Maybe it Should be Different

I've been thinking more about the Supreme Court nomination.  In keeping with the topography of the times I have been trying to put myself in the headspace of someone with different leanings than my own.  With the President filling Supreme Court vacancies it seems like there will always be some population really upset and energized about the choice.  That seems kind of less than, and thinking about it, if the Supreme Court is really supposed to be on equal footing with Congress and the President, having the President fill the seat seems maybe a little inappropriate.  Also, it seems like more and more recently the role Congress is playing in the selections has become somewhat outsized.  We seem to have arrived at a point where if the executive and legislative branches are the same party then pretty much anything goes, and if they are different parties nothing will happen at all. 

That can't be what the Framers intended, right?  So maybe we need something new.

It had me wondering if there were some way to wind up with someone who could objectively be considered "the best" judge - like the country was reviewing a CV rather than having the thing at the mercy of political whim.  I'm not sure exactly how to quantify this because I'm not a judicial scholar, but it would seem like there ought to be a way to quantify what we'd be looking for.

Something like this:

• Certain number of years at a certain level of court.
• Below a certain percentage of rulings overturned.
• X number of decisions cited as precedent in other cases.
• Clean ethics slate.

Like I said, I don't do this for a living, but the list has to be out there.

I guess it is likely that this would produce a short list rather than a single person, but maybe keeping the existing process in place based on that short list would get me what I am looking for.

Seems like something like this would let a lot of air out of the balloon.  It make Supreme Court nominations less of an issue in Presidential elections.  It would relieve a lot of the weight on judges regarding the timing of their retirement.  It would take many of the third party participants out of the discussion.

Also seems like it might make us pay more attention to judicial appointments that aren't the Supreme court and to the behavior and record of sitting judges at the lower levels.  Those are probably good things too.

Changing something like this is probably impossible, but it does seem like thinking about it isn't a complete waste of time.

Ellipses

It wouldn't be There Are No Bad Ideas without Ellipses...  I can't recall what we did last year for the Fourth.  Today the boy had a six hour playdate, but no fireworks...  If a doc refers you for a test, it shouldn't take more than six weeks to get an appointment.  Our medical industry has a few bugs...  Over the last couple of days I converted the last six boxes from my parents' house into six lawn bags of shredded documents...  It seems pretty clear that the administration had no infrastructure in place to handle the family separations they decided to initiate.  They ought to be embarrassed at the level of prep.  Pretty sure they don't get embarrassed though...  The Litter Robot works a lot better when the cat really goes into the unit...  I can't tell you how cool I think it is that I can watch ultimate on TV...  The other day we went to a movie while it was raining.  When we got out the 20 minute ride home took almost 2 hours.  Tough to get home when just about every road is closed...  Republican congressmen meeting in a one party codel with anyone feels wrong.  With this group seems outright irresponsible...  Ocean's 8 was a perfectly reasonable movie...  Thinking about adding three books I read this spring into the fall Pro Practice class.  Just have to decide if that class can handle three books...  Going to Lititz next week, see the shop, catch up with some folks.  It's been a while since I've been out there...  Pretty much had a no news day today.  It is pretty pleasant that way, but I'm not sure it is responsible...  Keeping up with a post a day is going to be a challenge this time around...  I wonder why the city doesn't have you sort out compostables.  That seems like a fairly low hanging fruit...  Congress really ought to be putting an end to Scott Pruitt.  He's pretty brazen.  I don't understand why there hasn't been more noise...  If you are on Shark Tank you really need to offer 14% equity...  The Sense8 finale movie came out weeks ago and I still haven't watched.  No sure why that's happening...  When the air is thick and the smoke hangs in the area the fireworks show suffers a little...  What we are doing to people seeking asylum is really problematic.  I sure hope the operation and the policy evolve soon...

Supreme Freak Out

They're going to get their judge.  I'm not sure I understand the immediacy of the freak out.  It was predictable that Justice Kennedy would retire under a Republican administration.  I guess it wasn't necessarily that it would have been at the end of this term, but depending on polling I would imagine it would have been a virtual certainty it would happen in this Presidential term.  (I read something on Facebook today that suggested his motivation is less obvious and tied to the special counsel investigation and his son.  I guess we'll have to see if that is the case - but even if it is I stand by the idea that the retirement would come under a Republican administration).

