FFArtRide: And away we go!
The wind is windy but we’re getting our bikes ready to roll! Jason has on his bunny ears and a green fuzzy sweater and green flowers to share. We have marshmallow bunnies and fuzzy bunny ears!
Let’s go ride a bike!
BURNING MAN 2008 PHOTOGRAPHY FROM JOSH EDELSON: 99% safe for work. It’s that last 1% you need to worry about: http://tinyurl.com/cckdt8
Somehow I missed last month’s grant deadline from the Black Rock Arts Foundation to bring a little Playa excitement home to Ventucky, but just as I hit the regret button big time, I find out there’s another opportunity thanks to the BURNERS WITHOUT BORDERS $5K STIMULUS PACKAGE! You and I and any other interested parties Read more…
April Fools :: What’s Up Wrap Up
Another month gone–and now it’s April! About time to get some tomatoes going and growing–and hopefully not exploding like in this high speed photo by my friend Alan Sailer!
So here’s a quick March Wrap Up and April What’s Up with links to March’s MOST POPULAR POSTS, April’s astronomical highlights and astrological outlook, and more.
I closed March out with skiing at Bear Valley, just an hour into the mountains an hour or so from the Calaveras County wine growing region (where I tasted some fine wines at Twisted Oak, Lavender Ridge, Frogs Tooth and Hatcher–and even bought a few! more on that later…), and about three hours away from Yosemite Valley where we camped three nights and rode the snow at Badger Pass for two days.
And I closed March out with almost 11,000 page views and 43 posts–a record in both departments–with nearly 70,000 total views since I started this blog November 2008! (Unfortunately those numbers also means ads put on the blog by WordPress, not me!)
In March, over 25 posts had 50 or more page views. The Top 12 Posts were:
And here are the Top 21 Art Predator Posts of All Time (Nov. 08-March 09): Read more…
Some Spring & Summer Poetry Workshops: in LA 4/4 Gail Wronsky–Poems of Vision & Ecstasy
A good writing workshop makes you feel like a Christmas ornament exploding with ideas, colors, textures–just like this high speed photograph by my friend Alan Sailer. To produce his art, he uses pellets shot from an air rifle. This image really is a Christmas ornament filled with small objects. Writers should be grateful that we traffic in paper, not paintballs!
While I’m here in Yosemite, where the days are warm (60s) and the nights are cold (30s), and the waterfalls are roaring along while the grass is zooming in green, I’m remembering Read more…
Alan Sailer’s High-Speed Photographic Experiments: air rifle pellet explosions caught!
My friend Alan Sailer is experiencing well deserved celebrity: a few of his high speed photography experiments caught the attention of the UK Telegraph. His art work is no stranger to notoriety: a few years ago one of his Burning Man walking art creations (as in he’s wearing the art!) made the front page of the NY Times website I think it was.
He’s been working on this series for quite a while and I’m happy that his work is getting some attention! Read a bit about his process and check out more of his work here:
Yosemite Spring 2009
I sit in a very fine chair in the Great Room of the Ahwanhee Hotel in Yosemite Valley, late afternoon sunlight pouring through the windows as a gentleman plays a grand piano, and fresh cookies and tea is served to the guests. The waterfalls leap off the cliffs, dancing and dashing their way down thousands of feet to the valley floor.
And there’s wireless here, free for the taking. You can even catch it outside along with a cold Fat Tire and views of snowcapped Half Dome in one direction or Royal Arches in another, watching seasonal cascade do just that, and a white helmeted climber slowly go the other direction to scale that 11d climb.
The past two days we skiied at Badger Pass under spring conditions, staying one night in the van and the second in a cabin in Curry Village to take advantage of the Stay N Play deal. Last night and for the next two nights we’re camped near the confluence of the Merced river where there’s still some patches of snow around and with views of Yosemite Falls! Then off to more adventures!
Details and pictures soon! As wonderful as it is in here, I’d much rather be out there–riding my bike, and enjoying life and my family outside!!
Murphys Calaveras County California: think wine!
So you didn’t know that Murphy’s California is a big name in wine?
