(1.15) Head down to Betaspring (a mentorship-driven startup accelerator program for technology and design entrepreneurs) on Chestnut Street for an unusual design event.

Join the Founders League on January 15 to kick off our new series of Co-Working “Jellies.” Our first Jelly is for designers (of all stripes) and will be hosted by Hannah Chung and Nicole Mercer. This gathering is appropriate for experienced and new designers alike. If you like to make things, make things beautiful, or more elegant to use then this is the meetup for you!

What is a Jelly?

A “Jelly” is a casual working event. The hosts provide seating, wireless internet, and interesting people to talk to, collaborate with, and bounce ideas off of. Participants bring a laptop (or whatever you need to get your work done) and a disposition to meet new people. The work time will be followed by an optional “peer critique” session where the group can have an open discussion about individual projects/issues.

Betaspring was almost empty on Saturday when I stopped in. The space looks just as it should, complete with hammocks and a ping-pong table. Thank you Satish (picture after the jump) for explaining things to me. His startup project is TouchVu which converts your business Facebook page into a multi-screen website, with free hosting. Why didn’t I think of that?

Free, 3pm to 6pm, Tuesday, January 15, Design Jam with Hannah and Nicole, Betaspring, 95 Chestnut Street

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Yeah right, salads. I can make a salad. What I don’t have at home is a Fryolator and a clam rake. The Blount Clam Shack and Soup Bar on Richmond Street is open! They have obliterated the old Stanley’s interior, thank God, but it’s still got the same layout with booths and a counter. I couldn’t stop in today, but the clams and clam cakes at the Warren location (opens May 3rd, picnic tables on the water) were super the time I went there. I also happen to know that the Blount soups are fantastic. Not only is there a soup bar at the Richmond Street store, but they sell a wide variety in 4-lb. bags, fresh or frozen, to take home (the prices seemed to range from $9 to $13). Nice ‘CHWDR’ tee shirts for sale.

Monday 11am to 3pm/Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 8pm.

Blount Clam Shack & Soup Bar, 371 Richmond Street, closed Sundays, call for take-out 228.7746

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It’s always nice to get some exposure in the national press. Even if no one here is ever going to call it the “Knowledge District” we can all get behind the concept. Yesterday’s article by Elizabeth Abbott does a nice job of explaining the history and the scope of the plan, and of course our dream of creating jobs.

To foster more jobs, a group overseeing the growth of the knowledge economy, the Innovation Providence Implementation Council, has awarded $410,000 in seed money to companies, institutions and individuals in the areas of health care, technology, research and design, alternative energy and work force development. The grants are financed by sources including foundations, the chamber and the United States Economic Development Administration.

Of course, any mention of “The Chamber” should set off alarm bells, particularly when they throw around phrases like “grass-roots effort.” My take on the Chamber of Commerce definition of “grass-roots effort” is that corporations should be enticed to locate here with tax breaks while the “grass roots” make up the difference. Maybe I’m wrong.

And check out the gorgeous image of the Brown medical school on Richmond Street at night, taken by Dose fave photographer Ryan T. Conaty. (Seen here is my crappy pic — compare and contrast. But I do love these sidewalks. And there’s always zillions of bicycles tied up.) People should want to build a business here.

On Thursday July 7, the Providence Children’s Museum debuts Discovery Studio, a vibrant new space for open-ended art and science exploration with rotating activities, imaginative play and creative expression.

Children will use magnifying glasses to examine natural objects, investigate sand and water, explore the art and science of light and color, and much more.

Part art studio and part nature lab, Discovery Studio’s beautiful environment is designed to inspire wonder, surrounding visitors with children’s work and artful objects — shells, prisms, gears and living things — plus earthy colors and abundant natural light, creating a relaxed yet stimulating atmosphere.

The Children’s Museum, 100 South Street, 273.5437

Now this is how you get on The Dose. If you don’t respond to this image I weep for your malignant and blighted soul. These finger puppets are the work of Seekonk resident and children’s artist Megan Jeffery, part of a new exhibit at the Providence Children’s Museum.

