Wednesday, September 4, 2013
A Bit of a Change
Hopefully you've found your way here, so welcome! Apparently my previous domain name, which was simply thingsblackpeopledoinhartford.com has been taken over. I'll miss that name, but this will have to do for now. I hope to have some lovely new things here, so check back soon!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Healing, Heritage, Hanky-Panky and Health in Hartford
Whether you're looking for a low-key evening with friends or a chance to have a lively discussion with your neighbors, Hartford has it this weekend.
Thursday night has two different events in Hartford with two very different vibes. First is a Healing Circle on Child and Youth Violence. This is the first of three group writing and sharing events taking place to "address our individual and collective pain resulting from the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case and similar killings of Black youth, such as Robert Lawlor, that have occured in Hartford." This event will take place in the Community Room of the Albany Avenue Branch Library. Future dates are Thursday, August 15 at the Children's Program Room of the Downtown Branch Library, and Thursday, September 10 at the Conference of Churches at 224 Farmington Avenue. This event is free and refreshments will be served.
Also on Thursday is Wadsworth Atheneum's First Thursday event, the theme for this month being Emancipation! A Caribbean themed block party to get you warmed up for the Taste of the Caribbean & Jerk Festival. If I were to compile a list of things you must do in Hartford, (which I probably should) First Thursday would be on it. For $5 on the First Thursday of each month, you can come to the museum for a wide variety of events pertaining to the theme, all the while surrounded by the Wadsworth's beautiful collection. This month will include reggae music, a poetry reading, spray-on tattoos, stilt walkers and more. Children are welcome here as well.
On Saturday, the Taste of Caribbean & Jerk Festival comes to town. The Riverfront will come alive with music, games and vendors and so.much.food! This is a yearly event that always pleases. The actual festival is free, but you're going to want to bring money for the food and vendors. Obviously you can bring your kids.
Then you can drop them off at yo mama's house and drive to Springfield for the second edition of Brighter Than Before's Earotica: An Elegant Evening of Sensual Poetry, Music and Tantalizing Tips! If you went last year, then you know that this event gets steamy! Last year was quite the time with some hot area poets (including the hosts), raffles and vendors selling things from massages to...ahem...adult novelties. Last year the place was packed, so get there early! Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. As a note, this is rescheduled from their original date back in July, which you may also have heard about. You had your chance before, but don't miss it again!
Then on Sunday morning, calm back down, center yourself and act like you weren't all hot and bothered the night before. The first installment of Yoga in the Park starts on August 4th. From now until October, Downtown Yoga, along with the City of Hartford are putting on a free weekly yoga class in different parks in Hartford. Bring a yoga mat, a towel, a bottle of water and wear something to move in. Start your week off with some stretching and moving! Here's the schedule:
Keney Park Aug. 4 9:30 am
Pope Park Aug. 11 9:30 am
Goodwin Park Aug. 18 9:30 am
Colt Park Aug. 25 9:30 am
Bushnell Park Sept 8 11:00 am
Elizabeth Park Sept 15 11:00 am
Keney Park Sept 22 11:00 am
Pope Park Sept 29 11:00 am
Goodwin Park Oct 6 11:00 am
Bushnell Park Oct 12 11:00 am
After any and all of this, support some local businesses and get some dinner at any of the participating Taste of Hartford restaurants. Taste of Hartford ends Sunday!
Also on Thursday is Wadsworth Atheneum's First Thursday event, the theme for this month being Emancipation! A Caribbean themed block party to get you warmed up for the Taste of the Caribbean & Jerk Festival. If I were to compile a list of things you must do in Hartford, (which I probably should) First Thursday would be on it. For $5 on the First Thursday of each month, you can come to the museum for a wide variety of events pertaining to the theme, all the while surrounded by the Wadsworth's beautiful collection. This month will include reggae music, a poetry reading, spray-on tattoos, stilt walkers and more. Children are welcome here as well.
On Saturday, the Taste of Caribbean & Jerk Festival comes to town. The Riverfront will come alive with music, games and vendors and so.much.food! This is a yearly event that always pleases. The actual festival is free, but you're going to want to bring money for the food and vendors. Obviously you can bring your kids.
Then on Sunday morning, calm back down, center yourself and act like you weren't all hot and bothered the night before. The first installment of Yoga in the Park starts on August 4th. From now until October, Downtown Yoga, along with the City of Hartford are putting on a free weekly yoga class in different parks in Hartford. Bring a yoga mat, a towel, a bottle of water and wear something to move in. Start your week off with some stretching and moving! Here's the schedule:
Keney Park Aug. 4 9:30 am
Pope Park Aug. 11 9:30 am
Goodwin Park Aug. 18 9:30 am
Colt Park Aug. 25 9:30 am
Bushnell Park Sept 8 11:00 am
Elizabeth Park Sept 15 11:00 am
Keney Park Sept 22 11:00 am
Pope Park Sept 29 11:00 am
Goodwin Park Oct 6 11:00 am
Bushnell Park Oct 12 11:00 am
After any and all of this, support some local businesses and get some dinner at any of the participating Taste of Hartford restaurants. Taste of Hartford ends Sunday!
Friday, July 26, 2013
So Much To Do...So Do It!
This weekend is full of fun events! First things first, you should probably just camp out at HartBeat Ensemble's Carriage House right now. It's an awesome black box theater located on Farmington Avenue and since making it their home earlier this year, HartBeat Ensemble has put on some terrific shows there.
Tonight, Sea Tea Improv is going to be putting on a hilarious and raunchy long-form improv show called Sex and the Sea Tea. This is one of their highest recommended shows. If you've never caught a Sea Tea Improv show, this is the one to start with. The talented performers will "turn tales of dates by you (the audience) into a hilarious improvised play!" Unfortunately (fortunately?) you're going to want to leave the kids at home for this one. But I promise this show won't disappoint! Tickets are $10 and available online for a few more hours here: https://sexandtheseatea.eventbrite.com/ or you can buy them tonight in person if they haven't sold out!
Then tomorrow night, Hartist Mr. Qwes is putting on "An Intimate Live Music Experience" called Confessions of a Songwriter. You may recognize Mr. Qwes as one of the hosts of the Love Jones Experience on Mondays at the Russell or from his stunning performance as The Lion in MaPeach's production of The Wiz last August. Tomorrow he'll focus on himself and bring us an intimate evening of songs and stories, also at HartBeat Ensemble's Carriage House. He and his band will give us a soulful show with his sweet-like-honey voice on center stage. Think VH1 Storytellers but you actually have the privilege of being there! I had the opportunity to work backstage at Mr. Qwes's recent benefit concert "Mr. Qwes Live". The man puts on a hell of a show! Like most of my friends, he's no slouch of a performer, putting on a show that's as professional as it is impressive. Check out his website for a video that shows a snippet of what a fantastic show this was. There's two chances to see one of Hartford's treasures perform: the 3:00pm Family show and the 8:00pm "Grown Folks Show" Mr. Qwes is performing in the second installment of HartBeat Ensemble's 360 Music Series. Admission is free but seating is limited! Get there early!
To round out the weekend with some more laughter, check out the monthly show that the Hartford Advocate called one of the top things to do in Hartford. Get another dose of Sea Tea Improv at their short-form show at City Steam Brewery. This show has free admission and is one of the funnest things to do before Monday comes creeping back into your life. Short-form improv is the style that you may be more familiar with from shows like Who's Line is it Anyway? where performers play a series of games using audience suggestions. (No food. You'd be surprised how many people think of pineapples at any given moment.) If you miss tonight's show, or you have so much fun tonight that you need more improv (as is usually the case) come on out to City Steam this Sunday and get another helping! This is an all ages show, but because of the full bar downstairs, minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Miners must be accompanied by a canary.
To round out the weekend with some more laughter, check out the monthly show that the Hartford Advocate called one of the top things to do in Hartford. Get another dose of Sea Tea Improv at their short-form show at City Steam Brewery. This show has free admission and is one of the funnest things to do before Monday comes creeping back into your life. Short-form improv is the style that you may be more familiar with from shows like Who's Line is it Anyway? where performers play a series of games using audience suggestions. (No food. You'd be surprised how many people think of pineapples at any given moment.) If you miss tonight's show, or you have so much fun tonight that you need more improv (as is usually the case) come on out to City Steam this Sunday and get another helping! This is an all ages show, but because of the full bar downstairs, minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Miners must be accompanied by a canary.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Curse You, Rain!