The President's record on judicial appointments is really the least characteristic of anything he does.  It seems like he's pretty substantively delegated the task and that the choices are in the sweet spot of conservative interest groups.  From my perspective that's unfortunate, but through the lens of how crazy things are this is actually some of the least crazy there is.  Also, for what it is worth, if you haven't noticed that the administration has had a record setting pace in placing judges below the Supreme Court rank too.

I get that Roe energizes people and that revisiting Roe would be awful, but it seems to me that there's a whole lot more to be concerned about: ACA, LGBTQ rights, organized labor, gerrymandering, Citizens United...  Roe is just the tip of a terrible iceberg.  And that's without thinking of any eventual litigation of the special council investigation that might come before the court.

The Left has been able to rely on courts to be a check on legislatures for my entire lifetime.  When we lost the White House and the Senate that pretty much came to an end.  That we're having a collective freak out now is somewhat misplaced.  We've been in this position since the election, it just hasn't been at the top of the news until now.

The talk about strategies to keep the court in it's current balance is all well and good, but I think we have to assume any of that will fail.  The Senators identified as swings have been in this position before and they've danced with the one that brought them.  Any idea that the Senate leadership will apply the standard they established under the last administration is wishful thinking.  The notion that cooler heads will prevail and constrain a sitting President currently under investigation is fantasy.  There will be a name in short order and that jurist will be confirmed with alacrity.

The road back from this point is a long one.  The Left is going to have to win the way the Right did - win elections and win them at all levels.  There won't be a need to have the courts block terrible legislation if there isn't terrible legislation.  The other day I saw something online that says if "didn't vote" had been a candidate in the 2016 election it would have won a landslide of states.  Decisions are made by the ones who show up.  If you are freaking out now, make sure you vote in November - and make sure everyone else does too.

Precollege 2018

Today is the first day of class in CMU SOD Precollege 2018.  This year I am teaching Technical Production class and Drafting class as well as serving as coordinator for the DP program.

Here's the whole slate:

It is pretty much the same this year as it has been for the last couple of years.  The biggest difference is that this year's group gets a "Free Period."  We do end of year surveys and for a couple of years the DP students have been complaining that the performance students get a break in their day and they don't.  I've always thought they were paying a whole lot of money to be here and that I should put as much content into their day as I could.  But the opportunity came along this year to create a space, so I did.  We'll see if the end of the year surveys play out differently.

I gave myself a crappy teaching schedule, coming in fairly early and then teaching again at the end of the day.  It didn't occur to me that it was crappy until it was so far along that changing it would have jammed up other people so it will stay as it is.  Maybe I will find a good way to make use of the time in the middle, maybe go to the gym, or prep the whole fall, or write that damn book.

Or maybe do a blog post each day for the whole term.

CQ

It is July.  At least once in the past (I'd have to look back) I've taken July and tried to do 31 posts in 31 days.  I think I'm going to give it a shot again.

On a few occasions I've talked about what happened to posting here and why it dropped off so steeply... ok pretty much completely.  The easy culprit is Facebook.  Back in the day I would post or talk about an article I'd seen someplace, maybe from StumbleUpon or something.  Now with the ubiquitous "share" buttons it is so much easier to just do that sort of thing on Zuckerbook that bringing that content here just seems like a waste of time.  FWIW I probably have more of an audience over there than I ever did over here even if it is more contained.

I guess my relationship with the internet has changed a lot too.  Feedly (after Google Reader) and consumption through RSS instead of bookmarks has really opened up the fire hose of content.  Where I used to see a couple of dozens of posts per day I now literally have a que of hundreds, sometimes thousands.  When there's always something else to look at the writing seems to drop off.  Also, those dozens of posts I used to follow were mostly personal blogs and now that type of content is likely less than 1% of the total traffic across my screen - probably for many of the same reasons my own contributions dropped off.  I miss those posts.  If you are someone that is still writing: thanks, and keep it up.

Part of the issue has been the nature of the biggest stories in my life.  There's stuff you share online and stuff you don't - or at least where there's popular wisdom that says you shouldn't.  I had a kid.  I rarely put photos of him online and from a privacy standpoint it seems like you're not supposed to blog about your children in a meaningful way.  There's certainly been a lot to say, but it doesn't seem to be appropriate to say it here.  That's a shame I guess because I think it might be fun for him to be able to look back and see what I was thinking about him when he is older.  I'll have to give that some thought.  The other big piece of news has been health related.  I've been through a multi-year process trying to stay healthy and that's another subject that seems wrong for open public consumption.  I did write about a bunch of those things, but instead of going here or on that blue page all of that writing went out via email to a fairly discreet d-list.  I have an archive.  I've thought a little about turning it into a book.  So I guess if it would be ok for publication it would be ok to put here.  Another thing to percolate on.

