#i was not a real docent to be clear i was one of the high schoolers in the junior tour guide program

[grammarpedant]

Oh it's that fucking thing! It used to be one of my talking points when I gave tours at the State House. Its fishy counterpart is a brass casting in State Senate's chandelier, sometimes called the Holy Mackerel.

Every day I learn something baffling about Massachusetts

[sidewalkstamps]

Mogil-Kahn Construction Company 1957 (Photo taken by Tim Aarons in March 2023 on Collins St. between Lankersheim and Tujunga).

Kahn was Edwin “Ed” Walter Kahn, born on June 3, 1922 in Pittsburg to “Theodore and Helen H. (Meyers),” and a “construction company executive, engineer” (Who’s who in the West: A Biographical Dictionary of Noteworthy Men and Women of the Pacific Coast and the Western States, A.N. Marquis Company, 1989). In 1935, he lived with is family in Portland, Oregon. He was still with his family in Portland in 1940 (per the 1940 U.S. Federal Census). However, he attended Fairfax Senior High School in Los Angeles, CA. Before WWII, he also attended UCLA, where he played soccer and baseball. In WWII, he was a lieutenant pilot in the USA Air Force -  a B-24 bomber pilot in the 89th and as a flight instructor. He was later a civil engineer and, if I understand the abbreviations correctly, he had gotten a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of California in 1948 (assuming Berkeley).

According to his obituary, he was a “Registered Professional Engineer and a licensed General Contractor.”

He married Arleen Barbara Rudolph on December 23, 1951, and they had two children - Gregory Michael and Julia Fran. He was the chief structural designer for General Engineering Service Company in Los Angeles in 1948 and then a partner in Pollak-Kahn & Associates, engineers, also in Los Angeles in 1949. and Mogil-Kahn Construction Company (World Who’s who in Commerce and Industry, Volume 10, Marquis-Who’s Who., 1957). He died February 5, 2016 and is buried in the Hollywood Hills Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Pollak-Kahn was located at 1106 S. La Cienega Boulevard, now LB4LB Boxing Gym (Glaziers Journal - Volume 35, pg. 60, 1956). One project they had was the design and engineering of “a fully integrated community for light industry” on a 100-acre “tract of industrial buildings and plant sites” (Industrial Development, Volumes 3-4, Conway Publications, 1956).

According to the realty company, Crisby Doe Associates, “it is clear that Pollack & Kahn fully mastered the now classic post & beam glass house style pioneered by the U.S.C. School of Architecture just after war. Their work seems most closely aligned with that of Richard Dorman’s designs of the period. The living spaces are lifted, and set above the carport to allow maximum light and views from the close-in hillside setting.”

Some more info from his obituary: “He retired after 40 years as a real estate developer and as President of Kahn Construction Co., Contractors and Engineers. He had a commercial pilot's license and served as a docent at the original Museum of Flying in Santa Monica. Ed was a member of the Masons, Scottish Rites, Shriners, Commemorative Air Force, Air Force Association, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Ed is survived by his wife and best friend, Mariko, sons Greg and Winston, daughter Julie, stepdaughters Pam (Harry) Kraushaar and Andrea (Jeffrey) Lustgarten, stepson Mitchell Barnow (Dale Leininger) and step grandchildren, Shelby Powell (Brian), Kimberley Kraushaar, Brandon and Rachel Lustgarten.” (No mention of Arleen?) They also had two pets named Maya and Corey.  

I have no idea who Mogil is. Really strange how I could find out so easily who Kahn was but not Mogil. Mogil may be Norbert V Mogil, who was located at 6517 W Olympic Blvd according to the Los Angeles Street Address Directory, 1956, May (Los Angeles Public Library).

Additional source:

Who’s Who in Steel and Metals, pg. 209, Atlas Publishing Co, 1964

[petri808]

And That’s How We Became a Legend...

Bakudeku alpha/omega fantasy AU written on Twitter based on this idea: I plan to clean it up and post it on AO3 later :)

Think of the story as an origin to the Bridegroom’s Oak.

The old alpha worn with time sat his grandpup on his knee. “Shall I tell you a bedtime story?”

“Yes!” The green-eyed child beamed brightly.

“Very well. Once upon a time...”

In his tiny village, Izuku Midoriya was just born to be unlucky in love. As a tiny male omega he was at the bottom of the marriage pool because alphas preferred buxom stock with firm child bearing hips, as they called it, so a skinny choice like him would never get chosen. He wasn’t ugly... many even called him cute with his curly green hair and bright emerald eyes. But cute didn’t guarantee a brood. Izuku was more fated to be a lonely servant or a whelping docent for another family. His poor mother could only look on in sadness at her sons pain.

So, by the time he’d reached adulthood, Izuku stayed mostly to himself on their small farm. Tending the crops his mother would sell to support them. During heat cycles, the lowly omega locked himself away and made due through the tears and desire he alone could soothe.

There was one thing he could do to bring himself some happiness. With little to no friends, the forest became his second refuge. When chores were completed, Izuku would wander the dense woodlands surrounding the village, or trek the nearby mountain and its hidden waterfall. He loved the peace and quiet even the remote and darkest areas because it wasn’t any worse than the loneliness he felt in his own home. There was always a chance of running into a wolf or other animal, but so far they stayed clear. Perhaps even predators thought he wasn’t worthy a kill or pitied the omega. Some say animals can sense such sullen energies. That’s okay, at least he could commune with his thoughts in these woods to the sounds of birds chirping or bullfrogs croaking.

Of all the areas he’d roamed, there was one particular tree he loved. An old oak tree, twisted and worn who’s trunk was so large Izuku couldn’t wrap his arms around it. The top branches melded with the canopy high above his head, and during spring and summer it’s leaves sheltered all that rested beneath it. He spent many a day resting at its base.

In its trunk was a deep hollow, weathered by time and the creatures that once created it. Perhaps a squirrel or woodpecker, who knew but the gods who watched over these forests. For Izuku, this hollow became a treasure chest where he could write about anything and hide away those words in a journal that only he would read. He poured his heart out into that notebook. All his pains and anguish, of forlornly outlooks, and heartaches desiring but one thing in this world... a family of his own. The omega in him wept to fulfill its purpose.

This journal allowed him to bury his sadness so when he went home he could put on a brave face for his mother. ‘I’ll be okay,’ Izuku would smile brightly at the woman. ‘I have you’ and I have my forest... fear of making her sad was the only thing keeping Izuku going.

Then one day in his eighteenth Spring, Izuku ventured out to his tree as he often would to vent. This season always left him saddened for it represented new beginnings and new life, something he believed he would never experience. But once he reached the tree, he immediately noticed something amiss. Izuku always tightly wrapped his journal in a thick bear skin to keep the weather from reaching it, and made sure it was pushed as far into the hollow too. But not only was it too close to the edge, the wrapping was messy as if re-bound hastily.

Izuku growled. People were so irritating! His refuge was violated and it left him feeling vulnerable. Now he would need to find a new hiding place! He pulled the journal out and inspected it to see if anything else was wrong with it. It better not be damaged! But his eyes zero in on a ripped piece of parchment that was folded and tucked into the first page of the notebook. The intruder had left him a note?! Why?! He unfolded it, eyes widening, and moisture gathering as he read the poorly written words someone had left behind.

‘Damn runt you sound like a mess, what the fuck happened after I left? If this is who I think it is and based on the simpering rambles and scent I think I’m right, be here at high noon each day so I can find you.’

