remixable - posts tagged 'event'

Transmedia Talk 38: Storyworld Conference 2011

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:11:03 GMT

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Lucas J.W. Johnson joins the Transmedia Talk crew for a review of StoryWorld Conference 2011.

Hosts:
Nick Braccia from Culture Hacker
Dee Cook from Dog Tale Media
Haley Moore
Robert Pratten from Transmedia Storyteller

Special Guests:

Lucas JW Johnson of Silverstring Media joins us for a recap of the first Storyworld Conference held in San Francisco this Halloween.

From This Episode:

Mickey’s Ten Commandments

ARGFest

ZoeTrap, an ARG created specifically for StoryWorld Conference

Dr. Henry Jenkins’ Confessions of an Aca-Fan

Intel’s Inside Experience

Carrie Cutforth-Young’s article on Canadian transmedia funding

Azrael’s Stop

Transmedia Talk 37: Robot Heart Stories at DIY Days LA

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:46:42 GMT

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Janine Saunders, creative producer of Robot Heart Stories, talks with us about how Robot Heart Stories used transmedia strategies to engage underprivileged elementary students in collaborative learning.

Hosts:
Nick Braccia from Culture Hacker
Robert Pratten from Transmedia Storyteller
Haley Moore

(and Host Emeritus Dee Cook from Dog Tale Media)

About the Project

In Robot Heart Stories, two groups of students – one in Montreal (French speaking) and the other in LA (English speaking) – used their developing knowledge of math, science, history, geography and creative writing to get a stranded robot back to her home planet. The robot’s ten-day journey from Montreal to LA culminated in its arrival at DIY Days LA, where we sat down with Janine.

About Our Guest:

Janine Saunders is a creative producer who has worked on Collapsus, Pandemic 1.0, and produced the Workbook Project’s RADAR series. Working with Workbook Project founder Lance Weiler, she was the producer of Robot Heart Stories.

Transmedia Talk 35: Henry Jenkins at DIY Days LA

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:21:55 GMT

Transmedia Talk 33: ARGFest Special with JC Hutchins

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:04:35 GMT

Welcome to Transmedia Talk, a podcast covering all things Story. Transmedia Talk is co-hosted by Nick Braccia, Dee Cook, and Haley Moore and looks to shed light on the topic of transmedia storytelling with commentary, interviews and tips on how storytelling is moving into the 21st century. Download | Subscribe with RSS |Subscribe with iTunes Author and transmedia creator J.C. Hutchins joins us as we recap ARGFest-o-Con 2011. Hosts: Nick Braccia from Culture Hacker Dee Cook from Dog Tale Media Haley Moore (and Host Emeritus Robert Pratten from Transmedia Storyteller) Special Guests: J.C. Hutchins, author of Seventh Son and Personal Effects: Dark Art, and keynote speaker at ARGFest. From This Episode: ARGfest Keynote 2011: “Getting To Good” from J.C. Hutchins on Vimeo. JC’s podcast novel Seventh Son, and his transmedia novel Personal Effects: Dark Art with Jordan Weisman. We usually don’t link guests’ twitter feeds, but we’re linking JC’s here since we talked about it quite a bit on the show. The Darkest Puzzle, and Andrea Phillips’ response Awkward Hug’s game The Wisconsin Hustle opened ARGFest for attendees at the opening night cocktail party. JC’s and Violet Blue’s unboxing videos of a handmade scent kit, released earlier this year for Campfire’s experience for Game of Thrones. Our episode featuring Steve Coulson, about the Game of Thrones campaign the Maester’s Path. JC wrote animated videos for Smith and Tinker’s game Nanovor Video games from JC’s rundown include Mass Effect, Dragon Age, God of War, Uncharted, Heavy Rain, and Fable. Rob Jagnow of Lazy 8 Studios, who contributed to the Potato Sack ARG for Portal 2, is in pre-launch for his game Extrasolar Balance of Powers, an extended story from many of the creators of Perplex City, has been funded on Kickstarter. Zombies, Run! by Six to Start and Naomi Alderman, has now raised $50k of its $12k goal, with over a week left open on its campaign. The steampunk comic, theater and film experience Clockwork Watch, created by Yomi Ayeni, is still accepting backers on IndieGoGo. DIY DAYS LA will be held on the UCLA campus on October 28. Tickets are free. Story World Conference will be held in San Diego October 31-November 2.

Wicked Solutions for a Wicked Problem

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 07:55:45 GMT

DIY DAYS is coming to LA on Oct 28th and we’re excited to share a new site we’ve been working on. http://www.diydays.com

When we started DIY DAYS back in 2008, the goal was to share information and creative process within a social environment. As we prepare for what will be our 9th event, we are excited to announce a number of new additions to DIY DAYS that will focus on action.

Wicked Solutions for a Wicked Problem (WS WP) will be a center piece of the event. A wicked problem within the educational space will be targeted. WS WP is a “think tank meets hackathon” that will combine design thinking, storytelling and co-creation in an effort to move from concept to working prototype within a 48 hour period. DIY DAYS LA will close with a presentation of the prototype to a live audience.

Robot Heart Stories is an experiential educational effort that will have students in two underprivileged schools, one in Montreal and one in Los Angeles, co-creating stories that will move a robot (connected plush toy with GPS capabilities) from Montreal to Los Angeles. The project kicks off Oct 17th at the FESTIVAL DU NOUVEAU CINÉMA and concludes on the 28th at DIY DAYS LA. The journey will be documented and the children can check in with the robot’s progress as she attempts to find her way home. The student’s stories will be brought to life by designers, illustrators and animators and copies of the children’s work will be placed in an “actual rocket” that will be making its way into space this fall. The project mixes social gaming mechanics with creative writing while at the same time enabling the students to learn using math, science, history and geography.

SPEAKERS
In our first wave of speaker announcements we’re thrilled that Henry Jenkins, Tommy Pallotta and Christy Dena will be joining us. We’ll be sharing more speaker and program details in the coming weeks.

We are still looking for interesting people and projects. So if you know of someone or something that would be an amazing addition to the event please drop us a line at work@workbookproject.com with the subject “Diy Days LA.”

TICKETS
DIY DAYS LA is free and tickets will be available on a first come first serve basis. Starting on Sept 12th you’ll be able to get them from http://diydays.com

PARTNERS
We’re proud to partner with the UCLA Library as one of their Open Access Week events. Open Access Week is a global event, now in its 5th year, promoting Open Access as a new norm in scholarship and research. UCLA is giving us access to their amazing Charles E. Young Research Library which has recently been renovated.

CINEMA SPEAKEASY PRESENTS ‘SHOW & TELL”
In a special section of DIY DAYS we’ll be highlighting amazing innovative work. We’ve teamed with Cinema Speakeasy to put on a “show & tell” that will give creators of film, games, music, design projects, immersive experiences and anything else that deals with storytelling a space to show. Space is limited so make sure to contact us early. For more details check out http://diydays.com/2011/08/special-showcase

VOLUNTEERS
Last but definitely not least, we are looking for a few good women and men to help us put on the event. It’s a fun great way to meet people and network. Not to mention volunteers are what help to keep DIY DAYS free. It is the volunteers who share their time and talents that make DIY DAYS possible. We are in need of folks to help with logistics, tech, and documenting the event. If you’re interested you can find more details here http://diydays.com/volunteers

RADAR NYC 7.21.11 – feat. Diana Eng

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:17:59 GMT

Photo by Ricardo Louis via Diana Eng

This week, we bring back the blog with help from Diana Eng (RADAR ep 31 – Fairytale Fashion), and she made it easy for me, since I’m already a huge fan of most of her choices. She’s been quite busy lately, with her amazing line and increasing popularity in the fashion world, including her new collection of Laser Lace Tees and Tops. You can also check out her shop, as well as read up on her inspiration on her own blog.

WATCH

nyan.cat

How long can you nyan for? This very well could be the last thing the Internet ever needs, as it combines the holy trifecta of cats, adorableness, and utter randomness. Based off of PRguitarman’s original Pop Tart Cat .gif (I suppose toast is healthier?) times how long you can, well, nyan. It’s so addictive, though, that you can nyan for hours on end if you allow it. Added bonuses here include putting the site into different languages such as Japanese (makes sense), Nyan (exactly what you’d expect) and Catalan, giving double meaning to the .cat domain name. We may think it’s cute now, but once cats successfully conquer the Internet, the rest of the world will surely follow. So cute though!

Unleash the fury of NYAN HERE.

LISTEN

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps

This was Diana’s pick, but I have to interject here—this isn’t just one of my all time favorite songs, but possibly my all time favorite music video, and a big part of my inspiration for wanting to get into filming bands. A ballad off their definitely-classic-by-now debut LP Fever to Tell, it showed that the (at the time) rising buzz band Yeah Yeah Yeahs (and more specifically, lead singer Karen O) could do more than thrash and screech, but also create one of the most touching songs of the last decade.

You can buy the album HERE

READ

Tina Fey – Bossypants

Tina Fey is just one of those people who do pretty much everything right—30 Rock is still the funniest thing on TV after like, what, 5 seasons? Then there’s Date Night and Baby Mama, and the fact that after she left Saturday Night Live the only time people talk about the show is when they mention how far downhill it’s gone since then. So clearly she’s some kind of sorceress and we should all be terrified. Or you can read her hilarious book and hopefully absorb some of its power. If nothing else, reading it on the subway is sure to piss off the disgruntled former frat bros who still insist, “women aren’t funny.” Tina Fey just happens to be at the top of a long list of women who prove them wrong.

You can pick up a copy HERE

Talk To Me

Talk To Me is a new exhibit at MoMA that examines the ways humans interact with objects. Every day we interact with things like computers and increasingly smarter phones, which in turn, interact with us. Talk To Me offers a look at the history and future of these interaction, going back to products from the 1960s and looking forward with some products in development. A lot goes into it—visual design, interface, information. In keeping with the theme, the organizers encourage communication and feedback from the visitors, ranging from suggestions from designers to visitor interaction using cell phones. Be sure to check out the blog as well.

Talk To Me
July 24–November 7
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
EVENT INFO

Thingiverse and Ponoko

Diana has picked a couple of nice blogs for you to check out, specifically if you like, well, things and stuff. Thingiverse is a blog co-founded by fellow RADAR contributor Bre Pettis of Makerbot (RADAR ep 19), focusing on digital designs from ordinary people and realizing them through the use of machines like laser cutters and digital printers. In a similar vein is Ponoko, which is sort of like a digital Etsy (or rather, a more-digital Etsy), exploring the art of digital making even further.

DIY Days returns to LA

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:31:43 GMT

DIY Days is returning to LA on Friday October 28th for a FREE day of talks, workshops and networking. This year we’re excited to announce a collaboration with UCLA and Open Access Week. In addition to the having inspirational speakers sharing insights, we’ll also be rolling out a number of action oriented initiatives that focus on co-creation and open access.

The upcoming event in LA marks our 9th DIY Days event in less than 3 years. Big thanks to the volunteers and speakers who donate their time to help make the events free and accessible to all!

photo by mike hedge

LOOKING FOR SPEAKERS AND PROJECTS
As we pull together the program we’re looking for innovative projects and people who would make wonderful speakers. So if you know of something that you think would be a good fit please let us know. Also if there are certain topics of discussion that you feel are critical to the funding, creating, distributing or sustaining of creative work drop us a line.

We’ll also be expanding the “What are your working on / what do you need?” based on the amazing response it received at DIY Days NYC this past Spring.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS
Last but not least we’re looking for volunteers to help with logistics, shooting and technical support. If you’re interested and willing to give us some time on the 28th please let us know. The events aren’t possible without you!

Send all correspondence to work [@] workbookproject dot com with the subject “DIY Days LA.”

Transmedia Talk 28 – Game of Thrones and the Maester’s Path

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:19:45 GMT

RADAR NYC 6.9.11

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 16:10:40 GMT

LOOK

My Potholes

What do you do when there’s a pothole in your street? Try avoiding it? Call the city to fill it in? Effective ideas, though they aren’t especially imaginative. With the help of Claudia Ficca and Davide Luciano, a couple of Montreal-based artists, these folks in several US and Canadian cities turned their potholes into works of art—at least temporarily. But the photos on My Potholes capture a number of whimsical moments created from minor nuisances. Watch as they turn common road hazards into swimming pools, donut fryers, gardens, rabbit holes, and more.

Check it out HERE

LISTEN

Noveller – Alone Star

NOVELLER “ALONE STAR” from Matt Kleiner on Vimeo.

Noveller, a.k.a. Sarah Lipstate (RADAR ep 28 – Before I Die) has just released this gorgeous black and white video on her website for her song “Alone Star” off her new album Glacial Glow. Directed by Matt Kleiner, this video chronicles several days in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne. It’s some powerful stuff when paired with the musical storytelling of this Brooklyn-based guitar goddess. Contrasting the busy city with vast desert, it creates a truly surreal scene.

Check out Sarah’s website HERE

READ

Ben McCool Interview

Writer Ben McCool (RADAR ep 41 – Memoir) has a new comic series coming out this September, but in the meantime you can check out a preview of it as well as an interview with USA Today. Titled “Pigs,” the comic takes a gritty look at the Cold War, which if you can believe it, ended two decades ago this year. So now it’s far back enough in our collective subconscious that we can take another look at the whole terrifying era of mutually assured destruction, secret agents and the Cuban Missile Crisis and see that things weren’t quite as black-and-white as we all thought at the time.

Read the article HERE.

Magic and Bubbles

Poetry Brothel, House of Illusions NYC

Our friends at the Poetry Brothel (RADAR ep 20) are bringing it back this weekend, with a magical twist. The “whores” will be teaming up with a master magician for some old school, Houdini-esque illusions.

Sunday, June 12th, 8pm-1am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk Street
New York, NY
$5-$15
EVENT INFO

Newmindspace Bubble Battle NYC 2011

The folks at Newmindspace (RADAR ep 10) want to make New York a more bubbly, effervescent place for its residents. Join hundreds of other bubble battlers with your own bubble-making supplies, and let the air fill with soapy, prismatic orbs (and yes I was trying to avoid saying “bubble” again).

Location TBA
Saturday, June 18th 2010 @ 6:00pm
Rain or shine. Free and all ages!
New York, NY
EVENT INFO

Second Avenue Sagas

New Yorkers, be honest, how often do you find yourself silently (or not so silently) cursing the MTA for all the service changes and fare increases? Second Avenue Sagas hopes to answer some of the questions as to why all these annoyances happen. What started as a blog chronicling the progress of the long-delayed Second Avenue Subway, is now a blog covering all forms of New York City transit, offering opinions, insight, progress reports, and ideas to make transit better, as well as listing all the weekend service changes every Friday. It’s a great place for New Yorkers to get informed and involved with the city’s decisions on transportation.

Second Avenue Sagas

RADAR NYC 5.26.11

Fri, 27 May 2011 00:15:11 GMT

WATCH

Symmetry

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

Do yourself a favor and watch this with headphones on, just to get the full effect. Symmetry is an inventive little short showing the dualities of life: peanut butter and jelly, faith and science, salt and pepper, and (spoiler alert maybe?) life and death, among others. And there are a few nice surprises and Easter eggs thrown in there as well to keep it from getting predictable. Tying it all together is a peaceful yet energetic soundtrack, a reminder to revel in the day-to-day things we often take for granted.

The Antlers – Burst Apart

Brooklyn band The Antlers (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) had the lovely challenge no band wants of having to follow up their nearly universally critically acclaimed 2009 album Hospice. Fortunately for them, their new LP, Burst Apart holds up well (or else I wouldn’t be writing this mini review). Although it doesn’t really burst, as the title suggests—it’s more of a nice slow burn record. Sounding at times like fellow New Yorkers TV on the Radio, other times taking a more electronic turn a la Portishead or Massive Attack, and many other times creating a sound all their own, they’ve crafted another instant classic.

