Enjoy the taste of summer. And check out the great web site too!

From: http://ping.fm/0n2EW

The Audacity of Post-Racism.

Calling all writers.  See the link above for a call for entries for a new anthology by First Word Press.  I just found it, so there are only 12 days left to submit your 1000-5000 word essay.  See these starting / inspiration points to guide your writing:

• Bridge any divide between your personal and political lives.
• Explore the politics of your family conversations.
• Reflect on the shifting terrain of racial language — what does it mean for our generation?
• Revisit something you have had to learn and un-learn about race in your lifetime.
• Imagine W.E.B. Du Bois in the age of Google. Then put him in conversation with Vijay Prashad.
• Respond to Arundhati Roy and Stephen Colbert in the same instant.
• Validate your non-expert expertise on the durability of race in America.
• Capture a snapshot of this moment for your children. 

I don’t know that I’ll have time to either dig out old work, or <gasp> write something new.  But I would be interested if anyone plans to submit.

In an effort to preemptively answer the inevitable questions about Something Takes Place, I thought I would get some of the background out of the way.

About 2 years ago, I had an idea for an art forum (then named ZeitGeistduJour – cool, but a mouthful) where creatives could energize each other and simply “do their thing” whatever that may be. As can happen with good ideas, we set that one aside and got back to work.

Well, a couple of weeks back we were all walking around saying “I can’t believe it’s spring” and no sooner did we say the words, the resumes and portfolios of internship-seeking college students started flooded in.

Not wanting to say “no” to talented people any more than I wanted to shelve the art forum idea to begin with, the gears started turning. There had to be enough people who would be willing to do a piece of the work, to make something this cool go off.  We tied together the efforts of 6 talented interns, Brad Raffenaud of Sprout Media Group, Jon Lundstrom of Junebug Photography, the Park Theatre, and our team at Thirty Six Squares (36squares.com) to rebrand, redeveloped, test, tear apart and redo the site, launch online promotions, and began planning the event – in the past month or so – the first Live Event is June 11 at The Park Theatre.

For those skeptics who want to know what the hell we’ll do with this “monthly event” after the interns are gone … if its as successful and well-received as it could be, we’ll simply trade in for a new set of interns and all the sponsors will huddle around them and see what new levels we’ll be able to take the project during a 12 week semester.  Fun.

So, that’s how it all got started, now to the nitty gritty.

We’ll start with the web site … SomethingTakesPlace.com (STP)
After the site launches, you can register, login, create a profile and begin uploading your works of art. You and other registered users can peruse the multimedia experience, leaving comments, feedback and encouragement for the artists, as you wish.  Check out the placeholder for a couple screenshots. (somethingtakesplace.com)

We are already discussing the features we’ll be adding, so feel free to offer insight on your site experience, but keep in mind there’s already a long list .. for instance, I’m testing the ability for a registered user to insert a Google Checkout button in their description field, effectively enabling the sale of your art directly form the STP interface, using the artist’s own Google Checkout Seller account.

So that’s the site in a nutshell.

The event.
The event is a similar monster, but with a lot of unknown and unforeseeable potential. What ages will come? What art will be the most prevalent? Poetry? Music? Painting? Who knows. And that’s the beauty of it. Similar to the site, we’ll be creating a monthly venue – a variety show, if you will – where creatives can vent their passion and share their wares. Sell it if you can. Artists don’t pay to be a part of it. Artists participating don’t pay to get in. The general audience will pay a minimal fee to get in – we’ll publish it when the time comes, but it’s been discussed at less than $5.  We’ll define this swiftly after the site launches.

So .. you may be wondering “why?”
Because it’s fun. Because we could all use a bit more art in our lives, whether it’s creating or experiencing. Because it’s a great way to get together for minimal cost an have fun during tight times.

Which reminds me. The artists and performers will be separated into two groups based on only one element – age appropriateness. The first act of the show will be an all ages, family friendly event. After a brief intermission, it will be 18+ and after that, the gloves are off. Be forewarned that Slam Poets have a penchant for raw language.  Which can be quite tasty with an adult beverage from the Park Theatre bar.  My goodness, are we making everyone happy all at once?

Now it’s time for the “Who?”
Something Takes Place is an evolving creative community, supported by the Park Theatre and promoted as a collaborative effort between Thirty Six Squares LLC and the STP Intern Team. The STP intern team consists of AlexaRae Antekeier (Kendall College of Art and Design), Laura Foster (Northern Michigan University), Christine Hostetler (Hope College), Michelle Ipema (Hope College), Stephen Slachta (College for Creative Studies) and Mari von Websky (Hope College). Its current sponsors are Sprout Media Group, providing Event and Talent Assistance to the interns focusing on the event planning, and Junebug Photography, making sure that any antics that go off are well recorded and archived.

So that’s the basic scoop.  All for one, one for all.
Hope to see you at the site SomethingTakesPlace.com (sometime) on Friday May 15 and at the first Something Takes Place LIVE at the Park Theatre on June 11th.

If you’re interested in sponsoring an aspect of the event, either through volunteering your talents, in-kind donations (i.e. printing fliers and posters), or financially (we can design and sell some sweet logo tees, thus ensuring that we can continue to support the event) please email contact@somethingtakesplace.com.

Thank you kindly.
Craig Tommola, Owner
Thirty Six Squares LLC

http://36squares.com

616.566.6971

You might call it “art for art’s sake” and we’d be okay with that. Really, what else is there to say about a FREE forum where you can upload and share virtually any digital medium? It’s all good-ness, all free, we won’t start charging fees after six months or any similar deviousness. It’s all in good fun. We might try to sell you a logo tee to help us along, but hell, it’s a hot logo.

Holler at create@somethingtakesplace.com with questions. See you Friday.

From: http://ping.fm/tGqPv

Font Fight – CollegeHumor video.

If you aren’t a font fan, don’t bother.

A very clean and simple, video / stop motion mix, ad … I don’t use Chrome, but I love the ad. Makes me want to do some 36squares.com ads with a video camera. Lend your thoughts …

From: http://ping.fm/aT2v4

See the original article here:  http://tinyurl.com/pcz95r

How is it that a company who’s “still trying to figure out” their business model and revenue stream can get $55 million in investments?? I’d like to shake the hand of that sales person. And swipe their wallet while they’re not looking.

From: http://ping.fm/PDXjh

So the kids have made it through another stressful semester of mom being in college. She moved from exams straight into the busy Prom Season. (She’s a floral designer at the amazing Indigo Floral downtown Holland) This past Friday, Dana dropped them at the 36SQ Studio for our Open House. That was a great time, and I really liked the kids meeting some of the business people in my life.

The best part though, was Saturday morning. We were watching cartoons and they both thanked me for “letting them” hang out at my party.

I am so entirely relieved that they are so positive in their demeanor. From where I was standing, they were shuffled into the mix of a busy day. But they were just glad to have fun and be there. Man, I’m a lucky guy.

The Thirty-Six Stratagems

The Thirty-Six Stratagems are divided into a preface, six chapters containing six stratagems each, and an afterword that was incomplete with missing text. The first three chapters generally describe tactics for use in advantageous situations, whereas the last three chapters contain stratagems that are more suitable for disadvantageous situations. The original text of the Thirty-Six Stratagems has a laconic style that is common to Classical Chinese. Each proverb is accompanied by a short comment, no longer than a sentence or two, that explains how said proverb is applicable to military tactics. These 36 Chinese proverbs are related to 36 battle scenarios in Chinese history and folklore, predominantly of the Warring States Period and the Three Kingdoms Period.

via Thirty-Six Stratagems – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.