Blog
-
This Friday: Join Us for A Celebration of Stand Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Today is officially the last day of the survey phase of Stand, which means you’ll never be asked to fill out “four questions for the future” again. This does not, by any means, signify the end of the Stand team’s hard work.
At midnight, Stand will move from this initial phase of information gathering to a planning stage, which will ultimately result in an action era. This transitional planning stage between gathering information to dispersing it will take several months — and it will be highlighted by guest speakers, community roundtables and even an interactive gallery show.
So, on Friday, we’re not celebrating an end, but a beginning. Celebrating our graduation from one phase to the next with a party that looks back at how we, as a community, got here.
On Friday, October 2, get suited up in all of your Stand garb and help us ring in the next incarnation of Stand. Join us at StandHQ/CreateHere from 5 - 8 pm for authentic Southern food from Cafe LeMont, beer from Big River Grille, and a multimedia tribute to the historic achievement we’ve already accomplished in the last five months.
Posted by
-
MakeWork Recipient Launches Yearlong Music Production Project
The “Song a week by Charles Allison” project is a musical exercise/weekly song diary by multi-instrumentalist and 2009 MakeWork grant recipient Charles Allison. A man not without ambition, Charles has mapped out his most recent project: writing, recording and chronicling a new song every week for a year. This project regularly features collaborators and includes video that accompanies the posted audio track. A new song posts every Friday that was written and recorded during the previous week, and most songs are generally written and recorded within an hour. The curveball is that there are no definitive rules about production, lyrics are mostly extemporaneous and generally recorded in one pass, and songs are recorded in a variety of locations and circumstances, including Charles’s own Spanner Studio.
“I’ve planned and executed three large-scale expeditions (Sea-kayaking the coast of Baja, riding the length of Queensland, Australia, as well as San Diego to Saint Augustine, Florida on my bicycle) and I’m thinking of this as the same sort of endeavor. There is a terminus, which is a year. And there is a cycle, which is a new song once a week with a short story about how we made the song.”
Allison has been developing an audio engineering and songwriting firm in Spanner Studios for over twelve years, and his MakeWork grant has moved him towards creating a marketable identity in this field by helping facilitate this project. When coupled with the discipline and work ethic necessary to become successful in such an endeavor, the future is bright for this entrepreneur.
There have been others, however, who have preceded Charles in the field of regimented song writing/song diaries. From Mozart to Paleo, any good musician knows that good songwriting is not simply an instinctual ability that is bestowed upon an annointed chosen one. Songwriting, like any other skill, is hard work. It is a muscle to be exercised regularly, and Allison understands this. He knows that even though every song won’t be top 40 material, the results of disciplined writing and recording every week will manifest itself in the long-term trajectory of his business. There is also an element of transparency and vulnerability in this project. Creating is an assailable activity, and to do so publicly every week for a year is an admirable undertaking.
“I’ve become way too precious about song production, and this is an exercise, as well as an exorcism.”
Follow Charles on Twitter, and make sure and keep up with his weekly songsmithing. He is currently working on week 3 of 52, and he would love your feedback.
By Michael Kendall, Editorial
Posted by
-
Chattanooga Stories: Huskies and Trains. Naturally.
Today marked the beginning of the 28th Independent Specialty of the Siberian Husky Club of America, hosted at the Choo Choo through October 3.
It wasn’t on my radar either, I assure you, if only because I do not and more than likely never will have any longstanding interest in Siberian Huskies.
Don’t get me wrong, dog lovers: they’re beautiful animals. But we could, friendly readers, very easily say the same for llamas. Or jaguars. Or bald eagles. Let’s not forget rare varieties of sapphire colored butterflies. Lovely, all of them.
But on any given day, I spend less than three minutes thinking about these bold fauna, just as I spend a negligible modicum of time worrying about the fate of Siberian Huskies in my community. It’s a natural non-interest. Sorry, Huskies. Nothing personal.
However, good weather makes believers out of skeptics, optimists out of nihilists, and most notably, walkers out of writers. Taking to the streets in a winter hat (happy overkill), a friend and I stumbled upon the Siberian Specialty at the Choo Choo this evening on a lovely, random tour of the town. To call the view before us surreal is perhaps very appropriate. I’d rather call it Just Another Night in Chattanooga.
Let’s set the scene, though. Imagine if you will the Choo Choo gardens. Man-eating pond fish to your left, silver dining car to your right. Straight ahead, the concourses of rail platform open on to the hotel’s large parking lot, spotted with outlying buildings, train tracks, and green spaces.
On any given night, you’ll run into the occasional golf cart or lost tourist. I am perhaps the worst of these Choo Choo tourists: always lost, always gaping, always laughing at the derivations of the hotel’s less than consistent signage (CooCoo, CooChoo). Tonight, it took me longer than usual to process the scene. Walking out into the parking lot, there was a buzz and shuffle to my left: a pickup truck that barked. Straight ahead, 15 RVs, warm against the cool sky, each with a maze of fencing and saw dust and grooming tables around it. And across the lot, running along some old tracks: hundreds of little white snowballs.
The stuff of bizarre childhood dreams, maybe.
Huskies, actually.
There are hundreds of them, friends, here to compete and collect and celebrate. They are beautiful, even for those of us who consider hamsters a big commitment. And they are part of the Chattanooga story: the thing that makes this place so intoxicating, so bizarre, so enduring. You come here for a job, perhaps, and you find a cityscape impossible to ignore. You go for a walk, and you find hundreds of snowy dogs on their evening ambles.
A night with simple Chatty pleasures, it makes me wonder, what kinds of other stories are out there? I know you’ve got ‘em. Interested in sharing? Send me a little email, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Go forth, storytellers, and collect inspiration!
Posted by
-
Tuesday Night on Main Street Monday, September 28, 2009
Just when you thought Tuesday was an evening for staying in… Main Street in Chattanooga is proud to present a number of activities this Tuesday, September 29, 2009. Whether you be a film-buff, a musician, or an actor, there’s an event to satisfy your Tuesday night boredom.
Film Screening
CreateHere
Tuesday, 6:30 PMAs part of the “Persona | Anima” exhibit and event series, 55here presents a screening of “Glen or Glenda” (1953), written, directed by, and starring Ed Wood. So, bring a comfy chair, something to sip on, and join us in an exploration of personality and classic film-making. Visit 55here’s web page for more event scheduling.
Mountain Music Folk School
Bluegrass Grill & Area 61
Tuesdays, 6 PMMountain Music Folk School revs up and launches their Fall 2009 Schedule of Classes. MakeWork Grant recipients Matt Evans and Christie Burns have been hard at work planning a variety of lessons and workshops beginning September 28. On Tuesday evenings, Lon Eldridge and Christie Burns will teach Ukulele and Mountain Dulcimer. And, the best news is it’s not too late to register. Visit mmfolk.com for a complete schedule and more details.
Read more.
“Scene Study” Theatre Workshop
Green | Spaces
Tuesday, 7 to 9 PM
Jamie Lawrence will host an 8 week series of acting classes that meet on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 PM. The first lesson will kick-off at Green | Spaces, and the following 7 will meet at CreateHere. Lawrence has been a professional actor and director for 25 years, performing all over the states and in Europe. Jamie held a Research Fellowship in Acting at Yale School of Drama and taught theatre at the University of Texas at Dallas and at Yale University. The class is designed for seasoned and aspiring actors and will cover the method of “scene study”. Call (423) 280.4642 to learn more about the course and pre-register. Read more.By Jessica Martin, Senior Arts Fellow
Posted by
-
Tuesday Night Film Screening: “Glen or Glenda?”
55here invites you to explore your alter ego. In conjunction with Persona | Anima, 55here will be screening “Glen or Glenda?,” a notably campy B movie about embracing all sides of yourself—even those which defy social norms.
Written, directed by, and starring legendary filmmaker Ed Wood, “Glen or Glenda?” is a semi-autobiographical film whose cross-dressing protagonist, Glen, must decide whether or not to reveal “Glenda,” his female alter-ego, to his future wife. A cast of characters includes “The Scientist,” an omniscient narrator with tangential tendancies (played by Bela Lugosi), a herd of buffalo, bound women, Satan, and the infamous angora sweater. Together, they aide (or hinder) his efforts to come to terms with his other self. This film, along with Ed Wood’s other melodramatic classics such as “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” solidified Wood’s reputation as one of the worst directors of all time. With the help of Tim Burton’s bioflick “Ed Wood,” starring Johnny Depp, Wood’s films gained a following and cult classic status.
Join us for pretzels, soda, and cinematic fun worthy of Mystery Science Theater. The film runs from 6:30 to 8:30 in the evening on Tuesday, September 28. Hope to see you there!
By Katie Waddell, Arts Fellow
Posted by
