art predator

Get Your Santa On June 5

May 16, 2009

tags: First Friday ArtRides, how to make a Santa costume, Santacon 2009, Summer Solstice Santacon, Ventura Santacon

The Summer Solstice Santacon is coming to town Friday June 5, so it’s time to get your Santa on! (UPDATE: June 4 Bike Blenders: for Burning Man & First Friday ArtRides!)

What is Santacon? http://santarchy.com/

While anyone can join the ride, can you imagine the looks on people’s faces and the attention we’ll call to cycling if everyone dresses in red and wears a Santa hat?

Don’t have a Santa hat? Or you don’t want to drag it out of storage? We’ll have extras for a small ($1) donation to the cause. The hats even have small blinky stars on them! You’ll still need a light for your bike if you hang out with us for the after party (and red flashing tail lights behind you). We encourage you to attach your Santa hat to your helmet; all children under 18 MUST be wearing helmets under their Santa hats!

What’s more fun than a red shirt and a Santa hat? A Santa suit. It’s really not that hard– we made a bunch of them for the Winter Solstice Santacon 2008. We went to the thrift store and bought a bunch of red sweatshirts for $3 each and hot glued faux fur from the fabric store (we went to FabricTown USA on Main near 5 Points). Red sweatpants complete the ensemble.

Or take a cue from our Santa (drawn by Claudia Pardo) and cut your red sweats into shorts and add some faux fur along the bottom! I can’t wait to see a Mrs Claus or two in red hot pants with faux fur! How about you? More on making your Santa suit plus pictures:

Santacon 12/21 TODAY: Last Minute Santa Suit Tips

Slideshow, video, songbooks and more can be found here; the slideshows and video are great for ideas on how to get your own Santa on! More info here–including a link to learn how to make your own costume using red sweats.

Really, the more Santa the better. And you’ll be already for the WINTER SOLSTICE SANTACON scheduled for Dec. 4. We made a Santa suit for our son, but we’d love to have a few elves on the ride! And at least one person is trying to figure out how to get a dreidel to spin on her helmet! Here are more links:

Santa’s Code of Conduct

Ventucky Santacon 12/21: Sleigh? No! Bike? Yo! Trolley? HO! HO! HO!

Pictures of Santa: Ventura Santacon 08

And why are we doing this? We want to create and promote a fun, vibrant & creative bike culture in town! We want people to get on their bikes & go riding–for fun and for transportation! One last link–why:

Summer Solstice Santacon Rides Into Town June 5

Saturn Moves Forward Again & so should you!

May 15, 2009

tags: astrology, meaning of Saturn retrograde, Saturn direct May 2009, Saturn in Aquarius, Saturn in the 10th House, Saturn restrograde 2009

There’s been a flurry of interest here at Art Predator with regards to Saturn’s retrograde motion since last day of 2008 (as in over 2,300 page views for this post: Last Day of 2008: Saturn Retrograde until May 2009)..

Like Saturn, it is now time for you to move forward too, fully committing yourself to projects with more confidence and inner strength! According to Astrology.com

Saturn, the slow moving planet of karma and the taskmaster of the zodiac, which has been retrograde since December 31 of last year, finally turns direct on May 16. This ushers in a period of possibilities as our inner plans begin finding their way into the outer world, and vague outlines of concepts begin to sharpen.

Saturn asks for commitment, discipline and a sense of purpose to work its magic of making dreams real. Read more…

Summer Solstice Santacon Rides Into Town June 5

May 14, 2009

tags: First Friday ArtRide, Santacon, Summer Solstice Santacon

VenturaFirstFridayArtRide
6/5 Summer Solstice SantaCon: for Santa & his helpers
7/3 Freedom from Fossil Fuels: Red, White & Blue, baby!
8/7 Animal Fair: Born 2 B wild! 10pm Fireworks!

530P MEET: C ST PLAZA & PROMENADE
600P RIDE: 2 MAIN & BEYOND!

Join us in creating a bike culture:
1. Encourage & increase bike riding; decrease auto dependency. 2. Lessen our overall impact on the environment. 3. Create safe, direct intra-city bike routes East/West and North/South 4. Increase bike safety. 5. Involve underserved communities. 6. Improve relationships between drivers and bikers through education. 7. Integrate bicycles with public transportation efforts. 8. Provide convenient bicycle facilities that support bike culture. 9. Find funding to implement goals. 10. Advocate the enforcement and development of bike regulations. 11. Make Ventura attractive & competitive as a bicycle-friendly place to live. 12. Increase the social fabric of our communities.

Green Drinks Ventura County: See you at Crowne Plaza’s Aqua Bar

May 14, 2009

tags: Green Drinks Ventura County

WBW: Ridge Inspirations

May 13, 2009

Today, May 13, 2009 is Wine Blogging Wednesday. Host Jeff at Good Grape prompts us to write about a California wine which inspired us, writing Thematically, this month is intended to be broad while acting as homage to Robert Mondavi, the 1-year anniversary of his passing on Saturday, May 16.

Because Mondavi was such an inspiration physically, spiritually and philosophically to so many – both in the industry and to consumers, while acting as the forefather of the modern California wine movement, I would like for WBW participants to revisit a California wine that they have enjoyed, or have a particular fond memory of, and tell a story.

Please go buy or pull from your stash, a bottle of whatever that California wine was that created a memorable chapter in your life, revisit the bottle, and share your story. Read more…

Bike to Work Week: May 11-15 2009

May 13, 2009

tags: Bike to Work Week, how to get free stuff, ride bus free coupons

Bike to Work Week May 11-15, 2009

(Thanks, Michael Emas, for the amazing poster!)

email for more information

Ventura Bike Commute Day May 14, 2009:

Visit Art Predator & members of the Ventura Bicyclists Union at the corner of Santa Clara & CA St! Get free stuff!

