Team name

A while ago I blogged about how I voted for the dumbest team name at work and how it worked since I was the only one who voted… Well as you can see by the t-shirt that was made for my group representing our team name, it’s not quite the same name that won the election.

Our team name is DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Too Safe Crew, not the 2 Superman C!

When I protested this folly to my team captain he said most of us in the team could never be comfortable wearing that shirt in public.

This is just another example why democracy does not work here.

Do you find anything offensive or uncomfortable with the original unaltered name?

http://accordingtokirk.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-day-i-threw-my-vote-away-and-it.html

Donating plasma

While going to college I heard of and participated in the local plasma center which gives you money for every visit.

This is what happens when you donate at the plasma center: you enter and take a number, and then you sit and wait and watch a movie in the waiting room. After about 30 minutes they call your name and ask you to enter a small concealed booth where a representative educates you about AIDS and interrogates you to make sure you have lived a lifestyle free from the virus. They then proceed to take a blood sample and take your vitals. They then excuse you back to the waiting room to continue watching the movie. About 25 minutes later they call you into the room where the procedure will commence.

They sit you down in a funky chair and a certified phlebotomist pricks your arm and starts an IV that is hooked to a machine that will suck out your blood, extract the plasma from it, and then put the blood back into your arm. All the while you are still watching the movie from another TV in that room.

Once they have filled the quart sized bottle of plasma, they bandage you up, and pay you and then you’re free to leave the facility. This entire ordeal takes a little over two hours to do each time.

I have not been to the plasma center for a few years and I would like to share with you the pros and cons to donating plasma.

Cons:

1) Everyone gets paid the same amount each time. If you are a big fat guy like me they will keep you on the machine for a long time and milk you until that bottle is full to the brim with plasma.

2) Everyone has to have a physical examination with one of their representatives before  officially donating plasma. There is nothing awkward about it, they don’t ask you to drop your drawers or stuff like that. The physical is very basic. But plan on at least 3 to 5 hours of waiting to get this part completed.

3) Their hours of operation are pretty much open during business hours so if you have a job you will never find a convenient time to go in.

4) You have no choice on which movie to watch.

5) If the phlebotomist is inexperienced, they may bruise your arm, they then turn you away and you can't donate for a while. Then they make you have another dang physical.

Pros:

1) It can be a good source of a supplemental income. If you donate frequently, you can make around $200 a month.

2) Everyone gets paid the same amount each time. If you are a 90-pound girl they will take much less out of you than the big fat guys. You only have to fill up a quarter of a bottle and you get out of there sooner. 

3) You get paid to watch a movie.

Do you like to donate plasma?

How to annoy a Californian

Top ten list on how to annoy a Californian:

1. Bash anything Disney related including movies, high prices etc.         
2. Tell them Disneyworld is better than Disneyland.
3. Picnic at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Walt Disney’s final resting place).
4. Ask them, "What is In-N-Out Burger?"
5. Ask them, "What is an iPhone?"
6. Drive around the beach in a rusty old non-emissions friendly car.
7. Have a picnic on the beach with tin foil dinners and second hand paper plates.
8. Ask them, "What is Starbucks?"
9. Wear a T-Shirt that says “Nuke the Whales” on it.
10. Tell them you heard they are reevaluating Proposition 8 again.

Do you agree with this list?

Volunteering at Colonial Days

As July is about to fade I would like to reflect on an event I got to volunteer for on Independence Day. The city of Orem has many things going on during this time of year, one of which is the Colonial Heritage Festival.

What is Colonial Days? I’m glad you asked. Gregg Hardy, the chairperson, sums it up nicely: 

“Meet history face to face! This year marks the eighth annual Colonial Heritage Festival, a free four-day event for the whole family. Travel back in time through our living museum known as the Village at Aubin’s Grove at SCERA Park, and visit our indoor Colonial relics museum at the SCERA Center for the Arts. Visit Colonial artisans, exhibits, demonstrations, and join in the great debates, public trials, and storytelling in the Old South Church. From our grand Mayflower replica and maritime interactive exhibits to the Colonial School, children will be attended to by teachers from the Alpine School District. Children will also be able to play Colonial games and participate in the daily children’s chores. Military enthusiasts can visit the gun displays and experience the cannon firing on the green. Exhibits include the apothecary shop, blacksmith, cooper, broom maker, gunsmith, spoon maker, potter, bobbin lace maker, bee keeper, chandler, wood worker, women’s clothing, home life, frontier life, and much more.”

