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10 Indie San Francisco Bookstores You Should Visit Rain or Come Shine…
May 21, 2013 by Renee Blodgett
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I had an interesting but sad experience today, a reminder that despite hometown bookstores hanging on and still existing in the major cities, times are ‘a’ changing. In a search for travel books on Iceland, I came up short on a recent hunt in and around San Francisco’s Union Square. After a meeting I had in the center, I asked eight people back-to-back, on the street and in nearby shops, where the closest bookstore was. They all seemed to look at me as if I was asking where I might find a place to buy cassette tapes. One girl in her twenties with a black polka dot dress on and fabulous pink lipstick took the earbuds out of her ears to talk to me, saying that she too was looking for one two weeks ago and the one she knew about had closed, so she wasn’t sure.
I later learned that there is one in the Union Square vicinity but it took a little digging to find it and no one I asked knew about it. And so, I hopped back on the Bart and ended up back in the Mission where I knew of Dog Eared Books at a… Read more…
Conceptual Artists Take Over a Premier Para-Gliding Destination
May 19, 2013 by Puneet Sidhu
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Gunher a sleepy little hamlet just outside of Bir, Himachal Pradesh’s premier para-gliding destination, is set to witness an art exhibition of a singular nature. The culmination of a three-week residency comprising contemporary artists from India and abroad, Shop Art is the brainchild of Frank Schlichtmann. Owner of the local 4TABLES Cafe and Gallery, Frank has rented un-utilised village shops and invited a number of conceptual artists to occupy them as their studios during the residency.
These shops are currently doubling as the art spaces for an artist who makes installation art from scrap material, one who sculpts furniture from paper pulp, a low-cost, One Rupee Movie Theatre which will screen films made by the locals after a 21-day zombie/animation/sci-fi filmmaking workshop, and a make-shift radio station where a compilation of Gunher’s myths and legends, music, personal stories of the locals, will be broadcast live.
The final exhibition is expected to showcase the diverse work of the artists, feature live traditional and jazz… Read more…
Estonian Jewellery Maker Performs Magic For The First Lady & Everyone Else…
May 19, 2013 by Renee Blodgett
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As my colleagues scattered for a casual walkabout on their own time, my host said she was heading to a friend’s shop to pick up a pair of customized earrings she had made. Enter the world of Estonian jewellery designer Anneli Tammik who lives and works in a funky and artistic shop on an upper floor in old town Tallinn. She considers herself a freelance artist, though jewellery design has always been her specialty ever since she graduated from the Estonian Academy of Art.
With more than 30 exhibitions under her belt and countless awards, Anneli is no amateur. Since 2006, Anneli has made jewellery for Evelin Ilves, the first lady of Estonia. She has been designing masterpieces for the wife of Estonia’s President Toomas Hendrik Ilves since 2006. When I asked her how she came to create gems for her, she replied, “Estonia is a small country, where everyone know everyone else and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”
Anneli is noted to have changed the face of jewellery design in Estonia, using the latest technology to introduce a new dimension to a field long classified… Read more…
Copenhagen’s Cool Construction Via a Most Unusual Open Air Art Exhibition
May 16, 2013 by Sherry Ott
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I felt as if the whole city of Copenhagen was under construction. All of the beautiful squares and plazas were not only torn up, but they were dusty, and loud. The sounds of equipment was in the air as I tried to visit many of the famous buildings and squares around town. Above is an open air exhibition in the most unusual of places.
The city is expanding their subway system and adding a new circle line around the center of the city. This is a huge project that will take years to complete. In the end they will be better off or course – but currently Copenhagen has a few growing pains to get through.
However I love it when people can turn a negative into a positive – and Copenhagen has done just that. Even though the construction is ugly, loud, and never ending – they have decided to use the walls that surround the construction sites as open air galleries called “Cool Construction”. The project was launched by Metroselskabet in an attempt to make construction site fences a positive part… Read more…
Expose Your Superhero & Superpower Art at San Francisco Event
May 15, 2013 by Renee Blodgett
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The Cartoon Art Museum and Art RockX! are throwing an “Expose your Super Power” Show this week in San Francisco, encouraging people to come dressed as their favorite superhero or just to “bring that superpower you always wanted to possess.”
