Pierre Ellis: You want to be sure that, should that person lose, they have the resources to pay off the bet, and that's what a clearinghouse does.

Peter Henning: Of course, when one part of the web became unhinged, it affected everything else.

Jim Barth: All the others parties are there that will fully understand that something has happened and will be able to collectively deal with that particular problem.

Market conditions advantageous to buyers have created opportunities for ownership of prime Coastal real estate that may not come again for a decade.... or more!  Prices are favorable, choices are more plentiful than we’ve experienced in years, and interest rates are very affordable.  Because the local economy is booming, with new residents arriving daily, the future on the Coast has never been brighter.

Are you considering real estate ownership?  The time is now.  Because, like all markets, change will happen- sometimes quickly and without warning. You’ll be glad you took advantage of this buyer’s market.

Art as commerce has been on my mind a lot these days. I took a show to Edinburgh this August and was amazed at what a marketplace it was. Theatre there wasn’t so much about theatre as about promoting theatre. Every day most artists spent an hour a day doing their show and two to eight hours promoting it. The festivals main drag (The Royal Mile) was full to bursting of artists handing out flyers to passersby. By simply walking two blocks, one could collect hundred of flyers in a few minutes. Gimmicks were legion. Pot Noodle the Musical handed out free Pot Noodles (cup-a-soup like things.)  Hamlet Experience gave out fans. Some valentine show gave out heart shaped candies. All of us were there scrambling to get people in to see our shows.

Now, I’m not opposed to marketing. I understand that people need help finding out about things they might like. My producer and I even took a marketing class a few years ago, which I actually enjoyed. I liked thinking about who would want to see our work and figuring out how to get in touch with them. But that felt very different to me than the practice just trying to get numbers in.  Sometimes making art can turn into a game of getting butts in seats, hits on a blog, plays on music sites, downloads or views.

What I’m wrestling with is the necessity of promotion and wondering if it actually works and if so, how. I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to “get somewhere” with something, I’d have to worry about promoting in some way or another. From sending out headshots, to handing out postcards, to sending out emails, I’ve done all of it. And cross-promoted some of that, too. Sometimes it's even fun.

But, we were such unsuccessful promoters in Edinburgh that there were shows where no audience turned up at all. I’ve posted my music all over the web and there are still songs that have never been played by anyone but me. This puzzles me. I have friends. I even have friends who like my music. If I played a gig next week, I’m pretty sure I could bring in a decent audience. And yet hardly anyone listens to a thing I post. No one reads these posts on this blog when it comes to that. (This I understand, however, since I’ve only told a couple of people about it.) I try not to take personally people not showing up or not listening or not reading or whatever and for the most part, I manage that. I just find it endlessly curious. What tips something over from un-listened, unwatched, unexamined to hundreds or thousands people becoming interested in it?

The web feels a bit like Edinburgh, there are so many things competing for our attention on it, that it’s easy for the songs of our friends or their blogs or their essays or their You Tube clips to get lost in the shuffle. I guess I’m just wondering how much of my soul do I sacrifice when I get all promote-y and pushy about getting my work forward, and is it worth it? I’m happier when I can just make shows and not give a damn who shows up and who doesn’t. When I can write something and not care who reads it or compose something and not care who hears it. I guess that’s the answer for now – no more promoting until I’m in the mood for it again. At the moment, the thought of promoting even one more thing makes my stomach turn. Publicize this blog? Nope,  not yet. 

This is a song that never gets any hits at all. Maybe putting it here will up its numbers. Not Your Type

Silkfair rewards you for being part of the community.  In other words, we give away 2 weekly AMEX gift cards.  Each new registration counts, each store with at least 4 listed items counts double.

See full details, http://www.silkfair.com/forum/thread/640.

Eidos has announced that two new chapters for Tomb Raider Underworld will be released exclusively for Xbox 360 over Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Titled ‘Beneath the Ashes’ and ‘Lara’s Shadow’, the two new chapters are said to offer “entirely new content specifically designed to extend the Tomb Raider: Underworld experience.”

Tomb Raider: Underworld – Beneath the Ashes takes place after the Underworld story has finished and will feature an incredible new environment to explore, additional secrets to unlock and different enemies to fight. Tomb Raider: Underworld - Lara’s Shadow will introduce players to a new kind of playable character and create a unique Tomb Raider experience.”

