Monthly Archives: April 2011

This Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 from 9pm – midnight at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Wooden Slide Whistles
$2 processing fee, please
$4 cosmopolitans, very tasty

Slide Whistle! Swanee! Piston Flute! Jazz Flute!
However you want to call it, it’s here, it’s made of wood, and YOU can paint your very own and make crazy sounds with a puff of air from your windbag! The construction is kind of like a bicycle pump… in this case, a really really CHEAP bicycle pump.
Slide whistles are known for that crazy sound in old movies when someone slips on a banana peel or when something is falling down. The “swanee” has been in existence since the 1840s, thanks to an English family that invented/manufactured/sold them, and it caught on in the USA around the 20s.
It’s still kickin’ this type of whistle, most famously when someone hits rock bottom in Wheel of Fortune OR the song “Groove is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite! Remember? Wooooooooooo (down) Weeeeeeeeeeee! (up)
People think it’s just a toy, but it’s so much more.
Please keep in mind, however, that these are the most ridiculous slide whistles I’ve ever seen. You’ll have to practice and develop serious dexterity to be able to play melodies and sound effects on these… I would not say they are professional quality by any means. But they DO work. Come in and see for yourself.

ALSO: George is coming in to sell his “DON’T BE A DICK” shirts to raise money for the Trevor Project. His goal is to sell 5,000 t-shirts, so we’re going to see George A LOT this year! If you want more of an explanation, please read THIS POST I wrote two weeks ago, it tells you about the shirts and the cause. Come in and get a shirt, they’re comfy and funny and they look great!

See you at the Craft Table!
JP Craft Captain
www.crafthead.com
www.akbarsilverlake.com

TONIGHT! April 13th, 2011 from 9pm – midnight (or later?) at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: BANKS
$2 processing fee
$4 cosmopolitan drink special WOO!
Special Guest: Independent Film Maker, George Cornelius, selling “Don’t Be a Dick” t-shirts to raise money for The Trevor Project

Taxes are looming. This is why I thought it would be fun to make banks. After giving your percentage to Uncle Sam, why not start a little fund for YOURSELF by decorating and using a snazzy little bank? They’re cardboard, and a little flimsy, but with a bit of whimsy, they work just as good as any receptacle that is capable of holding money! You can make your bank say “Fancy Underwear Funds” or “Jumbo’s Clown Room” or “Baby Pine Tree for the Yard.”

Now then. What is the Trevor Project, and why is George hot-rodding in here and pedaling shirts that say “Don’t be a Dick” on them? The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth.
George is raising money for the Trevor Project, to help them keep doing what they do. Here’s the Don’t be a Dick STORE
I grew up gay in a small town (1,776 people!) I lived in fear of getting picked on, and watched kids who weren’t gay, who were perceived to BE gay get bullied. Girls who were thought to be lesbians were shunned and rumors were spread about them, guys were beat up, their property vandalized, it sucked. I felt paralyzed and alone, and like any kind of move I would make to protect them would only get me branded untouchable as well.
While awareness has gotten much better since I was in high school, this crap still exists.
Here are some sobering facts:

• Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).
• Nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives and one quarter report having made a suicide attempt (Grossman AH, D’Augelli AR – Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior 2007)
• Sexual minority youth, or teens that identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, are bullied two to three times more than heterosexuals. (Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 2010)

George had these shirts made, they say “Don’t be a Dick” because that’s where it starts. We all have the capacity to NOT be a dick, why don’t we follow this instinct more often? Perhaps wearing a “Don’t be a Dick” t-shirt, might awaken in us and others the sensibility that the things we say and do have the potential to cause pain and suffering. We need to step UP and build some confidence and develop trust in our basic goodness individually, and with others.
Bullying is fear, time to grow some hair on your peaches, and stop being a dick.
Hell, buy a shirt, it’s worth a try!

ONE MORE THING:
The Uniting American Families Act is going to be considered this week in the senate. It would allow a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to sponsor their same-sex partner for immigration to the U.S., a right which is currently denied.
If you’re feelin’ like doing this, I invite you to take the 3-4 minutes to make the 2 phone calls in support of the bill.
California:
Boxer, Barbara – (202) 224-3553
Feinstein, Dianne – (202) 224-3841

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

CraftNight

Akbar

This Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 from 9pm – 12ish, at Akbar, it’s CRAFTNIGHT!!!
Project: Nautical Themed Craft Assortment! (Fabulous Foam shaped mayhem of an oceanic kind)
$2 processing fee, please!
$4 cosmos >>> delicious!

It’s getting too controlled around here, not enough ridiculousness. With all this spring cleaning, and taxes, and co-workers getting upset about disappearing yogurt, and bendy straws coming in only about 4 different colors (highway robbery) it’s time to set sail for the unknown. Nothing’s as it appears, though it might be rather convincing to regard.

Seriously, we’re only as permanent as the ground we walk on… hmmm… right, that’s not stable either. Har de har.While strife comes in many forms, there can be no denying, that life is rife with all that you have, no more and no less.Best to navigate the miracle of existence with the proper tools (flat colorful foam tools, of course.)

That’s where CraftNight comes in, to recognize that we are all here together ’cause we’re not all here.
If your wild-horse mind is refusing to be tamed, I’ve got a backpack clip in the shape of a ship that will help you navigate Maslow’s five seas hierarchy of needs.

I’ve got eye patches to change your point of view (decorate, then wear, then command with authority and verve)
I’ve got ship steering wheels for you to stay the course (or delightfully veer off of it in defiance, if that’s what you’re into)
And see here: telescopes so you can identify your target: Eyes on the Prize!

Oh, we are the damned and the beautiful, with tiny human common source of pain at every turn.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are billion year old carbon and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

Free your soul, and your ass will follow?

Get in here and see for yourself!

See you at the Craft Table,
JP Craft Captain

CraftNight

Akbar