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Student #1 has left a new comment on your post "Shaw Fest Examines Women's Struggles":

After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. After reading this article the only question I have is: why, for the love of God, did the commission a MALE PLAYWRIGHT to write a play about a WOMAN’S story. And he made the play about two men. :(

Student #2 has left a new comment on your post "Behind the Met's Custom Headdresses for 'Through t...":

I saw this show in person and it was jaw-dropping, head turning, ethereal. Each piece was exhilarating and almost had a vibration of its own. One of my favorites from the show was a dress created from broken Chinese porcelain shards made by designer Li Xiaofeng. It utilized one of Chinese culture's most prized possessions (and a really unforgiving material to work with, for that matter) and transformed it into a piece of clothing. However, I must say that with the China: Through The Looking Glass exhibition, there was a TON of room for stereotypes, error and misconception in dress when it came to the Met Gala this year. There was a ton of cultural appropriation (ie. Emma Roberts wearing chopsticks in her hair, Lady Gaga wearing sushi shoes or a kimono WHICH ARE ACTUALLY BOTH JAPANESE or the reoccurring theme of dragons) and little room for cultural sensitivity. The fact that not many celebrities who went even cared to seek out Chinese designers for their clothing also irks me. While it's awesome that Chinese culture is making its way into the media and more Chinese actors/actresses are breaking into the industry, there is still a lot of racial discrimination against East Asians in the United States film/tv/theatre industry. The whole trope of "innocence" and "exotic" and "china doll" makes me bored and sick to my stomach. I can't roll my eyes back far enough to show you how I feel about this topic.

Student #3 has left a new comment on your post "We’re All Artists Now":

I can't count the number of times that I, upon telling someone I'm going to school to major in theater, receive a response along the lines of "How fun!" Rarely has anybody expressed awe at the amount of work I'll be taking on, or how much effort it will take me to earn my degree, remarks my friends in STEM or Humanities fields often hear. Instead, my university experience is to be considered almost a pastime, where I'll glue pieces of paper together while on psychedelic drugs, and receive grades from men and women who wear berets and use phrases like "abstract post-expressionistic heroin chic." Rarely, if ever, is it acknowledged that my creativity, and its products, takes work, and lots of it. However, I think that Lia's earlier point about how everybody being able to pursue their dreams, coupled with Amy Koultouski ( “It is O.K. to be creative and not be a child.”) show promise. I am optimistic that sometime, hopefully within my lifetime, I can speak of my time here at art school without someone bringing up wildly incorrect stereotypes or misconceptions about creativity based career paths. I can only hope that the realization of my theater-related dreams will be seen as equally valid and deserving of respect as those of my friends in other fields. This article is certainly a heartening reminder that my hope is not entirely misplaced. 

Student #4 has left a new comment on your post "Nothing Sacred: Satire Comes to Salt Lake City":

This was an extremely enlightening read, mostly because of the supposed tolerance of the American Theatre. While satire and theatre have always gone hand in hand, theatrical communities typically hold themselves above the slander and discrimination the rest of the world doles out. Theatre is a home for the misfits, a place for the rejected to find support. The wild success of the Book of Mormon feels like the antithesis of that belief. Mormons have been a cultural punching bag for a while now, and I can't claim that I haven't taken part in sniggering -- or in some cases laughing uproariously -- at the weird and wacky elements at the Mormon faith. Mormons are a minority group that is still socially acceptable to ridicule. Culturally, this makes no sense. We have gotten to the point that outsiders mocking some minority races and religions (racism again African Americans and Asian Americans, Judaism, Islam) is considered taboo, or at least taboo. Yet, we continually see some groups (Mormon, Mexicans) continue to be profiled and harmfully slandered. Where do we draw the line? Could you imagine a Christian writing a Book of Mormon style show about Judaism? It would be (rightfully) called anti-Semitic and protested. But here we are-- derisive religious mockery called "the funniest show ever" and winning the Tony for best musical.

Something feels wrong here.

Student #5 has left a new comment on your post "Overall Design & Production Management Of A Corpor...":

The thing I find fascinating about corporate event management is that it isn't just management, per se. In this video, Andrea talks about how she took the company's original idea for a theme (Americana, academy awards feeling, etc.) and was able to put it into her own style and create something new that isn't too "theme-y". Over the summer, I worked for an extreme pogo company that is in the process of rebranding their work. When we staged the company's two events, the US Open and the World Finals of Pogopalooza, we were constantly keeping in mind how the company needed to come across, how the audience would be best involved, what the most ideal setup would be to draw an audience, and the general question of whether our appearance matched our mission. The most effective change we made was in purchasing a large screen (not quite a megatron) to display the athlete's scores in relation to each other after each event. It was a small technological upgrade, but it made a huge impact on the way the audience perceived the event and how they interacted with it. The screen was a small but much needed change to improve the legitimacy of the sport. I think events, like theatre, are really also centered around design choice, and it's really interesting to see how one small thing can completely alter the look and feel of an event.

