Everyone welcome to join us again this Friday at noon to collaborate on creating a downtown vision.

We’re meeting at the MIXX 96 conference room on Washington St. at noon.

See you there!

mathias

einmaleins

A little after 8 pm tonight my husband called to say that it appeared Southbay BBQ (Legion & Jefferson)was on fire. I drove by and saw the street was closed. Several fire engines and a few squad cars were at the scene. No one knows the damage yet, but the external walls didn't seem to be on fire. Having experienced a fire at Clubside that shut us down for a long time, I hope that the damage was minimal, the insurance coverage good and most of all that everyone is safe.

20/20 Vision Olympia

The Olympian didn't write an "Olylujah!" rave review of this group like the one it did for Olympia 2012, but it did give them some coverage.

Best wishes,
Thad

Today I ran across an obscure little collection of poetry by early Evergroove faculty Craig Carlson: Words in Another Language / Craig Burnham Carlson. Port Townsend, WA : Sagittarius Press, 1991. 220 copies were printed. It contains poems about the South Sound and fishing. For you old Evergroovers out there who remember Craig, I hope this stirs pleasant memories. Here's a poem from that book entitled "Shelton," which I deem to be hyperlocal:

Ride into this town any Wednesday on a dare.
Follow the dust of trees to the mill and stop.
Forget whistling. The world is flattened to a plane
under a sky unfeathering like a common loon.

Loggers in red suspenders loom down Railroad Avenue
direct as chainsaws. Out in these streets
men are men, a dollar is a dollar.
These streets lope and swagger, but never backtrack.

Molly sits on the corner
by the Holiday Park Retirement Center
waving at everyone -- she thinks she remembers them.

You learn to live in a small place and dig in;
so much happens that no one ever means.

on the right near Squaxin Island or nearer,
say Little Skookum, anyway west of Eagle Point,
cutthroat trout elude fisherman in small boats.
Anywhere from here, tides splay and plunge deep.

Days go by like words in another language.
No wonder we are the way we are
living in this rain on the edge of time.
These streets slope and saunter, but never break.

Has any one ever had this experience ?

Please swing by einmaleins Friday at 6 pm to check out the 5 benches that local artists have re-created from plain old city benches. The timing is perfect as it also happens to be the August 1st Friday, so when you're done appreciating the benches you can wander about downtown enjoying all sorts of other art, food and shops.

Olympia prides itself, as it should, on being an artistic community.  Downtown merchants pride themselves on being independent, local, family-run and eccletic.  Being independent can sometimes also make it difficult to be patrons to the artistic community as our coffers can run quite low.  That's why this bench program is so important.  Through Dave Rauh's (MIXX 96) hard work, and inspiration and support from Jeff Kingsbury and Stephanie Johnson, the PBIA was able to ACTUALLY PAY artists for their work.  And cover the cost of supplies.  Building these connections between two groups so invested in our community can only translate into greatness for all.  The PBIA advisory board looks forward to being able to continue this program and eventually have all the downtown benches reflecting the artistic prowess of our city.

Please come by and support the artists and the business people who are working so hard to keep making downtown more colorful and dynamic. 

[via email]

Join the artists of Here Today as they kick-off one month of temporary public art projects

in downtown Olympia! From visual art to music, performance art to literature, the work of these local artists celebrate a sense of place through reflection and response to our physical and social environment. All the exhibition dates vary, and some of the projects involve components that move, so the element of surprise and discovery is part of the fun!

Check out the following activities taking place at the Olympia Farmers Market on Saturday, August 2:

• 10-Noon Community plate decorating with Bil Fleming. Plates will be used in his project Performance Dishwashing, taking place at the Farmers Market on August 15.
• 11am-Noon The Waterfront Public Art Tour will leave at 11am from the bell at the south side of the market, including stops at Leaf and Twig by Dana Squires and Would it Be by George Kurzman, with discussion by the artists, during the Tour's regular route.
• Noon Writer Tony Perkins gives away several copies of his chapbook Like Everyone Else to several lucky Market Patrons in advance of the August 16th public reading at Yashiro Japanese Garden.
• 1-2pm Meet at the bell on the south side of the market at 1pm with Jenn Kliese and Jeff Shannon, for a tour of their two-week music installation Bus Station.
• 1-3pm Create ceramic birds with Trudes Tango, to be used in her project A Bird in the Hand: Lessons in Letting Go.
• 2-3pm Join Faith Hagenhofer at 2pm for a tour of her project, Rising Tides. Meet at the bell on the south side of the market.

Here Today Temporary Public Art Project is presented by the City of Olympia Arts Commission and Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation Department, with promotional support from MIXX96fm and Intercity Transit. Special thanks to the Olympia Farmers Market.

[via omjp]

Contacts: Chance Kroll (510) 219-6155. Katee O (716) 479 2360.

COMMUNITIES RALLY TO PREVENT MILITARIZATION OF PUBLIC PORT

Tacoma, WA 7/31/08

On July 28, 2008, the USNS Brittin returned to the Port of Tacoma. This ship is transporting damaged equipment from the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team 2nd Infantry for repair and further deployment.

Community members, anti-port militarization activists and others from the peace and justice community of Washington and Oregon will descend on the Tacoma Federal Courthouse, 1713 Pacific Avenue, everyday from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm to demand the withdrawal of the military from this port. These peaceful, family friendly vigils will continue everyday until the equipment is gone. Others intend to quarantine the equipment in the Port. Demonstrators site a variety of new and exciting tactics to be used in opposition of the military use of this public port.

“We hope to create safe space for all to voice their opposition to these crimes against peace and to resist the use of public lands to enable a bloody occupation,” says Olympia Port Militarization Resistance member Patty Imani. Many demonstrators oppose the use of their community as a “revolving door” for military equipment that is being used to commit war crimes. Tacoma, the larger community, and the world asserts that this war violates international law as defined by the Nuremberg Charter and Principles.

In the past, similar peaceful Port Militarization Resistance demonstrations have been met with overwhelming police violence. Police have illegally used chemical weapons and “less than lethal weapons” on people whose only crime was to attempt to uphold international law.

In March of 2007, this equipment left the Port of Tacoma for Iraq. Resisters sought to prevent the material from leaving, in hopes that this would prevent the deployment of troops. Through the use of enormous and unnecessary violence, police eventually cleared a path for this equipment to board the ship. There were 37 arrests. The equipment now returns on the heels of the soldiers, who returned home last month. 37 of these soldiers lost their lives in Iraq.

This press release was written by representatives from PMR. PMR is action-based coalition of anti-war activists who refuse their community's complacency in illegal occupations by stopping the military use of their streets, people, resources, and public ports.