I’m not going to do anyone’s thinking here. Watch this and tell me what you think.
Happy Monday.
food for thought
Tag Archives: media
rose valley’s beloved hedgerow theatre company is turning 95 march 23!
Not about Chester County, but a neighbor. The arts are such an important thing in our lives, and The Hedgerow Theatre Company in Rose Valley (adjacent to Media) is America’s longest serving professional resident theater founded in 1923 by Jasper Deeter as a haven for cutting edge artists of the early 20th century. And Hedgerow is turning 95!!! Join them for their Belle of the Ball benefit on March 23rd!
Hedgerow quickly gained a national and international reputation as a proving ground for era defining artists such as Susan Glaspell, Eugene O’Neill, Countee Cullen, Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw, Theodore Dreiser and Wharton Esherick. Today, the company consists of seven resident actors and an extended company of 10. Hedgerow Theatre seeks to connect and enrich the lives of company, patrons, and community in the shared experience of ensemble theatre, through performance and theatre education of the highest quality.
Hedgerow is inextricably entwined with the legacy of the Rose Valley Arts and Craft Movement. A movement that defines itself by independent thinkers resisting the wave of industrialization rushing over society. Founding Artistic Director, Jasper Deeter, recognized in this movement a kindred spirit after visiting his sister and watching her perform at what was Guild Hall. He saw here was the place to create an independent theater and transformed Guild Hall into Hedgerow Theatre.
Beginning in 1923, Hedgerow launched the first resident repertory theatre that, over its 94 years, has become a magnet for many national theatre personalities, from Richard Basehart to Edward Albee; from Ann Harding to Susan Glaspell; to—more recently—Keanu Reeves and Austin Pendleton.
Hedgerow Theatre Company, America’s oldest professional resident theater company is celebrating its 95th Anniversary with a benefit honoring Penelope Reed for her lifetime of work. Reed is not only the 2017 Barrymore Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, but she is also the heart and soul of Hedgerow and its Director Emeritus.
Hedgerow Theatre Company’s Belle of the Ball Benefit will be co-chaired by Board Members Jane McNeil, Hedegrow and Richard Taxin and will be held Friday March 23rd from 6:30-10:00 pm at the Old Mill, 9 Old Mill Lane, Rose Valley, PA 19063. Tickets start at $95 per person and include an open bar and buffet dinner. The Benefit will start with a cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30. At 7:30 pm, students from the Hedgerow Theater School will invite guests into dinner and the presentation through song. All monies raised at the event will be dedicated to The Penelope Reed Education Fund to preserve the theatre’s educational programming for underserved youth and The Jewel Box Theatre Campaign dedicated to the refurbishing and preservation of Hegerow’s theatre dating from 1840.
The evening’s honoree, Penelope Reed, is known throughout the theater community as a visionary leader. Her work has been a vital part of not only the Philadelphia theatre community but nationally. Her work and dedication to the world of repertoire theater has made the community richer and she has, through her performances and her leadership, influenced generations of artists, audiences and companies.
Please consider this wonderful event. You can purchase tickets by following this hyperlink to Hedgerow’s website
Again, Hedgerow is located outside Philadelphia at 64 Rose Valley Road in Rose Valley, PA (near Media). For more information on Hedgerow Theatre and its current company and productions visit www.hedgerowtheatre.org. For more information on The Belle of The Ball contact Patrick Derrickson, Director of Development at pderrickson@hedgerowtheatre.org
and they say bloggers have headline issues?
My friend Christine snapped a photo of this. I can take no credit for it. It was a Philadelphia Inquirer headline apparently.
Mind you, the subject is no laughing matter. I would say it is a pretty bad day to be a Republican in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania today.
how patch responds to criticism: the delete button?
9:48 p.m. UPDATE- the new regional editor referenced below at end of post actually responded to me. Yes given the way contacting Patch before was like a black hole of nothingness it was a surprise. Anyway, he said he was sure it was a “mistake.” As of a few minutes ago or so it seems like my account is back, but I am not sure if all my comments and/or posts are. I will let you know. I am pleased this new guy seems responsible as a Regional.
I went to sign into my Patch today because a lady I comment back and forth with responded to me on a Malvern Patch post where I had commented the other day. Ironically, I had even been complimentary to the editor Nate Adams because it is one the first real news posts I have seen out of him on Malvern Patch. But when I went to log into Malvern Patch, I got this:
Yes, my account was deleted. Mind you I have had a Patch account for years. As a matter of fact, I used to be a freelance photographer for Ardmore Patch on occasion between 2010 and 2012! I even contributed to Radnor Patch.
I thought, wow, this couldn’t be possible, surely this is a mistake. So I cleared out my browser and tried logging into other Patch sites like Ardmore and Radnor. Nope. Same message.
The only thing I can deduce is because of my criticism of West Chester and Malvern Patch editor Nate Adams that he took it upon himself to delete me?
