Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Suzuki Saturday















Issaquah Suzuki Recital














Elizabeth and the Troll

Our visit to Seattle included every kind of activity from an architectural tour of the new downtown library to shopping at Pike's Place Market, taking in the view from the top of the Smith Tower and of course Elliot Bay Books. But nothing topped an evening with the Issaquah Suzuki Violionists. I had predicted (quietly to myself) that the evening might be a bit slow, but the actual event was completely captivating. The recital was studded with sparkling performances of fun and challenging music by many of the great composers. Thomas and John both distinguishing themselves, playing with great confidence, precision and verve. All the hard work and practice paid off. Thanks for including us!
Seattle visit photo album HERE

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Earthworks
















Some hunt,others gather!

Somewhere in Northern California where water, woods and god's magic create wonders, there is a happy natural man living off the bounty. Here he is with his good friends the Chanterells, the abalone of the forest. (Until now I thought The Chanterells were a Motown Group)
Neighbor Tim can always be relied upon to tune into the good things that are all around us. Hope he shares with his pals- and I don't mean Roxie the tortoise.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Moby Meridian















"She was apparelled like any barbaric Ethiopian emperor, her neck heavy with pendents of polished ivory. She was a thing of trophies. A cannibal of a craft, tricking herself forth in the chased bones of her enemies. All round her, her unpanelled, open bulwarks were garnished like one continuous jaw, with the long sharp teeth of a sperm whale, inserted there for pins, to fasten her hempen thews and tendons to. Those thews ran not through base blocks of land wood, but deftly traveled over sheaves of sea - ivory. Scorning a turnstile wheel at her reverend helm she sported there a tiller, and that tiller was in one mass, curiously carved from the long narrow jaw of her hereditary foe... A noble craft, but somehow a most melancholy." Moby Dick, description of the Pequod, Chapter 16
















James Kirker

"And they saw one day a pack of vicious looking humans... bearded, barbarous, clad in the skins of animals stitched up in thews and armed with weapons of every description... and the trappings of their horses fashioned out of human skin and the bridals woven up from human hair and decorated with human teeth and the riders wearing scapulars or necklaces of dried and blackened human ears and the horses rawlooking and wild in the eye and their teeth bared like feral dogs...the whole like a visitation from some heathen land where they and others like them fed on human flesh." Blood Meridian, entry of the scalp hunters Chapter VI

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Worm City


Worms comprise a significant part of planetary biomass - and of our living room biomass. It was bound to happen sooner or later. UPS recently delivered a 2 lb package at our door. 'O Boy! My worms are here!' exclaimed B on seeing the package. 2 lbs of worms is a lot. When I heard worms were in our future, I lobbied for freeing captives from the bait shop, but low class crawlers wouldn't do for our composting (or whatever they are supposed to be doing for us). Instead, our worms - Red Wigglers- were special ordered from wine country, the Sonoma County Worm Farm. Nothing but the best for our coffee grounds.

But why are the still in the worm growing box --in the living room? And why must they be fed only the best finely chopped garbage? I don't know, but I'm sure that in time I will. Watch this space for breaking worm news.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Summer's Gone - Not Forgotten


Last week's pounding rain and this week's mackin' swell ( shown here breaking at Mavericks) makes it clear even to hard core season change deniers that summer is no more.
But the sun is shining today and it's time to pull out the past season's classic video of Sarah's cousin Andy Haumersen and friend Ricky popping major skim board moves in the Long Beach Island shore dump. Notice - no wet suits! How different the east coast is. This vid is sure to put you back into summer daze- if only for a moment. Good work, boys! The sponserships are sure to come.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Brass Mania

I've been on a brass craze lately and want to share two great bands I'm particularly grooving on.

