Archive for the 'Fun Stuff' Category

Help College Mentors for Kids Win $35K!

Published on April 11, 2012 in Fun Stuff. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Here at the Stutz, we share the building with some pretty great neighbors, including a variety of businesses and non-profits.

One of our neighbors is College Mentors for Kids, whose national office is located right here in the Stutz.  They connect college students with the most to give to kids who need it most through their mentoring program which runs on 23 college campuses throughout the Midwest. 

 

 

College Mentors for Kids is competing for the chance to win $35,000 (!) from Starbucks.

“We’re excited to be a part of a competition with Starbucks Vote.Give.Grow. where we have the opportunity to win up to $35,000!” says College Mentors Associate Program Director Samantha Ryan, ”We are competing against four other non-profits in Indiana, and each week Starbucks card holders can vote for their non-profit of choice.”

So, how can you help College Mentors win?

Do you have a Starbucks Card? Do you believe in the power of mentoring?  Then vote to help College Mentors for Kids receive up to $35,000 through the Starbucks Community Card: Vote.Give.Grow. program. Please visit www.starbucks.com/votegivegrow:

  • Turn your Starbucks Card into a Community Card by signing in on this page. Vote for College Mentors for Kids.
  • Share your vote through Facebook and Twitter directly from our page.
  • Come back & vote each week for the rest of April!

If you don’t have a Starbucks Card, you can get one on the site to participate.  Just load at least $5 on the card to get started and use it like cash at any Starbucks!

Questions or want to learn more?  Visit www.collegementors.org or stop by their suite in B260.

A work in progress

Published on March 5, 2012 in Fun Stuff and Stutz Artists. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Artists are often asked “how did you do that?”. Well, here’s how Lydia Burris created He Sees Spirits (below).

There’s an app for that…

Published on February 17, 2012 in Fun Stuff and Stutz Artists. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

…and if there isn’t, just make one. That’s just what Stutz Artist Andy Chen did.

Andy, who is a photographer, musician and the Stutz Art Space Gallery Director, recently added app creator to his list of talents with the unveiling of Shakie, a percussion instrument for your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Imagine having a box that you could put anything in, then shake it around to make sounds. That’s Shakie. It’s motion controlled. As you move, tilt, shake your phone the stuff inside this virtual box shakes rattles around inside. The app models the physics and sounds of all the bits hitting each other.
 
I’d like people to find ways to make music with it! There’s a weird satisfaction hearing and seeing the pellets bounce around. It’s really sensitive and responsive. You get different sounds and textures depending on how you hold and move the device. 
 
“I play guitar and violin,” Andy explains, “I have some egg and canister shakers that I bring along when I play with others. When I got an iPhone, I was fascinated with the motion sensors in it. The first few days with that phone, I obsessively imagined a digital version of those shakers. A couple of years later I took some time and made the app.”
 
 
The current sounds are traditional percussion instruments such as maracas, bells, shakers and tambourine. There are more sounds planned, many of them possible only on an electronic device.

To learn more about Shakie (and it’s creator), visit www.shakieapp.com and www.whatandysaw.com. Shakie is available in the iTunes App Store for $1.99.