An almost normal Saturday: Part 2

I left the apartment (again) at 4:25pm, returning to the same Circulator stop I stood at less than three hours before. Fortunately for me, the bus arrived pretty quickly and I was walking along the promenade by 5pm.

There was a performance of some sort in the amphitheater. Tours of the visiting NE Brazil had just ended, but there was a huge crowd at the Ripleys across from said ship.

However, I was here for dinner so I went into the relatively new Bubba Gump Shrimp at the Light Street pavilion. The service was fairly good, but the sandwich I ordered wasn’t. Whatever, I was out of there by 6pm, and crossed over to the other pavilion to hit the ATM before heading off to Fells Point.

I wasn’t sure what the best way to get there was. Taking the Orange Route to the Green Route seemed a bit convoluted. I could walk over and catch the Green Route at Market Place, even though I wasn’t entirely sure where the stop for that was.

I browsed through Barnes & Noble for about a half-hour to think it over, and then decided to walk over to catch the Green Route in Harbor East. It’s only 4 blocks, and you can tell when you’re getting close because the putrid smell of the harbor intensifies to almost lethal levels.

Fells Point is one of those odd neighborhoods that you can hear well before you reach its famously cobbled streets. Drunken costumed revelers, tone-deaf karaoke singers and crappy cover bands: it’s no wonder I avoid this area on a Saturday night – especially around Halloween.

I arrived at Vagabond Players just after 7pm. However, it took a while for them to print my ticket due to the “new system.” I’m left standing there for twenty minutes of:  “no…go back… now try that…no, that’s not it either…”

Hopefully, they’ll figure it out by the next showing, because it is otherwise a nice looking theatre with a similar layout to FPCT (but without the wood paneling). The lobby had just been remodeled, and I kept hearing other patrons remark about how much nicer the space looked.

The show started at 8:07pm, with an intermission an hour later. They did have cookies and coffee in the lobby along with light chatter, I almost felt like I was at an NA meeting (not completely inappropriate given the subject matter of the play). The show restarted, and I left the theatre when the show ended at 10:29pm.

I make my way to the Circulator stop on Caroline St, but it’s closed so I walked back along the promenade to the Orange Route at Harbor East. I got off the bus at President Street, made my across the ripped up sidewalk past a broken retail window and down the steps into the subway.

It took about 15 minutes for the westbound train to arrive, and even then it moved slowly, prone to sudden starts\stops that doubled the time it took to travel requite 3 stops back to State Center. I got off the train, climbed the surprisingly well-lit stairs and began the walk back to my apartment as Saturday slowly faded into Sunday.

An almost normal Saturday: Part 1

Today is the 6^th annual Chinese Auction at St John’s UCC in Shamokin. It is also the 5^th annual Harbor Harvest in downtown Baltimore. I’m not attending either of them. Sorry.

I spent the morning writing a review of “Little White Lies,” and getting a head start on this post before leaving again for the Charles Theater.

That was the plan…until I realized I was out of milk.

I grabbed my large grocery bag, and left the apartment at 1:25pm. I got to Lexington Market around 1:54 and tried to find the Burger King on aforementioned street.

It’s on Fayette Street.

According to the receipt, I made my order at 2:07pm, and I was out about ten minutes later. I made my way up to Fresh & Green’s on Charles and Saratoga Streets. It was surrounded by cop cars, and the entrance was nearly blocked off by police officers. None of whom actually stopped me from entering, but according to what little I was able to piece together from store employees, I missed quite a scene.

I left the store at 2:37pm and dragged my surprisingly heavy bag over to the light rail on Howard Street. It was only two blocks, but it felt like a mile. The actual half-mile uphill walk to my apartment from Cultural Center station felt like an eternity, but I finally arrived in one piece at 3:07pm.

Yes, both the Chinese Auction and Harvest Harbor were over, but that didn’t mean my day was over yet…

Exploring Mount Washington

12:27pm – leave apt

12:47pm – arrive in Mount Washington

1:15pm – leave Baltimore Clayworks

1:30pm – after a bit of exploring, I find myself in Washington Mill (directly across the creek from the light rail, but on the other side of I-83). The place reminds me of a larger version of Clipper Mill (Woodberry Station).