Sorry to get your hopes up, but Hartford Riverfest and accompanying fireworks have been postponed due to flooding.
I know it's sad. But we will move on. We're a strong and resilient city. We will live to fight another day.
Hartford has a sad history with flooding, so we don't really like to mess around with the angry waters of Old Man Connecticut River. If they're predicting a flood, I'm inclined to believe them. We don't want anything like this going down:
That was the Bond Hotel back in 1936.
So sorry to break the news. Tell your friends and neighbors.
Also, tell your other friends and neighbors to calm down with the firecrackers shooting off at all times of the night during the entire month of July. It scares my cat.
Friday, June 28, 2013
Free Movies After Dark are Back! So Am I!
After launching TBPDIH in 2010, I received a ton of feedback, gained a lot of readers both casually and through search engines. After two years, I felt like my job was done. I wasn't going out nearly as much as I used to and since Facebook is King of the World, I figured we were all in the know now. But I've heard the "there's nothing to do in Hartford" whispers. When I heard them in 2010-2012, I easily combated them by handing out my card and instructing the person to educate themselves on this site. But last year especially was lean. And it's hard to say that there's a ton of things going on and when asked what specifically, I respond, "Um...I dunno since I'm probably just going to be hanging out in my backyard tonight."
A few weeks ago, the list of Free Movies was put up on Facebook and was quickly passed around. I saw a couple people on my timeline who balked at the fact that there were no movies starring main characters of color. I'm not here to get into a debate about whether that's important or not so save your comments. I know how it seems weird to them that though most of these movies are playing in parks that serve communities of color, "Coming to America" or other classics aren't on any of the screens. But protesting didn't occur to me because I voted.
Back in the wintertime, when we couldn't even fathom sitting outdoors to watch a movie, the Marketing, Events and Cultural Affairs office for the City posted a poll of what should be shown. Or maybe it was Hartford.com? I can't remember. Either way, I nominated a couple. Then when they put finalists up for a vote, I voted on them. I vaguely remember trying to suggest some "black" movies off the top of my head, but I also couldn't remember many. And I didn't ask for help because in my naivety, I didn't think anyone would care. If they would, they would be voting.
So when I watched my friends complain in mild ire about the final list, I first thought, "well, don't complain; you should've voted!" Then I realized...how many of my friends knew they could vote? How many know these pages exist? How many even know that Hartford.com is different than Hartford.gov and that they are involved in bucketloads of fun stuff and really do care about the residents in the city they serve, not just the visitors? MECA and I have 30 mutual friends, Hartford.gov and I have 31. Of those 30-ish people, only about 5 were a surprise to me, meaning they're not bloggers, they don't work with these groups in a professional capacity or aren't obsessed with all things Hartford like I am.
This blog and its page on Facebook are supposed to be telling you about things like MECA, Hartford.gov, remind you about The Wadsworth and The Bushnell, the parks, the parades, the nooks and crannies of the city that you may not know about or just forgot about. I'm supposed to remind you, as the saying goes, that Hartford Has It. So when someone's asking for suggestions on how to make you come out (and as always, this is "you" everyone. Not just POC) I should be relaying that message.
The reason that this blog was started, as I always say, is because I felt that there were people being missed when it came time to advertise. For example, I'm not West Indian. I have no idea when the West Indian Parade is this year. I usually don't know until steel drums are waking me up the morning of. Everyone is welcome to go, but for people like me with a busy schedule it's nice to know when things are happening so I can plan on going, not just hope I'm free. When this blog was really cookin', I had so many people say, "I had no idea that XXX happened at YYY for the last three years! How would I have found out about that before?" The answer is typically know the right people. Whether it's eating good Puerto Rican food or taking a yoga class. Somehow we're not all finding out the right information.
Obviously I can't do this blog forever, but please still check in because for as long as I can, I will. Also read Real Hartford: an extremely good blog that posts an in depth schedule of events happening in Hartford all over Hartford. (July's list just posted yesterday!) Like the Things Black People Do In Hartford FB page. Like Hartford.com's FB page and check their website often. Like MECA's FB page too! If you go to a local bar or club and you like it, find them on the internet. If in doubt, e-mail me and I'll see what I can do.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Hartford Parks Free Movies After Dark
The drive-in movie. For years, American summers were defined by them. If you grew up in the Central Connecticut area, I'm sure you have some summer memories sitting in the backseat of a car at the Hartford Drive-In on the Berlin Turnpike. We would absolutely trash my parents' mini-van with crushed popcorn and gummy worms while watching Home Alone on the screen. But now they're nearly extinct. Going to one is seen as a niche and novelty event. A "cute idea" for a 5th date or a treat for the birthday of a 10 year old who doesn't own a television. Believe it or not, there are those of us who miss the old Drive-In. This summer, Hartford is going old school and giving us a series of outdoor movies in the parks. The good news is that you don't need your car! The bad news is that you'll probably need some mosquito repellent and getting to second base in public frowned upon!
The City of Hartford's Marketing, Events & Cultural Affairs Division and Mayor Pedro Segarra are trying out something new this summer and putting on Free Movies After Dark in various Hartford Parks. Every Friday this summer, a different Hartford Park will feature a full length film for free at sunset. The weekly event starts on July 27 in Bushnell Park with one of my favorite movies Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and will go until September 7th ending with a movie set and filmed in Hartford called Rising Star.
My insiders have told me so far that there will be popcorn to munch on, because what's a movie without it? Break out your blanket, your bug spray and dig the stick out of your under carriage. The first installment of 2012 Monday Night Jazz in Bushnell Park had a great turnout on July 9th. Everyone had fun and mingled as the sun lowered in the sky, staying well after the sun set until the last note played. In my head, that's how I see this event going down. A bunch of us huddled on blankets with friends and family under the stars, laughing as Baxter speaks Spanish to Ron and Brick kills a guy with a Trident. It'll happen. We all know how it goes bringing new events in Hartford: 60% of the time it works every time. Don't act like you're not impressed with figures like that. Break out your jazz flute and bring your ass to the park on the 27th or you will spend Saturday the 28th in a glass case of emotion. Because as you know, "When in Rome."
If you don't know what any of that meant, you should really do yourself a favor and come to the park.
My insiders have told me so far that there will be popcorn to munch on, because what's a movie without it? Break out your blanket, your bug spray and dig the stick out of your under carriage. The first installment of 2012 Monday Night Jazz in Bushnell Park had a great turnout on July 9th. Everyone had fun and mingled as the sun lowered in the sky, staying well after the sun set until the last note played. In my head, that's how I see this event going down. A bunch of us huddled on blankets with friends and family under the stars, laughing as Baxter speaks Spanish to Ron and Brick kills a guy with a Trident. It'll happen. We all know how it goes bringing new events in Hartford: 60% of the time it works every time. Don't act like you're not impressed with figures like that. Break out your jazz flute and bring your ass to the park on the 27th or you will spend Saturday the 28th in a glass case of emotion. Because as you know, "When in Rome."
If you don't know what any of that meant, you should really do yourself a favor and come to the park.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Aja Wilson - Kaleidescope
On June 23rd, I had the pleasure of attending the showcase of a Rising Star in Hartford, Aja Wilson entitled Young, Wild and Free. Aja is a Hartford native and a 2010 graduate of the Hartt School at the University of Hartford and in the past two years since she's graduated, she's been working hard to create a name for herself in the music scene.
The showcase was held on the stage at the Polish National Home, a beautiful building on Charter Oak Avenue downtown. Aja was accompanied by a full band with a guitar and electric bass, keyboard, trumpet, saxophone and trombone players, as well as two background dancers for the upbeat numbers and an upright bass and piano to back her up on her original songs. The stage was full of light and movement when Aja entered in a sparkly pink and purple outfit. She started her show with a rousing rendition of Runaway Baby, a song originally performed by Bruno Mars, stepping in time with her dancers. She kept that momentum going and followed up with the equally high energy song Tightrope, originally performed by Janelle Monae. This was my first time hearing Aja sing live and she brought it! Her voice is as pretty in person as on the studio recordings that I'd heard on her website, with a rich tone to go along with it. Her set list took us on a musical journey of her favorite songs and artists, singing songs by Michael Jackson, Etta James to a killer version of Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know (creatively arranged by her friend Scott Packham) just to name a few.
