community : Buzz

The 400 seats at fifth installement of Ignite Baltimore, held last week at the Walter's Art Museum, sold out weeks before the event. If you didn't take the chance on the waitlist but still want to check out the speakers, we have video of a few of the best.

Here's a sample:










Watch the other speakers here.

At Ignite Baltimore 5, Brian Sacawa, a saxophonist and Peabody graduate, suggested that perhaps it was time for Baltimore to let go of its proudly held titles as a "quirky" and "weird" city.


Here's an excerpt:

"In my Ignite talk last week, I mentioned that I thought it was high time we move on here in Baltimore from defining ourselves to the outside world simply by the quirky and irreverent parts of the city's cultural life. I think those aspects are an important part of Baltimore's artistic identity, but that defining the city's arts scene with a strong and overbearing emphasis on the weird sends a message that we're not to be taken all that seriously.

Then I read Deborah Patterson's post on Open Society Institute-Baltimore's Audacious Ideas blog, in which she expressed indignation at the fact that Austin, with its "Keep Austin WEIRD" slogan-campaign, topped the list of Best Cities for Artists and Designers with Baltimore not even cracking the top 25. Yeah, seriously, like WTF?"


Read the entire post here. And tell us what you think.

Ignite Baltimore definitely sparked conversation last week and seemed to have a lingering effect on the Twitterati...

@hanareddy says, "I loved The Wire, but Baltimore needs to reclaim the arts, culture and science as its claim to fame. thoughts from @ignitebaltimore #ib5"

@jbusteed says what many seemed to think, "#ib5 was a smashing success! Great speakers and new surrounding were excellent."

@nicoleschiavone says, "@tornow @willdavis @amygarland @ammi - #IB5 Ignited this little Baltimorean last night - definitely going again."

@concertopera says, "woke up in awe of @ignitebaltimore You just got over 400 people to come out on a Thurs. night, to listen to ideas. #ib5 how awesome is that?"

Meanwhile...

@marioarmstrong, wonders "what do u visualize when u hear the word excellence?"

@ohbaltimore, all we have to say is we hope its more than just in our heads, "Maybe it's just psychological, but there's an "it's almost springtime" feeling in the air this evening."

Some ideas time has simply come...@bmoreconnected, "Wouldn't it be nice if as soon as you had a good idea for how to make alot money that money just transferred into your account?"

Looking for an easy way to make cooking more exciting? @poofie says, "sometimes, i challenge myself iron chef style and ask the boy to pull something from the freezer for dinner. pork & peanut noodles tonight"

@NatlAquarium is having a baby boom, "Rose, one of the 3 adult two-toed sloths living in our Rain Forest, has given birth to a baby sloth! Check out the video: http://ow.ly/1dK6E"


Wanna see ur tweet here? Follow us @bmoremediame and @bmoremedia.

Last week was a great week for Baltimore's twitter crowd, especially if they were interested creating something for the good of us all....

@ignitedc had some advice on how to make a change on the cheap, "From Ignite DC #2- how to use $100 & put on your own mass culture event by @elbuenob http://su.pr/2Ejbva (blip)/http://su.pr/1DaScY (itunes)"

@BoltonHill is seeking anyone who, "Know any women-led life science or clean tech companies looking for funding? Springboard Enterprises is looking-raised over $5B in capital."

@baltcommfdn is spreading the word about "$10-25k grants avail for Poverty Alleviation thru ABC-MD & @OSIBaltimore - Proposals due 3/8 http://ow.ly/d/1yP"

@TowsonUNews needs you to "Help keep Towson University's @WTMD on track -- volunteer for the March 6-12 fund drive http://bit.ly/98bR3r"

Twitter chatter wasn't all about philanthropy though, there was also...

