Many people equate games with “fun.” Brenda Brathwaite, game designer and Chair of the Interactive Design and Game Development department at SCAD, equates games with interactive experience and education.
Her newest board game design is “Train,” is more of a somber treatise than a traditional game. Through the course of play, Train leads players on a journey allegorical of Jews being transported to Auschwitz. By the way the rules are written, however, players often don’t realize the breadth of each decision and the consequence of each move forward until the end. With the gravity of the topic it touches, Train does more than introduce players to a poignant topic in world history, it redefines the scope of board games in general.
Train debuted at the Games for Change conference in New York City last month. The board is comprised of three train tracks astride a broken window, representative of Kristallnacht, when the Nazi’s smashed the windows of Jewish homes. The three train tracks are the point of play, and players are loaded into the trains and then moved to an unknown destination via command cards.
We can’t help but talk about this. Love him, hate him or don’t give a damn, Michael Jackson was one seriously talented dude, writing and producing some of the best music of our generation as well as redefining pop culture and creating a new musical genre. He achieved a level of fame rarely equaled before or since - people passed out when he came on stage. That’s some serious adoration.
In the US alone, Google saw 36 of the top 100 searches related to Jackson’s death. The spike in searches related to Michael Jackson was so big that Google News initially mistook it for an automated attack. As a result, for about 25 minutes, people searching Google News saw a “We’re sorry” page. Additionally, Google saw one of the largest mobile search spikes ever, with 5 of the top 20 searches about the Moonwalker.
You only THOUGHT that the Savannah Music Festival (SMF) was once a year. But, thanks to Georgia Public Broadcasting and the luxuries afforded us through technology, you can access past SMF concerts from your home, office or even your car. So if you missed a performance you wanted to see, or if you want to relive a great moment in music, now’s your chance to catch some of the best performances of the world renown Savannah Music Festival.
Hosted by SMF Executive and Artistic Director Rob Gibson, the Savannah Music Festival LIVE radioshow is a weekly public radio show aired on the Georgia Public Broadcasting Radio Network. It features performances from the last five years of Georgia’s largest musical arts event, including many concerts from the 2009 season. The show also features special productions about past and present Georgia music luminaries such as Wycliffe Gordon and Johnny Mercer.
If you like helping local environmental causes, here’s your chance. All it takes is one click. (Ok, well two.)
Two neighboring waterways worth knowing more about are the Ogeechee and Canoochee rivers. One, the Ogeechee, meanders south from Crawfordsville until it meets with the other just north of Interstate 95 at Kings Ferry. Together, the two rivers cover hundred of miles of rural recreational oppportunities from birding to fishing to paddling.
They are rivers rich with historical knowledge as well as ecological importance. Their banks were home to countless tribes of Native Americans (hence the Indian names for the rivers) and now host landmarks that include ancient burial grounds and military forts from the Spanish-American, Revolutionary and Civil war eras. More recent events in history, however, left behind more compromised legacy.
Over the past 70 years, the rivers have been steadily hammered with pollutants from sewage and stormwater runoff from aging or poorly regulated water treatment plants, storm-water systems, agricultural operations and septic tanks. The Canoochee River has witnessed an excessive nutrient load from an upstream poultry processing plant, resulting in algae blooms that suffocate plant and aquatic life.
We’ve been telling you how great a place Savannah is to live, work and play until we’ve turned blue in the face. Now it’s time to hear what others have to say about our great coastal city.
We’ve recently added five new business testimonials, highlighting the great work and entrepreneurial spirit of some of Savannah’s hottest local businesses.
Lott + Barber - This team of creative architecture professionals has grown to be one of the most respected and recognizable names in the coastal architecture community. (Not to mention their integral role in supporting both our 2008 and 2009 Innovation Awards!) Read more…
The Fiduciary Group - More than a company, they are a story of the transformation of a second-generation Savannah based business through innovation, technology and design. (Now if that doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will.) Read more…
Clark Creative - Cari Clark and TCCa go waaaaay back. Yep, she’s part of the reason that we all have cSpot to look forward to on the last Wednesday of the month. She’s also the matriarchal force behind Clark Creative, a company with a feminine identity that excels in visual communications. Read more…
The true test in any community is not how good a leader it has, how many companies set up shop, how well traffic flows or how safe grandma feels outside after dark. While all those things are of great import, the true test of a community - the measure of what makes it a community - is how much it’s people care for one another and how they come together in times of need.