1:35pm – find the Starbucks at the far end of the complex. There were no open tables inside, so I take a seat at a metal table outside of Whole Foods. I use my free time to begin compiling notes about the exhibits I had just left.

1:55pm – throw my empty drink cup in the trash and make my way back to the light rail

2:01pm – ….but first I stopped into the small Charm City Cupcakes kiosk near the exit. I order two of their beautifully decorated creations and take a seat on a nearby wall. To my surprise, they were cold.

2:07pm – needed some water or something to wash down the cold cupcakes so I went back around into Whole Foods.

2:20pm – leave the store, and make my way back towards the light rail – for real this time.

2:37pm – arrive back at light rail just in time to catch a southbound train back to Mount Royal.

Don’t pigeonhole me, bro!

I started Park\Mosher Media with one goal in mind: producing a portfolio of diverse works that I could be proud to show to any editor or potential client.

The key word there is “diverse.” As much as I might like to be an expert on art or theatre, the last thing I want is to be defined as “just” an art writer or “just” a theatre critic. That’s why I added categories on movies to my art\theatre blog.

While movie\theatre writing took up the majority of my weekends, I wasn’t doing anything during the week (that was theoretically, the idea behind covering art) – so I added the category of games.

The problem is: social media games have absolutely nothing – nothing – to do with that blog’s core mission of “art, movies and theatre in Baltimore.” However, I didn’t want to abandon the topic altogether (remember when I tried covering politics earlier this year, or reality TV a few years back).

Fortunately, I consulted my friends on Facebook and they said I should “make time to do both.” So I have, and thus I decided to launch my latest all gaming blog: “Shitty Social Games.”

I also decided to transfer all the gaming stories I already posted – with their original publication dates. Not only does this provide an instant “archive,” but it also hopefully serves as a starting ground for me to work on projects other than reviews.

I recently started a new “previews” column over at the arts blog, so who knows what I’ll do with this new blog. I may eventually have to write a new introductory post, but I can do that later (preferably after I get a sense of exactly what I’m introducing).

Thank you for reading this, and I hope you continue supporting me in my writing efforts. Servus.

What should replace the Everyman Theatre?

Note: In honor of Single Carrot’s announcement to move (temporarily) into the theatre at 1727 North Charles, I have decided to repost this (slightly updated) piece that was originally posted on April 12, 2011.

I spent Saturday evening walking around the “Station North Arts & Entertainment District” for their “Second Saturdays” event in which various venues host free or reduced cost events for the public (now “Final Fridays”). The reason I’m writing this is because one of their flagship theatres – The Everyman – is moving to a new space across from The Hippodrome at the end of their season (now the middle of this season) and it got me wondering: what should fill that venerable old performance space?

The most obvious choice would be to move another theatre company into that space – especially since there are a lot of “dive theatres” in the area (Glass Mind, current BoB winner Single Carrot, and Strand) as well as a few “homeless” companies like Iron Crow. This is, unfortunately, the least likely scenario especially since many companies are just barely making ends meet as it is due to the bad economy.

However, the absolute best fit theatrically speaking is Spotlighters. Yes, the venerable Mount Vernon theatre has recently launched a capital campaign to raise $1.5 million to make their space ADA compliant – including wheelchair ramp and improved restrooms (trust me, they need it). Both things the current Everyman space, conveniently enough, already has – a bigger stage and slightly larger audience without losing intimacy (85 at their current space, vs. approximately 135 at Everyman). Not only that, the current Everyman space is in a highly desirable location on Charles Street in Station North (as opposed to a basement hidden in the back of an alleyway, that can be difficult to find – especially at night).

The next most obvious option would be to put a gallery there. Yes, there are plenty of places to make pretty pictures, but most of the places that are displaying them require you order something first (Metro Bar, Joe Squared, etc.). I’m all for, hanging art in whatever forum will hang them, but it can difficult to approach art in this context without upsetting other customers and obstructing the wait staff.

They could also open a bar, restaurant or a retail shop in there (I hear the Baltimore FREE Store still needs a new home), but I suspect that it will simply sit idly decaying until it becomes nothing but a boarded up shell of its former self like so many other buildings in the neighborhood. It would be a terrible shame – and a waste of good real estate – but I suspect that may ultimately end up being its fate. 😦