You can buy the album on the band’s website HERE

READ

Sophie Blackall – Are You Awake?

I feel like I mention Sophie Blackall (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) a lot in this blog, but really, it’s purely because she so consistently creating new work. And I should mention a personal bias—I really love her artwork. But this particular book is a bit different from most of her published works. Not only did she illustrate it, but also wrote the story. It’s based on a personal tale of her own, when her son was young and wouldn’t go to sleep. Definitely relatable for any parent, but what makes me particularly want to check it out is that based on her description, it sounds seriously gorgeous.

You can pick up a copy from IndieBound HERE
More about the book on Sophie’s blog

Dr. Sketchy’s – Koala Kunst

Another contributor that’s always busy with something new is Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8), this month bringing Australian models Agent Cleave and Jess Daly for “Koala Kunst.” Surely a title as deceptively adorable as Australia itself, a continent home to fuzzy marsupials as well as spiders so big they have their own health bars. The night’s festivities are designed just in time for Amanda Palmer’s Down Under Tour.

Sun, June 05, 2011 • 4:00 – 6:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$12 advance, $15 door
EVENT INFO

FUCK! i’m in my twenties

A question for all 20-somethings: how many of you find yourself saying this on a fairly regular basis? Because I’ve done it at least 15 times. Today. But at least now you know that you aren’t experiencing your quarter-life crisis on your own, right? And existential crises are so much more fun when they happen to someone else, and that someone else has a gratuitous love of profanities. I have no idea who writes this blog, but really, it’s all of us. And someday we’ll all look back and realize that our twenties were actually pretty entertaining, if not utterly terrifying.

FUCK! i’m in my twenties

RADAR NYC 5.12.11 – feat. Lori Nix

Fri, 13 May 2011 04:26:18 GMT

This week, we return to our contributor-curated series of blog posts with Lori Nix (RADAR ep 33 – Unnatural History). She found us a nice mix of beautiful works of art and some quirky, off the wall stuff–sort of like her own work.

WATCH

Cravendale Cats

That’s it, I’m officially jealous of the British. After outdoing us in music and comedy for years, they now roll out this oddly addicting TV spot for milk—which is undoubtedly a result of years of its creators spending too much time on the Internet. Because—and I’ve mentioned this before—the equation goes: cats + doing weird things = roughly 85% of Internet content. Also, note the strange milk cartons they use over there (hey, at least it doesn’t come in bags like in Canada).

Find more on this clever campaign HERE.

LISTEN

Bodies of Water: Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink

The music from this extremely talented LA-based collective has this rolling, lively Spaghetti Western-esque epicness to it that hooked me pretty much immediately, sort of like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros without all the gimmickry. Ennio Morricone would be proud. But don’t get me wrong, there’s still enough theatrics and choral pieces to make this record the very definition of grand. Listen to it while walking down the street makes your life an instant musical. Just don’t blame me if people stare at you when you start singing along.

You can buy the album HERE
Bodies of Water’s website

READ

Hi-Fructose Magazine

Despite new media’s repeated attempts to kill off the magazine once and for all (blogger’s note: hi there, sorry about that!), Hi-Fructose Magazine may be all the proof needed to show that there will always be a place for a beautifully-made, high quality, full color quarterly. Hi-Fructose aims to profile and discuss alternative artists, while at the same time dissecting what “alternative” means, bending genres and shattering norms in the process. Whatever you want to call it, there’s really some stunning work on display here.

You can pick up a copy at most bookstores, or check out their web presence HERE

Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities

It may still be a ways off, but Otherworldly at the Museum of Arts and Design should definitely be worth the wait. Lori Nix and other diorama artists will be showcasing their different creations, extremely detailed microcosms of worlds that are both realistic and surreal—glimpses of our world both as it is and as it could be.

Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities
June 7 – September 18
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
$15 Admission
EVENT INFO

New York Mag (and comments)

When Lori told me she liked to liked to read New York Magazine online to laugh at the comments following the articles, I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. But I didn’t have to look far to find out—the comments section is a nice concentrated cross-section of the Internet as a whole. You’ll find cynical, snarky millennials, sarcastic storytellers, political pundits who insert their opinions of Bush and/or Obama into every conversation, and trolls of course, because trolls simply are and always will be—they are as deeply ingrained into comment threads as the Pope is into Catholicism. It’s worth a laugh on any day you could use a bit of a confidence boost.

RADAR NYC 5.5.11

Thu, 05 May 2011 22:23:09 GMT

Image via Dr. Sketchy’s

WATCH

Welcome to Pine Point

I’ll be honest; it’s difficult for me to describe this without just suggesting you watch it for yourself, and it’s even more difficult to classify this as “watch.” From the National Film Board of Canada, this project tells the story of Pine Point, a planned mining community in central Canada, the people who lived there, and its eventual demise—being completely razed and taken off the map. It’s told through interactive bits, archival footage, pieces of animation, and recorded interviews with the former residents, and it all combines with some lovely music from The Besnard Lakes (one of my personal favorite Canadian bands) for a truly engaging experience that tells more than a straight up documentary ever could.

Check it out HERE

LISTEN

Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed

Ernest Greene, better known by his recording name Washed Out (RADAR season 3) will be following up last year’s excellent EP with his just-announced debut LP, Within and Without (complete with NSFW-ish cover art), due out July 12. But if you can’t wait that long, you can download the first single off the album right now. Eyes Be Closed sounds like a dreamy, trippy journey through a beautiful desert, or perhaps flying through the clouds. Either way, it’d be cool to listen to on the subway just as your train bursts above ground, the sunlight hitting your face.

You can get the mp3 straight from Sub Pop HERE

READ

How the Social Web Reflected on bin Laden’s Death

By the time President Obama came on to announce the death of Osama bin Laden, it was already old news for a lot of wired people—myself included—who probably found out on Facebook or Twitter, and had about an hour to divulge their two cents on the matter. And it really showed how much the world has changed in the past 10 years. It was fascinating to watch the news unfold over the Internet, through mediums such as social media and imageboards, while major news sites struggled to keep up. Mashable has an interesting article on the role of social media in bin Laden’s death, complete with several fascinating infographics that reveal a lot about the world in 2011.

Read the article HERE.

Cake on the Bowery, Murder in Victorian England

Let Us Make Cake

Shantell Martin (RADAR ep 26 – Hidden Oras) will be joining about a dozen other visual artists will be using the façade of the New Museum as a canvas for their collaborative projection installation, Let Us Make Cake, part of Flash:Light, a night time, site-specific series of temporary art installations that re-imagine public space. Other events are planned at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and on Mulberry Street, so it should be quite a night.

Saturday, May 7 · 8:00 pm
The New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
Free
EVENT INFO

Dr. Sketchy’s Does Jack the Ripper

Not even one of England’s creepiest and bloodiest legends is safe from the imaginations of the good people at Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School (RADAR ep 8). Though really, in hindsight it seems like the perfect backdrop for the grisly tale of murders that scared the petticoats off of Victorian England.

Sunday, May 8 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12-$15
EVENT INFO

FOLLOW

FreedomLab

FreedomLab Future Studies is an Amsterdam-based think tank and research lab committed to finding creative solutions to issues in technology, business, and society. The site also features a blog offering thoughts on subjects such as social media, storytelling, and intelligent green energy, while also emphasizing the growing influence of non-Western societies, such as Brazil and Africa, on the world stage. This is definitely a site to watch if you want to get ahead of the curve in the 21st Century.

FreedomLab’s website
@freedomlab on Twitter

Golden Rules: Running an Independent Film Screening Series

Tue, 03 May 2011 00:46:00 GMT

In 2009, as a reaction against an increasingly corporate-ized and fractured media landscape, I decided to start an independent film screening series. My friend and colleague Georgi Goldman was also enthusiastic about the idea, and together we began running a monthly film series in Los Angeles: Cinema Speakeasy.

The purpose of Cinema Speakeasy was to be the filmic equivalent of the slow food movement (but a heck of a lot less boring). We aimed to process films rather than quickly consume them. Positioning CS a not-for-profit organization, I was quite set on divorcing ourselves from the intervention of brands and sponsorship in the belief that – in this particular case – other people’s marketing strategies would corrupt our intention. Thus, we were to serve as advocates for the arts in a space that was separate from corporate commerce, all while showing people a good time.

With that said, we also hoped to create an alternative and non-inflated marketplace for independent film cause let’s get real for a second: We all have rent to pay. Willingly forgoing corporate support, and not keen on the virtual trumpeting that is crucial for successful IndieGoGo or Kickstarter campaigns, we needed to find alternate ways of creating this self-sufficient revenue stream for ourselves and our filmmakers. We hoped, simply, to survive – and to help filmmakers survive – without selling out. To do this, I believed that we needed a few things: A consistent audience, good programming, and a low overhead. Attaining those things, then, became the organization’s main goals.

We are now approaching Cinema Speakeasy’s second anniversary, with a recent expansion into San Francisco with the wildly popular CS:SF events. I wanted to share some of what we have learned in running this film series over the course of the last two years: The things that have allowed us to survive (and perhaps even modestly thrive?) in a very bad economic climate for the arts. Here, then, are my golden rules for running an independent film screening series.

Golden rule number one: Maintain a not-for-profit attitude, but make sure the organization can pay for its expenses.

When we started CS I plastered ‘we give all our revenue to the filmmakers and the venues’ all over the place. In retrospect, this was a mistake. Although we have maintained that policy thus far, we are going to change it for the simple reason that we need to pay for things like web hosting, promotional materials, advertising. If we don’t pay for those things, we limit our reach, which does a disservice to the filmmakers when no one shows up to their screening.

Having said that, it’s no secret that it’s devilishly hard to make a living while staying independent. So forget about making money, at least for the first 3 years, but don’t forget to apportion a part of whatever comes in to your organization’s survival, and to share the rest!

In practice: Don’t quit your day job, and NEVER get into personal debt for the sake of the organization. If you can’t afford to do the event, consider a different approach where it doesn’t cost so much. Keep overhead low, and be sure to split the revenue at the door between yourself, the venue, and the filmmaker – but always split the money that has come in AFTER deducting the expenses incurred in promoting the screening.

Golden rule number two: Plan for low audiences, and set realistic expansion goals.

Something I learned from my days at the Silver Lake Film Festival is that a too rapid expansion = a guaranteed disaster. It always pays to underestimate the amount of people who will show up. Slow but steady wins the race, when it comes to non-profits, and small is often more fun anyways: It’s better to have a packed-feeling small room than an empty-feeling big room.

In practice: For the first year of Cinema Speakeasy we stayed at a small venue (the amazing Echo Park Film Center) that seated about 60 people. Once we had created a consistent series of events, we dabbled with larger venues through special one-off high-profile screenings. Now, almost two years in, the organization has expanded to San Francisco (with monthly events run there by a trio of uber-dames: Fhay Arceo, Allison Davis and Kate Sullivan Green), and we are starting to regularly expand to new larger venues in LA. Our larger events, which we typically do at a rate of one per quarter, are working because we have slowly built the audience to support this expansion, and because we are cautious and conservative about numbers and expenses.

Golden rule number three: Keep your eye on quality

It’s one thing to have a democratic approach, it’s quite another to show any old thing. That’s what YouTube is for.

Do not forget to maintain a level of quality. If you show ‘bad’ films, even your best friends will stop showing up, not to mention strangers. You won’t be able to grow an audience, and you will ultimately do a disservice to the filmmakers whose work you show.

However, if you gain a reputation for showing good content- as independent as you please but always to a certain standard (those standards are yours to decide) – you will gain a following and people will be honored to be included. It’s curation, and you can interpret it as you will, but do not forget to set standards – whatever they may be for you – and stick to them.

In practice: This is a golden rule I have had a hard time with, myself, and it’s only through my colleague Georgi’s prodding that I’ve begun to see the light on the value of saying no no no. It’s very hard to balance open access with good content, but it must be done.

In practice, also, if you have a lot of filmmaker friends who you want to support through your organization, consider implementing a ‘friends and family’ sub-series- an open call facet to your screening event, where you provide an audience to people just starting out, or whose work is challenging. Keep it separate from the main curated event, and do these at small venues.

Golden rule number four: Be open to oblique approaches

Be open to other mediums as a way of bringing attention to film, and this sometimes may include non-indie film. We’ve found this to be an excellent way to bring new audiences to our programming. Although every effort should be made to engage fellow filmy types, do not focus entirely on the indie film community. It’s small, it’s self-referential, and it’ll limit you.

In practice: Cinema Speakeasy has partnered with art galleries, music venues and other such entities to create two-part programs around a film. For instance, we did a potato-type ransom note workshop at a local gallery in Los Angeles (Machine Project), and partnered with a local design community (Kernspiracy) to get people interested and thinking about typography. This was all in support of our screening of Kartemquin Film’s ‘Typeface’.

This, and other oddball events such as the Tranimal Makeup Workshop (that we produced, and was curated by artist Austin Young, as a part of our ‘Ultra Fabulous Beyond Drag’ screening event), have been incredibly successful at bringing new types of people to our events, and many of them have come back and proposed some awesome ideas of their own.

Golden rule number five: Get the F off the internet, already.

Marketing. The evil reality of doing anything that requires other people in this age of brands and buzz.

One thing’s for certain, and all the talk about ‘the power of social media’ notwithstanding, I’ve found there to be a fairly low correlation between Facebook or Twitter followers and butts in seats. It’s easy to hit ‘like’, but it’s a very different experience to get in the car, look for parking, feed the meter, walk a few blocks, and watch an unknown movie. Put simply: A lot of online participation is not a guarantee that people will show up.

What makes people do THAT is good programming, the potential to meet sexy new people, and (with some exceptions) traditional media support. Not sure why, but in our experience a write-up in the local weekly means a full house, 152 retweets does not. Maybe it has something to do with reaching new people rather than the same people you already communicate with online all the time. Or maybe it’s because people trust traditional media cause they’re better curators.

In practice: Instead of focusing all your efforts on creating buzz online, just BE awesome, focus on showing your audience a good time and on actual word of mouth, and consider traditional publicity for the larger events. Use social media as a complementary strategy, but not THE strategy.

We at CS also tend to engage in teenage-like ‘marketing’ such as sticking handwritten flyers in menus at hip diners, posting stickers everywhere we can get away with it, and generally trying to get attention in the real world. It seems to be working so far, is viral in a way more tangible way, and – mainly – it feels authentic to who we are.

Golden rule number six: Allow the organization to have a life beyond you, but set the rules early

If you succeed with your organization, people will come and want to be involved. You need these people for the organization to succeed. But never forget to make sure you maintain control of your organization’s overall trajectory and vision.

What this means is that you need to set the grand vision early (a mission statement and an organizational bible will help with this exponentially). But you also need to allow for expansion, changes of ownership, in short, whatever it takes for people to want to be involved, and are able to create and implement ideas. It’s basic good management skills, and it’s probably the one thing that will keep you up at night as you grapple with your own ego, sense of insecurity, etc.

One thing’s for sure: If you impose your vision in too draconian a manner, you will lose the very people who can help propel the organization to the next level. BUT, if you do not retain some leadership, you can lose control of the organization’s vision. Not an easy thing to balance.

In practice: When I had the idea to start a film series and call it Cinema Speakeasy, I had a certain vision in mind. When the organization’s current Executive Director Georgi Goldman officially came on board – right before the first screening event – she also had a vision. We were colleagues at work and used to confrontation and adaptation, so we simply confronted and adapted our ideas to one another. Together, we set a certain tone for the organization- and we set it early.

This is, and will, serve the organization well as it enters our current expansion phase. For instance, Cinema Speakeasy’s San Francisco edition was started and is run largely autonomously by its co-directors Fhay Arceo, Allison Davis and Kate Sullivan Green (FAK!) – who have final say in their programming, venues, marketing language, etc.

