Vote for Comment of the Week

I do a newsletter version of the Greenpage.  It has the Weekly Top 5 from over there and the Worth a Look posts from here, plus the newsquiz I give in may class.  Recently I added another feature: The Comment of the Week.  To get out of taking the newsquiz, students can instead do five substantive comments on Greenpage articles.  For comment of the week I pick what I think are the top five and then a few faculty pick the winner.  The student with the comment of the week gets a certificate.

Since there is so little going on over here I've decided to let the readers here in on the Comment of the Week selection.  If you have an opinion, leave it in the comments here.

This week's candidates (bonus comment this week):

Comment #1: on your post "Make Our Garden Grow, apropos the Arts Blogger Cha...":

I think it's a bit more than coincidental to find two articles (this one, and "No Entry" - posted directly above this one) written for the same contest, on the same topic, with essentially the same message. I think I agree. The discussion of culture shouldn't be focused around what city is "the cultural capital of America." Rather, we should all be exploring how culture can be spread around the country (and the world).

Picking a winner isn't going to help anything. Recognizing what arts / cultural programs work where and why might help, because then we could start to apply those tactics to other cities, ranging from the size of New York or LA to my hometown, Greenfield Ohio (which is severely lacking in culture indeed).

Comment #2: on your post "Digital Drama: The technology transforming theatre...":

As the very wise Larry Shea once told me after a pretty brutal design presentation, "Yes, Media design can be distracting, but it is our job to try and not make that so." This really stuck with me. I was at one time very much anti-media, and still kind of am, but I have had a slight change of heart thanks to shows like Suddenly Last Summer and Mad Forest. I felt that the media was used very effectively in these and actually added to the show rather than being distracting or seeming like an afterthought. I have seen a clip of the Sunday in the Park with George work and it turns that show into one like no other. Once again though, I cannot make up my mind on the subject...

Comment #3: on your post "IATSE leaders says they'll protect health and pens...":

While I'm glad to know that IATSE stands up for the rights of its union members, this article was extremely unclear as to exactly what the entire situation was, whether it involved IATSE on a national level or just Local 33 in California, or just the West Coast, etc. Contract renegotiations are always a messy and tricky process when it comes to the unions and studios, and I'm glad to see IATSE standing up for the benefits its members deserve. A deficit of $300 million is a scary thought though, and I'm worried to see that IATSE members might suffer because the organization is in such debt. I am curious to see what strategies they will take to try to close this gap, and I hope they'll be effective. The industry cannot afford for IATSE to collapse, and IATSE's members deserve to be well taken care of. Hopefully those two things can both happen.

Comment #4: on your post "The Maverick as Inspiration":

“Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full.”

Comment #5: on your post "Automation in art":

I was never so much aware of how awe inspired I am by automation than I have been after getting a glimpse of automation at this school- and to see that such technology is being steered towards kinetic art is really something else. It not only requires a great deal of knowledge, precision, and intelligence, but you also have to have an artistic purpose- a message, and concept in creating this piece. That combination of skill, both conceptually and mathematically is what blows me away.

Comment #6: on your post "City's 'Tigers' explores depression theme":

This play sends a great message. Depression and other mental disorders are just beginning to be acceptable, both to have and to discuss. I read an article once that compared depression to more physical diseases. When you have cancer, people support you, celebrate with you when go into remission, etc. A lot of times, a depressed person isn't really socially allowed to talk about it, so they go through the hard times alone and also celebrate alone when they beat part of it. I think an important thing this play conveys is that depression isn't a weakness and it isn't just "being sad", but an actual, diagnosed disease. I hope this play does start conversations among people who wouldn't otherwise talk or think much about it. I know an old lady that died recently, and in the months before her death, she was diagnosed with severe depression, that had supposedly gone untreated her entire life. For most of her life, it wasn't an acceptable thing to talk about, or go to a doctor for. I think that has changed, but needs to continue changing, and this play is a great spark for that.