Pick up the latest issue of the Washingtonian and turn to page 11 to see
a story about Spokeswoman Productions. The article was written by Jessica Gould, a reporter in the DC area.

Much more press will be on its way throughout the Eastern Seaboard, so keep checking back!

We’re excited to announce the newest Spokeswoman, our second intern Sara Hassan.

(Meg, Sara, and Gillian at Busboys & Poets, our preferred place to do business)

Sara received a Master of Science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.  She holds a B.A. in English with an Emphasis in Journalism and a Minor in Political Science from Columbia College in South Carolina.  In the past, she has written for The State Newpaper of South Carolina and The United Methodist Advocate.  She has worked as an intern at the United States Senate Press Gallery and the Federal Network on Capitol Hill.  Sara is currently doing public affairs work in Washington, DC.  She has traveled to Canada, Greece, Bangladesh, and Egypt.

As part of our outreach and planning efforts for Back in Bloomers, we’ve been reaching out to local cycling clubs across the Eastern Seaboard. Here is a list of clubs that we’ve contacted so far. If you live in Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut, or New York, and your bike club is missing from this list, shoot me an e-mail and we’ll get you signed up: gillian@spokeswomanproductions.com
Boston Area:
Mass Bike
Bikes Not Bombs
Bike Rides for Ordinary People
Nashoba Valley Pedalers
Elm City Cyclists
North Shore Cyclists
Seven Hills Wheelman
SCUL bike Gang

Mystic/CT Area:
Central CT Bike Alliance
Central CT Cycling Club
Hat City Cyclists
Pequot Cyclists
Yankee Pedalers
Eastern Bloc
Devil’s Gear Bike

NYC/CT Suburbs:
New York Cycle Club
Five Borough Bike Club
Fast & Fabulous
Metro Area Recumbent Society
Westchester Cycle Club
Black Label Bike Club

Washingtonians, Keep a lookout for the August issue of the Washingtonian. And, when you get it, flip to the Capitol Comment Section for a story on Team Londonderry. The story was written by Jessica Gould, wordstresse extraordinaire who reports, by day, for The Northwest Current.

Tomorrow is the photo shoot for the article, and it marks the first official photo shoot for Back in Bloomers. Check back soon for behind the scenes photos from the shoot!

We have a new addition to Team Londonderry:
Ashley St. Lane Nelson. Intern, Spokeswoman Productions
Ashley recently graduated from Smith College, recieving her B.A. in American Studies and Art History. She is currently nannying and sending her short experimental documentary film, Amor Fati (Love your Fate), to film festivals. While in school, she managed one of the US’s only all-female radio stations, lived in Spain, and worked for Creative Time, a public arts organization in NYC. Her interests include biking, cooking gourmet vegan meals, and, of course, making and watching films.

Welcome to our team Ashley!

The New York City Parks department has generously offered us a place to hang out helmets. Washington Square Park in downtown NYC will be the official finishing point of Back in Bloomers. We will “cross the finish line” before entering the park, and we’ll hang out from 3:30-4:30ish in the area near the fountain, which is being reserved for the event. Hopefully we’ll have the high wheel and Spokescycle onhand, and we’ll be available to answers the questions of the press and of curious onlookers.

For information on how to be part of Back in Bloomers, contact info@spokeswomanproductions.com

The Palais de Tokyo is the way art should be..

On the suggestions of one of our visiting lecturers we returned to the Palais De Tokyo, a modern art museum near the EffielTower. The museum is open from 12pm to 1 am and the contemporary art show opens around 8;30 at night. (Because really who can go to a museum between the hours of 10 & 5 anyways)

The show had short films, hanging gardens, life size lily pads, photo documentarion from areas the the US military has continued to use as target practice and the obligatory naked montage. The art was experiencial, and enganging.

The real novelty of the evening was in fact the evening. Outside on the patio, overlooking the Seine was a Euro dance party complete with bar, mad mixing, trend setters, and flame throwers…yes thats right flame throwers..At intervals during the eveing the Burn Crew would flame throw to DJ mixes, pretty incredible.

Those attending the art show were reveling in it, the scene, the performace, the night.

As we danced the night away and the Eiffel Tower sparkled on the half hour, the students got their dance on, I sipped my rosé and I thought to myself – I knew it Mueseums can appeal to young people

Yes, putting advertisemnents and even an LCD screen on a pedi-wagon is pretty innovative, but the Bicytaxi gives us a pretty good run for our money. These space-age looking pods are the next big green thing in inner-city travel.

In their words, Bicytaxi is:
• An advertising medium that facilitates increased awareness and exceptional recall value.
• An innovative medium for successful brand communication.
• A flexible, easy-to-use mobility concept that excels as an addition to urban transport infrastructure.
• A shuttle vehicle that has proven very valuable at events of any size as sports, fairs, trade shows or big exhibitions in many places around the world.
• A mobile and flashy platform for special activities and events like samplings, incentives, ice-cream sale or info services.

My mom, Sharon Klempner. She suggested that a good Annie-related tea flavor be called “Londonberry Blend,” and have a label with Annie on a bike, toasting with a bottle of tea. I think it’s brilliant, and she’s won herself a whopping $20 gift certificate to Staples. Don’t spend it all at once Mom!

Bonjour.  Spokeswoman travels the globe – Annie as inspiration continues…

After a little over a week in Paris, the art, the culture and the bicycling have captured and intoxicated me.

As a Teaching assistant for a course on Modernism and the Arts, it has been a whirlwind of lectures, museums, and cultural bliss.

Yesterday we left the city for the day and headed for Giverny, to see Monet’s home and more importantly his garden.  Bursting with color, Lily Pads and art history enthusiasts, Giverny was a gorgeous day out of the city, tasting the freshness of the non-urban air. 
The Crème de la Crème of the experience was Biking from the train station into town.

The long billowing grass, punches of cadmium red poppies, and haystacks still sprinkling the landscape make it easy to transport you into Monet’s. …And Annie’s World. (?!)
Annie and Impressionism?  Perhaps the link is an academic long-shot but each were represented a cultural transformation.  The world was modernizing; in the most literal sense, ways of seeing and doing were changing. Annie and Monet were two individuals who were seizing upon this modernization and living their lives amongst and celebrating this change.

 Impressionism was innovative and groundbreaking. These artists refused to accept notions of artistic hierarchy deeply wedded to cultural notions of propriety. They were attempting to capture this modern world in its fleeting moments of light and beauty. They captured their world through depictions of every day life.  There is warmth and joy in this experience of the world.  In this depiction one will also find allusions to industrialization, and the expansion of the mechanical world, most notably in Monet and Manet’s compositions of train stations.  Industrialization for them was a subject to be broached on the canvas.

Annie in her own way was responding to these same global transformations.  Annie was seizing the moment, not for light, tonal range, but for a similar sense of joy and adventure.  In both Annie’s words and the Impressionists canvases we can see an intenseness and beauty in the experience of the everyday.

Annie’s words were as bold as Monet’s brushstrokes.   Annie was not paining en plein air, she was riding in it. She was transformative in the ability of a traveler, a woman no less to globe trot, and become an international sensation.

So I would like to imagine that perhaps Annie’s acceptance and love of France had something to do with the artistic awakening that was occurring at the end of the 19^th century.  That France was exposed to new perceptions of reality. They were part of an awakening. Seen in this light it makes perfect sense that Annie would feel so welcomed and celebrated here. I think Annie and Monet would agree that the French  love of novelty, beauty and the sensational served them well in the end.