty much all the time just me and my immediate family. Sitting at a table with three more people felt surreal.
The plan was originally for them to come stay with us after the two week period but we've since revised it. They got a screaming deal to extend their AirBNB. It seems like it is unlikely anyone else is going to want to use it. So for the time being they are going to stay there where they will have significantly more space and then move in here when they lose their access to that property or when the money starts to feel stupid. We've given them one of our cars so they could return their rental. It's not like we're going anywhere.
So we have people to sit and talk to, and Gib5on has someone to play with even though the age relationship isn't optimal (6 and 2). It's like our three kids are spaced exactly sub-optimally. But even that is better than nothing in the new normal.
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Company Coming
Monday, March 30, 2020
This Was Not a Surprise
That's a Facebook post of mine from January 24th. I can't help but think how much better off we would all be if people in government had been as anxious as I was at that time. Maybe they were all too burned out from the impeachment. Maybe they were too busy trying to sort out the Democratic horse race. Maybe they never read Station Eleven? Somehow I found the bandwith to think about all of it. Would that POTUS or Mitch McConnell or even Nanci Pelosi for that matter had.
This was 100% foreseeable. The news was there in plain sight. I'm not sure if this came to me through feeds or NPR or MSNBC. Certainly not Facebook or Twitter. It was probably my RSS Reader and the sources there. So my intelligence gathering apparatus was up to it; we have to assume the national intelligence gathering machine was also up to the task. It is a pretty sad state of affairs.
Today I sent out a new extra credit assignment to my students (all hunkered down at home and coming to class via Zoom). The assignment gives one small assignment's worth of extra credit for each hour they spend doing home made PPE for health professionals. I guess I should have given that assignment January 25th when we all had access to a costume shop and a scene shop rather than whatever gear we have at the house. So my criticism should extend to myself I guess.
I emailed my Congressperson yesterday to remind him that theatre shops all over the country are out of work and that they have the fabrication capability to help here: sew masks and gowns, assemble face shields, maybe even put together more complicated gear. It'd need some top down organization though. Maybe a gap USITT or ESTA could help out with.
I keep seeing ads in my various feeds from entertainment companies: TAIT, Upstaging, ModTruss, Rosebrand all touting their ability to help out and ramp up quickly. I hope someone besides me sees them. The work is happening. While looking for stories for the Greenpage I do see articles about costume shops helping local hospitals. I'll keep my eye out to see if it goes wider.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
The New Normal
I feel like I will want to be able to look back at this eventually. I haven't been doing personal blogging for a myriad of reasons of late but circumstances have changed and it suddenly feels important.
Today marks 15 days since the family has been out of the house beyond walking in the neighborhood. Two Saturdays ago the boy took me and Mrs. TANBI and his sister to the comic book store so he could show mom the wonders he'd discovered. That was two days after his school had cancelled out of an abundance of caution in the wake of the spouse of a staffer coming into contact with a suspected COVID-19 patient. Before the weekend was out PPS had cancelled for two weeks - which ended two days ago. Two days ago they cancelled through spring break. The girl's daycare hung in through the following week but has been closed since. Mrs. TANBI works from home normally now but usually has a trip or two to a local office and those have been stopped for two weeks as well. The Monday after the comic book store was the start of CMU's spring break and like Thursday or Friday of that week we were told we weren't coming back to campus and that all classes would go online midweek the following week.
That's the frame for the new normal.
I've been out of the house a few more times than the others. I've made two grocery store trips. We've been stocking up on frozen and dry goods. There's a pretty good stock on hand these days and I think the next trip could be a ways down the line. I didn't do too well on Lysol or hand sanitizer. We'd bought a large thing of TP before this really broke. I had a small amount of PPE in my home gear - not enough to matter anywhere else, but enough that I can feel safe, if silly, when I go to the store. I had to go to the Home Depot once. I sheared off a bolt on a new yard toy for Leo. The social distancing at the home center wasn't great. Yesterday I walked to a place in the neighborhood for takeout lunch. The boy came with. In hind-site that felt a little reckless.
So now me and Mrs. TANBI are working from home together. While we're doing that we're also handling a six year old and a 10 month old. PPS hasn't really set up any formal distance learning yet. Their main concern appears to have been getting food to the kids that depend on them for meals. We're not too worried about the boy's progress. 10 weeks of kindergarten shouldn't be life altering, but we are concerned about the loss of socialization. He hasn't played with a friend in over two weeks. Even if that is the new normal it isn't all that normal. My wife and I are splitting the day a lot like we did when the boy was born. My work schedule is largely the same as it was then - one of the few times the lumbering pace of change at the university has worked for us. So I watch the kids in the morning and Mrs. TANBI (MT?) watches them in the afternoon. "Watch" is a misnomer as often the younger child will refuse to be put down for long stretches and although the older child is capable of entertaining himself his predisposition is to want to play with one of us.
The girl at least still has a two a day nap schedule which is fairly dependable. We've put together a regular schedule for the boy that involves free play, parent play, creative play, substitute school work, physical activity, and screen time. Unfortunately the last two are often the same and if not supervised he often just sits down and watches the exercise video rather than moving along with it. It is all a work in progress.