Sara Hacken, and me

Sara Hacken, my friend and neighbor, is one of the main organizers for colonial days and was thrilled to get my help since they are always extremely short-staffed for volunteers. They first had me assist with the children’s chores activity. Then they had me play along in the old south church debate, I then spent the rest of my time helping people suit up in Jamestown armor that the Virginia Company would have worn.

Pepper doing children's chores 

Pepper and me in Jamestown armor

I had a lot of fun and would not mind helping out in the future if work and family obligations will permit. I saw a lot of extreme re-enactors that participate every year. I personally am torn between two different thoughts, one being that it is fun to dress up and connect with the past, and the other being how some of these re-enactors are just playing an extremely expensive game of cowboys and Indians. Are your thoughts similar to mine on this?

Rocks, rocks, and more rocks

I recently returned from a campout in Moab, Utah. Moab attracts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. It's a popular base for mountain bikers that ride a lot of wicked trails, and off-roaders that come for the annual Moab Jeep Safari. I was surprised how popular this small town is.

My family and I enjoyed hiking in Arches National Park and observing all the breathtaking landscape of the desert. So beautiful! It’s amazing to me how sandstone can erode into delicate arches, and also form other interesting shapes.

Like this one. It had no name but it definitely has physique. What do you think I should call this rock formation?  

Got Birds?

I had the cherished opportunity recently to visit the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge up in Brigham City Utah.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge visitor center

What are they? Their mission statement says:

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge lies in northern Utah, where the Bear River flows into the northeast arm of the Great Salt Lake.  The Refuge protects the marshes found at the mouth of the Bear River; these marshes are the largest freshwater component of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem.  Since these marshes are in turn surrounded by arid desert lands, it is little wonder that they have always been an oasis for waterbirds and wildlife. 

So in other words they love nature, they really love birds and try to provide birds with pristine hospitality. 

The visitor center is filled with avid bird lovers who are anxious to answer any questions you may have about the world’s fowls.

While I was there I saw this display which really cracked me up. I got such a big kick out of it I had to take a picture of it.

Here is a close up of the plaque.

Can you see the irony that I found in this display?

Sick of being sick

Those of you who make up my favorite followers on this blog are probably wondering where I have been for the last month. I have been sick. Right after my half marathon, I was suspiciously drained of all energy for about five weeks. This soon followed with nausea and a constant fever of 101 that would not break for a week. On Saturday during Memorial Day weekend I was encouraged by close relatives to seek medical attention at Urgent Care. This is how my visit went:

Like the way every visit to the doctor goes, I was first interrogated by the receptionist who asked me about my symptoms and why I was bothering them on Memorial Day weekend. Then after a long wait I got to tell the whole story over again to the nurse, who made sure to ask me if it was allergy-related.

I had the mistake of getting a doctor in the past who noticed that I had allergies and then entered it into my medical record. Now every time I go the doctor every one of them asks me “Are you sure it’s not just your allergies?” Or "It's allergy-related, just take Claritin and get out of here.” This is why I am reluctant to ever go to the doctor unless I can arguably prove that it is not just allergies.

Anyway, then the doctor who is a nice and bewildered old lady with a European accent comes in and once again asks me to explain why I am there that day, and "What are my symptoms again? And are you sure it’s not your allergies?" I’m pretty sure a fever is not allergies!

She got very frustrated because she could not diagnose exactly what I had. Because the lab was closed that day I would have to come back on Wednesday when my real doctor was in and so I could get some blood tests from the lab.

A funny bit of dialogue that went on between me and the doctor:

Dr. Anderson: On a scale of one to ten, ten being the most pain you have ever felt before in your life how would you rate the pain you are feeling?

Me: Well if you would say ten is equivalent to excruciatingly I would have to say …

Dr. Anderson: Excruciatingly I like that word. Nurse give him a shot of toradol in his hip!!

Me: Let me finish, I would have to say I have a high tolerance to pain and so I would have to say I am more around the area of five to (nurse sticks the big needle in my butt) hello!?!

The Doctor was able to give me a blood sugar and mono test, both tested negative. So she gave me a whole bunch prescriptions to fill and sent me on my way.

