Now I'm mostly just grumpy because I got all excited about Edge-notched Cards and spent a good 30-45 minutes frustratingly discovering there's nowhere to get these for a reasonable cost/scale anymore...
Tossing onto the rest of the conversation, I have 9 categories in my box but am broadly only half-satisfied with the results: - Easy, sometimes boring - Simple, but fun - Full heys - Petronellas - Wave-balancey - Intermediate - Advanced 1 - Advanced 2 - "Garbage" (Contra Mixers, general random nonsense that I rarely call outside of workshops, etc) Previously I had a system where I'd add a colored stripe for different distinguishing moves in a dance - blue for a hey, orange for petronellas, green for chain->star, yellow for long lines, etc - but that rapidly failed to scale as I collected more dances than I had time to stripe. Like Angela, I did however enjoy the splash of color while it lasted. *Goes back to scouring the web for viable edge-notched card replacements in a sub-2.5in form factor* Isaac Banner Code Monkey, Contra Orangutan On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 1:51 PM Angela DeCarlis via Contra Callers < [email protected]> wrote: > Seth, I do my best to categorize difficulty by the dance and not the > context. I think my Section III might include minor ventures outside the > minor set, for example, but not big movements away. At a place like > Pinewoods I might never touch a dance from Sections I or II. > > On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 2:34 PM Tepfer, Seth <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Angela >> >> I love the idea of the colored stickers on the top. That sounds so >> colorful and enticing. >> >> When I started calling and building a collection of dances, I did a >> similar sorting by difficulty - Easy, Medium, Complex. And mostly, it >> works. However, My definition of difficulty changes in several different >> ways. >> >> - As I learn how to teach a dance - there are dances that previously >> I thought were challenging. But once I learned how to teach them >> effectively, it turns out there were not that challenging. It was me that >> was making them challenging >> - Context makes a huge difference as to what is an easy or >> challenging dance. >> - A dance that might be considered easy for a regular dance might >> suddenly become very challenging. We have had a huge influx of first >> time >> dancers in January - we call them the "New Years Resolution crowds". >> "Air >> pants" by Lisa G has no chain or courtesy turn, but would be far too >> difficult for the first dance of the night with all these first >> timers. I'm >> pulling back to "Family Contra" or similar. >> - On the other hand, if I'm calling in a school or for a wedding, >> I MIGHT call family contra late in the session - but it would be one I >> would build up to. In that context, "Family Contra" is advanced. >> - Finally, at a dance weekend, a dance that in other contexts >> might be considered intermediate difficulty becomes "no walk thru" >> easy. >> >> >> >> Seth Tepfer, MBA, CSM, PMP (he, him, his) >> Senior IT Manager, Emory Primate Center >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Angela DeCarlis via Contra Callers < >> [email protected]> >> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 11, 2023 1:48 PM >> *To:* Michael Dyck <[email protected]> >> *Cc:* [email protected] < >> [email protected]> >> *Subject:* [External] [Callers] Re: mechanical sorting systems >> >> I love that Joe remembered the edge-notched sorting system I told him >> about and also really love Jeff's suggestion of getting spiral-bound cards >> and removing the spiral! I've drilled holes in index cards before as Joe >> described, but the results weren't clean. >> >> *I don't remember who I first heard about this sorting system from, but I >> recall that they said some well-known caller/choreographer organized his >> cards this way. Anyone know who this was?* I've always wanted to >> rediscover this knowledge! >> >> For my cards, I've only in the last year developed a system I'm happy >> with after a decade of prototyping: >> >> - First, my box is divided into five sections (I, II, III, IV, and V) >> according to *difficulty*. Dances in the I section are easiest and >> won't even include a courtesy turn. Sections II and III are my most-used; >> a >> typical regular dance evening will pull from these sections. IV is for >> tricky dances — you could get away with one or two at a regular dance with >> a competent crowd, or you could save them for Advanced Dance events. V is >> really wacky hard stuff. Advanced as it gets. >> - Second, each card has a colored sticker (something like these >> >> <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.webstaurantstore.com%2Favery-5796-1-4-round-assorted-removable-see-through-color-coding-dot-labels-pack%2F15405796.html%3Futm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dfreeclicks%26utm_campaign%3DGoogleShopping&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7C320567296483459d017e08daf4047b2e%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C638090597349435039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=X92GqD513UOOFl%2FEw8Jmrs3hVyz317TO8qQ9kgCukzc%3D&reserved=0>) >> to give a sense of the dance's *disposition*. Pink is very balance-y, >> orange is moderately balance-y, yellow is moderately smooth, green is very >> smooth. The important distinction here is that I'm not wed to how a >> particular bit of choreography should be danced (i.e., a band could >> successfully play a smooth tune to an orange-coded dance) but my coding >> does give a sense of where to look for certain moves: if I want >> petronellas, I look in the pink dances first. >> - *The stickers are placed along the top edge of the cards and >> positioned according to difficulty, with dances in Section I having >> stickers on the left of that edge and dances in Section V toward the >> right. >> This makes sorting and identifying dances very easy.