The Sounding of Two Canons

Lonestar Music Fest in Downtown Midland! Saturday, August 28th

Cory and Chris — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:48:55 +0000

Two weeks from today…. THE LONESTAR MUSIC FEST 2010

www.thelonestarmusicfest.com

Gates open 11:30 A.M.; 14 Bands on 2 stages; Acts include Aaron Watson, Roger Creager, and Cory Morrow

Tickets available at www.outhousetickets.com and Cavender’s

Centennial Plaza, 117 W. Wall Street, Midland, Texas 79701

Camping and Barbecue Cookoff information: http://www.thelonestarmusicfest.com/CAMPING_AND_COOK-OFF.html

General Admission - $28.00; VIP Ticket - $150.00; Cook Off Entry (Include 1 Concert Ticket) - $75.00

VIP Tickets Include: Lunch with the artist, personal meet and greets, free beer, access backstage, and access to private VIP show in Hilton Ballroom

Really Making a Difference in West Texas

Cory and Chris — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:51:28 +0000

With all the negative news and commentary out there, in both mainstream news and the blogosphere (and there’s plenty), we would like to take a moment to spotlight some programs that are making a real difference in our community. Our area is a fantastic place to live, and that’s largely due to programs and volunteers like these.

Feeding kids:

Cheers to Casa de Amigos, West Texas Food Bank, and Irving-based First Choice Power for partnering to feed children, not just during the summertime, but on the weekends as well in Midland. “Texas is one of the worst states when it comes to childhood hunger,” First Choice Power’s community relations manager Catherine Carlton said, adding research shows as many as one in four Texas children don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

Casa de Amigos sees major need met with new summer food program

http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_a392bf47-df19-56fd-b39b-117864ed916f.html

Cheers also to our neighbor to the west, the Junior League of Odessa, and partners Education Foundation, West Texas Food Bank and ECISD for implementing this program, Food 2 Kids. I (Cory) heard a presentation at a lunch meeting about this program, and it was very moving. The program started as a result of many ECISD teachers who noticed that many kids were showing up to school on Monday morning, having had very little, if anything, to eat over the weekend. The program hopes to address the persistent problem that “a hungry child cannot learn.”

Food 2 Kids – Program of Junior League of Odessa

http://www.jlodessa.org/?nd=p_food_to_kids

Attorney Pro Bono Work:

Finally, about 90 percent of Midland Bar Association attorneys do pro bono (“for the good”) work. That’s much higher than most Texas counties. Congratulations to the Midland County Bar Association and the Midland County Young Lawyers’ Association on receiving their first Deborah Hankinson Award from the Texas Access to Justice Commission.

Attorneys awarded for pro bono work

http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_ac36b148-b761-59d5-9dd9-46365d686051.html

Lynyrd Skynrd and Pat Green - August 18th in Midland

Cory and Chris — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:03:20 +0000

Midland Brew Crew @ Downtown Farmers Market

Cory and Chris — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:58:38 +0000

The Farmer’s Market is really catching on. We’ve been so busy this summer that we have not had a chance to spend a nice Saturday morning Downtown with Farmer Matt and his crew, but we have promised ourselves we will do so before this summer ends. We hear from friends that it is has been very well attended lately, and we are so excited that it has become so successful.

What’s even better than the Farmer’s Market on a Saturday morning? Coffee!!! This week, the paper published a story about a Midland couple known as the Midland Brew Crew. The Kennedys took over sales at the Midland Downtown Farmers’ Market of fair trade coffee shipped from the Big Bend Coffee Roasters in Marfa just more than a month ago, taking over coffee sales for Farmer Matt so he could concentrate on organizing the market.

According to Big Bend Coffee Roasters, which describes itself as a small, independent operation, more than 90 percent of the coffee sold in the U.S. is stale. They say they try to combat that by offering only the freshest, which they roast in “tiny batches” to make sure each bean receives the attention it deserves. Once a small operation, Manager Erica Billingsley said they now roast 200 to 300 pounds of coffee every day and ship most of that to retailers around the country, including the Midland Brew Crew as well as the Midland’s Natural Foods Market. Other retailers span from New York to Colorado to Houston, she said.