Vote for Comment of the Week

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Student #1 has left a new comment on your post "Hollywood Diversity Report Reveals a Grim, Obvious...":

Reading this is extremely sad, and reinforces how deeply ingrained the patriarchy is in our interconnected systems of government, media, and business, among surely other places. The information that makes it all the more difficult is that, even those few females artists who have the opportunity to be employed in Hollywood are backed and controlled by production companies also run by primarily white males, many of whom may actively seek to continue the interests of white, capitalist, imperialist control.

The question that I consider as I think about this, is how to make this type of news more widespread. How can our work light a fire underneath its audiences in order for someone who has the ability to, to actively seek to break down the institutions of the patriarchy and move us into a greater world of equality. While I recognize that that seems idealistic and without planning, the fact of the matter is that without considering these things in an idealistic way, we will simply continue to read articles such as this and continue to bemoan the state of our world as a patriarchal society that is out of our control.

Student #2 has left a new comment on your post "The Oregon Shakespeare Festival Focuses on Diversi...":

Theatre is about life, and as such, should be accessible to everyone who experiences life. The sad truth of the matter is that commercial theatre plays largely to a white, upper-class audience, and is an industry run by white, upper-class men. I applaud the efforts The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, because it can be very difficult to diversify an art so steeped in its backwards traditions. The fact that soon the majority of the actors will be people of color is incredible, and having a company that is so well known taking these steps sends a big signal to the rest of the theatrical world. I’m also very glad that The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is promoting women playwrights, as it is one of the other major flaws theatre has presented. The other point I found very interesting, and hadn’t really thought of before, was the lack of diversity in the audience. I’m glad that the festival has recognized this issue and taken steps to remedy it. The whole point of diversifying theatre is to make is more accessible to minorities, and if they aren’t even attending, then there’s no point. It also serves to mention that the lack of diversity in theatre is probably what turned the minority crowd away from it in the first place. I hope that simply by making the diverse casting choices, the festival will draw a more diverse crowd. Theatre is by far one of the most enjoyable, and should be one of the most accessible art forms available. The fact that a large part of the population is being underrepresented and turned away is horrifying. The work that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is doing to combat this should set an example for other theatres across the country.

Student #3 has left a new comment on your post "Part of Your World: On the Arts and Wellbeing":

I found the inner debate of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and GNH (Gross National Happiness) to be quite intriguing. The aim of both of these indicators is to quantify how well a society is doing, GDP in terms of economic success and GNH in terms of the overall well-being of a country. We are slowly approaching the dawn of a new era, a time when computers and machinery are doing the vast majority of the jobs once held by the middle class. With these jobs being taken by inanimate objects, what jobs are left for these people? The human race continues to grow in terms of population; every day there are more humans on this planet than there ever were before. So what do these people do to survive and sustain themselves, especially when there are fewer jobs to be had? If you’re good at reading between the lines you can sense the undertone of this question in the article, yet the article just kind of mumbles over the handful of GNH indicators that have been formulated instead of actually addressing the issue. Then at the end, the article wraps up with it’s “arts are good for happiness” argument. Personally, I believe there is an untapped answer lying between the success of the arts and the downfall of jobs which produce goods/services on an economically minded scale. 

Student #4 has left a new comment on your post "David Bowie, Aerosmith, Flaming Lips Pen Songs for...":

Nobody on Earth knows how excited I am for this. I feel like after this, we all may as well quit theatre, there will be literally nothing left to do that could ever top this. This musical will probably end up beating out Phantom of the Opera for the longest running musical in America. I'm surprised this show isn't a CMU grad's thesis, because of how influential and classic it will become.

Think about the SpongeBob costume. What the HELL is that going to be? Is it going to be like the guys you see at sporting events, in a suit with an unmoving, plastic smile? Dead eyes, grabbing hands reaching out for children? Or will they make it meta, strip a guy down, paint him yellow, and teach him how to do the voice REALLY well? Squidward is a SQUID. He has FOUR LEGS. What is the plan there? I am hoping someone will invent fully independently functioning prosthetic limbs just for SPONGEBOB: THE MUSICAL. The whole thing takes place under the sea. Possibly the first ever fully aquatic Broadway performance? What about the character Pearl, who is 1) a whale, 2) a high school cheerleader, and 3) 30x the size of her own father?