There's something else too.  I feel like I have really been changed by a general chilling effect within public discourse.  I just don't want to set anyone off.  I recognize this in at least two separate spheres.  The first one is obviously politics.  Things have become so energized and polarized that any comment can have you off to the races, and in an open forum with the chance that something will go viral or attract the attention of trolls it just seems simpler to stay silent.  I've noted often over the last year that I post and delete more than I post and leave on social media.  Those potential abrasions are probably the reason for that.  The other venue that has cooled is work, mostly among the students.  It is my observation that trigger thresholds are far lower now than when I used to write about what was happening at work often.  I've also seen very real consequences for faculty who had thought they were innocently (or perhaps snarkily) posting in their own outlets only to get jammed up for something they said.  It doesn't seem worth getting ostracized in the media or into deep water with my boss just to complain that "kids today" can't find a paper clip or read a syllabus.  That's too bad, but it is very much the world we live in, that I live in.

So there's that.

Still, it seems like there should be a way to say something meaningful about something without tipping into "there be monsters."  Let's see if I can manage it for a month.

Worth a Look

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

EU rule could leave theatres dark

Letters | Stage | The Guardian: I am writing to you as the president of the Association of Lighting Designers, and as the Founder of Theatre Projects, an international theatre design company that for 60 years has been at the forefront of British theatre technology, responsible for the stage design of the National Theatre, and for over 1,500 theatre projects in 80 counties.

Posted by David at 5/02/2018 11:54:00 AM

A Mass of Copyrighted Works Will Soon Enter the Public Domain

The Atlantic: The Great American Novel enters the public domain on January 1, 2019—quite literally. Not the concept, but the book by William Carlos Williams. It will be joined by hundreds of thousands of other books, musical scores, and films first published in the United States during 1923. It’s the first time since 1998 for a mass shift to the public domain of material protected under copyright. It’s also the beginning of a new annual tradition: For several decades from 2019 onward, each New Year’s Day will unleash a full year’s worth of works published 95 years earlier.

Posted by David at 5/01/2018 12:50:00 PM

Charlie Douglass and his Laff Box invented the laugh track as we know it.

slate.com: Douglass was a mechanical engineer who had worked on radar for the Navy in World War II, so he knew his way around audio and electronics. In 1950, The Hank McCune Show, a mostly forgotten series from NBC, had used a rudimentary laugh track. But by 1953, Douglass had developed a better way to insert a laugh into a show. If you’ve ever watched an old sitcom, you’ve almost certainly heard his work.

Posted by David at 5/02/2018 11:51:00 AM

Stage Managers And Human Reaction Time

TheatreArtLife: When I was first learning how to “be” a stage manager, I learned how to properly record blocking, how to lay out spike tape, and the best way to distribute a schedule. Nothing prepared me for having a direct impact on the physical well-being of my performers.

Posted by David at 5/02/2018 11:50:00 AM

A Colorblind Make-up Artist Defies the Odds

Make-Up Artist Magazine: Being a make-up artist is a challenge. Being a colorblind make-up artist is a conquest.

Toby Derrig found out he was colorblind in first grade when he accidentally colored a Texas Longhorn green and almost got sent to the “time out chair” for messing around. That led to a doctor’s appointment where he was diagnosed with extreme deuteranopia. Derrig was colorblind.

Posted by David at 5/04/2018 10:58:00 AM

Worth a Look - Time's Up

And five more:

WriteGirlTaps Actors, Screenwriters to Support Young, Female Writers

Variety: Actors and screenwriters came together Saturday night to support the young women involved in WriteGirl at the organization’s annual Lights, Camera, WriteGirl! event.

Posted by David at 4/30/2018 12:54:00 PM

Tribeca Film Festival 2018: Time’s Up Staged a Tribeca Takeover

theglowup.theroot.com: Saturday was a day of reckoning at the Tribeca Film Festival as voices from the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements brought their message of survival, empowerment and advocacy from Hollywood to New York City. Oscar-winning actresses Julianne Moore and Lupita Nyong’o, Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo, actresses Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Ashley Judd, former NFL player Wade Davis, activist Tarana Burke—who was also awarded a Disruptive Innovation award at this year’s festival—and more were on hand to talk about the movement’s momentum and what comes next.

