Thursday, January 23, 2014
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Henry Cowells Redwoods State Park
To help support California state parks, I bought a membership which came with 7 free entrance passes to state parks. One thing I was surprised to find was that you have to pay to go into a park in California. As a result, many of them seem a bit vacant compared to the teaming number of people you will see at a state or county park in Iowa. It seems that Parks, like public libraries, should be available to everyone.
Only a stone's throw from Santa Cruz, is Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Seeing a grove of redwood trees should be on everyone's bucket list. It is truly an amazing thing. The trees can live to be 2000 years old, that puts you back to when Jesus was a teenager. I had my picture taken in front of the cross section of a tree at the entrance to the Redwood Grove Trail, a pleasant 20 minute walk. The tree it came from was stated to be 1000 years old.
As you walk among the redwoods, you look up up up and strain your neck and eyes to see the tops of these aged botanical giants. They are regal and silent and can grow to a magnificent 300 feet in height. The forest floor is cool in stark contrast to the paved parking lot you park in when you arrive.
The sequoia sempevirens, everliving redwood, is another name for the coast redwood. Tannic acid in the bark gives it a cinamon color.
Only a stone's throw from Santa Cruz, is Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Seeing a grove of redwood trees should be on everyone's bucket list. It is truly an amazing thing. The trees can live to be 2000 years old, that puts you back to when Jesus was a teenager. I had my picture taken in front of the cross section of a tree at the entrance to the Redwood Grove Trail, a pleasant 20 minute walk. The tree it came from was stated to be 1000 years old.
As you walk among the redwoods, you look up up up and strain your neck and eyes to see the tops of these aged botanical giants. They are regal and silent and can grow to a magnificent 300 feet in height. The forest floor is cool in stark contrast to the paved parking lot you park in when you arrive.
The sequoia sempevirens, everliving redwood, is another name for the coast redwood. Tannic acid in the bark gives it a cinamon color.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Art is in the Air: Watsonville, California
"Did you need me for anything," she asked?
"No, I'm going to play golf."
"In the rain?" she asked.
I had a golf date for 9 am who didn't show up, probably because it is cloudy and sprinkling out. But I'm from Iowa, and one subtle difference I noticed since I moved out here is that Californians are a bit shyer when it comes to getting rained on. So, I was the only one playing golf out in the sprinkles today.
I discovered this nice little miniature golf course here on the campground. It's eleven holes, not nine, or eighteen--eleven. It is not one you should drive out of your way to get to. It has lots of leaves strewn on it and has been patch-worked with occasional repairs. But it is clear that the person who designed this little miniature golf course had a sense of humor and wit. Here are the names for each hole and my success in pocketing the balls over a two day period. The score cards are no longer distributed so I do not know the official pars.
5/15 5/16
Hole 1, The Zig Zag: 6 7
Hole 2, Happy Choice 7 6
Hole 3, Shady Rock 6 6
Hole 4, Easy Up 2 4
Hole 5, The Left Bank 2 4
Hole 6, (sign missing) 2 3
Hole 7, The Right Bank 2 2
Hole 8, The Tight Square 5 4
Hole 9, The High Low 3 3
Hole 10, Almost Square 6 6
Hole 11, The Final Stretch 3 2
TOTAL 44 47
My favorite hole is the High Low which is a split-level arrangement wherein you putt the ball into a hole on the upper level, it rolls down a three foot chute aimed directly at a hole on the lower level. Your ball then pops over, around, or out of the second hole. I showed some consistency with this one.
The reason I know this course was set up at least a decade ago is because so many of the names have a "THE" in them. This game and the signs were obviously made before the age of illiteracy, I mean the age of Texting, LOL. The signs and the names were made up in a time when more people had fun and less people were there to nix them and say something like, "hey, if we REMOVE the "THE" from each title, it'll be faster and cheaper to make the sign. I'm just kidding. I love the age we live in. It's an absolutely great character builder / destroyer (two sides of the same coin!)
