This spring, we’ll be teaming up with some of our friends from the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band and forming a “Honk!-style” marching band for kids and their friends! You’re invited! Our first gathering will be Sunday, January 22, from 3-5, at Parts & Crafts. We’ll have food too.
No musical experience or musical instrument is required! (Though by all means, bring an instrument if you have one. Bring your musical experience too, it may be impractical to leave behind). Rehearsals will be weekly at the same time, Sundays 3-5. RSVPs are helpful but not required — email contact@partsandcrafts.org so we can get a rough head count of who’s coming.
If you plan to bring an instrument, that’s also handy knowledge for us. There’s no charge for participation, but we’ll put out a donation hat out towards instrument purchase (if we end up buying any), snacks, maybe towards rent on the space.
See you next Sunday!
********************************************************************************
Open Shop on the Boston Common!
DECEMBER 3 UNITY + COMMUNITY RALLY –THE 99% SPEAK OUT!
On December 3, occupiers, activists, and community members will be holding a distributed march and rally across Boston, starting in neighborhoods across the city and culminating with a speak-out in Copley Square. It’s a chance for the wider Boston community to meet the 99 percent, and for the 99 percent to organize visibly around ALL the issues that matter to us. After that, we’ll all gather in Copley Square from 1-4 p.m. for a speak-out and celebration of the 99 percent.
What: Unity Rally for the 99 percent!
Details: Open Shop on the Boston Common from 10-12 — Rally in Copley Square from 1-4 p.m.
Where: Park Street Station (red line), 10-12 (or join Occupy Somerville in Davis from 10-11:30 and meet us at the common at noon)
Who: You!
Parts and Crafts will be on the Boston Common from 10-12, making stilts, kites, and wamplers, celebrating two months of occupation and raising awareness about anti-foreclosure work in the greater Boston area. We’ll be joined by the Second Line Band, as well as Occupy Somerville, and will march together to Copley Square at noon for a day-long unity rally to speak to the wider issues across Boston. It’s going to be an awesome day!
We’ll be located at the Park Street Station, at the north end of the common. Look for signs! Alternatively, you can meet up with Occupy Somerville, which will be rallying in Davis Square starting around 10. At 11:30, they will take the T (via the bus to Harvard), making noise and promoting the cause all the way through. We’ll all meet up at Park Street around noon, and then march together to Copley Square (about 20 minutes) to join the larger rally.
If you are coming, we definitely want you to meet us at either of these location, so we can represent Somerville to the fullest. Hope you can make it out!
Email katie@partsandcrafts.org for details,
*********************************************************************** Cider Pressing at Saturday Open Shop!
We’re going to take Saturday and spend it pressing cider with a 2 ton car jack. Come by and help us squash some apples!
When: 12-2 pm
Where: 155 powder house blvd
Who: You!
Cost: $5-10 suggested, all are welcome
See you this weekend!
************************************************
Tomato saucing at Parts and Crafts!
Second week of open shop was a huge success! We learned some important stuff about canning — namely, that two hours isn’t nearly enough time to pulp, puree, boil down, and can — and also that in the absence of a pressure canner, you’ve really got to stick to tomatoes of you want to keep things sanitary.
So instead of canning, we went saucing instead. Some photos!
The workshop was led by Sam Christy, who organizes the Davis Square Yogurt Coop (an informal group that rotates yogurt shifts to cook yogurt for around 20 people each week). We’ve been excited about branching out into other areas — this was a great first try!
Keep an eye out for future food-related announcements — last week was fun, and we’re hoping to do it again in the future!
Camp is wrapping up for the summer! Ten weeks never went by so fast — between the motorized bikes, the popcorn sales, the mushroom hunts, and the restaurant, it’s been quite a summer!
A few things to mention! For kids and parents who are excited to see what we’ve been up to, we’ve started a list of “project pages.” We also have a flickr feed (partsandcrafts), if you want to check it out. Due to an unfortunate incident with the camp phone (photography: helium balloon) we’re missing a chunk from the middle of the summer — piano takeapart, sadly, is consigned to memory — but we’ve got some pretty great photos of popcorn sale, mechanisms, worldbuilding, squirt guns, mushrooms, marimbas, and other assorted goodness.
