Tonight! Join us! Check at Aloha for Happy Hour, then we’ll go to the Artists Union Gallery, then we’ll ride along the bike path around the fairgrounds to Main, cruise Main with a stop here and there, hit WAV, Bell Arts, Project 643, and Art City all on the Westside, then book it to the Ventura County Fairgrounds to see Pat Benatar! She starts at 7:30pm; we’ll be at the fairgrounds about 8pm. If you’re not into Pat Benatar or the Fair ($12), go to Anacapa, have a beer, and join us for fair fireworks at the beach and the road closure at 10pm.
Be in the Ventura County Fair Parade! Meet us at 930am on Main between Chrisman and Hurst; we’re entry #65.
So Hit Us With Your Best Shot!
via Bikergo Gal
Fiesta “Burning Man” Bicycle Ride in Santa Barbara Tonight
To all those Burners out there who have gone to Black Rock City, will go, might go, want to go, have a ticket or don’t, Santa Barbara Bike Moves monthly First Thursday Bike Ride tonight will explore the theme of “Burning Man.”Fiesta is going on plus open galleries and studios so it should be a wild ride along State Street!
Read on for more details! And look for us! We’ll be there!
via Bikergo Gal
That’s right, it is once again time for that yearly ritual of writing when a bunch of crazy poets set their alarms and rouse every night during the month of August at 3:15am to write! Something! Anything!
In that hypnopompic/hypnogogic state between sleeps where the editor is asleep and the creative self can connect with the dream self creative self and write something and not remember writing the next day or at the end of the month…
You too can set your alarm and wake up with us! We invite you to register on facebook or online or just write with us! At the end of the month, you can publish your words from your between sleeps world online at the 315 Experiment website http://www.315experiment.com
Want to read some 3:15 poetry? Anyone can read what’s been posted over the years on the 3:15 website and you can find examples of my poems here.
There are also several books of 3:15 experiment poetry out there–Danika Dinsmore and I co-edited Between Sleeps in 2006 and this year I published a collection of my own 3:15 poems titled Middle of the Night Poems From Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son. Both books are available in print from en theos press; my book is also out as an ebook. Read sample poems from my book and reviews.
This year I will start the experiment on the road here in northern California and end it on the road at Burning Man! I’ll be writing at 3:15am and inviting people to share their middle of the night verse with us during the days from Monday August 29 – Thursday September 1 at 3:15 in the afternoon in Kidsville located at 5:30 and Divorce.
I’ll be camped along Divorce closer to 5:15. If you send me your 3:15 poems by snail mail to
gwendolyn alley aka art predator
5:15 Divorce
Kidsville
Black Rock City, NevadaI will read your poem at Burning Man! And if you send me a SASE, I will send YOU something back from BRC!
And stay tuned–I will be posting A LOT in the coming months about Burning Man and from Burning Man, giving you the perspective that only a long time Burner can give on all the latest news and views about this year’s Burning Man.
When I last checked in from my road trip, I had arrived on the coast of Oregon following a few days in the Walla Walla AVA (American Viticultural Area) and around Boise (the Snake River AVA). I did some tasting in Oregon then booked it south to make the big Petite Sirah Symposium and tasting plus a big birthday party for Jim Concannon and Petite Sirah. (Read more about those events at Wine Predator–what to eat with Petite, PS tasting part 1, and PS tasting part 2.)
What follows is an overview of what we did and where we went in Oregon’s Willamette Valley wine country:
From the Oregon coast, I drove east and north through the heart of the Willamette Valley AVA to stay with my friend, writer Joan MacBeth (pictured), 
at her family farm in the Chehelem Hills AVA about 30 minutes west and south of Portland. We parked on the grass under the shade of a huge Douglas fir (pictured above); while close to Portland, this area is still agricultural land and remote, complete with gravel roads and no cell or wireless service! We visited and picked some of her father’s proprietary berry (those pictured are raspberries however), and we roamed around the AVA all day as she and a friend picked up wine for an event to raise funds for programs for kids from the Willamette Writers Conference being held in Portland the first weekend in August.
If you like pinot noir and pinot gris, Willamette Valley Oregon is the place to be!