Also, addressing the more obvious point, where else is this musical line up going? I am hoping they throw in several Nicki Minaj dance numbers.

I know this is just a sad grab for cash riding off the success of the movie, but SpongeBob has always been a show that made NO SENSE, and that' why I love it. I can see this musical becoming like every other Disney musical, flashy with nothing new. Or, I can see the creators going, "Why not make this weird? No one takes it seriously anyways, let's have Sandy be played by a REAL SQUIRREL." I am desperately hoping for the latter, and will be following this production closely. 

 Student #5 has left a new comment on your post "Bad Singing and Fire Eating: Actors on Their ‘Spec...":

With a bachelor's degree (or higher!) now a fairly standard requirement for many openings in the modern job market, it no longer serves as the same distinguishing marker it did in decades past. With college graduates an ever-increasing population, the successful application of novel ways to distinguish oneself is not just a nice touch, but an unspoken requisite. While these unique talents featured in the article are showcased in an arena more hospitable to such bizarre special skills, their individuality speaks to the new quest for a resume to truly tell a fulsome story or carry an applicant's voice.

As someone mere years away from entering the punishing cycle of job applications and career questing, it feels as though I - and my peers - have been handed the task of making ourselves special in a pool where everyone is special. Toss air quotes around the word "special", and we might as well be back in kindergarten, fighting for the teacher's attention. While it was disheartening to hear about those who caught the attention of potential employers, and still walked away without a job, it was nice to know they weren't quite empty handed, having gleaned valuable feedback and a better sense of what stuck with those in charge of casting.

Worth a Look

Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...

Broadway show gives away free copies of 'Fun Home' to protest boycott

www.dailydot.com: For every group that seeks to boycott a book for bigoted reasons, there's another group happy to step in and encourage others to freely read.

Last week, the Daily Dot reported that some incoming freshmen at Duke University are refusing to read Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home, citing their moral opposition to the book’s frank depiction of lesbian sexuality.

Posted by David at 9/02/2015 02:32:00 PM

FCC Rules to Protect 600 MHz White Spaces

Stage Directions: For many pro wireless users, the past five years have been a nightmarish roller coaster of uncertainty. It all began with the Federal Communications Commission’s 2008 auction of the 700 MHz band (698 to 806 MHz) from the reallocation of TV channels 52 to 69 and the “white spaces” issue, where available space between frequency bands was made illegal for pro wireless applications after June 12, 2010.

Posted by David at 8/31/2015 01:32:00 PM

The 10 Most Gut-Punching Moments From BuzzFeed's Exposé on Sexism in Animation

Women and Hollywood: It's not news that the animation industry has always been a boys club, but that doesn't make BuzzFeed's recent longform exposé on the historical, institutional and ongoing sexism within the field any less powerful. Ariane Lange's piece is full of revealing tidbits, like the fact that wearing a pantsuit to the office was a fireable offense for women at Disney until 1958. But the most compelling elements of the article come from the many women -- both retired and still working -- who share their often horrific experiences about what it's like to be a woman in animation.

Posted by David at 9/01/2015 01:32:00 PM

Hollywood Diversity Report Reveals a Grim, Obvious Reality for Women of Color

jezebel.com: A Hollywood diversity report just released by USC’s Annenberg School of Media and Journalism notes that, among other things, Latinas and Black women are most likely to star in Hollywood films only when they are dressed in “sexy attire.”

Posted by David at 9/04/2015 08:17:00 PM

Why I Should Have Paid More Attention in Music Theory Class

The Creativity Post: For much of my life, I thought that being “musical” was a matter of operating by intuition and instinct.

Playing louder or softer because it felt right. Taking more or less time because it seemed to make sense.

That served me pretty well for a while, until one day I had to learn an unfamiliar piece of music for which there existed no recording, and I struggled.

For once, it seemed that simply feeling the music and going with whatever naturally came out wouldn’t get me to where I wanted to go.

I wondered…had I reached the limits of my musical intuition?

Posted by David at 9/03/2015 10:17:00 PM

Ellipses...

