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The first solar eclipse viewable in the U.S. in the last 18 years will darken the sky before sunset on May 20, 2012. The partial solar eclipse can be seen best from California, New Mexico and Utah.
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The Outdoor Writers Association of California (OWAC) awarded About Camping and Monica Prelle 2nd Place for Best Website in the annual craft awards. The 2012 OWAC Craft Awards …
A camping recipe from K9s4moi. This is a recipe you can make ahead at home and just put on the grill when you get to the campground.
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After a week of camping, wine tasting, hiking and beach combing in California’s Central Coast, I was ready for a hot shower and electricity. I needed some recharging.
A two night stay at the Inn at Morro Bay was just what I needed (or wanted, really). I like to think I’m a dedicated camper, but I couldn’t resist the luxury of this boutique hotel. My stay in Morro Bay was hosted by the Morro Bay Chamber Commerce, the Inn at Morro Bay, and the Outdoor Writers Association of California and I was happy to be a recipient of their hospitality.
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54 people, approximately 1/3 technical, 1/3 creative and cultural, and 1/3 business focussed, came together last Thursday evening with little idea of what would happen.
They’d been asked to think about what challenges and opportunities faced the creative and cultural sector in Egypt. After an evening brainstorming solutions and voting, they got down to work to try to build a proof-of-concept solution to address these challenges.
These teams had a bit of help from both UK and Egyptian mentors, and a prototyping workshop courtesy of Snook and a workshop on investment readiness from FirstPort.
In first place, with project funding of £3,000: Meshabbek.
This is a platform to help creative people find the right talent and skills to make their projects come alive – from mash-ups (I’d like a musician to make a soundtrack to my book) to collaborators to agents and skilled technical specialists, you’ll be able to find the collaborator you need for your project.
In joint second place, with project funding of £1,000 each: Torathna and Tour Story.
Torathna will build tools for communities of readers to find the next book to read – from coordinating offline meetings to online discussion forums, they are targeting high-value readers. They’re working with the Cairo Hackerspace who are working with the open-source DIY Scanner project to get out-of-print and hard-to-find Arabic language texts scanned as well.
The Tour Story team built a working prototype of their app, which will be a location-aware information tool providing information about architecture, art, and public spaces. Tour Story will be a free app over the web, but provide paid-for downloadable contentfor tourists to access offline information.
Honourable mention, with free mentorship from Gemiza: Ididi
Ididi tackled the problem of motivation for artists – building a community to help creatives get encouragement for different types of projects – including using gaming technology and badges to keep artists moving in the face of day-to-day challenges. Several other teams said this was an application they needed themselves!
7eita w Zeita
This means “Walls and noise” in Arabic. 7eita w Zeita wants to challenge the notion of public space and make it creative space, initially preserving and archiving street art and publishing t-shirts, hoodies, and jackets (while splitting the profits with the artists and art programmes) and eventually starting a street art and music festival in Cairo.
Quest.ly
This team’s application would give points-based challenges to tourists to find out more about the local culture – from taking public transport (a hard one, as we found out today whilst leaping from the moving platform) to eating Koshari (an easier, lovely simple dish). The app would move you from “khawaga” status to that of a local over time.
Then that future is a bright one – thus spoke Beatrice Pembroke, director of the Cultural and Creative Economy’s team, and she is utterly correct.
The response to these teams was overwhelming – the judges and the audience were blown away and Twitter is alive with discussion about the projects.
Moataz Nasr el din, the founder of Darb17/18, decided on the spot to organise a second pitching session at Darb17/18 in a month’s time so that teams can speak with other potential funders. One of the mentors, Ramy Habeeb, has offered the Quest.ly team mentorship to make their idea a reality. The Cairo Hackerspace offered help and support to any of the six teams – from space to technical assistance.
We’re thrilled with the turnout, and are looking forward to seeing what the team brings forth in future.
Don’t forget to check out (And upload your!) photos on our Facebook page as well.
CADAC Safari Chef is a versatile camping grill with five interchangeable cooking surfaces. Full guide review.
| Congressman Dave Camp (R-Midland) today announced Leah Beaulac of Owosso High School as the “Best in Show” winner of the 2012 Artistic Discovery art competition for her “Reflection” piece. | |
 (Left to Right: Mr. and Mrs. Beaulac, Leah Beaulac, Owosso High School art instructor Ms. Marti Lameti, and Congressman Dave Camp) |
“The contributions of young artists are invaluable to our schools and communities. This is a great opportunity for our students to demonstrate their creativity. I want to thank the students for sharing their hard work and talented contributions to the competition,” said Camp. |
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Ms. Beaulac was selected for top honors after judges reviewed more than 50 pieces submitted from high school artists located in the district. As the winner, she will receive a free art class and $200 cash prize from the Midland Center for the Arts and Alden B. Dow Museum. Additionally, her piece will hang in the U.S. Capitol for a year along with other winners from around the country.
Other regional winners include: Tehya Stockman, of Saginaw Arts and Science Academy; Brianna Schmidt, of H.H. Dow High School; Weije Zhou, of the Interlochen Arts Academy High School; Alyssa Ruggles, of Central Montcalm High School; and Alexander Sutter, of Owosso High School.
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Lake Tahoe’s bright blue water, sandy beaches and alpine landscape offer some of the most scenic camping in California and Nevada. Whether you are hiking, biking, boating, or just relaxing, camping in Lake Tahoe is an ideal camping destination.
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A guide to camping destinations in Nebraska, with campground reviews for state parks, national parks and forests, and private campgrounds and RV parks.
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