We started at Four Graces in Dundee (named for their four daughters and making lovely pinot noir), then continued down the road a bit to Dobbes where we toured and tasted and had a picnic with an inexpensive but tasty Pinot Noir from their value priced Wine By Joe label. Dobbs is one of the largest wineries in Oregon and they make wine for
their own labels as well as for others in their large modern facility. I want to return to Kramer at some time because the women in the Kramer family are definitely running the show there!
At the end of the day, we tasted at Elk Cove and Barrel Fence. Elk Cove is one of the earlier wineries in the region and one of the larger ones while Barrel Fence is one of the newest and very small. Barrel Fence has another claim to fame: Herb Sims (pictured) owns vineyards and makes wine at 45 degrees north in the Dundee Hills of Oregon–and 45 degrees south in Otago New Zealand. He offers tastes of both in his small tasting room up on hill; we picked up a bottle of 45 degrees north for our salmon dinner (retail $24).
The next day, we picked berries and packed our bags to head to McMinnville (pictured is my son riding an old fashioned bike as a bike rack!) again to connect with our friends Mary and John from the coast. What a cute downtown! And healthy too–it ha
s a nice diversity of shops including two bookstores where we picked up Book Two in the Harry Potter series and we all enjoyed ice cream at Serendipity: I had a last blast of Huckleberry plus Northwest Berry and Very Chocolate!
Nearing our van, we stopped in the Willamette Valley Vineyards tasting room. From all the info on the walls about area soils and sustainability projects, I figured it was a regional AVA visitors center but instead it was a tasting room for one of the larger wineries. Mary had never been to a tasting room or a tasting so we tasted their refreshing and mild entry level pinot gris plus two pinot noirs. Mary got a kick out the tasting and the conversation.
We finally said good bye and headed down the road. I was disappointed that there hadn’t been enough time to visit more wineries for my project, wineries that have stories I can tell to infuse meaning into both the ideas of “family” and “sustainability.” Three that I wanted to visit in particular were recommended by fellow wine blogger and writer Ryan Reichart who knows the region well. He had suggested I go to
1. Trisaetum, on Ribbon Ridge and named for the owners’ two children: their son, Tristen, 13 and their daughter, Tatum, 11;
2. Soléna & Grand Cru Estates as they have a daughter Soléna around 10
3. Coleman Vineyards who have a winemaking 14 year old son
4. Noble Pig because he thought I’d enjoy Cathy and her two sons are fun too
From McMinnville, I could drive
south and see if anyone was at Coleman, so that’s what we did –and wow, did we luck out! Randy (pictured in the tasting room and in the Pinot Noir) and Kim Coleman have a brand new tasting room (so new it didn’t even have a sign and we did wander around until we figured out which was the right place and door!) We hit it off, I loved the wines and their stories, and since I wanted to meet their son, they invited us to stick around for dinner so we did (we even spent the night so my son Reed could go with Ryan to fly remote c
ontrol airplanes and visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum and see the Spruce Goose.)
Randy Coleman opened a library bottle of their 06 Pinot Noir that just knocked my socks off it was so exciting. And their Syrah, made from Columbia Valley grapes, told me that it’s not just an accident of fruit–this husband and wife wine making team were doing it right, and so is their 14 year old son Ryan who started making wine at 7! I will definitely be writing more about them–and their wines.
In the cool of the morning, I learned that the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference would be held in Portland and I celebrated by posting some photos of Pinot Noir in the morning light. I can’t wait to return to Oregon next year!
But in the meantime, I had to head south to make it to the PS I Love You Symposium–time to move on from Pinot Noir to Petite Sirah!
What to eat with your Petite? Ideas from Ellen Landis at PS I Love You Symposium After over three weeks on the road, and tasting wine in Idaho, Walla Walla Washington and the Willamette Valley in Oregon, I made it Monday July 25 to Jim Concannon’s birthday dinner to celebrate his 80th and Petite Sirah at the PS I Love You Petite Sirah Symposium Tuesday July 26 at Concannon Winery in Livermore. (Links to participating wineries and those discussed below the jump; here’s a blog post by Jo Diaz about the events. Pictured below is … Read More
via Wine Predator
You might also enjoy:
Petite Sirahs From The PS I Love You Symposium Tasting: Part 1Wineries A-C
It’s summer! Go for a bicycle ride!