Note to parents: If there are images you’d like to have privatized please let us know. Right now all images of people are under full copyright (i.e. not for reuse) but are publicly posted — mostly so you all can see them! That said, it’s easy for us to change the setting.
We’re doing some stuff in the fall, some of which is starting very soon! “Stuff” includes: classes! workshops! afterschool! We’ll be doing an electronics class, an Arduino workshop, and an invention class with Terry Murray the Inventor Mentor — as well as an afterschool program, every Friday at Parts and Crafts! If you’re looking for fun stuff to do in the off hours, we encourage you to check us out.
Last but not least: workshops! CSEs have been on hiatus this summer, but now that summer’s wrapping up we have a lot of great new ideas for projects. Expect the next kits in mid-September — we’ll be working on them over the next few weeks and sending out an invitation for a build party at some point over the next month. We’ll also be doing periodic build parties. The best way to find out about these is by signing up for our mailing list — which you can do by clicking on the right-hand link on this page!
Oscar Archimedes, the youngest and cutest member of the parts and crafts collective.
He’s not ours, but he sure is cute. Congratulations to Jeff and Beth on the newest member of their family!
*******************************************
Parts and Crafts is looking for workshop leaders!
Do you build Rube Goldberg machines? Make pies? Hack cameras to study plant photosynthesis? Build catapults? Fold kinetic origami? LIke to take things apart? If so, we’d love to talk to you!
We’re actively looking for people with cool skills, awesome projects, and community-based research initiatives to collaborate and work with during our summer programs. If you’re in Boston and want to get involved, drop us an email at contact@partsandcrafts.org.
what’s new
Open Shop is cancelled for snow!
There will be no open shop on Saturday, January 21. Enjoy the beautiful weather!
We *will* be having band practice tomorrow — Sunday, January 22 from 3-5 p.m. All are enthusiastically welcome, no experience required. Details below!
****************************************************************
Parts and Crafts and the Second Line Band!
Hey everyone! A quick and awesome announcement.
This spring, we’ll be teaming up with some of our friends from the Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band and forming a “Honk!-style” marching band for kids and their friends! You’re invited! Our first gathering will be Sunday, January 22, from 3-5, at Parts & Crafts. We’ll have food too.
No musical experience or musical instrument is required! (Though by all means, bring an instrument if you have one. Bring your musical experience too, it may be impractical to leave behind). Rehearsals will be weekly at the same time, Sundays 3-5. RSVPs are helpful but not required — email contact@partsandcrafts.org so we can get a rough head count of who’s coming.
If you plan to bring an instrument, that’s also handy knowledge for us. There’s no charge for participation, but we’ll put out a donation hat out towards instrument purchase (if we end up buying any), snacks, maybe towards rent on the space.
See you next Sunday!
********************************************************************************
Open Shop on the Boston Common!
DECEMBER 3 UNITY + COMMUNITY RALLY –THE 99% SPEAK OUT!
On December 3, occupiers, activists, and community members will be holding a distributed march and rally across Boston, starting in neighborhoods across the city and culminating with a speak-out in Copley Square. It’s a chance for the wider Boston community to meet the 99 percent, and for the 99 percent to organize visibly around ALL the issues that matter to us. After that, we’ll all gather in Copley Square from 1-4 p.m. for a speak-out and celebration of the 99 percent.
What: Unity Rally for the 99 percent!
Details: Open Shop on the Boston Common from 10-12 — Rally in Copley Square from 1-4 p.m.
Where: Park Street Station (red line), 10-12 (or join Occupy Somerville in Davis from 10-11:30 and meet us at the common at noon)
Who: You!
Parts and Crafts will be on the Boston Common from 10-12, making stilts, kites, and wamplers, celebrating two months of occupation and raising awareness about anti-foreclosure work in the greater Boston area. We’ll be joined by the Second Line Band, as well as Occupy Somerville, and will march together to Copley Square at noon for a day-long unity rally to speak to the wider issues across Boston. It’s going to be an awesome day!
