Someone calls my office multiple times each day and doesn't leave a message. I wish they would either leave a message or stop calling... I've been doing this one lecture/talk in various classes for like 15 years maybe. I just put it in Powerpoint yesterday... We used to have this bathroom upstairs at the house. Right now it is no longer a bathroom, its just a room. Soon it will be a bathroom again... We've gotten to the point in the academic year where all my calendars have calendars pinned on top of them... Two days ago it was in the 40s. Today it is supposed to hit 80. It probably has always been this way, but it sure seems odd... The Crazy Scheme assignments for next year were posted yesterday. So far there's been no grousing. But it is still pretty early... I still want to know why they changed the platform at the convention... This is CAD Mastery week in the Studiocraft class. It should have been like 3 weeks ago but break and USITT and various other things got in the way. It is better late than never I guess... Group chats are perhaps one of the worst unintended consequences of texting technology... We're budgeting the first show for next year and as usual the first thing they are looking to cut is the thing we most want to build... The news shows at night have become largely unwatchable for me of late. Tonight I guess I might give it a try... After more than a month off we actually got a podcast this week... The Big Burrito people have opened a new Italian restaurant. I guess we'll have to find a time for that... I don't want to jinx it but I think I might have found another grad student for next year at the last second... The guys working on our house decided to have a minor flood. Now we have to decide just how much is required in the way of repairs. We really didn't want the scope of the job to get any bigger. The completion date needs to be pretty firm... Not having parking at work throws all kinds of curve balls into scheduling appointments around work... I should be interested in the NBA Playoffs, but I'm not - and with the Penguins dropping out of the NHL Playoffs in the first round I might have to take a hard look at MLB. Go Cubbies...
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Worth a Look
Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...
ENOUGH! A Call to Action
Event Safety Alliance: This month the industry was faced with two separate but related eye-opening reminders. On April 6, 2019 the industry lost another veteran member of our family in a heartbreaking accident on the Coachella festival site. Less than a week later, an inquest into the 2012 stage roof collapse in Toronto that killed another member of our family returned 27 recommendations that, had they been in place, might have helped break the chain of causation in both events
NYC Casting Call Says ‘White Artists’ Will Be Paid Less Than ‘POC Artists,’ And Undergo ‘Mandatory’ Session Of ‘Anti-Racism Training’
Daily Wire: Underneath the "rehearsal" heading, the call stated that white actors who were cast in the show would participate in a mandatory "anti-racism training" session. That training session would not be mandatory for actors of other races.
Under the "compensation" heading, the call stated that actors of color would be paid more than white actors.
Burning Man Attendees RAGE After Bureau Of Land Management Blasts Festival's Environmental Impact
Daily Wire: Career "Burners" or Burning Man attendees are raging over a Bureau of Land Management environmental impact report that accuses Burning Man of being a major environmental nuisance, and requests the weeklong festival in the Nevada desert take major measures to control trash, drug use, and crowds before expanding to accommodate more attendees.
Protestors Take On Long Island High School Production of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, Citing 'Racism is Not Entertainment'
www.broadwayworld.com: Newsday reports that protestors took to the streets outside Huntington High School in Long Island to protest the production of Thoroughly Modern Millie taking place inside, which they say is "racist against Chinese-Americans."
The Next 10 Years
AMERICAN THEATRE: As a new generation of artistic directors start their jobs leading long-running institutions and taking on the role of leaders both in their communities and nationally, we asked them where they hope to see the theatre field a decade from now. These new a.d.s span the nation; some have already started their new jobs, while others begin this summer. All are coming in both optimistic and clear-eyed, and all have very specific visions.
Friday, April 12, 2019
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Ellipses...
