Cultural Appreciation, Week IV [Wednesday, Periods 4 & 5]

[atreideslioness]

"Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 large professional theatres with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan, New York City. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. The Broadway Theatre district is a popular tourist attraction in New York City, New York."

( There's nothing that can match Broadway for stature and dignity. -- Sammy Davis, Jr. )

"Today we're going to go see a Broadway show," Ghanima said. "STOMP is a high-energy, percussive symphony, coupled with dance, played entirely on unconventional instruments, such as garbage can lids, buckets, brooms and sticks. It is movement made original through the use of everyday objects in non-traditional ways. There’s no traditional storyline, per se, except maybe a running gag involving a character who marches to the beat of a different drum, literally." She smiled, dimpling as she held up a small bag. "For those who have sensitive ears or dislike loud noise, I do have earplugs, as it can get rather loud towards the end of the show."

[OOC: Post isn't up until the OCD sings! discovered the OCD wasn't Equity, but opened the house anyway!]

Library [9-22]

[imonscholarship.livejournal.com]

Dan didn't have much in the way of actual work to do today, so he didn't feel all that bad about sitting back with his laptop and updating his tumblr reading the news on the CNN website.

Canada Is Not That Strange And Other Biases | Wednesday | Period 2

[just-add-starch.livejournal.com]

Fraser was standing in front of a table that was covered by a sheet when the students entered the room today. His arms were crossed and he looked thoughtful while everyone settled in.

"Good morning," he greeted, nodding at the class, "and welcome back. Today, we're going to be looking at biases in a simplistic sort of way. Everyone has biases, that's undeniable. It's how you deal with them that's important."

With that said, Fraser pulled the sheet off the table slowly to reveal several assorted plates of food. Some probably looked familiar, some did not. What Fraser didn't do was label the plates of food. It was going to be up to the students to choose what they want.

"Today, we're going to looking at biases with food. Now, it's simplistic and it's not always applicable but we even have biases with food. If you see something that looks inviting and smells good, you're more likely to try it than try something that looks bad and/or smells bad. You judge the food immediately without having tasted it. So, these dishes have no labels on them. It's going to be up to your eyes and your nose to decide if you want to try it. If you realize your biases are kicking in, that's fine, that happens. This is just a way to demonstrate that biases happen everywhere, even in something as mundane as food. So please, step up and look at the dishes. Take your pick on what you'd like to eat and see how you judge what you do eventually consume. Let's begin."

Boom-De-Yada Science - Danger Shop, Wednesday, Period 1 [Week 4]

[worsethanaunts.livejournal.com]

"We're on a bridge, Charlie!" the Doctor declared. He really shouldn't have given Sarah Jane's son his email address. He wound up with links to YouTube videos in his inbox and they really were quite addicting. There was probably something nefarious going on in there knowing Google, but investigating would have to wait. "Anyway, hello. Bridges. You're standing on one. This is the Tower Bridge in London, which is in Great Britain. Look it up. You might know it as the London Bridge, but that's wrong, because the London Bridge is that one over there," he pointed to the next one up the river, "and you should know better than to believe everything television tells you.

It's a combined bascule and suspension bridge, if you're interested in that sort of thing, but if you wanted to know all about the mechanics of a bridge you should go and try to build one. Or read about it, if you're not the hands-on type." The Doctor leaned over the edge, then spun around and flung his arms out to gesture at the towers. "Bridges are so much more than marvels of architecture. There are natural bridges, but they're not nearly so interesting as artificial bridges. Does anyone know why?" Like he was going to give them a chance to answer. Please. "They're symbols, and we all know how powerful those can be. Bridges close gaps. Bridges are a sign of someone not only going 'well, that's impossible to cross without a lot of effort' but deciding to make that normally insurmountable gap, or at least really difficult to cross gap, accessible to everyone. Determination. Hope. Dedication. A service to the community. All of those things can be embodied in bridges." He looked up at it and patted the railing. "And that's pretty admirable for a few bits and bolts thrown together. What do you think about it all? About building something for yourself and for other people? About knowing that something is so big and so hard to reach, but getting there anyway? Or we could just talk about bridges," the Doctor said with a little smile.