My wife and partner Petra B is running in the 5k Race For The Arts later this month. How about supporting her and helping a great charity at the same time? All donations to sponsor her will go to the Women’s Wisdom Project, an art program of Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services.
If you would like to donate make checks payable to “Race for the Arts” and send to Petra B. Wynbrandt, P.O. Box 340564, Sacramento, CA 95834-0564.
Read her statement in her own words after the jump:
Earlier this month I asked for input about which artists (music and otherwise) I should see at this year’s Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. I also listed some of the artists that I am thinking of seeing. Well, Mama O posted her suggestions online on the blog, but millions of you a bunch of you wrote me via email. So, here are the suggestions I have received so far (after the jump):
Here’s your chance to tell me where to go! Take a look at the schedule for the Bumbershoot Festival coming up and let me know what acts you think are worth seeing. I’ll be there and I might need help! The schedule is here:
Any thoughts? Leave me a comment, click on the comment link below!
Bumbershoot Festival main web site
Thanks…
We took a vacation up north in the Portland, Orgeon area. You shoulda been there. Maybe you were. Whatever, we had a great time! Here’s the play-by-play.
Thursday June 25
And we hit the road running. Well, driving actually. Portland is a ten or eleven hour drive from our NorCal home base. On our way, we stopped in Yreka, right up near the top of California on the I-5, at a small place in a mall, called Linda’s Soup Café. We had stumbled on this place a few years back when we drove to Seattle and somehow remembered it. Linda’s is not your usual mall food. They even have a vegetarian menu with a whole bunch of items that looked good. Imagine us vegetarians having too many things to choose from! Anyway, fully refreshed, we headed north again. We stopped in Southern Oregon for gas and remembered the unusual law in Oregon that says you can’t pump your own gas. So we let the man service us and headed north once again. Round about dinnertime we pulled into Portland. Or I should say the suburb of Lake Oswego, where our hotel was. We checked in and unpacked. We got on the internet with our laptops and although the Ethernet connection worked the WiFi didn’t, meaning only one of us could be online at once. That wouldn’t suffice for the whole week, so we had someone from the hotel check it out and they got it working within minutes. Yay! We’ve had Internet problems at hotels a few times, and this was the fastest it ever got fixed. The room was nice too, and the rate was very cheap for a Hilton Garden Inn. In fact, the Hotel situation was great for the whole week. But I’m jumping ahead.
A few days is more like it. We had a three day weekend this past one, and we intended to enjoy it. Friday we drove to San Francisco to see a couple events. But first we had brunch at Hebivore, a vegan restaurant with three bay area locations. When you think vegan you might think “no thanks”, but this place would convince you. The food is really good and totally animal free. Check out the menu on their web site with an open mind. Then we went over to the DeYoung Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit. It was excellent, and you have two more weeks to see it before it leaves. We arrived just as a free docent tour was starting, so we got a thorough explanations of his life, his motivations, and his work. Then we walked back through to see some of the items we had skipped and to linger over others. There were some seven or eight rooms (from memory) filled with artwork and other items from different periods in his life and/or focusing on different subjects for his art. Also included were some of his experimental films. There was a lot more to him that that Campbells Soup Can painting! Much more after the jump…
– Update: The new Bumbershoot web site for 2009 is online as of March 6. Check it out. The first group of performers will be announced later this month, so they say, with more to follow…
– Second update: I can die happy now. Bumbershoot itself commented on this post [see below] and on their site! [click here]
It’s about six months until the 2009 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival in Seattle. We go there every year, since 2001. And we already have a room reserved for this year, which will be our ninth Bumbershoot.
One of life’s coolest and most wonderful things, Bumbershoot is three full days of 15-20 stages, outdoor and indoor, full of music, comedy, art, dance, literature, theater, film, vendors, street perfomers, visual arts, exhibits, activities, food, and tons of other arts-related stuff. Some of you already know how much I love this festival. Some of you might have even gone with us! Or might go this year? The festival is over Labor Day weekend (this year September 5-7), when the festival has been held for some 38 or so years. I only wish I had known about it sooner.
You can find out more on their web site, although they haven’t put the 2009 site up yet. But you can sure check out the 2008 site to see how very cool this festival is. For instance, you can see what artists played the festival from 1980-2008. Seriously, check it out. There are also some pictures of our Seattle/Bumbershoot trips from 2007, 2005, and 2004 on the photos page. If you want to be on my Bumbershoot email list, for the occasional scoop about the festival and who might be playing this year, just send me an email here or leave a comment below.
As always, open for commenting…
It was gray, cold, and rainy in our town of Sacramento. So when we got offered a week’s stay in southern California, we were more than ready. Petra‘s parents had a timeshare they would let us use, and we took them up on it. We had heard about how nice and warm it is in the Indio-Palm Springs area, even in the winter, so it sounded pretty darned inviting. Since it was a two-bedroom place, we mentioned it to friends Larry and Robin and they met us there and spent five of the seven days with us. From what I am told it was rainy, cold, and gray in our home town while we were gone too. Good time for a short vacation, eh?