The two chapters are said to include six hours of gameplay, with Beneath the Ashes hitting Xbox LIVE Marketplace before the year’s end. Lara’s Shadow will follow in 2009. Eidos also revealed that a demo of Lara’s upcoming adventure will also be available on Xbox LIVE this month.

Capcom is giving some DLC love to the fairly recently released title, Mega Man 9. Capcom has announced that new DLC (downloadable content) will arrive on WiiWare today, with the Xbox LIVE Arcade release coming tomorrow (10/7/08) and the PlayStation Network release coming on Thursday (10/9/08). The additional DLC provides a new gameplay mode and a new playable character, Proto Man. More challenges to a very challenging game.

Details on the new modes from Capcom:
Endless Attack – Test your skills on a stage without end. Try to break the record for getting the farthest. Results will be displayed in the Rankings page. Not compatible with other Challenges.

Proto Man Mode - Play the game as Proto Man. Some of Proto Man's abilities may differ from Mega Man's. Proto Man has the Charge Shot ability, Power Slide ability, and a shield that he can utilize to deflect bullets at enemies. However, Proto Man also takes double damage and has double bounce back when he is hit. There is no story for Proto Man and he is not compatible with Rankings or Challenges."

-Capcom

The "New Xbox Experience" keeps getting thrusted in our faces, yet still with no solid release date. In the most recent batch of screenshots from Major Nelson, the new and improved Marketplace has been show off.

See, we told you it was swanky. Nelson also told us that the update wil drop before the New Year. So yeah, um, thanks Major?

Here is Nelson's Flickr account if anyone wants a geez at the other screenies.

Hoje, sem atualização:

Após a futura atualização:

Preciso dizer que é um pouco estranho que até o momento a Microsoft ainda não deu oficialmente a data desta atualização, dizendo sempre que ela ocorrerá no fim deste ano. Será mesmo que sai em Novembro como dizem os rumores?

Jean Shin’s “Sound Wave”

Photo by Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

Life can be about the tiny things that make up our existence. Sadly, many people don’t seem to acknowledge how important these tiny things really are. Which is why one art exhibit is working to put focus back on the tiny things and show art lovers the extraordinary in the ordinary.

The exhibit, “Second Lives Remixing the Ordinary” at the New York Museum of Arts and Design doesn’t really contain many usual art pieces. The show represents more than 50 different artisans or teams, all attempting to change the way individuals think about the tiny things which make up their lives. Most of the works are made up of everyday products, including eyeglasses, combs, trash, used junk, and other little things which surround daily existence.

According to the New York Times, “Second Lives” shows how much the line has blurred between art, crafts, and design recently. Many of the exhibit pieces are made from recycled materials, including an eyeglass chandelier, jacket made completely of army dog tags, and a copy of a missing artifact made from Middle Eastern fast food containers.

Many of these raw materials would have likely been thrown away with the garbage and forgotten. But instead, these artists have turned them into pieces of beauty. They have, in a sense, offered them a chance at second life.

For more information or to see a gallery of Second Life artwork, click here.

-Sara

Check out what the artisans at Artfire.com are crafting!

But some new trading websites are working to bring people back together again. Using community features such as virtual forums, blogs, and clubs help people connect and get to know individuals over the web. Such features are often mixed into larger artisan websites, thereby giving the people who engage in these community features common interests.

Community features help shake off the anonymousness of internet usage. They allow for communication between people who would normally never have met due to geographic location. So why not get involved? Check out an artisan website today and interact in the community!

1. Separate your work area. If you do not already have special room for your handicrafts, you might want to try partitioning off part of a room. This will separate your artwork from your daily activates. Tell your roommates/spouse/children that this space is off-limits.

2. Consider storage. Try to keep a place for everything, and keep everything in its place. If you can’t locate your supplies, making crafts can be much more difficult! Don’t be afraid to organize with shoe boxes or other containers. And remember to put your supplies back in their place when you’re done using them.

3. Remember good lighting. Art is much easier when you can see what you’re doing! Don’t forget the importance of natural sunlight, as colors can look different depending on what kind of lighting you use.

4. Work table. Purchase in an old table that you wouldn’t feel bad about covering with glue or supplies. After all, you can’t be expected to do your best work when you are worrying about getting your table dirty!

I hope these tips helped. And remember, keep crafting!

-Sara

Check out my Behind Art Fire Beta Blog for more tips and updates!

The image above, “Blossoming Flowers,” is from 2006 contest winner, Sharon B., age 19.

Artisans come from all walks of life, some with more inspirational backgrounds than others.