But, they still also use the visual ‘brand’, as it were (set by our brilliant creative-director-of-sorts Micah Hahn), and stick to the tone of the organization, as well as certain programming guidelines. Thus they maintain an approach that is in line with the larger CS organization- and in fact, take it to the next level of cool – but still act independently of the larger organization in many arenas. It’s a balancing act, and it works out very well if you pick your partners well. Which brings me to…

Golden rule number seven: Partner judiciously

Be picky. That’s all there is to this. There are a bazillion horror stories of what can go wrong if you pick the wrong partners- and I can categorically say that I’ve lived through just about all of the bad scenarios.

As a general rule, when approaching partnerships, it helps to think of what this person/organization can bring you right now, rather than what they could potentially bring you down the road. Keep it real, and keep a focus on your current needs.

In practice: Cinema Speakeasy partners creatively with like-minded folk – not too corporate, arts-centric, and who also have their shit together. We try to find oblique approaches, as well, by teaming up with oddball venues, creating cross-promotional partnerships with groups that wouldn’t usually be so excited about indie film, etc etc etc.

I could write five pages on this, so will leave it at this: Be judicious, work with people who are like-minded, and always write out (and agree to) the terms of the partnership early on.

Golden rule number eight: Expect defeat, and then expect success

If your role is to advocate for film by finding new audiences for the indies, then your goal is quite simple: Get people in seats. Simple, right?

The truth is, there’s no science or method to what will bring people in, all these golden rules notwithstanding. A front page write-up in the local paper will definitely help, but chances are that won’t happen for awhile, especially if you’re in a big city with tons of other competing things going on. A celebrity helps too, but that also gets really cheesy really fast, and can turn into a sort of Faustian deal with the devil, right quick.

In practice: If you want to maintain and grow your audience but don’t have access to tons of press, pay really strict attention to how you present your organization both online and offline, program with an eye towards quality (see rule #3), partner with awesome people and organizations (see rule #7), make every event fun, sociable (and a little raucous), and KNOW that you will occasionally have a occasionally super empty theatre. It’s no biggie. We’ve all been there. Just smile and take amazing photos of the three people who showed up.

Golden rule number nine: Just keep going

When I was in graduate school for fine art, one of the tutors told me that in a class of 20, at graduation all 20 are practicing artists. In five years, about 10 are still practicing artists. In 10 years, 5 are still making their work. But in 20 years only one will be making his work, and that one person will probably be well-known.

Consistency pays off, especially in a field where so many people give up early. Make sure you are in a position where you can maintain your organization in the lean years (see rules 1 and 2), and keep the faith.

As they say in Havana: SUERTE, chicos!

More info about Cinema Speakeasy can be found at cinemaspeakeasy.com. A list of other amazing film programs that are thriving and surviving here in the US and abroad can be found here.

RADAR NYC 4.28.11

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 02:20:31 GMT

WATCH

Eliza Skinner – The Oscar Party

The Oscar Party – watch more funny videos

Eliza Skinner (RADAR ep 2 – I Eat Pandas) returns to the world of Internet videos with this short about a couple going through an angry breakup just as their friends arrive for an Oscars party. Hijinks ensue, guests are weirded out, and movie puns are thrown around—and for some reason movie puns are so much funnier when shouted in a fit of rage. Movie nerds will either cringe or chortle. Or both. Either way, Eliza is quite hilarious as a pissed off ex-girlfriend.

LISTEN

Morningbell – Lovefool

Before I watched this video, I thought the title was just a coincidence—surely they weren’t covering that classic 90s radio mainstay? But that’s exactly what Morningbell (RADAR ep 33 – Unnatural History) did. And they did it gloriously. They stayed true to the original while giving it a bit of their own odd flair. And the breakfast-tastic video definitely ups the weirdness factor. You know, for those of you who like your 90s nostalgia with a side of scrambled eggs.

Download the mp3 for free HERE
Morningbell’s website
Morningbell’s MySpace

READ

Sophie Blackall – The Crows of Pearblossom

Sophie Blackall has to be one of our busiest contributors. When she’s not creating beautiful blog posts about her father’s adventures or the Missed Connections of complete strangers, she’s creating amazing illustrations for children’s books. Her latest work is the illustrations for The Crows of Pearblossom, a short story originally written in 1944 by the legendary British author Aldous Huxley. Her vivid artwork gives a modern and whimsical flair to the classic tale.

You can buy the book HERE.

The Digitour & SLAM Theatre

The Digitour feat. The Gregory Brothers

Have you ever wanted to see Internet memes live on stage? As it turns out, the Gregory Brothers (RADAR ep 27 – Auto Tune the News) are among the many YouTube musicians performing as part of the DigiTour—and they’re playing New York on May 1. Go see the show, and then spend the rest of May with musical current events stuck in your head.

Sunday, May 1 · 7:00 pm
Gramercy Theatre
127 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
$18
EVENT INFO

Slam Theatre week 1

SLAM Theatre (RADAR ep 6) is back this spring with another round of their fast-paced playwright and actor competition. It will be going on for the next four weeks, but Sunday is the first round of eliminations for this series, and you don’t want to miss the beginning.

Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am
Sunday, May 1 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm
The Tank NYC
354 West 45th Street
New York, NY
$5 suggested donation
EVENT INFO

@LukeGWilliams

Luke Williams is a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business who specializes in disruptive innovation—a constant stream of unexpected changes and challenges to the old status quo. And in this world where “recession” is the word on everyone’s mind, new, disruptive ideas are more important than ever. While his blog (and book), DISRUPT may have been written with businesses in mind, the ideas he gives in his posts are surprisingly applicable to anyone.

DISRUPT blog
Luke Williams on Twitter

RADAR NYC 4.21.11

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:31:58 GMT

Image by The Oatmeal

LOOK

The American Energy Spectrum

Click here for the full version of this amazing infographic in all its interactive, clickable, mouseover glory, which shows all the ways we generate, use and waste energy in the United States. Aside from the overwhelming ratio of fossil fuels to renewable energy, the real shocking statistic here is just how much energy is wasted—it certainly makes me think twice about leaving the light on when I go for a quick grocery run. This and tons of other gorgeous and enlightening infographics can be found at Good Magazine, a multimedia platform by and for people who want to learn more about the world and make it a better place.

LISTEN

Bear Hands – New EP

After releasing their excellent debut LP, Burning Bush Supper Club last year, Brooklyn’s own Bear Hands are keeping busy with a new EP, High Society, released just last month, available as a digital download. It has the catchy title track, “High Society,” as well as wonderfully dancey remixes of “Tablasaurus” and “Wicksey Boxing,” and an acoustic live rendition of “Tall Trees.” It should make a nice addition to your springtime playlist.

You can pick up the EP HERE
Bear Hands’s website
Bear Hands’s MySpace

READ

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth

Right now, off the top of your head, you probably can’t think of any reasons to punch a dolphin in the mouth. But that’s why this book is so helpful! Matthew Inman writes and draws The Oatmeal, which is part webcomic, part infographic, and always hilarious. And now there’s a book, containing pretty much the entire series, plus several more comics. Mixing topics like grammar, biology, chemistry, and cracked-out Tyrannosaurus Rexes, it just might teach you something.

You can find the book HERE.

Music, Drawing and Poetry

Dr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Tura Satana

Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8) returns this month with a tribute to the exotic dancer and actress Tura Satana. Cult movie fans will recognize that name from the classic exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Sunday, April 24 · 4:00 – 7:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

Noveller at La Poisson Rouge

Sarah Lipstate, a.k.a Noveller (RADAR ep 28 – Before I Die) will be performing for the release party of SMM: Context, a compilation album featuring lush, ambient, experimental music, so of course she’d be an excellent choice for the show. Seating is limited and not guaranteed, so you’ll want to pick up tickets quickly.

Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am
La Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
$12 – $15
EVENT INFO

The Poetry Brothel: Burlesque for Books

Our friends at the Poetry Brothel (RADAR ep 20) will also be making an appearance this month, in celebration of Spring (finally!) being upon us. Perfect for those who like their literature mixed with sultriness.

Sunday, May 1 · 8:00 pm – 1:00 am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk St.
New York, NY 10002
$5 – $15
EVENT INFO

CuteRoulette

Just because you can always use a daily dose of cuteness. CuteRoulette is a lot like ChatRoulette except instead of random webcam chats with random people, you get random video clips of adorable animals. That, and you don’t run the risk of seeing anyone’s genitalia. But providing people with clips and pictures of cute animals is the Internet’s second-most widely used function (you know, after porn). CuteRoulette has just found a way to keep it fresh and spontaneous.

CuteRoulette

RADAR NYC 4.14.11 – feat. Molly Crabapple

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:06:09 GMT

At this year’s DIY Days, I had the pleasure of getting to see Molly Crabapple (RADAR ep 8) speak about how she created Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School and turned it into a global affair with branches of amazing models and artists all over the world. And while she was speaking, I asked myself “why haven’t we gotten her to curate a blog yet? She’d have some amazing stuff.” And she did.

WATCH

Serge Gainsbourg – Poinconneur des Lilas

In this classic clip, legendary French musician Serge Gainsbourg disguises himself as a ticket puncher (“poinconneur”) in the Paris Metro and sings a song about the monotony of the job. It sounds boring, but the song is quite catchy and builds up a rather frantic pace, and the unexpectedly morbid lyrics (at least, for those of us who speak French!) keep it interesting. Definitely something to think about as you ride the subway to work!

LISTEN

Dave van Ronk – “Luang Prabang”

When I first heard this song, my first impression was that of a very dark folk song, or an Irish rebellion chant. It’s actually, of course, American and much more recent—a Vietnam protest song, though the tune is based off of an old English folk song about coal miners. Here, Dave Van Ronk challenges the idea that going to war and sacrificing yourself makes you a “hero”—what good does that actually accomplish? Is it really worth it?

You can find the song on Van Ronk’s album Going Back to Brooklyn, HERE.

READ

Kiki de Montparnasse: The Graphic Biography

You probably recognize the above image, based off the famous photograph by artist Man Ray, though odds are you don’t know much about the model of said photo. Alice Prin, a.k.a. Kiki de Montparnasse, was truly a liberated woman of the 20s: born into poverty but quickly rose up as a muse for many artists, as well as an artist in her own right. Now you can read her story in graphic novel form—because words alone wouldn’t do such an artistic figure justice.

You can find the book on SelfMadeHero

PEN World Voices Festival

Beginning April 25 and continuing for a week, the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature returns for its seventh year. The festival will feature speakers, panels and films, and will discuss the role of literature and writing, and where it all fits into today’s ultra-connected world of social media, WikiLeaks and revolutions in the Middle East. Be sure to see Molly Crabapple’s live painting installation in the plaza of The Standard hotel—she’ll be working on it every day of the festival.

April 25-May 1
The Standard Hotel
848 Washington Street
New York, New York 10014
EVENT INFO

Coilhouse, Biorequiem, and Gala Darling

Coilhouse is part blog, part published magazine, and devoted to the expression of love for alternative culture. Expect to see everything ranging from short films, fashion, photography and art—anything that’s forward thinking yet still has a vintage style.

Zoetica Ebb is one of the co-founders of Coilhouse, and has her own site too, where she posts blogs, art and photos of her own, all done in a very distinctive and beautiful style. You can also buy some of her work as well.

“Hello! I’m Gala” is what greets visitors to the blog of Gala Darling, a bright and sunny corner of the web that celebrates femininity and promotes “radical self-love.” I found it impossible not to feel awesome after reading a few entries—and I’m a guy, not even the target audience.

Transmedia Talk 24 – Him, Her and Them

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:31:46 GMT

RADAR NYC 4.7.11

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:51:39 GMT

Artwork via Bambi Killers

WATCH

Making the Geeky Bar Top

RM100: Geeky Bar Top from ReadyMade Magazine on Vimeo.

Oh this is wonderful. This little video from ReadyMade Magazine shows how they made a gorgeous bar top from some wood, paint, glass, and a ton of old keyboard keys, holding true to the DIY aesthetic while making something surprisingly beautiful from recycled material. You may also recognize Shantell Martin (RADAR ep 26 – Hidden Oras) near the end, modeling with the finished table (always a part of something cool; she shot the video as well!) And I have to say, I’m digging the soundtrack to the video as well – “Wild Palms” by Night Gallery.

More info HERE

LISTEN

Reading Rainbow – “Cover the Sky”

Philadelphia’s Reading Rainbow (RADAR ep 38 – Weathervane) has a lovely new single coming out on a limited edition 7” record. But in this age of try-before-you-buy, you can listen to it right now through your Internet tubes! Such modern technology magic, but the song itself will take you back to a 60s beach party, full of hazy guitars, catchy riffs and dreamy vocal harmonies. Adding to the retro feel, the 400 copies will released with “juke box” labels. You may want to go ahead and preorder before it’s officially released next week.

Listen to “Cover the Sky” HERE.
Reading Rainbow on MySpace
Reading Rainbow’s website

READ

An Absolutely Phony Guide on How to Write More Good

“World War” should be used only for conflicts involving countries on at least three continents. For large-scale battles against clones, killer tomatoes, or a fifty-foot woman, use “attack” instead.
The Bureau Chiefs, on proper usage

This is perfect for the Twitter-addicted grammar snob who loves irony. Designed to help readers “embrace, not resist, the lowering of standards for the written word,” this book is written by the people behind the Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter, and presented as, well, a fake AP Stylebook, with a healthy dose of snark. And every aspiring writer could use more snark.

You can find the book HERE
Fake AP Stylebook on Twitter

Bambi Killers and F5 Fest

Happy F5 April 15 – 16 2011 by Hi-Sim from F5 on Vimeo.

Bambi Killers Benefit for Japan & Brooklyn Show

It looks like Bambi Killers (RADAR ep 12) are back in New York, and they have not one, but two shows this weekend! The first show, in Manhattan, is a benefit for the recent tragic disaster in Japan, with all proceeds going to help those affected by it. The show the following night is in Brooklyn.

Benefit for Japan
Friday, April 8 · 9:30pm
The Delancey
168 Delancey Street
New York, NY
$5
EVENT INFO

Brooklyn Show
Saturday, April 9 · 11:00pm
I Made An Art Gallery
53 Richard Street
Brooklyn, NY
EVENT INFO

F5 Fest

The following week, look for contributors Shantell Martin, Eclectic Method, and Kid Koala at F5 Fest, a nonprofit festival that seeks to unite people and inspire change through art, design and entertainment. Expect to see films, speakers, and lots of partying.

Friday-Saturday, April 15-16 · 3:00 pm
Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
$280-$480
EVENT INFO

Drawn from my Father’s Adventures

“Drawn from my Father’s Adventures” is the newest blog from artist Sophie Blackall, which she now maintains in addition to her Missed Connections (RADAR ep 16) blog. Inspired by the many stories from her father’s eventful and well-traveled life. Each post consists of a story from his point of view, and a picture by Sophie that captures the story in an image. It’s still fairly new, so there aren’t many posts yet, but the stories already posted range from gas mask drills in World War II Britain to the ordeals of getting a Chinese visa in the 60s. I, for one, can’t wait to see what adventure is posted next.

Drawn from my Father’s Adventues

RADAR NYC 3.31.11 feat. Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:22:21 GMT

This week, we let Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski, founders of the Poetry Brothel (RADAR ep 20) curate our blog and give us an insight into what interests them at the moment. What follows is a series of performers who, like the Poetry Brothel, go beyond the traditional boundaries of their fields of work and create something truly unique.

WATCH

Salvador Dali on “What’s My Line?”

Start your day with a bowl of surreal. I’ve been on a bit of a Salvador Dali kick lately, and this clip just further proves his awesomeness. Watch as he utterly stumps all of these 50s game show contestants, as he quite honestly answers each of their questions with a laconic “yes.” After a while, the contestants get flustered and the announcer can’t hold in his laughter. The best part though, comes around the end when you can pinpoint the exact moment one woman has an epiphany. Listen for her “oh!” around 8:30.

