Drama Cool

Curtains are used in theatres and Drama Cool add to the whole theatrical experience. When the curtain goes up the audience is filled with anticipation and when the curtain falls they hopefully are satisfied enough to ask for an encore or curtain call from the players on the stage. Voices are heard offstage behind the curtains, entrances and exits are signalled by a player's disappearance either side of them. Curtains are definitely associated with drama. In the home curtains can have a dramatic impact on the dimensions of a room. They can draw walls in, lower ceilings, open a room out or make it appear higher. Drama Cool effects are created by the different types of tracks that are used, the length of the curtains, the fabric from which they are made, the colour used, the pattern on the fabric and whether there are swags, pelmets, pleats, poles and other accoutrements that are used when dressing a window. Many people take curtains for granted, they simply choose a fabric in the...

I don't get out enough. But when I do, I most always learn something. Attending a party last week, I saw something new: Between the bar area and dance floor was a connecting room, and passing through it, I noticed many party-goers lining the walls, each in isolation checking emails on their Blackberries. Before wireless portable devices, when you went to a social event, you had to jump in and give yourself over to the experience. In this scenario of forced socialization, very often you actually met someone new and perhaps pursued some unplanned adventure. Now, if people at a party look unfamiliar or uninteresting, you don't really need to engage. You can simply step out, check your email, and see if you can't find a more reassuring, recognizable face to hook up with across town. You have to wonder, does this new behavior fulfill the promise of the digital world by opening up channels of communication, or is does it close them down? And just what is the long-term...