It is from this campground that I was driving when I discovered a magical place and made a video of it to enter into a short film festival. Two days ago, I finished the video of this beautiful sculpture garden located in Watsonville, California (Garlic Capital of the World--yes GARLIC). I actually made two videos so one can enjoy it in two ways. That's how much I thought about this place, and the artists of Pajaro Valley, California that the place introduced me to. When you read the locations where these artists abide, take into account that Watsonville, California and Santa Cruz, California are two very different landscapes--one has lovely, green, rolling hills and farms, and the other has crashing waves, sparkling harbors, and Surfers.
Art is in the Air
Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens
"No, I'm going to play golf."
"In the rain?" she asked.
I had a golf date for 9 am who didn't show up, probably because it is cloudy and sprinkling out. But I'm from Iowa, and one subtle difference I noticed since I moved out here is that Californians are a bit shyer when it comes to getting rained on. So, I was the only one playing golf out in the sprinkles today.
I discovered this nice little miniature golf course here on the campground. It's eleven holes, not nine, or eighteen--eleven. It is not one you should drive out of your way to get to. It has lots of leaves strewn on it and has been patch-worked with occasional repairs. But it is clear that the person who designed this little miniature golf course had a sense of humor and wit. Here are the names for each hole and my success in pocketing the balls over a two day period. The score cards are no longer distributed so I do not know the official pars.
5/15 5/16
Hole 1, The Zig Zag: 6 7
Hole 2, Happy Choice 7 6
Hole 3, Shady Rock 6 6
Hole 4, Easy Up 2 4
Hole 5, The Left Bank 2 4
Hole 6, (sign missing) 2 3
Hole 7, The Right Bank 2 2
Hole 8, The Tight Square 5 4
Hole 9, The High Low 3 3
Hole 10, Almost Square 6 6
Hole 11, The Final Stretch 3 2
TOTAL 44 47
My favorite hole is the High Low which is a split-level arrangement wherein you putt the ball into a hole on the upper level, it rolls down a three foot chute aimed directly at a hole on the lower level. Your ball then pops over, around, or out of the second hole. I showed some consistency with this one.
The reason I know this course was set up at least a decade ago is because so many of the names have a "THE" in them. This game and the signs were obviously made before the age of illiteracy, I mean the age of Texting, LOL. The signs and the names were made up in a time when more people had fun and less people were there to nix them and say something like, "hey, if we REMOVE the "THE" from each title, it'll be faster and cheaper to make the sign. I'm just kidding. I love the age we live in. It's an absolutely great character builder / destroyer (two sides of the same coin!)
It is from this campground that I was driving when I discovered a magical place and made a video of it to enter into a short film festival. Two days ago, I finished the video of this beautiful sculpture garden located in Watsonville, California (Garlic Capital of the World--yes GARLIC). I actually made two videos so one can enjoy it in two ways. That's how much I thought about this place, and the artists of Pajaro Valley, California that the place introduced me to. When you read the locations where these artists abide, take into account that Watsonville, California and Santa Cruz, California are two very different landscapes--one has lovely, green, rolling hills and farms, and the other has crashing waves, sparkling harbors, and Surfers.
Art is in the Air
Sierra Azul Nursery and Gardens
Thursday, April 11, 2013
A Pleasant Saturday in San Jose (California)
On a sunny Saturday in San Jose, I happened to run into a great art gallery located on The Alameda.
The lobby looked strikingly similar to the entrance of a beauty shop and the lady looked up and asked if I wanted to see the exhibit. "Yes," I said. She replied she would go in and turn on the lights.
The lobby looked strikingly similar to the entrance of a beauty shop and the lady looked up and asked if I wanted to see the exhibit. "Yes," I said. She replied she would go in and turn on the lights.
The gallery was situated below a beauty salon. The lady was connected with the salon which explained why she had little to say about it beyond asking me if I wanted to see it. It was early yet, and I had the whole place to myself.
The gallery did not appear to have a name. The artist was a Vietnamese man named Trieu Hai Dao, and I had the most enjoyable time looking at his artistic creations.
A binder sat on a table in one room of the gallery showing me a glimpse of other artwork by the artist, photographs of exhibits he had held in the past.