@CenterMaryland says that "SURVEY: 78% of college students in Baltimore say they would recommend the region as a good place to go to school http://bit.ly/9hzGgD"

@BeerConnoisseur pays an homage to their favorite brew, "You foam within our glasses, you lusty golden brew, whoever imbibes takes fire from you. The young and the old sing...http://bit.ly/cNdSqi"

@davetroy wonders, "After the rapture, who will take care of the pets? Caring atheists, obviously. Duh! http://bit.ly/aMI8PD"

Need a gig? @R2integrated says, "R2i is looking for an entry level Search Marketing Specialist! Please email [email protected]. http://bit.ly/9PDxM2"

Could there be a better combination? @midnightsunblog, "on thursday, pazo is launching their new cupcakes & cocktails menu, pairing fancy cupcakes with fancy drinks. http://bit.ly/dxahCE"

We'll have to roll up our sleeves for this one, @WhatsToEatBmore, "Baltimore Snuggie Pub Crawl this Saturday! Who's In!?!??! http://ow.ly/19Uxh"


@JustinKownacki wonders and we have to agree, "Are we past the parking chair stage yet, Baltimore? It's been two weeks since the big storm; if you haven't dug out yet, you're not trying."


Do you have something to say? Want to see your tweet make our list? Follow us on Twitter.

Dave Murphy of Greater Greater Washington argues that the Central Maryland Transit Alliance should not prioritize the extension of Baltimore's Yellow Line light rail to Columbia, saying it would do better to focus on central transit.

An excerpt from the column reads:

The Green Line extension will hit developed areas in a large city with a burgeoning centralized train system in place. This is smart. The Yellow Line extension will connect Columbia to downtown Baltimore on a very long, very circuitous route that by-passes Fort Meade, the largest employment center in the state of Maryland.

Baltimore City needs transit connections. It needs an expanded system. It needs a centralized system. A Yellow Line extension would bolster businesses in Columbia and Towson. These are decentralized locations. A Green Line extension would bolster more centralized business districts like the Belair Road and Harford Road corridors. These are centralized areas. Baltimore has been decentralizing for fifty years, and it's not working.

From Columbia, the Yellow Line would take 42 minutes to get to BWI Airport, and then another 27 to get to downtown Baltimore. An hour and nine minutes to get from Columbia to Baltimore isn't a good transit connection. The northern section of the Yellow Line is actually a good idea, connecting several colleges along a main thoroughfare through the city proper. But the southern portion is as circuitous and useless as the current plan for the CCT in Gaithersburg.

Read the entire column here.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon refused to let a slur against her city made by a British member of Parliament go uncontested. The Liberal Conspiracy reports on her response.

An excerpt from the blog posting reads:

The Mayor of Baltimore has hit back at Tory MP Chris Grayling over comparing parts of Britain to The Wire.

In a statement posted to her website, Sheila Dixon said Baltimore had a per capita homicide rate "a fraction of that in the popular UK television show Midsomer Murders."

The statement read:

"Fellow citizens

This week I was alerted to a speech made by a Member of the British Parliament, a Mr. Chris Grayling, who suggested his country should fear becoming like our city of Baltimore as portrayed in the HBO series, The Wire. We all watched The Wire and while it was sometimes a heart-breaking reflection of reality, it was in the main, merely entertaining fiction.

The television show failed to reflect the best we have in this city, our sense of community, our hospitality and our proud history and culture. To present a television show as the real Baltimore is to perpetuate a fiction that dishonours our city. It is as pointless as boasting that Baltimore has a per capita homicide rate a fraction of that in the popular UK television show Midsomer Murders."

Read the full blog posting here.

A Baltimore-based graphic designer who came to Baltimore from Paris bids farewell to her Bmore, reflecting on what made her stay here so wonderful and how Charm City compares to the City of Lights.

An excerpt from the blog post reads:

Dear Baltimore,

Thank you for 5 amazing years! You've taught me more than you'll ever know and introduced me to friends I'll keep for a life-time. Sometimes you get a bad rap, but that's ok. I like it that you're my little secret sometimes. Ironically, it was moving here from Paris that helped me appreciate you most.

Baltimore, like Paris, is a small "big city" - it doesn't take you forever to get from one end to the other (ahem, however you could take a queue from Paris when it comes to public transportation - for 3 years I rode the bus, and now I must thank you for lowering my standards and making public transportation easy as pie anywhere else I may go).