The first, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is an amazing street band from Chicago & New York with loose, swinging progressions and latin echoes. I really enjoy them. Apparently most of the band are sons of the famous Phil Cochran who played with Sun Ra. A piece in the June New Yorker gives the background and a good description of this crew. Read HERE. Even though a street band they have been recording since 2004. Check out their myspace site HERE



The second video is Dave Douglas and Brass Ecstasy. It is sweet and sometimes sad - a more composed jazz virtuosity full of funkiness and humor and old time New Orleans jazz references. It also includes some interview time. The NPR "Tiny Desk concert" shown in the video (about 17 minutes) was my introduction to Brass Ecstasy - I had to get their new album ( from the library of course) called Spirit Moves. They totally grabbed me, jumping out from a bunch of concert podcasts I was surfing through on a long drive. You can download this Tiny Desk concert and other full length live concerts free in the podcast section of the iTunes store under NPR All Songs Considered.



Hope you like!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Yosemite Revisited!












































Last week an ace team of veteran Yosemite adventurers returned to base camp in Upper Pines Campground to renew friendships, attune with vast glacial spirits and push the most challenging routes into the beyond. The weather was stunning; a sprinkle of snow on day one, clearing to brilliant blue skies and moonlit evenings. Hiking and biking was a blast. Breakfast buffets at Curry Village were staggering, first fueling a successful assault on Glacier Point(both Marty and Kristin summitted)and then a day of bike touring of the valley with an extended hike to the Half Dome rock slide at Mirror Lake. Evenings were filled with gourmet feasting, prescription strength margaritas, a dirty joke contests dominated by those with good memories and bad taste, (Conrad, Dirty Dave and Beverly what a surprize!) Sadly we had to return home, but hardier souls stayed the rest of the week and explored ever farther. I hope we don't have to wait a whole year for our next Yosemite outing. Steve's picture album HERE Marty's album HERE

We missed you Sarah! Thanks John Muir!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Ballistic Waterslide


"Since the dawn of time, man has battled the forces of gravity. We've built gliders, wings and contraptions of all sorts. In the end, all it took was a simple giant water slide down the side of a mountain."

OK - this video isn't family or friends, but the foolishness meter is pegged! Could easily have become Darwin Award material. And it is aqua oriented. That's my excuse for posting. Plus of course a demonstration of the indomitable human search for transcendent experience through stupid stuff.

Thanks to Robert Church for finding this one!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Half Moon Bay Surf Club @ Santa Cruz Meet








































1) Men's Long Board Finalist - Michael takes 2nd!
2) Sean Rips and Burns
3) A Santa Cruz Jump Start

Photo album HERE Courtesy Duke and Marty

Message from Coach Phelps:

Surfers and Parents,

Yahoo!!! What a fun day!! I’m so proud of our whole team, and all the support from all the friends and families that showed up to cheer our kids on. I want to express a huge thanks to Kaitlyn for being our first alumni to return as an assistant coach. Her commitment to give back to her community is very inspirational to all of us!!

I was so impressed by the sportsmanship displayed by our teammates throughout the day. All of you kids encouraging each other and acknowledging each other’s accomplishments. I was very impressed with our veteran Audrey (our new recruit from MA) and how she took Hannah under her wings. Again, a true display of teamwork! Honorable mentions go to Skylar for taking 4th overall in Men’s Shortboard, and Michael for taking 2nd in Men’s Longboard. This was a great display of our teams depth of talent!! Also to Tom for the fantastic “TomBurgers”…. Hmmm… I think he’s stealing my thunder..As for Hannah….. Wow! Taking 4th place in Women’s shortboard in our very first contest!!! What can I say. We’re all so proud of you!

Core Interscholastic Surf Contest Results: Team Event: HMB 59 over Harbor 54 Skylar 4th Shortboard Finals Michael 2nd Longboard finals Hannah 4th Girls Longboard Finals
Complete Results HERE

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

St. Louis Story



A Rosalinde Block painting











A delightful thing happened on the way to my email server - I looked at my Facebook account and there was Roz Block mentioning the completion of a section of her St. Louis memoir. I haven't kept up with Roz but I certainly remembered Block's Books, her dad's great bookstore at Skinker and Millbrook. Many a happy hour of mine was spent there and I remember the shock when it closed down because of repeated hate attacks and vandalism, both against the store and the Blocks themselves.

