The Piano Guys

Angels We Have Heard on High (Christmas w/ 32 fingers and 8 thumbs)

This is so cool!
I hope it is the first of many Christmas videos that come my way this year.




Enjoy!

11-12-13

Today is 11-12-13. I love when the month, day and year align in some interesting way. Seems like a celebration is in order even if rather ordinary.

So today I am celebrating...

• that Drew is here from Amsterdam
• the house is clean
• taxes are paid
• my errands are finished
• it's not raining
• and there will time left for the studio.

And just so you have something to look at, here is a picture from our recent and glorious fall and a reminder of just why I play golf.

Voices: Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love fame was the speaker at Voices on Wednesday. WOW! is the word that comes to mind. I loved her voice, her ability to tell a story and her thoughts on just where ideas really come from.

She spoke about the creative process through numerous stories. The first one told was a story her Brazilian husband told her about a corporation who wanted to build a highway through the Amazon. They started the work and then the rainy season required a halt. When they returned to work again, everything they had done had been completely absorbed by the jungle. There was no sign that anything had ever been there. She thought this had the makings of a book and so developed the story line and characters, applied for funding with her publisher and it was accepted. Then life got in the way and the book was put on hold. When she returned to it, the story was gone. She could not bring it back. Some time later she met Ann Patchett, whom she had always admired. They became good friends, sharing their friendship through letter writing. They had another visit with Ann telling Liz about a book she was working on about the Amazon. Liz conveyed that she had started a similar story but the idea had moved on. Ann asked her to tell her story. In the end, Ann's story was almost identical in theme and character to the idea that Liz had originally. Ann's book has been published and is State of Wonder.

From this, Liz suggests that ideas are not really ours. Rather, they are in the universe looking for a vessel, someone who will act on them. If you do not act on them when they present themselves, then they will move on and look for someone who will. I am sure that I am not doing justice to her ideas but listen to this Ted Talk by Elizabeth. It is good.



She closed with the idea that people often tell you to follow your passion however, many people don't know their passion. She suggests that we follow our curiosities.

What a lovely way to spend and evening.

Portland Center Stage: Fiddler on the Roof

One of my favorite musicals of all time, Fiddler on the Roof, continues to make me laugh, cry, dance and wonder. Tradition is set aside but not lightly. "One the one hand, you can see in her face how she loves him...but on the other hand, a father makes the match". Tradition.

The PCS rendition did not disappoint.

 Tevye, played by David Studwell, was superb. What a voice! Such joy in the singing.

 

One thing that I always watch for when at a stage show is how the stage sets are accomplished. PCS is truly amazing in this regard. From the image below you can see a rough wooden back drop that was the back half of an elliptical shaped wall. It was made of a series of panels. These were opened and closed to give the effect of  being inside a home, a saloon, the wide open air or a series of houses in the village. The lighting on the wall behind was manipulated to help with the scene. Simple but oh so effective.

If you have never been, you should try a show at Portland Center Stage and see for yourself just how wonderful live stage presentations really are. Love 'em.

Christopher Columbus

The Cathedral of Seville is immense, being the largest Gothic church in Europe. And, third behind St Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London. Unlike in Cordoba, this cathedral was built on the site of the Almohad mosque. All that remains is La Giralda, the mosque's original bell tower. Christopher Colombus is buried here. This is his tomb.

Seville and Flamenco

Some of the best flamenco happens in Seville. We were able to see a demonstration of the dance, which included the dresses and all of the accessories a dancer uses. Such things as combs, earrings, hair flowers and scarves, which are often passed from mother to daughter. Spanish dance is known for bright shiny dress, always shiny. Music is as important to the flamenco as is the dancer. A drummer keeps the beat (11-13 beats per measure). The male dancers legs seemed to vibrate, they moved so fast. Castanets replicate hand claps in the beat.

In the evening we were able to attend a flamenco dance show. This was truly a treat for all of us.

Cordoba y La Mezquita

Cordoba is known for this crowning Muslim landmark. The building is the size of three football fields. I am sorry for that description, but it does give size. It is a forest of marble pillars and red and white arches as impressive as any of the gothic churches of Europe. When Fernando III conquered Cordoba in 1236, he left the mosque intact. A 16th century archbishop constructed a cathedral inside. We are lucky this remains as it is truly magnificent.

Museo Nacional del Prado

On our last day in Madrid, we visited the Prado, the finest art museum in Spain. We toured the works of three Spanish painters: Diego Velazquez, Francisco de Goya and El Greco, who was born in Greece but claimed Toledo, Spain as his home. No photos allowed so google them if you wish.

Alongside this museum runs a beautiful boulevard called the Paseo del Prado. Wide streets with a wide walk down the center made for a respite from the sun. Portland sure could learn a thing or two about delightful walking streets from the Spanish.

I managed to capture some fun street art though.

Palacio Real

Building started near 1734 and was completed in 1764 while Felipe V was ruler. His son, Carlos III, was the first to inhabit this palace. No photos were allowed so I cannot convey the beauty of this palace. The grand staircase while quite large was easy to ascend as the steps were broad half steps. There were many wonderful and opulent rooms including the Throne room where the king and Queen held court. A fascinating side excursion was to the Armory where all of the shields, swords and body armory are displayed. Across the street is the Kings Cathedral. 