I had the opportunity to chat with Aja after her show and we had a wonderful conversation about her career and her ambitions in the local artist scene. Last Fall, she was granted the opportunity to sing at the Langham Place Hotel in Hong Kong for 5 months as their in house musician. After that ended she followed it up performing at a week-long festival in Belize, and once home she and her mother immediately began planning for her showcase to storm onto the Hartford music scene in a big way. It was a bold move, but one that she succeeded at in spades. The place was packed and the crowd was loving the show, hooting and hollering as she belted out our favorite songs.
If you missed this show, don't fret: you'll be seeing much more of Miss Wilson around. Her debut album, Kaleidescope, is now available for purchase and she's going to be "growing the buzz" on herself even more. She has big plans for more shows and outings so stay tuned into her website (www.ajawilson.com) to hear the latest. In a city like Hartford, with such a strong artist community and people ready to support talent, I'm sure she'll have no problem getting that buzz out there.
I'd appreciate if you didn't make a liar out of me and support a local artist!
The showcase was held on the stage at the Polish National Home, a beautiful building on Charter Oak Avenue downtown. Aja was accompanied by a full band with a guitar and electric bass, keyboard, trumpet, saxophone and trombone players, as well as two background dancers for the upbeat numbers and an upright bass and piano to back her up on her original songs. The stage was full of light and movement when Aja entered in a sparkly pink and purple outfit. She started her show with a rousing rendition of Runaway Baby, a song originally performed by Bruno Mars, stepping in time with her dancers. She kept that momentum going and followed up with the equally high energy song Tightrope, originally performed by Janelle Monae. This was my first time hearing Aja sing live and she brought it! Her voice is as pretty in person as on the studio recordings that I'd heard on her website, with a rich tone to go along with it. Her set list took us on a musical journey of her favorite songs and artists, singing songs by Michael Jackson, Etta James to a killer version of Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know (creatively arranged by her friend Scott Packham) just to name a few.
I had the opportunity to chat with Aja after her show and we had a wonderful conversation about her career and her ambitions in the local artist scene. Last Fall, she was granted the opportunity to sing at the Langham Place Hotel in Hong Kong for 5 months as their in house musician. After that ended she followed it up performing at a week-long festival in Belize, and once home she and her mother immediately began planning for her showcase to storm onto the Hartford music scene in a big way. It was a bold move, but one that she succeeded at in spades. The place was packed and the crowd was loving the show, hooting and hollering as she belted out our favorite songs.
If you missed this show, don't fret: you'll be seeing much more of Miss Wilson around. Her debut album, Kaleidescope, is now available for purchase and she's going to be "growing the buzz" on herself even more. She has big plans for more shows and outings so stay tuned into her website (www.ajawilson.com) to hear the latest. In a city like Hartford, with such a strong artist community and people ready to support talent, I'm sure she'll have no problem getting that buzz out there.
I'd appreciate if you didn't make a liar out of me and support a local artist!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
North End Farmer's Market
Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 27) the North End Farmer's Market will open for the season. If the North End seems a little far, then maybe you need to re-examine your life and your choices because this is Hartford and the entire city is about a block long. But maybe you're like, "Tianna, I don't have a car, it really is far for me!" To which I say, "Oh man, that really sucks. How do you get McDonald's?" And you're like, "Well, I don't really eat McDonald's because I can't just stop by there whenever I feel like it like people with cars can." And I'm like, "Oh, yeah I guess that's true *nodding my head in agreement*" And you're like, "If you think about it, I'm pretty sure most people only eat fast food in a jam because it's always in driving distance and you don't have to leave your car." And I'm like, "That's true and what a shame because I'm sure that plays a hand in our poor overall health overall. I'd love to further pick your brain about this, but we're going to have to stop talking about this now because I could really go for a snackwrap." And you shake your head because people who don't eat McDonald's think those that do are just walking anthrax.
And that head shake makes me feel bad, because I should be treating my body like a temple. I should be eating fresh food grown by people who have to suffer the same traffic on 84W as I, and shaking the stung hands of the man who cautiously collected my honey! So I gather my cloth grocery bags, hop on my bike and head to my nearest Farmer's Market while humming "Heal the World". My nearest Farmer's Market is just so happens to be the North End Farmer's Market on 80 Coventry Street, but there's way more than that running from the summer into the fall, so no need to examine your life and choices after all. (Unless you want to and if so by all means, examine away. If you're human, there's a 99% chance you're messed up anyway. May as well try to sort that whole thing out.)
Here are the Hartford Farmer's Markets (list pulled from the CT Department of Agriculture website)
Thursdays 11 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.
May 3 ‐ December 27
539 Broad Street, Grassy Courtyard on Billings Forge Campus
FMNP Authorized WF&V SNAP
Hartford ‐ Capitol Ave Farmers’ Market
Mondays 10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
July 2 ‐ October 29
First Presbyterian Church Next to Bushnell, 156 Capitol Avenue
FMNP Authorized WF&V
Hartford ‐ Homestead Farmers’ Market NEW! in 2012CT DoAG
2012 Certified Farmers’ Markets
Wednesdays 3 p.m. ‐ 6 p.m.
June 27 ‐ October 10
255 Homestead Avenue, Chrysalis Center Inc
FMNP Authorized SNAP
Wednesdays 10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
June 27 ‐ October 31
80 Coventry Street, In front of North end Senior Center
FMNP Authorized WF&V SNAP
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 11 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.
June 26 ‐ October 26
Old State House, 800 Main Street
FMNP Authorized WF&V
Hartford ‐ Park Street Farmers’ Market
Mondays 9:30 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
July 9 ‐ October 29
Walgreen's Parking Lot, Corner of Park and Washington Streets
FMNP Authorized
Tuesdays & Fridays 4 p.m. ‐ 7 p.m., 3:30 p.m. ‐ 6 p.m. (Sept‐Oct)
June 4 ‐ October 30
United Methodist Church ‐ 571 Farmington Avenue @ South Whitney Street
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Charter Oak Cultural Center - Juneteenth Pilgrimage & More!
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| Photo courtesy of Charter Oak Cultural Center's Facebook page |
I've been meaning to write for a while about the Charter Oak Cultural Center. I'm sure you've seen the big and beautiful former synagogue (CT's oldest) when turning on Charter Oak Avenue, but may not have known what was inside. Since the late 1970's, it has been the home of a thriving multi-cultural arts center that offers a ton of arts and educational services to the community. From their website:
Charter Oak Cultural Center harnesses the power of the arts to create positive social change. We host cutting-edge, thought-provoking visual and performing arts, including dance, theater, film, concerts, readings, gallery exhibits and much more. Our overall goal is to give access to the arts to all who hunger for them.I've been to a few events here at the Cultural Center over the last few months and all of them have been fun. My main thought when coming though is, "I really wish more people had come." I'll tell my friends and coworkers about it and they all say pretty much the same thing; something along the lines of, "Oh, I've never heard of that place." Well, now I'm telling you, so put them in your mental Rolodex of places in Hartford that you must check out.
Now to get black on you, as I like to do, I'll tell you about one of the brown events coming up. As always, EVERYONE is welcome at any event I post on my blog. The greater goal here is integration and working on this whole de facto segregation thing we've got going on. But the event I'm talking about is for Juneteenth, so I'm sort of inclined to lead with that because I don't want to get haunted by the ghost of Frederick Douglass, I just don't, guys. This coming Tuesday is Juneteenth, which is the holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery. The Charter Oak Cultural Center will be holding a pilgrimage to Hartford's African Burial Ground for a ceremony of "reflection and rejoicing". The cost is free and this is a very family-friendly event, so bring the kids for something enlightening to kick off their summer vacation.
Of course, this is only one event being held at the center. Be sure to keep up with their calendar and their Facebook page for new events, but just to let you know about a couple things coming up within the next month are musicians featured for the UMOJA Music Series and Indie Fest on July 14th, a huge roster of indie bands playing in the courtyard that sounds SUPER fun!
Here are the details for the Juneteenth pilgrimage once again:
When: Tuesday, June 19th, 2012
Where: Meet at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, CT
Time: 5:30pm
Cost: Free
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Judy Blume Comes to Hartford!