LISTEN

Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring

The second album from the British indie folk band Noah and the Whale serves as a soundtrack to the breakup between lead singer Charlie Fink and his girlfriend, though really, the themes explored here could apply to any breakup. As a result, the progression of songs has a theatrical feel, as if it could have been played in its entirety in a theatre (and the gorgeous string sections, which come out most prominently in the two instrumental pieces, certainly help). Then there’s the choral piece, “Love of an Orchestra,” which plays up the theatrics even further. The album tells a complete story, full of highs and lows, and should serve as a great, optimistic soundtrack to this year’s first days of spring.

Noah and the Whale on Myspace
You can buy the album HERE

READ

Karen Abbott – American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee

In this biography, Karen Abbott tells the story of burlesque performer, actress and writer Gypsy Rose Lee against the backdrop of the Great Depression. But rather than a dry, historical take or a romanticized tale, Abbott presents Lee as a woman pursuing the American Dream, at a time when it was most difficult to do so. She clearly did her research, giving portraits of the glamorous public life and the turbulent private life of a legendary entertainer.

You can buy the book HERE

Sleep No More

I’ve been hearing so much about this lately. “Sleep No More” is a production by the British theater company Punchdrunk which combines Shakespeare and Hitchcock into an immersive theatre-noir experience. Taking place in the old McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea, audience members wander through the building as the story unfolds before them. With the world of theater constantly changing, this is definitely a leap forward in creative storytelling. Side note: you may want to snatch up tickets while you can; they seem to be going pretty quick.

Ongoing through May 7
The McKittrick Hotel
530 West 27th Street
New York, New York 10001
EVENT INFO

The Poetry Brothel

And what better time than now to follow the Poetry Brothel itself? Their next event, Cabaret Voltaire, is coming up this weekend and, similar to the aforementioned “Sleep No More,” gives the audience a chance to be more than spectators, but to interact and become part of the performance itself.

Poetry Brothel’s website
Poetry Brothel on Twitter

RADAR NYC 3.24.11

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:28:07 GMT

Artwork by Cynthia Von Buhler via Dr. Sketchy’s

WATCH

Parts + Labor

Parts + Labor from Sean O'Malley on Vimeo.

Parts + Labor is a cute short film made by Los Angeles-based filmmaker Sean O’Malley and starring Barak Hardley and Tipper Newton. In it, a girl on a budget tries to get her motorbike fixed and strikes up a conversation with the mechanic. What follows is a simple yet extremely well made and funny short about a short but sweet connection between two people. It’s nice to see a comedy short that feels natural and doesn’t rely so much on awkwardness as similar films tend to do. If you’ve been having a nasty day so far, this should quickly turn it around.

LISTEN

Javelin – Canyon Candy

Electro/hip-hop duo Javelin (RADAR ep 27 – Auto-Tune the News) just wrapped up their latest 10” entitled Canyon Candy, which will be out later this spring. Their next project will be a film to go along with it—a surreal, epic western, shot in Brooklyn of all places (but if the final product is anything like the preview video, it should be quite amazing). They’ll be shooting it this April, and you can actually help out—they launched a Kickstarter campaign, and as of today they’re quite close to reaching their $9500 goal. Maybe your pledge will be the one that accomplishes that feat? Either way, there’s also something cool in it for you—a $25 pledge gets you the full album on a sheriff’s badge Playbutton.

Javelin on MySpace
Javelin’s website

READ

Thought Catalog

Thought Catalog is exactly what it sounds like: a catalog of thoughts. It’s a regularly-updated site where writers from all walks of life, from bloggers to published journalists, publish short opinion pieces on various subjects, ranging from Facebook to the New York City Subway to house parties. The reflections are more cultural than political, and clever without being pretentious, and the pieces are packaged together on a clean, well-designed site that doesn’t inundate the reader with ads. Take a look; odds are you’ll find something that interests you on the first page.

Thought Catalog
Thought Catalog on Twitter

Springtime Events in New York City

Now that the snow’s all thawed and everyone’s back from SXSW, spring has finally arrived in New York! And that can only mean one thing: funny, sexy pillow fights?

Dr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Cynthia Von Buhler

Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8) is back, and what better way to celebrate spring than showing off your art skills? This Sunday’s show features doing a tribute to artist Cynthia Von Buhler.

Sunday, March 27 · 4:00pm – 6:45pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

G.L.O.C. Launch Party

When Glennis McMurray (RADAR ep 2 – I Eat Pandas) curated for us a while back, we mentioned her new project G.L.O.C. (Gorgeous Ladies of Comedy). Now that the website TheGLOC.net has launched, it’s time for a party! Expect to see some hilarious comedy from some of the funniest women out there, as well as some other surprises.

Thursday, March 31 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm
92Y Tribeca
200 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
$6
EVENT INFO

Newmindspace Pillow Fight NYC 2011

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Newmindspace (RADAR ep 10), but they’ve returned with a new website and big plans for the 4th annual Pillow Fight Day! Bring your own feather-free pillow and meet at Union Square for the pillow battle of a lifetime.

Saturday, April 2 · 3:00 pm
Union Square
E. 14th St. & Broadway
New York, NY
EVENT INFO

Regretsy

You know, when I used to think of Etsy, I always thought of cute things, like polka dotted dresses and hipster-ish girls selling scarves and ribbons and such. So I was not prepared for what lurking horrors awaited me on Regretsy. And by “lurking horrors” I mean things like “vegan” soap made with human breast milk, ball-exposing man thongs, and actual dead mice dried up (mummified?) and made into craft… things. I’m actually not sure what the mouse things are, except terrifying, and a constant reminder of one’s own mortality—which can be yours for $12.00! Regretsy does us all the service of digging deep into the bizarre, frightening, and occasionally depressing world of the very worst stuff people try to hawk on Etsy, and blogs it to the world with a healthy dose of snark.

Regretsy (occasionally NSFW)

RADAR NYC 3.10.11

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:26:44 GMT

Image by Natasha Allegri

LOOK

Diana Eng’s new line

Diana Eng’s profile (RADAR ep 31 – Fairytale Fashion) just keeps rising and rising in the fashion world. And now she’s released her first line to the public—a collection of Smart Scarves, and they each showcase what she does best: combine hip fashion with science geekery. Using inspiration from things like Fibonacci numbers and the biometric Miura Ori structure, she’s once again created beauty from brains. Who says geeks can’t be fashionable?

Diana Eng’s website

LISTEN

The Gregory Brothers and Charlie Sheen – “Winning”

In the lightning fast world of Internet memes, no one can seize on a cultural phenomenon quite like our friends at Auto-Tune the News (RADAR ep 27). And in terms of satirizing potential, Charlie Sheen’s spectacular crash and burn is a gold mine. So it was only inevitable that the Gregory Brothers would take on the task. The above video does not disappoint. Even if you’ve been following the news and are suffering from Sheen overload, this could be the Sheen video to end all Sheen videos.

Schmoyoho Youtube Page

READ

Missed Connections Interview

Personal anecdote time: I posted a Missed Connection once. I was at a Sleigh Bells concert and met a girl with awesome hair, kind of like the singer La Roux (I have weird taste, don’t ask). And while I never heard back on the ad, I did end up randomly running into her on a dating site. But there is something about missed connections—each one’s a tiny love story with mystery, humor, and artistic potential. In this interview, Sophie Blackall (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) talks for a bit with NPR about some of her experiences with her Craigslist-based artwork.

Read the interview HERE
Missed Connections Blog

Mother Mother at Knitting Factory

Many people, including a lot of our contributors, will be spending the next week in the Lone Star State for Austin’s South by Southwest Festival. But for those of us who can’t make it out, our own music supervisor JC Scruggs helped put together a show at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory. Mother Mother is an amazing Canadian indie rock band with some awesomely catchy and crazy songs that should get you dancing wildly this Friday night. And make sure to get there early for opening acts Elijah Bonfire (ex-Stars of Track and Field) and Bajzel, a one-man Polish act who Newsweek calls the Polish Beck, “only better.”

Friday March 11 · Doors @ 8:00/Show @ 8:30 pm
Knitting Factory
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$10.00 – $12.00
EVENT INFO

FOLLOW

@natazilla

A few years ago, Natasha Allegri drew a journal comic on Livejournal that I followed pretty religiously. She discontinued it after a while, and kind of disappeared for a few years, only to return pretty recently as an artist on the show Adventure Time, of all places. Now she has a Tumblr, where her original artwork and comics have returned to the Internet once again, and it’s all come full circle. Expect to see some gorgeous portraits, cute cartoony drawings, and more hilarious journal comics.

natazilla on Tumblr
@natazilla on Twitter

DIY DAYS NYC join the discussion

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 19:28:42 GMT

Tomorrow from 10am to 5pm EST we’ll be holding our 8th DIY DAYS event at the New Shool in NYC. We have an exciting lineup of talks and workshops. For those who can’t attend in person we’ll be streaming and we welcome everyone to checkout the conference dashboard .

DIY DAYS NYC is part of the WorkBook Project’s efforts to provide resources and networking to the creative community. If you’re interested in getting involved with the WorkBook Project or DIY DAYS please contact us work [@] workbookproject dot com

RADAR NYC 2.24.11

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:11:01 GMT

Image by Dean Haspiel

WATCH

Dean Haspiel – The Angel

Dean Haspiel’s “THE ANGEL” from Daniel J. Kramer on Vimeo.

Yeah, I don’t know about you guys, but my recently single self spent Valentine’s Day at an event called “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” a night of speed dating to the soundtrack of the Smiths. But as upbeat and happy-go-lucky as that sounds, for some people Valentine’s Day can be kind of tragic. But luckily, for those people (and anyone else who appreciates amazing artwork and a good story), Dean Haspiel (RADAR ep 1 – Next Door Neighbor) created “The Angel,” an impressive motion comic with a soundtrack by Moby. Rather than a voiceover, the story is told by typography slowly revealed over time, which creates quite a powerful experience and a wholly satisfying story.

LA Times Article on Haspiel’s motion comic HERE

LISTEN

Floating Action – Desert Etiquette LP

Floating Action (RADAR ep 38 – Weathervane) is the recording name of Seth Kauffman, a singer-songwriter based in Black Mountain, North Carolina. This week he released his third album, Desert Etiquette, and it’s mesmerizing. It’s really hard to believe it’s the work of just one guy. This album sounds like a mix of classic rock, folk, a bit of reggae, and a few other genres thrown in for good measure, all blended together expertly through production that manages to sound both crisp and warm. It’s available on the website of label Park the Van, as well as on iTunes.

Floating Action on MySpace

READ

Mike Birbiglia – Sleepwalk With Me

Sleep disorders are Serious Business and nothing to laugh about—except when sleepwalking causes a guy to leap through and shatter a La Quinta Inn window and run across the parking lot, relatively unscathed. This is one of the many stories in the new book by comedian Mike Birbiglia, a frequent contributor at NYC’s The Moth and NPR’s This American Life, who manages to turn his many odd misfortunes into hilarious stories. So one could say that either the stuff that happens to him is funnier than most people’s problems, or he’s just a really good storyteller. I say both.

The book is available HERE

Choose Your Own Weekend Adventure

Once again, there’s a lot going on in the worlds of our contributors. Fortunately for you, you’re totally invited to join them in their adventures.

URDB World Record Appreciation Society #21: Blackjack!

Do you like watching people do odd things on stage, not for money, but for glory? The Universal Records Database (RADAR ep 4) is on a mission to capture that glory, under the mantra that everyone is the world’s best at something. This Thursday, 10 people will make their attempts to set their own records, and you can be there to witness them make history.

Thursday, February 24 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm
Littlefield
622 Degraw Street (between 3rd and 4th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY
Advance tickets $5
EVENT INFO

Story Pirates Main Stage Show

It’s amazing just how creative kids can be. They don’t hold anything back. On Saturday, you can see their creative minds in action at the Story Pirates (RADAR ep 30) Main Stage show, where the Pirates will act out stories written by elementary students. I mean, where else could you see a stage show about Tickle Monsters?

Saturday, February 26 · 2:00 pm
The Drama Book Shop
250 West 40th St. (between 7th and 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10018
$15
EVENT INFO

Dr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Transmetropolitan

Any time is a good time for people to get together and draw sexy pictures; that’s why Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8) has become so successful. But this time it’s in support of a new art book inspired by Transmetropolitan, of which Dr. Sketchy’s founder Molly Crabapple is a contributor.

Sunday, February 27 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

NastyCute

If there are two things that the Internet is all about, it’s gross-out humor and pictures of adorable animals. Surely these things couldn’t be any more different, right? I mean, there’s no way you could possibly combine—oh wait, Eliza Skinner just did. We covered Glennis McMurray, the other half of I Eat Pandas (RADAR ep 2) a couple weeks ago, and now it’s Eliza’s turn. She’s made a blog of translating the thoughts of all those cute animals for us, and their thoughts are…surprisingly vulgar. It’s a surprisingly genius concept I’m surprised no one’s thought of before. And best of all, it’s updated every day, for your recommended daily dose of cuteness + vulgarity.

NastyCute website
Eliza Skinner’s other blog

RADAR NYC 2.17.11 – feat. Mary Mattingly

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:36:24 GMT

This week’s installment RADAR NYC is brought to you by Mary Mattingly (RADAR ep 17 – Waterpod), a well-known New York-based visual artist who uses a variety of different mediums from photography to living installations to explore themes of different relationships. She shared with us some things that inspire her and offer a glimpse into her world, including a book from a famous experimental composer, an Italian organization that focuses on smart city planning, and an avant-garde turntablist from Peru. And while they all come from very different backgrounds, each of the artists she chose have something in common – they all find creative and brilliant ways to reevaluate things that are part of our everyday lives, from time to silence to the city itself.

WATCH

Christian Marclay – “The Clock”

This is kind of amazing. Would you watch a clock for 24 hours straight? What if it was the most captivating clock ever? Artist Christian Marclay spliced together thousands of film clips from across the history of cinema, each one referencing a different moment in the day. So think of whenever a movie character looks at his or her watch, or mentions what time it is—Marclay has somehow crafted an entire day out of these moments, and presents it in real time, as a living clock. So if you tune in at 8:37 a.m., that’s what time it will be for the characters on screen. The Clock will be showing at the Paula Cooper Gallery until February 19.

“The Clock” at the Paula Cooper Gallery

LISTEN

Frazey Ford – “Blue Streak Mama”

Frazey Ford has lived quite an interesting life. Born in a Canadian commune in the late 70s, she spent the 80s traveling Asia with her family. Then in the late 90s, she formed the Canadian band The Be Good Tanyas, which split in 2008. And just last year, she released her debut solo album, Obadiah. The album is full of wonderful soulful folk (or is it folky soul?) that’s definitely worth a full listen, but the song “Blue Streak Mama” stands out particularly well. It has a distinctive blues-rock feel to it, sort of like a female-fronted Black Keys. But with more stripped-back instrumentation, the amazing vocals and lyrics take center stage and really shine through.

Free download available at Frazey Ford’s Myspace

READ

John Cage – “Silence: Lectures and Writings”

I have nothing to say/ and I am saying it/ and that is poetry/ as I need it.
-John Cage, “Lecture on Nothing” (1949)

Composer John Cage was a pioneer of American experimental music and one of the most influential American composers of the 20th Century. His most famous composition, 4’33”, consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds without a note being played, and instead encourages the listener to focus on the sounds of the environment as it is played. Silence is Cage’s first book, published in 1961, made up of a collection of essays and lectures he wrote from 1939 to 1961, including “Lecture on Nothing,” quoted above. It is also his best known book, in which he discusses the nature of writing and ideas.

You can buy the book HERE

Turntable Artist Maria Chavez at The Stone

Maria Chavez Live 11-16-10 from Forest Christenson on Vimeo.

