A Ticklish Mouth

Absinthe was once The Drink of Choice of 19th Century painters, poets and writers.

During the dot com daze and even during the bust, we used to serve up Absinthe (the real stuff) at our oft-famous loft parties/paradise in San Francisco. Esp. if I was behind the bar- the "Magic" of the Green Fairy potion was not far away.

Today, you can acquire Absinthe legally in the US, as long as the product is considered "Thujone Free", which means it has low levels of Thujone (which is toxic at high levels and produced by active ingredient Wormwood).

Historical info. and some of the international purveyors can be found on the Absinthe Buyers Guide



(From Absinthe Buyers Guide FAQs)

What does absinthe do to you?

Drinkers of absinthe experience a double action intoxication. This intoxication combines the effects of strong alcohol and a secondary effect reported to be a "clear-headed" feeling of inebriation.

Absinthe can have an effect that has been described as a "clarity" or "heightened state of mind".

Chemist and absinthe expert, T.A. Breaux describes it as a push-me, pull-you effect of the various herbs, some have a heightening effect while others have a lowering effect.
Feature:
St. George Spirits Absinthe Verte of Alameda
Distiller Lance Winters even teaches classes at the Beverage Academy on how to make your own Absinthe.

International Feature:

Bleue Clandestine Absinthe

Absinthe will always be considered a homemade elixir, especially in the Suisse region known as the Val-de-Travers, where farmers and artisans have made it for more than 200 years.

Other Elixer Discovered..
Lotus Vodka, out of San Francisco. Gold Medal Winners of the 2008 Spirit Awards, SF.
Find It.

Tito's Vodka, Austin, Texas.

Smooth Operators

2 Products from Mario Badescu Skincare- NYC. Got Our Skin Thankful.

Clean:
Seaweed Cleansing Soap $12
Seaweed extracts make for s gentle exfoliating cleanser that removes make-up and residue without stripping your skin.
















Smooth:
Gingkgo Mask $22

Gincko Biloba and Russian Ginseng, renowned as plants of life, are the basis for unique gel-like mask. Rich in natural vitamens and Amino-Acids. Also, some ingredients that facilitate circulation. Lovely.




Other:
Yon-Ka Serum $40
Repairing Concentrate made of Botanical Essential Oils

Found:
Naime's in LA (Studio City), Larchmont Beauty (Larchmont Village)
MadKat in SF (Cole Valley)

The Happiness Mantra

We are quite literally Obsessed with achieving HAPPY. There must be thousands of How To books on the very topic."

Maybe it all kicked off with the Dalai Lama's "Art of Happiness" and ever since its been a gradual and more recently a major onslaught of "Happiness-themed" books.


Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D. - A New York Times

Bestseller and "The backbone of the most popular course at Harvard" . Apparently, this one is scientific in its approach.
Six Tips for Happiness - Advice from Tal Ben-Shahar.

1. Give yourself permission to be human. When we accept emotions -- such as fear, sadness, or anxiety -- as natural, we are more likely to overcome them. Rejecting our emotions, positive or negative, leads to frustration and unhappiness.

2. Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable. When this is not feasible, make sure you have happiness boosters, moments throughout the week that provide you with both pleasure and meaning.

3. Keep in mind that happiness is mostly dependent on our state of mind, not on our status or the state of our bank account. Barring extreme circumstances, our level of well being is determined by what we choose to focus on (the full or the empty part of the glass) and by our interpretation of external events. For example, do we view failure as catastrophic, or do we see it as a learning opportunity?

4. Simplify! We are, generally, too busy, trying to squeeze in more and more activities into less and less time. Quantity influences quality, and we compromise on our happiness by trying to do too much.

5. Remember the mind-body connection. What we do -- or don't do -- with our bodies influences our mind. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to both physical and mental health.

6. Express gratitude, whenever possible. We too often take our lives for granted. Learn to appreciate and savor the wonderful things in life, from people to food, from nature to a smile.

The Happiness Prescription- DVD set by Deepak Chopra, MD.

"Over the last five or six years, I’ve been looking at the relationship between happiness and subjective well-being. Science has focused on stress and disease for years. We know that when you’re stressed, it leads to all kinds of problems. Epidemics of our time — cardiovascular disease, cancer, infectious disease and addiction — these are all connected to stress. But [I’ve been focused on] the opposite — if you’re happy, are you healthy? Most people have the idea if I’m healthy, if I have a good relationship, or if I’m successful, I’ll be happy. But it’s the other way around.- Deepak Chopra

Note: This is a good DVD Set, I own it.


Authentic Happiness - Martin Seligman
This website has a bevy of interesting information on the topic and questionairres in areas including gratitude, optimism and forgiveness. Also, you can sign up to be a test subject of Dr. Seligman's research and U of PA.