Posted by David at 5/01/2018 12:45:00 PM

Time's Up Women of Color Tell Their Industry to #MuteRKelly

The Mary Sue: We’ve already taken down Bill Cosby for his decades-long history of abusing and assaulting women. Now, it’s R. Kelly’s turn. The Women of Color of Time’s Up have banded together to call on their industry to boycott and investigate R. Kelly.

Posted by David at 5/01/2018 12:44:00 PM

A Matter of Legitimacy: Female Nudity On-screen

Balder and Dash | Roger Ebert: Hollywood is built on negotiations. Managers negotiate rates, stars negotiate their time. But actresses are often gifted an additional element to negotiate: the surrender of their bodies for the camera. Where a bare breast was once considered taboo, now audiences barely bat an eye at female nudity. It’s expected, anticipated, demanded. With the rise of #MeToo and #TimesUp we’ve seen women gain equal pay and a more comforting atmosphere regarding sexual harassment, yet on-screen nudity remains an ambiguous gray area.

Posted by David at 5/02/2018 11:50:00 AM

The Crown's Claire Foy to Receive $275,000 in Back Salary Following Pay Disparity

themuse.jezebel.com: In March of this year, Left Bank Pictures, the producers behind Netflix’s monarchy fantasia The Crown, found themselves in hot water after revealing that supporting actor Matt Smith (Prince Philip) takes home a larger salary than star Claire Foy (Queen Elizabeth II).

Posted by David at 5/01/2018 12:45:00 PM

Worth a Look

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

Term of Affection? Ethnic Slur? Theater Union Decides That ‘Gypsy’ Must Go.

The New York Times: They are itinerant singers and dancers. Chorus members. The names below the title. But should they still be called gypsies?

Actors’ Equity Association doesn’t think so. The union that represents stage performers announced this week that it would cease using the title “Gypsy Robe” to describe one of its most cherished insider rituals — the passing of a colorful patchwork garment from one chorus to another on a Broadway show’s opening night — citing the potential offense to Roma people.

The action is prompting a combination of reflection and head-scratching in the tight-knit theater world.

Posted by David at 4/23/2018 11:40:00 AM

Music Modernization Act Unanimously Passes House of Representatives

Variety: In what is being hailed as a historic day for music creators, theMusic Modernization Act passed the House Wednesday, paving the way for improved royalty payments to songwriters, artists and creatives in the digital era. The bill, HR 5477, passed unanimously with 415 votes. The bill is overwhelmingly supported by the music industry, and has bipartisan support in the house, where it was introduced by co-sponsors Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

Posted by David at 4/26/2018 11:45:00 AM

The Simpsons' Hank Azaria Says He's Willing to Stop Voicing Apu

Collider: A few weeks ago, The Simpsons accidentally became relevant again, but not in the way the show intended. An episode titled “No Good Read Goes Unpunished” responded to the recent documentary The Problem with Apu, which points out that Apu, while not a malevolent figure, is an Indian stereotype that has been used to mock people of Indian and East Asian descent, so perhaps the show should rethink the character.

Posted by David at 4/25/2018 12:12:00 PM

German theater asks guests to wear swastikas for Hitler play

The Seattle Times: A theater in southern Germany is proceeding with plans to open a satirical play Friday about Adolf Hitler’s youth in which some patrons will be wearing swastika armbands, despite objections and legal complaints. The Konstanz Theater’s production of George Tabori’s “Mein Kampf ” opens Friday night for a monthlong run.

Posted by David at 4/24/2018 11:53:00 AM

How trans characters were described in screenplays.

slate.com: Earlier this month, a Vulture feature put screenwriters under a microscope, compiling their introductions for memorable female characters. The descriptions were sometimes worthy of the characters they ushered into the story, as with Carrie Fisher’s extensive and evocative description of Doris Mann in Postcards from the Edge. More often, they revealed a reliance on tired tropes and a fixation on physique—Double Indemnity‘s femme fatale is distinguished by her “very appetizing torso.”

Posted by David at 4/23/2018 11:46:00 AM

Worth a Look - Time's Up

And five more...

