water ballet

above is a photo from salsapolkalooza, a neighborhood festival put on by the creative alliance at the patterson last weekend. i wasn't really sure what it was going to involve, but i went with a friend (after picnicking in patterson park) and it was a very pleasant surprise. there was a wonderful merengue band and dance floor. the creative alliance does some awesome work, really bringing the community in southeast baltimore together and making art and art education accessible to everyone. they have some pretty cool events, including a beach house (awesome local electronica duo) concert on august 10.

and speaking of cool events, i went to the fluid movement performance of "mother goosed: the nurseryland campaign trails" this weekend. it was hilarious, relevant, and very well-rehearsed. i can only imagine how many hours of preparation went into choreographing, costuming, and composing the 75-person water ballet. it was an imaginative and family-friendly event that just reinforced my love for baltimore. they will be performing again next weekend-- at 5 and 7 pm on friday and saturday, at patterson park in east baltimore-- and it is totally worth the $9. see below for examples of their zany costumes and thoughtful choreography.

cafe roundup

the topic of conversation tonight: cafes in town. here are some of my favorites, but i'd love to hear about more.

-el rancho grande: i just stumbled upon this place recently, but its a hands-down favorite for me. located at the intersection of falls road and 36th ("the avenue") in hampden, it is one of the few late-night coffeehouses in this city. the place feels simultaneously funky, home-like and southwestern and has awesome decor. the prices are a little steep-- i usually get an iced coffee for $3-- but i like contributing to this small establishment. i've heard there are jam sessions there on wednesday nights; often, concerts take place on saturday nights. the fact that it is open late at all is wonderful for those of us under 21. i would highly recommend making a trip here (from goucher, i'd recommend taking the light rail to woodberry, walking up union ave and then taking a right on falls).
-common ground: also located in hampden, this rowhouse-cafe is a real destination. great coffee, artsy atmosphere, interesting people, reasonable prices, walking accessibility, and solid air conditioning. the counter is a pretty tight squeeze, but they have a cute front room as well as a more expansive back room and back deck. i've heard their iced chai shake things are good, and i will totally vouch for their coffee.
-zia's cafe, in towson, is another hotspot. this is clearly an ideal location-- on allegheny avenue-- for goucher students. their vegan/vegetarian focus is genuine and their coffee is also delicious. if i could change anything it would be their hours (i've repeatedly tried to come here on sunday afternoons, always forgetting they are closed) because it seems like a good place to get some studying done.
-donna's: is pretty much entirely out of my price range, but great for a treat if you are wandering around mt. vernon or charles village. i had their iced-coffee-sundae thing last summer and was entirely satisfied for quite a while... unfortunately, it was $6 and i haven't been back since. this definitely has an upscale feel to it.
-one world cafe: located by hopkins on university parkway (goucher kids- take the colltown shuttle), i am a huge fan of this organic, wholesome, and refreshing cafe. i thoroughly enjoyed a meal here once, but i've also sampled some of their coffee and loved it. this is also vegetarian-themed but is quite a bit more expansive than zia's, as well as closer to other attractions, such as the baltimore book thing, the 32nd street/waverly farmer's market, the bma, and hopkins itself. this is a good place to meet up and chat with an old friend or take a date.
-i've heard xs, in mt. vernon, is another good late-night coffee place, but i haven't been there myself. would anyone care to give their opinion?


also, i forgot to mention this event going on next weekend as well: the charm city roller girls "saturday night roast". i went to one of their bouts in june and it was pretty over-the-top. i'm still a little confused about the rules of the game, but from what i can tell, it's serious, competitive, and can get pretty rough. it was also a whole lot of fun. the crowd was a mix of fancy twenty-somethings, grunge dads and other artsy folk who had been at honfest in hampden earlier that day... the arena is over in the canton area and tickets are $10, but this is definitely worth it to experience once.