One author I met recently at a spiritual retreat indicated that she had been told by her publisher to include "Happiness" in her next book title as it would sell better.

Can happiness be taught? Can its solution be bought in a book? Should it be so much work?

I'm not knocking it and I do confess that I bought a few of them after re-entry into LA after an almost 10 year hiatus in San Francisco. Certainly I have enjoyed and come away with much from some of my acquisitions.

In my opinion and from my personal experiences, we need to exist in and allow ourselves to feel both light and dark in order to be integrated; too much of one or the other is out of balance and not normal.

The Lotus Flower symbolism is good to reference;

The lotus produces a beautiful flower even with its roots in the dirtiest water. The symbolism is that a person can rise above being rooted in the ugliness and suffering of this world, and should try to be pure and help others with the beauty of the spirit.

Lang Lang Performs LA 11/1

"The Hottest Artist on the Classical Music Planet"- The New York Times



(from Langlang.com)
Considered by the New York Times as the “hottest artist on the classical music planet”, 26-year-old Lang Lang™ has played sold out recital and concerts in every major city in the world and is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and all the top American orchestras. He has worked with the world’s best orchestras under the most renowned conductors.
Lang Lang performed recently at the 50th Anniversary Grammy Awards dueling pianos with Herbie Hancock


Music is in his DNA-
Lang Lang™ began playing piano at the age of 3, won the Shenyang competition and gave his first public recital at the age of 5. When he was 9 he entered Beijing’s Central Music Conservatory. He went on to win first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition and played the complete 24 Etudes of Chopin at the Beijing Concert Hall at 13. At 17, Lang Lang’s™ break into stardom came when he was called upon for a dramatic last-minute substitution at the “Gala of the Century” where he played the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the Chicago Symphony.


Lang Lang's also helping kids get to music-
n 2004, he was appointed International Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and with an interest in child development, Playing with Flying Keys, Lang Lang’s™ autobiography geared for children will be released in 2008. As a result of his enormous popularity with children, Steinway created the “Lang Lang™ Steinway” designed in 5 different types for the early musical education of children



You can try to catch this phenom perform at UCLA Nov 1st.


Other Interesting UCLA Live shows of note: Barrie Kosky

Intention Media's Water

"Water is the driving force of all nature."
Leonardo da Vinci

This film is about water, the most amazing yet least studied substance. From times immemorial, scientists, philosophers and theologians tried to understand its explicit and implicit properties, which are phenomenal, beyond the common physical laws of nature.


Apparently Coming to a Theatre Near YOU

Trailer

OverCooked Cinema- Zeitgeist SF

ZEITGEIST INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Celebrating its 10th Annual
Cool Indie films, Warm Beer
Zeitgest, SF, Aug 11th
The lineup



Short Indie Film Festival - throughout the summer- San Francisco

Infomania

Get yours fresh every Thursday from Current TV.

"All the news you ever need twisted up into a few small doses to swallow with your smirk."

BENEATH: Cirque Berzerk (LA this weekend)

Very entertaining. A group of us attended the premiere last night.

Go while you can, only in town this weekend.

In the BIG Tent, Downtown in the 'cornfields'


Fun performance art. A friend of a friend put it all together -Congrats Carnies.



BENEATH 411
Beneath" is a loose new twist on the ageless story of Orpheus, featuring breathtaking fire stunts, aerial acrobatics, stunning contortionists, extra tall ladies, live vocals, and more set to an original score from the cast of Cirque Berzerk.

Come see what awaits our damsel in the underworld. Hang on to your seats ladies and gentleman our dancing girls and flying stunts are sure to have you clinging the edge of your seat!

The show, complete with the troupe’s own big top circus tent, runs for four nights from July 24th through Sunday, July 27th with nightly performances beginning at 8:30 p.m. Come early to enjoy picnicking “Hollywood Bowl” style before the show starting at 6:00 p.m. Tickets available HERE.

Poetry.org

blessing the boats
by Lucille Clifton

(at St. Mary's)

may the tide
that is entering even now
the lip of our understanding
carry you out
beyond the face of fear
may you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back may you
open your eyes to water
water waving forever
and may you in your innocence
sail through this to that

Poet Lucille Clifton:
Her collection Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980 (1987) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; Two-Headed Woman (1980), also a Pulitzer Prize nominee, was the recipient of the University of Massachusetts Press Juniper Prize. She has also written Generations: A Memoir (1976) and more than sixteen books for children, written expressly for an African-American audience.

Her honors include an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a Lannan Literary Award, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Shelley Memorial Award, the YM-YWHA Poetry Center Discovery Award, and the 2007 Ruth Lilly Prize.