One of the prescriptions she gave me was to help treat allergies.

Luckily my huge fever broke two days before I saw my real doctor. I got sick with cold / flu a day later because my daughter got it from another kid at daycare. That’s a fact, if you have a toddler in daycare, be prepared to be sick all the time. Other than an annoying cough that still lingers, the symptoms of my current disease are bearable.

Needless to say I am sick of being sick.

Have you ever a had a situation like this?

Thanksgiving Point 2014 Results and Reflections from the Race

This is the second time I participated in Thanksgiving Point’s half marathon: all 13.1 miles of it! According to my personal iPod that tracks my distance, it was actually closer to 14 miles. Anyway, I woke up with a late start and had to speed from Orem to make it to Lehi before the gunshot. It was almost a tuck and roll situation. Luckily my wife can drive really fast. The weather was extremely rainy the entire time. I ran by Thanksgiving Point's  Noah’s Ark exhibit and thought how fitting it was for the day. I wore a waterproof jacket with a hood but after about 6 miles with the excessive perspiration and the rainfall the jacket was rendered pointless. (I think I will now look into upgrading my running clothes since my baggy gym shorts don’t stay up too well when they are waterlogged.)

The tulips and Italian gardens were once again breathtakingly beautiful to run through at dawn. The rain was a nice touch to that scenery. The main reason why I choose to run the Thanksgiving Point half marathon instead of all the other options available in the valley is because they offer admission for two into everything their giant facility has to offer once you have registered for their race. I like this because even if something bad happens and I am unable to race then I haven’t just blown sixty bucks that can be added as a charitable donation to active.com.

Last year I didn’t train well and I walked three of the 13 miles and I had one bathroom break and I finished with the time of 2 hours, and 20 minutes. I am a little depressed and can’t figure out the mystery of this one but this time I trained harder, didn’t walk at all, and I didn’t take any bathroom breaks and I finished with the time 2 hours, and 21 minutes?!? I blame the rain because that just makes no sense to me.

At least I made par. My pace was decent at about 10 -11 minutes a miles. You need to be going at least 16 minutes a mile to be considered a finisher. They take the clock and finish line down after 4 hours, and open traffic up again. I guess you could say even though I am not the best at races I still love them and hope that I can still do them in my old age.

Have you ever tried to run a half marathon? 

Dealing with Tendonitis

For those of you who follow me on Facebook I mentioned about how I was dealing with some minor complications while training for another half marathon. I discovered a chronic pain in my lower right ankle. I saw what looked like a goose egg that had formed on the back lateral part of my heel. The goose egg would swell and cause me to limp like Tiny Tim all day.

Finally after dealing with the pain and the limping for over eight weeks I finally went in to see my doctor. I discovered that I have a mild form of Achilles Tendonitis. This is caused when too much weight is constantly impacting on the heel of your foot. This can cause minor ruptures within your tendons and other joints in your foot.

Illustration of Achilles Tendonitis 

Luckily I found that there is a cure. I was instructed by my doctor to take ibuprofen before I ran and to wear what is called a Strassburg sock.

My sexy leg wearing the Strassburg sock

The Strassburg sock is pretty much a funny looking sock with a splint that you are supposed to wear on your foot for 2 weeks. I felt like I looked like an elf in rehab. This foot splint is supposed to keep your toes suspended upward all night long so that the tendon's ruptures can heal more efficiently. Imagine a cut on the knuckle of your finger. If the knuckle is always moving the wound will take forever to heal.

Long story short, the limping stopped after two nights of wearing the funny-looking sock. I still feel some tenderness down there and the goose egg has not completely vanished but my doctor thinks I can still run in my half marathon.

One of the facts of life for a long distance runner is you are constantly dealing with some sort of pain or sickness. They say it’s just part of the game. With that in mind when I am running in a race I don’t feel so much like I am competing with the other runners. More so, I am competing with myself to see if I can endure the miles.

Have you ever seen or heard of the Strassburg sock before?

The day I threw my vote away and it worked

As I mentioned in blog "Safety starts Now!" my company takes safety to insane measures.
http://accordingtokirk.blogspot.com/2014/01/safety-starts-now.html

My company has now divided everyone into groups, like a safety buddy system in teams. Our assigned groups are supposed to watch out for one another in our teams and help keep them out of harm’s way. Now we are collectively rewarded as a group when we can go a full calendar quarter with no recordable injuries at work, and thus we are also collectively punished if one of us gets officially injured.