It is Thursday. Photo Friday is tomorrow, so that means if I am doing this ellipses post I really ought to do it now... Our garage has a new door to the house. Now they just need to close up the old door, which right now is a big rectangular hole... Every time I go to type something political now I get maybe a dozen characters in before I delete them all. There's probably a name for this syndrome... Playoff hockey has arrived to save us all from evenings of MSNBC. Here's hoping the Penguins stay in long enough to provide a real break... In addition to the new door we recently found ourselves with a new water heater - a project we've been talking about for maybe a decade. It is amazing what you can bury in a renovation if you put your mind to it... Carnival starts today. The boy is excited. It looks like we might even get through it without snow this time around... I just proposed a very expensive project to my boss. I think there is statistically zero chance it will happen... The ER is a crappy place to be by yourself. Bring company, and a spare phone battery... There's a current Craigslist post for someone selling 55 pounds of bulk Lego I have been having trouble disregarding. They say the first step is acknowledging you have a problem... I love my laptop, but I don't think I will ever get use to the keyboard. Using external, full keyboards most of the time isn't helping... The precollege free period is no more. All hail the return of Sound Design, and the new appearance of VMD... One would think if you presented with some kind of infection that it would be standard procedure to culture said infection. One would be wrong... The boy now wants to eat at Hokkaido more than I do. I have created a monster... Today I had zero articles prepped for the other page. I can't remember the last time that happened. Finding a dozen articles from the "alerts" folder took longer than I would have liked... I've been trying to conjure memories of carnival from when I was a student. I'm sure I had a good time, but there isn't a whole lot standing out...
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Worth a Look
Here are a few posts from last week Greenpage that might be worth your time...
World Theatre Day 2019: On (Dis)Connection
The Theatre Times: World Theatre Day was instituted in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and is celebrated annually on March 27 across the globe. The day has at its core the vision of theatre as an actant of peace. Each year, the ITI invites a prominent figure in the broad domain of theatre to reflect on the theme. Cuban director, playwright and theatre educator Carlos Celdrán’s message for World Theatre Day 2019 centers on theatre as a mode of human connection.
All This Town’s a Stage
The New Yorker: It’s 7:45 p.m. in Stratford, Ontario when the city’s restaurants clear out. It’s a departure so sudden and sweeping one might assume this small city was rolling up its sidewalks for the night. In reality, these dinner guests are on their way to the 8:00 p.m. show at one of four performance spaces that make up the Stratford Festival, a repertory theatre and annual series that sells half a million tickets to shows in a town of little more than 30,000.
After Overture cancels 'Miss Saigon' panel, Asian American scholars host 'teach-in' on street
Entertainment | madison.com: The reason some theatergoers protest “Miss Saigon,” three decades after the French-written, British-born mega-musical touched down on American shores is because damaging stereotypes persist about Asian women as property, Asian men as weak, and white, Western guys as saviors.
That’s true not only in the United States.
How to be Greener on Broadway…and everywhere else
Associated Musicians of Greater New York – Local 802: This Earth Day, on April 22, marks 49 years of the largest civic-focused day of action in the world. Since 1970, hundreds of millions of people around the world have continuously come together to bring environmental issues to the forefront. Almost half a century later, this movement is more important than ever as climate change is a reality and individuals around the world are taking action. The theatre community, in New York City and beyond, is playing an increasingly large role in working for a greener world.
The Importance of the National Endowment for the Arts
NEA: I began working at the National Endowment for the Arts in January 2017.
One of the first things I did was begin to absorb the history and the milestones of the agency. Imagine my surprise in discovering that our budget in 2017 was almost the exact same as it was 40 years earlier.
A 40-year-old budget, no adjustment for inflation, and a hundred million more people in the country.
With an unchanged budget and an ever expanding population, the National Endowment for the Arts has created remarkably effective programs that blanket the nation.
Thursday, April 04, 2019
Ellipses....
