from the ann arbor/ypsi avant-garde to your backyard
the bluish barn presents:
“Lawn Care” (a suburban interpretation of Vito Acconci’s “Seed Bed”) a performance by Forest Bright
poetry and performance by Anya L Cobler & Onna Solomon
free and fire afterwards.
October 6th @ 8pm–the bluish barn
I am too busy to write 2,000 words, so here are two pictures:
1. Last Saturday’s Squirm Orchestra Performance. (Don’t forget, Saturdays in August = movies!)
2. Cicada escaping its shell near the back porch. I don’t know if this is a magicada/17 year cicada, but according to this chart, it could be. They are noisy and everywhere. Really, any insect with a musical drum called a “tymbal” in its abdomen is a friend of mine. (Also note, there seems to be a lot of general concern over cicada noise ruining one’s wedding day and quite a few online planners and calculators to prevent this fate. Recently engaged, take note.)
Thank you everyone for your stellar movie suggestions. We’ll probably have a longer schedule of Thursday screenings some time in the Fall when we can screen some of those. With my hands pretty full with moving and renovating, I have been and will be doing less movie night organizing, but as my housemates get more active, we should be able to pick up right where we leave off.
This schedule is so special that it’s only four weeks long and it’s Saturdays instead of Thursdays. Every Saturday in August, in fact. 9pm unless otherwise noted, rain (inside) or shine (backyard).
August 4th: 8pm SQUIRM ORCHESTRA, music for short films by Svankmajer, the Brothers Quay, Trnka, Starevich, and others; family friendly – bring the kids!
August 11th: LEON (the original European cut)
August 18th: probably something special for Punk Week; will post it here as soon as we figure it out
August 25th: THE ROOM – Ann Arbor premier (?) of the best worst movie made in recent years (follow the link, read the reviews, watch the trailer…bring plastic spoons)
Screenings will always end by midnight. Arrive at 9pm sharp to see short films from local filmmakers and get a good seat for the features. Reserve seats by commenting on this post with name and # of seats. Please be respectful of our house and neighbors, so we can keep doing this. Thanks.
The time has come once again to make your suggestions for movies to screen when we start back up for our end-of-Summer schedule.
Think of movies that would be good to see on the bigger screen out under the stars in our backyard. Truly independent movies, local movies, or impossibly artsy movies that deserve to be screened at a microcinema. Plus, we try to fit one documentary and something foreign into each schedule.
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Instead of a list of all the movies we’ve screened over the past year, here’s a list of the ones that for one reason or another have gone over the best or been the most memorable. It’s not always what you’d expect:
August 11 2006: If…
August 31: Breaking Away
Sep 14: Papillon
Tues Sep 19: [Bollywood night]
Oct 5: Wizard People, Dear Reader
Mon Oct 9: Who is Bozo Texino?
Oct 19: Plague Dogs
Oct 26: the Fearless Vampire Killers
Nov 2: Ann Arbor Film Festival pre-screening screening
Feb 1: Zardoz
Feb 8: A Thousand Clowns
Feb 22: the Beaver Trilogy
May 17: Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
June 21: Angel Heart
Maybe that gives you some idea of what might work. Now get those suggestions coming...
My friend Jay asked me today why it’s called the Shadow Art Fair if it happens before the Ann Arbor fairs every year. I thought for a second and then told him that the sun could be said to come out and shine the most brightly after the fairs are over, so that in relation to the sun hitting the Ann Arbor fairs, the Shadow would fall before them in time. Does that make sense?
It also might have something to do with Ypsi being sort of in Ann Arbor’s shadow. And local, indie artists doing their thing in the shadows.
In any event, it all happens again this Saturday from noon to midnight at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti. I’ll be there with Sappycards and the Great Lakes T-shirts and a few other things, and there will be a bunch of new and returning artists with exciting work. Plus music from Black Jake and the Carnies, Lyman Rhodes, Martes Martes, Annie Palmer, and Princess Xanthipe. And lots of great beer.
::DIY FEST::
do:it:yourself
.workshops.
.skillshares.
.free store.
.music.
.food.
Saturday
June 2nd
11am-9pm
1508 Jewett
cross street Packard
:WORKSHOPS INCLUDE:
knitting, from the sheep to the scarf: carding and spinning wool into yarn, knitting
carpentry skills
potions 101: making tinctures, infusions, salves, decoctions
fermentation: sauerkrauts, kim chi, sour pickles
hard cider making
winery
video editing
potentially massage
:MUSIC:
jen koppin
craig johnson
feel free to bring skills, jokes, or food to share.
if you want to lead a skillshare, you can also let me know in advance.
PLEASE FOWARD WIDELY to folk in the Ann Arbor area
see you there!
Now that budget cuts have forced the Michigan Theater’s Cinema Slam to end its showcasing of local short films, we here at the Bluish Barn want to step in and offer local filmmakers a venue for their work. Filmmakers can drop off DVD or VHS copies of anything under 20 minutes, clearly labeled with contact info, on our front porch at 712 N 5th Ave. We’ll watch it, and if we like it, we’ll screen it before one of our features. If not, we’ll return it to you. We can’t promise any awards or intelligent feedback, but our audience here tends to be pretty open-minded and appreciative of local projects. At the very least, we can get your film watched on a big screen by and audience of people who you don’t know.
And don’t worry, the Bluish Barn will not be affected by any future moratorium on state grants, since we receive no government funding. Our budget is never threatened because we don’t have a budget.
Thursdays, 9pm, rain or shine. Free.
May 17: Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
May 24: Shallow Grave
May 31: Glengarry Glen Ross
June 7: Real Genius
June 14: Amadeus
June 21: Night of the Living Dead
June 28: Dogville
Screenings will always end by midnight. Arrive at 9pm sharp to see short films from local filmmakers and get a good seat for the features. Please be respectful of our house and neighbors, so we can keep doing this. Thanks.
If you’re like us, you have lots of projects you’ve been planning and just haven’t gotten around to. Beginning Monday, May 14, Christina and I will be doing something about that…hosting Craft Night!!!
Anyone interested in the fine arts of sewing, knitting, paper making, home taser production – or anything else you can make with your hands and simple tools – is welcome to join us, every Monday from 6 to 10pm. Bring the projects you would like to work on as well as any materials you might need. We can provide a sewing machine and various knitting, sewing and crocheting utensils.
We hope you will join us, so we can share skills and learn together – just know that all participants may be subjected to a sampling of cooking and baking experiments. Come, with an open heart and a bag full of ideas.
Love,
Michelle and Christina
Questions? Email michelle [at] bluishbarn [dot com] or christina [at] bluishbarn [dot com].
So almost everything is in place, the forecast is good, and 24 Hour Theater is going to happen. But we could still use a few actors to give the writers more flexibility and make things a little more interesting. Most of these kinds of events get organized through official departments at Universities or acting companies or venues with a natural pool of actors. They start with the actors and then fill in the holes. We did it ass-backwards. My friend Onna, after having successfully organized a 24-Hour Theater event at a squat in Paris, settled back in Ann Arbor and decided to try it here. We have writers, directors, and a small army dedicated to costumes and makeup and food and making everything go smoothly that day, but not as many actors as we’d like. So please forward this call and contact onnalyn [at] gmail [dot com] if you might be interested.  Thanks.