I learned to love distinct neighborhoods with their own personality and flair while living in Europe, and you've got that too. Besides, there really should be more Hampdens in the world. Along those lines you have great farmer's markets which are full of color and support local businesses at the same time.

Read the entire blog post here.

Renting continues to be a better idea than buying in Seattle, according to reporting done by Time Magazine. A Seattle-based writer looks at what Baltimore shares with just 20 other U.S. cities.

An excerpt from the article reads:

In their latest issue TIME Magazine declares that in many cities, price-to-rent ratios indicate that buying a home has become a better deal than renting for the first time in years� but not yet in Seattle: Is Owning a Home Better Than Renting?

"A year ago, it was a better deal to rent," says Andres Carbacho-Burgos, an economist at Economy.com "Now you have a significant number of areas, especially those hit the hardest by the correction, where, when you compare prices to rents, you'd be led to believe it's a good time to buy."

A significant number � but not everywhere. At TIME's request, Economy.com ran the numbers for 54 metro areas and compared their current price-to-rent ratios to what their ratios have been over the past 15 years. The result: in 21 cities, renting still looks to be the better bargain. Among the renter-friendly outposts are Baltimore; Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C.; Salt Lake City; San Antonio; Trenton, N.J.; Philadelphia; Honolulu; Seattle; and Portland, Ore."

Of course, this is the same publication that published the now-infamous Home $weet Home issue at the height of the bubble in 2005, so it's probably a good idea to take their advice with a large grain of salt.

Read the entire article here.

Two popular blogs are teaming up to create a guide by Baltimoreans for Baltimoreans. Each week they'll ask a question to discern everything from where to buy the best music to where the best neighborhoods are. They want to hear from you.

An excerpt from the post reads:

The Shank is partnering with our friends at Smile Hon to put together a Baltimore Insider's Directory. If we use your answers/submissions, you'll get a free copy when we're done. Just make sure you post your name & email if you want credit and the comp copy.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be asking these types of questions and compiling the results. Please tell your friends to answer too. The more reseponses we get, the better the guide will be.

Read the entire blog post here:

The Maryland Daily Record has reported that Lenny's Delicatessen will not immediately close to make room for museum but will stay in place as long as it can.

An excerpt from the article reads:

Wednesday's reports that Lenny's Delicatessen would leave its spot on East Lombard Street in three years after the sale of its space to the Jewish Museum of Maryland are only partially true.

Owner Alan Smith said Thursday that the deli, on Baltimore's famed Corned Beef Row, has signed a five-year lease with the museum, and the business will look for a new spot on the block when the time comes to move.

"Our immediate plans are we just renovated and we're going to stay there as long as we can," Smith said of the updated dining room, complete with black-and-white photos reflecting the history of that part of Lombard Street.

A year after announcing plans to expand onto the Lenny's lot, the museum said it finalized the deal Wednesday. Lenny's has at least three more years at its Lombard Street location, after which the museum can give the deli a year's notice to find a new home. The deli can leave at any time as long as it is moving and not just closing, Smith said.

Read the entire article here.

A critical mass of government sector jobs is keeping Maryland's unemployment rate low vis-�-vis the rest of the nation, and that has helped buoy the housing market. But there are chinks in the armor, as this article, derived from House Predictor research, explains.

An excerpt from the article reads:

Maryland housing sales are rising as a direct result of having one of the best employment rates in the nation. The federal government is hiring workers and government related jobs are growing as a result of the Obama administration, energizing home sales right outside of Washington D.C. Maryland is banking on government assistance in more ways than most other states.

The deflationary cycle in housing prices is showing signs of easing up in Maryland as home sales improve. But the declining values of homes have a long way to go before reaching stabilization as a result of the financial crisis. The days of fast money are over as new mortgage standards replace loose lending practices.

Read the entire article here.

M.I.S.S. feature "Funky Expedition," which explores the creation and development of region-specific genres of music, takes a look at Baltimore Club Music. While it sings its praises, it questions -- hopefully -- whether Bmore Club will "ever have lasting potential outside of the DMV (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia)."