What's up fellow fun-seekers? Happy almost summer! I love this time of year and the city is buzzing with things to do so I'll jump right in.
Next Thursday, June 21, the one and only Judy Blume will be coming to the Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford Campus. The event is being sponsored by The Mark Twain House & Museum.
I'm sure most of the 80's babies out there are familiar with Ms. Blume's work. I remember when my school's librarian hooked me on Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing back when I was a third grade nothing. And I'm pretty sure you couldn't be a girl starting 6th grade without a copy of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret that was embarrassingly given to you by a well-meaning aunt who stage-whispered "it's about getting your period!" in front of everyone at a backyard cookout...No, just me?
But the great thing about these books is that not just us 80's babies benefited. There's a reason that most people I know have a story of being gifted a Judy Blume book at some point in their life and that's because her writing covers such a wide range of topics. Reading Are You There God? as a sixth grader meant a lot to me simply because it was a book about a teenage girl (like me!) preparing for the big to-do that is puberty (like me!). But as I got older and re-read the synopsis, I realized the book covered some very real themes that I didn't remember, or possibly didn't catch the first time around. These books weren't just about kids that were bummed about their situation, but also stories of children dealing with things that people don't normally talk to kids so frankly about. Because of her frank delivery and subject matter, many of her books have been banned, much like a famous Hartford author you may know.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Judy Blume's career. I'm sure during her evening, she'll talk about all of that and much more. Your job is to buy a ticket, get your butt in the seat and have a great night in the company of a legend!
Here's the skinny, if you don't feel like reading the poster:
Where: Lincoln Theater (on the campus of The University of Hartford)
When: 7:30pm Thursday, June 21, 2012
Cost: Tickets are $25/$40 or VIP seating with pre-event reception for $85
Buy: To buy tickets online: http://harttweb.hartford.edu/
By phone: (860) 768-4228
If you feel like you need a refresher course before you get to the event, Julia Pistell has been re-reading the Judy Blume collection and blogging the experience. Be sure to check that out before you walk in the door, just in case your memory isn't what you think it is!
Next Thursday, June 21, the one and only Judy Blume will be coming to the Lincoln Theater on the University of Hartford Campus. The event is being sponsored by The Mark Twain House & Museum.
I'm sure most of the 80's babies out there are familiar with Ms. Blume's work. I remember when my school's librarian hooked me on Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing back when I was a third grade nothing. And I'm pretty sure you couldn't be a girl starting 6th grade without a copy of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret that was embarrassingly given to you by a well-meaning aunt who stage-whispered "it's about getting your period!" in front of everyone at a backyard cookout...No, just me?
But the great thing about these books is that not just us 80's babies benefited. There's a reason that most people I know have a story of being gifted a Judy Blume book at some point in their life and that's because her writing covers such a wide range of topics. Reading Are You There God? as a sixth grader meant a lot to me simply because it was a book about a teenage girl (like me!) preparing for the big to-do that is puberty (like me!). But as I got older and re-read the synopsis, I realized the book covered some very real themes that I didn't remember, or possibly didn't catch the first time around. These books weren't just about kids that were bummed about their situation, but also stories of children dealing with things that people don't normally talk to kids so frankly about. Because of her frank delivery and subject matter, many of her books have been banned, much like a famous Hartford author you may know.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Judy Blume's career. I'm sure during her evening, she'll talk about all of that and much more. Your job is to buy a ticket, get your butt in the seat and have a great night in the company of a legend!
Here's the skinny, if you don't feel like reading the poster:
Where: Lincoln Theater (on the campus of The University of Hartford)
When: 7:30pm Thursday, June 21, 2012
Cost: Tickets are $25/$40 or VIP seating with pre-event reception for $85
Buy: To buy tickets online: http://harttweb.hartford.edu/
By phone: (860) 768-4228
If you feel like you need a refresher course before you get to the event, Julia Pistell has been re-reading the Judy Blume collection and blogging the experience. Be sure to check that out before you walk in the door, just in case your memory isn't what you think it is!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Reminder: All Mixed Up is this Friday!
Tickets are still available for the show! Click here to buy now!
This Friday, April 13th MaPeach Productions is putting on All Mixed Up: A Comedy & Poetry Mesh. Darlene "Peaches" Brandon, Owner and Founder of MaPeach Productions, should be another familiar face to you as well. You can find her twice a month hosting The Love Jones Experience down at the Russell on Monday nights, as well as acting and performing her own poetry about town. She even directed two very successful productions of For Colored Girls... which I reviewed right here two years ago. This time, Darlene will take a step away from the scripts and host a show to bust your gut and soothe your soul. All Mixed Up will feature the poetry of NuNuu, M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T and Peaches herself. Three comedians who have graced the stages of places like Comic View on BET, HBO and prestigious comedy clubs nationwide will also be bringing down the house; Artie Rob, Solo and Hartford native Marshall Brandon. The beautifully talented, Grammy-award winning, TBPDIH-writer loving Charmagne Tripp will also be gracing us with some songs and to wrap up the evening, Big Jus is coming with his hot dance crew! All Mixed Up will be held at Vibz Uptown and the show starts at 8:30. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door and call (860) 986-4483 or click here to buy.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Holla Back Hartford: National Poetry Month is Alive in Hartford!
Sorry for the last minute notice, but I had to let you in on a little something I was just clued in on (damn Facebook fast keeping me out of the loop!). This month The Center Without Walls and Billings Forge will bring you 4 nights of poetry and spoken word featuring 4 talented women. Unfortunately, I've had a glass of wine and I've been up since 4:30am, so I'm too tired to totally spill like I normally do. But I must say that I know Sarahi Yahaira, Mind.Evolution and NuNuu and their poems are not to be missed. Sarahi, emotionally open through her words, will take you on a journey through her life from childhood to now with love, laughter and tears. Mind.Evolution will uplift and inspire with her words that showcase her fierce determination. NuNuu will captivate you with her versatility, giving an energy and personality that changes from piece to piece. And I've never seen Tahani Salah perform in person, but her videos on youtube tell me that her words speak for people who often go unnoticed or forgotten, reminding us all to pay attention.
Now that I've kept it as short and sweet as I am reasonably capable of, I will tell you that this poetry series will take place at 7:30 on each Thursday during the month of April at the Studio at Billings Forge and it's free! Now you get out there and enjoy some poetry, dammit. I'm sorry, you didn't deserve that. Wine makes "dammit" my favorite word.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Harvest Wine & Spirits
My girlfriend Charmane and I had the pleasure of stopping by Harvest Fine Wines & Spirits on the way to see some friends a couple of weeks ago. I've been following their blog for about a year and these people seemed to have a real passion for beer and wine. I guess I have a passion for beer and wine...well, I like to drink it. My love of drinking it usually reminds me of how passionate I am about things like bad commercials. Anyway, the day that I was there, I just grabbed a 6 pack of Naughty Nurse, (local brew from City Steam, if you haven't had the pleasure.) a 6 pack of Hooker Blonde (local brew from Hooker Brewery) and a bottle of Yellowtail. So as you can see, I'm not as nerdy about beer and wine as I am about, say, classic Simpsons trivia. But now I think I want to be.
That said, even during my short visit, I could tell that these guys knew their shit. The store itself is set to the side in a small plaza that shares a Chinese restaurant and a sushi restaurant. (Since our friends lived nearby, we actually ended up ordering delivery from the Chinese place later and it was great!) Coming in was a bit overwhelming at first. To the left of the entrance is a huge refrigerator full of single beers. I think I'd like to go back and take advantage of that so I can sample a couple things and not have to commit to a whole night with one beer. If you already know what you're looking for, there's an even bigger "beer cave" in the back that houses ALL.THE.BEERS. So many. I actually felt a little average buying my two regular favorites, which, when I buy them anywhere else usually make me feel so good. As it is, I normally have to drive to Bloomfield just to get it. But damn if I didn't want to buy some obscure beer that no one had ever heard of while in that store. Yeah, I had some beer hipster envy going on.
