Acting 101; Monday, First Period 0/03/04].

[not_a_bird]

"Okay, guys," Sweet Dee greeted the class when it was time to start, "good morning. I hope you all remembered your assignment to work on some comedy stuff, because this week, we're going to have you do your first official performances at the Inaugural Open Mic nights over at Caritas this Wednesday. Aren't you guys excited?"

If Sweet Dee had paid probably even an ounce of attention to her students half the time, she'd know that excited was definitely not the word any of them would use.

"And you're probably a little nervous, too, and that's okay. That's definitely natural, even the best of us," yes, that was a hand to her chest as if to indicate herself for some inexplicable reason, "get nervous before a performance, especially if it's your first time. Use that nervousness, transfer it into energy to help you get through it, because once you're up there and it's go-time...it's a totally different experience, you guys, and you'll see what I mean on Wednesday. And, luckily, we have all class period today to really workshop some of your material with each other to get ideas on what works and what doesn't. And that's basically all we're doing today, is just preparing and workshopping, so you guys'll be good and ready to go on Wednesday.

"I will say," she added, "that since I'm pretty much making you guys do an extra day of stuff this week, that we'll go ahead and not have class next week, so you know, that's pretty cool, a nice day off, riiiight?" To recover, obviously, and to help her try and win some cool teacher points at the same time. "But, if you want some extra credit or some extra stage time...and who wouldn't want that?, I encourage you come and and perform next Wednesday, too, okay? But until then, let's just...work on our stuff, bounce off each other, make some suggetions, really get this workshop going. Acting is a highly interactive medium, you guys are all part of a team, a troupe, so let's get going, Who's got something to start us out?"

Civics - Art of Civil Disobedience Monday 4th Period

[biotic_psychotic]

Another notice had handwaved been sent to the students to let them know to meet in the Danger Shop again today. More tables. Also a Kaidan. The tables had a wide array of stuff on them. Handcuffs, leg shackles, hinged cuffs, rope, duct tape, zip cuffs, wire. There was also a small shiny pile of standard handcuff keys, a small, square thing on keychains, and a pile of standard paper clips.

"Morning. We're once again skipping ahead in the syllabus cuz I feel like it," Jack greeted the students. "For those who don't know him, this is Commander Kaidan Alenko. He's going to demonstrate how to use the various restraints on the table and I'm going to show you how to get out of them. On the table are standard handcuff keys and zip rippers. Take one of each. The cuff key will work on most standard Earth cuffs but sometimes you'll get a weird one. I'll be showing you how to use those tools and how to use a small bit of wire, like a paperclip, to make one on the fly or make a cuff pick for one of the nonstandards."

Kaidan tried not to wince when she used his title. He waved awkwardly at the class. "What do you want to start with, Jack?"

"Eh. Start with duct tape," she said. Addressing the class again, "Duct tape is the most common thing regular people use. Rope's the second most common. I'm about to show you why every TV show or movie you've seen it used in is wrong."

( Tie me up before you go-go I'm not plannin' on goin' solo )

"If you want to practice, we got plenty of stuff up here," Jack waved at the supplies, "Go ahead and pair up if you want, or come grab one of us or Peebee. We can show you how to escape."

[OCD is now up!]

[Thanks to Z for both standing Kaidan in and telling me how you get out of restraints :D There's a Kaidan thread but he's in meetings most of the day.]

Hubris from Revelation: the Social Engineering of Ultimate Truths [Monday, Period 3]

[atreideslioness]

When the students arrived in the Danger Shop today, they would find themselves in a meditation garden, Ghanima already sitting in an ānāpānasati stance beside the sand garden with with her eyes closed, a stack of handouts beside her.

"Good morning, class," she said, blue-on-blue eyes flickering open as the last person took a seat. "Please make yourselves comfortable. Today we study Buddhism."

"Buddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha, who lived in and around the Indian sub-continent. Adherents recognize the Buddha as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering, achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth. However, Buddhist schools disagree over the historical teachings of the Buddha, and on the importance and canonicity of various scriptures," she said, standing to pass out the handouts.

"Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada, "The School of the Elders", and Mahayana, "The Great Vehicle". Theravada, the oldest surviving, has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, whilst Mahayana, which is found throughout East Asia, includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tendai and Shinnyo-en . In some classifications, a third branch, Vajrayana, is recognized, although many see this as an offshoot of the Mahayana. Other movements have appeared in recent times, sometimes classified as Buddhist modernism."

"While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world. Various sources put the number of Buddhists in the world at between 230 million and 500 million. As the foundation of all Buddhist practice is ethical conduct and altruism, the appeal is not limited to the countries where it started," she explained. "Further practices can vary widely, but may include renunciation, meditation, the cultivation of mindfulness and wisdom, the study of scriptures, physical exercises, devotion and ceremonies, or the invocation of bodhisattvas."