Four Things

Masks

I am getting incrementally less patient and more angry with people not wearing masks.  Not wearing includes wearing the mask around the neck, or hanging it off one ear, or carrying it around until needed.  We're going to have masks for quite a while.  I can't imagine mask orders are going to lift inside of six months.  I wouldn't be surprised if masks are still with us in 18 months or more.  In that scenario it seems like we're really past the moment for half measures.  The culture ought to be if you leave your residence you should be wearing a mask.  When you walk out the door put it on and leave it on.  I've seen people questioning/poking fun at people wearing masks in their car or when they out alone on their bike.  That is counter-productive.  We need to get comfortable wearing our masks.  People need to find a mask they like and get used to having it on all the time.  I went down into Oakland today to pick up lunch.  Inside the restaurant everyone had a mask on, but out on the street the majority of people were not.  We're into a world where that isn't OK any more.  Until the numbers improve significantly masks need to be second nature.  I really don't understand why this message is finding it so difficult to land.  Well I guess maybe all the politicians underselling the effectiveness, or underselling the magnitude of the disease, could be a significant contributor.  Come on folks, get with the program, people are dying.  Wear a mask.

Online Summer Program

We completed our Drama Online Summer Program this week.  When CMU cancelled Summer PreCollege they charged us with putting together an online program.  Just to keep the distinction between this program and what we've done before we've been calling it the "Drama Online Summer Program."  The DP program had five courses: Basic Design, Science of Scenery, Drawing, Storyology, Technical Production, and Stage Management.  We lost Stagecraft, Drafting, and Lighting Design from our historic program - and Media Design, which had been added recently also didn't appear this summer.  The latter classes are all significantly hands on and pretty gear heavy; all things that make remote learning difficult.  Part of me wonders if after this coming year, with all of our classes having to be offered hybrid, if we will have a handle on how to offer some of that content remotely should we have to consider on online program again.  Obviously though the hope is that next year we will be back to in person Drama Precollege.  I don't know if I would bet on that though.  The program also shrunk from six weeks to four, and part of the reduction in content also had to do with reducing the length of the time commitment during the day - and hoping that we'd be able to catch all time zones with one section of each class.  Overall it appears that things have gone pretty well.  I feel like I didn't get to know the students as well as I would have in person.  Going forward I think I will have to work on how to break down the experience through the screen more effectively.

Sports

Sports are back.  So far I've watched pieces of Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey.  Prior to that I kept tuning in to reruns of previous AUDL Ultimate games.  I hadn't watched them the first time through, so it was pretty much like watching games in real time.  But I guess I am a fickle fan, as when presented with the opportunity to watch live games I jumped at the chance.  The hockey games are playoffs, and I really enjoy playoff hockey, so having that back is great.  I think the sound design behind the crowd noise and the arena music are really a value add.  The Pens lost game one, so if they don't come back soon I may not last too long with the NHL.  While I like having the distraction, it is nice to have live sports back on TV, I do wonder about the ethical questions around resources being hoarded by professional sports that could likely find (perhaps an arguably better) use in some other sector.  There was an NBA Instagram post the other day that showed a palette of Clorox Wipes in the background, completely derailing whatever the post was supposed to be about in favor of discussion of how it was possible that the NBA was able to get in bulk what the general public hasn't been able to find in stores for months.  Wipes are one thing, but the sports leagues are also burning through a huge number of COVID tests and the lab capacity to process all the tests.  I like having sports.  I'd much rather have easy access to quick turnaround testing.  I am uncertain our collective priorities are in the right place.  No, maybe I am not uncertain.

Rockabye Baby

Last year during one of the undergrad interviews a prospective student asked me what the last album I had listened to was.  It turned out it was "Lullaby Renditions of Pink Floyd."  Sabian's daycare had been playing this music in the nap room.  It took me more than a week to recognize it, but eventually it was clear that it was "Hey You" from "The Wall."  I thought this was the coolest thing ever and found it even cooler that it was on Amazon music and we could stream it on the echo.  During the interview, Joe Pino informed me that they also were fans in his house, but that they preferred "Lullaby Renditions of Nine Inch Nails."  I immediately added that to our frequent nap rotation.  Eventually I just asked the Alexa to shuffle songs by Rockabye Baby, which was how I discovered that there were "Lullaby Renditions of..." The Beatles and Journey and Led Zeppelin.  I don't know how it took me so long, but last week I finally did a search and came up with the whole discography, and - oh my - it is comprehensive.  Since then we've added Prince, The Beastie Boys, Songs from Hamilton, Fleetwood Mac, Rush, and The Police.  I'm not sure if Sabian can tell the difference, but I am thrilled.  They have all kinds of more contemporary titles as well, but I don't see myself using them; not when I can ask for The Eagles.