Eric “EZ” Albertson is nothing if not a people person. Back in early 2012, when he opened the SpeakEZ lounge in Grand Rapids’ Belknap Neighborhood, Albertson sought to create a highly connective environment that would bring a true sense of community back to the pub. It’s no surprise then that one of the establishment’s longest-running and most popular events is centered around something that’s brought human beings together since the dawn of our existence: telling stories.

We're quickly coming to the close of summer and entering into the film industry limbo that arrives between the summer blockbuster and holiday film season. But not to worry, film fans. Independent cinema is still booming in West Michigan.

If you have a conversation with Dann Sytsma, one thing becomes apparent very quickly: the guy loves improv. Like, a lot. So much so he became the sole proprietor of Crawlspace Theatre Productions, a Kalamazoo-based production company focused on the art of improv.

With ArtPrize taking over the city, you just have to embrace art at every turn. Explore kid-friendly art events, then head home, whip out the crayons and finger paints and frame that stuff.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum opened up its pop up, GoSite, for public use on July 31. The pop up is in collaboration with the GRAM and the GoSite Coalition and is an information-sharing space for the community, including Grand Rapids residents and tourists.

Steve Byrne, Owen Benjamin, Roy Wood Jr. and Ahmed Ahmed have momentarily left the beer steins at the bar to embark on the "Sullivan & Son Comedy Tour."

If the words free beauty school drop-in don’t make your heart aflutter, you’re dead inside. The Grand Rapids Public Library’s Summer Reads program promises a time of beauty to promote the book The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman. The local Michigan author’s book features a woman who, in order to receive her inheritance money from her mother (who happened to be the head of a large cosmetics company), must accomplish everything on a life aspirations list made when she was 14.

Melissa Plaut remembers the first time she ever wrote about driving a New York City taxicab. It was 5 a.m. one morning in 2005, and she’d just returned home from her shift. The stream-of-consciousness recounting of the night’s events that poured out of her was unlike anything she’d ever written, certainly unlike anything she’d ever written in her previous job, writing copy for one of the Big Apple’s innumerable advertising agencies.

It's been a good summer for films in Michigan. Countless exciting projects are being produced and released, a plethora of film festivals showcased some of the best cinema independent film has to offer, and our friends at Thriller! Chiller! announced some exciting changes for their festival. Well, it's now August, and while summer festivities may be winding down in the next month or so, the Michigan film industry shows no signs of slowing down.

Anyone familiar with the "Jackass" empire knows the professionals involved have one philosophy: the more outrageous the stunt, the better. This is a mantra Steve-O swears by, and one that got him noticed by members of the "Jackass"crew while they still worked with the skateboarding magazine, Big Brother.