Tuesday, October 14, 2008


So this weekend I went up to Half Moon Bay to spend the weekend with my uncle and aunt.  It was quite nice to have some peace and solice away from the constant din of the dorms.  On my back to Santa Cruz my family and I enjoyed some breakfast while watching the annual pumpkin weigh-off.  Although a pumpkin weighing 915 lbs was quite astonishing I was impressed by a farmer who brought a square pumpkin (waiting to receive pic).  Im assuming that the farmer grew the pumpkin in a box in order for it to take on that shape.  I found it quite ironic that something that strayed away from the norm shape of a pumpkin was created by being placed in a box.  It's funny that something "outside of the box", different, was created inside of a box.  Is it possible to have creativity within a confined space, whether the space be a box, a theatre or a square drawn on piece of paper.  Does a box's lack of creativity create a desire to think "outside of the box?"

Till  next time
-Eric Windell

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Outside the Box goes right back inside...




Here's what we, OUTSIDE THE BOX, drew inside of...a box.



How unusual that no one in the group thought to draw everything on the OUTSIDE. Because by conforming to what everyone else was doing, we in turn are thinking "inside the box". And taking into consideration that our name in itself is a cliché, we are kind of double inside of a box...But thankfully two negatives usually make a positive, so therefore by conforming to conformity we are INDEED thinking outside the box!

At first I thought we were making an ice cream cone, but it sort of took form of some demented Picasso Cat. Of course my mark in the portrait is of great significance, a stick figure on the cat's forehead screaming. I know I know, it's absolutely genius how my stick man personifies the global economy and one's right to choose and etc...Or it's just a cat, seriously can one honestly decipher what the hell any of these silly doodles mean? Don't get me wrong, I had the time of my life drawing this stuff with the group, but really now? I also don't mean to dishonor the fine work of my colleagues, but look at this drawn on the outside of our enclosed borders.

Dude, in my professional opinion that's f*cked up. Ye olde peasant woman is completely dismembered, yelling "Aw!" above some weird cat thing. In my personal opinion that's PRETTY outside the box, although I quite enjoyed the sight of an upside-down dog and a man-thing sitting on the moon.


I might be slightly biased having contributed that bone protruding from that poor peasant woman, but at LEAST it is outside the box! I'm kind of ashamed of myself for not even associating "outside the box" with a group assignment where we draw stuff inside a box. In the immortal words of Randy Jackson, "Yo dawg, yo got to step up yo game." I believe that is what we must do, step up yo game fo sho blah blah disjointed convoluted inspirational talk etc etc. My hope for this upcoming quarter is that we live up to our title, although under thought and clichéd. Actually, scratch that last line, I want to not only go outside the box but destroy it. I want to eliminate it, it's family and closest relatives will have to be relocated, and the untimely death of the box will serve warning to boxes across America.

So there it is, Outside the Box's take on our drawing inside of a box. Although I quite enjoyed the assignment itself, it sort of defeated the purpose of having a group called "Outside the Box." Dear Lord is it too late to call ourselves something different? Like "Destroy your Box" or "All work and no box make box a dull box" or something else along those lines. I mean Outside the Box? Really? If we're outside the box why are we mentioning the oppressive tirant known as "box" in our group title? It's like Liberals calling themselves "Anti-Conservatives". Acknowledging the "Man" in one's title is the worst thing an independent-minded group should do (except "F*ck that Box", I believe that title would suffice just as well as any other).

Point is I move that our original title be completely abolished...But if not, I'll deal with it. Afterall, being known as "Outside the Box" for 3 more months won't sting as much as being called "Outside the...." Oh wait nevermind, it'll sting for the next 90 days or so. That entire 216 hour period will be as comforting as eating a bowl of tacks with a nice glass of concentrated lemonade. My apologies for going on such a rant, I felt this post should symbolize something more than just "here's our picture! it's amazing!" I guess you could say I'm thinking outside the box! Ho ho ho I could feel my heart imploding as I typed those words. Anyway, enjoy our pictures!

-Elijah Sickel
Photographer

PS: hahaha JUST realized that we're now called "Atmosphere"...eh! I can live with that...maybe "Breakthrough the Atmosphere"...

