On My Calendar

Exciting things coming up in August both in and around Rockridge and further afield:

• Subculture the East Bay Express’s Best of the East Bay Party:  With something for everyone (and I mean everyone), the East Bay Express will be celebrating everything wonderful about the East Bay at the Oakland Museum this Friday, August 7 from 5pm to midnight.  The party itself is so massive and diverse that it makes summary a futile endeavor.  Download a large copy of the invitation by clicking here (invite) or check the blog the EBE has set up for more information.  (Best of the East Bay 2009 Party Blog)
• FLUX Super 8 Showcase: Sets from the short film Synesthesia by directors Corey Creasey and Ian Kibbey of Terri Timely will be part of this exhibition curated by RESFEST founder Jonathan Wells.  This is the first annual showcase by FLUX, organized to celebrate eight of the most exciting and emerging young artists working in film, video, music and design.  Watch Terri Timely’s film here (Synesthesia via Terri Timely).  Opening: August 15, 7pm  Scion Installation L.A. 3521 Helms Ave (at National) Culver City, CA. 90232 (310) 815-8840.  Through September 8.

from Terri Timely’s Synesthesia

• Oliveto Tomato Dinners: Oliveto’s annual Tomato dinners are the perfect capstone to tomato season, but this year in particular.  Oliveto’s new Community Journal has been tracking the cultivation of this years crop from the time the Early Girls were planted as seeds back in February via Tomato Watch (check out their brilliant Tomato Watch timeline by clicking here).  For those of us who have been watching all along, the Journal has taken the experience of anticipation of eating this prized fruit to new levels.  Whether you’re a regular or an Oliveto virgin, the Tomato Dinners are sure to delight.  Wednesday through Saturday, August 26 through 29, 2009.  (Oliveto Restaurant, Oliveto Community Journal)
• Chalk Hill Clematis’s Mary Toomey Garden Open House:  The eminent clematis cultivators Chalk Hill will open their doors to the public later this month for a tour of the Mary Toomey Garden.  From the Chalk Hill website: The Mary Toomey Garden is adjacent to the nursery and consists of a large pergola planted with roses and clematis and five individual gardens each with a different theme including an eighty foot long perennial bed featuring many herbaceous varieties. Chalk Hill also produces their own Olive Oil and Vinegar, available for sale at the farm.  In addition, cultivator Kaye Heafey’s book A Celebration of Clematis will be available for purchase  Open House Friday August 28th from 9am-4pm.  Chalk Hill Clematis PO Box 1847, Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 433-8416 farmmgr@chalkhillclematis.com

Artwork by Martha Kemp

• Os Mutantes LIVE: One of my favorite musical acts of all time will be performing live at the Independent in San Francisco as part of the second annual Outside Lands festival.  Their blend of Tropicalia, Psychedelia, and progressive rock have made them a unique (and we all shudder to use that word, but in this case it’s appropriate) force in 20th century popular music consciousness since their debut in the mid-1960s.  Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see them in action.  Sunday, August 30, 9PM (Os Mutantes Myspace) (Tickets via the Independent) (About Os Mutantes via Wikipedia)

Begonia’s Lomography; Dreaming New York, Dreaming Morocco

All of these photographs were taken by Begonia Colomar.  The preceding were taken in New York with a Lomo LC-A+.

The preceding three were taken in Morocco with a Lomo LC-A.

Begonia is at http://begoniacolomar.com/

Synesthesia

Terri Timely’s most recent short film is called “Synesthesia,” which even I had to look up.  From Merriam Webster online:

Main Entry:

syn·es·the·sia

Pronunciation:

\ˌsi-nəs-ˈthē-zh(ē-)ə\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

New Latin, from syn- + -esthesia (as in anesthesia)

Date:

circa 1891

1: a concomitant sensation ; especially : a subjective sensation or image of a sense (as of color) other than the one (as of sound) being stimulated2: the condition marked by the experience of such sensations

— syn·es·thet·ic \-ˈthe-tik\ adjective

Enjoy.

View the film larger by clicking here (you will be redirected to Terri Timely).

Actor Out Of Work-St. Vincent

An extremely jarring depiction, but absolutely fascinating. My inner voyeur can’t get enough of watching these freak shows. I’m going to watch it again now on silent maybe. Video by Terri Timely.

Banksia Rose

Big huge bushes of banksia rose are all over Rockridge these days. 

For some reason, these roses remind me of Connie’s wedding in Godfather 1.  That whole sequence at the wedding has sort of a yellow-y seventies light to it.  Can’t you just picture Kay and Michael stopping to smell them?…and then discovering that they have very little scent?  

Spate of Education-related posts

The Teacher Salary Project, a group of educators and citizens committed to raising teacher salaries in order to improve the quality of education, is having an event in San Francisco on March 23, 2009 from 6:30-8:30.  The evening will include clips from the new film of the same name, based on the New York Times best-seller Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers by Daniel Moulthrop, Ninive Clements Calegari, and Dave Eggers.  In addition to a preview of the film, the evening will include discussion with the directors and producers and sushi from Ichi Catering.  Mmmm.  Minimum suggested donation is $150.  A small price to pay for raising money and consciousness for real social change.

Teacher Salary Party pdf

Another incredible opportunity to show your support for students and the people who work hard to prepare them for . . . everything, is quickly approaching at ARL all-time favorite Oliveto.  I knew I was in love with Paul Canales, and here’s just one more reason why.  

MetWest High School invites you to
A Morning of Real-World Learning:
Our first annual exhibition-viewing breakfast fundraiser
Wednesday, March 18th, 8:30 – 9:45 AM

*Join us for a breakfast prepared by Oliveto Restaurant head chef, and MetWest internship mentor, Paul Canales
*Sit amongst our students to view one of our students quarterly exhibitions of their internship-based learning
*Hear more about MetWest’s unique approach to high school education:
– Exploring passions through internships
– Professional networking skills
– Project management experience
– Anti-oppression curriculum
– Close peer relationships within a diverse student body

Please RSVP to Greg Cluster:
metwestgregc@gmail.com or 510-435-6115
Space is limited

There Will Be Blood

I am teaching Shakespeare for the first time.  Macbeth.  At Harold Bloom’s urging I’ll be screening Kumonosu jô; Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of the play.  I’m SO EXCITED. 

The stills alone!  I can’t wait!!!

Do you think my 10th graders will go for it?  I’m going to start with a clip rather than doing the whole thing at once.  Fingers crossed! 

Song of the Day

“Leave_Her_Alone,” Rimpletide

This image reminds me of the opening sequence of Volver

It Was A Rainy Night

We stayed in and watched Married to the Mob.  You should really watch the trailer here: Married to the Mob trailer.

Have you EVER seen shoulder pads that big?  Honestly!

Michelle Pfeifer’s outfits are so insanely out of control and I love it.  But the reviewer on IMDB is right–as adorable as Michelle Pfeiffer is, the paranoid Connie Russo as played by Mercedes Ruehl steals the show.  Amazing.

The gloomy weather made me too lazy to cook.  I ate mac and cheese from Trader Joes and sprinkled some 5% truffle salt on top.  Sinful!

PS: I discovered some pretty intense Michelle Pfeiffer fansites while looking for images from the movie.  Does everyone call her “The Face?”  Am I just behind the times? She’s pretty amazing looking, but still…

These kids can really O____o!

This has been an obsession around ARL this week:

Check out the link here

You’re going to have to take my word for it and click on the link since I can’t embed it.

O___o