The Kennedys order a new shipment of coffee each week, receiving beans roasted on Wednesday in time to sell at Saturday’s market, hoping it will be the freshest place in Midland to buy coffee. They pick at least one blend to brew each Saturday morning so customers can purchase a cup to enjoy while they shop or get a taste before buying beans. In addition to coffee, Kimberly Kennedy said she also gets up at 5 a.m. each Saturday to make fresh-squeezed lemonade and limeade to sell alongside the hot drinks and coffee beans.

Finally, we saw that Fleur de Lis Foods catering, who has been serving breakfast at the MDFM for $10.00 every Saturday this summer, served vanilla ice cream french toast, potatoes, pork sausages, scrambled eggs, and pure maple syrup this past Saturday. Yum. C&C

Midland couple finds niche in community through Fair Trade Coffee

http://www.mywesttexas.com/business/article_f6fa1a39-0b6e-58c2-96b7-9323a6f1c3d9.html

By Kathleen Thurber, MRT

Helpful links:

Midland Downtown Farmer’s Market

http://www.midlanddowntownfarmersmarket.com/

Midland Brew Crew

http://www.midlandbrewcrew.com/

Big Bend Coffee Roasters (Marfa)

http://www.bigbendcoffee.com/

Natural Foods Market and Strawberry Field’s Café (Midland)

http://www.naturalfoodsmkt.com/

Fleur de Lis Foods (Midland)

http://www.fleurdelisfoods.com/

Summer Lawn Concert: Tonight at the Museum

Cory and Chris — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:12:15 +0000

Looking for something fun to do tonight? Check out the Lawn Concert tonight at the Museum! Every week on Sunday nights, starting at 7:45. Playing tonight is “Jazzbird” - smooth jazz at its finest.

It’s now the 23rd Season of Summer Lawn Concerts at the Museum of the Southwest. They’re Fun! They’re Free! They’re For the Whole Family! Bring lawn chairs or blankets to sit on. Many bring their dinner or snacks. Hot dogs on sale, partial proceeds go to the Museum. Don’t miss it! Schedule for tonight, and till the end of the summer. C&C

July 25th – “JazzBird”

Smooth Jazz at its finest!

Sponsored by The Bosworth Company/Hosted by KODM 98

August 1st– Kori Jean Olsen & Band

Country/Country Pop

Sponsored by Corey Sly Electric Service/Hosted by LoneStar 92

August 8th– “Midnight Stampede”

Country & old time Rock n’ Roll

Sponsored by Corey Sly Electric Service/Hosted by KODM 98

August 15th –“The Shades”

Midland’s Party rock band

THIS CONCERT WILL BEGIN 7:15 p.m.

Sponsored by House of Printing/Hosted by 95.1 BOB FM & 97 Gold

Museum of the Southwest

1705 W. Missouri Ave. Midland

Phone 683-2882

ALL CONCERTS are 7:45 PM - 8:45 pm (No concert in the event of rain)

Downtown Lunch Vendors in Centennial Plaza

Cory and Chris — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:31:20 +0000

This is something we keep forgetting about! We both work in Downtown Midland, and we have yet to check out the lunch vendors who have set up shop in Centennial Plaza this summer. According to this MRT article, a new city ordinance allows vendors to set up on Texas Street at Centennial Plaza from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Vendors may remain at the plaza for the week and then must spend a week elsewhere before returning to the Downtown location.

As the Downtown trifecta of restaurants seem to be full at 11:30 on the dot for lunch these days (being Luigi’s, Cancun Grill, & Wall Street), this could be a great option during the busy work day. For what it’s worth, we both went to a party last summer which Dog Gone It Hot Dogs catered, and their food is delicious (a little too delicious). We have also heard excellent things about Brown’s BBQ, which usually is a fixture on the corner of “A” and Wall Streets. Please enjoy lunch Downtown in the plaza this summer, and let us know how it is!

C&C

Food vendors at Centennial Plaza welcome addition to lunch hour options

http://www.mywesttexas.com/life/article_090b028a-f7b0-5c88-909d-51ed4c1781d9.html

A sampling of food from Centennial Plaza

http://www.mywesttexas.com/life/article_c2ef3028-89f8-11df-804d-001cc4c03286.html

“Dog Gone It” Hot Dogs – Photo courtesy of the MRT

WAR: Playing at The Bar This Saturday in Downtown Midland

Cory and Chris — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:22:39 +0000

The band War is coming to Midland Texas’ own “The Bar,” live this Saturday night Downtown. Regardless of your generation, everyone is familiar with their song, “Why Can’t We Be Friends”….. and, as we learned from the MRT article, they were the last band to “jam” with Jimi Hendrix. We are surprised they are playing here, but that’s the thing about Midland…. You just never know, and often events like this pop up when you least expect it (the time Lyle Lovett showed up out of nowhere a couple of years ago comes to mind). As hard as it may be to believe sometimes, Midland is full of surprises.