The letter lowered in Izuku’s hand as he processed its contents. Who was this mystery person and why did they want to find him again? They seemed to know who he was just based off his words. He had vague memories of a possibility, but after all these years had chalked it up to an imaginary friend for a lonely three year-old. Plus it made little sense since a three year-old couldn’t write, so how would this stranger know he tended to talk a lot or ramble?! His brows furrowed, or it could be a trap. Slavers were not unknown in these parts, which was why only alphas tended to roam the woods or hunted. But Izuku wouldn’t make for a great prize either. This was certainly intriguing to say the least. The prospect of someone wanting him too good an opportunity to pass up. Though he was no fool.

The next day, Izuku trekked early to the tree and hid away in the brush. He wanted to see just who this stranger was, but if it was someone he didn’t recognize, he’d slip away again. As he waited, he wrote in his journal, chronicling the whole situation. His emotions, how the pangs of loneliness and longing for love fueled his curiosity as well as anxieties to sit there and unravel the mystery.

He hears the cracking of fallen branch litter and sure enough a form rounds the tree. Izuku’s heartbeat paused in recognition of the platinum blonde hair, and once the man turned to where he could see ruby red eyes glaring, he knew exactly who it was. His imaginary friend! But this was no child’s fantasy, for the virile male standing beside the tree was as real as the blood in Izuku’s veins flowing south.

“Come out,” the man commanded. “I can smell you.”

Izuku stepped out with the journal clutched to his chest and walked slowly towards the alpha.

“By the gods, you’re still as tiny as I remember,” the male snickered. “Do you even remember me?”

“I thought I’d made you up,” Izuku stammered.

The man came closer, grabbing the omega by the chin. “Oh, I’m very real.”

Izuku swallowed thickly, “what do you want from me?”

“What was promised,” the alpha responded. “You may be weak, but your scent was the only thing that calmed me as a child, so our mothers arranged for our betrothal at your 18th yr.”

Though a true statement, being called weak still upset Izuku. He pulled his face away from the alphas grip. “You need not pity me. I release you to choose a more suitable dame if you feel I am too weak.” Never mind the fact his mother has never mentioned him being betrothed!

“Tch! I don’t want another and your writings speak of family desire. What fool would refuse my offer to give them what they long for?!”

The tears well up in Izuku’s eyes. “I don’t even know your name.” And so many more questions ripple through his mind. Why hadn’t his mother said anything? Why had this man disappeared all this time? How did he even find him here?! Because this tree wasn’t even close to the village.

“You called me Kacchan cause you couldn’t say my name back then. But my family name is Bakugou.”

Izuku shook his head with all his thoughts and confusion. “Still, why wasn’t I told?!” He looked dead straight at the man, “and why’d you leave the village in the first place?!”

“Tch, fool, like I had a choice! I was five! This village is small so my parents moved to a bigger township with better opportunities.”

“But you could have kept in touch...” Tears now fall freely. “All my life I was so lonely. If I’d known you existed I would’ve had hope!”

“Look, I can’t help—“

“Don’t!” The omega roared cutting the alpha off. “So many nights I thought of ending my misery. How would you feel if you’d come back to find me dead?!”

The alpha snarled. “I can’t fucking change the past! Screwed up or not, at least I’m here now!”

But when the omega flinched and a flurry of fearful pheromones hit the alphas nose he stopped and took a deep inhale to calm himself. “Izuku, I’m here now, that’s all I can do to start things over. So, will you accept my proposal or not?”

Izuku hung his head, how could he say no?

To say no would mean throwing away the best chance he’s had for the life he’s craved. An opportunity to have a family, a sire for the pups he desired to bear. This alpha was a perfect specimen, and Izuku would be a fool to turn him down. But all his life, he’d only known disappointment. What if this turned out to be too good to be true? This alpha would take him away from all he’d known, granted he wasn’t happy there, but what of his mother? As a widower she had no one to care for her in old age. What if he couldn’t bear pups? Would this alpha cast him away for another? To go from loneliness to heartbreak? Which would be worse? And on top of that, he doesn’t know this man, or at least doesn’t remember much. The memories are vague, children playing, maybe some bullying, that’s all. He didn’t hate nor love him... yet.

But he could grow to love this alpha.

This Kacchan has a wondrous scent of spice and power brimming from within. He’ll produce fine pups for sure.

“Are you really sure you want me?” Izuku’s voice was meek and full of hesitation. “Nobody else has ever wanted me before.”

The alpha sighed. “Nobody makes me do what I don’t want to. I’m here by choice.”

“But look at me.” Izuku gestured at his body. “People say I won’t be able to carry a litter, I’m too small. You even called me weak. Why take a chance on me when surely you could find better?”

“Pfft, ignore these foolish villagers. In the larger cities I have seen many just like you do perfectly fine. Have produced perfect broods. These small-minded fools know not about such things and only believe in superstition. Give your answer now for I grow tired of this banter.”

After a brief pause, Izuku decided to accept his fate, whatever that may be. The alpha wanted him and only him. If in the end it doesn’t work out, at least he got to experience what he’d longed for, and that was better than never having to at all.

“Okay Kacchan. I accept.”

“Good. Then we shall pack up your things and travel to my home post haste. I’ve arranged for a horse and cart to transport everything, so you won’t need to return.”

“What of my mother? I-I cannot leave her alone.”

“She’ll come with us as a docent. You’ll need help to raise our pups.”

True to his word, the alpha took the Midoriya’s back to a sprawling estate located a four days journey away. The Bakugou clan had done well for itself in the fifteen years since they’d left the tiny remote village. On the property, the alphas parents lived in one home, a second was built for the young couple, while Izuku’s mother had a smaller one next to theirs. There was a farm and ranching enterprise along with trade that Bakugou senior engaged in to grow their wealth.

“Wow...” Izuku’s eyes lit up as he walked in. “It’s so much bigger than back home.”

Through the long journey, Izuku caught up on many of the questions that plagued him, such as how his mother thought when the Bakugou’s left the arrangement had been canceled, so that’s why she never mentioned it. But the alpha he knew now as Katsuki had never forgotten about him.

A beautiful nest had already been prepared and scented for the omega. It would need to wait until their formal ceremony took place the following day, but Izuku was just excited this was taking place. All the pain of the last fifteen years dissolved away in that moment. He turned to his alpha with tears streaming down his face and his scent filling the air of lavender wildflowers. It’s been so long since Izuku released a happy scent, even he’d forgotten what it was like. His eyes twinkled, crinkled in delight. “It’s so beautiful Kacchan, like in a fairytale.”

The alphas eyes roll back as he purred from his omegas pheromones filling their new home. He pulled Izuku to his broad chest. “That’s the scent I remember. The scent I loved as a child. How could anyone not snatch you up just for that?”

“Maybe because no one else has smelled it?”

Such a statement makes the alpha growl low from happiness, his chest rumbling with content. “Good.” He tipped Izuku’s chin up, red eyes boring down as he swept away tears. This scent belonged to him alone. “It’s all I wanna smell from now on. No more sadness or fear, understood?”

Izuku nodded his head as he smile grew. “Yes, my alpha.”

Katsuki placed a long, lingering kiss on the omegas lips that made Izuku’s heartbeat soar. For such a large male, the alpha was gentle with him. He knew the man had a fiery side, but Katsuki also knew how to love....