Friday, February 13th
We got an early start since we had over 500 miles to go. But after a while on the road we were hungry, so we stopped at Pea Soup Anderson’s for breakfast. They are known for, guess what, their pea soup, but I don’t like pea soup and it was breakfast after all. A pea soup omelet? Pea soup waffles? Pea soup benedict? I don’t think so. We had a normal breakfast. Well, if normal includes waitresses that are very reminiscent of Frau Blucher (video) in the movie Young Frankenstein. And if you haven’t seen that movie then you must see it. Now. Meanwhile, full and happy, we headed onward toward
My wife and partner, Petra B, will be one of the Swell Sister artists included in a Second Saturday art show, titled Gather The Women. This will be her first time to have a piece of art included in a public showing. Way to go, PB! Her piece is a work of fused glass and wire art, entitled “Five Women”.
As you can see from the postcard at right, the showing will be Saturday December 13th, 2008, at the Coffee Garden. This venue is located at 2904 Franklin Blvd in Sacramento, CA. Click on the postcard graphic to see a larger version. One of the pictures on the card is a glass bowl that Petra created a while back (see top row, fourth from right).
The reception for this event will start at 6:00 PM but you can drop by any time that evening to see the art. Food and coffee are available and there will be music by the Jahari Sai Trio. Bring your friends and come by the Coffee Garden on December 13th to see Petra‘s latest and greatest work of art “Five Women”. And check out the rest of the Sisters’ art too, of course!!
Happy Birthday to Woody Allen!
Woody is one of America’s greatest filmmakers and humorists. A short overview of his life and career is here on Wikipedia. But that does not do it justice. The man has been making very-good-to-outstanding films since the 60s and continues today. And that is not to even mention his books, plays, or his clarinet playing. He is one of the truly great artists of our time and I honor him by wishing him a wonderful birthday.
The main thing, though? His films. So many deserving, quality films. Here are my “Top 11” Woody Allen films, at least for today, in no particular order:
A few weeks ago I made a post about how we bought a very special brick for the grandkids. And that was very cool, check it out if you haven’t already. But this is a little different. It’s a garden stone for my mom. She is gone now, passed away this spring, but when she was here she touched a lot of lives and will not soon be forgotten.
My wife Petra B had this great idea. In my Mom’s honor, she suggested making a garden stone in her memory. You can see the final product in the picture on the right. Mom. 2008. Betty Jo.
Petra got the ball (the stone?) rolling and did most of the work including mixing the cement, but I helped some with the lettering and finishing work. The glass (yes, those are glass pieces) inset into the stone is her work, she is the artist. Thank you so much Petra B for the great idea.
We put the stone in our yard, next to some plants (mums, coincidentally) that my co-workers gave me around the time of the funeral.
Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!
Monday 9/1
The last day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. Yikes! So let’s enjoy it!! After a quick monorail ride to the festival grounds, we strategized in the hospitality area. And we ate. Hey, you gotta eat or you’ll die, right? We started the days entertainment with an hour containing two short independent fims grouped loosely under the title of Portrait Of The Artist. The films were a bit weird but harmless and not bad really. Then on to the main stage for recently popular modern rockers Paramore. They are a young and energetic band with a charismatic female singer, and we were up pretty close to the stage. I had ony heard a song or two by them but ended up liking their entire set. I’ll have to watch for their CD. Oh, and as a general side note, there will be pictures of them and the rest of the trip up on this site soon. Check back often! Then, when the pictures are not here yet, you can grumble “Why is Steven so slow?” Ha! It’s fun, try it! Anyway,
Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!
Saturday 8/30
Today is the first day of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We are totally psyched and even more ready. Lots of music and almost every kind of arts spanning what, 15 or so stages, and elsewhere on the grounds too. It’s huge and wonderful! Check out their web site! We got there and ended up standing in a bit of a line to get in, since it is such a popular event. Once in, we headed to the hospitality area. Since we had bought the “gold passes“, we got an indoor area (with private restrooms) and free snacks and beverages all day long. We were with friends Larry and Robin and we met up with Mama O and her posse there too. Then the various groups headed their various ways. Petra and I went to see
Note: Be sure to check out some of the links too!!
Wednesday 8/27
We flew into Seattle. Actually the plane did, but we were on it. There was me and Petra, friends Larry and Robin, and Mama O (who would meet up with the rest of her posse later). We took a crowded bus to the Camlin hotel. It let us off right across the street which was very convenient. We checked in and took a quick look at the nice rooms. But of course we were all hungry so we walked a block over to Cyber Dogs Internet Cafe and Vegetarian Oasis, a great vegetarian hot dog place. The dogs are meatless but good and the toppings more than make up for that. I’ve tried a couple different ones over the last few trips and all were great. The menu is here, check out the specialty dogs. After food, what else is important? You guessed it. We took a quick and easy bus ride to the state-run liquor store. Yar!! Then we started walking back to the hotel and
It is actually two days in the life, but who’s counting?
It started Saturday the 16th with the First Annual Elk Grove Artists Open Home Studio Tour. We got a bit of a late start and only had time for three or so stops. However, each stop had multiple artists showing their work. And just in thos stops we saw African tile art and dolls, various types of painting, fused glass, beading, and more. We ran out of time because [more after the jump]