The constant paying of attention is exhausting. Both of us should probably be doing more work hours than we are, but after we get both kids in bed unless there is a deadline crushing down we usually just crash. It is going to take a few more days to get used to the kind of pace we're keeping now.
There's certainly more to say, but I think it is going to be a long stretch with plenty of other opportunities to post. We'll see if it sticks this time.
Stay home. Stop the spread. Save lives.
Worth a Look
Here are a few articles from this week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...
Performing Artists and the Financial Fallout of the Coronavirus
The New Yorker: On Thursday, March 12th, the morning after the N.B.A. suspended its season and Donald Trump banned travel from Europe, the actor Emily Cass McDonnell was in rehearsals for an upcoming production of Annie Baker’s play “The Antipodes.” In the play, a group of people sit around a table brainstorming for a project, the exact nature of which is never fully defined. In the last scene, as an apocalyptic storm brews outside, the group’s leader arrives and calls the whole thing off. That Thursday, the finale took on an oracular significance when, weeks into rehearsal, McDonnell and the rest of the cast learned that, due to safety measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, their show was being cancelled.Theatre and the Last Pandemic
AMERICAN THEATRE: So far 2020 has not turned out to be the theatre year anyone anticipated. By mid-March theatres across the United States had closed their doors, canceled the remainder of their seasons, and in most cases announced layoffs and furloughs, all thanks to mandates for social distancing to stem the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Theatre historians writing about the age of the novel coronavirus will recall seasons that never were, shows that never opened, and productions closed mid-run.Entertainment Technology Companies Turn To Medical Needs
www.livedesignonline.com: “I think we were one of the first industries to come to a screeching halt,” said John Huddleston, director of Live Events for Upstaging, in an interview for WGN9 in Chicago. His Sycamore, IL, company has retooled from equipping large concert tours for the likes of The Rolling Stones, Billie Eilish, and Paul McCartney to making protective masks and plastic room dividers, using a warehouse of equipment, a fleet of semis, and employees to fabricate products. “We’re pivoting to whatever’s in demand,” Huddleston adds. Watch the video interview with Huddleston here.Philadelphia DA explores new role for arts in the criminal justice system
PBS NewsHour: Mixing art with criminal justice has become increasingly common in the U.S. The work often tackles complex subjects of redemption and reform. Jeffrey Brown recently traveled to Philadelphia for a look at a new program bringing art to an unexpected part of the justice system: the office of the city’s top prosecutor.top educational guest-bloggers from the industry answer your questions
blog.etcconnect.com: We’re lucky to have so many intelligent people in this industry with an aptitude and willingness to teach. Over the past couple of years, many of these people – lighting designers, programmers, and researchers have given their time to help explain some of the industry’s trickiest topics.
Friday, March 27, 2020
DP Weekly Round Up
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Worth a Look
Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...
13,000 fans moshed at home as a metal band streamed from an empty venue
Popular Science: To an unfamiliar eye, the average a show from Pittsburgh-based metal outfit, Code Orange, looks like large-scale melee. As the band literally screams through their set, the audience yells, whips their hair, and climbs all over each other. The crowd is a fundamental part of any metal or hardcore band’s performance. Right now, however, social distancing stands in its way thanks to Coronavirus. Venues have limited capacities or have canceled shows completely, which has left touring musicians with lost ticket sales and bins full of T-shirts and other merch they hoped to sell on the road.
Do Production Crew Members Get Paid Amid Coronavirus Shutdown?
Variety: After a tidal wave of more than 70 TV and film production shutdowns last week, Hollywood’s major players spent much of Monday sorting out the tricky question of how long crew members will be paid during the unexpected dark period.
Industry sources said the issue of how to handle obligations to crew members was the subject of a great deal of email and text traffic on Monday among studio executives, producers and Hollywood union officials.
Intimate Reform
HowlRound Theatre Commons: With the rise of Tarana Burke’s #MeToo movement and an outpouring of stories about harassment and abuse in the theatre community, intimacy direction has taken root in performance spaces all over the world. However, intimacy direction is still very much about white feminist culture. In order for actors of color to be protected in this new field, the systems currently in place need to be reconstructed. We need a new code of ethics on how stories will be told when it comes to people of color and intimacy on stage. More specifically, we need to look at why intimacy direction is still so very white while the movement it sprang from was birthed by a Black woman.
The Dramatists Guild Releases Statement on Author Advances Amid Cancellations
www.broadwayworld.com: It has come to the attention of the Dramatists Guild that producing theatres around the country are asking (in some cases, demanding, and even coercing) writers to return options and advances for upcoming productions of their work that have been cancelled as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Free Online Behavioral Health Screening Program Now Available
Live Design: Behind the Scenes announces an online behavioral health screening program as part of its Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative. These free screenings are completely anonymous, private, easily accessible, and quick to complete.
The entertainment industry has unique rewards, practices, stressors and challenges that are not commonly experienced in the same way in other professions. By its very nature our industry can impact your physical and emotional health with long hours, pressure to push your body, and high workplace stress.
Friday, March 20, 2020
DP Weekly Wrap Up
