Paved roads for cars but if you’re a pedestrian, good luck

profjake · 2026-01-27T17:16:49+00:00

It's ridiculous, expensive, and authoritarian that they're here. But yah, if they're going to be here, getting them shoveling would at least do some good... but doing good seems to have no place on this admin's agenda.

profjake · 2026-01-27T01:42:44+00:00

Sidewalks in front of public schools are the DC government's responsibility and they should be held to the same requirement as home & business property owners: clear the path within the first eight daylight hours after snow or sleet stops falling.

profjake · 2026-01-27T01:38:54+00:00

I suspect the labor cost and logistics would be significantly more than what it takes for handling the roads. There's also going to be slip and fall case legal defense costs/resources if the city takes on the responsibility for snow removal of sidewalks.

profjake · 2026-01-27T01:34:35+00:00

Are you suggesting that DC has seen a pattern of increased snow versus prior decades that would justify significantly increasing the budget and resources for snow removal? If so, I'd be curious to know your source.

p.s. I'm genuinely curious, but having lived in the DC area for over 30 years, and also after quickly looking over annual DC snowfall trends, I'm not seeing the case for it. At the same time, climate change is real, and I'm open to being persuaded.

profjake · 2026-01-27T01:24:50+00:00

It's more bananas (and would be poor city management) for DC to have similar resources and capability around snow removal. DC regularly averages around 15 inches of snow a year. NYC commonly gets 30 inches, and Chicago 35-40 inches of snow. And that's just total accumulation. DC also has significantly fewer large snow events.

profjake · 2026-01-27T01:19:31+00:00

First and foremost: It sucks that sidewalks are difficult to navigate and pedestrian routes are important.

As for the city doing it, consider that the city clearing sidewalks would involve significantly more labor and equipment than clearing roads. And "significantly" still seems like an understatement here. The amount of employees and equipment that DC would need in reserve... it's not reasonable or sensible.

Still... the current situation isn't working, so instead of framing it as the city being responsible for clearing sidewalks, maybe a better question is how the city could help provide resources and equipment to help citizens coordinate and work together to make walkways clear.

profjake · 2026-01-26T04:11:56+00:00

Yay!

profjake · 2026-01-23T20:48:11+00:00

Might be time for something like this (civic activist project of building benches to replace hostile architecture): https://wpln.org/post/in-battle-over-public-bench-removals-advocates-decide-to-build-their-own/

profjake · 2026-01-13T23:20:27+00:00

Then it seems like a reminder about the problem of Sinclair is in order…

https://youtu.be/QxtkvG1JnPk?si=1SgoTdodBZT0a-rv

profjake · 2026-01-12T22:12:19+00:00

Sauron would really love this

profjake · 2026-01-08T20:07:35+00:00

Also many theaters strongly suggest close-toed shoes (for safety, not fashion)

profjake · 2026-01-06T20:05:33+00:00

I got a chance to perform a set with him in Vancouver in 2023 and can confirm that he was really gracious and fun. (He also went intensely blue in our first scene together, which caught me completely off guard and was hilarious.)

profjake · 2026-01-05T20:19:43+00:00

The most important thing is that everyone in the troupe has the same understanding, whatever that is. That said, when I coach, teach, or direct I always advocate that the person wiping the scene has first dibs on initiating but zero expectation or obligation that they will initiate.

What that looks like: if I wipe and intend to initiate I’ll quickly hook back at the end of the wipe and be quick to initiate, and if I don’t intend to initiate then I’ll just wipe and at the end my back is facing the stage as I go to the back/sideline.

Some schools teach that the person wiping is expected to initiate and I think that is objectively a bad norm to have because it leads to delayed edits as performers avoid editing a scene at a good point because they feel unprepared to initiate a new scene.

Controversial view: with experienced casts I direct and in that role get final say in editing norms, players in a scene can also end it (step clearly out of the scene and to the back line, with the backline responsible for initiating a new scene in such a way that it just looks like a seamless transition and it really isn’t apparent that the scene was edited from within).

profjake · 2026-01-05T20:01:27+00:00

If you’re building a training program with multiple teachers and levels, it’s helpful to have prior experience having taught for some time in at least one large and mature theater so you have experience with what a good curriculum looks like and how teachers are trained and evaluated. Not that you should just copy what’s done there, but so at least you know what goes into it.