If there was any place I'd trust to point my inexperienced palate in the right direction, it's Harvest. I overheard one clerk helping some customers pair their beer with their dinner and that's an extra step that most package stores I frequent don't offer. Most are in the business of trying to sell me what's popular rather than offering me something similar. (Dear Atwood Liquors: If you're out of Sam Adams, Ciroq Peach is NOT a good substitute.) The guys at Harvest seemed eager to please the palate.
We finished our trip looking for the Yellowtail Pinot Noir/Shiraz blend. You'd think I'd feel bad about going for such a standard in a store that had oodles and oodles of fine wines, but I was already shamed about the beer. I was pretty maxed out. I will give a huge high five that they have it. I don't see that blend at a lot of stores and it's one of my favorites.
Overall, the customer service was extremely pleasant and I'll definitely return. Which is really saying something because I don't usually drive that far down Farmington Avenue. Beer nerds, make your way out to this store, not only for their impressive collection of both wines and beers, but the friendly and knowledgeable staff. I'll be back...ready to experiment. Get ready for a whole new level of judgement from me when I see you drinking a Heineken.
That said, even during my short visit, I could tell that these guys knew their shit. The store itself is set to the side in a small plaza that shares a Chinese restaurant and a sushi restaurant. (Since our friends lived nearby, we actually ended up ordering delivery from the Chinese place later and it was great!) Coming in was a bit overwhelming at first. To the left of the entrance is a huge refrigerator full of single beers. I think I'd like to go back and take advantage of that so I can sample a couple things and not have to commit to a whole night with one beer. If you already know what you're looking for, there's an even bigger "beer cave" in the back that houses ALL.THE.BEERS. So many. I actually felt a little average buying my two regular favorites, which, when I buy them anywhere else usually make me feel so good. As it is, I normally have to drive to Bloomfield just to get it. But damn if I didn't want to buy some obscure beer that no one had ever heard of while in that store. Yeah, I had some beer hipster envy going on.
If there was any place I'd trust to point my inexperienced palate in the right direction, it's Harvest. I overheard one clerk helping some customers pair their beer with their dinner and that's an extra step that most package stores I frequent don't offer. Most are in the business of trying to sell me what's popular rather than offering me something similar. (Dear Atwood Liquors: If you're out of Sam Adams, Ciroq Peach is NOT a good substitute.) The guys at Harvest seemed eager to please the palate.
We finished our trip looking for the Yellowtail Pinot Noir/Shiraz blend. You'd think I'd feel bad about going for such a standard in a store that had oodles and oodles of fine wines, but I was already shamed about the beer. I was pretty maxed out. I will give a huge high five that they have it. I don't see that blend at a lot of stores and it's one of my favorites.
Overall, the customer service was extremely pleasant and I'll definitely return. Which is really saying something because I don't usually drive that far down Farmington Avenue. Beer nerds, make your way out to this store, not only for their impressive collection of both wines and beers, but the friendly and knowledgeable staff. I'll be back...ready to experiment. Get ready for a whole new level of judgement from me when I see you drinking a Heineken.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Set the Mic On Fire & All Mixed Up - Variety Shows in Hartford
Don't drink and blog, people.
Actually, that's not true. The internet would not thrive if not for a thought driven by a glass of wine. I guess I should say, leave edits to sobriety. On Saturday evening I came to my blog on my iPhone, simply to edit the title of this entry. Easy enough...when you haven't had a shot and a beer. The touch screen was not liking what I was doing and was giving me problems all along. Rather than just leave it alone til I was back on my laptop, my stubborn ass decided to force it to do what I wanted. All seemed well and good, but the result was seeing all that I'd typed completely erased on Sunday afternoon. Lesson learned.
So after taking a few days to curse and shake a fist at the screen, I've decided that I MUST get this post up again because the public needs to know what my drunken mistakes deprived them of.
This Sunday, Brighter Than Before Entertainment is bringing us a night of fun and laughter. On April 1st, Shish Lounge in West Hartford will be the home of Set the Mic on Fire. Though they've billed it as "a unique blend of comedy and poetry", you can trust these talented ladies to give you so much more than that. You may recognize most of the members of Brighter Than Before from the Greater Hartford/Springfield poetry scene or perhaps from their success putting on The Thick Chronicles this past winter. Whatever the case, you and I both know that they don't half-ass it when it comes to entertainment. The evening will be hosted by Shireal Renee and Big Chewy, and will feature the poetry of local favorites Alison McMeans, Brenda's Child, Crystal Senter Brown, Face, Hawk The Poet, Milton Jackson, Midnight and Mind.Evolution. Our comedians for the evening will be Jandayi Ms. Makinyoulaff and Veejay Wright and Evelyn Dillon will provide a tribute to the legendary Whitney Houston. Tickets are $15 if purchased in advance and $20 if you buy at the door. The festivities start at 7pm.
Then on Friday, April 13th MaPeach Productions is putting on All Mixed Up: A Comedy & Poetry Mesh. Darlene "Peaches" Brandon, Owner and Founder of MaPeach Productions, should be another familiar face to you as well. You can find her twice a month hosting The Love Jones Experience down at the Russell on Monday nights, as well as acting and performing her own poetry about town. She even directed two very successful productions of For Colored Girls... which I reviewed right here two years ago. This time, Darlene will take a step away from the scripts and host a show to bust your gut and soothe your soul. All Mixed Up will feature the poetry of NuNuu, M.I.D.N.I.G.H.T and Peaches herself. Three comedians who have graced the stages of places like Comic View on BET, HBO and prestigious comedy clubs nationwide will also be bringing down the house; Artie Rob, Solo and Hartford native Marshall Brandon. The beautifully talented, Grammy-award winning, TBPDIH-writer loving Charmagne Tripp will also be gracing us with some songs and to wrap up the evening, Big Jus is coming with his hot dance crew! All Mixed Up will be held at Vibz Uptown and the show starts at 8:30. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door and call (860) 986-4483 to buy.
Actually, that's not true. The internet would not thrive if not for a thought driven by a glass of wine. I guess I should say, leave edits to sobriety. On Saturday evening I came to my blog on my iPhone, simply to edit the title of this entry. Easy enough...when you haven't had a shot and a beer. The touch screen was not liking what I was doing and was giving me problems all along. Rather than just leave it alone til I was back on my laptop, my stubborn ass decided to force it to do what I wanted. All seemed well and good, but the result was seeing all that I'd typed completely erased on Sunday afternoon. Lesson learned.
So after taking a few days to curse and shake a fist at the screen, I've decided that I MUST get this post up again because the public needs to know what my drunken mistakes deprived them of.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Syllable: A Reading Series
Looking for something to do on a school night? Follow me, kid, I'll show you around. If you're in the mood to be entertained tonight, Syllable: A Reading Series will be taking place at La Paloma. The night will get started at 7pm and the theme of the evening will be "Luck". I'll be reading my own piece tonight. Sorry for the short notice, but better late than never, as my mom would say. (I know other people say it, but my mom is ALWAYS obscenely late. I feel she has a master's degree in the phrase.)
Syllable is a monthly themed reading series for writers to showcase their work. This goes for all kinds of writers. The unintended theme for tonight is non-fiction, though many other types are welcome such as works of fiction and short story, poetry, scripts, essays, songs...really anything you can create and read in 10 minutes or less. I had the opportunity to speak with Julia Pistell, the founder of Syllable, and she tries to leave the idea of work that is submitted open-ended. She reviews the submissions beforehand in order to facilitate the flow of the evening and the variety of submissions, so it's not a completely "open-mic." But from what I understand, people's work varies from month to month. I'm interested in seeing what people will write when given only a one word idea. Did I mention that I'm a Syllable virgin myself?
If you're shaking your fist at me because I didn't tell you about this in enough time, I apologize, seriously. That was my bad. But there are already dates and themes posted for the next two months: April 18th's theme is Light and May 16th's theme is Labor. Get your creative juices flowing and submit something for next month! Hope to see you out tonight!
Syllable: A Reading Series
Upcoming Events:
2/15: Love
3/21: Luck
4/18: Light
5/16: Labor
7:00-8:30 PM
La Paloma Sabanera, Hartford
$5 Suggested Donation
Email your submissions to syllableseries@gmail.com
Syllable is a monthly themed reading series for writers to showcase their work. This goes for all kinds of writers. The unintended theme for tonight is non-fiction, though many other types are welcome such as works of fiction and short story, poetry, scripts, essays, songs...really anything you can create and read in 10 minutes or less. I had the opportunity to speak with Julia Pistell, the founder of Syllable, and she tries to leave the idea of work that is submitted open-ended. She reviews the submissions beforehand in order to facilitate the flow of the evening and the variety of submissions, so it's not a completely "open-mic." But from what I understand, people's work varies from month to month. I'm interested in seeing what people will write when given only a one word idea. Did I mention that I'm a Syllable virgin myself?