We’ll be located at the Park Street Station, at the north end of the common. Look for signs! Alternatively, you can meet up with Occupy Somerville, which will be rallying in Davis Square starting around 10. At 11:30, they will take the T (via the bus to Harvard), making noise and promoting the cause all the way through. We’ll all meet up at Park Street around noon, and then march together to Copley Square (about 20 minutes) to join the larger rally.
If you are coming, we definitely want you to meet us at either of these location, so we can represent Somerville to the fullest. Hope you can make it out!
Email katie@partsandcrafts.org for details,
***********************************************************************
Cider Pressing at Saturday Open Shop!
We’re going to take Saturday and spend it pressing cider with a 2 ton car jack. Come by and help us squash some apples!
When: 12-2 pm
Where: 155 powder house blvd
Who: You!
Cost: $5-10 suggested, all are welcome
See you this weekend!
************************************************
Tomato saucing at Parts and Crafts!
Second week of open shop was a huge success! We learned some important stuff about canning — namely, that two hours isn’t nearly enough time to pulp, puree, boil down, and can — and also that in the absence of a pressure canner, you’ve really got to stick to tomatoes of you want to keep things sanitary.
So instead of canning, we went saucing instead. Some photos!
The workshop was led by Sam Christy, who organizes the Davis Square Yogurt Coop (an informal group that rotates yogurt shifts to cook yogurt for around 20 people each week). We’ve been excited about branching out into other areas — this was a great first try!
Keep an eye out for future food-related announcements — last week was fun, and we’re hoping to do it again in the future!
***************************************************
Camp is wrapping up for the summer! Ten weeks never went by so fast — between the motorized bikes, the popcorn sales, the mushroom hunts, and the restaurant, it’s been quite a summer!
A few things to mention! For kids and parents who are excited to see what we’ve been up to, we’ve started a list of “project pages.” We also have a flickr feed (partsandcrafts), if you want to check it out. Due to an unfortunate incident with the camp phone (photography: helium balloon) we’re missing a chunk from the middle of the summer — piano takeapart, sadly, is consigned to memory — but we’ve got some pretty great photos of popcorn sale, mechanisms, worldbuilding, squirt guns, mushrooms, marimbas, and other assorted goodness.
Note to parents: If there are images you’d like to have privatized please let us know. Right now all images of people are under full copyright (i.e. not for reuse) but are publicly posted — mostly so you all can see them! That said, it’s easy for us to change the setting.
We’re doing some stuff in the fall, some of which is starting very soon! “Stuff” includes: classes! workshops! afterschool! We’ll be doing an electronics class, an Arduino workshop, and an invention class with Terry Murray the Inventor Mentor — as well as an afterschool program, every Friday at Parts and Crafts! If you’re looking for fun stuff to do in the off hours, we encourage you to check us out.
Last but not least: workshops! CSEs have been on hiatus this summer, but now that summer’s wrapping up we have a lot of great new ideas for projects. Expect the next kits in mid-September — we’ll be working on them over the next few weeks and sending out an invitation for a build party at some point over the next month. We’ll also be doing periodic build parties. The best way to find out about these is by signing up for our mailing list — which you can do by clicking on the right-hand link on this page!
PVC catapult!
*****************************************************
A vision of the future!
Oscar Archimedes, the youngest and cutest member of the parts and crafts collective.
He’s not ours, but he sure is cute. Congratulations to Jeff and Beth on the newest member of their family!
*******************************************
Parts and Crafts is looking for workshop leaders!
Do you build Rube Goldberg machines? Make pies? Hack cameras to study plant photosynthesis? Build catapults? Fold kinetic origami? LIke to take things apart? If so, we’d love to talk to you!
We’re actively looking for people with cool skills, awesome projects, and community-based research initiatives to collaborate and work with during our summer programs. If you’re in Boston and want to get involved, drop us an email at contact@partsandcrafts.org.
*******************************************************