Here are a few you might want to join–or make one happen!
via Bikergo Gal
Wine Road Trip: latest photos from Idaho & Walla Walla
Hello from the coast of Oregon!
How did I get here? Read a bit about where we’ve been below–more posts to come (including one on the four hot springs we’ve visited in four states!).
Here’s to wine and adventure!
via Wine Predator
Ventura’s Beach Bike Path Now Open!
Since I am in Boise Idaho, I couldn’t be at the ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday for the new bike path along the beach in Ventura, so my husband rode his bike over there and sent me some photos from his BlackBerry for this post. Looks like it was a nice sunny day at the beach for a change and I heard a great crowd of people showed up to hear the Mayor and others talk about the project and applaud its completion.
Once again, people can ride on a bike path from the ocean to Ojai!
A big thank you to everyone who worked so hard for nearly 20 years to find the most ecological way to balance the needs of the see, the surfers, pedestrians and more before rebuilding. Congratulations especially to Paul Jenkin of Surfrider who really followed through on this project representing the perspective of many of the environmentally concerned citizens in our community.
Now that this project is over, I hope he takes on San Jon Road, a short but wide segment of road that connects the beach with the town. He’s shown me plans that take that wide monstrosity and turns half of it into a park with water, a bike path and plenty of room for pedestrians. Sign me up, Paul! I am ready to help you on this one!
Next ArtRides: First Friday August 5 and Sat. August 6 Fair Parade: Freewheeling Farmers! What’s the “Bounty of the County” that you have in your bike basket?
Read more about the new bike path below and watch a video too!
via Bikergo Gal
Like me, Bob Dylan is on the road this summer. (Okay so we both go on road trips often–see the video above to learn about his first trip to NYC–it’s great!)
Bob Dylan’s 2011 road trip started at the Santa Barbara Bowl on Thursday July 14 then the Orange County Fair last night July 15; from California he headed to Vegas, tonight he’s in Phoenix and from there other US points then to Europe (obviously he’s not driving like we are!)
Below is a list of his upcoming shows in the US along with a link to buy tickets. Here’s a link to the OC set list and here it is below as reported by guest blogger Ron Wells along with his review.
1.Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
2.Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
3.Things Have Changed
4.Tangled Up In Blue
5.Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ (Bob on guitar)
6.Sugar Baby
7.High Water (For Charley Patton)
8.Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
9.Summer Days
10.A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
11.Highway 61 Revisited
12.Forgetful Heart
13.Thunder On The Mountain
14.Ballad Of A Thin Man
(encore)
15.Like A Rolling Stone
16.All Along The Watchtower
17.Blowin’ In The Wind
Bob has played the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, CA previously. I guess he just can’t stay away from that carnival atmosphere. So, on a clear, pleasant night in Southern California, with the roller coaster, ferris wheel, and other thrill rides, along with farm animals and giant pumpkins all within a short distance of the venue, Bob Dylan brought his Cowboy Band to play before music lovers and thrill seekers in the outdoor Pacific Amphitheater. The 8,500 seats seemed to be filled and hundreds of more people sat on the grass behind the fixed seats.
I was seated to the side of Bob as he stood at the keyboards, and in the first seat next to the stage. This gave me a great view of the band members as they focused their attention on Bob, and an even better view of Bob himself when he stood center stage at the mic. From where I was sitting, it was fascinating to watch the band members stare at Bob so intently, even on the encores which they had played practically every night. They took nothing for granted as they watched every twitch and gesture from him throughout the night and during every song.
The band came on at 8:15 with Bob decked out in a dark suit with greenish stripes down the pant legs and around his jacket collar, while wearing white and black boots covered by his pants, and wearing a white broad-brimmed hat with a gold band around the center of it.
Right from the start, you could hear his voice loud and clear. Obviously the recent break from being on the road added to its strength and it was a joy to hear the words so clearly.