Maria Chavez is a Brooklyn-based experimental turntablist from Peru. She uses both new and broken needles (she calls them “pencils of sound”) on different records to create live sound installations, of which no two are ever exactly alike. Above is a live video of Chavez at a show in Queens last November. You can see her use a variety of different objects to create her sound, including (very) broken records, showing that a turntablist can many things beyond getting people onto the dance floor. She’ll be joined by harpist Shelley Burgon at The Stone on March 1.

Tuesday, March 1 · 8:00 pm
The Stone
East 2nd Street @ Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
EVENT INFO

cluster.eu

As we make our way through the 21st Century, one important issue for all urban-dwellers is the ever-growing and changing landscape of cities. Any New Yorker can attest that cities continue to grow quite rapidly. Cluster is a non-profit organization based in Turin, Italy, which seeks to answer these questions, looking for innovative and creative ways to plan and design modern cities. Their goal, to improve and revitalize urban life, has already helped Turin to become a cultural center in northwest Italy, and now they want to reach out to other cities in Europe and beyond, from improving drinking water in Haiti to experimental architecture in Brazil.

Follow Cluster HERE.

Transmedia Talk Podcast – Episode 18

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:40:51 GMT

Welcome to Transmedia Talk, a new podcast covering all things Story. Transmedia Talk is co-hosted by Nick Braccia, Dee Cook, and Haley Moore and looks to shed light on the topic of transmedia storytelling with commentary, interviews and tips on how storytelling is moving into the 21st century. Download | Subscribe with iTunes Running Time: 55:24 Hosts: Nick Braccia from Culture Hacker Dee Cook from Dog Tale Media Haley Moore and Host Emeritus Robert Pratten from Transmedia Storyteller Special Guest: Lance Weiler creator of Pandemic 1.0. Filmmaker and story architect Lance Weiler joins us to talk about his transmedia experience Pandemic 1.0, which ran during this year’s Sundance Film Festival. From This Episode: ‘Pandemic 41.410806, -75.654259′, the short film shown at Sundance alongside the Pandemic 1.0 experience. How I Learned to Start a Pandemic -Lance walks us through the Pandemic 1.0 experience. Lance gives us a tour of the “memorial room” in the basement of Pandemic’s headquarters at Sundance. Lance talks about his approach to storytelling in an interview with Christine Vachon and Ted Hope. Note: We were unable to record the show last week due to inclement weather and blackouts, so in the audio of Episode 18, we accidentally refer to this as Episode 19. We apologize for the error.

RADAR NYC 2.3.11

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:07:19 GMT

Photo by mikehedge.com

WATCH

Olek and the Charging Bull on Wall Street

OLEK AND THE CHARGING BULL ON WALL STREET from olek on Vimeo.

Olek seems to be some sort of knitting goddess. You worship her now! Just kidding. But in all honesty, how can you take your eyes away from the sheer eccentricity that is wrapping a monument in crochet work. That’s some crazy stuff. It’s great to see that the New Yorkers that were stumbling around Wall St. in the wee hours weren’t afraid to approach this woman on a mission. Seeing this makes me want to pick up some needles and knit one, pearl two. Whatever that means. I’m sure this will inspire some sort of knitting craze. Pity if it doesn’t.

Olek’s website

LISTEN

Noveller Podcast on WNYC

Sarah Lipstate, a.k.a. Noveller (RADAR ep 28 – Before I Die) came in for a live session and interview on WNYC this past Monday, Jan 31. If you weren’t lucky enough to listen then, her appearance is now available as a podcast you can listen to right now. In the interview, she discusses the rising prominence of female guitarists, the background of her recording name, and the various pieces of gear she uses for her music. She also plays two beautifully sweeping and ambient songs, which should definitely add some much-needed warmth to a cold winter’s day.

Listen to the podcast HERE
Noveller’s website
Noveller’s MySpace

READ

Pandemic 1.0: Interviews with Lance Weiler

This year, there was a Pandemic at Sundance Festival. Workbook Project founder Lance Weiler unleased Pandemic 1.0, a transmedia experience involving various aspects both online and offline, where players could work to stop a global pandemic that plays out like an apocalyptic supervirus. Centered around a short film and an upcoming feature, Hope is Missing, the project told a story through a variety of mediums, including Twitter, and various story objects planted throughout Park City. In the two interviews, Weiler discusses the project, what he hopes to accomplish from it, and the research and development involved in Pandemic 1.0 and Hope is Missing.

Wall Street Journal interview HERE
Sundance interview HERE

How I Learned to Start a Pandemic from Turnstyle Video on Vimeo.

Choose Your Own Valentine’s Adventure

It seems like our contributors are in the mood for love this Valentine’s Day. And whether you’re a happy couple or forever alone, there’s no reason to stay in this year.

Dr. Sketchy’s Does Valentines Day

If your idea of Valentine’s love is cabaret performance art mixed with your own artistic expression, Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR ep 8) has a special Valentine’s installment of their Anti-Art School.

Sunday, Feb 13 · 4:00 – 7:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$10 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

The Poetry Brothel: Milonga

For those of you with a more poetic idea of love, but still have a taste for the cabaret, the Poetry Brothel (RADAR ep 20) presents Milonga, a Valentine’s edition of their inventive poetry readings.

Sunday, Feb 13 · 8:00 pm – 1:00 am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk St.
New York, NY 10002
$5 – $15
EVENT INFO

Missed Connections: A Love in Transit Party

And for those whose idea of romance involves falling for a beautiful stranger on the subway, Sophie Blackall (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) invites you to find your Missed Connection at the New York Transit Museum.

Monday Feb 14 · 6:00 – 8:00 pm
New York Transit Museum
130 Livingston St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Free
EVENT INFO

@factory_25

Factory25 dredges up the very best and the most interesting of the art/music news and plugs it into their twitter feed. This Brooklyn based film and music label is on top of the the happenings in the ever eccentric and changing industry of expression. Their linked articles are from acclaimed sources, and it is so convenient having them just show up on your feed. Factory25 does all the searching for you. It is a true service for us all.

Factory25’s website
@factory_25 on Twitter

Lone Wolf and Cub – RADAR S4 Ep 42 [vid]

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 15:28:08 GMT

(picture from Sodafine – Brooklyn)

Suzanne (Cub) Rogaleski grew tired of choreographing her trapeze act to popular music and canned sounds. Ryan (Lone Wolf) Sawyer was looking to showcase a more avant-garde side of his drumming. Born out of need for each to perform original material while challenging their own artistry, Lone Wolf and Cub is a collaboration that defies category. And while they might seem like two disparate acts, the two of them are able to communicate with each other through a common language of painting. Their canvases act as visual road maps while they perform so that they are fully able to understand where each other is heading. Performing in unison, they invite their audience to share their childlike wonder and inspiration.

Relevant sites:

Ryan Lone Wolf Sawyer

Credits:

CREATED by Lance Weiler & Alex Johnson
DIRECTOR Josh Cramer
EDITOR Jawad Metni
DP Jen Schneider
SEGMENT PRODUCER Janine Saunders
POST PRODUCTION House of Trim
FEATURED MUSIC by:
Chica Vas “Te Quiero”

RADAR NYC – 1.10.11

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:48:43 GMT

WATCH

Shantell Martin – Tape 4 Fun

Our friend Shantell Martin (RADAR ep 26 – Hidden Oras) is at it again, and perhaps she was a bit inspired by fellow RADAR contributor Aakash Nihalani and his preferred medium of brightly colored tape. So what you get in this video is a time lapse of Shantell and some of her friends putting together and taking apart a beautiful mural on the ground. And maybe I’m a bit slow, but it took me a few views to realize the video is actually in reverse. Mind = blown.

Shantell Martin’s website

LISTEN

Lavalier – “Twilight Lovebite” music video

"Twilight Lovebite" (official)

Lavalier | Myspace Video

We haven’t heard much from Lavalier (RADAR ep 16 – Missed Connections) lately, but clearly they’ve been busy. Their video for their new single, “Twilight Lovebite” seems to be less about the bafflingly popular vampire series and more in line with the weirder old episodes of The Twilight Zone. More specifically, it seems to be a trippy combination of The Twilight Zone, The Shining, and a video game from the 70s. And maybe you shouldn’t watch it before going to bed…

Lavalier’s MySpace

READ

The Book of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

If you’re a grammar snob like me, taking the time to make sure even your text messages use proper spelling and grammar, then you probably know what it’s like to seethe with quiet rage every time you see a sign with quotation marks where they simply should not be present. Quotation marks are quite a loaded piece of punctuation—they tend to suggest sarcasm, disbelief, or suspicion when used for something other than actually quoting someone. This book, as well as the blog it is based on, highlight the strangest and most out of place instances of quotation marks we see every day. It should definitely be an “interesting” read.

You can buy the book HERE
The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

SLAM Theatre Returns

After being quiet for a while, SLAM Theatre (RADAR ep 6) is back this month! The spontaneous play writing and acting competition is open for everyone–so if you are an actor or writer, you just might get to participate. The first 10 scripts through the door compete, and actors may drop their names into a hat. Of course, anyone is also welcome as an audience member as well. This session is actually five weeks long, meeting every Sunday night, same time and place–four weeks of competition, with the fifth week showcasing the champion. It began last night, but you can still check out the rest of the show.

Begins Sunday January 9 · 7:00 pm
Downstairs at the Tank Theatre
354 West 45th St. at 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10036
EVENT INFO

FOLLOW

@DianaEng

Diana Eng (RADAR ep 31 – Fairytale Fashion) has been busy. With her newfound success as a designer who creates whimsical fashions using math and technology, she’s gained recognition from tech geeks and fashionistas alike. She’ll even be a curator at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this year. And recently, she launched a new website for her brand, which features a blog on how she designs and creates her work.

Diana Eng’s blog
@DianaEng on Twitter

PULSE – Heeb Magazine

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:05:06 GMT

Happy Hanukkah! And what better week to celebrate Jewish New Yorkers by showcasing Heeb Magazine? Started in Brooklyn (where else?) in 2001, it continues a long line of cheeky, self-deprecating Jewish comedy for a young, urban Generation Y audience.

And seriously, I mean it when I say self-deprecating. For example, for people who want to get involved in the publication, there’s a section titled “Join the Conspiracy.” The magazine covers arts, music, politics and culture, though the subjects don’t necessarily have to be Jewish themselves. You can find an article about Kanye West’s new album right next to one about an expensive, “swanky” menorah.

It’s not all silliness though. One informative article, titled “Jews Aren’t Actually Racists: Who Knew?” discusses the little-known interactions between Jewish Americans and Native Americans in the Old West. They also include sections called “Chosen Books,” “Chosen Music” and “Chosen Video,” where they feature a profile on various musicians, books or videos.

There’s also the “Heeb 100,” which features short articles on “Jews (and half-Jews) who are making a difference” in fields such as art, music, comedy, activism and entrepreneurship. Another semi-regular installment is “Gratuitous Jewess.” It’s exactly what it sounds like: photos and a profile of a rather beautiful young Jewish woman, though more than just a pretty face. The current honoree, Leyla Leidecker, is a boxer, filmmaker and model.

And it’s really not just a magazine. Heeb also organizes plenty of events: On December 21, RADAR contributors Molly Crabapple and Dean Haspiel will be among the performers at Heeb Storytelling: The Live Comics Edition at Joe’s Pub, where the creators will project live, graphic novel style comics on a big screen. And on Christmas Eve, Heebonism, at Fontana’s, promises to bring “Jews and gentiles together in celebration of that nice Jewish boy’s 2010th birthday.” EVENT INFO

That last event probably sums up Heeb Magazine the best: you don’t have to be Jewish to get a kick out of it, but it helps to be in on “the conspiracy.”

RADAR NYC – feat. Shantell Martin

Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:42:59 GMT

For this installment of RADAR NYC, we asked our contributor Shantell Martin (RADAR ep 26 – Hidden Oras) to curate a blog post and send in what she’s into at the moment. She sent us back some really great content, and a lot of it touches on similar themes to those in her own work, which you can see in her episode. Here, you’ll find a lot of deep questions about consciousness, awareness and the universe, and the connections between them all.

WATCH

Gregg Braden – The Holographic Nature of The Universe

This video features a speech by author Gregg Braden in which he says that our collective consciousness is holographic in nature; that is, a pattern which is part of a larger pattern, which is part of an even larger pattern, and so on, like how cells are part of a larger organism. And if one piece of that pattern changes, it would allow for the rest of the pattern to adapt. Honestly, he can explain it much better than I can, and whether you ultimately agree or not, it definitely makes for an interesting listen.

LISTEN

Claude VonStroke

Claude VonStroke is a San Francisco-based DJ originally from Detroit who wants to have fun rather than look cool, and encourages his listeners to do the same at his gigs. It’s definitely difficult to stand around while listening to his music; it’s the kind of house techno that demands a dance party. Starting off as a filmmaker, in 2005 he started his “dirtybird” label, which has released over 40 EPs as well as two of his own albums, including his latest album “Bird Brain.”

Claude VonStroke’s MySpace
Claude VonStroke at dirtybird

READ

Lynne McTaggart “The Intention Experiment”

Lynne McTaggart is an award-winning science journalist who studies human consciousness. Her latest book is a scientific detective story in which readers explore the furthest reaches of consciousness. A follow-up to her previous book, The Field, which explored an interconnected universe and scientific explanations for phenomena such as ESP and alternative medicine, her new book shows readers how to incorporate these things into their own lives. The book is connected to its website, in which readers can coordinate their involvement and track results as part of the experiment.

You can buy the book HERE

PSFK SALON at Soho House NY

PSFK is a trends research and innovation company for creative business. PSFK SALON is an event at Soho House NY in which participants and presenters will examine innovative ideas around happiness. The event includes breakfast, plenty of coffee, and speakers such as Sarah Forbes, curator of the Museum of Sex. After the presentations, the presenters will have a Q&A with the audience.

Tuesday, Nov 30 · 8:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Soho House NY
29-35 9th Ave
New York, NY 10014
$45
EVENT INFO

FOLLOW

Black Angels NYC

In a stark contrast to last week’s Follow (What White Chicks Cherish), Black Angels NYC is a blog that celebrates successful and beautiful Black women in New York. At first glance it may look like simply a lot of pretty pictures, it goes deeper than that, with content ranging from quotes from Maya Angelou to an article about Willow Smith and her infectious hit song “Whip My Hair.” If this blog doesn’t make you love living in New York (or want to move here) I don’t know what will.

Black Angels NYC Tumblr

RADAR NYC – 11.19.10

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:38:25 GMT

WATCH

Fluid Dress – Charlie Bucket

Fluid Dress from Charlie Bucket

Diana Eng did not make this dress, but you can bet she’d be proud of Charlie Bucket, the girl who did. But whether she was inspired by our contributor or not, it’s quite pretty, and makes for a nice video to watch too. She made it by knitting together 600 ft of tubing and pumping colored water and air through it. It’s surprisingly simple for something so impressive.

Charlie’s Vimeo Channel
Charlie’s Website

LISTEN

Bear Hands – New Album

We’ve mentioned Bear Hands (music featured in RADAR 37 – Dickchicken) before, but this time they’re come out with their debut LP, and it’s just too good not to mention. Burning Bush Supper Club, with its confusing mouthful of a title, is full of a diverse set of songs that really showcase the band’s wide range. Perky power pop, chunky lo-fi, lush ambient songs, and even a bit of orchestral baroque pop blend together effortlessly with the help of Dylan Rau’s energetic vocals. Bear Hands is definitely one of the names in indie pop you’ll be hearing a lot in the near future. You can pick up the album from Back Street Merch HERE

READ

IAVA 6 Word Memoirs – Smith Magazine

Smith Magazine is an online magazine that lets its readers create its content. The site features different story projects, which give readers an opportunity and a space to share something important to them. Six Word Memoirs, the site’s biggest feature, has people sum up their life, or part of it, in six words. This clearly requires much more thought than the average tweet! But as a result, these can be funny, thought-provoking, or just plain mysterious. Most recently, for Veteran’s Day, Smith Magazine teamed up with IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) to have readers share six words on coming home from war. The resulting responses range everywhere from powerful to heartbreaking to darkly comedic, and gives us a chance to see the world through the eyes of those who fight for their country.