As autumn leaves made an entrance, tiny cries broke the air as two newborn pups came into their world. The pregnancy had been a bit difficult for the tiny omega, but with the support of his mate and family, Izuku accomplished everything he’d been told would never come to pass.

“Kacchan...” the omega, flushed with exhaustion, but beamed with pride, and shed tears of joy as he rested his head against his alpha’s supportive hand.

“See, I told you those villagers were fools.” Katsuki smiled, while lovingly soothing his omega. “You gave me two beautiful pups.”

“I love you Kacchan...”

“And they lived happily ever after,” the old alpha stated. “The end.”

“But grandpa, that’s nothing like the stories.”

“What do you mean?”

“Izuku didn’t leave a letter in the tree, a-and he knew Katsuki as a kid.”

“Well, you see over many, many Springs the true story was lost and all that remained is the story of an alpha finding an omegas sad love letter. People thought if that omega could get lucky, maybe I can too and began leaving letters in the tree. Today, the tradition continues.”

“Then how do you know the true story?”

“Izuku had green eyes right?”

“Yeah, like me!”

“Because he’s your great, great, great grandpa.”

[daveinediting]

The punchline is last Thursday I placed an order with Puget Systems for a 4K video editing workstation, thus stepping boldly into the present.

No joke. I never intended the desktop system I used all these years for professional work... but that’s what I’ve been using. Editing with technology from the past, as it were.

The story of that tech begins a whole other iifetime ago in 2004. Kimmer ‘n I either volunteered or were volunteered for kids church camp and, because the camp director knew I worked in video production, I was asked... to make the camp video.

The gig was to shoot camp happenings each day and cut it all together for everyone at camp to watch at the end of the week.

Only...

That’s not what she actually said. I wish that’s what she said. And I’m sure it didn’t sink in right away because the actual job was unthinkable to me: make a video for each day by the end of each day. 7-ish.

I still remember walking with Kimmer to our car in the parking lot thinking how that was just not possible.

It is, though, exactly what I did for nearly a decade after that for kid’s camps and senior high camps.

Again, 2004. A whole other generation of tech ago. And not a hugely cooperative generation of tech.

For that first year, I already owned a Sony mini-DV camcorder, a Sony HC52 I think. It had a flip-out touch screen that could rotate 180 degrees. Along with that, I borrowed another mini-DV camcorder to do some timelapse... and I borrowed an iMac from the Foursquare church in Stanwood for editing. I bought Final Cut Express and Motion from the Apple Store, installed both on that iMac, and I was off to the races.

Each day at camp, the routine was the same. Shoot from breakfast until about four. Digitize the footage I shot a coupla times during the day onto the computer’s hard drive... a real-time process. Then... edit, edit, edit. Then record the finished video onto a mini-DV master tape in my camcorder.

For playback, I hijacked the video/audio cables from the auditorium’s projector, played the tape back off the camcorder at the appropriate moment, then set the cables back again.

The next year, my parents helped me buy my own iMac from the computer store that used to be behind that Walmart on 164th toward Mill Creek.

Years later, that computer died of old age and we bought an Intel Core i7 replacement from the Apple Store in Alderwood Mall. ln 2012, my mini-DV camcorder failed, as well, from old age. I sent it back to Sony for repair... and they basically announced Time of Death, sending me back a pretty nice check. At which point, along with a pricey Rhode shotgun mic, I bought a Sony DSLR to shoot HD video.

And that’s the tech I used (along with Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and the camp’s GoPro) until 2013 when our camp days came to an end.

After that, I used the camera for family stuff. Vacation photos and video. Kids videos at school and church. Band videos, come high school. And a legion of Linzy videos with her friends... and of her performances. Lots and lots of performances. To this very day, in fact.

In 2013, I was asked to shoot and edit a documentary in southern California for the Cabot Yerxa Museum. I declined, however, put it off and kept putting it off for the very good reason that I had no professional gear. The client wanted a finished product for broadcast, you see.

By 2014, though, I rolled the dice with the gear I had, this stuff I’d assembled to make camp videos.

Productionwise, the most significant challenge to the shoot was following the museum docents around as they explained the history of the museum, this hand-built pueblo, to tour groups. Exerpts of these explanations would be incorporated into the show... so the docents would have to be mic’d for clean, consistent sound. They’d always be on the move, so... it’d have to be wireless mics. Which Small World Productions was kind enough to loan me.

Of course they loaned me pro sound gear which means XLR connectors. So I had to use a box that takes the mini phono connector from my camera and sends out XLR to the wireless mic receiver (receivers, if two people were mic’d). Basically, I had to gaffer tape the converter and the receiver(s) together, holding them in my left hand as I held the camera with both hands.

Yeah.

It was a very awkward way to shoot.

Thing is... the finished show won a broadcast award. A Telly, I think.

And there you had it. I didn’t have pro gear... but I could still make professional shows that cleared broadcast tech standards and were considered worthy at that level of production.

2014, by the way, was the last time I personally had to deliver a show on tape. After that, everything I did was either for YouTube, DVD, or flash drives.

So I continued to edit shows and videos with this gear I bought once upon a time for making videos at kid’s camp.

This year, as the plot twists, marks the end of an era. Couple reasons for that. The first is... I’ve been working overlapping projects on three different edit workstations, one running Avid Media Composer, another running Adobe Premiere Pro, and then mine that runs FCPX. And the thing is... I’m tired of the mental switches I’ve gotta flip to go from working with traditional nonlinear edit software to FCPX. Over the past four months I’ve been going back ‘n forth... sometimes on the same day.

So enough, I say.

The second reason, though, the actual dealbreaker of this story, is 4K. You see, 2020 brought my first 4K project and with it... I hit the limit of what I can do with equipment that’s nearly a decade old.

I can’t play anything in real time. Oh, I can finish the project... but the process feels unnaturally slow to me. A lot of rendering. A lot of waiting.

Rinse.

Repeat.

So that’s it.

That is the end of an era.

And last Thursday, I placed an order with Puget Systems for a 4K video editing workstation.

Thus.

Stepping boldly into the present.

:-)

[tortoisesshells]

further thoughts on The Alienist, 1x07 & 1x08

(once more, with feeling): for chrissakes, Laszlo

is it possible “the alienist” refers to the fact that Laszlo Kreizler’s defining trait these past few episodes is alienating everyone around him??

I’m on board with squeamish TR, as a characterization choice, just saying.

I really, really like this conversation between former-Captain Connor and Byrnes. At times, the dialogue in this show is … clunky? But this conversation was great as characterization of Connor - a bully, who’s not so scary without his department behind him - and Byrnes, who’s been lurking portentously in the background, but this does so much to convey how Byrnes was able to run the city PD with such an iron grasp. “We serve the rich, and in return they raise us above the primordial filth. And God help us if we don’t keep our end of the bargain … So long as they have money, we do their biddin’.” there’s that social commentary I was looking for!

This whole sequence at the Natural History museum was … better than expected. Like, yes, it’s still the 1890s, but the docent quickly and efficiently trashes the idea the murderer could be a plains Indian and turns the accusation of brutality back around on white Americans.

Y’know, Laszlo deserved that dressing-down from Miss Crawford. He is high-handed and even if he considers Cyrus a friend, he treats Cyrus as well as he treats his other friends. Which is to say … not all that well.

& I suppose that apology was … a start.