Of the seventeen songs played, he stood center stage for seven of them. Those included: Things Have Changed, Tangled Up In Blue, Beyond Here Lies Nothin’, Sugar Baby, High Water, Forgetful Heart, and Ballad of a Thin Man. He also came out front near the end of Blowin’ in the Wind.
He played guitar only on Beyond Here Lies Nothin’, and he was really into playing that guitar. It was great watching him play while at center stage and you could see the intensity in his eyes as he fingered the guitar strings.
It is again worth noting how animated Dylan is when he stands center stage. On those songs, he bends at the knees, slightly crouched to the side of the mic stand, and uses his hands and arms to almost pantomime every song, like a master storyteller using his body to add emphasis to his words. So theatrical, so dramatic, and so dynamic.
Sugar Baby was certainly one of the high points as Read more…
On the road, I am finding it challenging to keep up with my blogging! Thanks to guest blogger Ron Wells, I have a review of a wonderful documentary I am looking forward to seeing! I will be keeping my eye out for it to escape the afternoon heat in the cool quiet of a movie theater.
Buck, the first documentary by Cindy Meehl, is the story of Buck Brannaman, a cowboy who handles “horses with people problems.” It quietly tells Buck’s story without any need to sensationalize any of the telling.
What is fascinating about this documentary, which may not always be apparent, is the various layers and storylines it reveals as it moves along at its gentle, never hurried pace.
Buck is one of those people you may never meet, but one you would probably like to know. A trick roper at the age of three, a professional by the age of six, Buck and his brother were both physically abused by their father for any mistakes they made, or just because the father needed someone to hit. To hear Buck tell it in his steady, but unemotional voice, it was a brutal time for him.
The fact that he came out of that to be the person he is today is a story in itself. Thanks to a football coach and a local sheriff who rescued the boy from his dad, and then found the most loving and caring foster home one could imagine, Buck began to grow as a kind and gentle human being with a strong and loving spirit.
If that isn’t story enough right there, the way he teaches people who own or ride horses how to handle their horses is the main thrust of the story. And yet, it isn’t just about training horses. It’s about training people how to discover who they are so that they may better relate to the horses, and by extension though it is not actually said, to other people.
The lessons seem so simple, and yet so profound. “Live in the moment; you can’t live in the past.”
We’ve heard that so many times, and yet coming from this man it takes on a whole new meaning. And then he tells some of his “students”, “The horse is a mirror into your soul.” This is followed by the praise and awe of numerous converts who never believed Buck could actually do what he said he could do with their horses. That’s just one of the many surprises they get when they actually meet this man and see him in action.
Along the way, Buck talks about Ray Hunt, the man who taught him so much. We meet Buck’’s wife, daughter, and his foster mother during the telling of the film. As the foster mother, Betsy Shirley, says to Buck: “I knew you before you were a genius.” They both laugh and it’s easy to see how this woman helped him turn into the man he is today.
There is one scene near the end of the film, that is as spellbinding and powerful as a personal documentary can become. An owner has brought a horse who was “orphaned” at birth, and born “oxygen-deprived” on top of that. The horse is mean and impossible to handle. To say anymore would be giving too much away, but the comparison Buck makes between this horse and a child who may be born disabled in some way is profound. What he says will bring a tear to the eye of any parent, teacher or anyone in the general public who has worked with children who are especially challenged in one way or another. This scene, or series of scenes, is as emotionally powerful as anything you will see on the screen this year.
Once again, this is turning out to be quite a year for documentaries, and this is certainly an excellent one. So many layers of this film lead the movie goer deeper into the human condition, deeper into the untold stories of abuse overcome by love and gentle caring; there is just so much humanity to this film. And yet, it’s a story about a man who works with horses. Isn’t that amazing. Isn’t that wonderful.
On A NorthWest Wine Tasting Road Trip!
We hit the road July 2, visited hot springs in Utah and Wyoming, explored Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, camped in Arizona, Idaho, and Wyoming, and now we’ve dropped off Marshall in Pocatello so he can go back to work and Reed and I can continue our road trip adventure with a new focus: a wine blogging project for Wine Predator! I plan to post more about our journey so far here on this blog with a few photos too, but for now, you can read on for more details about what’s next plus a few photos of what’s gone on before:
via Wine Predator
art predator 