We just tweeted a silly little item, and then thought more about it.
Where do you take a #FirstDate to impress him/her? Salem MA. Just look at what is happening all day Saturday http://ow.ly/RdxnU @DestSalem
Salem MA really is a great place for a first date (and 2nd, and 3rd, etc).
There are over 30 activities and events listed on the Destination Salem Calendar alone for Saturday, 8/22/15. Over 30 just for Saturday!!!
That is important, because according to a number of websites, keeping busy and keeping the conversation going to build trust and familiarity are important on a first date.
Only 24% of people (surveyed at topdatingtips.com) said that they trust someone they’re out with on a first date! Communication and learning about the other person can ease anxieties.
What about the simple dinner and a movie? Prevailing thought is that the idea is not only unoriginal, it can get pretty expensive these days, be stressful and uncomfortable for both sides, especially in a fancy restaurant; then you go to a movie and don’t interact because you don’t know the other person’s “movie viewing” habits (do they like to chat during the film, make one-liners, focus strictly on the movie, etc).
“Instead of just taking the woman out to dinner, take her on an activity date. Ease the pressure of having to maintain constant stimulating conversation by doing something fun. That way you can shift your focus to an outside activity and let conversation arise more naturally.”
That applies to whether your date is female or male.
And that brings us back to Salem MA and over 30 things to do on Saturday August 22, 2015 (see the snippet above). Let Salem MA be your wing man.
Oh and what if the first date is on Sunday? There are just as many activities. We are here for you!
While today’s rapid-fire technological advances are changing film-making with consumer interactive platforms such as Periscope, there was a time in the history of Hollywood film-making that was just as exciting & tumultuous. And that was the 1930s, which is the subject of the next PEM/PM, Aug. 20, 6-9pm at the Peabody Essex Museum.
It was “The Golden Age of Hollywood” and according to AMC’s Filmsite.org website “The 30s was also the decade of the sound and color revolutions and the advance of the ‘talkies’, and the further development of film genres (gangster films, musicals, newspaper-reporting films, historical biopics, social-realism films, lighthearted screwball comedies, westerns and horror to name a few).”
Silent stars who dominated the screens faded away unable to transition to scripts that required more acting skills, to be replaced by new stars on the horizon, such as Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, John Wayne, Clark Gable and Shirley Temple.
The growing importance & interest in the film industry to consumers spurred innovation. The first daily newspaper for the film industry, The Hollywood Reporter, had its debut in 1930. The world’s first drive-in theatre opened in Camden, N.J. in June, 1933 .
If you’re interested in learning more about 1930’s Hollywood, the AMC site is extensive.
As far as the evening’s activities during PEM/PM, highlights will include art making with film negatives, a photo booth equipped to bring out everyone’s inner movie star, a food tasting with popcorn from Salem’s favorite E.W. Hobbs and a cocktail tasting and talk with author and mixologist Warren Bobrow.
In the Atrium, you will find hot Jazz and swing tunes by the Carubia Brass Bands featuring Jim Fryer.
In conjunction with PEM’s summer film series, Benton and the Big Screen, guests can watch the film adaptation of Nathanael West’s critically acclaimed novel about 1930s Hollywood, The Day of the Locust (Rated R, 144 minutes). Film expert Michael Dow will introduce the film and join a discussion following the film with PEM lead interpreter Emily Fry and curator Sarah Chasse
For those of you who haven’t yet seen American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood, this is the time to experience the exhibit which explores how the motion picture industry influenced and ignited Benton’s creative imagination. Melding Old Master European painting traditions with Hollywood’s cinematic and production techniques, Benton reinvented 20th-century American narratives and captivated the public with his signature brand of visual storytelling.
PEM’s exhibition, the first retrospective of Benton’s art in 25 years, gathers more than 100 works, including the artist’s paintings, murals, drawings, prints and illustrated books. The exhibition, which closes Sept. 7, pairs curated clips from Hollywood movies with Benton’s art from the 1920s through the 1960s to take visitors on a journey through America’s myths and into its national character.
PEM’s evening parties — with music and dance performances, food tastings, lectures and art-making stations have become a monthly tradition since being initiated in the summer of 2011. Free admission for members and Salem residents (with ID), while nonmembers pay $10 at the door. There is always a cash bar and a special small plates menu available from the Hawthorne Hotel.
For more information, call 866‐745‐1876 or visit PEM at www.pem.org .