C&C

War, a band that has always stood for peace, to play The Bar

http://www.mywesttexas.com/entertainment/article_0506f033-4d41-5550-a255-3a81ad9fa112.html

Saturday night, July 3rd; $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Purchase tickets in advance at Cavender’s, The Bar and Endless Horizons, Odessa.

Restoring the Historic Ritz Theatre Downtown

Cory and Chris — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:22:13 +0000

Making use of the old Ritz Theatre Downtown has been a widely-discussed topic for years here in Midland, and now it seems like it may become a reality.

A recent MRT article stated that The Ritz Theater, located across the street from Cigar Frogs on Main Street and Texas Avenue, is currently under contract by the Ritz Cultural Event Center Inc., a nonprofit organization formed in March. The group wants to rehabilitate the building, which originally opened in 1936, for use by various non-profit groups around town. Best of all, the article said the organization is looking to remodel the outside of the building to its original design. The group is hoping to close the purchase by July 31^st, begin construction on August 1^st, and said they would like to see it open by November 1^st.

We were excited to read this article in the paper on Saturday, and we wish this new project success.

Nonprofit organization to start $1 million project on Ritz Theater

http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_5c01de6d-838e-5327-8358-a9e11b950c48.html

The Ritz Theatre in 1950, left; the Theatre today, courtesy Midland Reporter Telegram

Blog Slackers

Cory and Chris — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:19:35 +0000

We apologize, as we have not blogged for a month now. Summer, Memorial Day weekend, and work have kept us as busy as can be. But we have not forgotten about Live Midland!

Two announcements: Chris and I’s last blog will be sometime this summer, though we do not yet know when. We have multiple reasons for retiring our Midland blog, one of the reasons being that our two-year anniversary of blogging is in October, and it’s time to pass the torch to someone else. We have enjoyed our stint as volunteer bloggers, but it’s time for some new blood on Live Midland!

Second, and along those lines, please check out the new Live Midland blogger, Alisha! Front Row Midland is finally here, and you can check out her first blog entry here: http://livemidlandtexas.com/front_row_midland/ Alisha is very involved in the community, and we know she is going to keep everyone updated on what’s new and going on around Downtown Midland and beyond. Welcome Alisha!!!

Celebration of the Arts 2010

Cory and Chris — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:39:03 +0000

Here are the details for this weekend’s Celebration of the Arts, presented by the Arts Assembly of Midland. The street concerts Downtown, usually for COA and July 4^th, are always so much fun. This one promises to be even more so, with this year’s impressive lineup of four bands, including Asleep at the Wheel and Stoney LaRue. As fun as last year’s COA street concert Downtown with Charlie Robison was, we can only predict that this year’s will be even better. Enjoy! C&C

When: Festival on Saturday and Sunday in Downtown Midland

Festival hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 15^th; Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 16.

Where: Centennial Plaza, Midland Center, Downtown

Features: Booths with art by 65 artists from multiple states. Live entertainment. Activities for children.

Festival admission: $4 adults; $3 seniors; $1 for ages 3-12; and free for those under 3 years old.

COA Street Concert: Saturday featuring Asleep at the Wheel, Stoney LaRue with special guests Blue Edmondson Band and Seth James. Gates open 6 p.m. Concert begins 6:30 p.m. For all ages tickets in advance before Wednesday, $25; tickets at the gate, $30.

COA Preview Party: 7-10 p.m. Friday. Preview Party tickets for all ages in advance before Wednesday, $75. Tickets at the door, $85.

Information: COA Distinguished Artist for 2010 is AnnElise McCoy. She will be honored at the Preview Party. The Festival closes down at 5 p.m. Saturday. The gates open again at 6 p.m. for the Street Concert. COA is presented by the Arts Assembly of Midland, the local umbrella organization for the arts.

Celebration of Arts brings art, music to downtown

http://www.mywesttexas.com/articles/2010/05/13/entertainment/top_stories/coa_for_pulse_may_13.txt#ixzz0nqM6SzCe