To reward us, at the end of each quarter our company treats everyone in our group to lunch from our choice of caterers. In preparation for our very first lunch our CEO asked us all to select a team name that we can all rally behind. Via email, some people submitted inspirational names and a few submitted really stupid names. If you know my opinions on democracy most of the time I exercise my right to vote and throw it away when I feel that there are no good options. I picked the stupidest name on the list.

A week later I was surprised to discover that my stupid vote won the election. The CEO stood up and said, "I am surprised by the involvement in this election. Out of the ten teams that represent ACME’s safety standard’s only one team actually followed through in making a decision. I am pleased to announce that this team's name is 'DJ Jazzy Jeff and the 2 Safe Crew!'" Apparently I was the only person who voted. Because this joke is now official, they are actually making our own official team t-shirts.

This is a first for me, having my vote actually count. Have you ever thrown your vote away? Or have you done anything in jest only to have a seriously official outcome?

Peter Pan is the Bomb???

If you haven’t figured it out from my last few blogs, my family took a spontaneous trip to Disneyland. Before our trip we followed tweets and other recommendations on what some must-see things in the park are, especially with a toddler. All Disney fanatics both local and professional all said this: “You gotta see Peter Pan's flight ride. It’s the bomb! Make sure you do that first thing when you get into the park because the line grows quickly.” I found that was the same recommendation for every demographic. If you’re on a date… go to Peter Pan! If you are proposing, go to Peter Pan! If you are celebrating grad night… yup, go to Peter Pan!

I vaguely remember going on this ride when I was young and I remember my thoughts after the ride were: “That was it?” Now with every professional opinion emphasis I thought, What the heck. I’ll give it another shot. Our first day of three days spent at the park started with a mad dash to Peter Pan’s ride only to be introduced to a forty-five-minute-long line. We patiently waited with an impatient toddler and the ride was over in less than three minutes. I am sad to say that my overall reaction to the ride this time was the same as last time I rode it as a child.

The professional Disney fanatics argue that the reason why the Peter Pan ride is the bomb is because you are in a pirate ship, and it really feels like you are flying above early 19^th century London. I guess I missed that feeling all three times I rode it. I felt like I was on a rickety tram that carried me into less than ten rooms with horrible lighting. Yes you could see the little cute model of London below with Big Ben and all but it looked like the glow in the dark paint used on the model was overdue for a major recharge. We could barely see anything down there. What little animatronics they had in the ride seemed out of place and rushed (to move you along to a particular moment of the movie).

Disneyland has improved with some of their newer rides where they know you will be standing in line for at least an hour (which can entertain the waitees by creative obstacles to walk through etc.) You don’t get that with Peter Pan. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, you will have to wait in an extremely long line for a short class-C ride.

Do you agree with me on this or do think the Peter Pan ride is the bomb? Please explain.     

Innoventions Tragic History

It was 1974. Disneyland wanted to do something  special to commemorate our country’s bicentennial. The Disney company constructed a giant carousel theatre in Tomorrowland that had a rotating stage. “America Sings” was the attraction and  in this theatre the audience sat stationary while the stage rotated showing six different scenes with animatronics figures that sang various patriotic folk songs.

Animatronics figures in America Sings

Deborah Stone was an 18 year old cast member from Texas that was supposed to greet and farewell the audience attending the show. When the lights went out, and the show began, and the stage began to rotate, you could hear horrific screaming. Deborah had gotten too close to the rotating walls, she was pulled into them and was crushed to death. This attraction was briefly closed to clean up the accident, and it reopened 2 days later and continued to run until the 1980’s.

Around the 1990’s this theatre reopened, this time calling the Building / Theatre “ Innoventions” this time to follow suit with the Tomorrowland theme. The rotating stage no longer had all the patriotic animals (they were placed in Splash Mountain) and replaced them with a creepy looking robot name Tom Morrow who was the host of the new show in the theatre. He was to help show off futuristic technology that we would see shortly in our own homes in the near future, “The Home of Tomorrow. ” Cast members always complained about how Tom Morrow would malfunction, and come on in the dark and at times when no one was around or controlling him. Some people think it was Deborah letting everyone know that she was still there.

