Another City Stages is upon us, and the gloves are off
June 15, 2007, 11:14 am
Filed under:
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urban issues It’s crazy how much can change in a year. Last year I was squeezing in a trip to the Unplugged stage at the Harbert Plaza between lunch and traveling out to the city’s west side to go to meeting (while I was still on crutches mind you) as City Stages 18 was just getting started.
One year later I’m healthy but sleep deprived and figuring out just when I’m going to find time to actually buy my ticket to what was once referred to as Birmingham’s block party. I’m going this year, more out of sentimentality than anything else, but also because of this site:
http://bhamterminal.com/citystages/
It’s my first attempt to do a “special section” in The Terminal, and it’s sort of a test to see if viral marketing can in fact work. There are some other things that are about to happen that aren’t that viral, but this is a test to see if a site can make even a small difference in a conversation. Pass it on if you have a chance. Or at least check it out yourself.
I realize now that when I started blogging I did it so that my voice could be heard. I also realize that most that blog have something to complain about, thus it provides a great platform since you get instant feedback and a chance to argue your own point. My problem is that I always want to try to provide something positive (or sarcastic to cut down on the cynicism). Makes it a little difficult.
I realized months ago when City Stages began asking for help, I was thinking about the old days as an outsider. I was told recently that I probably shouldn’t consider myself one, but knowing the ways of the South, I will be for some time. I still approached it as someone that sees the potential of a festival like it being “fixed” and “saved”. I also realized that I wasn’t taking that positive approach in part because I was thinking about what my future was going to be. Now that I’ve had a chance to have some things slow down, I realized that I was not necessarily around all sides of an issue like I normally try to be. Now, I’ve got some thoughts: (more…)
Sometimes it pays to be a member…
February 20, 2007, 8:29 am
Filed under:
AL,
art,
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Birmingham,
Birmingham Alabama,
Birmingham Museum of Art,
Birmingham, AL,
Catalyst,
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cultural institutions,
Junior Patrons,
News Media (as source & subject),
TechBirmingham,
urban issues,
Year of Alabama Art,
yp events Or rather there are some really cool benefits. An e-mail that arrived in the inbox yesterday evening announced that the ONB Magic City Art Connection is presenting an e-Art Loan program. Similar programs have become quite popular in other cities, where people are able to enjoy art in new and creative ways.
Entry into the contest is limited to members of Catalyst, TechBirmingham and the Junior Patrons at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
A new piece of art will be featured bi-monthly according to the contest site on al.com, with the drawing for this current piece, Petition Series: In the Morning… by Peter Whitting of Pikesville, MD, (pictured to your left) being “loaned” on February 23 with the feature announced on March 1.
Other organizations interested in participating in the art loan program are invited to contact ONB Magic City Art Connection director Eileen Kunzman at 595.6306 or via e-mail at findart@bham.rr.com.
It’s definitely an interesting way to get the word out about this year’s festival, scheduled for April 27-29 in Linn Park. It was also a great way to remind people about this year’s Art Bash on March 31.
This would also be a good place to mention that if you’re not planning to attend Cool School this evening, or if you’re just not quite ready for Mardi Gras/Carnival to end, that there’s a little party going on at the Museum’s new Alabama Folk Art Gallery at the Young & Vann building downtown this evening beginning at 5:30 p.m.
More later,
Cheers.
Birmingham youth initiative receives national award
January 23, 2007, 7:29 am
Filed under:
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BCAP,
Birmingham,
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Birmingham Civil Rights Institute,
Birmingham, AL,
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cultural institutions BCAP initiative honored in DC
The Birmingham Cultural Alliance Partnership (B-CAP) was one of 17 honorees from the U.S. and Mexico presented with the 2006 Coming Up Taller Award in Washington, DC on January 22. Coming Up Taller is an initiative of the Prresident’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. The awards recognize and support outstanding community arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of the young people of America, providing them with new oppportunities to learn and contribute to their communities. It also highlights the contributions made by historians, scholars, librarians and visual and performing artists to families and communities by mentoring children.
B-CAP is a initiative led by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) involving six area cultural institutions, the City of Birmingham, Alabama and the Birmingham City Board of Education. It annually connects 200 inner-city youth from Banks and Hudson Middle Schools with BCRI’s community partners using arts and humanities to reinforce classroom learning, promote student achievement, nuture personal development and increase parental involvement in education.
For more information, visit the Coming Up Taller website by clicking here. Congratulations, now if I could only find out the names of all of the institutions involved…
Cheers.
The Year in Review: October 2006
December 31, 2006, 4:16 pm
Filed under:
2006 Elections,
AL,
Alabama Politics,
Birmingham Alabama,
Birmingham, AL,
Blogging,
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Civic Engagement,
civic/service organizations,
Commentary,
cultural institutions,
The Year in Review With election time drawing near the blog took an uncharacteristic turn from time to time at the current political climate in Birmingham, Alabama. This meant looking at just how large the blue dot was becoming (if it was) as well as the results of the debates for the 2006 election cycle at the end of the month. One could draw from the votes in November that either everybody watched the debates, or nobody did.
Despite the loss of the Jaycees haunted house before the haunting season even began, the region enjoyed the it’s usual array of spooking and scaring. We did see what many believed to be a specter come to life as a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Railroad Reservation Park downtown.