If you're shaking your fist at me because I didn't tell you about this in enough time, I apologize, seriously. That was my bad. But there are already dates and themes posted for the next two months: April 18th's theme is Light and May 16th's theme is Labor. Get your creative juices flowing and submit something for next month! Hope to see you out tonight!
Syllable: A Reading Series
Upcoming Events:
4/18: Light
5/16: Labor
7:00-8:30 PM
La Paloma Sabanera, Hartford
$5 Suggested Donation
Email your submissions to syllableseries@gmail.com
Monday, February 27, 2012
Little City, Big H(e)art
A while back, I started on some new projects. I've been traveling, moving, shaking and generally neglecting TBPDIH, but a lot of people have been asking when I'd come back. I've missed the blog, especially the part where I get to tell people what I think about things and they have to sit there and like it. And if they don't, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
My true favorite part of this blog is that a lot of times, people will just start to tell me what they think about Hartford. The good news is that it's mostly positive. I'm not blind: I see that my beloved City has some issues. But complaining about them in a bar to strangers doesn't really do much, so it's rare to catch me Hartford bashing. I'd rather hear what you as an individual want to do to help our fair city thrive. It doesn't even have to be anything big, but creating a street-wide phone tree to inform your neighbors when there's a parking ban is a great idea that someone told me, which also introduced her to a lot of her neighbors. My Uncle Horace works cleaning the streets of Downtown during the day, but even after he's punched the clock, he's been known to clean up around his own neighborhood on the North End. There's a ton of things we can do to make this city more to our liking that start at home.
The downside of taking my break is that I feel like my silence perpetuated the myth that nothing is going on here. This city is alive and thriving, people. Yet every now and then someone will mention to me how if you want to do anything, you have to go to New York because this city is so boring. Granted, we're not an action a minute city, but we're not all that bad. We just have to work a little harder to find it. Sometimes people will pepper me with suggestions on how to make this place more like New York, but seriously, they can save it. Hartford, or all of CT for that matter, will never be like New York. It's called the city that never sleeps because it's filled to the brim with insomniacs. The population of our state doesn't even come close to that of NYC. So let's stop comparing ourselves to them, or worse, trying to pretend to be them and support our own stuff. Go to Real Art Ways for a date night, take a walk in a park, check out a show, add The CT Science Center, Wadsworth Atheneum, Mark Twain House and all the other oodles of hotels to your friend's list on Facebook. They've always got great free and discounted days.
Another thing that you NEED to do as a Hartford resident in want of a social life is say yes. When a coworker asks you out for drinks after work, say yes. When you get an invite to an event that you never would normally go to, say yes. I find this to be a good motto for my life anyway, especially when I'm in a rut. It's a great way to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Go out with a clear head ready to have some fun. Don't compare it to how much better it would be somewhere else, just enjoy it now because it's right in your backyard. Afterwards, stick around and talk to the coordinators. These are the creators who are making sure more shit that you enjoy keeps happening. Let them know you're hungry for a good time.
I understand that we all have a lot of things going on in our private lives, but the best way to make new things happen is to support what's already out there. What ARE you looking for in a night out? It may not happen often, but it's probably out there in Hartford if you look for it. Hell, there's a swing club in Hartford if you want to do that. (I don't know where it is though, and frankly, I probably don't want to know. With my luck, I'd run into my high school principal getting whipped by a dominatrix while a clown tickles his nipples with a feather. More power to him, but I don't wanna see that.) If you can't find what you're looking for, try something different else and maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's sad the amount of awesome events that I go to with so many empty chairs.
We're not New York. We never will be. We're Hartford and we're awesome.
My true favorite part of this blog is that a lot of times, people will just start to tell me what they think about Hartford. The good news is that it's mostly positive. I'm not blind: I see that my beloved City has some issues. But complaining about them in a bar to strangers doesn't really do much, so it's rare to catch me Hartford bashing. I'd rather hear what you as an individual want to do to help our fair city thrive. It doesn't even have to be anything big, but creating a street-wide phone tree to inform your neighbors when there's a parking ban is a great idea that someone told me, which also introduced her to a lot of her neighbors. My Uncle Horace works cleaning the streets of Downtown during the day, but even after he's punched the clock, he's been known to clean up around his own neighborhood on the North End. There's a ton of things we can do to make this city more to our liking that start at home.
The downside of taking my break is that I feel like my silence perpetuated the myth that nothing is going on here. This city is alive and thriving, people. Yet every now and then someone will mention to me how if you want to do anything, you have to go to New York because this city is so boring. Granted, we're not an action a minute city, but we're not all that bad. We just have to work a little harder to find it. Sometimes people will pepper me with suggestions on how to make this place more like New York, but seriously, they can save it. Hartford, or all of CT for that matter, will never be like New York. It's called the city that never sleeps because it's filled to the brim with insomniacs. The population of our state doesn't even come close to that of NYC. So let's stop comparing ourselves to them, or worse, trying to pretend to be them and support our own stuff. Go to Real Art Ways for a date night, take a walk in a park, check out a show, add The CT Science Center, Wadsworth Atheneum, Mark Twain House and all the other oodles of hotels to your friend's list on Facebook. They've always got great free and discounted days.
Another thing that you NEED to do as a Hartford resident in want of a social life is say yes. When a coworker asks you out for drinks after work, say yes. When you get an invite to an event that you never would normally go to, say yes. I find this to be a good motto for my life anyway, especially when I'm in a rut. It's a great way to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Go out with a clear head ready to have some fun. Don't compare it to how much better it would be somewhere else, just enjoy it now because it's right in your backyard. Afterwards, stick around and talk to the coordinators. These are the creators who are making sure more shit that you enjoy keeps happening. Let them know you're hungry for a good time.
I understand that we all have a lot of things going on in our private lives, but the best way to make new things happen is to support what's already out there. What ARE you looking for in a night out? It may not happen often, but it's probably out there in Hartford if you look for it. Hell, there's a swing club in Hartford if you want to do that. (I don't know where it is though, and frankly, I probably don't want to know. With my luck, I'd run into my high school principal getting whipped by a dominatrix while a clown tickles his nipples with a feather. More power to him, but I don't wanna see that.) If you can't find what you're looking for, try something different else and maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's sad the amount of awesome events that I go to with so many empty chairs.
We're not New York. We never will be. We're Hartford and we're awesome.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The Star has Risen...What Now?
Today The MetroHartford Alliance, along with Hartford Business Improvement District the City of Hartford and a ton of other people did something great. As we near the end of the Rising Star campaign that has been Hartford's motto for the past ten years, the City looks for a new image that just screams us. But not only should it flamboyantly shout "We're Hartford, we're fabulous, get used it it!" but it should say it to people who live close by, kinda think we're fabulous, but not fabulous enough to want to live here. You know, the people who like us as a friend and don't want to ruin it by taking it too far. Ooh! I got it! We're the friend with benefits of the suburbs! That's it. Shut it down. The search for a slogan is over. HARTFORD: Your Friend. With Benefits!
For the past few months the powers that be, along with the marketing company Cundari, have been putting a lot of work into a new campaign. And today they decided to do something really cool and share what they've been working on with the public. On one hand, it sounds like a royal pain in the ass on their part, listening to a ton of opinions when you could really just tell people to shove it and do what I want. But it's also really awesome because we all get to have a say in this process and people are actually eager to hear what we have to say!
There were two sessions for this event. The first was at the Convention Center this morning. The second, which I attended, was at the downtown branch of the Hartford Public Library. It was very well attended and I think most people were eager to see what they had in place. Read the actual presentation and then I'll tell you what I think about each concept:
Now before I start, I want to point out some things about this campaign that you should know before going in.
1. Like I mentioned, this campaign is to gain "regional interest in the city" as the city's Chief Operating Officer David Panagore stated.