Check out this article from the Los Angeles Times Travel section for more! Although the author didn’t mention my favorite Calaveras County winery, Twisted Oak, you can see why this is a fun town to visit!
Last time I was there was in 2003 for a poetry reading hosted by Nila NorthSun. No wine tasting for me on that trip however–I was 6 months pregnant! We’re on our way there in a few days and I look forward to tasting my way through town!
Murphys rings in St. Patrick’s Day with green wine – Los Angeles Times.
Organic Beers to Try & Revere
We’re big fans of New Belgium Brewing Company–Fat Tire Amber Ale is a standard in our fridge and in winter, I love 2 degrees below. So I was excited to discover:
New Belgium Mothership Wit. In its first foray into organic brews, New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colorado, struck gold with this Belgian-style wheat beer. The brewers practice what they preach by incorporating green building design, using wind power and promoting transportation alternatives; after a year’s employment, brewery workers get a customized bike.
Here’s a list by the Beer Sommelier of his 10 Best organic Beers.
We’ve got some Fat Tire on board–we’re heading off to Yosemite for skiing, camping, etc and a little wine tasting in Murphy’s at Twisted Oak!
Que syrah shiraz: Art Predator & Wine Blogging Wednesday
I’m fortunate to live in the prime grape growing and wine producing region of Ventura and Santa Ba
rbara counties–and, until just recently, just a few miles away from the Grateful Palate warehouse facility in Oxnard (it’s now in Fairfield near Napa).
I’ve long been a fan of Adam Tolmach’s Ojai Vineyard from back in the day when I had a print column “The Art Predator” for a weekly where I reviewed art shows, restaurants and whatever took my fancy, and was paid primarily in trade, mostly food and drink (I could never say I was a starving artist.)
We had lots of trade at an Ojai restaurant which carried Adam Tolmach’s wines and I was thrilled to get to know many of them by the glass. It seemed that wine maker Tolmach often dropped off the odd bottle or two of wine that wouldn’t find its way onto a typical list or store. In particular, I remember being floored by one of his syrahs back in 1998.
So when I learned that Michael Meagher was a disciple of Adam Tolmach and was making his own wines under the Vino V label (V as in Ventura), that his limited edition wines (600 cases) are carried by restaurants like Campanile, and that his daughter was in my son’s kindergarten class, I wanted to get my hands on some and try it!
With this Wine Blogging Wednesday hosted by Remy Charest, pitting north vs south, here was a perfect opportunity to put a tasting together using a Vino V wine. As Remy puts it,
Essentially, this is a question of comparing how more northerly and more southerly vineyards produce different results with the same grapes. Read more…
April 3 ArtRide: Join us for a gallery Bunny Hop by bike!
While the City of Ventura’s budget cuts gut the heart out of the “New Art City,” First Friday will continue anyway because it is organized and funded by a consortium of art galleries, studios and show spaces.
And so the First Friday ArtRide will go on!
For the April 3 ride, we encourage people to get their bunny on! Bunny ears? Bunny nose? Bunny tail? Any and all costumed gorgeousness especially springtime cute animalness will be appreciated!
(1:17pm Moonrise)
5:15pm Meet at the San Jon Road City Yard (free parking)
5:30pm Ride to the Artists Union Gallery (pay parking)
6pm Ride along the promenade & River Trail to Main and around downtown then “hop” to various galleries including Bell Arts Factory and probably Seabreeze to see Erik Reel’s pink creation pictured below and ending somewhere (Anacapa Brewery? Charlines? ArtBarn?) for food, drink, and conviviality.
7:15pm Sunset
8:10pm Dark
Need some bunny ears? We can hook you up with a fuzzy pink LED battery included set for $5. We also have some pink feathery tiaras ($5) and more blinky light magic available for purchase (2 for $5)!
Remember, the law requires you to have a white light in front (it can be a flashlight taped on to your bike or something you wear) and a red flashing light in back plus side reflectors. Rumour has it some of us will gather at the ArtBarn the night before the ride, April 2, during the open mic “Train of Thought” to get bikes set up for the ride from 7-9pm.
First Friday ArtRide is part of a greater effort to create a bike culture in Ventura. Starting in April, a ride will be hosted by a different participant every Friday. Read more…
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