IAVA Six Words

URDB

The URDB (RADAR ep 4 – Universal Record Database) is at it again, to see how many more records they can break. They just have to be the best at everything, don’t they? Everything entertaining at least. Whether or not you have a record of your own you’d like to go for, this should definitely be a show to see things you won’t see anywhere else, such as ‘Most Cocktail Umbrellas Fit In Hair In One Minute’ or ‘Most Bananas Fit In A Pair Of Pants At Once.’ Brace yourself.

Wed, Dec 1 · 9:30pm
Joe’s Pub
425 LAFAYETTE STREET
NEW YORK
$12
EVENT INFO

What White Chicks Cherish

What White Chicks Cherish seems at first like a spin off of the immensely popular Stuff White People Like… and that may be what it is. But it gets a bit more specific and a lot more in depth. It’s a blog by a frustrated male about his experiences observing the little things that make white girls overflow with excitement. Things like “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey and “unattractive, beige Mom-bras,” and people like Chelsea Handler, are a few of the things to expect. There’s also a recurring feature on the White Chick of the Week, which features an archetypal white chick to see how well she fits the stereotypes. And while it may seem like it could be insulting at first glance, the author, Mark P, has attracted a surprising number of white girl fans. Maybe that was his plan all along…

http://whatwhitechickscherish.blogspot.com/

The Value of Story: Michael Margolis

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:42:17 GMT

Michael Margolis is the President of Get Storied, an education company that teaches people how to feel, think, and see in narratives. As an evangelist for storytelling and the creative process, Michael works with clients ranging from Audubon, Omnicom, and Zappos.com . Michael is also author of Believe Me: a Storytelling Manifesto for Change-makers and Innovators, which is available as a complimentary digital download.

WorkBook Project: How do you see storytellers adapting to changes in authorship and the realities of a participatory culture?

Michael Margolis: Ownership is a false and outmoded concept. If you’re a Digital Native, you accept that everything you do online is recorded, and therefore shareable. You naturally borrow, adapt, and remix. Anyone who is creatively using the web, can’t help but recycle existing ideas, graphics, and concepts. It’s just inevitable. In a word of infinite knowledge, everything is a derivative in some fashion. We have to learn to let our egos get out of the way.

WBP: What are some of the interesting approaches that you’ve seen in regards to storytellers embracing these changes in authorship?

MM: Don’t get me wrong, we all deserve to be compensated for our hard work and efforts. What people will pay for is packaging the idea in a variety of formats, from freemium content to deluxe packages and premium experiences.

Especially if you’re trying to make a name for yourself. Since trust is low, you have to break through the noise and lower the risk of trying/experiencing your content. Musicians, book authors, and consultants all embrace this concept.

Consider the Gift Economy – which is a primal human instinct to offer gifts as the social lubricant of relationship building. In indigenous culture, gift economy is a demonstration of status and power. You are so confident and secure in your position, that you can share your bounty with others. That’s how you build and gather a tribe in today’s information overload environment. Give away something of high perceived value, and through familiarity and rapor – the money will follow.

WBP: In your opinion what’s the value of creating a personal brand and what’s the best way to go about it? Can you give us 5 things to consider?

MM: Perception is reality. You already have a personal brand: it’s called the stories that people tell about you. So whether you’re thinking about it or not, people are forming an impression in their mind as who you are, what you stand for, and what they share in common with you. Personal branding from a story perspective is about inviting people into relationship.

1. What do you want to be known for? (how can you embody that?)

2. What is your back story? (We want to know where you come from)

3. What are you willing to fight for? (People want to hear a point-of-view.)

4. What imperfections can you share? (quirks, vulnerability, make it real)

5. What myth or archetype do you embody (think of a persona others will relate to)

WBP: It’s been said that story will drive the next generation of social networking and app development can you explain why?

MM: We have entered the Age of Storytelling. Because in a era of infinite knowledge, we are struggling to find real meaning and understanding. As humans, narrative is how we make sense of things. Narrative is how we express ourselves. And narrative is how we connect with each other. There’s no accident that storytelling is a huge cultural meme reshaping the landscape of media and communications in all forms. There is a movement a foot to rehumanize business and culture. It’s no wonder our more basic human technology, storytelling is at the center of the equation.

WBP: What’s thing that you’ve learned the hard way that you wish someone would have told you?

MM: The old adage – that we teach what we need to learn most. In my case, storytelling is my medicine. My father is an inventor and my mother an artist – so living in a world of possibilities always came easy. I also grew up across many cultures, and in the process often felt lost in translation. As a social entrepreneur, I experienced my share of success and failure. Yet, I could never shake the feeling of being misunderstood. No wonder, I’ve devoted the past decade on decoding the role of narrative in our work and lives. Sort of like – we create the drama we seek. Yet, as I continue to imbibe my medicine, I not only heal myself, I heal the world. And thus take a few steps further in fulfilling my mission.

So, what’s the riddle you’re trying to solve? Get clear on what’s driving you forward, what fuels your curiosity and passion. There’s a new level of clarity that emerges when you learn how to shape the stories that shape you. We are no longer a victim of our own story. Instead we get to reinterpret the arc of our lives as we see fit. That’s the heart of reinvention.

WBP: Why the Reinvention Summit and why now?

MM: We’re in the midst of a dramatic shift. Just about everyone I know is in the midst of reinvention. redefining their careers, rethinking values, revitalizing an organization, or rebuilding community, etc…Talking with thousands of people over the past year, I discovered how reinvention is the new normal. The old assumptions of how the world worked are no longer true. For one, job security is an illusion. So why not follow your passion and live your truth? Unfortunately, most of us don’t have a vocabulary for how to navigate through the reinvention process, or translate that desire into a sustainable economic path.

Connect that with the power of storytelling and its ability to reinvent our world. Narrative is the fundamental language of reinvention. So we all need to learn and deepen our knowledge of narrative principles. That’s the intention behind the Reinvention Summit: 2-weeks, 32 sessions, 400 participants, who all believe that story is core to their work and mission.

We’re gathering a new tribe of storytellers: change-makers, marketers, creatives, innovators, and seekers – who see storytelling as fundamental to their work and mission. And in the process, the Summit is breaking out of the silos - exploring the role of narrative across a range of topics: branding, marketing, social change, community building, transmedia, career development, spiritual growth, social media, and more. Its a bold experiment to expand the discussion and re-story possiblities.

Hope you’re readers decide to join us, they can still register and join midstream. Sessions are also all recorded for playback. www.reinventionsummit.com/program

RADAR NYC 11.12.10

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 16:29:24 GMT

WATCH

Auto-Tune the News: Rent Too Damn High! Song

Well the greats of Auto-Tune the News (RADAR Ep.27 – ATTN) have done it again. They have used the evils of auto-tune for good! How you ask? Well they took the already comical Jimmy McMillan and made a musical number out of his speeches during the Gubernatorial debates. It’s hard not to find a comedic note with the Rent is Too Damn High party because of their name and Jimmy McMillan’s facial hair configuration, but the people of Auto-tune the News took it to a whole different place by making a smooth R&B for a party that should have taken office. Try not to giggle too hard when you watch this. Remember your coworkers can hear you.

http://www.rentistoodamnhigh.org/ – Rent Is To Damn High Party – the website

LISTEN

Brian Grainger (Milieu) New Album

Brian Grainger, of Milieu (RADAR Season 3), is releasing a new album called ZYUAXOHTVIMIVTHOXAUYS! For those of you that can’t get enough of warped and twisted ambient music turned into melodic rhapsodies be sure to check this album out. His fervor for creating complete experiences has never been this strong. From the beginning of the album you are quietly lulled into a state of engagement by the low key and slow introduction. The shift into genius music goes almost unnoticed until you realize that your speakers are rumbling uncontrollably and you don’t want them to stop. You just have to let the wave of sound come crashing over you. Give in to Brian Grainger and his electronic arrangements. The album is for sale on Grainger’s bandcamp website, and for an extra four bucks you can get the special edition CD-R which should be a fun treat for you electronic heavy addicts out their. You can’t miss this album, it’s overpowering!

READ

Pecan Pie Baby – Sophie Blackall

Illustrator Sophie Blackall (RADAR Ep16 – Missed Connections) has a new book out. She has teamed up with Jacqueline Woodson on the children’s book Pecan Pie Baby. The book focuses on Gia, a young girl who’s mother is about to have a second child. Gia has a hard time coming to terms with everyone’s obsession with the baby on the way. Blackall’s illustrations fit perfectly with the colorful characters, and accentuate the familial sweetness of the tender story. Sophie Blackall received the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award. She has illustrated several award-winning picture books. Her blog Missed Connections features her creating these accessible and quirky illustrations based on the Missed Connections section of Craigslist. Her caricatures are wonderfully whimsy and fun to encounter. Be sure to give Pecan Pie Baby a read if you have a little one of your own.

Buy the Book HERE
Visit Sophie’s website HERE

Dr. Sketchy’s Factory Revival

If it smells like beer and charcoal you know Dr. Sketchy’s (RADAR Ep.8) is coming to town. Come join the fine people of Dr. Sketchy’s as they revive Andy Warhol’s Factory days. The troops will meet at the Red Lotus Room, and revive the spirit of pop art eras past. There is no way that an upstanding New York citizen wouldn’t want to attend a debaucherous drawing session in the persona of Edie Sedgwick or Basquiat. You really can’t miss this one because it is sure to be a once in lifetime opportunity to tap into the power of art while you are playing the part of a great artist. Cigarette girls will deal art supplies. Guests will pose for polaroids and confess dark secrets in the “Screen Test” video booth. Drawing jams will take over the walls, art students will become models, and at the end of the night, one guest will shoot Andy Warhol. As always, this event is brought to you by the wonderful Ms. Molly Crabapple! Go!

Saturday, November 13 · 6:00pm – 10:00pm
The Red Lotus Room
893 Bergen Street
Brooklyn, NY
EVENT INFO

FOLLOW

Paris Vs. New York

You always hear the hipster girls in bars say that New York is no Paris. Even some of the older generations of New Yorkers can’t help but bring up how the two cities are the most wonderful in the world. The comparison between Paris and New York is timeless, well except for the bit of history that Paris existed without having New York to be compared with. The two cities embody the metropolitan spirit of the Western world, so it’s kind of hard not to talk about the similarities and differences between the two. That’s where the blog Paris vs. New York comes to play. Over at Paris v. New York, they create graphic representations of aspects of both cities, and take the city out of them. They choose to accentuate just the sensory details that can be encountered when traversing the cities. From Amelie v. Carrie to Quasimodo v. King Kong, their distilled imagery of Paris and NYC iconography is quirky and fun. Who do you root for in these visual comparisons?

http://parisvsnyc.blogspot.com/

RADAR NYC 11.08.10

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 16:52:05 GMT

WATCH

The Underbelly Project

Here at RADAR we usually don’t go for videos or projects that have started to become heavily circulated throughout the web, but when we came in contact with The Underbelly Project, there was no way we were going to turn out heads.

The NYC subway system is a haunting web of tracks and stations that criss-cross and span the boroughs of the city. It’s dark expansive system of tunnels have few hidden gems. Every now and then you see graffiti scrawled under a light near a tunnel staircase. Maybe you get a glimpse of workers from a distance. But not everything can be easily spotted in such a vast network of transportation. Somethings must get lost. Underground activities must go unnoticed. What secrets are under the fast streets of New York? For one thing there is The Underbelly Project which is a collection of art from over a hundred different street artists decorating an abandoned subway station somewhere deep underneath the city. This collection of street art which is closed to the public, is a place where nightmares and fantasies mingle and dash themselves across urban, industrial canvases. The Shadow Machine video is a perfect example of the ghostly pieces one would encounter in a place that off the beaten tracks. This is surely something to be excited about.

Website – The Underbelly Project
The Shadow Machine – LINK

LISTEN

Playbutton

It’s exciting to encounter a game changer before it changes the game. PlayButton is nothing more than an MP3 player built in the shape of a pin. It is a device that could really alter the way to distribute music to the public. Playbutton is a way to literally a way to “put on” your music. It turns your favorite album into an accessory that you take eveywhere. It is fashionable way to support music. Most brilliant of all is that there is no way to mess around with the music that is already on the pin. Artists have complete control over their sound and the way you experience it. This is most definitely going to become a must have little gadget.

Link – http://www.playbutton.co/

READ

Storybird

Storybird is fun site to explore no matter what your age range is. The idea behind this bustling, moving web experience is creating short, fun, straightforward stories in the vein of children’s picture books. The stories and books seem endless, and the content is diverse enough that it can keep even old souls coming back for quick and electrifying short stories in high resolution display. The charm behind Storybird is the ability to become part of this artistic community. Becoming a writer is as easy as starting of with one of the many templates available to you. Also, the site features artists and their works from which you can take subjects and place them in your story. When they say collaborative storytelling they mean. Check out the site, and go through some short stories. If you want to create your own short ditties be sure to join.

http://www.storybird.com

The City by Lori Nix

Lori Nix (RADAR Ep33 – Unnatural History) is having a show. Her series The City, constructed and photographed since 2008, will be on display at ClampArt. This will be Lori’s first solo show at the gallery. Her work will then travel to Chicago for an exhibition at Catherine Edelman Gallery, January 7 – February 26, 2011. Lori’s use of dioramas instead of actual subjects creates a dynamic and dramatic setting for her photography. Her process truly differentiates her from other photographers because she prefers to work with her hands rather than create worlds through computers and editing tricks. She doesn’t even edit her photographs after shooting. She is an true artist with a vision and fidelity to her subject matter. The worlds that she creates are completely vivid, and realistic, her photography then captures these hyper-realistic mini-worlds, and freezes them in a believable facsimile of the real world. Lori Nix is an inventive and talented creator of worlds.

THE CITY
Solo Exhibition of New Work
November 4 – December 18, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday November 4, 6 – 8 pm
ClampArt Gallery
521-531 W. 25th Street, New York City

Website -http://www.lorinix.net/

FOLLOW

@poweredbyart

Land Art Generator features works and ideas for public art pieces that creates clean energy. Their concepts and designs are futuristic and functional in the way that works would work within the space they are featured in. The idea behind the movement is to bring to the forefront art that is active and that serves a purpose. It is hard not to fall in love with the clean lines and delicate aesthetics qualities that rely heavily on enhancing the natural surroundings of the public work. Apart from featuring works, Land Art Generator links its followers to news and events concerning design that revolves around being eco-friendly.

Follow them on Twitter
Blog- HERE

RADAR NYC 10.29.10

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:15:22 GMT

WATCH

Wall of Light

Luca Barcellona is a supremely talented calligraphy and letter artist who has a streak of figural arts in him that is amazing to encounter. When he draws his intricate and dazzling letters it is a fluid performance of delicate proportions. The long, broad strokes of steady perfection are hypnotizing to watch. His work has been exhibited in galleries and on the large walls across the streets of Europe. His public works are a combination of ancient manuscripts and urban graffiti that defies many modern ideas of what public art is and could be. The Wall of Light project by Luca Barcellona and features the artist creating a dynamic light show where he creates poetic musings with his beautiful lettering. These words are accompanied by vivid illustrations and settings in which the words float around. Interesting to note is the public’s interactions with the wall of light. People can be seen at the bottom of the wall moving around and interacting with the moving surface. These people become ghostly images that become part of the settings that Luca Barcellona creates. What a cool video and awesome concept!

