Edgy veggies, cute fruit

Well, this is easily the most beautiful celery I've ever seen. My artist of the week is Andy Ellison, who peers inside vegetables and fruits with MRI scans and finds -- well, art. Who knew cucumber seeds looked like butterfly wings, and watermelons had patterns like fractals? Once he attaches lots of images together, the subjects rotate and move in wild animation.

It's hard to describe. Just click and check it out. Thank you to Salon.com writer Francis Lam, whose article pointed me toward this "Inside insides" project.

BBB coming to RWC

Funny, I was just making a snarky remark about the Park Theatre still being a yawning hole in downtown Menlo Park. It's lovely to hear that the neighboring theater to the north is doing something admirable.

Broadway By the Bay has announced plans to move to the shuttered Fox Theatre in Redwood City. The Fox was built in 1928 as a spot for vaudeville as well as movies, so live theater is a fine match, and BBB -- which now performs at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center -- puts up fine musical theater. I remember seeing a production of "A Chorus Line" years ago at the Fox (presented by the late Peninsula Center Stage) and loving the elegant lobby and general Art Deco feel.

The Fox is on the National Register of Historic Places, and its marquee has advertised quite an array of past performers, including Los Lobos, Tony Bennett, Garrison Keillor, Neil Young and Wynton Marsalis. As reported in the Almanac, it's now being run by Menlo Park native Eric Lochtefeld, along with the neighboring Little Fox nightclub. According to a press release, Broadway By the Bay plans to move to the 1,400-seat Fox in its 2011 season. And if anyone from BBB or the Fox had responded to my queries, I would be happy to tell you more details.

For now, I can simply congratulate Redwood City for continuing to improve its downtown. I worked downtown in the '90s, and much has changed since then. You've got the beautifully renovated Courthouse Plaza, which hosts tons of music, dance and other arts events, neighboring the stalwart San Mateo County History Museum. Not long ago, the new Century 20 movie theater opened, and now a quality theater company is taking up residence. Well done.

Pictured: The Fox Theatre. Photo from the Almanac.

Why My Garden is Better Than Your Garden

[I just wanted to know if that totally immature heading would be good marketing for my blog post today! lol]

Reasons why my garden is superior to yours (maybe):

1. No animals that trample, eat or poop may enter my garden. That's because this garden is a second floor balcony and free from access by deer, moose, cats, big wheels, digging dogs and inquisitive neighbors.



2. Easy care. I can water the whole garden in 7 minutes or less. I can trim and maintain the plants and flowers in about 10-15 minutes (or until the ice melts in my vodka).

Aww, don't hate me because I pretend to be smug on my tiny little patch of paradise.

How lucky are all of us who posses our own patch of green garden, no matter what size that garden might be?

That actually makes me think of a third advantage, though frankly, we all share in this one. It is MY garden. Mine to enjoy. Each and every one of you fellow gardeners has that very same advantage.

How cool is that?

Blog on!

Adding a Water Fountain to a Small Garden

I may have looked at hundreds of fountains on every conceivable website for fountains, birdbaths, and water features. I searched through every nursery and big-box store in my area. I considered turning a small ceramic "fish-pot" into a water feature (though one of my sisters said, "no, no, no -- just buy a fountain").

The fountains seemed categorized roughly into three markets:

1. small tabletop (is that even safe to use outdoors? I figure "no") with prices in $50 - $150 range



2. affordable resin in many shapes & colors, some with immersed lights, many with several levels for cascading water (and how am I going to clean out one of those?) with prices ranging from $70 - $300 and most models priced around $175



3. expensive, large stone suitable for estates and circular driveways with prices beginning at $800 and moving upward into that zone known as "Custom, Call for Pricing" (the cost of freight would exceed that base price)

My personal review of the above categories resulted in opinions of too quiet, too easily broken and just too damn large and heavy (respectively). This should be a simple thing to find -- a feature to bring the calm, gurgling sounds of running water onto my balcony.

I found a cute ceramic fountain with the best features of all categories. With only 4 pieces, it is easy to clean and took just a few seconds to assemble on my balcony (in the dark no less). It holds about one gallon of water, has an adjustable water pump and makes a lovely sound. It is ceramic (oh, be careful!) which is good feng shui. Best of all, the fountain is only about 20" high. Very cute. I had hesitated thinking that this might be too tiny. My fears were unfounded since this ceramic piece has the "feel" of an artisan with an undulating shell pattern, varying hues of blue, and, to me, an endearing appeal of looking handmade. There is no Made in China sticker on this [not that there's anything wrong with that...]. Goldilocks found just the right size.

I got so excited that I took a flash photo in the dark about 3 seconds after setting up the fountain (see first photo and oh yeah, does that ever look swell next to the purple watering can, eek).

By the next afternoon, I had the fountain settled in very nicely (second photo).

I am amazed how much pleasure this adds to my garden experience. Difficult to describe, yet I'd say it has added another dimension to my enjoyment. Additionally, that subtle water sound is soothing. I would call that a Zen experience for me. After setting this up the first evening, I lit a candle and sat in my garden for, oh, about 4 hours. Just lovely.

Feng shui dictates that the flow of water be directed towards my door and that suits me just fine.

I Like Bee Butts and I Cannot Lie...

Well, yeah, "bee butts".