So, seeing a chance to learn something about Block senior and the story of the store I wrote Roz and asked for a copy. " To the Old Block From His Oldest Chip" is really great as is another piece she sent me on the same period called "The Dog Who Didn't Keep Kosher." In learning about Rosalinde and her current work I discovered she is a one women fountain of creativity - music, writing, art, children's books - you name it! If you have minute take a look at her site HERE and
HERE. Pretty cool!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Kings Mountain Art Fair -again!















Sarah Facepainting with Mac in the Mirror
The annual labor day weekend Kings Mountain Art Fair is quite an unusual event. This year it was fantastic -again! It is amazing for the art - absolutely. The quality and variety is stunning. None of the junky trinkets & crafts that characterize many art fairs. Year to year there are many artists who return to be enjoyed anew, but there is also usually an infusion of new artists too. Of course the outside setting under the redwoods with all the variability of weather and nature make the experience unusual too. But what really sets the event apart is the community support. It is hard to believe that everything - really everything -is planned organized, staffed and pulled off by neighborhood volunteers. I've never seen the figures, but I'd be willing to bet that 50% or more of the households on the Mountain have a least one family member who volunteer a day. And many show up to work the whole three day fair as well as inputting tremendous levels of sweat both pre and post fair. I challenge anyone to find that level of involvement in a community for a fun raising event, anywhere!

You know where to find me next labor day weekend - bunnin' and baggin in the cookshack! More cookshack oriented pictures HERE

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Estivate Now!

Okay. We all -sooner or later- estivate. It's natural. No shame. This is the 21st century, and we live not so very far from Esalen. Even so, to discover (stumble upon would be more accurate) an honored house guest who though an adolescent, is from a (presumably) good family, well brought up by positive role models, abandoned to a biological imperative right there in our ivy like some…some mammal for goodness sake! The air temperature was about 90, but I mean, really! All I can tell you is that it was a quite a shocker. Thank goodness Beverly wasn’t home. Of course I didn’t make a scene that would embarrass our guest (Roxie is her name) but just as though such things happened every day and were in the normal household routine, I calmly approached her without being noticed and in one fluid motion pulled her from the dirt and gently carried her to bed, placing a blanket over her whole body including her head. (I had been instructed by her parents as to the appropriate response, though I never dreamed I would actually be called upon to react to this situation which I had regarded as a highly unlikely contingency.) She then proceeded to sleep the whole night through and was up the next morning as though nothing had happened at all. No mention was made of the previous afternoon and I placed her in the morning light and brought her a breakfast of fresh strawberries and a little left over sweet potato (which she loves and never gets at home.) We’ve never spoken of it to this day although I see her with some regularity since her parent’s live one street over. In every other respect she was an ideal guest and I look forward to her next visit.



Roxie and Her Parents Tim and Katy

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Welcome to Mills College!















Wow,what a day! This was our high energy welcome to dorm move-in day and the beginning of Freshman orientation weekend at Mills College last Saturday. Sarah is moved into to her spacious accommodations in Orchard Meadows Hall on the beautiful campus. She has registered successfully for the classes she wanted and tomorrow is the first day of classes. Amazing. Congratulations Sarah! A few more pictures HERE

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Elasmotherium Skull Pocked with Iron



























Jon H is at it again! Visiting the Natural History Museum in London he found a late Pleistocene Elasmotherium skull (cross between a rhino and a horse) from Siberia. It was completely peppered with tiny magnetic metallic pellets! Just like the mammoth tusks found earlier. I wonder if this sort of evidence of an ice age apocalypse is lying around lots of museums, but no one has thought of looking for it before.

In the close up photo you can see the pellet impacts with little rust rings around them. The largest, just to the left of center is about 1cm across. The other picture gives you an idea of the structure and size of the skull. Man ,that must have hurt - although just the beginning of what was an undoubtedly rough patch for mega fauna.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Aquacentric Closed for Now










Hey you! no more Aquacentric for now.

Maybe I'll revive it in the future

Thanks

Steve