I’m starting a petition: hire John Schuyler Moore a bodyguard, so he stops getting the shit kicked out of him, or drugged, or kidnapped. Contribute now to save this Gilded Age dork (who has more money than you or I) from the slings and arrows of life.

Bravo, for making JP Morgan even more despicable than I’d been expecting this show to do.

ah, yes, the obligatory “I’m so glad I’m mentally ill in the 21st century” scene

Oof. It’s clear that Laszlo’s trying to take what Cyrus's niece said seriously, but he’s so completely emotionally illiterate when it comes to Mary. Joanna Crawford’s telling him that his “kindness and progressive ideas” still create and maintain inequality somehow translates to Laszlo telling Mary she can and should live an independent life in the same high-handed way as he says … well, everything. Not acknowledging her own opinions and not asking her questions. God, Mary, you should have thrown that boot at him.

I am thoroughly appreciative that John doesn’t doubt Sara when she says Laszlo hurt her, nor does he let Laszlo off the hook.

FOR FUCK’S SAKE LASZLO. I get it, he’s cracking up under the strain. He’s nearly gotten his friends killed. They still have no idea who the killer is. But his response to people calling him on these things is … to lash out. Not a good look, Dr. Kreizler.

Laszlo has been a real shit these past two episodes, so this doesn’t wholly seem deserved, but, at least in one part of his life, Laszlo appears to have internalized what people have been telling him. Laszlo pulls his head out of his ass! Treats Mary like a normal person would treat a friend! Asks her to join him for dinner, lets her make her own choices! stammers about Aida!

*tea-kettle noises*

on a serious note, though, major props to Q’uorianka Kilcher for having no dialogue and still upstaging everyone. In a role that’s, hmm, underwritten - and there’s a lot to be said, critically, of the only recurring woman of color being literally silent because of trauma-induced mutism - she’s fantastic and compelling.

How many times can I watch that 30 second scene of Mary arranging flowers and lighting up the whole of the house? Asking for a friend.

John: Love resides in the heart. Laszlo: Nonsense. The heart is simply a muscle. Love isn’t a mystery any more than cholera. John: Cholera is a disease!

That’s it. That’s the show.

“hacked off a few too many limbs at Gettysburg” It’s amazing how much pathos this show packs into throwaway lines, and then never revisits.

ugh, this guy at the BIA. American atrocities committed against Native Americans: “boys will be boys”. 

John Schuyler Moore is the emotional heart of the team, and you can’t tell me otherwise.

There’s a lot of good dialogue between John and Laszlo this ep., not only well-written but good characterization of the two of them. It’s been lacking the past few episodes. John turning Laszlo’s line of inquiry about what being in love feels like around on him in a much kinder way than Laszlo really deserves, but hey, at least Laszlo appears to acknowledge it.

Sarah’s jaunty navy and white jacket + atmospheric smoking on the paddlewheeler is a Good Good Look

I appreciate, very much, that we’ve paused the murder investigation to take potshots at Fig Newtons

I would have watched an entire episode just about the Marcus and Lucius Isaacson’s trip west. Nay, a movie.

This show’s attitude towards, hmm, crime and brutality is fascinating. On the one hand, the murders driving the plot are grisly and perpetrated against children who the system has turned its back on. On the other hand, the lens of the investigation passes through asylums and prisons where inmates are clearly abused; through the worst poverty of the Lower East Side of Gilded Age New York; through an Indian School in an Army fort out West; mentions the violence in Chicago during the Haymarket Riot. It talks about how society creates these individual monsters, and enables them, but shies away from Gilded Age United States society and government as monstrous itself for letting such horrifying things happen in the name of progress or making money.

oooh, yess, my favorite trope. “if I don’t make it, take a message to my loved ones for me.” 

john you absolute idiot you were convinced laszlo hurt sara literally five minutes ago and now you think sara could possibly be in love with laszlo??? jfc. 

my god, the look on John’s face while Laszlo tries to rationalize being in love. This is it, John Schuyler Moore’s the longest-suffering member of the cast. I’m calling it right now. 

Laszlo, u little shit, stop teasing John about being jealous.

shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitSHITSHITSHIT

oh, no. mary, no.

[memidgenotsofteroreasier]

Christmas letter

This has been a couple of hard years. Did I mention that Jim had a brain bleed? It started in Dec. 2015, then he pegged his head on the other side and it became bilateral. I thought he was senile because he stopped going to church. Two weeks before the fall, I took him to his General Practitioner, a Podiatrist, and a knee specialist (he had both done in 2016 after recovery). None of them picked up on his condition. I did all the talking. He is supposed to be as good as you can expect a year after the event. They recommended cataract surgery and that was done, but he is only marginally better able to see because of a previous detached retina repair. The membrane is swollen so his sight is distorted. Add to that, neuropathy in his hands and feet. It runs in the family. But he's alive. His father died in 2014 and that December, the 10th, his brother went to bed and didn't wake up on the 11th. Sister Ruth and her husband Don go on cruises and trips to exotic places. They are cruising now, as a matter of fact. Bhutan, India, and Nepal were their last excursion, with fly-overs of the majestic peaks in the Himalayas. Me, I want to renew my passport before my March 1 expiration date becomes permanent and I have to re-apply all over again. Jim is the sticking point. I want to take him to Canada by train. I know it's expensive, but you only live now (I believe in reincarnation so I tremble at the consequences of our current President). We have also had financial setbacks. I cosigned on a car loan and yep, she defaulted. Gwen was renting a room from Tanya and I was driving her to appointments. She was a good worker and I wanted to support her but the loan had a very high interest rate and the vehicle's value, while depreciating, was going up on the loan. We cut the cord at $13,500, when I flew to Michigan, where she moved, got the car, and made a cross-country trip with my granddaughter Zoe. She did most of the driving. We stopped in Kalamazoo where she had a virtual friend, now a real friend. He had been couch surfing and wanted to come along. I said no with regret. Next we visited a docent friend Anne in Des Moines, Iowa before turning south to our next stop in Oklahoma City where I have a niece (my cousin died a few years ago but the house is still in the family). My second cousin is her mom. It was Valentine's Day. She told her mother, Diane, that it was like Grandpa and Grandma were still alive. People used to stop in unannounced all the time when they were still alive. So it was like they were sending a Valentine! Next, we stopped in Albuquerque, then a last stop in Paulsen AZ where a cousin lives and raises Beefalo. He was just one month into a bereavement. His fiance had succumbed to cancer in his house with all her loved-ones around. It was a hard loss. As we drove home, a huge storm was brewing, after spectacularly nice weather all the way across the country. There was snow on the ground through OK and TX but the roads were clear. I heard from friends visiting from Michigan that their plane made a fishtail landing in the high winds and driving rain. The passengers cheered when they slowed down. It took me until the 25th of February to go look at another vehicle with a friend. It is now a Honda CRV but not the car I want. One should be able to lie down in back when camping.

Camping! We have two parks in the Thousand Trails network that are local. The southern-most one, Pio Pico, is named after a historic figure. Oakzanita Springs is east in a town called Descanso, not much of a town. One general store, a library, lots of horses, and my friend Catherine and her husband Rob Horne. They have B&H Ranch and he monitors the weather for the area. A web cam trained on Cuyamaca Peak will let us know what snow looks like. They are in a venturi valley, so have shutters on the building that roll down to keep the wind from destroying them. We are under a 'red flag' alert for fire and the wind that has been causing havoc north of here should pick up soon.

Now about the cats. We have nine. Our Gateway Cat was a sleek black beauty we named Samhain. Then last October a disreputable long-hair showed up. She was nearly starved, obviously old, and everyone said take her to the vet. No. She can eat, but that's all. Well, in February, a pregnant tabby came to the bowl. Her partner was also stealing food. I knocked a piece of plywood over and the kittens were underneath. Three died, two survived. She is probably pregnant again but I have plans to have her spayed because she had a second litter, four of which survived. This is ridiculous. The Tom is quite elusive, he should be fixed. But I'm picking up traps pretty soon here and we will have two spayed and one Neutered this Sunday. The surviving kits from the Spring litter will go to my daughter's for mouse control. They will have a blast. But I'm wondering how to home the kittens! A second session of spaying will have to take place in the near future. Then we can advertise on Facebook that they will make great hunters. Why, yesterday I watched the kitten chasing mom's tail, then he discovered his own and chased it!

The exciting/dreadful thing is related to home building. It will be 980 square feet and have two bedrooms, one bathroom, and be sited on the south edge of the property. Our contractor, David, recommended that we hire a guy to hurry the plans through. He was so slow that David despaired. To be fair, everything in California has a lot of hurdles. I hope we can fix the old house up with the loan money after the new one is built. Our tenants will be Suzanne and Zoe. She is a tough customer, having fought for every scrap of success. There are trust issues on both sides. I am at the point where I rely on God's guidance in every way.

Jim and I went on a Disciplined Order of Christ retreat in late September. We also 'cabin' camp at Thousand Trails for special occasions. He says indoors. I hike, get lost, find my way through the bushes, and return, sheepish. The local fasola folk are going to sing tonight in a small gazebo at Gardens Aglow at The Garden where I am a docent. It should be fun. We won't be amplified. As long as we can read our music! Maybe they will have pictures at www.thegarden.org

[alexfridayfesten]

Precise notes given to me whilst playing the character of Helena.

After our first full run through, our Director Scot Williams gave us notes on how we can improve our characters performance, below I have included the original notes given to me whilst I am playing the role of Helena, and how I have digested them, along with how I  will adapting them to my performance in our second full run through of Festen.

ACT 1, SCENE 1:Scot gave me the note of working on a particular line I say in the opening scene of the play,” you haven't been drinking again have you.” Within this scene you see the two siblings christian and Helena meeting for the first time after the death of their sister, Helena is in high spirits, completely over excited by seeing christian and is complimenting him etc, Scot advised me to say this line out of context to the praising I am giving christian, so whilst I am delivering this line, its important to make it known the emphasis of what happens when my brother drinks, to emphasise Helena’s  worry behind her brother drinking. I will do this by changing my tone of voice whilst delivering the line, whilst thinking of a substitution of someone in my own personal life whom i haven't wanted to see drunk as it has a bad effect, this will allow me to show the real worry of Christians drinking, whilst enticing the audience in to thinking what the reason is he drinks and why the character of Helena is so worried.

ACT 1 , SCENE 1 : Another line I was given by my director is were Michael enters the scene, unknown to Helena. This is the first time she sees her brother in a long time, after him not attending his sisters funeral, Helena is very upset by this, so begins to argue with him. The line I have been told to alter the way I say is were Helena says to her brother “ I dont mind what you do, but what i mind is what you dont do.” Here helena begins to reel of a list of things her brother docent do such as “ you dont call me on my birthday, you dont bother to give me the money you owe me”. Here Scot suggested that when delivering this line I make more emphasis of the list of reasons why i am unhappy with Michael, by delivering them slower as if I have only just thought of them. I will do this by showing my initial thoughts of the reasons Michael doesn't bother with Helena, almost like showing the mechanisms behind a clock. Scot discussed the importance of showing the audience your thoughts. This makes Helena’s list of reasons more interesting as they are coming from a deeper,more thoughtful place.

ACT 1,SCENE 3: BEDROOM.

After deciding to split these 3 scenes into individual scenes, this has allowed us to concentrate on our own scenes in more detail. In this scene Helena enters her sisters room for the first time after her death, with butler Lars. She desperately wants company in the room as she is so scared to be alone, one of the Illness Helena shows this is by saying to Lars “christian and Linda were twins” she says this in order to make Lars stay with her, almost a way for him to feel sorry for the absence of her sister dying, this is a note I was given by Scot. Helena’s character in the play is very manic and is overly excited majority of the time whilst being flirtatious, Scot directed me to show Helena’s manic side, when she begs Lars to stay by repeatedly pleading him. This is the same when Helena says to Lars she thinks her sister is “in the bathroom” were Helena is showing the audience the true effect of drugs and alcohol and hallucinations she has, and her mental stability, it is important for me to completely believe myself when delivering this line as if I believe in myself the audience will too. This is similar when Helena finds arrows left behind by her sister on the walls, this needs to be internal when i begin to find clues (arrows drawn on the ceiling) it needs to be clear I am only just realising my sister has left me clues for a reason, which i mentioned similarly in Act one  scene one, the audience need to see the mechanisms behind the clock working.

It is crucial i show a painful side to Helena, the fact she is still grieving for her sisters loss, and that is magnified when she finds a suicide note left behind by her, especially now that her late sisters deepest secrets have been revealed. A note I was given Is to protect Helena's privacy, and her ability to cover up her families incestuous behaviour from being exposed. This is seen by the way she talks to Lars to try and dismiss any possible chance of the truth being exploited by not worrying him. Helena shows an example of this by attempting to laugh off any uneasy feelings Lars may have of the supernatural feeling in Linda's bedroom “There have always been ghosts in this house.” This line is projected by laughing, and attempting to convince Lars there is nothing to worry about, however whilst I say this line Scot advised me the importance of showing the secrets and the pain behind what exactly those secrets are.

Scot has also encouraged me to make more of a point of getting Lars to leave Linda's bedroom, and covering up any evidence of what has just been discovered. I will be working on this by concentrating on my beats and actions within the scene, and re-visiting the section that covers this in “Power of the Actor.”

ACT 2,SCENE 1:

This scene is the first encounter we have of all characters on stage for the first of many dinner party courses. Helena has very quick and sharp lines within the first scene of act two, so it is important to show how quick and on the ball Helena is, after pushing her discovery of her letter to the back of her mind in order to protect her family's secrets. In this scene we see the first of Christians speeches were he reveals how his father sexually abused his children, this is the first time after the finding of the letter we see Helena become extremely nervous and distressed by her brothers words, so much so she knocks over her glass of wine as she is so distressed.

Within all scenes of the production it is imperative to show Helena and Michael’s cognitive dissonance, as they are two siblings who are both in complete denial,and will stretch to any extremities to protect there family.

In act two you see Helena run after her brother Christian’s first speech, as she wants to protect him. It is then were she makes eye contact with her father whom gives a clear instruction for her to follow christian by making a speech of her own, Scot advised me that I should wait for the initial glare of Helge before attempting to cover up Christians reveal with a speech. It is important i show the disgust on my face of what my father is asking of me, yet showing my fear of my father and what may happen to me if i dont protect the family's name and initially lying for him. Its important to show the narcissistic power Helge over his children, just like he did when they were infants, and how he will take advantage of their fear. Helena making a speech is still supportive of her overall objective which is to be free,as her scene objective is to protect her family, as she wants to do the easiest thing in order to leave the party so she can finally be free.