San Jose has great art, at least I like what I've seen. I've seen wonderful southwestern ceramic patterns on the side of a bridge on Santa Clara Street, and wonderful sculptures on 5th Street across from the Civic Center. I've visited the San Jose Museum of Art when the early photography of Ansel Adams was featured, and I've been delighted by the displays of handmade books I found once on the 5th floor of the downtown Martin Luther King Library. Yes, I think that San Jose can be called a good city for the arts.
What I like about Trieu Hai Dao's art is the calmness I feel when I look at it. His art--at least the paintings and sculptures I liked the best--were large, solid, and colorful. Some of his work seemed "cosmic"--featuring outlines or shapes of humanoid figures, and creatures, and bright balls that could be planets or suns. I tend also to be attracted to art of an "organic" nature"--paintings and sculpture with lots of soft curves and gentle grays and browns, which his was.
Walking around the gallery on The Alameda was a visual smorgasbord. The natural lighting, the synergetic arrangement of the pieces, the maturity and quality of the art work made for an outstanding experience. Unplanned and unexpected, it made for a pleasant Saturday in San Jose.
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Related links:
"San Jose artist Trieu Hai Dao's retrospective shows 40 years of art," San Jose Mercury News, October 28, 2010, mercurynews.com
"Trieu Hai Dao Art Exhibition: a pleasant day in San Jose," You-tube video, by Dollydharma, 8 min, 4 sec, April 17, 2013
"Trieu Hai Dao Art Exhibition: a pleasant day in San Jose," You-tube video, by Dollydharma, 8 min, 4 sec, April 17, 2013
"Trieu Hai Dao Rose Garden Gallery," You-tube video by Neopsyph, 2 min 8 sec, October 16, 2010
Trieu Hai Dao Art Exhibition (below Ayjere Salon)
1345 The Alameda
San Jose, California
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
NASA Updates at the Sunnyvale Public Library
Last night I attended a talk at the Sunnyvale Public Library about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's planetary projects. These "NASA Mission Updates" occur on a regular basis. This was my second one.
It makes total sense to me that these would take place since Moffett Field and NASA Ames are located just down the road a ways. In fact I watched the Endeavor shuttle float over the Sunnyvale Community Center (to be laid to rest along with the rest of the shuttle program) last September (2012).
Mr. Eric Norris, a volunteer "ambassador" to the public for NASA comes to speak on a regular basis. Some people in the audience were regular attendees as it turned out. He provided a somewhat casual but entertaining discussion of some of NASA's programs.
It turns out that the third rover on Mars "Curiosity", which landed on Mars, August 5, 2012 , is doing fine. Because it is on a two year mission, they are taking their time and being sure that all instrumentation is in good working order.
The previous Mars rover "Opportunity" was sent up on a 90 day mission to collect data from Mars. It has now been crawling slowly around the MARS surface for ten years. Some of the data collected by it suggested that water once existed on this distant planet (though it is our neighbor, revolving around the sun slightly further away than earth.
Curiosity has a drill connected to it and it goes around drilling holes in Mar's surface to obtain samples to send back to earth. Data collected recently verified that water once existed on Mars, and not only that, but that it was non acidic water, in a form that biological organisms similar to earth's could have consumed.
The other interesting thing I learned about the rovers was that Curiosity is run on nuclear power. It has Plutonium 238 in it. So does Voyager I which is a rocket that we sent to collect data from four planets while they were in a rare alignment. Voyager has now travelled 115 astronomical units which is 115 times the distance of the sun is from earth. Voyager is about to reach interstellar space which is the same as saying it is reaching the heliotrope, the area where our sun will no longer have an influence which they are also calling interstellar space. This will happen sometime this year.
The other thing I find fascinating is how they get these rovers to land on another planet. When I watched footage of "Opportunity" and "Curiosity" land I was in awe. NASA designed "Opportunity" to bounce around like a big rubber ball, and Curiosity used a combination of parachute drag, vertical thrusters, and cables. Still, it is great fun to watch them.
OPPORTUNITY LANDS, version 1, version 2 - Interestingly the bouncing ball bounces differently in Version 1 and 2. Still, you get the drift of how it happened. High praises to Opportunity, NASA tends to anthropomorphize their rovers, for it was sent on a 90 day mission to mars and has now been up there 10 years!
CURIOSITY LANDS - this is animated but extremely cool, as NASA published it and has installed little commentaries to explain what is happening as it happens. Love it!
It makes total sense to me that these would take place since Moffett Field and NASA Ames are located just down the road a ways. In fact I watched the Endeavor shuttle float over the Sunnyvale Community Center (to be laid to rest along with the rest of the shuttle program) last September (2012).
It turns out that the third rover on Mars "Curiosity", which landed on Mars, August 5, 2012 , is doing fine. Because it is on a two year mission, they are taking their time and being sure that all instrumentation is in good working order.
The previous Mars rover "Opportunity" was sent up on a 90 day mission to collect data from Mars. It has now been crawling slowly around the MARS surface for ten years. Some of the data collected by it suggested that water once existed on this distant planet (though it is our neighbor, revolving around the sun slightly further away than earth.
Curiosity has a drill connected to it and it goes around drilling holes in Mar's surface to obtain samples to send back to earth. Data collected recently verified that water once existed on Mars, and not only that, but that it was non acidic water, in a form that biological organisms similar to earth's could have consumed.
The other interesting thing I learned about the rovers was that Curiosity is run on nuclear power. It has Plutonium 238 in it. So does Voyager I which is a rocket that we sent to collect data from four planets while they were in a rare alignment. Voyager has now travelled 115 astronomical units which is 115 times the distance of the sun is from earth. Voyager is about to reach interstellar space which is the same as saying it is reaching the heliotrope, the area where our sun will no longer have an influence which they are also calling interstellar space. This will happen sometime this year.
The other thing I find fascinating is how they get these rovers to land on another planet. When I watched footage of "Opportunity" and "Curiosity" land I was in awe. NASA designed "Opportunity" to bounce around like a big rubber ball, and Curiosity used a combination of parachute drag, vertical thrusters, and cables. Still, it is great fun to watch them.
OPPORTUNITY LANDS, version 1, version 2 - Interestingly the bouncing ball bounces differently in Version 1 and 2. Still, you get the drift of how it happened. High praises to Opportunity, NASA tends to anthropomorphize their rovers, for it was sent on a 90 day mission to mars and has now been up there 10 years!
CURIOSITY LANDS - this is animated but extremely cool, as NASA published it and has installed little commentaries to explain what is happening as it happens. Love it!
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Remembering the Corvette Hall of Fame (Cooperstown, NY)
Corvette Hall of Fame
aka Corvette Americana Hall of Fame,
aka Corvette Hall of Fame and Americana Museum
(4580 NY Hwy 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326, Hartwick Seminary)
(4580 NY Hwy 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326, Hartwick Seminary)
 |
| Corvette Hall of Fame and Americana Museum Cooperstown, NY 1992-1998 |
In referencing the Corvette Hall of Fame (1992-1998) in my previous blog post, I was subsequently motivated to do a bit of online research on the museum. I was sad to hear it is now closed. I just want to acknowledge my fond memory of this unique and wonderful museum which I visited many years ago. At the time that I visited, it had a Corvette from almost every year that the car was made, minus only two. Before now, I also did not know much about the curator of the museum, Allen Schery, who appears to have degrees in History, Anthropology, and Archeology. For him, building his Corvette Museum was a dream and a passion. This museum should not be confused with the National Corvette Museum of Bowling Green, Kentucky (built in 1994). If you click on the pictures below, you can read the enlarged newspaper articles that provides a nice description of the museum that no longer is.
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Curator: Allen Charles Schery:
Mr. Schery now lives in Los Angeles, California. Some biographical information is provided on a web page for Walt Whitman High School, Huntington Station, NY.
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ART; Very Hot Wheels Find a Parking Place of Honor, by Marshall Schuon, New York Times, August 28, 1994.
"Corvette Hall of Fame and Americana Museum," In Hall of Fame Museums, by Victor J. Danilov, 1998.
Corvette Hall of Fame Museum Capitalizes on Cooperstown Name, by Bill Rice, The Daily Gazette, April 29, 1995.
Corvette Museum Reaches the End of Its Road With Sale, by Bill Gates, The Daily Star, May 22, 1998.
History Was Driving Force Behind Corvette Museum, New York Daily News, SunSentinel.com, May 22, 1994.