If I see those, then I know my garden is attracting lots of bumble bees. I have two varieties attending to my garden. One is plump and fuzzy, mostly black with a bit of bright yellow. I started with one and now he visits with one or two other bees. The other variety is a more slender bee with even black and subdued yellow stripes. A "yellow jacket"?

Apparently they prefer different flower nectar.

I am greatly amused to see the Full Immersion approach of the bumble bees when it comes to the torena (see last photo).

July 3 -- Jewel Colors and Lush Plantings on the Balcony

Two things I've learned this season: (1) I'm a bit crazy about those deep, jewel colors in the garden, and (2) I'm getting better with my camera [most of those garden blogs out there set the bar pretty high].

To show how LUSH my balcony garden has become, I took two photos from my patio chair. I still have a few things I wish to "do" to make my small garden feel more complete, but hey -- this is real nice for right now!

Looking left you will be able to perceive the two levels of planters. It's not quite so clear on the view to the right. I get a kick out of looking at the plantings on the balcony to the right. She replaced the yellow plants with red geraniums.

Yes, the elephant ear bulb has come up nicely. I am enjoying the size of those leaves. I swear one frond grew about an inch during my session on the computer.

What's Eating You?

Ewwww.

I remember hearing that question a thousand times, "What's eating you?" or maybe even, "What's bugging you?"

(sigh)

I got a bit too much insight on that today. What the heck happened? It got really hazy, hot and humid and I missed looking at my plants for a day? Look what happened...

Luckily the damage seemed confined to the sweet potatoes and the calla lilies. I did the total organic "thing". That is, I yelled and then shook the plant leaves. Beetles fly away pretty quick.

I'm keeping an eye out for a return.

June 23 the Color and Texture of a Garden

As I've stated elsewhere on this blog, I'm not a big fan of Symmetry. Oh sure, it has its place and I have witnessed some stunning landscapes done with pleasing symmetry.

It's just not for me.

In these photos, you can see how I've mixed silver-grey foliage with blues and purple flowers, set against complementary colors from the opposite side of the color wheel to create an impact. I've added dark foliage, variegated foliage and lacy trailing foliage all to add variety.


Though I am a beginner, I hope you can see evidence of some dark foliage and deep jewel tone flowers to offset the lighter pastels of small flowers.

A requiem for summer (but in a good way)

I am now officially a proud choral-music geek, because I have not one but two favorite requiems. Very pleased to get to sing both the Durufle and the Faure last night with the friendly members of Schola Cantorum. Summer Sings: great fun. Those of us with no time to join a choir can still drop by on Mondays to try our voices at Masses or requia. They'll even lend you the score.

Last night I brought my old music from college choir, complete with penciled notes like "LEGATO" and "Party at Dan's after concert." I attended with a friend and fellow soprano who has perfect pitch, which makes her a mighty fine person to stand next to. Except when you feel like meandering down to the alto line to see what's going on there, and it's trickier than you think, and you go terrifically flat, and your poor perfect-pitch pal is too polite to tell you that her left ear just fell off.

(My friends with p.p. are certainly tired of hearing me talk about it, but I'm currently obsessed. Is it possible to obtain perfect pitch as an adult? If you promise to be good, eat all your vegetables, and memorize the circle of fifths? And what does life sound like for them? If somebody honks at them, do they think, "Why, that note would fit perfectly in the triad I played last Thursday"? This is all my parents' fault for not teaching me a tonal language.)

Anyway, this Summer Sing was led by Amy Hunn, director of the Stanford Summer Chorus. Later conductors this summer will include Stanford organist Robert Huw Morgan and Stanford director of choral studies Stephen Sano. Hunn was lovely and very patient. She even smiled when someone's cell phone rang during the Faure.

Fortunately, it was just after the end of the Sanctus, which concludes with a high trilled note. And it was the iPhone "Trill" ring tone. Parfait.

Pictured: My scores waiting to be used last night as I sat in a church pew. Photo by Rebecca Wallace.

Imagining arias on El Camino

Here's what downtown Menlo Park should do with all those gaping spaces on El Camino Real that used to hold car dealerships. Opera.

An enterprising company called Overtone Industries is putting on contemporary opera in a vacant Nissan auto-dealership warehouse in Southern California this month. That's what I'm talkin' about.

The piece, called "Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands," is three hours long, about two characters trying to make sense of their identities and life experiences with the help of a government agency. Sounds like a Menlo Park City Council meeting, only shorter.

The coolest bit, which might or might not play in M.P., is that the opera incorporates 21 sets spread out over 25,000 square feet of space. According to the L.A. Times: "There's the unusual element of the audience members traveling from scene to scene and set to set in a train of carts pulled by an electric golf cart. Those with the lower-priced tickets follow the trains on foot while dragging along their folding chairs."

You can read the full Times story here.

Meanwhile, I'm reminded of another plan to bring the arts to a vacant space in Menlo Park a few years back. The itinerant artists of Red Ink Studios hatched a plan to move into the bereft Park Theatre, which closed in 2002 after owner Howard Crittenden booted Landmark Theatres. But it turned out the building needed extensive renovations that the artists couldn't afford.

Shame. Seen any good films (or anything, for that matter) lately at the Park?

Pictured: Jason Adams as Tom in Overtone Industries' "Songs and Dances of Imaginary Lands." Photo by Christina House, for the Los Angeles Times.