 

Tom Morrow

I got to see creepy Tom Morrow back in 1998 and my family still has footage of him buried deep in our archaic VHS collection. Upon my return to Disneyland last month I discovered that they have once again changed “Innoventions.” The building is still called Innoventions but they have gotten rid of both creepy Tom Morrow and the huge rotating stage. 

Iron Man props now can be seen in Innoventions

Now that Disney has bought Marvel, they have now put in all sorts of props from the Avengers in there. They still have futuristic technology that you can explore on the lower level but unfortunately most of their “future” presentations are now outdated. You can still see the track where the notorious stage ran on in the lower level. Even though I was not able to see an apparition of Deborah or experience any paranormal activity, I simply had a solemn sense of reverence for those who accidentally passed away while working here. I am not the type of person who would try to entice a paranormal experience.

Do you think the Disneyland cast member rumors of this attraction being haunted is legit? 

The Bad Fortune Teller

Legend has it that when Walt Disney was young he had a fortune teller give him his fortune. It wasn’t good. She promised him that he would die a painful death at the young age of 30. Even though that fortune never came to pass, it affected him negatively for the rest of his life. When his imagineers were designing and constructing the Penny Arcade on main street in Disneyland, he was reluctant to put in Esmerelda (the fortune-telling arcade game) unless they could promise him that she would only give out good fortunes.

The legend or rumors in Disneyland is every now and then Esmerelda has been known to give out a bad fortune. That is why Disneyland cast members frequently drop a quarter in her slot to see if they will be one of the rare people to get a bad fortune.

Whether this legend is just a business scheme (or not) I had to try my luck with the machine to see what I would get. This is what it said:

Have you ever tried one of these things before? Do you think it’s full of it?

Pranking with Darling Facaden

“Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” Benjamin Franklin

This is another important rule to pranking. Anonymity is a difficult factor but if you can accomplish it in your prank it can multiply your success. 

I have a nephew by the name of Darling Facaden, he is best described as unstable pack of nitroglycerin just waiting to explode at any moment. He loves to be loud, he loves destroying things, or making messes. Here is the closest picture I could find that best describes him.

I am always trying to find cute and creative ways to smuggle silly string to this boy for I had the hypothesis that Darling Facaden plus silly string equals a big mess! I had arranged a correspondent to plant a can of silly string in his bedroom. I wanted my helper to hide it in a spot that would not be discovered for a few days. Here we are two weeks later and I have gathered information on how the results of that prank turned out. Sadly this mission was a failure.

The silly string was delivered successfully. None of Darling Facaden’s family suspected a thing... Until my wife told them.

Two weeks later my wife gets a voicemail message from Darling Facaden thanking her for the silly string present. He found the silly string, presented it to his mom who told him to go use it outside.

So remember my dear friends anonymity is your ally if achieved successfully. The less people who know of your plot the better off you are. Stay tuned for more tips from my pranking travel log.

Have you ever had success in keeping a secret with more than two people?

Some things I learned at my runners clinic

A year ago, I went to a runners clinic hosted by Intermountain at the Utah Valley Hospital. This was a clinic that was free to the public for anyone who has an interest in running as a hobby or for sport. They taught some helpful hints that have improved my running. As I said before, I am an amateur runner and since I am the lone wolf in my family with any interest in running, I have to really search for whatever help I can find. At the clinic a gift card was given out to all in attendance and was good for a training session with one of their sport trainers at the Utah Valley Sports Performance Sports Training center. I finally booked a session earlier last month and this how it went.

My athletic trainer's name is Dan. He first wanted to know what my struggles and concerns with running were. I told him hydration and cool downs. He sympathized with my concern about hydration. In reference to my earlier blog post in training for a half marathon, you are supposed to keep yourself hydrated constantly, especially on long distant runs. I was told to drink a few ounces every three miles or so. Electrolytes are encouraged. Whenever I drank a ton on the run I would have to urinate more often. Have you ever drunk a Powerade or any similar sport drink? They seem to immediately run right through you! Dan said that instead of gorging myself while on the run with water and electrolytes to try focusing more on hydrating myself prior to the race, lightly during the race and frequently for the rest of the day. After gathering my size and weight he estimated that I would need at least 72 ounces of water daily. He also said that when I am feeling dehydrated to try running with a stick of gum in my mouth. Something that would keep you salivating. I am still trying out these new recommendations and I will let you know how they turn out for me.   