Some of my favorite stuff by him HERE
Luca Barcellona website

LISTEN

Tin Pan Band Live – Union Square

Everybody’s favorite lilting blues band, Tin Pan Band is having a very public show, and you just have to give them a listen. The Tin Pan Band will be playing Union Square above the N/R/Q platform. The instrumentals are lively and mesh together beautifully to create a solid backing for lyrics about love, loss, and overall living. Their brand of Blues is distinctly urban by focusing on topics like gentrification of old city neighborhoods and greed. In New York, the Blues are experiencing a Renaissance, and Tin Pan Band is at the forefront of this rebirth. On your commute back from work, stop by and give them a listen. Also, check our RADAR episode on the Poetry Brothel featuring music by Tin Pan Band.

Where:
Thu Nov 04, 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Union Square subway station, above the N/R/Q platform

READ

My Biggest Regret Ever

PostSecret established a candid intimacy that only the internet in its immaculate glorification of the individual can achieve. My Biggest Regret Ever takes the most gut-wrenching of human emotions and splatters it across the internet in plain black font against a white screen. The stark directness of the blog correlates wonderfully with the honesty and forwardness of the confessions that make up the site. Regret is something that runs through every person, and the anguish that comes from past mistakes affects everyone. What do you regret? What still haunts you to this day? Read what others have to say, or post your own entry. Maybe this is the cathartic release you’ve been looking for.

http://www.mybiggestregretever.com/

Overlap by Aakash Nihalani

Aakash Nihalani (RADAR Ep21 – Tapes and Mirrors) is a great public art figure. His ephemeral compositions are mostly shaped through the use of bright florescent adhesive tapes and cardboard. He creates simple polygonal shapes and places them within an urban setting in ways that make them look three dimensional, but still out of place. With his newest show he takes the founding elements of his aesthetic and lets them run amuck around the urban sprawl of the USA, India, and parts of Europe. This time his polygonal figures start to take on organic forms through the layering of tape and cardboard into intricate forms. These sharp organic figures now interact within their environments through their purposed interactions with city surfaces from different points of perspective. Nihalani manipulates what the audience can see by making floors become backgrounds and sides of buildings become foregrounds. Aakash Nihalani uses public space in a smart, mind bending way, and his show is sure to be engaging.

Overlap by Aakash Nihalani
Bose Pacia
163 Plymouth Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

November 4 – December 18
Artist Reception: 4 November, 6 – 8 pm
After Party: 4 November 9 – 11 pm @ 17 Frost (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) – Featuring Das Racist
In Conversation: 20 November 3pm

Design Related – Social Network for Designers

Design Related is a place where creativity inspires creativity. It is excellent source of inspiration through the exploration of a pool of diverse artists that practice different in mediums of creation. They have a stimulating inspiration section on their website where members can post a steady stream of inventive and cultured articles and links that can really get the juices flowing. Their twitter account distills the very idea of the flow of artistry into a torrent of media and sites that send you on a flight of fancy through design and imagination. Overall, even though Design Related is about the abstracts that are art and design, it grounds itself in the practicalities of being able to make what the mind sets out to think. This is a place where functionality meets the muse. Get impelled. Get enlivened. Let yourself get Design Related.

Follow them on Twitter

RADAR NYC 10.22.10

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 14:45:13 GMT

WATCH

Dancing Hands Pa Pamericano

This is an odd, fun and strangely hypnotic video that features a couple using only their hands to do an elaborate dance to a Latin-inspired electropop song. Could it just be the next amazing and elaborate dance video to go viral and make its rounds on all the big trendy Internet sites? Maybe. Is it still really cool and catchy as hell? Definitely.

LISTEN

Dfalt – Free Mixtape

Roger O’Donnel just might be one of the most accomplished musician we’ve featured in a RADAR episode (Ep26 – Hidden Oras). After all, how many musicians out there can say they used to be in The Cure? But aside from performing with high profile acts also including the Psychedelic Furs among others, he’s also made time for an impressive solo career. His latest work, quite a departure from the goth rock of The Cure, is Piano Formations, which pairs ambient piano pieces with videos of clouds that he filmed. The set will include an audio CD, a DVD of the cloud videos with the audio and a book of the piano exercise scores, and will be released November 15, but O’Donnel’s website has some of the tracks and videos available for streaming now.

Facebook Page with Video: HERE
Website with Audio Streams: HERE

READ

Glesbo – Glennis McMurray’s

Looking for advice? Glennis McMurray (Ep2 – I Eat Pandas) just might have some for you. She’s been writing a hilarious blog called Glesbo for years, and recently (very recently, as in October 19), she decided incorporate an advice column called Ask G. Readers can send in questions and Glennis will publish her response, full of profanities, tangents, and surprisingly good advice. And while you’re there, the rest of the blog is also a good read, if you like witty observations mixed with toilet humor and made-up words to describe obnoxious creeps (such as Jagwad, Jagdong and Jagloaf among others).

Glesbo

Story Pirates – HalloWhoa!

Story Pirates (Ep30 – Story Pirates) are known for providing kids with performances full of family friendly fun. This… is not one of those performances. HalloWOAH! is an after-dark, adults-only event, where the Story Pirates take you through a bizarre, unpredictable haunted house experience. And of course, there’s a bar. And while this event isn’t for the kids, proceeds from the event will go towards Story Pirates after school programs and Manhattan Youth programming.

ADULTS ONLY SHOWS
Friday, October 22nd & 29th: 10 PM and 11 PM
Saturday, October 16th & 23rd: 9 PM to 11 PM
Saturday, October 30th: 9pm and 10pm
Sunday, October 31st: 9 PM to 11 PM.
The Downtown Community Center
120 Warren Street
New York, NY 10007

Event Info

FOLLOW

Molly Crabapple

Molly Crabapple is the mastermind behind Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School (Ep8 – Dr. Sketchy’s), as well as an accomplished artist in her own right. Her kinky, Gilded Age-inspired illustrations are quite unmistakable, and her latest project is a little something called the Art Monkey Alphabet—and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Each day for 26 days, she’ll release another monkey letter illustration, and when it’s all done, she will release the monkeys as a font, as well as silkscreen posters of all the letters.

Molly Crabapple

WBPLabs partners with 3rd Ward (exclusive membership offer)

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:00:36 GMT

WBPLabs has partnered up with 3rd Ward for our latest series, Inside Design (to be released). 3rd Ward is a member-based art and design center for creative professionals in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Workbook Project is a big fan of 3rd Ward as it’s an innovative business space that is fueling the creative community.

As part of our partnership, 3rd Ward has offered Workbook Project readers an exclusive membership promotion. Unlimited Membership offers access to resources that would otherwise be too costly for many artists and designers: a wood/metal shop, a media lab, photo studios, jewelry studio, private & collaborative workspace, and over 100 education classes — all under one roof. Please take advantage of this generous offer and also spread the word. Share this promo code with your friends, family and colleagues. And if you don’t plan on becoming a member, do yourself a favor and check out the website for upcoming events and monthly classes.

Exclusive Offer:
Workbook Project readers who sign up for Unlimited Membership get their first month FREE (a $359 value). Schedule a tour and claim your free month today at: http://www.3rdward.com/takeatour/wp
PROMO CODE: OPENCREATE

I spoke with Jessica Tom, 3rd Ward’s Marketing Director, about 3rd Ward, how it’s facilitating the emerging creative class, and what’s to come.

What is the main concept and intention of 3rd Ward?

Give creative people the resources they need so they can take risks and make things the world has never seen. When you don’t have to worry about space, tools, knowledge, etc… the world is at your fingertips. Without physical limitations, you can realize your creative potential and more.

How is this concept of community / shared workspace and artist development facilitating the local creative community?

It is low-cost, high-inspiration. Don’t know how to use After Effects? Take a class. Need to shoot your new jewelry line? Book a photo studio. Need some legs for your table? Ask your new friend in the metal shop. By sharing tools, knowledge and space, creative people can seamlessly cross media boundaries, learn faster and grow stronger. More and more creative people are moving to freelance. 3rd Ward gives them structure and endless possibilities to create and collaborate.

How has 3rd Ward been able to sustain and grow into a thriving business?

We’ve been able to grow by listening to our members. We’d just be a building with some expensive stuff inside were it not for our people. They are very vocal about what works for them, and we respond in kind. Ultimately, what’s best for their businesses — whether we’re talking about out photographers, set designers, fabricators, hackers, or whatever — is best for our business. We succeed as a creative workspace if they succeed as creators.

We’ve grown by offering the best possible experience to our members — through our comprehensive facilities and classes, but also by creating a truly warm and supportive environment. Together, that creates pretty fertile ground for pretty amazing work!

What’s the future of 3rd Ward? What’s the future of creative workspaces?

We’re building out our 2nd floor to include a bigger wood shop, more photo studios, and more learning spaces. We’re also developing a “3rd Ward Member-Made” brand of furniture that we’d like to sell at stores across the country (if you’re a buyer, contact us!).

The creative workspaces of tomorrow will likely have some aspect of sharing. There’s less waste, less money spent, and more opportunities for collaboration. Also, being successful now depends on how well you’re able to draw upon different disciplines. People wear more hats now because budgets are tight and companies must do more with less. Knowing how to use Photoshop is like knowing how to use scissors and glue. Everyone needs to be a marketer. If you’re a set designer, you might do some 3D modeling, but you’re much more marketable who if you can build the set, choreograph, film, edit, and write the copy on the fliers!

3rd Ward is a pretty unique place and there’s no where in the world quite like it. It’d be interesting to see more place like us. They’d be competition, but I believe a rising tide raises all ships.

RADAR NYC 10.15.10

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 15:19:57 GMT

WATCH

Beardfolio

Like mustaches? Ok, weird question. At least for someone like me, who, before seeing this project, probably would have answered with indifference or confusion. However, after being exposed to Beardfolio, a photo project by Matt Rainwaters, my opinion has definitely changed. His unique portfolio of men with outrageous facial hair is really like nothing else, and one that words really can’t do justice. Upon first glance, I was sure that the images had been skewed or Photoshopped, but after further investigation, I learned that the facial hair of the subjects is indeed real, albeit presumably styled for the occasion of being photographed. Check it out for yourself. I can almost guarantee that you’ve never seen anything like this before.

Beardfolio

LISTEN

Dfalt – Free Mixtape

Dfalt, the instrumental side project of Cassettes Won’t Listen (featured on RADAR Ep25, Subway Etiquette) just released a new single called Summer Drinks. The song is part of a brand new, completely free, 30-minute mix tape, which is available HERE. Summer Drinks is a unique blend of upbeat electronic dancy goodness that seamlessly transitions into a heavier, darker, more intense sound, with slight remnants of the Mission Impossible theme. And that’s just the song. The video that goes with it is insane. In a good way. A great way. I can’t even describe it. Just watch it; you won’t be sorry.

READ

Cuba: My Revolution – Dean Haspiel

Looking for new reading material? We highly recommend Cuba: My Revolution, a graphic novel illustrated by Dean Haspiel (RADAR Ep1, Next Door Neighbor). We love his illustrations, and the book itself looks really cool, too. Here’s a short summary, from Free Publishers Weekly: “This dramatic account of the experiences of a young woman named Sonya during the Cuban revolution is based on the experiences of Lockpez. The narrative traces Sonya as she transforms from an idealist revolutionary studying to be a surgeon to a dissident artist who realizes she must flee her beloved but troubled country. Along the way, she witnesses carnage, is imprisoned and tortured, and is separated from her family. In the midst of the chaos, she also finds love. Haspiel, who has known Lockpez for over 20 years, provides striking illustrations that chart Sonya’s shifting emotions and alliances; particularly strong are the surrealist depictions of her dreams and her ordeal in prison. Painter José Villarubia adds tones and shades of red that further intensify the story. At times Lockpez relies too heavily on clunky exposition explaining the history of Cuba and Castro, although some readers may find the context helpful. It is impossible to deny the power of Lockpez’s dramatic coming-of-age story, which make the human cost of the revolution all too clear.”

Look At or Buy Cuba: My Revolution HERE

Start Trekkin – Improv

Like improv? Like Star Trek? Never thought you’d see the day when both of those questions would be asked consecutively, and are thus bursting with excitement? Well, we have the perfect event for you! Star Trekkin (RADAR Ep36, Start Trekkin) is a long-form improv group that explores the human condition while embodying characters and plot lines from, you guessed it, Star Trek. They have a show coming up this Saturday, October 16th, at The Tank and two more shows after that in 2010. Check out their website for more info, performance dates, and updates.

Sat, October 16, 7:30p – 8:30
The Tank (45th Street Theater) – 354 w. 45th Street

Event Info

FOLLOW

@almostontheL

When you think “the L train,” what comes to mind? Quick zip into (and out of) Manhattan? Hipster paradise? Flannel wonderland? Or, perhaps, the most romantic subway line ever? Well, if not, then maybe you should reconsider. According to a “study” conducted by the geniuses at Craigslist, the L train was determined to be the best subway line for romantic sparks to fly. At least, that is, if your definition of “most romantic subway line,” means “the best odds of a fellow passenger falling for you across a crowded car or platform, and then posting a ‘Missed Connections’ ad on Craigslist in search of you.” Sounds about right. At least some people seem to think so, enough to create “Almost on the L,” a Twitter version of Missed Connections, devoted exclusively to the ever-dreamy L-train. And it’s created quite a following. Who knows? Maybe that cute guy that you make awkward look-away eye contact with every morning at the Morgan Ave stop (which, by the way, is scientifically proven to be the most romantic subway stop in New York) feels the same way about you as you do about him. All we ask is that you be specific. I don’t think that tweets like “I thought you were adorable with your red and white plaid shirt,” which someone posted on October 11th, will do you much good. It might be the most romantic place on Earth, but it’s still the L train.

Almost on the L Twitter
Email your L Train missed connections: almostontheL@gmail.com

INTERVIEW: PTTP founder LIZ ROSENTHAL

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:56:47 GMT

This year marks the fourth edition of Power to the Pixel which has grown over the last few years to become the leading voice in transmedia in Europe. This year promises to be bigger and better with an exciting lineup of projects, speakers and industry attending the three day event.

WorkBook Project: What’s new at this year’s Power to the Pixel and for people who don’t know can you explain briefly the types of programs you offer?

Liz Rosenthal: The key expansion of this year’s Cross-Media Forum is The Pixel Market – our new finance summit for international cross-media projects running over 13 & 14 October. We’ve selected 18 international cross-media projects whose stories span across film, TV, gaming mobile, publishing and real life events . We’ve set up one-to-one business meetings for the project teams with potential commissioners, financiers and partners. Nine of these projects have been selected to compete for the ARTE Pixel Pitch Prize £6k/ $10k (approx).

The event runs 12-15 October. There are two open days.

12 October is The Conference Day at The National Film Theatre, BFI Southbank. A day of keynotes, candid case studies and presentations from an array of world-class experts who are working at the vanguard of cross-media content creation, production and finance including Michel Reihac (ARTE), Mick Monello (Campfire), Mauren McHugh (No Mimes), Tommy Pallotta (Director & Producer) & Lance Weiler (Seize the Media),

Raafi Rivero and Michael Hastings-Black winners of the Pixel Pitch Award 2009

13 October is The Pixel Pitch Day at The National Film Theatre, BFI Southbank The Pixel Pitch is the public day of The Pixel Market and presents an ideal opportunity to discover first hand what types of projects are getting financed and by whom.

Nine international producer-led teams have been chosen to present their projects to a select jury made up from international decision-makers, commissioners and executives from across film, advertising, broadcast, the arts, online and games. They will compete for the £6,000 ARTE Pixel Pitch cash prize.

The Pixel Meetings take place on 14 October and this year’s Power to the Pixel Think Tank on 15 October is dedicated to finding the practical steps that will allow the film and media industries to grasp the opportunities of cross-media change. The results will be freely available in a Think Tank report to be produced by Power to the Pixel.

WBP: What are some interesting projects that have caught your attention over the last year or so that you feel are good examples of transmedia projects?

LR:There are a number of projects that we are showcasing at this year’s event.

Three documentary projects illustrate how interactive platforms can enhance and transform the possibilities for documentary storytelling to interpret and synthesize many sources of information to explain a situation or express a POV.

Collapsus is a brand-new transmedia project from SubmarineChannel, directed by Tommy Pallotta, producer of Scanner Darkly and Waking Life, and director of American Prince. It combines interactivity, animation, fiction and documentary and looks into the near future to show you how the imminent energy crisis affects a group of ten people, who appear to be caught up in an energy conspiracy. Collapsus is the transmedia project associated with the documentary, Energy Risk.

Prison Valley is the latest interactive documentary produced by Upian and ARTE by by David Dufresne & Philippe Brault It investigates the prison industry in Fremont County, a remote part of Colorado, USA, in the French documentary. The two reporters explore an area that has 36,000 inhabitants, over 7,000 inmates and 13 jails. Prison Valley is made up of a linear 59-minute film, which was aired on television channel Arte (who co-produced the documentary) on 12 June, 2010. But besides this, web users can view extra footage, interviews and statistics online.The documentary uses many of the possibilities provided by the Internet, including photography, text, audio, video and infographics. Viewers can explore the content using a navigation system similar to a video game.

Waterlife is a stunning ode to the last great supply of fresh water on earth, the Great Lakes, as well as the award-winning full-length documentary feature directed by Kevin McMahon and produced by NFB Canada, the online interactive experience immerses us in their extraordinary beauty, ecological complexity, and extreme state of distress.

Another project that hit the headlines this was Conspiracy For Good an augmented reality drama that took place on the Internet, on mobile devices and offline in four live action events in London. It was developed by Heroes creator Tim Kring and sponsored by Nokia. The audience played the part of activists and supporters of the eponymous organisation, Conspiracy For Good, and joined in to help direct the action by solving various puzzles spread across different media.

WBP: In terms of emerging trends what do you think is most interesting for those who are telling stories?

LR: Evolving devices, software and applications are enabling a whole new Renaissance in storytelling possibilities. Film and TV storytelling until recently has been essentially confined to distribution formats and release windows. Now the possibilities of extending stories in a multitude of new ways across different media platforms and devices is huge. As well as the creative aspect there are powerful ways of engaging new audiences and increasing the discoverability of projects and also attracting a whole new pool of finance and media partners. The personalisation of media is also one of the biggest trends that is effecting storytelling. Audiences are frequently no longer passive consumers of story but active collaborators and stakeholders in terms of co-creation, marketing, distribution and sometimes even in terms of financing.

WBP: What do you hope people will take away from this year’s event?

LR: The projects above and new ones that we are showcasing at The Pixel Market demonstrate that filmmakers and storytellers of diverse formats and genres are embracing these new trends. Many of the stories that we have heard about in terms of cross-media or transmedia storytelling have been huge studio franchises and often been seen soley in terms of marketing not storytelling or in any form of increasing the value of the property itself. In a world where the value of traditional media formats is steeply declining and where audience behaviour is rapidly evolving, we are keen to demonstrate at Power to the Pixel that cross-media storytelling is an essential way for creators and media businesses to reach new audiences, extend the values of the properties they are developing and to find sustainable business models in a rapidly evolving media world.

RADAR NYC 10.01.10

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:15:56 GMT

WATCH

Collapsus

This is the official trailer for Collapsus, a media phenomenon that will expand the limits of how different forms of communication work together to create a complete experience. The project is headed by Tommy Pallotta, producer of Waking Life and Scanner Darkly. Collapsus is set in the near future and details the effects of the imminent energy crisis on ten individuals who become the central figures in an energy conspiracy. Collapsus is the transmedia project related to the movie Energy Risk which focuses on the rough transition from fossil fuels to alternate resources and how it would affect worldwide energy infrastructures. Collapsus is being developed by SubmarineChannel, in collaboration with the Dutch public broadcaster VPRO. The combination of animation, narrative, documentary, and interactivity will plunge the audience into a highly developed world that is falling apart at the seams. The audience becomes a player within the story by making decisions that affect the global arena. The story is propelled through the interactions of different media forms, but that is what makes it all the more engaging, as there are layers and layers of intrigue and drama. For those who need some assistance with getting started with this correlative experience, Tommy Pallotta, the director of Collapsus, has made a video walkthrough for the project.

Collapsus – http://www.collapsus.com/
Walkthrough – Link

LISTEN

Javelin– Intervales Theme (found VHS)

Javelin was featured in RADAR episode 27, Auto-Tune The News. Their use samples and original sounds to create music that fuses Bollywood singsong together with 80s arcade game sounds creates melodic fusions equivalent to a sunny day on the moon, a mix of the haunting and upbeat. Their focus on rhythm harkens back to the days of the B-Boys of old creating music that is as easy to listen to as it is to dance along with. In this video they feature footage from a VHS tape they found on the streets of their native Providence, RI. The little boy eating ice cream looks like a character ripped out of the Cosby show, fitting for the song Intervales Themes, which Javelin chose to accompany it. The slick beats and melodic tunes create a solid feel for the era when this VHS footage was probably taken. Javelin has managed to fake a genuine relic, which is no easy feat to master.

Link to Video- HERE

READ

Stuff Hipsters Hate

Brenna Ehrlich and Andrea Bartz have been running the blog Stuff Hipsters Hate for a year now, and recently they have published a book that can serve as handy guide to turn the tide against the plaid shirts and silk scarves of the hipster zombie mob. In the book and blog, Ehrlich and Bartz highlight topics, links, and questions that the targeted subculture, even with a few PBRs in them, can’t handle. For those who live in big cities like New York and San Francisco, hipsters are all too familiar. Urban pavements are crawling with scrawny, mustachioed men on fixed gear bikes and young, beautiful women in granny clothes and glasses. What is this strange Halloween-like phenomenon? For those that haven’t been exposed to the hipster culture; congratulations, you have dodged a gaggle of unoriginal originality obsessed self-professed freaks of pop culture, but every day city dwellers struggle to figure out a way to repel the ubiquitous plague of hipsters. Look no more my fellow urbanites! Stuff Hipsters Hate is here to save you from partying with people that think they are too good to listen to anything produced after 1992.

Blog: http://stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com/
Buy the Book:HERE

Open Video Conference

The web video is an accessible form of communication, but lately the fear of a tiered internet experience and of loosing the ability to explore an open web have made the comprehensive and free web video an endangered species. The Open Video Conference being held in New York City is dedicated to broadening the impact of the web video as a medium for communication and expression. OVC is being held by the Open Video Alliance, a group created by individuals and coalitions who seek to create an open web video experience through building inclusive tools, practices, and policies. The conference takes place over three days, and has tons of seminars and talks dedicated to the web video as a media form and essential transmedia tool. Sunday will be Hack Day, where conference attendees, HTML5 developers, and transmedia storytelling experts, will get to work on a series of activities that range from mapping out a transmedia strategy for content to building a custom HTML5 player for sites.

Our own Lance Weiler will be presenting along with Tommy Pallotta (Director of Collapsus, Producer of Waking Life and Scanner Darkly) at 4PM on October 1, 2010. Their talk about “Storytelling Without Bounds” will focus on joining of many media forms to create a complete experience. Be sure to check in early, and go to as many events as you can in order to gain a greater understanding of the web video and how it is evolving into something greater.

http://www.openvideoconference.org/
http://openvideoalliance.org/

Seminars
October 1st & 2nd
Fashion Institute of Technology
7th Ave at 27th St

Hack Day
October 3rd
NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program
721 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Events – Link

FOLLOW

The Advice of Strangers

Marc Horowitz doesn’t feel like any of the negative connotations associated with the word stranger should affect his new web series. Horowitz has been featured as part of RADAR episode 18, Google Maps Road Trip, a virtual, internet assisted road trip, where he shared his life and time with Peter Baldes, a man unknown to him at the beginning of their project. His unique brand of art and entertainment, which is closely related to culture jamming, is heavily influenced by social interactions and the reactions of other people. Children’s television has made stranger danger a staple of our vocabulary, and the word stranger has become synonymous with shadowy figures and hazardous situations. Now, Marc Horowitz is going to take the input from strangers and weirdos from the internet make life decisions based on their opinions. Follow him through his internet fueled journey, which is sure to be a life-changing experience for him and for the people that become active participants in his experiment.

Link – The Advice of Strangers
Link – Channel

remixable - posts tagged 'event'

Transmedia Talk 38: Storyworld Conference 2011

Transmedia Talk 37: Robot Heart Stories at DIY Days LA

Transmedia Talk 35: Henry Jenkins at DIY Days LA

Transmedia Talk 33: ARGFest Special with JC Hutchins

Wicked Solutions for a Wicked Problem

RADAR NYC 7.21.11 – feat. Diana Eng

nyan.cat

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps

Tina Fey – Bossypants

Talk To Me

Talk To Me July 24–November 7 Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53 Street New York, NY 10019 EVENT INFO

Thingiverse and Ponoko

DIY Days returns to LA

Transmedia Talk 28 – Game of Thrones and the Maester’s Path

RADAR NYC 6.9.11

My Potholes

Noveller – Alone Star

Ben McCool Interview

Magic and Bubbles

Poetry Brothel, House of Illusions NYC

Sunday, June 12th, 8pm-1am The Back Room 102 Norfolk Street New York, NY $5-$15 EVENT INFO

Newmindspace Bubble Battle NYC 2011

Location TBA Saturday, June 18th 2010 @ 6:00pm Rain or shine. Free and all ages! New York, NY EVENT INFO

Second Avenue Sagas

RADAR NYC 5.26.11

Symmetry

The Antlers – Burst Apart

Sophie Blackall – Are You Awake?

Dr. Sketchy’s – Koala Kunst

Sun, June 05, 2011 • 4:00 – 6:00 pm The Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery New York, NY 10012 $12 advance, $15 door EVENT INFO

FUCK! i’m in my twenties

RADAR NYC 5.12.11 – feat. Lori Nix

Cravendale Cats

Bodies of Water: Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink

Hi-Fructose Magazine

Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities

Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities June 7 – September 18 Museum of Arts and Design 2 Columbus Circle New York, NY 10019 $15 Admission EVENT INFO

New York Mag (and comments)

RADAR NYC 5.5.11

Welcome to Pine Point

Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed

How the Social Web Reflected on bin Laden’s Death

Cake on the Bowery, Murder in Victorian England

Let Us Make Cake

Saturday, May 7 · 8:00 pm The New Museum 235 Bowery New York, NY 10002 Free EVENT INFO

Dr. Sketchy’s Does Jack the Ripper

Sunday, May 8 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm The Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery New York, NY $12-$15 EVENT INFO FOLLOW

FreedomLab

Golden Rules: Running an Independent Film Screening Series

RADAR NYC 4.28.11

Eliza Skinner – The Oscar Party

Morningbell – Lovefool

Sophie Blackall – The Crows of Pearblossom

The Digitour & SLAM Theatre

The Digitour feat. The Gregory Brothers

Sunday, May 1 · 7:00 pm Gramercy Theatre 127 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010 $18 EVENT INFO

Slam Theatre week 1

Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am Sunday, May 1 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm The Tank NYC 354 West 45th Street New York, NY $5 suggested donation EVENT INFO

@LukeGWilliams

RADAR NYC 4.21.11

The American Energy Spectrum

Bear Hands – New EP

5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth

Music, Drawing and Poetry

Dr. Sketchy’s Tribute to Tura Satana

Sunday, April 24 · 4:00 – 7:00 pm The Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery New York, NY 10012 $12 advance, $15 at door EVENT INFO

Noveller at La Poisson Rouge

Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am La Poisson Rouge 158 Bleecker Street New York, NY 10012 $12 – $15 EVENT INFO

The Poetry Brothel: Burlesque for Books

Sunday, May 1 · 8:00 pm – 1:00 am The Back Room 102 Norfolk St. New York, NY 10002 $5 – $15 EVENT INFO

CuteRoulette

RADAR NYC 4.14.11 – feat. Molly Crabapple

Serge Gainsbourg – Poinconneur des Lilas

Dave van Ronk – “Luang Prabang”

Kiki de Montparnasse: The Graphic Biography

PEN World Voices Festival

April 25-May 1 The Standard Hotel 848 Washington Street New York, New York 10014 EVENT INFO

Coilhouse, Biorequiem, and Gala Darling

Transmedia Talk 24 – Him, Her and Them

Talk To Me
July 24–November 7
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019
EVENT INFO

Sunday, June 12th, 8pm-1am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk Street
New York, NY
$5-$15
EVENT INFO

Location TBA
Saturday, June 18th 2010 @ 6:00pm
Rain or shine. Free and all ages!
New York, NY
EVENT INFO

Sun, June 05, 2011 • 4:00 – 6:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$12 advance, $15 door
EVENT INFO

Otherworldly: Optical Delusions and Small Realities
June 7 – September 18
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
$15 Admission
EVENT INFO

Saturday, May 7 · 8:00 pm
The New Museum
235 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
Free
EVENT INFO

Sunday, May 8 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12-$15
EVENT INFO

FOLLOW

Sunday, May 1 · 7:00 pm
Gramercy Theatre
127 East 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
$18
EVENT INFO

Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am
Sunday, May 1 · 7:00pm – 10:00pm
The Tank NYC
354 West 45th Street
New York, NY
$5 suggested donation
EVENT INFO

Sunday, April 24 · 4:00 – 7:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

Sunday April 24 · 7:00 – 12:00 am
La Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012
$12 – $15
EVENT INFO

Sunday, May 1 · 8:00 pm – 1:00 am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk St.
New York, NY 10002
$5 – $15
EVENT INFO

April 25-May 1
The Standard Hotel
848 Washington Street
New York, New York 10014
EVENT INFO

Benefit for Japan
Friday, April 8 · 9:30pm
The Delancey
168 Delancey Street
New York, NY
$5
EVENT INFO

Brooklyn Show
Saturday, April 9 · 11:00pm
I Made An Art Gallery
53 Richard Street
Brooklyn, NY
EVENT INFO

Friday-Saturday, April 15-16 · 3:00 pm
Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019
$280-$480
EVENT INFO

Ongoing through May 7
The McKittrick Hotel
530 West 27th Street
New York, New York 10001
EVENT INFO

Sunday, March 27 · 4:00pm – 6:45pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

Thursday, March 31 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm
92Y Tribeca
200 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10013
$6
EVENT INFO

Saturday, April 2 · 3:00 pm
Union Square
E. 14th St. & Broadway
New York, NY
EVENT INFO

Friday March 11 · Doors @ 8:00/Show @ 8:30 pm
Knitting Factory
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
$10.00 – $12.00
EVENT INFO

FOLLOW

Thursday, February 24 · 7:30pm – 10:30pm
Littlefield
622 Degraw Street (between 3rd and 4th Ave)
Brooklyn, NY
Advance tickets $5
EVENT INFO

Saturday, February 26 · 2:00 pm
The Drama Book Shop
250 West 40th St. (between 7th and 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10018
$15
EVENT INFO

Sunday, February 27 · 4:00pm – 7:00pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY
$12 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

Tuesday, March 1 · 8:00 pm
The Stone
East 2nd Street @ Avenue C
New York, NY 10009
EVENT INFO

Sunday, Feb 13 · 4:00 – 7:00 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
$10 advance, $15 at door
EVENT INFO

Sunday, Feb 13 · 8:00 pm – 1:00 am
The Back Room
102 Norfolk St.
New York, NY 10002
$5 – $15
EVENT INFO

Monday Feb 14 · 6:00 – 8:00 pm
New York Transit Museum
130 Livingston St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Free
EVENT INFO