One year ago, two friends of the creative movement, creatives themselves, were assaulted and shot in the wee hours of the morning as they unloaded musical equipment after their band’s first gig. One of them, Jason Statts, is still fighting to normalize a life altered, having suffered a serious spinal cord injury from the gunshot.
Before the incident, Jason worked as a talented musician and great visual artist. He is a part of our creative economy and through his talents and interests - as well as his generosity, character and coolness as a person - has enriched this community. There is no better evidence of that than the outpouring of support from friends, neighbor, colleagues and even strangers in the wake of the attack.
Allow me to begin by apologizing for leaving you nearly blogless the week. Chaulk it up to Fitz and I both reeling from post-birthday depression (and perhaps a hangover or two from the celebration). Regardless, if there were one thing for you to take away from this week, it would be the follow. So listen up!
The world will be watching Savannah once again. This time it’s because of BLUE - and ocean film festival featuring the greatest collection of ocean films and filmmakers - that will take place here June 10 - 14. The event will screen over 50 finalist films and host a capstone industry awards competition. The event has garnered support of Disney, who will open the inaugural BLUE Ocean Film Festival with a screening of its first theatrical release, EARTH, produced by Disneynature, which set box office records for a documentary when it opened on Earth Day, 2009. Overall, the festival promises to gather paramount ocean filmmakers, broadcasters and conservation leaders from around the world.
Next week marks an important date. Yes, it’s my birthday. And yes, it’s Fitz’s birthday. And yes, it’s Leigh’s birthday. (TCCa hat trick!) But it gets even better. The 5th Annual SEDA Luncheon takes place on Thursday, May 28 beginning at 11:30 am at the Savannah International Trade and Conference Center on Hutchinson Island. The high point of the lunch (aside from the spreadable artistry of the shell-molded butters) will be the keynote address, delivered by Ms. Ping Fu, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Geomagic.
Wow. We won something! Almost two somethings. Feels pretty good.
It seems as though our loyal blog peeps are also connect readers. Either that or they’re bald and Irish. Regardless, we won “Best Local Blogger” and runner up for “Best Local Website” in Connect Savannah’s Best of Savannah!
Ok, so technically speaking I won “Best Blogger.” But I won’t hold that against Connect readers. While I built/maintain the beast (thanks to Paragon & Nicasio) and did most of the writing initially, most people around here know that Miss Summer Teal Simpson now writes the majority of blog posts, and does a darn good job at it. After God, the Pope, and David Caruso, she deserves major respect.
I still do some writing, but most of what I do with the blog now is more editorial/managerial stuff behind the curtain, directing the content and representin’ TCCa on Twitter/Facebook/{insert latest social media craze}.
Either way, we/I/us, we’re honored! So thanks guys! We heart you too!
P.S. You can see the full write-up on all the winners (and more pores than you can handle) on connectsavannah.com.
I love to people watch. And there’s never been a better town for it than Savannah. It has occurred to me during my many hours spent staring out into the local space that I’ve never lived in a more tattoo’d community. (Has anyone ever run the numbers on what percentage of SCAD students have body art? Let me save you the work; It’s alot.)
There are tattoos on our neighboring artists, musicians, designers. Even the most buttoned up friends I have are sporting a body art secret. So it got me wondering, if tattoos are so popular in a sleepy Southern town like Savannah (however creatively infused), what’s up with the greater American tattoo trend?
Now, there just ain’t enough time in the day to debate the merits (or not) of tattoos themselves. What I want to discuss is thus… With the general increase in tattoos in America, has the professional environment changed its opinion of tattoos in the workplace? Moreover, with a concentrated number of tattoo’d creatives entering the workforce, how much has the growing creative industry impacted any marked acceptance of body art?
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