How do you choose your own adventure when you don’t feel up to physically exploring places? Well for me there are two options: 1) sit in bed, watch Netflix, drink lots of water or 2) sit in bed, explore the arts and cultural sites online, and drink lots of water. This blog post is brought to you today from my bed, but I want to share some of the ways that it is possible to remain intellectually active when you don’t feel up to getting out in the world and exploring. Accessibility of the arts is something that we have talked about a lot in this class, but accessibility goes beyond ramps, elevators, and ASL interpreted performances (even while those things are all incredibly important to have and to talk about). One kind of accessibility is reaching those who can’t get to physical locations, so that is what I’m sharing here today.
- The first thing I did today was a bit of work, that could also have been entertainment. I streamed the St. Olaf Orchestra Fall Tour Home Concert. I was watching the second half of the concert, which is Mahler’s Symphony no. 1 because I am in the orchestra and we have another performance of that piece in February. However, streaming of concerts and performances is an easy way that performing organizations can reach people who are not able to make it to a concert in person either because of accessibility issues or geographical distance.
- Want to go to the zoo but can’t make the trek? I recommend the webcams at the Smithsonian National Zoo. They have volunteers who operate the cameras during regular business hours to follow the movement of the animals, so unlike some animal webcams you will actually get to see the animals moving around. The zoo also has news archives to read to about recent developments, a gallery of pictures and information about all of the animals on exhibit at the zoo.
I learned about a new animal today! These guys are Geoffroy’s Marmosets, which are small mammals (about 8 inches long, with 11 inch tails) that come from the lowland rain forests in Brazil. I think they’re adorable.
- Next I decided that I wanted a sound track to continue my search for intellectual stimulation. As someone raised on folk music, I decided to explore the the Smithsonian Folkways Records. As I like to do with folk music, I decided to find music from people I know. The first one I searched was my grandfather, an English folk singer by the name of David Jones (or in my house, Grandpa David). Here he is singing a traditional English folk song, “The Wings of a Gull.” I don’t know Peggy Seeger, or any of the Seegers for that matter, however here is a lovely recording of her singing a song called “I’m Gonna be an Engineer” that shows that not all folk songs reflect only out of fashion values about women.
- One online resource I knew I wanted to explore today was the Smithsonian Learning Lab. For fun, I typed into the Discover search bar two things I like that I don’t know much about in connection to each other, music and space. I got 607 results (far more than I anticipated), and I watched a video about Kjell Lindgren, who is an astronaut. He talked about how he brought his bag pipes to the International Space Station, and there were clips of him playing it. He also talked about how the crew often listened to music while in space, and he said that music was “doubly important” in space than it was at home.
- I realize that this is becoming a tour of the many online resources of the Smithsonian Institute. While the resources are varied and interesting, I wanted to turn to more serious topics. While I’m here in D.C., and could go to the Senate Impeachment Trial in person, anyone in the entire country can watch the trial live on C-Span. Now if you’re looking for hours of riveting or mindless television, this may not be for you. I would argue that the trial happening right now in the Senate is more interesting than most days of livestream in the senate. I tuned into the trial at about 1:00 pm when Adam Schiff was delivering a statement, at this point he is talking about the Ukraine situation, quoting the President’s tweets, and citing evidence as to how the President as developed a “Corrupt scheme.” Adam Schiff is serving as the House Impeachment Manager. I found Schiff’s appeal to be quite moving. He implored the Senate to not let themselves get tied up for months or years in this trial, but to also be an impartial judge of the evidence before them and to take this trial with the utmost seriousness, and to return swiftly but with care to the normal workings of the Senate. I found that he spoke eloquently, that he did his best to evoke the founding values our government, and that he stressed the fact that the President has levied crimes against the American people, and that this is a political crime that warrants political punishments.
I listened to music, both old and new, familiar and unfamiliar, I learned about a new animal and calmed myself looking at elephants, I learned new facts about people and space and music, and I watched part of history, all from the comfort of my bed.