christopherhord

Posts Tagged ‘Olympia’

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10th Annual Olympia Comics Festival tomorrow!

In Arts, General, Media, Society on May 20, 2011 at 8:56 am
The 10th Annual Olympia Comifcs Festival

This year's poster

File this post under “better late than never” but you still have time! This Saturday, May 21, you can attend the 10th annual Olympia Comics Festival — and here’s why you should. I love to see the growing emphasis on growing and eating local food. I think most people are on-board with the concept that it is important to shop locally, when you can (local comics shop Danger Room, is a key sponsor, btw). And Olympia is an region that values a local art scene — and comics are an important part of that.

The main events run in downtown Olympia from 11 am to 6 pm. The morning session runs from 11 am to 1 pm at the Capitol Theater (206 5th Ave. SW, Olympia, WA) with spotlight sessions on honored guest artists. From 1:30-6 pm, Olympia Center (222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia, WA) hosts free seminars, workshops, discussions and vendors.

This year’s guests of honor are Paul Chadwick (http://www.paulchadwick.net/), Megan Kelso (http://www.girlhero.com/), and Larry Gonick (http://www.larrygonick.com/). Chadwick has won multiple Eisner Awards, a top honor in the field. Gonick became a New York Times best-selling author with titles such as The Cartoon History of the Universe — melding of academic history and playful illustrations. Kelso has won two Ignatz Awards and received a Xeric Foundation grant for her self-published Girlhero.

Now that comics’ influence has spread to movies, TV, books, videogames and more, I don’t think we really have to make the case for them as an art form anymore. But the stage is still dominated by the big superhero publishers and the handful of indies that have managed to secure reliable distribution networks. Local comics are more than that.

The spirit of the ‘zine lives in the modern indie comics scene and many communities boast an active host of artists. Not every community boasts Chelsea Baker. Local artist and comics doyenne, Chelsea is a guiding force behind the festival. That’s not to denigrate the many tireless volunteers who have been involved — although Chelsea is the first person to give me cause to use the word doyenne in an article.

On Saturday night be sure to check out the guests of honor signing at Danger Room Comics (201 4th Ave. W, Olympia, WA). Additionally, A showing of comic art debuts at The Northern art gallery (321 4th Ave. NE) Saturday night and runs through the third week of June.

For more information visit www.olympiacomicsfestival.org.

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Biomass Bloviations

In General, Government, Media, Society, Technology on February 1, 2011 at 9:07 pm

There has recently been a fair amount of controversy in my city — Olympia, WA — concerning the topic of Biomass Gasification. The Evergreen State College (TESC) has forged ahead with plans to build a biomass gasification plant on campus, while much larger, commercial operations are slated in nearby Shelton and Port Angeles. I learned a little about this topic doing research for a local newspaper so I figured I’d share.

Briefly put, biomass is organic stuff like wood which is broken down for energy. Only, instead of burning, the biomass is heated to very high temperatures in an oxygen-starved environment. The biomass can be heated past its burning point and broken down to release a gas that works much like natural gas, to hear some tell it.

There is still the issue that biomass still release a fair amount of particulate matter. It’s vastly cleaner than smokestacks from a wood fire, but residents are still concerned about air quality and the environment.

This week, two notices caught my eye. Tomorrow, TESC Office of Sustainability is hosting an open house on the topic. Everyone is invited to “stop in to a campus community information session on biomass gasification this Wednesday evening. We will have an open house format to allow people to drop in at any point. We will be sharing information about why we are considering this technology, as well as details about the technology itself, and some of the results from our feasibility study so far.” The open house is Weds. Feb. 2, 4-6 pm, Seminar II, A1105.

The scond is from local activists who are fighting newly introduced state legislation — Senate bill 5228 and House bill 1081. Michelle Morris, Director of Concerned Citizens of Thurston County writes, “These two bills were introduced to two weeks ago to strip county commissioners and other county planners of their authority over biomass facilities and,  if passed, they will usurp the Thurston County biomass moratorium.”

The group announced a phone call and letter writing campaign from concerned voters. For more information, visit Concerned Citizens of Thurston County.