Bruce Metcalf
Image
Reply
Automatons
Dan is considering going to LA next month. Specifically, UCLA to give a talk on automatons. Leveraging his work last year for the immersive theater musical¹ Masquerade, which is still running. This show is a retelling of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera using the immersive theater format. Immersive theater is a performance style that breaks the fourth wall, placing the audience directly inside an often site-specific, 360-degree environment where they can become active participants in the show, rather than just passive observers.
For this show Dan made six automatons that were designed to augment the musical. While still in development two of them are shown operating above, mechanical hands wearing opera gloves clapping and a violin playing itself. It is on the strength of this work that Dan has this opportunity to go to Hollywood.
For Dan, this work is a labor of love, as shown below with one of his 40K models. Whether the theme is steampunk or plain out gothic, his talents lend themselves to creating these devices. It was serendipity for him that he scored his first gig in immersive theater, Life and Trust. He did set construction for it for almost a year, many times longer than the show actually ran. Most of that job was carpentry, but he also made some automatons there too. That gig led to Masquerade, which now appears to have opened the door to this UCLA visit.
- Masquerade now bills itself as the first immersive theater musical.
Swallowtail
Image
Lilies of the Valley
White coral bells
Upon a slender stalk
Lilies of the valley
Down my garden walk
Oh, don’t you wish
That you could
hear them ring.
That will happen only
when the fairies sing.
A popular woodland perennial known for its sweetly scented, bell-shaped flowers. These flowers were photographed from our front walk. Planted by the previous owner, their number has diminished with the year, yet a hardy few still persist. Eventually these white flowers will yield orange berries.
Bloody-belly Comb Jelly
Image
Brushing Up on e-Commerce
I had just sat down to the computer, with my first cup of coffee, when I noticed that my credit card had texted me about a $38 charge from Amazon. Checking Amazon on the computer, it reported that not one, but six items had been delivered and were sitting on the front porch. Checking out front, I found a pile of boxes sitting there. I hauled them in and then went back to the computer. My Amazon orders showed two new orders, $54.86 and $141.41.
These orders included the following items: a Dyson replacement battery, wrist blood pressure monitor, outdoor projector screen, 16-drawer acrylic organizer and nail polish and ear wax removing kits. None of these things had I ordered. I hadn’t even looked at any of them online. All of this stuff was paid for with a gift card, except for the $38 charged to my card. I printed shipping labels where allowed. Most items only allowed me to print a QR code coupon. I then trundled up to the local UPS store with all of the packages.
I expect to get my $38 refunded. Plus, I should get the $158.27 balance credited to my Amazon account, where it will eventually get spent, but for the life of me I cannot see how this scam makes any economic sense. Googling “unordered Amazon packages” and I got “brushing”, a fraud scheme where third-party e-commerce sellers send unsolicited, low-cost packages to people to generate fake positive reviews and boost seller ratings. I could understand how such a scheme could work if they were preying upon internet influencers like Kylie Jenner or the like, but I am a nobody. Who cares what I think about nail polish kits? Anyway, I changed my Amazon password and ordered all sessions logged out. And to think when I got up, I was wondering what I could blog about today.