It has to be that. And here’s the rub: there was no reply to my e-mail I sent him on September 29th asking how coverage was determined these days and expressing my concerns that local news wasn’t being covered for West Chester or Malvern. Mind you there were other Patch people on that e-mail and none of them responded either.
So I posted the e-mail openly on Patch. It had a LOT of comments from Patch readers who felt pretty much exactly the SAME way as I did.
But now, that post and every comment I have made on ANY Patch site over a few years along with my original Patch account have been deleted.
There was no e-mail sent to me telling me to simmer down or I would be deleted. No e-mail sent saying ANY comments were being removed because I violated some terms of service. Nothing. I was simply erased.
And while that is their right because it is their site, is that what a true editor does? Is that what a media outlet does? Lordy, look at the comments left on major metropolitan media outlets – print, radio, and television.
But no, because I criticized Patch and the current editor rather than dealing with it, I was simply deleted. That is not journalism.
So I wrote to the new regional editor who has apparently replaced the former regional editor. His name is Tim. I told him how I felt about it flat-out.
I re-registered with Patch. I fully expect Nate Adams to delete that account too. I guess I am somewhat stunned at the lack of professionalism. However, to that end, I have been told by many that I shouldn’t worry about Patch as a local media resource and hyper local news outlet because they are all faltering THAT badly. As in it is only a matter of time.
Time will tell. In the mean time, consider this a cautionary tale: Patch editors don’t respond to criticism like real media professionals. And to those who will say that bloggers do that with comments, yes we do, but our blogs are our own. I am not owned by AOL Time Warner. I am not owned by a large corporate entity who pays me to be an editor of a hyper local news site. These Patch editors are compensated media professionals and should be able to handle themselves better as well as actually do the job they are paid to do.
Sign me amused. I love the smell of the First Amendment on a cloudy fall day.
spell check anyone?
Now I know my friend Ann will have a giggle over this. She and I have fun at places like Giant when display signs and posters printed by Giant’s marketing people are wrong.
This is in Malvern Patch today. I am sorry to be picayune but ummm they are supposedly media and this is supposedly posted by an editor and the dude can’t spell check a headline?
Really?
Mind you I do not pretend to have perfect spelling but I am not passing myself off as hyper local media. Maybe AOL Patch with all their woes can no longer afford spellcheck? Or is it spell check?
This was done by the new (and invisible) editor of Malvern Patch. Gone are the days when actual Malvern and Malvern-area news is reported. It is pretty sad, actually.
This editor always has typos. But OMG in an obituary headline?
Can’t an editor get a dictionary?
random stream of consciousness
People see a blog and don’t get how it works. Part of me gets that because there are different types of blogs. Some are more like community websites where anyone can sign up and play, and then there are individual sites like mine which belong to the writer/owner and what they write about is entirely their discretion.
So I have been blogging for years at this point and used to have more of an activist bent. But that is not the raison d’être of this blog. This blog is for whatever I choose, when the spirit moves me, and how I wish to phrase it.
For example I might mention that I have a friend being unjustly treated by the mother of his only child and I have to wonder how this woman can sleep at night and does she have a pattern of this screw the baby daddy behavior as this isn’t the first time she’s done this? (Want to tug at the heart-strings? Check out Lulu Loves Dada)
Or I might talk about a woman I know who I think is incredibly brave. She lives in another state and for the past few years has been living a nightmare worthy of a made for TV movie on Lifetime. She is living proof it is hard for abused women to get out, and when the abuse isn’t physical it is just as bad if not worse. This woman is amazing and just so nice.
And then there is my friend Jim, living in California and fighting to stay alive. He can’t live without us and we can’t live without him (You can visit his website here.)
Maybe I will talk about my own journey through breast cancer or something else more personal.
Maybe I will share a recipe, review a restaurant, or post photos of a treasure from my favorite treasure barn (The Smithfield Barn, now on Facebook and they officially open for the season this weekend.)
Maybe I will post a photo or two or three or four or five.
Maybe I will comment on something that bugs me that I saw in the traditional media. A lot of times that has to do with butt ugly residential developments. Sorry, but how many Dream Houses do Ken and Barbie need anyway?
Maybe I will write about a family who lost their dogs in a cruel and horrible way. Or chat about the oddness of horse “rescue” and funky Craig’s List ads.
Or maybe I might just post something funny I saw.
Or pick on PennDOT because their idea of road repair and safe roads is often laughable.
The point in all of this flowing stream of consciousness is this is my blog. My forum. If you leave me a comment on this site, it becomes mine. And no, I am not opening this site up to other bloggers.
Earlier today I was contacted by this person on the “about” section of my blog. Her name is “Jan Parsons” – don’t know if it is her name or not. She is concerned about “smart meters” which PECO Energy is going to be installing on a mandatory basis again. Basically it seemed like she wanted to use my site as a forum for her issue.