Madrid At-Lasta

We arrived in Madrid, found our luggage and then our transporter found us. YEAH! He was from Mexico and followed the love of his life to Spain. Good for us his English was good and he gave us an introduction to the topology of Madrid on our ride to the hotel.

We arrived at the Hotel Melia Galgos at around noon. We were exhausted and they were ready for us, letting us check in early. We adopted the culture immediately by taking our first siesta. Life IS good!

Later we strolled down the Calle de Serrano, the hottest shopping district in the city. Window shopping was fun. Merchandising is certainly different which makes it more interesting.

Ending in the Parque de Bueno Retiro, we watched a lot of street vendors including mimes, musicians vendors and puppeteers entertaining children and, well, us.

After, we headed past the Museo de Prada toward Plaza St. Ana to enjoy drinks and tapas, small plates of food, and people watching. Caite's recommendation was a restaurant called Lateral. It was a nice finish to a very long day.

Hurry Up So We Can Wait

Up at 5am and out the door by 5:30 with a message from United stating the plane was delayed but we still needed to be there at the regularly scheduled hour. Oh too bad, the pilots got in late and need to rest. Don't get me wrong I'm glad they are but ME TOO. Sleeping until 7:30 sounds really good right now. Our plane now leaves at 11:am. We've been here awhile. I guess it guarantees that we will sleep on the plane. Good thing we had a 6 hour lay over in New York.

The Backsplash is Nice-a

It needs to be sealed and the switch plates added but I love the dark top with the creamy travertine tiles juxtaposed with the white cabinets. We are getting close.

Sporting New Counter Tops

I chose a quartz product, Zodiaq brand and chestnut is the color and pattern. The sink is granite. It was recommended by several people. The faucet is a HansGrohe Allegro E. It looks like a piece of sculpture. I will get a close up for you to see and post it in a few days. This brand appealed to me because the housing for the pull down element is magnetized so it should never droop. YEAH!

Here they are.

When the painters come, the island will be painted a chocolate brown.

My back splash is being installed now so in a day or two, I will post photos. It is looking fab.

The Chihuly Garden and Glass

A trip to Seattle yesterday to see the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum at the Seattle Center was in the cards. WHOA! Talk about eye candy. Here are a few images.

The first is the Sonic Blooms, designed by Seattle based artist  Dan Carson. These blooms are solar powered which provide enough powere to set them to glow in the evening ans sing during the day. They are pure delight.

So that you get a sense of their size, here is another view.

And then there was the Glasshouse . An asymmetrical room with an amazing Sculpture of glass flowers in reds, oranges and yellows floating near the ceiling and a completely open floor.

Here is the Glasshouse from the ouside.

Standing outside the Glasshouse, close to and slightly below the yellow glass explosion, looking upward at the Space Needle. Cool, don't you think?

You gotta love this capture. Do you see the reflection of the Space Needle and the glass house in this blue orb. Another way cool...

You need to see this for yourself.

Starting NOW

The demo team came today and removed the guts of our kitchen.
Sink, stove top, counter tops and back splash all gone.
 It does make the search easy for anything in the drawers.:)

The rest of the project plan is to have all of the interior white, ie, woodwork and cabinets, painted so the kitchen mini redo is leading up to that. The island will be painted a chocolate brown. The periphery will remain white. The new counter tops will be a quartz product, the color chestnut. The shiny gold knobs will be replaced as well.

Now the wait for the new kitchen countertop.

That's My Boy

This is Drew bungy-jumping in the Alps. Scares me to death just thinking about it. Never ever tell me this will happen before it does.

But oh so beautiful. If only I had your courage.

Life is a Project

Why is it that a tiny need morphs into a much larger event.
The kitchen is our current happening.

I needed a new sink and faucet in the worst way. The current model was a drop in sink.
Don't you hate the staining that regularly happens to the grout. I so wanted an undermount.

Our kitchen is almost entirely white. Yes, I am aware there is a "white" movement in the mind of some decorators but the absence of color is not good for me.

So here it is on Day -1 to give you some idea of our starting point.
No those are not shelves in the top of the cabinets. We have removed the drawers to ready for the counter top removal. Stay tuned folks.

The Tree People

What do you do when the Trout Creek tree people watch?

Laugh at the humor of it all and capture the moment.

Tooling Around

A few years back, I purchased some Cutco knives, which I dearly love. The handles are ergonomic and made from a very hard plastic so they can go in the dishwasher for better cleaning; the blades are very sharp and rarely need to be sharpened. They also have some other things that work quite well. Last week, while making chopped salad, I saw the pizza cutter which looks like the rotary cutter used in quilting. It was an a-ha moment. This is what I did with it. Finely chopped cucumber in a matter of seconds. It worked on green onions also. Not so well on tomatoes. I am now on the lookout for other candidates. It's nice to try new things.

A Tomato in July

Do you believe it. I picked my first tomato.

Generally, tomatoes show up in late September around here. The early May sunshine and warm temps kicked them into high gear. It' so pretty, I almost don't want to eat it but then again, fresh chopped basil and olive oil. Oh my!