Matt Smith Finally Speaks Out on The Crown Pay Disparity

The Mary Sue: Thanks to the Time’s Up movement, Hollywood’s gender pay gap is no longer a secret, and more stories are coming out. One egregious example came last month, when the producers of Netflix’s The Crown revealed that Claire Foy, who plays the title role of Queen Elizabeth II, was paid less than her co-star Matt Smith during the first and second season of the global hit. In fact, on a show reportedly budgeted at $7 million an episode, Claire Foy took home a comparably measly $40,000 per episode. That’s less than one percent of the budget allocated to the star.

Posted by David at 4/24/2018 09:26:00 AM

Viola Davis Comments on #MeToo at Power of Women

Variety: On the red carpet for Variety‘s Power of Women New York event Friday, Viola Davis shared her thoughts on the #MeToo movement, its implications, and the lasting effects of sexual assault. “I think the conversation now is people really feel like the impact is just a woman loses her career — it’s way deeper than that,” Davis said. “You lose your life in that moment.”

Posted by David at 4/24/2018 11:53:00 AM

Clayne Crawford Explains ‘Lethal Weapon’ Reprimands, Apologizes

Variety: Star Clayne Crawford apologized to the cast and crew of “Lethal Weapon” Tuesday in the wake of reports claiming that his behavior on set has endangered the future of the Fox drama.

Posted by David at 4/25/2018 12:13:00 PM

Former union leader denies allegations

Albuquerque Journal: A former New Mexico labor and film union leader has denied allegations brought against him in a lawsuit.
Jon Hendry is the former president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor and the former business agent for the local chapter of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Posted by David at 4/26/2018 12:03:00 PM

Why I Am Boycotting Writers Theatre in Chicago

www.clydefitchreport.com: The controversy at Writers, a widely respected company located near Chicago, is a few months old, so I’ll quickly recap. Last fall, CFR broke a story that former Writers intern Tom Robson accused longtime Artistic Director Michael Halberstam of sexually harassing him both verbally and physically in 2003. The story spread to other outlets; soon, the trade publication PerformInk released a more detailed account of how widespread Halberstam’s harassment had been, reporting that “what happened to Robson has happened to others,” and that schools were even warning students about auditioning for the company.

Posted by David at 4/26/2018 11:45:00 AM

Worth a Look

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

No More Hotel Auditions, Says Union Representing Actors

The Two-Way : NPR: SAG-AFTRA is calling for an end to auditions in private hotel rooms or residences, after a spate of sexual harassment allegations against powerful Hollywood figures. "We are committed to addressing the scenario that has allowed predators to exploit performers behind closed doors under the guise of a professional meeting," the union's president, Gabrielle Carteris, said in a statement.

Posted by David at 4/17/2018 11:54:00 AM

Actors' Equity votes to change the name of the Gypsy Robe

Broadway News: The Gypsy Robe is changing its name.

After hearing concerns about the insensitivity of the name, the Actors’ Equity Association has voted to rename the robe that is awarded to the chorus member with the highest number of Broadway credits on opening night of a show. The name change will be put in place next season and the more than 60-year-old tradition of the robe will continue.

Posted by David at 4/19/2018 12:04:00 PM

White Actor Is Voicing A Black Character In ‘Spy Kids’

New Pittsburgh Courier: The computer-animated series Spy Kids: Mission Critical is hits Netflix on Friday. The ten episodes will follow attendees at Spy Kids Academy, which is a top secret school for kid agents. The kids have to save the world against an evil force known as S.W.A.M.P. (Sinister Wrongdoers Against Mankind’s Preservation) and their leader, Golden Brain. The series including one Black male character, known as PSI, but the actor who is voicing the character, Travis Turner, is white .

Posted by David at 4/20/2018 11:35:00 AM

What Proposed EU 2020 Lighting Regulations Really Mean

Live Events: The UK’s Association of Lighting Designers (ALD), as part of its Save Stage Lighting Campaign that is warning of the devastating effects the proposed EU 2020 Lighting regulations would have on production lighting, has today released a clear, concise guide to those regulations.

Posted by David at 4/17/2018 12:13:00 PM

The monkey selfie lawsuit lives

The Verge: Just when you thought you wouldn’t hear about the monkey selfie ever again, the legal saga lives once more. Although the parties — the photographer, a self-publishing book company, and PETA, on behalf of the selfie-taking monkey — reached a settlement in September of last year, the Ninth Circuit is now refusing to dismiss the case. This means the court will be coming out with an official appellate decision about the monkey selfie.

Posted by David at 4/19/2018 11:49:00 AM