Did Saturday’s events for Heritage Days make you feel like an audience member at a 3-ring circus? Actually, we hope you were more an active participant than a passive observer. Because — there is more today!
For example, new this year, the City of Salem and the Salem Moose Family Center will join forces to combine today’s (August 2nd ) “Tour-a-Truck” event with “Public Safety Day” which usually happens in September. Along with all of the kids’ big truck favorites, there will be music and many new things to do and see, 10am – noon at Salem Willows. The Ladies of the Moose will also be donating 50 bike helmets to be fitted by the Salem Police Department (on a first come first serve basis, so get there early!).
As mentioned in our previous blog, blending the past, present and future, our Heritage Days celebration spans a week (Aug. 1-9) with events featuring food, fun, and activities for all ages. There are nearly 40 different events throughout the festival, some on different days, some at the same time. FYI: you really do need to keep the URL of the Calendar of Events for Heritage Days bookmarked on your home computer, tablet or cell phone.
Another city might hold a one or two day celebration of its history, but not Salem. We give it a week!
Mayor Kimberly Driscoll stated, “Another week of fun filled activities are in store for this annual tradition. I want to thank all the event managers that have worked so hard to bring almost 40 different activities to choose from during Heritage Days this year.”
Sunday begins with the “Bridge & Back 10K Road Race” at 8am. And that is what it is. Runners depart from the corner of Washington & New Derby Streets, Salem, cross the Salem/Beverly Bridge to Beverly and then back to Salem. The Race is sponsored by the Tavern in the Square and all proceeds go to the Boys & girls Club of Greater Salem. For more details, go to www.salemroadraces.com.
And from noon- 8pm the Salem Willows Shell will once again play host to Bridgin G.A.P.S. concert with performances ranging from local and non-local recording artists, live bands, dance groups, poets and others. Plus there will be guest speakers from various non-profit and charitable organizations.
Relive elements of Salem’s rich heritage at the House of Seven Gables in the Living History Lab (10:30am – 1pm and 2 – 4pm). You can actually experiment with history by way of hands-on activities (as examples, 18th century handwriting or 17th century food preparation). For specifics go to www.7gables.org.
Additionally, for our residents, Salem is the perfect place for your STAY-CATION. Spend a day being a tourist and take advantage of the generosity of our tourist related business community. Many are free to Salem residents all year long, such as the Peabody Essex Museum, the Salem Witch Museum, the Salem Trolley (June-September), and the a fore-mentioned House of the Seven Gables.
The Witch House will be free to Salem residents during Heritage week. The Salem Ferry always has discounts for residents and during Heritage Days the Sea Shuttle, Mahi Mahi Cruises and the Schooner Fame are offering discounts for residents.
As part of the celebration, the City of Salem will also double the merchant one-hour validation stamps at both garages, so you can spend a little bit longer enjoying downtown (some restrictions do apply).
As stated in the headline, Heritage Days is a variety show— and we’ve only told you about the 1st & 2nd days thus far! More in upcoming blogs, and don’t forget to bookmark the calendar URL.
What did you do on the way to work yesterday? I took a live, guided, interactive tour of the Taj Mahal, followed by a walk through the streets of Dublin. All courtesy of an amazing new piece of social media technology called Periscope. And (weather permitting) you have the opportunity to see it in action as Salem Main Streets will be joining @SalemAMB in live streaming from the Farmers’ Market at approx. 5pm on Thursday.
Periscope, simply put, is a video of something going on, but it is live. And you the viewer can ask the film-maker questions in real time. It’s just like being there.
In the words of the developers, it was an idea of “discovering the world through someone else’s eyes. What if you could see through the eyes of a protester in Ukraine? Or watch the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia? It may sound crazy, but we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation.”
Periscope is available on iOS and Android devices. As it is owned by Twitter, announcements of live ‘scopes’ are issued on Twitter to all followers of that accompanying Periscope account. (You can also watch on your computer but there is no interactivity interface. Just copy/paste the link that appears in the Twitter promo).
By optimizing the Farmers’ Market for the initial broadcast, we are giving viewers in Salem, the North Shore — and anywhere in the world — the opportunity to ask vendors questions as we pass their tables.
Yes, indeed it is promotion for how great we feel the Salem Farmers’ Market is. But it will be enhanced by the interaction. Consider as we pass tomato baskets and someone from Ireland asks a question about which kinds of tomatoes are best with salad. Or someone in Los Angeles later remarks about the unusual aspect of lobsters at a Farmers’ Market.