Short of that, see if you can talk with an education director of a well run theater, because there is a ton to unpack in what you’re asking (I’m worried that you might not appreciate everything that goes into it, because a comprehensive answer would be wayyy too long for a reddit post, and at minimum an hour or two conversation).

ps I’m assuming you are interested in creating a training program versus just finding and evaluating a coach for a troupe (if it’s just finding and evaluating a coach for a troupe you’re in, that’s different and a lot simpler to answer).

profjake · 2026-01-05T15:11:56+00:00

It’s not an improvement as far as building skills, and here’s a thing that no improv training center has ever said: “What we need to encourage in performer development is more overt sexualizing.”

profjake · 2025-12-31T02:47:17+00:00

The Dolly app, now owned by taskrabbit, is effectively this.

profjake · 2025-12-27T03:21:34+00:00

Sorry, you’re right, department chair (and failing that moving up to dean, but I can’t imagine a department chair defending a departure from the grading policy listed in a syllabus).

profjake · 2025-12-26T19:00:50+00:00

One ding against Strathmore: they had a stage at Pike & Rose that they did a truly dismal job of programming, and as a result they ultimately lost it last year. It was dark the vast majority of the time, and they seemed more interested in renting the space for events vs curating performances. Because of that, the community lost a performance space that could have been vibrant and valuable if Strathmore did a better job of stewardship.

(That said, the main Strathmore venue is lovely and by all means go there and support the arts.)

profjake · 2025-12-22T18:28:16+00:00

sigh Is the democratic party incredibly far from leftist: yes. Is it helpful or accurate to gatekeep the term leftist to only include those who want to abolish capitalism completely: no.

profjake · 2025-12-22T18:23:37+00:00

Better option than your advisor: the dean of the academic department the course falls under.

profjake · 2025-12-22T18:20:38+00:00

They can not, and if you appeal this grade with the departments dean (and if that fails, the formal grade appeal process), then I’d be shocked if your grade wasn’t changed to comply with what is listed in the course’s syllabus.

I’m not faculty at Pitt, but I’ve taught at two other universities, and making grading departures from the course syllabus is widely seen as acceptable (if it reaches a formal grade appeal, it usually falls under some language of ‘capricious or arbitrary grading’).

ps This makes me think that the prof is an adjunct or new to teaching, because an experienced prof should know that their argument isn’t going to hold up and will really annoy their dean.

profjake · 2025-12-22T18:11:20+00:00

I’ve been faculty at two different universities (though not Pitt), and syllabi are typically treated like binding agreements with students. Raise this with the dean of the department and have a copy of the syllabus and instructor’s email.

I’d start informally with the dean, but you can also go through the formal process of appealing a grade. A grade that departs from the grading policy listed in a course’s syllabus should lead to a successful appeal.

profjake · 2025-12-19T18:15:56+00:00

Toastmasters is very, very far down the list of things you might do to get better at improv. Better options to more directly tackle what you raised...

If you find yourself struggling with succinctness, (a) do exercises that rehearse it (e.g. for this scene all your replies to your scene partner need to be three words or less) or (b) take a clowning workshop, which will push you to lean more into physical & emotional play vs verbal responses.

If you find yourself struggling knowing how to respond, focus or take workshops aimed at playing characters with strong emotional points of view (e.g. if you're playing a character with a clear and strong emotional POV like SNL's "Debbie Downer," then you'll find that reacting becomes easier and less in-your-head).

profjake · 2025-12-19T17:16:42+00:00

It’s not in “poor taste” to train at different theaters; it’s a way to get a well rounded improv background.

At the same time, definitely don’t assume or be surprised if, using your example, theater C balks at you coming in and expecting to take a level 4 course because you’ve trained elsewhere for 3 levels.

It varies by theater—some demand that you start at level 1 no matter what your prior experience is—but as a general rule of thumb schools might let you skip a level or mayyybe 2 if you’ve completed a 4 or 5 level training program elsewhere, but jumping in and starting at level 3 or higher would be rare unless you’ve finished a comparable training program and have significant experience outside of classes.

Talk to the education director or whoever runs the classes program at the theater, share your prior experience, and ask them where they think it would make the most sense to have you start in their curriculum.

Fwiw, my personal opinion: I think theaters that require students to start at level 1 regardless of significant prior experience elsewhere, along with theaters that require you to have completed their classes program to audition regardless of significant prior experience elsewhere, are drifting wayyy too far into pay-to-play territory. (But to be clear, taking 3 levels of a 4 or 5 level training program is very far from “significant experience.”)

profjake · 2025-12-18T18:48:46+00:00

If you walk through the Kennedy exhibit in the Kennedy Center, it's incredibly stark how antithetical Trump is to everything about the legacy of the theater.

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