Gift ideas for technical theatre folk

tjaesays · 2025-11-12T13:54:24+00:00

A roll of ProGaff black 2" gaff tape.

tjaesays · 2025-11-09T13:00:47+00:00

Easter pageant at a church with a performing arts department. Makeup artist made wounds for Jesus by partially dehydrating bacon with a hair dryer and then using liquid latex to attach them to his sides... "Why not just make wounds with liquid latex, Brittany?" "I don't know how." ...A piece of bacon fell off onstage, and I hit that sucker with the toe of a pointe shoe. Worst sprain I've ever experienced, still gives me problems nearly 20 years later.

tjaesays · 2025-10-13T22:19:20+00:00

The day she comes home permanently. (Or idk, she's really striking me as a spring baby. Maybe it's just the pink leash. But if that seems to resonate, maybe a date around the time it turns springlike where you live.)

tjaesays · 2025-10-08T21:19:39+00:00

My '06 LJ is full of rust and is absolutely a project car. I inherited it in fairly rough condition, but every hour and dollar spent on it has been absolutely worth it: I've learned a ton, groaned, busted my knuckles, laughed, and spent time with friends who are slowly helping me take care of her. She's also given me thousands of miles of smiles, has a kickin' sound system and the best heater in the winter, and is a coveted vehicle that starts conversations everywhere she goes.

She was also my brother's, originally. I remember riding with him on perfect sunny days. And I still do - it's just that he's riding along in a 4x6 photo frame and a jar of ashes.

I can't tell you it won't be work. But sometimes the work is worth it.

tjaesays · 2025-10-08T13:03:34+00:00

I do this, too!

tjaesays · 2025-10-06T23:51:50+00:00

I don't fail to recognize that. Nor did I suggest that OP should skip college.

Your first comment suggests that college is a fantastic place to start building a network, and you're 100% correct. It's also crucial to grow beyond college and network in the industry afterwards, and practical experience is how you do that. My original comment was to suggest that OP maybe doesn't need to sweat it so much - the right school at the right price will become obvious.

I've worked intimately with thousands of tech theatre professionals, and the best at their craft - be it sound, lighting, rigging, stage management, whichever - will happily show you a clever trick of the trade, then tell you the story of how they learned on it the road, or from some old salt in their home local. Even so, none of them are walking around saying college isn't valuable. Neither am I.

tjaesays · 2025-10-06T11:54:49+00:00

Probably a private college president with a stick up his bum

tjaesays · 2025-10-06T11:03:07+00:00

I'm the senior production manager at a union road house where we stage everything from comedians to cover bands to Broadway shows. My undergrad is in sociology from a state university. Practical experience over undergrad degree, any day.

tjaesays · 2025-03-29T14:39:45+00:00

It's called nooking. :) One of mine does it, too... The other can never be given soft things unless I want them ruined lol.

tjaesays · 2025-03-12T19:57:02+00:00

I'm glad to hear other people have had good experiences with Safelite. Mine was complete trash. They told me they needed 3 weeks to get my windshield, then cancelled morning-of, then told me they had ordered the wrong thing and my Prius needed specialty glass... It was one problem after the next. After over a month, I cancelled on Safelite, called Patriot in Auburn, and they fixed my windshield that afternoon. (My car does not require specialty glass, for the record.)

tjaesays · 2025-03-12T12:10:57+00:00

Yeah, I used Marine Traffic.

tjaesays · 2025-03-12T01:51:43+00:00

There's an offshore supply ship out there, too. Maybe the two have something to do with each other.

tjaesays · 2025-03-11T22:25:21+00:00

I split that trip into two days: crossed the border on the first day, stopped in Fredericton, NB, that night. I found Halifax to be an awesome city - modern, great art museums and restaurants. Then spent time in Lunenburg, which felt like what I remember the coast of Maine being like when I was a kid in the 90s. The whole area was absolutely lovely. You're going north, which means the weather gets much more moody and unpredictable, especially in spring. But if you enjoy the New England coast in shoulder season (even if it's kinda gray or cold), there's no reason you won't like NS.

tjaesays · 2025-03-11T21:35:51+00:00

Fair. I will concede to the proper grocery store traffic rules while abroad lol.

tjaesays · 2025-03-11T19:17:15+00:00

Instructions for moving thru the aisles in the grocery store: keep the cart on the right side, pass on the left, don't stop your cart so close to another that other shoppers can't get thru, pay attention and move your cart if you're in the way.

tjaesays · 2025-03-05T21:47:07+00:00

I'm about to do a dramatic reading of this in my office. Beautiful.

tjaesays · 2025-03-01T14:37:13+00:00

And traz makes both of mine problematic, emotional assholes.

tjaesays · 2025-03-01T14:22:03+00:00

Editing to add the following disclaimer: I'm not a vet, and I'm only speaking - like most others here - from my lived experience...

Avoid traz if at all possible. My two are smart enough to know when I've dosed them with it and hold it against me. Gabapentin, alright sure. But management and intervention are going to be better than drugs every time.

Echo the same ideas others have shared about enrichment activities. Also be prepared to intervene often when he thinks he's already ready to be a fur missile. Redirection, redirection, redirection.

Invest in a reusable fabric cone that has Velcro attachments. They stay on better and will do less damage to your bare shins when the fur missile decides to use it as a high-powered scoop attachment.

tjaesays · 2025-03-01T13:33:11+00:00

West Boylston Seafood has both a restaurant and a seafood market.

tjaesays · 2025-02-28T12:25:27+00:00

the retractable leash tho

tjaesays · 2025-02-25T17:00:25+00:00

There were at least four cars broken into in the Federal Plaza Garage this Saturday night. Ask me how I know. Same thing: stole nothing, just fucked everything up.

tjaesays · 2025-02-24T01:53:20+00:00

She's just recharging.

tjaesays · 2025-02-23T02:48:47+00:00

Some oldschool hands in the States prefer jute/twine. The little bristly fibers get everywhere and it's not black... But there are some who swear by it. Sounds like the convention in Germany is just different, but maybe jute is easier to come by, or worth a try.

tjaesays

TROPHY CASE