FREEMASONRY SONG: 

This song should be sung as if it is being song within a cult, very serious just like the Klu Klux Klan may off. Regardless of Helena being such a free spirit a “revolutionist” and  “socialist” she joins in singing these insulting songs alongside her family, despite her disagreeing with the values her masonic family may stand for, she does this only to maintain civil and peaceful with her family, as this is something her upbringing consisted off, as it was within her wealthy culture, Helena goes along with it all for the benefit of her family, which again is promoting her overall objective of being free, as the easier she gets on with her family, the easier it will be for her to leave once the dinner party is over without any complications.

ACT 2,SCENE 2: 

Before Poul attempts to distract the dinner party with attempting to sing a song to break the tension, Helena enters the stage anxious and stressed worried about Christian’s next move, here we can see how scared Helena still is of her father before saying to christian “are you completely fucking insane” which in other words is her way of saying “ do you know what he will do to you” this is showing the impact of fear Helge places on his children. She is telling christian here how it is not the time and place to be revealing their families secrets, she is aware of what her father is capable off and is so scared for her brother, it is vital i show this when delivering these lines to my fellow actor josh, as i have to be taken on an emotional journey before reaching this point. At this point we can clearly see the start of Helena's breakdown.

SUBSTITUTIONS & INNER OBJECTIVES:

When working on becoming close to our fellow actors it is important that we work closely on our beats and actions and our inner objects. Scot told us the importance of getting close with our peers whom we are close with on stage. To make sure i achieve this i will working closely with my classmates Josh who plays christian, Liam who plays Michael alongside my relationship with Chloe who plays my partner in the show.

When discussing inner objectives it is important to make the writers words ( my lines) my own, in order to make more sense of it. I will be recapping my knowledge of inner objectives by reading “Power of the actor” again. Throughout the play we want the audience to be left with a mixture of emotions, sad, happy conflicted and outraged.

ACT 3, KAI & HELENA SCENES: 

Crucial things to remember whilst working on a transgender topic being displayed by me and my class mate Chloe whom are both female, with Chloe acting as a male.

We need to look like lovers, importance to embrace for longer on our first meeting, we will achieve this by holding a kiss for longer than a few seconds.

 Discussing what music Helena may listen to, talking about what gets her in the mood through sound. I feel like Helena would listen to the Beatles as they are a band that not only stood for the same values as someone like Helena, but a band I can personally relate too as I share a love for them also this way I can put an element of myself in the character.

[wendyimmiller]

Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind

  I visited the beautiful 15-acre Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida, last month. The Living Museum was tricked out like an Easter egg hunt. There were eggs, for sure, and other oft-repeated motifs from Salvador Dali’s paintings. The conservatory and gardens were overrun with eggs, lips, eyes, pianos, butterflies and mustaches. Orchids, bromeliads, tropical pitcher plants, cacti and strangler figs were backdrop features of this quirky mash-up. The planting schemes were well designed, the maintenance superb.

Mustachioed air plant. Tillandsia x ‘Wonga’ Photo by Charles Murray.

I’d barely walked 25 feet into the conservatory before I wondered: Who’s taking care of this magnificence?  I asked a friendly docent. She gave glowing credit to Mike McLaughlin and Angel Lara for the skillful upkeep. McLaughlin and Lara are, respectively, director of horticulture and greenhouse manager. I emailed McLaughlin last week and he responded: “The Dalí exhibit is pretty unusual, eh? Angel and I are deeply involved in developing our exhibits and maintaining our collections. Of course, managing all of this is a team sport, overlapping several departments here and involving many volunteers. For this exhibit, we worked with Dr. Carol Ockman. I always shy away from attributing our success to specific individuals, because the honest truth is that it takes the hard work, dedication, and creativity of a ‘village’ to maintain Selby Gardens!”

I found the right village.

Lys (Lilium musicum) (Lily) Floridali (Flor Dalinae)Salvador Dali 1968. Photo Lithography with drypoint etching Collection of The Dalí Museum, St Petersburg, FL (USA) 2019; © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, (ARS), 2019.

  The Dalí-inspired piano planter and koi pond.

Dr. Carol Ockman, curator of Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind, and Robert Sterling Professor of Art History Emerita at Williams College, wrote the foreword for the botanical garden’s show pamphlet. She described Dali’s mind as a “geological landscape which psychology and Surrealism could excavate.”

I excavated a 45-year old surreal memory.

I stumbled across my first Dalí painting, by chance, in a London hotel room, in the late fall of 1975. The small oil painting, I saw—or believe I saw— was a work-in-progress.

My father, never one for museums, cathedrals, concert halls or gardens, slipped away one afternoon and made an acquaintance with Englishman Brian Mercer in the American Bar in the Savoy Hotel.

Paphiopedilum hybrids and the birds nest, Anthurium hookeri.

The well-dressed Englishman sat at the far end of the  bar. He ordered a glass of champagne and a swizzle stick. The champagne was placed on the bar. The Englishman took off his Homburg hat and Chesterfield overcoat. He took the swizzle stick and furiously stirred the champagne. Dad was nursing his first gin and soda at the opposite end of the bar. He asked politely what the fellow was doing with his glass of champagne. The Englishman turned slowly toward Dad and said dryly, “I hate the French. They go to so much trouble to put the bubbles in, and I love to take the bubbles out.”

My father and Brian Mercer spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and laughing.

This led to a close-up encounter with a Dalí painting later that evening.

Neoreglia ‘Ardie’ and Sedum teractinum.

Mercer invited Dad, my mother, my sister Nancy and me to join him and his young wife for a proper, and fancy, English dinner of roast beef and potatoes at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand.  We returned to the Mercers’ elegant suite, overlooking the Thames, to close out our hours of drinking. Mindlessly (drunkenly), we tossed a frisbee around the high-ceilinged living room. The yellow disk (or was it one of Dalí ‘s fried eggs, masquerading as a frisbee?) kept bouncing dangerously close to a Dalí portrait-in-progress, sitting on the fireplace mantle. The painting was of Mrs. Mercer.

The retelling of this story seems eerily surreal. Did I really see a portrait-in-progress of Mrs. Mercer?  I can find no record of her portrait. However, there is a 1973 Dalí portrait of Brian Mercer.

The elephant, butterfly and the Florida strangler fig (Ficus area).

I am clear-minded now, on good days, but my view of what’s going on—all around me—seems especially sobering on days when I can’t escape into nature, a park or garden.

The pandemic threat, political polarization, digital overload, apathy and global warming are frighteningly real. I can forego gin and tonics, but I struggle, at times, for a pleasant dream.

My two hours at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, absorbing Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind, was a turn-off your-screen breather for soul-enriching escapism. I was able to forget briefly about current-day life.

Give me two hours a day of activity, and I’ll take the other twenty-two in dreams.  –Salvador Dalí

Heather Spencer on February 23rd.

My garden adventure with friends Heather Spencer and Charles Murray concluded spectacularly at a showing of Flordalí, 1968, in the garden’s Payne Mansion. The exhibit is described by Dr.Ockman as a “little known series of fanciful color (floral) lithographs from the Dalí Museum in neighboring St Petersburg… the plants in Flordalí are something else.“

Smiling daytrippers, zigzagging around the gardens, provided me with hopeful clues. Everyone—young and the old—appeared to be joyful over Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Minds.

