Turned out lovely! After saying that soccer would probably be washed out, the skies cleared and we’ve had nothing but sunshine and warm weather for the week.
We are so grateful for air conditioning as it isn’t standard for houses in Pittsburgh, many people have units attached to windows or survive the summer with doors open and ceiling fans spinning. It’s good to have shade around the back and a paddling pool from Dollar General to put your feet into while you sip iced tea. I’ll add the quiet chatter of Radio 4 and a good book to this scenario and suddenly this is a summer you could get through.
It has been a busy week. I spoke at our department meeting, painting a little picture of what my sabbatical has been like for colleagues, and letting them know about a few new projects and opportunities for collaboration. It was wonderful to see everyone, our first in-person meeting for two years, and as a bonus, a few of us enjoyed a group visit, more of which to follow.
A word of caution that Covid rates are climbing in the county and a few schools have closed, a couple of our neighbors are home getting through illness, and everyone knows someone who has tested positive. We wore masks at our kid’s band recital, but it was a crowded hall and felt a bit like a super spreader. Fingers crossed and tests at the ready.
Stephan
Teaching & Learning
I’m diving into teaching next week, none of the students are replying to my ever more frantic emails to arrange meeting times. Well, not entirely true, there are a few who have been in touch, and I sense everyone is either taking a breath before their next course or traveling to their summer destination before contacting me.
Anyways, I’m pulling the course together and sorting out a few new activities. I’m particularly interested in bringing the final project deadline forward a week so that we can make changes and add some polish where we haven’t been able to in the past. That’s because I have been able to provide Creative Cloud licenses to the students this time and will give them some more support in the post-production. I would love to see the 360 films that they will be making packaged a little more formally for use in the headset, and perhaps some makers will be interested in adding interactive elements.
In any case, I think you can probably tell that I’m excited to be teaching again. It should be fun and can’t wait to meet everyone and see what they have to bring to the party.
Spaces to Connect
After our department meeting and lunch, a few of us took a short ride from the campus to Millvale, for a visit to St.Nicholas Croatian Church which is adorned with extraordinary murals painted in 1937 and again in 1941 by the artist Maximilian (Maxo) Vanka.
There are few firsts as wonderful as stepping into the church and seeing the murals. We were welcomed by Docent Page Thomas, who provided a history of the murals and the modern-day fight to restore and preserve them. Together we explored the themes of the murals. There are depictions of the Virgin Mary and scenes of Jesus and the disciples; there are angels and cherubs, but all these are painted in homage to the people of the region, the workers in mills and mines of Pennsylvania, the story of immigrants leaving their mother country for a new life in America. The murals read as memento mori, the horror of the First World War, the tragic loss of life, and the battle of good versus evil.
It is unique to see how women are centered in these pieces, the Virgin Mary is seated, she is a working mother, with a powerful form not found in a Byzantine tradition. It is an all-women team of restorers and artists working to clean the murals, restoring vibrancy to the colors that have faded over the years. The work is meticulous, with each mural revealing details and colors not seen since they were originally painted.
These murals speak to us now just as remarkably as when they were painted. Some imagery is shocking to our modern sensibilities, there are stark depictions of death and suffering. They are anti-capitalist, there are frightening depictions of greed and rich themes of social justice and equality. This truly was an incredible visit and urge you to see the murals if you are in the area.
Life Lessons
I wanted to pick out a few gems from my watching and reading list these past few months. I haven’t had the opportunity for years to watch things during the day or wait until the family has gone to bed so that I can have the TV to myself. I don’t want to just give you a list, so in the next couple of weeks, I’ll find one or two things that you like and do a quick write-up.
Le Havre is the Aki Kaurismaki film that I never got around to watching. It is poignant, funny, and beautiful, as so many of his films are, with wonderful performances from Andre Wilms, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, and Kati Outinen (who is almost all of Kaurismaki’s movies).
The story is of a shoe shiner, Marcel, who is hiding a young immigrant, Idrissa who has escaped from a shipping container and is being sought by the police. Marcel wants to do the right thing and help Idrissa, he also has to look after his wife (Outinen) who is unwell, and avoid falling foul of the authorities. The pace is languid, the action mannered and deliberate, every moment considered. It has a heart as big as the sea that Idrissa wants to cross so that he can be reunited with his family.
It is reminiscent of French cinema of the past, such as the Monsieur Hulot films, or Robert Bresson and Jean-Pierre Melville. There are elements of a shared screen language that Kaurismaki shared with his friend Jim Jarmusch who has a cameo in Leningrad Cowboys Go America and in the overlap of worlds in Jarmusch’s Night on Earth.
Lost and Found
I’ve been using Canva for a few years now, this is the speediest online graphics editor out there, with thousands of templates it is almost impossible to create something crappy looking, whether it is a poster or flyer, slide, Instagram post, etc. I was happy to pay for extras like resizing because I didn’t know that there is now a free alternative that lets you have access to all those pro features. You should check out Studio Polotno which is free and open-source, supporting itself by selling the SDK. What clever people!
This is a little plug for a utility that I use weekly, which is called Clean My Mac developed by a Ukrainian company called MacPaw, based in Kyiv, and which is fighting Russian aggression by posting links to VPNs and tools in defense of the cyberwar that is being waged alongside the actual invasion. You can read more about their operations and download MacPaw products, which are ace.
As I type this, Grammarly (which I still use on the iMac) lets me know that there is info about what it is doing to support the people of Ukraine.
I joined the MLA and can’t believe the resources that there are so many excellent publications, I have bookmarked a ton of articles and will be wading through them during the summer. I will be presenting at the next convention in San Francisco on immersive media for language and cultural learning with my wonderful head of dept.
Thank you
I wrote about the leaked Supreme Court draft on Roe vs Wade last week and had a few comments and reflections from you, thank you - I know that many of you are shocked by what is happening. This week, I read a little more about doomed efforts to codify Roe into law and alas, how some states are preparing for the worse and offering sanctuary for women, medical professionals, and supporters who would be imprisoned under potential new laws.
This weekend I will be attending commencement (that’s what graduation is called at CMU and a few other universities), and then volunteering at Pittonkakonk, the activist brass band festival in the park just across from campus. I have no idea what I’ll be doing, or how I’m going to get home. I’m a little anxious about covid and I’m hesitating slightly. I might not stay until late, but see what I can do to help out.
Gili Yalo is playing and this is a brilliant video.
Okay, wish me luck. I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.
Let me know how you’re doing, I’m imagining a busy time for all of you and coping with tired kids and whatnot. Take care!