2. Cundari conducted a poll of those outside the city and found that 33% of those surveyed would like to come to Hartford and 56% of THOSE people already work here. There needs to be something to make them stick around and they overwhelmingly wanted to see live events.
3. They also are aiming to attract a certain type of person. This isn't aiming for couch potatoes who don't have much of a nightlife. This is for people who want to go out and spend money, but rather than watch them go to Boston, New Haven or New York, convincing them to stay closer to home for just as good a time.
Concept #1
Logo: The logo is cute. Though I'm not the biggest fan of the star in the middle, I think my favorite view of it is the all-white on the posters showing musical nightlife. It's versatile and can be toned down or pepped up.
Campaign: I thought that the tagline "Make your own history" was very nice and commented that I loved how it was acknowledging that Hartford has a rich historical past, but also a future that we shouldn't stifle. It's mixing old with new and I think that design scheme in combination with the vibrant logo makes a happy marriage.
Concept #2
Logo: I went into this presentation not liking this logo. As someone else pointed out, when the H's are all together, it just looks like a big ole mess. And the colors are not ideal. But seeing it in person and how the mosaic tiles can be used to showcase pictures, I really began to see the concept of Hartford being a mosaic of different people, cultures and things to do. I was hooked.
Campaign: This interactive campaign was also lost on me when just reading it online. It's not that I didn't get it, it just kind of got an eyeroll from me. The trendy idea of checking in places on foursquare, the endless tweeting we all do. It was like pandering to our generation of short attention spans and oversharing. But once again, seeing the concept in person hooked me. The fact is that we ARE oversharers. We love telling people what we think when no one asked. So why not get visitors excited about oversharing in the capital city?
Concept #3
Logo: Not bad, not great. A friend of mine said that the arrows (meant to convey things happening in all directions in Hartford) seemed to direct people away from Hartford. I didn't really read that much into it, it just didn't appeal to me. It was a bit too tame for my taste.
Campaign: This was my favorite concept going in. I still think it's fun and creative, and I sort of hope they find some way to incorporate it if they go with something else. Maybe not make it the entire focus, but one TV commercial or something.
I'm really looking forward to hearing more about this campaign as time goes on. Make sure you check out the presentation and also take the survey on Hartford.com's page, which will be up for a few weeks! Make your opinion heard and keep the constructive criticisms going! What do you like, what don't you like and most importantly, what do you think would improve what you don't like? Get cracking!
For the past few months the powers that be, along with the marketing company Cundari, have been putting a lot of work into a new campaign. And today they decided to do something really cool and share what they've been working on with the public. On one hand, it sounds like a royal pain in the ass on their part, listening to a ton of opinions when you could really just tell people to shove it and do what I want. But it's also really awesome because we all get to have a say in this process and people are actually eager to hear what we have to say!
There were two sessions for this event. The first was at the Convention Center this morning. The second, which I attended, was at the downtown branch of the Hartford Public Library. It was very well attended and I think most people were eager to see what they had in place. Read the actual presentation and then I'll tell you what I think about each concept:
Now before I start, I want to point out some things about this campaign that you should know before going in.
1. Like I mentioned, this campaign is to gain "regional interest in the city" as the city's Chief Operating Officer David Panagore stated.
2. Cundari conducted a poll of those outside the city and found that 33% of those surveyed would like to come to Hartford and 56% of THOSE people already work here. There needs to be something to make them stick around and they overwhelmingly wanted to see live events.
3. They also are aiming to attract a certain type of person. This isn't aiming for couch potatoes who don't have much of a nightlife. This is for people who want to go out and spend money, but rather than watch them go to Boston, New Haven or New York, convincing them to stay closer to home for just as good a time.
Concept #1
Logo: The logo is cute. Though I'm not the biggest fan of the star in the middle, I think my favorite view of it is the all-white on the posters showing musical nightlife. It's versatile and can be toned down or pepped up.
Campaign: I thought that the tagline "Make your own history" was very nice and commented that I loved how it was acknowledging that Hartford has a rich historical past, but also a future that we shouldn't stifle. It's mixing old with new and I think that design scheme in combination with the vibrant logo makes a happy marriage.
Concept #2
Logo: I went into this presentation not liking this logo. As someone else pointed out, when the H's are all together, it just looks like a big ole mess. And the colors are not ideal. But seeing it in person and how the mosaic tiles can be used to showcase pictures, I really began to see the concept of Hartford being a mosaic of different people, cultures and things to do. I was hooked.
Campaign: This interactive campaign was also lost on me when just reading it online. It's not that I didn't get it, it just kind of got an eyeroll from me. The trendy idea of checking in places on foursquare, the endless tweeting we all do. It was like pandering to our generation of short attention spans and oversharing. But once again, seeing the concept in person hooked me. The fact is that we ARE oversharers. We love telling people what we think when no one asked. So why not get visitors excited about oversharing in the capital city?
Concept #3
Logo: Not bad, not great. A friend of mine said that the arrows (meant to convey things happening in all directions in Hartford) seemed to direct people away from Hartford. I didn't really read that much into it, it just didn't appeal to me. It was a bit too tame for my taste.
Campaign: This was my favorite concept going in. I still think it's fun and creative, and I sort of hope they find some way to incorporate it if they go with something else. Maybe not make it the entire focus, but one TV commercial or something.
I'm really looking forward to hearing more about this campaign as time goes on. Make sure you check out the presentation and also take the survey on Hartford.com's page, which will be up for a few weeks! Make your opinion heard and keep the constructive criticisms going! What do you like, what don't you like and most importantly, what do you think would improve what you don't like? Get cracking!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
My Guys Moving Service
The summer is in full swing and I hope you're enjoying yourself as much as I am! I've had the opportunity to travel a bit and as much as I love getting out and seeing how people live in other places, no one does it like the hometown!
It's the end of the month and maybe your lease is up and you're on the way to a new apartment/house that you swear you won't move from for a long time. As you pack your life away in nowhere near enough boxes (How did you get this much stuff? Didn't you swear that you wouldn't buy anymore stuff so moving wouldn't suck?) you send text messages to your friends to see who's available to help you carry your couch from the 2nd floor of your old apartment to the 5th floor of your new one. Suddenly the people that immediately text back while sharing their disappointment in the American Idol winner no longer have working phones. Two days later you send out a message promising pizza and beer to all who help you move, but you and your friends are almost 30 now; pizza and beer is not worth an aching back anymore. By the time Saturday rolls around, you're bargaining with a toothless man outside the gas station who passes on the pizza, takes the beer, and you're not sure but possibly the loose change you had on the TV stand.
The time has come to admit that you are a grown-up now, and even grown-ups that are near and dear friends hate helping you move. As always, I've painted this absurdly detailed picture to introduce you to the business I am recommending: My Guys Moving Service.
Recently I moved to my new place (which seriously, for real, no joking, I am staying at for a long time) and rather than beg and plead people to help Charmane and I, or worse, deal with it ourselves, I decided to be true to my nature and pay people to do work that I do not want to do. Worth every penny. Rashad Smith is the owner of My Guys and within minutes we had an appointment set up. About a half hour before he was scheduled to come by, he gave me a courtesy call just to let me know that he was on his way. On customer service alone, My Guys was already winning! He showed up to the house, took a mental inventory of all the items that we wanted moved and immediately got to work. What would have taken Charmane and I hours to put on the truck, Rashad and his staff had loaded in no time! If I had actually been better prepared for the move and had everything in place, they could've worked even faster. That was totally my bad. I'm not gonna lie, I partied til 3am the night before I moved from a 3 BR house with maybe 10 boxes packed beforehand. It was not one of my proudest moments. After a few hours of politely waiting for me to get my shit together, Rashad and his crew finished the job with a smile and if I can be perfectly honest, a reasonable dent in my wallet that I was happy to make.
My Guys Moving Service, LLC is relatively new, but they've had plenty of satisfied customers all over Connecticut. Before going in, you should know that they do not have their own moving truck just yet, so you'll have to rent your own truck. Once again, worth it. Going into work the Monday after a move and NOT bitching and icing down a sore hamstring was an experience that I enjoyed.