Below you’ll find cool links to lots of resources; the best one is the FREE BUS/BIKE Coupon–that’s right! Bring a coupon & your bike and ride for free!

2009 Rest Stops

VISTA Bus Free Ride Coupons Read more…

WordPress WordCamp 2009–here I come, SF!!

May 12, 2009

tags: Randy Stewart, recession, WordCamp SF, Wordpress

In this economy, it seems those who have are reaching out toward those who have not.

This has always been a trait of Burning Man; in a recent post I provided info and links on ways they help people attend their event which prides itself on having a gift economy–that is after you pay your entrance ticket, your travel and camp expenses, and deck yourself out in fun playa finery. Burning Man offers arts grants for projects on and off the playa as well as staggered ticket prices, scholarships, and low income tickets.

WordPress is offering scholarships to WordCamp San Francisco and the Wine Bloggers Convention is also; I’ll post about the WBC scholarship later this week.

Mr WordPress Matt warns “Be sure to register soon. We’ve got a great speaker line-up, free WordPress schwag to give away, and, of course, a BBQ lunch.” And you get in to the 6th year anniversary party for WordPress that night!

WordCamp San Francisco is a conference organized by the creators of WordPress for everyone from casual users to core developers to participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. The event is open to WordPress.com & WordPress.org users alike. Here’s a Facebook event page, travel info, and badges.

SF too far for you? WordCamps are held around the world and all year too: WordCamp Toronto, WordCamp Richmond, WordCamp Mid-Atlantic, WordCamp Columbus, WordCamp Ed CUNY, WordCamp Milan all happen this May.

So how do you apply? What do you need to do to get a WordCamp scholarship? According to WordPress, “There are a few scholarships available. Contact us if you think you are a good candidate.”

Here’s my letter of application: Read more…

August 18, 2005 3:15 Experiment Poem: this place

May 11, 2009

tags: economy, house prices, recession

3:15am aug 18 2005 Ventura CA

more fog tonight
deep thick cold
a blanket dampening all sounds

walking through the house
in the dark in the night
naked
the full moon should be
casting shadows in every room
instead there’s an odd glow
slightly orange from the street lamps

there is still so much to do
the floor under my feet
getting rid of the ugly the hideous
the broken the old
these steep steps

but the question hangs in the fog– Read more…

Burning Man tix going fast! Low-income & scholarship apps due May 30

May 10, 2009

tags: Burning Man 2009 low income help, Burnng Man scholarships

BURNING MAN ORG WARNS: LOW INCOME & SCHOLARSHIP TICKET APPLICANTS– QUIT DRAGGING YOUR HEELS!

According to a recent issue of Jack Rabbit Speaks, “If you were thinking of applying for either of our Low Income or Scholarship ticket programs, you’re well advised to do it sooner than later. The deadline for applications isn’t too far off (May 30), and last year we did award all of the tickets before the deadline. So don’t risk being turned away, or us loving you a little less, because you waited until the last minute to apply. Giving careful consideration to all of your applications is a lot of hard work, and there are just two of us that review them all, so please go easy on us and don’t all apply the week before the deadline. Help us help you. Full information on these two ticket programs can be found here:

http://tickets.burningman.com/#lowincome

Also please note: tickets at the $260 level are now sold out!

Wine Blogging Wednesday: CA inspirations, Mom’s Day Perspiration

May 9, 2009

tags: mothers day, Ridge, Wine Blogging Wednesday

Due May 13, host Jeff at Good Grape prompts us to write about a California wine which inspired us:

Thematically, this month is intended to be broad while acting as homage to Robert Mondavi, the 1-year anniversary of his passing on Saturday, May 16.

Simply, Mondavi promoted an air of inclusiveness, not exclusiveness, conducting many of his business practices around a philosophy of aiding other wineries in knowledge and practices to create a profile for California wine that would rival the world’s finest wines.

The easy route for this theme would be to taste a Mondavi wine, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Mondavi would have preferred an air of openness. No good is accomplished by a singularity of purpose that acts as an exclusionary barrier for others.

Please go buy or pull from your stash, a bottle of whatever that California wine was that created a memorable chapter in your life, revisit the bottle, and share your story.

This prompt is a no brainer for me: today I am off to find an amazing bottle of Ridge, the winery where I worked in my early 20s and which shaped my palate as surely as working for Mr Peet!

Unfortunately, there’s nothing left from that time in the cellar; I really should have bought more when I left to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, especially since I have a cellar to keep it in. I enjoyed the last bottle in 2003–a 1980 Monte Bello Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon on New Years at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite.

And since this weekend is Mother’s Day, I have the perfect excuse to splurge!! What a great prompt! Watch for a report by next Wednesday!

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art predator )'( seek to engage the whole soul

And why are we doing this? We want to create and promote a fun, vibrant & creative bike culture in town! We want people to get on their bikes & go riding–for fun and for transportation! One last link–why:

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Bike to Work Week May 11-15, 2009

(Thanks, Michael Emas, for the amazing poster!)

Ventura Bike Commute Day May 14, 2009:

Visit Art Predator & members of the Ventura Bicyclists Union at the corner of Santa Clara & CA St! Get free stuff!

Below you’ll find cool links to lots of resources; the best one is the FREE BUS/BIKE Coupon–that’s right! Bring a coupon & your bike and ride for free!

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