* >> - Finally, within each colored section I alphabetize. Occasionally >> I know the name of a dance I'm looking for (though not always!) and in >> those cases I usually remember enough about the dance to guess where in my >> box it will be. >> >> I've been really happy with this sorting system. Programming is easier. >> It means that if I need to change plans, I can select dances very quickly. >> It also means I can replace dances and re-sort my box at the end of the >> evening without trouble. I used removable stickers so that I could change >> my mind if needed, and this is the only thing I'd do differently so far; >> these stickers fall off too easily, even when folded over the top edge. >> >> Bonus: My box looks like rainbow stripes from the top. >> >> And another mechanic: >> >> - I always add a tally to the back of a card after I call it... >> - Regular at the top left, medley inclusion at the bottom >> - This allows me to turn my box around and select for favorites >> ("I need an old stand-by") or newly-collected ("I'm bored") >> - ...and I also add dance titles to a google spreadsheet before I >> re-sort the cards back into their categories >> - What did I call last time I was at this dance? What worked and >> what didn't? >> - I can also pull an old program from a comparable event if I >> don't have time to program from scratch >> >> >> >> >> On Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 11:26 AM Michael Dyck via Contra Callers < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >> On 2023-01-11 12:44 a.m., Joe Harrington via Contra Callers wrote: >> > >> > I heard recently (I believe from Angela DeCarlis) of a mechanical >> sorting >> > system based on the Jacquard loom concept that became the Hollerith >> punched >> > card system. I've never seen it in use. Does anyone do this? >> >> See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge-notched_card >> <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FEdge-notched_card&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7C320567296483459d017e08daf4047b2e%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C638090597349435039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=flN8KaAZJR3pf74clihLeTnkL4d8RO27SXe0BMODAAg%3D&reserved=0> >> >> [Ah, Jeff Kaufman beat me to it.] >> >> > Figure out the ten or so characteristics you might want to sort on. >> For >> > example, easy, medium, hard, bouncy, flowy, separates partners, >> sweetheart >> > (keeps partners together), etc. Take a stack of cards and drill holes >> near >> > the bottom edge, one per characteristic (you can drill a stack of cards >> if >> > you sandwich them between wood and clamp them). Now, on a given card, >> punch >> > out the rest of the paper between the hole and the edge of the card for >> each >> > hole the card DOESN'T match. >> >> Alternatively, you could punch out the margin when it *does* match (which >> would probably be less work). Then in the selection procedure, the cards >> that fall out (as opposed to the ones that stay on the needle) are the >> selected ones. >> >> > [...] >> > >> > Good hole alignment and clean punching would matter, I think. If you >> are a >> > real dance sorting fanatic, you could get like 30 holes around the card >> > edges, but that would limit the writing space. >> >> Back when I was young and had lots of time (and no computer), I made a >> deck >> of edge-notched cards to 'play' the game Mastermind: >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game) >> <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMastermind_(board_game)&data=05%7C01%7Clabst%40emory.edu%7C320567296483459d017e08daf4047b2e%7Ce004fb9cb0a4424fbcd0322606d5df38%7C0%7C0%7C638090597349435039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Fs%2BuqPhPZtbpVy5IoYMzEOQairVzH9ugrbuyp0DKFnA%3D&reserved=0> >> >> (4 pegs of 6 possible colors, so 1296 cards, each with 24 holes and 4 >> notches.) As I recall, during the selection procedure, cards with a notch >> at >> the selected hole (which *should* fall out) would sometimes 'stay on' the >> needle just from friction with the neighboring cards. So I'd have to >> jostle >> the deck a bit to shake those loose. >> >> Also, V-shaped notches increased the chances that a card would fall out >> when >> it should. >> >> One way to avoid these problems is to have two opposite sets of holes, >> with >> complementary notches. In the selection procedure, you use two needles, >> placed in complementary holes, and you pull them apart to separate the >> cards >> you want from the ones you don't. >> >> -Michael >> _______________________________________________ >> Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to >> [email protected] >> >> _______________________________________________ > Contra Callers mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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