Some things deserve some fanfare and stay under the radar screen on purpose. This post talking about a Thanksgiving present that truly captures what we’ve turned this holiday into. This one talks of why the pride we should have in our local cultural institutions should be greater than it currently is. And every once in a while it’s nice to know about some of the other festivals that take place around the city, such as this post on the Harambee Festival. One final one was the post that followed the first ever meeting of the Civic Organization Roundtable. I’m hopeful now that most of the personal issues are dealt with, we will see some progress from this group in the beginning of the new year.
Two more months to go.
Cheers.
See also:
The Year in Review: January and a little December ‘05 too
The Year in Review: February 2006
The Year in Review: March 2006
The Year in Review: April 2006
The Year in Review: May 2006
The Year in Review: June 2006
The Year in Review: July 2006
The Year in Review: August 2006
The Year in Review: September 2006
The Ticker: Who’s #300, Transit reappears and don’t forget about Catalyst
October 17, 2006, 10:44 am
Filed under:
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cultural institutions,
music,
music venues,
News Media (as source & subject),
The Birmingham News,
The Ticker,
transit,
Transportation,
urban issues,
WiFi Get hip. Get civic. Win tickets. It’s that simple.
First thing’s first. Don’t forget to check out last night’s late post about the Catalyst mixer taking place at Los Angeles this evening beginning at 5:30 p.m. You can come in out of the pouring rain, enjoy some drinks and some company, learn about what’s going on with one of your favorite civic organizations and win tickets to the Robert Cray/Eric Clapton show tomorrow night at the BJCC! Proceeds will go to help City Stages. Check out the Catalyst blog for more info by clicking here.
Forget about 300 million, what about #300?
As most of the country wondered where American citizen 300 million would be born, the guys over at TechBirmingham were asking another question more focused on the region; where would the 300th WiFi hotspot be found in the metro Birmingham area. The need for constant connection has led to restaurants, city parks and area businesses joining coffeehouses, bookstores and hotels in offering the low cost amenity. TechBirmingham and the Internet Professionals Society of Alabama (IPSA) are asking that people submit any hotspots that they come across to
http://www.bhamWiFi.com
. You can also submit your WiFi discoveries to AnchorFree.com as three cities in our metro area are ranked among their top 40 cities (Birmingham #12, Hoover, #26, and Homewood, #36). The combined metro area listings would have us ranked as #5 in the country according to their current list of free wireless cities. I’m sure there’s more out there as well.
Congressman Davis brings transit back
The conversations are plenty in our city when it comes to reliable mass transit solutions. Congressman Artur Davis has decided to make it the focus of his upcoming town hall style meeting at Birmingham City Hall tomorrow evening in City Council chambers (3rd Floor). This article from today’s Birmingham News fills you in on some of the details.
Rep. Davis to host transit forum Thursday, The Birmingham News, 10.17.2006
Hopefully if you care about improving services for all you’ll consider attending the meeting Thursday evening, set to take place from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. This is a countywide forum on transit, looking at all aspects of an efficient system including who it will serve and what problems can be expected. I hope to attend and learn just what some of those thoughts are from our community.
One more thing…
Don’t forget to check out what was supposed to be our late post yesterday by clicking here. A great way for us to start coverage of The Year of Alabama Arts.
Enjoy the day (and stay dry).
Cheers.
Filed under: AL, B'ham social events, bhamterminal.com/citystages/, Birmingham, Birmingham Alabama, Birmingham, AL, Blogging, Charleston, Cities, city stages, Commentary, cultural institutions, current events, music, music venues, My Birmingham, other cities, The Terminal, urban issues
It’s crazy how much can change in a year. Last year I was squeezing in a trip to the Unplugged stage at the Harbert Plaza between lunch and traveling out to the city’s west side to go to meeting (while I was still on crutches mind you) as City Stages 18 was just getting started.
One year later I’m healthy but sleep deprived and figuring out just when I’m going to find time to actually buy my ticket to what was once referred to as Birmingham’s block party. I’m going this year, more out of sentimentality than anything else, but also because of this site:
http://bhamterminal.com/citystages/
It’s my first attempt to do a “special section” in The Terminal, and it’s sort of a test to see if viral marketing can in fact work. There are some other things that are about to happen that aren’t that viral, but this is a test to see if a site can make even a small difference in a conversation. Pass it on if you have a chance. Or at least check it out yourself.
I realize now that when I started blogging I did it so that my voice could be heard. I also realize that most that blog have something to complain about, thus it provides a great platform since you get instant feedback and a chance to argue your own point. My problem is that I always want to try to provide something positive (or sarcastic to cut down on the cynicism). Makes it a little difficult.
I realized months ago when City Stages began asking for help, I was thinking about the old days as an outsider. I was told recently that I probably shouldn’t consider myself one, but knowing the ways of the South, I will be for some time. I still approached it as someone that sees the potential of a festival like it being “fixed” and “saved”. I also realized that I wasn’t taking that positive approach in part because I was thinking about what my future was going to be. Now that I’ve had a chance to have some things slow down, I realized that I was not necessarily around all sides of an issue like I normally try to be. Now, I’ve got some thoughts: (more…)