I Live in a Small Town showcases a collection of finger puppet characters handmade using wool roving, fabrics and other materials in 17 small shops and settings in the Museum’s atrium walkway “window boxes.”  Visitors of all ages are intrigued by the fascinating scenes and see what details they can discover in the shops of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker; at a jamboree featuring instrument-playing barnyard animals; at a Parisian picnic visited by ants wearing berets; and on the beach with sandcastles constructed by crabs.  Each of Jeffery’s puppets has a unique personality, thanks to her thoughtfully selected materials and attention to the smallest details.

Museum admission is $8.50.

Exhibit runs through February 6, 2011, Children’s Museum, 100 South Street, 273.5437

‘Creation Tuesday’ tonight features Drugs and Gum (Christopher Stetson Wilson and another person) at the Spot Underground. Wilson describes the music,

Drugs and Gum is an experimental pop and folk duo. All music is composed by a million monkeys at a million musical instruments. Any entertainment you experience is purely coincidental.

We are all responsible for our own happiness after all. Just keep the monkeys away from me.

I laundered some materials through GCPVD earlier this week, which Jef has kindly posted in a comprehensible format. The bridge will be built in a couple of years, on the piers on which the old 195 crosses the river. Jef’s posted some official proposals here. And has a second thread on various pedestrian bridge designs from around the universe.

The Downtown Neighborhood Charette (whose area of focus includes the Jewelry District too) kicks off today. Full schedule is posted here, and today’s workshops are as follows:

11 am-12:30 pm
Focus on Capital Center
What do we need to do to complete Capital Center? Are there any changes to the vision for this area?

1:30 pm-4:30 pm
New Parks/Pedestrian Bridge
Share your ideas on the design of Downtown’s two newest parks and the pedestrian bridge that will connect them after the relocation of Interstate 195 is completed

6 pm-9 pm
Visioning Session
Join your elected officials in a visioning exercise and share your ideas for the future of Downtown Providence

All workshops are at 222 Richmond St, Suite 200.

Photo somehow borrowed from FortWayne.com.  So hopeful they’ll either not care or not notice.

BBQ today chez Ari et moi. 5 – 8 P.M. at 63 Governor Street. Not a fundraiser; this is a chance to register to vote in District 2, to find out why you should support David’s campaign for reelection, and to sign up to volunteer. Oh, and we have a very big trampoline.

I have to throw in on this new Stanley’s Burgers place down on Richmond Street. I had never heard of this Rhode Island institution and I’m not a big hamburger person, particularly when it’s just a gigantic ball of ground meat. For me a sandwich is all about the proportion of the bread to the other stuff  — a little bit of this and a little bit of that — not just a huge tower of meat. And it should be easy to eat. I had Stanley’s bacon cheeseburger for lunch today, and at first it doesn’t look like much, it’s a pretty small patty.  But it totally works.  And the bun is real soft so you can squish it down flat the way I like. I would order two next time I think. According to Dave they are open until 2AM… good late night food.  The decor is a bit much, but I don’t care, I’m going back.

Stanley’s Burgers/371 Richmond Street/270-9292 

Playing at the Hi-Hat tonight is Mark Olson, one of the founding members of the Jayhawks. The show starts at 7PM with openers, the ‘mericans, playing an acoustic set. This is a classy joint people — no sneakers, no t-shirts, no hats. C’mon, dress up. Act like you’re somebody.

Nick-a-Nees has live music tonight from 9PM to closing. The ‘mericans will be playing a special stripped-down acoustic show. Opening act is Black Eyed Anchor.

75 South Street/Providence/861.7290/free admission

Downtown Riverwalk

I stumbled upon these ridiculously enthusiastic kids fishing in the Providence River this afternoon. Today it was all white perch, but they reported that they often catch (and eat!) stripers and blue fish at this location.