As for stretching, for warm ups and cool downs he emphasized the recommendation to only do dynamic stretches for warm ups and static stretches for cool downs.

What is dynamic and static stretching? I’m glad you asked.

Dynamic stretching is more like getting your legs and body moving really fast. Check out this video for a good example of dynamic stretching.

Static stretching is the more famous one when you are not moving but stretch your legs and body like so:

He then filmed me running on the treadmill so I could see my posture and how I was laying my feet down in order to make adjustments.

He gave me some other helpful workout tips for my time in the gym as well. 

I am supposed to follow up with Dan 6 weeks from now to see if my running form has improved.

Hopefully with all of this new knowledge I can have better results in my next race.

Do you have any helpful advice for me as well since I am an amateur runner?

Musicals are stupid

Riverton High School's production of Guys and Dolls

Musicals are stupid. This is an odd statement coming from a person who grew up loving the arts and even lettering in theatre in high school. But I guess people change. I can’t really put my finger on the moment this changed for me but I do know some incidences that occurred that helped this along.

While I was changing my major for the fourth time in college, I became a theatre major for two semesters. Why only two semesters? Because when I asked the academic adviser over the theatre department and the counselor at the career center at UVU about how I could make a living as a theater major, they both said, “I don’t know.” Another reason was it was mandatory that all theatre majors at UVU had to watch all of UVU’s productions and critique them for all the theatre classes. One musical that I was forced to see was called Chess. 

Chess is a musical with music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA), and with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story involves two chess grandmasters, an American and a Soviet, fighting over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other all in the context of a politically-driven, Cold War-era tournament between the two men. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any real individuals, the character of the American grandmaster was loosely based on Bobby Fischer.

I’m not surprised that Chess premiered on Broadway in 1988, but only lasted for two months. Yes, it’s that bad.

Here is a quote from the critique I turned in to my theater classes for that particular production.

“This is the seventh UVU production I’ve had the opportunity to see and I’ve finally realized two things: 1. I hate musicals, and 2. They have (the not so popular) scripts tucked away in the theater archives never to be put on production ever again for a reason. I think I would rather passionately make out with a diseased warthog than to have to sit through a second production of Chess.”

I still passed my classes regardless of my blunt critique. Here are a few points I have come up with to pinpoint what bugs me about musicals and how they are being performed among us.

1.      “We need another pointless musical number!” I believe that a musical number in a production is intended to accentuate critical points of the plot. Some writers do this, and some, I think, are just adding musical numbers into their play for the heck of it. If that is the case, then they are just wasting the audience’s time. I don’t have to be familiar with the play to feel that a musical number is about to start. If the musical number is actually relevant to the plot then the second challenge is trying to understand what is being sung by the amateur performer and /or the bad microphones and sound system. If no one can hear or understand the lyrics the performer is singing, then this also is a waste of the audience’s time.

2.       Overdone productions: Rodgers and Hamerstein material needs to go away. You might have seen one of their famous productions on video. South Pacific, Cinderella, The King and I, Oklahoma... they are all long, and have been circulating through arts councils and other theaters in Utah for decades, and are, in my opinion, beaten beyond the life of a dead horse. Fiddler on the Roof and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, although not written by R and H, are also overdone and need to go away.

3.       Amateur performers: The state of Utah has a small pocket of people who are passionate about theatre. Most performers around the valley are nowhere near as talented as what you would find on Broadway in New York City. So when you have lead performer who is tone deaf, and can’t sing or dance, you are stuck with the amateur for the next two to three hours.

4.       Awkwardly exiting the theater: Hale Center Theatre is big on this and other smaller arts councils mimic them. When a musical has concluded and you are exiting the theater you have to make your way through the horde of the performers you just saw because they are all at the door as you exit. This stupid Utah tradition is highly unprofessional; I was told that it is never proper etiquette to wear your costume off the stage. It is awkward as well. If you are indifferent to the performers and were not impressed with their performance you feel obligated to say something to them anyway before you can pass by them because it is only polite to cheaply compliment them. To me this is a pathetic way for amateur performers to desperately fish for praise and adulation.

These are the four points I could come up with. Do you have anything to add to it? How do you feel about the performing arts and the undying musical trend?