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Hello-

Atmosphere was nice enough to adopt me, Eric Windell, on Tuesday October 7, 2008 and I am now officially apart of a family.  Here are my ten questions of anything and I now know at least one of the answers.

1) Why am I here?
2) Who was the first to speak?
3) Can one be civilized in the wild? and what does being civilized entail?
4) Why does fear inhibit us?
5) Will this course lead me onto a different path?
6) What group will I be put in?
Atmosphere
7) Can failure be seen as a positive thing?
8) How can I learn to laugh at my mistakes?
9) How long will it take till I feel comfortable?
10) Will I embarrass myself? 

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

10 Questions

1. Why is it so hard to become apart of something when you've been involved with it for so long
2. How can I Love set and backstage so much, but be a terrible artist?
3. Why is the aspect of failure so daunting that it prevents people from following their dreams?
4. Why do we have to take Intro to Dance, when we want to be a tech?
5. Why do people live in trees?
6. Why do people smoke inside the dorms and make the rest of us suffer?
7. What does it take, to wake up a generation, how can you make someone take off and fly?
8. Why do people ask what is the meaning of life, when the answer is based off interpretation?
9. How do people ride bikes in Santa Cruz without there being a constant bloodbath?
10. Why do people have dreadlocks when really its bad hygiene?

Christina Benvegnu

Monday, October 6, 2008

Notes on “Directors and Designers: is there a Different Direction?”

The point that this article tries to make in the beginning is that even though most directors think that they have a good relationship with the designer, the designers reveal that this is not true.

What follows is that their relationship seams to be one where that director is the boss, and the designer must do what he wants. The director is happy with the relationship and the designer is not. The designer wants more freedom. To me this seems arbitrary. “Director” and “designer” are two jobs designated by the theatre industry; they are not a state of being within those people, because great directors where not always gifted with craftsmanship, there evolved two separate jobs in the world of theatre. There are many such outsourcings, like “costume designer” and “lighting director”. Why are only stage designers discussed? Or when the author says “designer” does she mean anyone who does a creative job? In that case there are many such jobs in the theatre. Why must a person do one or the other?

If a person has no wish to direct a show, but only to design the stage, then they are a designer. If that same person wanted to be able to control the show they could be like some of the director/designers the author mentions.

What it all comes down to is the question of how collaborative theatre should be. Should it be solely the director’s vision, or should all jobs get an equal say? The problem with the current system is that it was designed in a hierarchical way. The director is one and the designers are many. Solely by the title, “director”, there is an implication of hierarchy, and dominance. The relationship between actor and director can be described in much the same way as the designer relationship: that they must ultimately conform to the director’s vision. An actor may want to work on a show, but they can’t unless they get cast, and even then, their idea of the character might be different.

For there to be any real change in the relationship between designer and director there must be a change in the structure of the production of theatre. If there is one person in charge, then there will be people who will have to conform to his standard. However, the question then arises: can an artistic work be truly collaborative? Will the piece be a jumbled mess, without one personal vision?

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Ten Questions

1. What is the point of human civilization (why can’t we just live like other animals)?

2. Why are people in Santa Cruz surprisingly resistant to the idea of animal rights/welfare?

3. Why is poverty treated as some sort of vague and mysterious concept in most of UCSC?

4. Why do college students not know the diffrence between "its" and "it's" or "your" and "you're"?

5. Why are most people so god-damn irritating?

6. Why aren’t the THEA-50 schedules posted in advance, like all other classes?

7. Why am I allergic to cats?

8. Is it very hard to learn to sing?

9. What are metapatterns?

10. Why are we always encouraged not to travel back in time?

Maria Voylokova

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

10 Questions

1. Why can’t we smell ourselves?
2. Can anyone ever commit a truly selfless act?
3. Why do people find Family Circus amusing/entertaining?
4. Why do we insist on making our own mistakes when older and usually wiser people have already made them for us?
5. Why do people sometimes take vegetarianism as a personal offense?
6. Is it possible to choose who or what we love?
7. Why weren‘t we created with the ability to fly?
8. Why do we hate it when our favorite band becomes mainstream and why is it so important to us that we claim initial “ownership” of them.
9. Who wrote the works of Shakespeare?
10. Why do people thing it is okay to litter?

Answers welcome,
Kim Williams

P.S. Maybe whoever has the email info can post it? Thanks.