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Author Archives: mobtownblues

Jumping into the dust devil

By mobtownblues | December 26th, 2011

My dad once told me the story of how, when they were kids, he and his older brother were smashing light bulbs on the ground, just to hear the distinctive shattering noise that is unique to a breaking bulb. Two small shards of broken glass flew back and embedded themselves on either side of his [...]

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Origins: Every Beginning Has a Story

By mobtownblues | December 11th, 2011

Join us for the debut of Full Circle Storytelling, where eight of your friends and neighbors will spend eight minutes each telling personal tales on a theme. This is not a contest, a battle, or a slam; just true narratives about the storytellers’ authentic experiences, shared in a comfortable, friendly setting. Our inaugural event will [...]

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Bmore Historic

By mobtownblues | December 10th, 2011

I’m looking forward to this Friday’s Bmore Historic “unconference,” a daylong, participant-led series of conversations about “public history, historic preservation, and community development.” I’ve proposed a session on neighborhood vibrancy, just as a way of getting people’s thoughts about what that means and how to make it happen. Other proposed sessions include “Instant Living History,” [...]

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Red Stars

By mobtownblues | August 7th, 2011

Legend has it that sometime in the 1800′s, Baltimore’s ladies of the evening painted red stars on the sidewalks in Fells Point, as a means of leading visiting sailors to the dens of ill repute. While I cannot affirm the veracity of this story (a cursory Google search yielded attestations that were not exactly scholarly), [...]

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[VERB] Baltimore: Harnessing the Power of Homegrown Ideas

By mobtownblues | June 9th, 2011

The following is a post I wrote for the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers blog. Since that site is viewable to members only, I’m reposting the entry here, with permission.Full disclosure: I participated in an early discussion about identifying IBB presenters. *************************** Over 75 people crowded the Windup Space in the Station North Arts District [...]

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"Uh..Line?" A N00b Dips His Toes in Acting

By mobtownblues | May 25th, 2011

Sometime back in late 2009, when I was newly divorced and adjusting to unfamiliar bachelorhood, I was whining to my friend Carly about my need to find something to do with my free time that didn’t involve: a) drinking myself into a stupor; or b) re-watching the entire series run of Battlestar Galactica in my [...]

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Taking Every Brick Personally

By mobtownblues | April 19th, 2011

An oft-told story about William Donald Schaefer, who died yesterday at age 89, recounts how, as mayor, he would come banging into the City Hall in a rage about an abandoned car he passed on his way to work, or pothole that needed fixing. He would harangue his beleaguered staff, huff into his office, slam [...]

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April 10, 2011, 1:00 p.m.

By mobtownblues | April 17th, 2011

Red Canoe

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Walbrook Film Project Teaches Students About More Than Holding a Camera

By mobtownblues | April 8th, 2011

Filmmaker and volunteer instructor Josef Sawyer addresses the audience. Arts, community, violence, conflict resolution, history, memory: these were some of the topics explored in three short films by 10 young artists whose work was screened yesterday afternoon at the Walbrook Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library.The films were part of the Walbrook Project, a [...]

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NewsTrust Baltimore

By mobtownblues | March 31st, 2011

Sharp-eyed readers — or at least those who read past the first couple of sentences of each post — will notice a new widget on the sidebar. As an enthusiastic supporter of NewsTrust Baltimore, I am proud to direct Unsung Baltimore viewers to this bold and much-needed experiment to engage local residents in media literacy [...]

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