I don't mean to be crass about it, but what the hell happened to March? I swear it was valentines day like a week and a half ago... The Frosh tell me the project cannot be completed without all-nighters. I decided not to argue... All this defense of Biden in the media makes me really wistful for Al Franken... Work in the basement at the house is into phase two I guess. Materials arrived yesterday. I should be shooting more pictures... The Scoobis are back on the streets. Totally unlike the swallows returning to Capistrano... I finished Westworld season two. This season made me think a lot about Dollhouse. The after credit scene on the season finale really knocked me off balance. Just when you think you know what's going on... The folks at MSNBC should know that I have basically stopped watching. I guess in general their ratings are up, but I just don't have what it takes anymore... I never get tired of hearing I'm not sick... We're moving pieces around to make sure we get to see Captain Marvel in a theatre before Endgame. This, I think, is caring too much. Thanks Marvel... I really prefer an RSS Feed to an email newsletter. I think I am probably in the minority there, but I also think I am doing it right... Posting regularly should be easier than this... I predict we are all going to learn quite a bit about the difference between an independent counsel and a special council. Comparisons to the Starr Report aren't necessarily parallel... Spring Carnival is coming. The boy is excited. That's as it should be...
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Worth a Look
Here are a few posts from last week's Greenpage that might be worth your time...
‘Midnight Rider’ Case: First AD Hillary Schwartz Denied Shortened Sentence
Deadline: Like Midnight Rider’s director before her, the film’s first assistant director Hillary Schwartz asked for and was denied leniency by a Georgia court for her part in the death of her 27 year-old crew member Sarah Jones. Schwartz had motioned the court for a shortened sentence last year asking that her probation end. She was sentenced to 10 years probation in March 2015 for criminal trespass and felony involuntary manslaughter for her role in the camera assistant’s death.
Consent in the Spotlight
The New Journal: Center stage at the Iseman Theater, a woman stands clutching two hands to her chest in front of seventy-five first-year students of the Yale School of Drama. “These are my breasts,” she says. “These are Evan’s breasts, and when I come to rehearsal, I don’t want you to touch them.”
The Color Purple; who gets to play gay?
Exeunt Magazine: “Nobody who has talent should be kept out of the acting profession. And nobody, even white, middle-class males, should be prevented from playing any part,” said Simon Callow, commenting in a Guardian piece last week which, slightly insidiously, painted a picture of a world in which increasingly strong calls for diversity in casting were limiting some actors’ careers.
Cirque, MGM Resorts Downsize; Shuffle Staff
www.cirquefascination.com: Cirque du Soleil is performing some acrobatics away from the theater.
The days are over when Cirque shows have been operated as insular productions, independent of one another. The company is reorganizing — and downsizing — its management operations for its five residency productions on the Las Vegas Strip that are in partnership with MGM Resorts International (“Mystere” at Treasure Island being the exception). Cirque also has a show coming into Luxor to be announced this spring.
Rise TV Period Dramas Creates Bigger Need for History Consultants
Variety: Ask production designer Maria Djurkovic how she researched period-accurate sets for the late 1970s-set espionage miniseries “The Little Drummer Girl,” which airs on AMC, and she answers: books, the internet, some personal experience. But then she brings up her secret weapon: Philip Clark.
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Ellipses...
I can't be certain, but I am pretty sure that the new EU Copyright provisions make one of my other pages a fairly likely infringer... Week after week of PT and we're really not getting anywhere. I did find free parking at the facility... I really can't get over how much there is that I am no longer willing to put into a post... When I played ultimate in college our jerseys were not nearly as cool as the ones the current team has... I'm catching up with Westworld two episodes at a time. Some of those episodes are a little bit longer than I would have anticipated... The front lawn is a field of clover. So much for last year's lawn care vendor... I am anticipating a fairly high number of credit ultimate games this spring. I hope I am up to it... There was another Green Scenery panel at the conference this year. The advice: build less, use more stock, throw away nothing. That song is getting old... Phase two of the basement update is underway. There's a new furnace and all new duct work. Somehow I think "new duct work" isn't a highly sought after item in renovation projects... I can't be sure, but I think I may have found a home for some of the LPs that moved here from Chicago... Days that start out below 30 and then rise to over 60 provide a challenging toddler clothing selection process... Lego has this ball & socket joint pair of pieces that I think is a fairly good analog for general problems with ball & socket joints... Haven't seen Captain Marvel. Should probably get on that before Endgame comes out...