for those of you that didn't catch artscape or whartscape this weekend, i've attached some photos. i was really impressed with artscape-- the scope of this event is so enormous, i can't imagine organizing all the vendors/performers/volunteers/etc.-- but it did have some corporate undertones (ie. it was co-sponsored by target). seeing sisqo and dru hill perform was something i wouldn't have paid money to see, but it was entertaining until some kid threw hot dogs at us and the grassy hill became too uncomfortable. my favorite part of the event was seeing the variety of people it attracted, including the art groups and artists i've read about, lovely goucher people, experimental and somewhat frightening installations, plenty of out-of-towners, etc. i felt very out of place at whartscape-- i am totally not cool enough for that crowd-- but it was eye-opening in a different way. i was pretty disappointed with the "music" we heard there, although i'm not sure screaming obscenities while crowd surfing, accompanied by '90s jams and eerie noise, really counts as music. i enjoyed people-watching there but found the ultrahipster uniform of tight, short shorts, beat-up shirts, big glasses, intentionally ugly haircuts and '80s sneakers to become pretty mundane. why try so hard to look different when everyone's idea of "different" is the same?

ARTSCAPE and next weekend

hello again! i would like to encourage everyone to

GO TO ARTSCAPE THIS WEEKEND!

it is going to be wonderful. three (or, two and a half) days of art, music, dance, theatre, vendors, and marveling in baltimore's splendid arts scene. it is FREE and is going to be giant. whartscape's lineup for sunday looks good too, but $12 just does not compare to the free festivities at artscape.

it looks like the weekend of july 26 & 27th is going to be outrageous, so please take the time to check out some of the events going on then. if you're in town, you should consider:
-the hamilton street festival, featuring a classic car show and live music.
-baltimore's water ballet troupe, fluid movement, will be performing their "Mother Goosed: The Nurseryland Campaign Tales" at riverside park. i'm not really sure what the deal is with fluid movement, but from what i gather they are a politically-minded, satirical, performing arts group. i would like to learn more about them. the tickets for this show are pricey ($25), so i will probably wait to see them at patterson park on august 2 & 3.
-the chesapeake folk festival, sponsored by the maryland traditions program and the chesapeake bay maritime museum, should be really cool too. here's how it's described on their website: "A celebration of the Bay's people, traditions, work, food, and music, the festival gives you a unique chance to enjoy hands-on demonstrations by regional craftspeople and live musical performances by the Zionaires, the New Gospelites, Three Penny Opera, and Irish traditional musicians. You can take a boat ride on the Miles River and dine on steamed crabs, crab cakes, beer, or barbeque chicken."
-the creative alliance's salsapolkalooza festival, as described below, should also be quite a treat!
-it looks like there will be a german festival at the state fair grounds in timonium as well that weekend. the 108th annual (!), this involves a lot of beer and live music.

finally, my friend showed me this blog today and it looks absolutely wonderful. check it out.

summer outdoor film series

i am greatly impressed by the popularity of outdoor movies shown in baltimore each summer. i haven’t been to any of the four series yet, but definitely i intend to before too long.

take advantage of these opportunities and catch what you may have missed while they are still on a big screen.

locations
1. jhu
shriver hall of johns hopkins university’s homewood campus (shriver hall) in charles village, 3400 north charles street, hosts free friday night movies at 8:30 pm. this is easily accessible when the collegetown shuttle service is running, but during the summer i'd suggest taking the #8 bus from dulaney valley road to greenmount & 32nd, then walking to campus. find out more here.

2. avam
the american visionary art museum, one of the coolest places i've ever been, is located in federal hill, just a short walk from the inner harbor (which is accessible via the light rail— convention center stop— or the end of the #8 bus line). the movies they project every thursday evening at 9 pm are viewable from the hill itself. make sure you visit the museum, which is free from 5-9 pm on these days. this is such a great opportunity to see this one-of-a-kind museum! read more here.

3. little italy
little italy, a surprisingly authentic neighborhood just east of the inner harbor, hosts their own outdoor movie series at the intersection of high and stiles street at 7 pm each friday. this seems to be a very long-standing tradition that would be a lot of fun to take advantage of. for more details, see here.