Cracked up. Heather Spencer photo.

At every turn, I heard variations on an animated garden theme: “Wow. Look at this!”

What a wonderful dream and escape from reality.

  Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Minds will be open through June 28th.

                        Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind originally appeared on GardenRant on March 11, 2020.

The post Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind appeared first on GardenRant.

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[turfandlawncare]

Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind

  I visited the beautiful 15-acre Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida, last month. The Living Museum was tricked out like an Easter egg hunt. There were eggs, for sure, and other oft-repeated motifs from Salvador Dali’s paintings. The conservatory and gardens were overrun with eggs, lips, eyes, pianos, butterflies and mustaches. Orchids, bromeliads, tropical pitcher plants, cacti and strangler figs were backdrop features of this quirky mash-up. The planting schemes were well designed, the maintenance superb.

Mustachioed air plant. Tillandsia x ‘Wonga’ Photo by Charles Murray.

I’d barely walked 25 feet into the conservatory before I wondered: Who’s taking care of this magnificence?  I asked a friendly docent. She gave glowing credit to Mike McLaughlin and Angel Lara for the skillful upkeep. McLaughlin and Lara are, respectively, director of horticulture and greenhouse manager. I emailed McLaughlin last week and he responded: “The Dalí exhibit is pretty unusual, eh? Angel and I are deeply involved in developing our exhibits and maintaining our collections. Of course, managing all of this is a team sport, overlapping several departments here and involving many volunteers. For this exhibit, we worked with Dr. Carol Ockman. I always shy away from attributing our success to specific individuals, because the honest truth is that it takes the hard work, dedication, and creativity of a ‘village’ to maintain Selby Gardens!”

I found the right village.

Lys (Lilium musicum) (Lily) Floridali (Flor Dalinae)Salvador Dali 1968. Photo Lithography with drypoint etching Collection of The Dalí Museum, St Petersburg, FL (USA) 2019; © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, (ARS), 2019.

  The Dalí-inspired piano planter and koi pond.

Dr. Carol Ockman, curator of Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind, and Robert Sterling Professor of Art History Emerita at Williams College, wrote the foreword for the botanical garden’s show pamphlet. She described Dali’s mind as a “geological landscape which psychology and Surrealism could excavate.”

I excavated a 45-year old surreal memory.

I stumbled across my first Dalí painting, by chance, in a London hotel room, in the late fall of 1975. The small oil painting, I saw—or believe I saw— was a work-in-progress.

My father, never one for museums, cathedrals, concert halls or gardens, slipped away one afternoon and made an acquaintance with Englishman Brian Mercer in the American Bar in the Savoy Hotel.

Paphiopedilum hybrids and the birds nest, Anthurium hookeri.

The well-dressed Englishman sat at the far end of the  bar. He ordered a glass of champagne and a swizzle stick. The champagne was placed on the bar. The Englishman took off his Homburg hat and Chesterfield overcoat. He took the swizzle stick and furiously stirred the champagne. Dad was nursing his first gin and soda at the opposite end of the bar. He asked politely what the fellow was doing with his glass of champagne. The Englishman turned slowly toward Dad and said dryly, “I hate the French. They go to so much trouble to put the bubbles in, and I love to take the bubbles out.”

My father and Brian Mercer spent the rest of the afternoon drinking and laughing.

This led to a close-up encounter with a Dalí painting later that evening.

Neoreglia ‘Ardie’ and Sedum teractinum.

Mercer invited Dad, my mother, my sister Nancy and me to join him and his young wife for a proper, and fancy, English dinner of roast beef and potatoes at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand.  We returned to the Mercers’ elegant suite, overlooking the Thames, to close out our hours of drinking. Mindlessly (drunkenly), we tossed a frisbee around the high-ceilinged living room. The yellow disk (or was it one of Dalí ‘s fried eggs, masquerading as a frisbee?) kept bouncing dangerously close to a Dalí portrait-in-progress, sitting on the fireplace mantle. The painting was of Mrs. Mercer.

The retelling of this story seems eerily surreal. Did I really see a portrait-in-progress of Mrs. Mercer?  I can find no record of her portrait. However, there is a 1973 Dalí portrait of Brian Mercer.

The elephant, butterfly and the Florida strangler fig (Ficus area).

I am clear-minded now, on good days, but my view of what’s going on—all around me—seems especially sobering on days when I can’t escape into nature, a park or garden.

The pandemic threat, political polarization, digital overload, apathy and global warming are frighteningly real. I can forego gin and tonics, but I struggle, at times, for a pleasant dream.

My two hours at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, absorbing Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind, was a turn-off your-screen breather for soul-enriching escapism. I was able to forget briefly about current-day life.

Give me two hours a day of activity, and I’ll take the other twenty-two in dreams.  –Salvador Dalí

Heather Spencer on February 23rd.

My garden adventure with friends Heather Spencer and Charles Murray concluded spectacularly at a showing of Flordalí, 1968, in the garden’s Payne Mansion. The exhibit is described by Dr.Ockman as a “little known series of fanciful color (floral) lithographs from the Dalí Museum in neighboring St Petersburg… the plants in Flordalí are something else.“

Smiling daytrippers, zigzagging around the gardens, provided me with hopeful clues. Everyone—young and the old—appeared to be joyful over Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Minds.

Cracked up. Heather Spencer photo.

At every turn, I heard variations on an animated garden theme: “Wow. Look at this!”

What a wonderful dream and escape from reality.

  Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Minds will be open through June 28th.

                        Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind originally appeared on GardenRant on March 11, 2020.

The post Salvador Dalí: Gardens of the Mind appeared first on GardenRant.

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[cuseum]

Success as a Service: exploring the collaboration between Estimote and Cuseum

We recently sat down with our friends over at Estimote for a chat about mobile engagement at museums. Read on for rest of the interview!

Certain companies have ran with the technology to build a solution for an entirely unique vertical. One of these companies in particular is Cuseum: a Boston based start-up that’s completely evangelized museums and tech, delivering everything a museum needs to usher their institution into the digital age, with supporting apps and contextual content. I sat down with Brendan Ciecko, Founder and CEO of Cuseum, to learn more about their platform, how they scale, what their challenges are, and when they know their work is complete.

JA: You’re an early supporter of Estimote, I know that we’re frequent partners and have collaborated in multiple scenarios! I suppose it’d be great to hear, in your own words, about Cuseum’s mission. What services are you providing for customers?

BC: Cuseum’s mission is to help museums, public attractions, and cultural nonprofits drive visitor and member engagement and success using mobile. We provide a suite of tools geared towards enhancing on-site experience, focusing on what we call the “digital docent” or companion guide. Our goal is to make it possible for museums to produce powerful mobile apps quickly, easily, and without breaking the bank. Over 100 organizations around the globe have used our platform to launch mobile apps, many of which use beacons from Estimote!

We provide our museum partners with a full solution – not just content management software, native mobile apps, or mobile web apps. We bring guidance, advice, and years of expertise to every organization we work with to ensure their new digital tools launch successfully and continue to thrive.

And, hot off the presses, we recently launched a new product to help organizations save time and money while boosting convenience for members – by replacing physical, plastic cards with digital membership cards. Beacons play a role in this as well!

JA: Cool! Can you share the role beacons play here?

