Raleighwood, NC: Fighting Resegregation

gamingSPARK Sep. 18 & 19: Check Out the Work of Local Game Designers Friday & Saturday

gamingSPARK, part of this year's SPARKcon activities, takes place this weekend with a focus on locally created video, web and mobile games.

This region has already become an important part of the game industry but this event offers a chance to see what's bubbling up beneath the surface from local creators including students.

You can find out more from the gamingSPARK site or from the press release below.

gamingSPARK to Highlight the Triangle's Video Game Designers and Developers

Creators will show off their homegrown masterpieces at the Raleigh Urban Design Center - Sept. 18-19, 2009

WHAT: Local students and video game developers will show off their latest projects at the first-ever gamingSPARK, a creative showcase of homegrown video games in a broad range of categories including Serious, Casual, Mobile , and Student.

In addition to checking out locally created games, attendees will enjoy an exclusive demonstration of Alii Motion Technology presented by Alex Lian of Duke University . This cross-platform technology has the capability to turn any standard webcam into a motion controller for a casual, fun, real-action gaming experience.

gamingSPARK will also host a tournament of epic proportions by bringing Gears of War 2 to the masses. The Gears of War 2 Tournament will be open to anyone who wishes to participate.

WHEN: Friday, Sept. 18 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 19 from 1:00 - ?

WHERE: The Raleigh Urban Design Center , located at 133 Fayetteville St. Mall, Suite 100 (on the corner of Fayetteville and Hargett St.).

WHO: The talent showcase will include:

Serious Games:
"DARTT: During Action Review Tactical Trainer" Submitted by: Chris Hazard of Hazardous Software Inc.
"Virtual Peace" Submitted by: Patrick Herron
"Venuegen" Submitted by: The Venue Network

Casual Games:
"DQ Tycoon" Submitted by: Spark Plug Games
"Creeper World" Submitted by: Virgil Wall of Knuckle Cracker
"Neotokyo" Submitted by: Studio Radi-8

Student Games:
"Alii Motion Technology" Submitted by: Alex Lian of Duke University
"Spectral Assult" Submitted by: PiRadical Studios (A group of 9 NC State students)
"Quark" Submitted by: Mitch Johnson of Wake Tech

Mobile Games:
"StickWars" Submitted by: John Hartzog
"Aya Go" Submitted by: Spark Plug Games
"Witch's Workshop" Submitted by: Spark Plug Games
"Hyper Word" Submitted by: Bee Appi

About gamingSPARK
gamingSPARK was coordinated by Megan Wood, with support from local game industry professionals Christy White, Steve Greene, Troy Knight, Jeff Palumbo, Jason Sponaugle, Meghan Murphy, and Alexander Macris. The event sponsored by The Escapist, Triangle Game Initiative, GameFrog, Integrated Audio Video at Southpoint, Spark Plug Games, and Funcom. For more information visit www.sparkcon.com/2009/09/18/video-games/.

Press Contact for gamingSPARK Event:
Megan Wood, Themis Media, mwood@themis-media.com, 919-806-4209

Pour House 8/29: Tanya Morgan's Brooklynati Meets Raleighwood, Kooley High Opens w/Album Release Party

Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down

Tanya Morgan hits Raleigh tonight in a brief run in support of their album Brooklynati.

Kooley High - Kooley Is High (Prod. by Dela)

Raleighwood's own Kooley High opens with a release party for albums from two of their members, Tab-One's Tabloids and Charlie Smarts' f'alex.

Blount Harvey 2009 HD Promo

Greenville, NC's Blount Harvey opens the show with their mix of "hip hop, funk, soul, jazz, all that".

Action begins around 10 tonight at the Pour House in Raleigh, NC.

Sat. 5/30: Lonnie Walker CD Release Party at Ahpeele [Shhh..insiders only!]

Lonnie Walker - These Times Old Times

Ahpeele, a t-shirt/fashion shop on Capitol Boulevard, is hosting a Lonnie Walker CD release party starting around 9 that sounds like a good time.

They don't seem to have a real website (i.e. a consistent spot to find out what's new and get directions), but do have an Etsy store, a MySpace page and a physical location with phone number, at least two of which could actually fulfill the "real website" role.

Fortunately New Raleigh has the details so I'll leave it at that. And if they want this to be an insider only, word of mouth about the afterparty kind of thing, then I apologize in advance for the extra publicity!

MySpace: Lonnie Walker

Update:
Looks like they did just find without the above.  I didn't make the show but I talked to someone who attended the early evening event at Schoolkids.  They said it was packed.  I bet the Ahpeele event was also happening.  Sorry I missed it.

Best of luck to Lonnie Walker with your upcoming shows!

Bread & Puppet Theater at the Raleigh Little Theatre [May 22nd to 24th/Fri thru Sun]

Bread & Puppet Theater: Sourdough Philosophy Circus and Pageant

This weekend the Bread & Puppet Theater performs at the Outdoor Ampitheatre of the Raleigh Little Theatre on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon.

Show details:

"The Sourdough Philosophy Circus and Pageant is about the need for human fermentation. Human fermentation concerns those parts of the human body that are not governed by the government, like the guts and the gutsy parts of the brain. This is also applies to zebras and city bred cows, dancing bears and independent donkeys."

"The show is run by a bunch of cooks, specialists in cooking the various stews and pancakes of our everyday first world existence. Additional commentary is provided by the Rotten Idea Theater Company. Music is by the Sourdough Philosophy Brass Band and a quartet of sheep."

The techniques and working methods of the Bread & Puppet Theater were established literally decades ago and though I'm sure things have changed in certain ways, the photos and text I've seen suggests that the core principles continue.