The event itself is being hosted by Lyn Williams and DJ Lamont Young and will be at the Robot City Brewing (you knew them as Last Exit Brewing). Three Bay area Celebrity Photographers – Robert Silver from GET LIVE, Michael O’Donnell photographer to the SF Stars, and Shilofivecoat will be shooting all night. The photo challenge is to capture the crowd in a series of poses and positions all around Superpowers and Superheroes. Art RockX! style, the photos are showcased at the show, and the audience votes on their favorite.
A Cat Woman Fashion Show, includes a line up of San Francisco’s Loveliest dressed in a variety of Cat Woman Looks. The Museum’s brand new Superman exhibit is their very fitting backdrop, and with the Superman movie coming in June 2013, a special prize for the best Superman. TV cameras roll for this Art RockX! Show!!
5 Festivals in America’s Southeast Perfect for a Mother’s Day Celebration
May 10, 2013 by Renee Blodgett
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I’m not sure if they celebrate Mother’s Day with more vigor in the states than they do in Europe and elsewhere in the world, but given our commitment to Hallmark-like holidays and the yank obsession with shopping, I wouldn’t be surprised. A Mother commits her entire life to her children and for what? Candy, dinner, a massage, jewellery or flowers. Here’s a list of festivals and events in America’s Southeast where you can up the offering and give her something a little more to remember – an event mixed with food, wine, culture, dance and nature, something you can experience together…..and maybe a little travel mixed in to get there. Ahhh yes.
Biltmore Festival of Flowers
A Vanderbilt-style Mother’s Day in Asheville, North CarolinaSpend the day or the weekend strolling the grounds and gardens, touring the amazing house and enjoying free Festival of Flowers entertainment and demonstrations. Above photo of the festival at Biltmore.
Callaway Gardens Fitness Series – Duathlon
A Great Day of Fitness and Nature in Pine Mountain, GeorgiaOne of the original duathlons in the Southeast U.S., this annual event of the Callaway Gardens Fitness Series includes a 5k run, 30k
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This Year’s El Salvador Cultural Festivals: Top 8 Picks
May 9, 2013 by Renee Blodgett
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El Salvador, like most of Central America, has some notable festivals — here is a list of a list of those not to miss for your travel bucket list. The first one is coming up in July in Santa Ana.
Fiesta Julias (July 1-31)
Held in Santa Ana, El Salvador’s most colonial city, the July festival takes the form of cultural events, street parades and religious masses. All these activities are done to pay homage to the city’s patron saint Santa Ana. Lots of bands perform in the streets, mariachis and clowns are aplenty.
Panchimalco Flower Festival (May)
Every May you’ll find La Fiesta de las flores de Panchimalco in the small town of Panchimalco near San Salvador. This is a very colorful celebration that starts at 4 a.m. on the last day and the woman and children dress-up. You won’t know when the flowers end and the costumes begin.
Fiestas Patronales (July 17-26)
During July 17-26 is Fiesta Patronal for Nuestra Senora de Santa Ana with special masses.
In Tacuba, in ecotourism destination in the middle of full panic mountains in western El Salvador, it’s from July 17-22 for patron Saint Mary Magdalene. The celebrations… Read more…
San Francisco’s Haight-Street Fair, A Cultural & Wildly Creative Affair
May 8, 2013 by Tom Foremski
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I was walking along Haight Street in San Francisco and spotted a poster competition for the upcoming Haight Street Fair, June 9, 2013, which has always been one of the best San Francisco Street Fairs. For a long time it was organized by the wonderful Pablo Heising, a good friend and one of the neighborhoods best community leaders.
Pablo was a former Digger in the 1960s, and saw the neighborhood fall apart, and be torn apart, by drugs and violence following its “Summer of Love” season on the world’s stage. Pablo was one of the protectors and caretakers of the community, guarding kids from predators in the park, helping to bring free medical care into the community, and so much more.
Pablo’s Haight Street Fair was instrumental in bringing the neighborhood back to life. It showed that it could be a safe and fun place to visit, instead of a reputation as a violent, crack and speed infested no-go zone. The Haight Street Fair started in 1978 and quickly became the best loved and the best attended street fair in San Francisco, and an important community resource.
My wife… Read more…
