Commence au festival!

Today is the 2013 Spring commencements for the Conservatory. I was planning to attend, as (weirdly) I have friends graduating again. Meaning that, for a while, I didn't know anyone who was graduating -- apparently things have turned again.

I say "planning to attend" because I woke this morning with the sore throat I'd been successfully avoiding for most of the past year. So now I'm in bed, tapping away on a keyboard, while the live webcast from the Kauffman Center is being established. I just saw two of the music professors who'll be playing with the brass ensemble peek their heads on stage while adjusting chairs and stands.

It's a little "Rear Window" for my tastes, but at least I get to sit hear gargling salt water. If they can get everything running by show time, I'll be able to watch 200-300 pixel-high versions of my friends and professors getting degree-ed and hooded...-ed.

I watched one other Conservatory performance live streamed like this, and it worked great. Sound was excellent, picture was clear. This ceremony hasn't started yet, but I'm thinking it's not going to go as smoothly, for whatever reason. For one, I haven't heard a peep of audio. Crowd noise, chair scuffing, something.

Oh well.  Technology.