If time permits, plans call for a second broadcast later in the evening of the PEM/PM party. We are strong supporters of the creative ways people express themselves in Salem through food, literature, art, music, etc. Periscope will be a way of not only “telling” people about it, but showing & interacting with them. What better way to display the community focus of the Peabody Essex Museum?
If you wish to see selected Periscopes (and we advise you while many are interesting, some are like a personal / vanity / diary / blog, and there are a few which are downright strange) go to http://onperiscope.com/ Only live ‘scopes’ can be played.
There is no charge to download the Periscope app (here is an excellent tutorial) if you wish to follow us on our journey of promoting all things Salem to the world. To participate in Thursday’s pilot efforts, either follow @SalemAMBon Twitter for a direct link notification, or open the Periscope app and click on the “Map” or “List” options and scroll down looking for titles that refer to the Salem Farmers’ Market or PEM/PM.
If you’ve driven a vehicle for enough years or miles, then you’ve seen all kinds of hitchhikers. Young, old, attractive and scarey. One thing they had in common was that they were all human. But setting off across America soon will be hitch-Bot, a robot hitching its way across America (he made it through Canada last year). And the launch party will be on Thursday, July 16, 6-9pm at our own Peabody Essex Museum during PEM/PM, the museum’s monthly evening party series.
In celebration of the season, the theme for July is Take Back Summer, with an opportunity to rediscover classic and wild ways to have fun, while also taking advantage of after-hours access to museum exhibitions. And what better tie-in is a summer road-trip?
On Thursday, July 16, the party-going public will also hear from hitchBOT’s co-creators. The next day hitchBOT will bid them farewell on a nearby highway as it begins its adventure by putting up its thumb to ask for a ride. The final destination is the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
hitchBOT is an outgoing and charismatic robot that began hitchhiking in July 2014. In less than four weeks, hitchBOT charmed its way into rides across Canada, depending on the help of kind strangers. hitchBOT cannot move by itself — except for its hitchhiking thumb — but can converse thanks to Cleverscript speech technology, which allows it to answer questions about where it comes from or its favorite pastimes.
hitchBOT’s family consists of a collaborative, interdisciplinary team of researchers from the fields of visual arts, engineering, computer science and communication. The project was originally co-designed by Dr. David Harris Smith, assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia at McMaster University (Hamilton), and Dr. Frauke Zeller, assistant professor in the School of Professional Communication at Ryerson University (Toronto), to see whether robots could trust humans.
People picked HB up and took it to bars, diners, concerts and then left it on the side of the road for someone else to take it further on down the road.
For example, hitchBOT hung out with the British Columbia rock band The Wild, which took it to their next performance. Another time it was taken to a wedding.
No one broke it, defaced it or stole it.
“hitchBOT was very well received as it made its way across Canada, Germany and the Netherlands – proving that robots can indeed trust humans,” said Dr. Zeller. “Given that hitchBOT is built out of a bucket, we thought it would be only natural if we let it have a bucket list for this exciting new adventure.”
The list includes Times Square in New York City, Millennium Park in Chicago, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
In the PEM blog Connected, the creators commented “In the case of hitchBOT, we have launched a type of robotic proxy, set forth not to explore the surface of Mars, but to explore a cultural terrain here on earth that is underwritten by evolved human curiosity, empathy and altruism. hitchBOT literally rides from place to place on a tide of goodwill, developing a personal history of face-to-face interpersonal interactions and a trail of social media participation. ”
Fans are encouraged to follow hitchBOT’s journey at hitchbot.me, and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. hitchBOT also invites users to share their hitchhiking stories and pictures using #hitchbot on Twitter and Instagram.
PEM’s evening parties, with music and dance performances, lectures and art-making stations take place on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Admission is free to PEM members and Salem residents (with ID), while nonmembers pay $10 at the door. There will be a cash bar and special small plates menu items available courtesy of the Hawthorne Hotel.
Salem Main Streets' mission is the continued revitalization of downtown Salem as a vibrant, year-round, retail, dining and cultural destination through business retention, recruitment, and promotion of the downtown district.
Where do you take a #FirstDate to impress him/her? Salem MA. Just look at what is happening all day Saturday http://ow.ly/RdxnU @DestSalem
According to the Art of Charm website:
