Purple flowers – purple bee’s knees! Actually, they’re called pollen baskets. The flowers are Globe Gilia and are native to California. And the bees, bugs and butterflies all love them!
(This picture is available as a print. Please leave a comment if you’re interested.)
This picture was taken in Malibu Canyon in 1988 with a Ricoh analog 35mm SLR camera. I had scraped together every last penny for this camera to make sure I could capture all my adventures before I came to the US. I still have this camera! I got the best pictures by using Fuji film 100 ISO with it. I have a 8×12 inch print of this Malibu Canyon shot and scanned it at 600dpi. The result is an image file with over 7100×4700 pixels!
This was taken on a Sunday in June on the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan in New York City. A long stretch of the street was closed down for hundreds of vendors for jewelry, food, street artists and more! It was so much fun! I tried to get the shot above when all the lights were red – I almost succeeded 🙂
A typical part of the Berlin Wall, including a guard tower and “death strip.”
“Destroy the wall.” The wall had already been crumbling from within as more and more people from East Berlin and the former East Bloc fled to the West through neighboring countries and past the Iron Curtain.
In West Berlin the Brandenburg Gate could only be seen from the back.
It was one ugly wall…
I went to see the wall in West Berlin with a few friends in 1986 – three years before it came down. It was built in 1961 by the East German Government to keep their residents in East Germany because people were defecting to the West. Much of the Wall was constructed with barbed wire, landmines and other ways to secure it and actively guarded 24/7. The East German government claimed it was built to ‘protect’ its citizens from the fascistic neighbor.
When it came down on November 9, 1989, I couldn’t believe it. It just shows you that things can and will change – eventually. The politicians may get the credit for bringing the wall down, but it was the people that were locked in that wore it down over the years with protest and steadfast resolve.
Happy 25th Fall of the Wall Anniversary, Germany!
For an interesting viewpoint on what exactly ended the Cold War and brought down the Wall, including an examination of four contradictory explanations from the U.S., China, Europe and Russia, read here.
“Attention – You are now leaving West Berlin”
“You are leaving the American Sector”
I’ve never seen a hopper like this – it is so colorful! It was hanging out for days on the same cactus like this spider here and got a bit nervous when I got too close. I couldn’t find exactly what kind this is, so if anyone knows please leave in the comments. For another hopper without much color, click here.
A beautiful paddle-out memorial was held for the victims of the Isla Vista shooting last Friday next to the UCSB campus. These images were taken by my daughter who is a student at UCSB. Our hearts go out to all the families affected by this tragedy. We are so sad that this happened. Rest in peace, Chris, Katie, Veronika, George, James and David. You will always be remembered. ♡
More about the event here, here and here.
Update: The shooting is triggering a call for stricter gun control laws in California. Read here, here.
Update 2: New gun control law in California. Read here and here.
My hubby was golfing and I took my camera along to take pictures of the wildlife around the course. When suddenly – I discovered my own version of a 5 o’clock shadow 😉
According to the brochure they were playing Pancha Tattva – it was a beautiful piece! Played by from left: Eric Heep, Amir Oosman, Dylan Rodrigue, Vineet Vyas, James Waterman.
Jazz artists from the first CalArts CD in 1990 (from left) James Carney, Darek Oles, Peter Epstein, Ravi Coltrane, Mark Ferber, Ralph Alessi reunited for this special concert to mark the 25th anniversary of the annual CalArts Jazz Program recordings made at Capital Studios in Hollywood.
We were late and unfortunately only caught the second half of this small, but fun gathering featuring CalArts Jazz students on this wonderful afternoon on April 19, 2014. Great music and company, and in the end awards were given to all involved in these past 25 years of the CalArts Capitol collaboration. (Note to event planners: refreshments would have been great :))
The Wild Beast Music Pavilion was just the right venue for this concert which is part of the Spring Concert Series at CalArts. For more info and to download the CDs from the past 25 years visit CalArts.edu.
If you have any more details, feel free to add them in the comments.
See who’s just walking in 🙂
Ravi Coltrane
Joe Smith (right), former President of Capitol/EMI and CalArts Board member, is receiving an award.
This brown praying mantis peeked curiously through my window, I had to take a portrait. It was pretty large, about 4 to 5 inches long! And had such a friendly face 🙂 According to this praying mantis guide it was probably a male. There are more praying mantis photos here.
“Hello there!”