4. fells
the historic and upscale neighborhood of fells point, east of both the inner harbor and little italy (and the hot new development spot, harbor east), shows their films on wednesday nights at 8.45 pm. the films are shown at broadway pier and are sponsored by two popular stores in the area, sound garden (cd store) and su casa (home furnishings). bring a sweater- it gets breezy by the water. it’s about a 30-minute walk from the convention center stop on the light rail and less from the end of the #8 bus line. their website is here.

schedule
thursday, july 10: close encounters of the third kind/avam
friday, july 11: ratatouille/jhu, moonstruck/little italy
wednesday, july 16: batman/fells
thursday, july 17: the gods must be crazy/avam
friday, july 18 : stardust/jhu, seabiscuit/little italy
wednesday, july 23: transformers/fells
thursday, july 24: quiz show/avam
friday, july 25: some like it hot/jhu, my big fat greek wedding/little italy
wednesday, july 30: sponge bob square-pants/fells
thursday, july 31: harold and maude/avam
friday, august 1: hairspray/little italy
wednesday, august 6: i am legend/fells
thursday, august 7: casablanca/avam
friday, august 8: life is beautiful/little italy
wednesday, august 13: the birds/fells
friday, august 15: blues brothers/little italy
wednesday, august 20: tba/fells
friday, august 22: cinderella man/little italy
wednesday, august 27: tba/fells
friday, august 29: cinema paradiso/little italy
wednesday, september 18: tba/fells

summer festivals

for those of you in baltimore this summer, make sure you check out these festivals:

-july 11-13: 27th annual caribbean carnival at druid hill park-- free on friday, $5 on saturday & sunday (link). should be a colorful event. druid hill isn't always the safest place at night, but is generally friendly during the day. you can get there by walking about 15 minutes from the woodberry light rail stop.

-july 18-20: check out america's largest free public arts festival, artscape, at mt. royal ave and cathedral street-- by mica, accessible via the mt. royal stop on the light rail (link). i've heard this is really worthwhile, a wonderful gathering of baltimore's art community. dan deacon's collective wham city throws their alternative whartscape the same weekend for $12 a day (www.whamcity.com). friday night's show sounds the most impressive, with appearances by jana hunter, beach house and arbouretum.

-july 26: salsapolkalooza, a free neighborhood festival at the creative alliance in east baltimore (link). the creative alliance is a really cool place where creativity is both highly esteemed and readily available. this would be a highly enjoyable event if you are in the area.

-august 2-3: international festival and soccer tournament, sponsored by the city, held at the poly/western high school complex at cold spring lane in medfield (link). i am really excited for this-- it sounds like there will be quite an array of cultural performances throughout both days.

-august 9-10: festafrica at patterson park (link). the $5 festival includes dance and music performances, storytelling, arts/crafts, vendors and a soccer tournament. i'm not entirely sure what this festival is all about, but patterson park in east baltimore is a must for the complete city experience-- the view from the pagoda is awesome.

-august 16-17: the 80th annual saint gabriel festival in little italy should be a treat (link). $1 gets you into the authentic neighborhood festival, where you can sample food and play bocce ball. close to the inner harbor (and thus accessible in many ways, including a short walk from the convention center stop on the light rail or the end of many bus lines), this is just a cool neighborhood to explore.

-august 22-24: the baltimore american indian center's 34th annual powwow, held in patterson park (link). looks like an interesting melange of traditional and contemporary native american arts.

welcome to charm city confidential

hello! welcome to charm city confidential!

my name is auni; i attend goucher college and am completely enamored with baltimore. i started this blog with the hope to expose some of the ways i've come to know it.

while this blog is open to anyone who'd like to read it, i will give specific details for goucher students in an effort to break the "bubble" mentality that sometimes enshrouds campus life. my intention is to open some channels of information for whoever is interested in exploring baltimore.

i hate hearing my peers at goucher complain that there isn't much to do for fun-- whether on campus, in the city, or in the surrounding area, there is almost an overwhelming amount of cool oozing from this charm city.

please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. thank you.