Epilepsy affects more than 2.5 million Americans of all ages. It can cause intensely painful seizures at any time, and often develops during early childhood. The Expressions of Courage National Art Contest is designed to help people with epilepsy get in touch with their artistic talents. For the past six years, the Epilepsy Foundation in partnership with Ortho-McNeil Neurologics has sponsored the art contest, allowing only individuals diagnosed with epilepsy to submit work. The contest helps people with epilepsy to show the world their talent and perspectives.

It always makes me feel inspired when people overcome obstacles and still manage to create works of beauty. By submitting their artwork, people with epilepsy give courage and strength to others diagnosed with the condition. Their artwork can be therapeutic for themselves while offering understanding to friends and family members who don’t have epilepsy.

Submissions are accepted from March 29 through August 29. Work will be reviewed by a panel of epilepsy advocates and art representatives before announcing a winner in late fall. All winning artwork be displayed on
the Expressions of Courage Website. Click here to support Expressions of Courage and view pass contest submissions.

-Sara

Click here to see what our Artisans are painting!

Or Click here to read my Behind the Beta Blog for daily Art Fire Updates.

Which is why shoppers looking for special items need to turn to other venues. While craft shows are often be few and far between, but there’s one artisan marketplace that is always open: online trading communities.

Craft websites offer a wide range of unique products prefect for shoppers looking for something different. Such products are not made in bulk but instead carefully designed by skilled artisans. No two handmade items are the same. When you purchase a craft item, you’re buying something irreplaceable and special. You’re buying that only you can process, rather than a product which is mass produced and owned by everyone. Such items are made with more love and detail than items produced in bulk. So next time you’re looking for that special accessories or home furnishing, try buying handmade.

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to when inspired. After watching a television program detailing the horrendous living conditions of children in Ghana, Africa, eight 14-year-old girls decided to take action. They formed a charity dedicated to feeding impoverished peoples with the profits from their handmade crafts business. With that, One is Greater than None was born.

Now I don’t know about you, but at age 14, I generally didn’t think much about impacting the world. I was more concerned with school and maintaining social life than I was about starting a charity organization. But these girls must be more mature than I was. For more than year, the girls of One is Greater than None have been making and selling jewelry to feed children across the world. They work closely with the International Organization for Migration, which offers supplies and food to individuals in inhumane conditions. The girls even send their handmade brackets packaged with educational materials to villages in Ghana. Each bracket holds eight beads, meant to represent each of the girls.

With help from the IOM, the girls were able to support 8 Ghana children in January of 2008. Their hard work when to ensuring these children had plenty of food and a warm place to sleep for an entire year. While this may seem like an exceptional task, One is Greater than None have shown no inclination to stop now. Instead, they are working to give that opportunity to 25 children by January of 2009.

Click here to learn more or donate to One is Greater than None.

-Sara

Check out my Art Fire Behind the Beta Blog!

Marketplace Christians have been given a purpose for every moment of everyday.  Jesus said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you." (John 20:21) The statement is crisp and clear. In the very same way that His Father sent Him into the world, Jesus is sending everyone who has become His life-long apprentice.

When we think of being sent, we normally think of a place, a geographic location. For example, companies will send their sales reps to a particular buyer that is located in a certain city on a certain street. When we send our children on an errand it is to a specific place with a specific purpose. However, when Jesus told us that He was sending us in the same way that He was sent, He wasn't talking about a specific location. He was talking about something with a wider view. He was talking about an everyday, every moment mission to reveal and release His ministry in people's lives wherever our feet take us.

On Thursday I might stop for a cup of coffee and check email at the local Starbucks. From there I'll head to the office, after putting gas in my car. I meet someone for lunch; receive phone calls in my office, go to the school and watch my son play soccer, then at home water my grass before we eat dinner. On Thursday my feet take me all over town, and at every stop there are people who need the ministry of Jesus in their lives. No matter where I go I am sent to people, people in the marketplace with the purpose of revealing and releasing Jesus ministry in their lives.

For some, being sent means crossing cultural lines or a countries border in order to live among a specific people as Jesus' minister. We call them missionaries. What makes them different from the rest of Christ's apprentices is that He has sent them to be a marketplace minister in another place. That's it. What is true for everyone who is His apprentice is that every one of them are sent to people - the people in their marketplace wherever their feet take them.

So embrace His purpose for your life no matter where your feet take you each day. Your most exciting and lasting mark will be left in the world, not on a place, but in people - the ones in your marketplace - the ones to whom you have been sent.