My Guys Moving Service, LLC
Rashad Smith, CEO
(860) 308-9472
It's the end of the month and maybe your lease is up and you're on the way to a new apartment/house that you swear you won't move from for a long time. As you pack your life away in nowhere near enough boxes (How did you get this much stuff? Didn't you swear that you wouldn't buy anymore stuff so moving wouldn't suck?) you send text messages to your friends to see who's available to help you carry your couch from the 2nd floor of your old apartment to the 5th floor of your new one. Suddenly the people that immediately text back while sharing their disappointment in the American Idol winner no longer have working phones. Two days later you send out a message promising pizza and beer to all who help you move, but you and your friends are almost 30 now; pizza and beer is not worth an aching back anymore. By the time Saturday rolls around, you're bargaining with a toothless man outside the gas station who passes on the pizza, takes the beer, and you're not sure but possibly the loose change you had on the TV stand.
The time has come to admit that you are a grown-up now, and even grown-ups that are near and dear friends hate helping you move. As always, I've painted this absurdly detailed picture to introduce you to the business I am recommending: My Guys Moving Service.
Recently I moved to my new place (which seriously, for real, no joking, I am staying at for a long time) and rather than beg and plead people to help Charmane and I, or worse, deal with it ourselves, I decided to be true to my nature and pay people to do work that I do not want to do. Worth every penny. Rashad Smith is the owner of My Guys and within minutes we had an appointment set up. About a half hour before he was scheduled to come by, he gave me a courtesy call just to let me know that he was on his way. On customer service alone, My Guys was already winning! He showed up to the house, took a mental inventory of all the items that we wanted moved and immediately got to work. What would have taken Charmane and I hours to put on the truck, Rashad and his staff had loaded in no time! If I had actually been better prepared for the move and had everything in place, they could've worked even faster. That was totally my bad. I'm not gonna lie, I partied til 3am the night before I moved from a 3 BR house with maybe 10 boxes packed beforehand. It was not one of my proudest moments. After a few hours of politely waiting for me to get my shit together, Rashad and his crew finished the job with a smile and if I can be perfectly honest, a reasonable dent in my wallet that I was happy to make.
My Guys Moving Service, LLC is relatively new, but they've had plenty of satisfied customers all over Connecticut. Before going in, you should know that they do not have their own moving truck just yet, so you'll have to rent your own truck. Once again, worth it. Going into work the Monday after a move and NOT bitching and icing down a sore hamstring was an experience that I enjoyed.
My Guys Moving Service, LLC
Rashad Smith, CEO
(860) 308-9472
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tag Sale To Benefit the No Kid Hungry Summer food program at La Paloma Sabanera
I come to you on my lunch break to spread the word about an awesome cause. Tomorrow, La Paloma Sabanera will be hosting a tag sale in which all the proceeds go to Foodshare and benefit the No Kid Hungry summer food program.
If you're unfamiliar with La Paloma, you should really get acquainted with this place. It's the little coffeeshop that you always complain that we don't have in Hartford. It's the perfect place to relax with a book and a sandwich and I've spent a lot of time clacking away at my laptop in those walls. It's cozy, casual and beyond that they do SO much for the community, including film screenings, performances and fundraisers, as we can see here.
Yesterday I was talking about food deserts, which is the unavailability of adequate food in poor communities. But sometimes we forget that we have people going without enough food in general everyday. The sad truth is that the free lunch provided through schools may be the only complete meal some children eat all day. When the school year ends, these families have few options for feeding everyone a nutritious and filling meal each day. Scenarios like this are one of the reasons that the Connecticut No Kid Hungry Campaign was started. This summer program will provide free lunch to children in areas all over the state, including many in Hartford.
So if you're looking for some new cool do-dads and nicknacks, or just want to stop by and make a donation to a great cause, come by La Paloma tomorrow from 10am on. Afterwards, give yourself a little treat of a cup of coffee, or maybe we'll all luck up and they'll be selling cupcakes from Icing Cupcakes tomorrow!
Here's some details about all the stuff I just said:
La Paloma Sabanera Coffee House
405 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT
Phone: (860) 956-5003
Website: http://www.lapalomacoffeehouse.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lapalomasabanera
Hours: Mon - Fri: 7:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sat: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
For more information or a list of locations that are participating in the No Kid Hungry summer program, please check out http://www.ctsummerfood.org/
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Farmers' Market Season is Upon Us!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have returned. I know what you're thinking. "Where the frank and beans have you been?" You said "frank and beans" cuz it's pretty early, the kids are still up and you don't want them to know that you curse. They know you curse though. They think it's funny. But I digress.
Honestly, I don't know where the frank and beans I've been. Still in Hartford. Still black. Still doing stuff. But the winter was cold and snowy, then the spring came in like the meek lamb it was and I had to move to a new house, see my girlfriend off to Hanoi, Vietnam and get over the sadness that is being without her. It's ok to point and laugh at me about my lameness. But I'm back and ready to get back to business for serious. It's going to be a good summer!
Let's get reacquainted over one of my favorite subjects: food. But not just any food, my friends. This time I'm not telling you about insanely delicious yet entirely artery clogging foods I've happened upon in my fair city, but healthy, equally delicious, locally grown fare! The North End Farmers' Market starts tomorrow!
My timing is poor, because it's gonna look like I'm telling you about the North End Farmers' Market because a lot of black people live in the North End and then I'm gonna get a bunch of comments about me being racist and how everyone is welcome at every Farmers' Market and yadda yadda yadda. But honestly, I've been meaning to make a Farmers' Market post for quite some time. I just got word through Real Hartford (another awesome blog) that this one was starting and as a new resident of the North End, this piqued my interest. Mainly because I didn't know it existed. Old State House, WEFM and I are bffs. This one, not so much.
I'm not sure if you're familiar with the concept of a "food desert", but it's defined as any area that does not have easy access to healthy and affordable food. This is most heavily seen in poor neighborhoods where the closest thing residents have to a grocer is the corner store that sells more "quarter waters" than they do quarts of OJ. While Hartford isn't as bad as a lot of poor urban areas in the food desert category, Farmers' Markets are amazing at offering fresh and affordable produce to areas where the residents would have a harder time getting it. So if you know someone who possibly lives in walking distance to any of these locations, please pass the word along.
This past weekend, I met up with some friends who live in NYC. While waiting to meet them in Union Square, I happened upon a great market day that they were having. Off to the side, I saw a little booth for people to pay for their products with EBT cards and thought, "What an awesome idea! This is REALLY opening the doors for all classes of Americans to have access to healthy food. I wish we had this in Hartford!" Turns out that a few do and I just never noticed it. All locations accept WIC and Senior FMNP as well.
I encourage you and your peoples to try out ALL of Hartford's Farmers' Markets. Here's the info for all of them, including days of the week that they're open, times, and if they're not open yet, when the big day will be.
Hartford ‐ Billings Forge Farmers’ Market
Thursdays 11 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.
May 5 ‐ October 27
539 Broad Street, Grassy Courtyard on
Billings Forge Campus
www.hartfordfarmersmarket.org
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted SNAP/EBT
Hartford ‐ Capitol Ave Farmers’ Market
Mondays 10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
July 11 ‐ October 31
First Presbyterian Church Next to Bushnell, 156 Capitol
Avenue
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted SNAP/EBT
Hartford ‐ North End Farmers’ Market
Wednesdays 10 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
June 29 ‐ October 26
80 Coventry Street, North End Senior Center
www.hartfordfood.org
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted SNAP/EBT
Hartford ‐ Park Street Farmers’ Market
Mondays 9:30 a.m. ‐ 1 p.m.
July 11 ‐ October 31
Walgreen's Parking Lot,
Corner of Park and Washington Streets
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted
Hartford ‐ West End Farmers’ Market
Tuesdays & Fridays 4 p.m. ‐ 7 p.m.,
3 p.m. ‐ 6 p.m. (Sept‐Oct)
June 7 ‐ October 28
United Methodist Church ‐ 571 Farmington Avenue @
South Whitney Street
www.westend.org/farmersmarket
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted
Hartford‐Old State House Farmers’ Market
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10 a.m. ‐ 2 p.m.
June 27 ‐ October 28
Old State House, 800 Main Street
www.ctoldstatehouse.org/farmersmkt.asp
WIC/Senior FMNP Accepted
(see more info on all of the State of Connecticut's Certified Farmers' Markets here: http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/marketing_files/certified_fm_by_county_-_5-3-2011.pdf)
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