History Was Driving Force Behind Corvette Museum, New York Daily News, SunSentinel.com, May 22, 1994.
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An excerpt from Victor J. Danilov's book, Hall of Fame Museums: A Reference Guide, 1997:
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History
Located on Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History has just been placed on my list of all time favorite museums. I visited it on a Thursday afternoon and absolutely loved it. I spent about 90 minutes there and though it had three floors, it was not overwhelming in the number of galleries available to browse. Right now they are featuring a program called "Work in Progress" which describes the intermediate state of some of the exhibits still being set up. These exhibits remain through March 17, 2013.
Odd as this may seem, I liken the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History to the giant ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) in Toronto, and the little Corvette Americana Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (1992-1998). What these three museums have in common is a magic that moves them beyond being mere collections of artifacts.
Years ago, I was visiting the ROM with some friends from Iowa and while gazing at a glass display case in the prehistoric dinosaur wing, I happened to bend down and look closely at a miniature model of a tree. Through the branches of that tree I saw a complete scene of some pre-historic cavemen which I never would have seen had I not peered so closely at the display. The scene added so much context to the display and was so clever that I have not forgotten it to this day. I was similarly awed by the Corvette museum in Cooperstown. The museum was the brainchild of a former professor of cultural anthropology (Allen Charles Schery), and he did more than line up 32 corvettes in a building. He put the corvettes on a time line and placed each corvette in a setting reflective of the time period in American history. Both museums were really fun to walk through.
The second thing I really liked about this museum was the History Gallery. It had several wonderful displays with the most dramatic photos of people (some life-size). Combined with mood lighting and strategic placement of objects of the period (such as farm instruments or a barrel of lime stone), the curators of this museum created a very effective feeling for the place or time period they were talking about. Plus, I learned a bit more about the history of Santa Cruz County.
For instance, after many drives up and down Highway 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz, I have wondered at least a dozen times how there came to be a street called Santa's Village. With it's dearth of snow and holiday decorations, I had never pictured California to be very "Christmas-y." But one of the display cases in the HISTORY GALLERY had postcards and ads and even a children's book portraying the once famous amusement park that existed for 21 years in the Santa Cruz mountains.
I also spent a few minutes in the Barn Raising Exhibit. It was a rather sparse room with a hay barn and some photos and a small video explaining about timber framing. It appears that a hay barn is going to be rennovated on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus. Barns are a staple of the midwest farm and I was drawn to and appreciated the items in this exhibit.
Another great part of this museum was the Mary and Harry Blanchard Sculpture Garden up on third floor. It was outside on a mezzanine where you could get fresh air. The sky was blue and the sun was beginning to set. An interesting fountain sculpture hung from the back wall. But the best part for me was the standing sculptures, about a dozen, all massive and organic in nature. The biographies of the artists were provided on laminated sheets and I was surprised and pleased that one of the sculptors (Daniel Rhodes) was a native Iowan!
Another great part of this museum was the Mary and Harry Blanchard Sculpture Garden up on third floor. It was outside on a mezzanine where you could get fresh air. The sky was blue and the sun was beginning to set. An interesting fountain sculpture hung from the back wall. But the best part for me was the standing sculptures, about a dozen, all massive and organic in nature. The biographies of the artists were provided on laminated sheets and I was surprised and pleased that one of the sculptors (Daniel Rhodes) was a native Iowan!
The fourth thing I loved about this museum was the Thomas Campbell: Work in Progress Exhibit. There was a big tape crossing the entrance to this room so I thought at first the area was closed for construction. But when I peeked in, I saw that two guys were painting on two different walls and it turns out they were the artists of the exhibit. Within the room was a small cubby hole with two seats where you could also watch a video of what they had done.
As I said before, I now count the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History as one of my favorite museums. It is one of Santa Cruz's coolest places. It is not overwhelming; you can take a casual morning or afternoon to visit it. Right now, there are free admission tickets for the whole family on the local library website.
As I said before, I now count the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History as one of my favorite museums. It is one of Santa Cruz's coolest places. It is not overwhelming; you can take a casual morning or afternoon to visit it. Right now, there are free admission tickets for the whole family on the local library website.
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