BC: Absolutely! Museums offer incredible benefits to their members, yet many of these valuable perks are often underutilized or unused. Imagine, as you walk by the museum’s cafe, store, or lecture hall, you’re reminded of your membership benefits and discounts. There’s untapped value and convenience for the member as well as a clear, turn-key, financial benefits for the museum. All of this is possible with our digital membership cards – no app download required!

JA: How much customization needs to be done for specific museums?

BC: The apps are completely white-labeled and styled to reflect each museum’s unique brand. We handle all of that heavy-lifting. Through the content management system, the museum also has the ability to configure most major aspects of the app. The overall interface is intended to be simple and “chromeless,” but we’re always happy to discuss additional customization if needed!

JA: What’s your beacon density like: how many beacons do you find needing for each museum? What’s the most amount of beacons you’ve ever installed in one museum, and can you tell us which museum it was?

BC: This varies greatly across the board! On one end, we have some museum partners who have as few as 1 beacon for a basic “welcome” and “thank you for visiting” notification. Generally, we recommend at-least 3 beacons to give each institution the opportunity to experiment in a low-risk, real-world environment. It’s always beneficial, and a great learning opportunity, to see things in action! We encourage an agile approach and have written up some suggestions on the topic.

On the other side of the spectrum, we’re working with a museum that will install 150 beacons! We’ll be sure to let you know when they launch, and will have much to share about that experience.

JA: Who are some of your clients? We’d love to be able to point our developers and users in that direction to test out the tech!

BC: Every month, we’re pleased to work with several new institutions, so the list keeps growing! Here’s a quick list of 5:

- Museum of Fine Arts Houston - North Carolina Museum of Art - MCA Denver - Asian Art Museum - Musée McCord

You can also find a list of a few more apps on our website!

JA: I love that what you’re offering isn’t just an app, it isn’t just a platform, it’s the whole solution from end to end. It’s quite unique! You approach a museum and say, “Hey, we have the tools, knowledge, even the hardware access to bring your institution into the year 2017. Want some help? We’ll make it happen for you.”

BC: Thanks! We’re here to help museums in any way we can.

JA: What kind of tools do you use to make all this magic happen? Do you utilize Estimote SDK, Cloud, fleet management, Indoor Location? Do you use other sources? Are you building your own?

BC: We’ve built our platform from the ground up and use an array of tools to ensure the highest quality, performance, and efficiency.

For aspects related to monitoring and performance, we use Fabric, Sentry, LogEntries, New Relic. For analytics, we use Mixpanel and Google Analytics. For testing, Rspec and Quick/Nimble. For design, we use Sketch and for prototyping, UXPin… the list goes on!

In the name of reliability and performance, we don’t use third-rate hybrid platforms. Cuseum-powered native iOS apps, are completely native.

Although our platform is beacon agnostic, we find ourselves frequently using Estimote beacons. In those cases, we leverage Estimote’s SDK and Cloud. Outside of that, we’ve developed a few methods (such as smoothing algorithms) to improve the accuracy of beacon-triggered notifications.

JA: What’s the biggest challenge to make your projects beacon enabled, and come to fruition?

BC: When you’re adding an extra layer to digital projects which involves additional attention to user experience as well as supporting and managing expectations related to hardware - it adds more complexity and time to the launch schedule. For some of our museum partners, we recommend that they first soft launch their mobile app without beacons, and then iterate forward to add them to the equation. You need to “crawl before you walk, walk before you run” as they say! Whether it’s with 1 beacon or 100, we provide resources and guidance for our museum partners to help them utilize beacons with as little friction as possible.

JA: Wise move! “Start by digging into the app, versus the physical location and Bluetooth pinging. Let that fall into place afterward.” Sounds about right, UX/UI informs the entire guest experience. I’m sure there’s a useful feedback loop there as well: when you start with the soft launch sans beacons, you can truly fine tune the details and collect data on the most exciting locations within the museum.

Do you ever find yourself in the position where you need to iterate on the beacon placement? Or, do you find that your clients will rearrange exhibits or plan the next exhibit differently around the “hotspot” information obtained through your analytics?

BC: There are some instances when the beacons are moved (during a specific exhibition), but this rarely happens. And, although the idea of arranging exhibitions according to the data gathered sounds really compelling on paper, most museums and their curatorial and exhibition staff don’t operate in the same capacity as retail experience consultants where the goal is to optimize a space for increased revenue. But, the way museums imagine and enhance their spaces based on new spatial analytics is an idea that is starting to trickle in.

JA: I’m curious, what analytics do you collect? What sort of data are you looking to uncover, and how does it influence your decisions moving forward?

BC: The short answer: every single button, screen, and “action” in our apps is wired up for analytics. Different museum departments have different goals around using the data that is available to them. For education and interpretation, the focus is on which pieces of content are the visitors engaging in and for how long. For marketing and digital, on the other hand, it’s more geared towards overall downloads and impressions.

Leveraging data is certainly an important topic right now, and as Peter Drucker famously once said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” American Alliance of Museums is starting to evangelize the value of gathering and understanding data and we’re big fans of this initiative.

On our end, we’re constantly watching user behavior, while also optimizing and simplifying the product as much as possible. If a feature or screen isn’t being engaged with as much as we or a given partner predicted, there is a good conversation to be had about removing that feature.

We’re firm believers that a visitor who has the best possible experience is more likely to become a member, like, or share over social media or even make a purchase or donation. We’ve kept a close eye on this concept and the relationship between user patterns and conversion rates. A new opportunity exists for museums to have educational tools that have a financial return on investment and we want to help our partners take advantage of this! This is a metric that is super important in this day and age; it helps the museum and also ensures long-term sustainability of the digital tool itself.

JA: Tell me about your ideal client. What sort of museums do you go for?

BC: We work with a wide array of museums, of every shape and size. It makes no difference if the museum welcomes over a million visitors per year, or is a small university gallery - we love them all, and have tools to help! All of the museums we work with put a high emphasis on visitor experience and education. They are looking for time and cost effective ways to have a high quality, high impact on their visitors and members – and that’s where we come in.

JA: Tell me what your process looks like when setting up a museum from beginning to “end”. Does it ever end?

BC: To ensure success for each museum launching a mobile guide, we have a time-tested launch strategy. Every engagement starts with a “Kick-Off” meeting to bring together all departments and staff who will be hand’s-on in driving this initiative to the finish line. We want to make sure every stakeholder is heard and that we fully understand and document the top 3-5 internal goals to make sure everyone’s eye is on the ball. We set various milestones, schedule training time, check-in sessions, and assign every museum a Cuseum concierge! We’re here for every museum we work with, every step of the way.

This process doesn’t end after the app has launched, though - we’re always checking to see how things are going, sharing best practices, and new features. We see this all as a partnership, not as just a “vendor” or a “software” provider – at Cuseum, we’re “Success-as-a-Service” for visitor and member engagement.

JA: And what’s next for Cuseum? You seem to have a great model in place and a lot on your plate. What are your goals for the next year, and what are you most looking forward to?

BC: We’re thrilled about our growth and the direction that things are going! We have many new launches, partnerships, and features in the works. With our core mobile engagement product, and our new digital membership card solution, it’s going to be an exciting year!

Be sure to keep an eye on Cuseum for future developments. And of course, follow Estimote’s blog for special spotlights on apps, features, and use cases utilizing our software and hardware solutions!

Interview by Jess Anderson, Content Creator + Community Manager @ Estimote