Ok, I can’t be everything to everyone and I am not particularly interested in this issue. My feeling is the health risks are minimal unless you are going to go around with the smart meter duct taped to your forehead. Yes I know this is a hot issue to some, but it is not my issue. I am not a sponge, I do not soak up everyone’s issues. That would be exhausting and take all of my time.
And I am sorry to be flippant but I survived seven straight weeks of radiation in truly high doses to the point I joked I glowed in the dark. I just can’t get all jazzed about smart meters at this time. But what I did do for this woman was pass her concerns along to a contact I have at PECO Energy. To try to help. To which she freaking exploded and said I had “no right.”
Ok WOW. I have people who contact me all the time about stuff who are *thrilled* when I pass their concerns along to a real person who might be able to help.
So I thought I would take the time to lay it all out again: I love when people read my blog. But it is my blog. Which means I get to say what goes on and doesn’t go on. Sometimes I choose not to publish comments. My prerogative. Just like if I interpret something as a threat, it doesn’t mean it isn’t because you don’t happen to agree.
At the end of the day this blog is part of my journey that I am choosing to share. I appreciate your readership.
Thanks for stopping by.
the awkward thing about photo credits
This is something truly awkward to write about. But it is something every photographer deals with. It is uncomfortable, unfortunate, unfair.
What am I speaking about?
Simple. Media publications that whether online or in print which do *not* give a photo credit when they *know* who lent or gave them the photo. As in, they did not just go out to Google and find a photo. This has happened twice recently with the same publication, so I need to say something.
Again, my photo. Love it being used, where is the photo credit?
The first photo was from 2012. The second photo is one I took October 2, 2009. It appeared September 21, 2012.
I am loathe to say something about this, because I lent use of the photo in August because one of my favorite restaurants in the world needed a good, clear photo for a write-up and the writer was on deadline. And I had just happened to have taken photos out in their location within a couple weeks of they article. So of course I said yes. This is NOT the restaurant’s fault, incidentally. I have the e-mail where they clearly stated “photo credit goes to….”
The second photo was one I told a local business district authority they could use, but as was the case with other photos of mine they had used, when they went out to the media even in a press release there is supposed to be a photo credit given.
These photos were used in an online publication of a regional magazine. A magazine which has used my photos before over the course of several years including one which has become a sort of iconic shot for Ardmore, PA and was featured as the cover shot of a special insert they have done once a year for the past few years.
Because I previously had received proper photo credit from this magazine, I lent them the photo in August. But the little article came out, and there was NO photo credit. Did I mention I have it in writing that they would “certainly” give a photo credit? I just today stumbled across the other photo of mine they used in the same food blog without a photo byline.
I messaged the magazine that I was thrilled to see my August photo used, but could I please have a photo credit. No response.
I even tweeted at the magazine (which has a fairly active twitter account) :
@MainLineToday I gave you use of a photo recently. I did not seem to receive a photo credit, and that was the deal so I am confused. Thx!
No response there, either.
So I checked the online portion of their website where my photo was used – a food blog they publish. I noticed something – no photo credits that I can see on any of the article/posts. I have a suggestion for them – a page on the blog that lists photo credits. Maybe their programming won’t allow photo credits IN the posts, but their website seems fairly up to date – I just do not know. All I know is when someone says you will have a photo credit, you have a photo credit.
I have several seasoned photographers who have been mentors to me upon occasion. I second one of the area’s best photographers on occasion. ALL of these photographers warned me about this happening. They said it was a hard choice because photographers want to get their names out there and sometimes to do so, you need to give a photo versus having a publication purchasing a photo. These photographers told me that people take advantage of this. I did not want to believe them. How sad, as now I do believe them.
Until now I never had a problem. Whether online or in print, local, regional, and national
publications which have used my photos have given me the proper photo byline. I never have to go back and say “hey, you left off the byline.” As a matter of fact I recently donated my services to Pattye Benson for the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust because the The 8th Annual Historic House Tour held last Saturday needed photos. My photos were featured in several online and print publications and in literature of the Trust itself. Each and every time, I received a photo credit.
Here is my conundrum, my catch 22: because now that I am writing about this, the publication Main Line Today will undoubtedly never use one of my photos again. But if they aren’t going to pay me for photos and they aren’t going to give me a proper photo credit, maybe this is for the best? After all, my work is not only good and creative, it is solid. I meet my deadlines. I nail my photo assignments. My photos deserve a proper byline. Any photographer’s photos deserve a proper byline when the media uses a shot.
So aspiring photographers out there, take this as a lesson. I am not angry, only very disappointed. As much as anything else, it is a question of honor. When you give your word, maybe it is naïve, but I think you should honor it. I also now completely understand why the majority of photographers will not give or lend photos period. (And that is not the same as occasionally donating services to a worthy non-profit)
Sigh.