An excerpt from the article reads:

It always stings a little bit when you are on top of something � whether it be a new artist, new designer, or new style � and then a year or two later, everybody's on the jock of that artist, designer, or style. You just look like a major tool mentioning that you were into it "ages ago," but then you are also a bit angry because your friends didn't like it when you told them about it. Once it was on TV, they liked it. Sound familiar?

Besides the fact that you might just be a trendsetter, or a daring human being, (or a M.I.S.S. girl), it's frustrating any which way you look at it. Such might be the case for fans of Baltimore Club AKA Bmore Club AKA Gutter music AKA the sound of Bodymore, Murderland (Baltimore, Maryland). It has only been gaining national attention in the past few years, but it has been around -- in Baltimore -- starting from as early as 1989 or 1990.

The sound of Gutter music is best described by a blend of hip-hop, house, and dance music. Some even call it hip-house. The songs are often dark, but contain an infectious, hyper energy that explodes with each short song. Unlike typical house songs, Bmore club songs alternately build and drop intensity as they play, with bridges and sections of fast-paced, loud crashes that mimic fluttering heartbeats. The songs are like the sprint of the music race: the cuts are specifically crafted by DJs for the club environment, based on a 8/4 beat structure, and include tempos as high as 130 beat per minute.

Read the entire article here:

The Inner Harbor Arts Festival is a free event that will take place Aug. 22-23 at the Power Plant.

An excerpt from the article reads:

Mayor Sheila Dixon announced the Inner Harbor Arts Festival on Monday. It will be held the weekend of Aug. 22 near Cordish's Power Plant retail center.

More than $15 million in artwork, varying from handmade jewelry to more expensive fine art pieces, will be on display. Dixon said the new festival is not intended to compete with Artscape, the city-sponsored street fair.

Download the entire article here.

Baltimore has launched a nine-month, $300,000 energy conservation program that will have neighbors helping neighbors. Trained volunteers will go door-to-door, sharing information about how area residents can be better environmental stewards and conserve energy. The goal is to cut electricity use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Baltimore 15 percent by the year 2015.

An excerpt from the article reads:

Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., a subsidiary of Constellation, has been working to educate customers about the importance of reducing energy use, said Mayo A. Shattuck III, CEO, president and chairman of Constellation. As an example, Shattuck said running a dishwasher at midnight costs less than running it at 3 p.m., when more businesses and homeowners are using power.

Shattuck called energy efficiency the "next wave" in environmental awareness campaigns. "This is a lifelong commitment," he said of cutting energy consumption.

Through the city's pilot program, neighborhood "captains" will recruit volunteers to educate the neighborhood on how to reduce energy use. Civic Works, Baltimore's job-training section of AmeriCorps, will teach the volunteers how to reach out to their neighbors.

Read the entire article here.

Baltimore people on Twitter love their city and aren't shy about telling all twitterdom in 140 characters or less. Check this space every week as we comb Twitter for the best of what they're saying. And follow Bmore on Twitter here.

@Tawilkins says she feels sorry for people outside of Baltimore who have not experienced the pleasure of a summer snowball.

@Petote, affected by her trip on the cultural side, says the visionary art museum in baltimore was so interesting, but also, disturbing, it wouldnt get out of my nightmares last night

And that leads us to our Tweet of the Week, from @Ayakobing, who just wants everyone to know that B-more rocks! RT @hollisthomases: I am very proud to say that so many Baltimore peeps "get" Twitter. Baltimore rocks!!

Feedback from Twitter on our recent launch was very supportive. Thanks for the love, and here's a sampling:

MissMktr who tweets that if @RyanatMGH Need a reason to move to Union Square?, then Read @bmoremedia's article http://bit.ly/UG9su

DanieljGross sees a future for the 'zine @BmoreMedia just checked out the site that was recently launched. I think it could definitely catch on. Can't wait to see its growth!

GBMCMedia cosigned on Erica Mechlinski's tweet, announcing both had signed up for our e-newsletter, have you? RT @EricaMechlinski New fan of @bmoremedia. Just signed up to have it delivered to my inbox weekly. http://bit.ly/YD2Ts so did I :-)