I think it should bother me that I feel like I care a little about Brian Austin Green's breakup...  I released the crew head grid for this year today without names on it.  Sometimes I crack myself up...  In three days in the office I haven't really made much of a dent in my prep.  It doesn't take long for the noise to overwhelm the signal...  I'm beginning to think that the @NFTRW_Feed account might be coming to a tipping point as far as followers.  It'll be cool if it happens...  There are times I miss being option coordinator.  Just for a minute or two.  Same goes with Stagecraft Coordinator, and Thesis Coordinator.  I get over it pretty quickly...  Today it rained for exactly the time it took me to make a stop.  That was pretty considerate of the weather I think...  More and more I think that folks high up at the DNC are just watching episodes of The West Wing on an endless loop.  There are worse places for them to get ideas...  I'm letting go of the "$17k CNC Router In My Garage" plan.  Have to think of something else to occupy my daydreaming... It's really too bad that Norm MacDonald has taken on Col. Sanders.  Not quite as bad as Colin Ferguson taking on The Maytag Repairman, but bad...  I keep telling UBER Phoenix that I don't live in Phoenix.  They don't seem to care...  It seems to me that when talking about deliveries any time after say maybe 6PM ought to count as the following day.  Just sayin...  I was complaining about MHP not being on MHP and then there she was subbing on Maddow.  That was cool...  The other day I started to wonder who knows more about me: Google or Amazon?  Seems one has WAY more data but the other has a much better signal to noise ratio...  Maybe next week I will actually write something instead of this stream of consciousness blather...

Ellipses...

I am pretty sure I started working on the fall in earnest today...  The trouble with the dino side gig is that I want it to be a side gig...  It's fun watching The Dark Night and picking out Pittsburgh locations when they are less obvious...  So far taking the bus has been ok, but then it hasn't rained yet, and it isn't cold out...  It is really cold in my office.  I don't know what's up with that...  Someone really ought to take away my Amazon access for a little while...  Did a honey-do today that has been on the list for maybe two years.  There's hope for me yet, I guess...  Suddenly my phone wouldn't charge, and then after an update it charged again...  The boy seems to know when we're trying to get a family photo.  He also seems to not want to be in a family photo...  If you don't want people to cancel their subscriptions you shouldn't ask them if they want to cancel...  I'm going to have to turn off the plugin I downloaded from the EFF, just makes things too slow...  I've got Doctor Who season one episode one on the DVR.  Never seen it...  I can't believe the number of movies we've missed this summer...  Got ideas for cutting down the electrical bill?  I could certainly use them...  Just finished reading "Lexicon."  You should start it...  Weekend MSNBC without MHP on #nerdland just aren't the same...  Spent some time today trying to track down last year's graduates.  They're harder to get hold of once they're not coming in every day...  I thought it was underlining or quotes.  Turns out that with the demise of longhand it has become italics...  It seems odd that even with very little to do there's still too much to do...  Can you guess my most favorite sound these days?  Would you have guessed "the air conditioner turning off?"  Maybe after reading that electricity thing above...  I wonder how many sentences can reasonably go within a single ellipse?  Probably nobody really cares...

Ellipses...

Two months ago I thought the events of this summer would mean more posting.  They didn't as it turns out...  I'm supposed to be in Chicago this weekend with the extended family.  Instead I am at home napping and "like"ing all the pictures.  It's not the same...  If you have a sign out front of your business that says "great employees needed" don't you think it would be classier to have it read "more great employees needed?"  I do...  The Century III mall shouldn't really be called a mall anymore - or at least the usage of the word has changed from "indoor shopping center" to "great big empty space."  Which I guess is also a proper use of the word, but not one you would necessarily expect..  For the record: planes, trains, and many other things are in fact not cars...  I have decided to embargo Star Wars teases for the film this fall.  Just gonna let it stand on it's own.  Besides, based on the number of movies I see these days it could be mid 2016 before I see it...  I need to cut the "bargains" feeds out of my RSS.  Even cheap things add up over time...  I wonder these days if "sitting relatively quietly in a darkened room" is sufficiently close to "nap"...  I'm reading this book "Lexicon" and the top of one of the chapters was about news broadcasts and the internet and I have to admit to being genuinely frightened by it...  After being in Pittsburgh for 16 years I think it might actually be time to buy some team jerseys.  I'm thinking Polamalu and Crosby, although maybe Harrison and Lemieux.  Difficult to get behind any Bucs jerseys though...  I didn't watch the last Republican debate.  I probably won't watch the next one.  I am kinda warming up to a Clinton-Sanders-Lessig evening though...  Mulling over the thought of a big "What I Did With My Summer Vacation" post.  Not sure about it though...

Ellipses...

Been a long time, been a long time...  The have free food at Hillman...  Sometimes when Dark Sky says it is going to rain it doesn't and sometimes when it says it won't it does.  Might be time to delete Dark Sky...  The @NFTRW_Feed keeps posting away even if I don't turn on a device...  Started watching this season of Game of Thrones, slid it in in front of 12 Monkeys and Orphan Black (and Daredevil, and Sense8)...  Going back to the original BSG reveals a show where the plot REALLY moves for the first few episodes.  Would be a whole season now...  Successfully completed three home projects.  No, none of them were the room in the attic (not looking likely for the next couple weeks either)...  When two equally qualified doctors give you two diametrically opposed opinions it makes you wish you were smarter than you are (no matter how smart you are, I think)...  Be nice if I could get back to posting more.  It's difficult when the only thing that is happening isn't something really intended for broad distribution...  The boy can now go up and down stairs pretty much on his own...  Man o man do I have a lot of email to delete...  It is strange to me that without changing the position of an HD antenna the picture can come and go...  I'm using a whole lot more exclamation points these days... 

Ellipses...

Seems like the players stopped chasing each other's tail.  Friday is going to be a busy day...  The election was a primary.  Independents don't vote in primaries.  Got me wondering if taxes ought to support primaries...  Turns out that colder did in fact this time mean less huge bees...  The seat on our new stationary bike is unfortunate...  I added my mobile to What's App, if you use What's App...  When I don't tend to my email it overgrows the inbox pretty darn quickly...  Is there a job assembling things people buy over the internet?  Is it a good job?  I thought not...  Upon further review I think I will nominate "The Supremes" as the single best episode of The West Wing...  We saw Ultron last week - 3D, IMAX - I think I liked the first one better...  Our new neighbors did in fact cut their lawn before being cited by the city, so that's good...  My son is learning to use the slides, slowly...  Speaking of children and playgrounds, how do you know if a child is done swinging?  It's a mystery to me...  Trying to keep up the posting tempo.  Ellipses seesm to be the best option so as to not get too dark...  Still haven't figured out my iTunes issues.  My phone now shows literally thousands of songs but most of them don't seem to actually be there...  The whole end of the Letterman Era is sort of slipping by without my really noticing...  It is amazing how quickly hockey fades in Pittsburgh after the Penguins are eliminated...  My in-laws are coming for the weekend.  Hopefully that should smooth things out some...  I still haven't posted my Semester Reviews photos to Facebook.  I actually haven't been to the office since before crits ended...  That last Deadliest Catch kinda ended with a depressing 1-2 between Josh & Kieth and then Elliot.  The hardest part of that gig might not be at sea... 

Ellipses...

If they're waiting to approve until you schedule and you're waiting to schedule until they approve, you're both going to be waiting a long time...  I've given it some thought and I believe putting full bus schedules at every stop probably is a mistake...  Parking in Oakland is very expensive...  For some reason I can't seem to reliably find the bottom row of keys on my new phone...  Today I had to remember every address I've lived at since 1975, and everyone I've ever lived with, and I got fingerprinted...  Amazing how quickly your thinking can be derailed...  Not sure but I think really it might be worth getting a second car seat...  Have you noticed how difficult it is to purchase blue kitchen recycling bags?  I wonder why...  Today I watched a video that said that for a thing at the end of the week I can't wear any jewelry.  Not sure I can get my wedding ring off my finger...  The Mad Men ending was OK I guess, here's hoping eventually Joan gets to have everything...  Trying hard to keep up the posts on the Greenpage, will be trying hard to keep something appearing here...  I still have a couple of loose ends to tie up from academic 14-15.  That would have sounded like a ridiculous prediction in 1999...  Can't really articulate how little I care about the Presidential Election right now...  Somehow I have made a real mess out of my music collection: iTunes, network addressable hard drive, three phone upgrades - sometimes I long for a CD player...  Target has some really cool Star Wars T-Shirts with engineering drawings on them.  Bought myself an AT-AT version...  I was interested in the NBA Playoffs for about a week there...  Parking at West Penn isn't as expensive...  First year in a long time I missed the Pittsburgh Showcase, NYC Showcase, and Commencement, plus a thesis and senior crits.  Here's hoping that won't happen again (but that it could)...

Just Like That

One day you're wondering if you'll see his college graduation.
The next day you're wondering if you'll hear him speak.

Eat your greens.