Sometimes that's not a bad thing and, in the case of the Bread & Puppet Theater, it can be a very good thing.

Definitely worth checking out even if or maybe especially if you don't normally dig theater productions.

Bain Project Documentation: Writers & Photographers

I made it out to the Bain Project over the weekend with John Dancy-Jones who is in the midst of multiple wrapup posts with photos that can be found via a list at the bottom of this post.

I don't have a lot to say about it, partly because I learned to hate art critics back during my performing days and partly because, if I dig in, I tend towards the hypercritical myself.

But I will say that some of the artists, who weren't identified with particular pieces though they all looked like work by specific artists, did a particularly awesome job and everybody made strong contributions. Overall it was a great community event.

Here are some responses and photographs from other folks around town:

Heather at IndieNC Blog interviewed many of the artists and posted some nice pics after the first weekend.

Kevin Green discussed one of his photos at The Digital Photo Project and also posted a few photos on Flickr.

Grayson Currin writes about the audio cd, The Bain Music Project.

Flickr sets & selections in the order found:

Steve Burnett
eclectic.bumpkin
haplochant
Karnevil
Riva Derci
bliss24

The Flickr action is extensive. Here are a couple of search options organized by "most recent":
tags: bainproject
fulltext: bain project

On a somber note:

Folks from Toxic Free NC shared some thoughts at New Raleigh regarding lead hazards on the site and I don't recall seeing any warnings when I attended. That's a bad look for the project and the artists involved, imho. They should have had a very visible warning sign at the entrance explaining the dangers and how to conduct oneself.
[via Raleigh Eco News]

If you have documentation or responses online, feel free to drop links in the comments.

Related Raleighwood, NC Coverage:
The Bain Project & Bain Waterworks Photographs
The Bain Project: Site-Specific Art at Bain Waterworks

The Bain Project & Bain Waterworks Photographs

www.flickr.com

Flickr: Bain Waterworks

A fun way to follow community involvement with the Bain Waterworks that goes beyond but may include the Bain Project is to see what's posted on Flickr. The above Flickr badge will automatically update as folks post new pics tagged "bain" and "waterworks" "bainproject". You can try other combos at Flickr for digital stalking fun!

Lots of local bloggers have already been posting pics of the Waterworks, the Bain Project artists and their art and a benefit music concert for the project held March 7th.

Bain Waterworks Pictures:
Pecans & Mistletoe: Photos of the Water Treatment Plant
New Raleigh: Waterworks Site Photos

Bain Project Art/Artists:
IndieNC Blog: Artists at Work
Bryan Regan: "random snapshots"
Raleigh Rambles: Preview Pics

Bain Music Project Benefit Photos:
Bain Project: Concert Poster
badgerblog: minimalism and the avant garde
Raleigh Rambles: Concert Pics

Related Raleighwood, NC Coverage:
Bain Project Documentation: Writers & Photographers
The Bain Project: Site-Specific Art at Bain Waterworks

May 9-10, 16-17: The Bain Project: Site-Specific Art at Bain Waterworks

The Bain Project

The Bain Project, a convergence of site-specific art projects at the E. B. Bain Waterworks, opens this weekend, May 9th and 10th, with more to come the following weekend, May 16th and 17th.

WUNC radio did a recent show about the project.

Related Raleighwood, NC Coverage:
Bain Project Documentation: Writers & Photographers
The Bain Project & Bain Waterworks Photographs

Triangle Game Conference: Escapist Videos

"An overview of the show floor and a few of the panels featured
at this year's Triangle Game Conference."

The Triangle Game Conference was put on this week in Raleigh by the Triangle Game Initiative. I missed it because I didn't see any announcements but there was quite a bit of pre-show coverage so I've just been out of the loop.

"President of Epic Games, Dr. Michael Capps keynote on 'What Makes Us Epic?'"

I'm going to take a more in-depth look from a business angle but I just wanted to go ahead and toss up this video coverage of the conference via The Escapist.

Benefit for Raleigh Public Record at 101 Lounge

I attended the April 16th benefit for Raleigh Public Record, a new Raleigh news site that describes itself as a space for "non-profit community journalism" while emphasizing "old-fashioned reporting and compelling writing."

It was quite a nice gathering at 101 Lounge + Cafe, a downtown spot I'm enjoying more with each visit.

High points included:

An inspiring speech by RPR board member Scott Huler about Raleigh Public Record and the future of journalism without newspapers, among other topics.

My second chat at a Raleigh Public Record event with board member and old friend Sue Sturgis, my favorite Raleigh Yankee [hee hee!], who also writes for Facing South and blogs at Raleigh Eco News.

The shadowy presence of various other power figures at RPR.  Let me know if you guys want some tips on working the crowd!

My extended conversation with the founder of The Raleigh Artist whose name I'd remember if he put it on his website. Smart cat, good heart.

An awesome dj set from Chico of Neu Romance who may yet email me with a decent description of their musical style leading to an additional blog post. [Hey, I'd have been a music critic if I could accurately describe music!]

And brief encounters with local yokels including some of the folks from Goodnight Raleigh, currently my favorite Raleigh blog, that Paper Plant guy and one of those Eichenberger boys.

Quite a nice gathering when all is said and done.

If you're into writing about Raleigh, contact RPR to get involved.

Or, if you're just into causing trouble like I used to be, go ask the News & Disturber's "media critic" about her refusal to cover the "competition", if you can figure out who the heck that person might be. I think she works at a newspaper (sp?) put out by a local historical museum, if that helps.

Good times!