Hello Friends and Neighbors,

Thanks to all of you who came out to the Fourth Bloom of Bloom on Saturday October 4th. It was an inspiring night with some amazingly talented artists and musicians. The great news is that we raised more than $5,000 (Thanks to an anonymous matching donor) and several boxes of food for hurricane victims in Haiti. Special thanks to Loide, Wayna, Kuku, Zimm, Ayanna Gregory, Kush, DOS, and Jason Jasper for lending their musical gifts; Charles Jean Pierre, for donating his art; and of course Regan, Kodi, Hezues, Jason and Adeela for helping to organize.

The need is still great in Haiti and will be for sometime. If you would like to donate food or $$ there is still time, please email us at info@bloombars.com. Yesterday AME-SADA executive director Robert Nicolas and I met with Chef Jeff Henderson of the Food Channel. Chef Jeff heard about our efforts and has offered to lend his voice and culinary talent to the cause. We’ll keep you posted as that develops.

Videos and photos should be up on Boombars.com sometime next week. Without betraying our spontaneity, I can tell you that November 1st will be a special day. Stay tuned. Thanks again for your support. And don’t forget. You Bloom. We Bloom.

jc

Thank you to everyone who came to BloomBars on October 24 for the inaugural Ten Miles Square photography exhibit, Move Along, featuring work by Tracy Clayton, Pat Padua, Katy Ray, and Matt Smith.

We’ve now uploaded the entire exhibit to the web site, so if you missed it or just need to see these lovely photographs again, click away on the left. Each image is available for sale framed or unframed, in various sizes, so please contact heather[at]tenmilessquare.com or use the Contact form for purchasing information.

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Move Along features the work of four emerging photographers who capture scenes that pass briefly before our eyes, perhaps preferring that we look away but only succeeding in making us gaze longer. Clayton is a street photographer with an eye for subtle movement and brief moments that end before we fully noticed they happened. Padua’s sense of humor gives us images that aren’t momentary so much as they are oddly uncomfortable. Ray’s time in New Orleans puts a nostalgic filter on her scenes, and the feeling we’ll soon miss the memory it gives us. By contrast, Smith’s highly constructed work explores the connections between the emotional loss experienced by the subjects in the text, and the ways in which these memories can develop direct associations to our physical surroundings. Each of their images focuses on the scenes that are fleeting, whether we want them to be or not, and asks what happens when you weigh it a little longer than you should.

BloomBars is located at 3222 11th St NW, in a converted garage next to Wonderland Ballroom. From their site: “BloomBars is Columbia Heights’ new decidedly underground, spontaneous and inspirational space for local and global art, music and film you haven’t seen or heard. It’s raw. It’s organic, and slowly rising from a seed-offering an opportunity for early guests to say, ‘I watched it grow when it looked like it might be a weed.’”

http://tenmilessquare.com/artists/bloombars-exhibit-october

HELD SATURDAY 10/25/08 8PM

SO GOES THE NATION (Preview on YouTube)

A Look Back at 2004, When Ohio Was Up for Grabs

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Published: October 4, 2006

A ‘what went wrong?’ documentary bristling with answers, “…So Goes the Nation” is a clear-eyed and utterly ruthless dissection of the battle for Ohio in the months leading up to the 2004 presidential election. Zeroing in on the strategic decisions of both major parties, the directors, James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, illuminate not only the putative blunders of the Kerry-Edwards campaign but also the larger difficulties of the Democratic Party itself. It’s not pretty, but it is instructive. Read more…

HELD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 – MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2008

BloomBars’ Living Room Screenings Presents: The Best of Political Film
Get motivated, get inspired, and get out the vote! Come join the BloomBars family and your neighbors for free screenings of some of the best in political documentary and narrative feature film. Especially, if you’re not canvassing or phone banking, but sitting glued to CNN and MSNBC, take a break and enjoy a great film and conversation in a cozy and warm environment in the spirit of this incredible moment! Please see schedule below. Read more…

Held SATURDAY 11/1/08 at 8pm

EVENT DESCRIPTION

This Saturday, November 1st, after your door knocking and phone banking, we’ve got the rally for you. In the “Fifth Bloom of Bloom,” BloomBars has joined forces with African Diaspora for Obama for a night of Music, Art & Inspiration to GET OUT THE VOTE. Mario Van Peebles will be our featured speaker along with musical performances by Yvette Benjamin, Kuku, Vicky Leyva, Mbuutu, Anna Mwalagho, Ssuuna and many more. Late Update: We just added Jason Jasper to the line-up! Read more…

HELD SATURDAY 10/25/08

“Move Along” features the work of four photographers, Tracy Clayton, Pat Padua, Katy Ray and Matt Smith, who capture scenes that pass briefly before our eyes, perhaps preferring that we look away but only succeeding in making us stare longer. Clayton is a street photographer with an eye for subtle movement and brief moments that end before we fully noticed they happened. Padua’s sense of humor gives us images that aren’t momentary so much as they are oddly and amusingly uncomfortable. Ray’s time in New Orleans puts a nostalgic filter on her scenes, and the feeling we’ll soon miss the memory it gives us. By contrast, Smith’s highly constructed work explores the connections between the emotional loss experienced by the subjects in the text and the ways in which these memories can develop direct associations to our physical surroundings. Each of their images focuses on the scenes that are fleeting, whether we want them to be or not, and asks what happens when you weigh it a little longer than you should. Read more…