In 1999, she was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. She has served as Poet Laureate for the State of Maryland and is currently Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

Green Eyes

Tried out the SmashBox Green Mascara.. nice changeup to regular lashes.

Usually it takes a while for people to notice, they know something is different. I always enjoy the aha moment and if you apply it properly, it shouldn't be blatant. I actually find the lash primer is too much in combo, but pros would disagree probably.


The product comes in a variety of colors, some more effusive than others.

(ps. great for an evening at Cirque Berserk)

Peter Gabriel Talks ON Tech

Streaming Via Satellite today at 4pm - Stanford Summit, Always ON
http://alwayson.goingon.com/page/display/28097

Lots of other interesting panels webcast Free throughout the day including Quincy Jones moderating

5:00pm
Breakout: Music Artists Go Entrepreneurial
The recorded music business continues to change it business models. Recording artists have the power to reach out to their fans directly. How do artists balance this power with the need to work with the labels?
Moderator: Quincy Jones III, CEO, QD3 Entertainment
• Chamillionaire, Grammy Award winning, platinum recording artist
• MC Hammer
• Mistah FAB

ICON -The "It"plane takes First Flight

Here's the scoop and video

Unveiling Of A5

First Flight Video Here.

From CNBC:
"I'm proud of what this team has accomplished," said ICON VP of Engineering Matthew Gionta, who served as Mission Director of the flight. "I've been in the business of designing and building aircraft my entire career and I've never worked with a more talented team. When you get bright people pulling hard toward a common goal, then really incredible things start to happen. The ICON A5 is an example of this. It's really an amazing aircraft." The ICON A5 two-seat sport plane features an amphibious design with retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, plus several patent-pending technologies highlighted by folding wings that allow the plane to be easily stored and towed on the road with a trailer.

Designed to be predictable and easy-to-fly, the ICON A5 features a high-strength, lightweight carbon fiber airframe and is powered by a reliable, 100-hp Rotax 912 ULS engine that runs on both auto and aviation gasoline at an estimated top speed of 120 mph. Besides the folding wings, more unique features specific to the ICON A5 include an intuitive, sports car-like cockpit with MP3 port, and patent-pending Seawing platform for easy access and docking on water.

Dali's Handgun

From the elusive Mark Griffin, AKA MC900FT Jesus, who recorded w/Rick Rubin circa 1993. Griffin trained classically then turned rapper, old school. His writing and beats score points all around.


Griffin seems to have vanished, but not without leaving trace evidence..... these are Lyrics to Dali's Handgun, from one of my favorite records mainly because of pyro tune The City Sleeps "Welcome to My Dream"

The perfect gun
The perfect gun is not visible
The perfect gun exists in a savage state
The perfect gun confers omnipotence
The perfect gun will follow the free tendencies of desire
The perfect gun its like a rosary around the neck
The perfect gun stretches as far as the eye can see
The perfect gun seeks all your reflected images
The perfect gun The perfect gun is sufficient unto the day
The perfect gun is nothing but a crossroads
The perfect gun keeps its promise for everyone
The perfect gun is a pill dropped in a glass of water
The perfect gun is the household crow
The perfect gun leaves in a shadow of perfumes
The perfect gun is an illusion on a surface of memory
The perfect gun is a finger resting on the controls of a broken machine
The perfect gun is too soft to be honest and too honest to be true
The perfect gun turns as it pleases toward all horizons
The perfect gun is perfect sadism, at least as a method
The perfect gun is a flower beaten by the rough fever of the wind
The perfect gun can be rearranged in all possible combinations

The perfect gun is a bueatiful chimera
The perfect gun is an idealist without taking part in any ideal
The perfect gun takes the shapes and colors of demoralizarion and confusion
The perfect gun crouches to intercept shadows
The perfect gun is not in the habit of saluting the dead
The perfect gun will always find buyers
The perfect gun is at most a thinking reed
The perfect gun has drawn the symbol of the infinite
The perfect gun is not incompatible with a certain nobility of thought
The perfect gun is watching over a blue glass
The perfect gun writes sad and ardent love letters
The perfect gun is a hierarchy, like any other
The perfect gun is a door someone opened
The perfect gun implies that there are others behind it
The perfect gun is a dark intention
The perfect gun never waits for itself
The perfect gun is hard as the incredible hammering and no questions underneath
The perfect gun is a reference point
The perfect gun is neither my shadow, nor my double, nor my half nor another myself
The perfect gun is blood at water level
The perfect gun is half of a destiny
The perfect gun has nothing to do before dying
The perfect gun leaves an exquisite corpse

Project Homeless Connect

Tomorrow 7/23: San Francisco's Project Homeless Connect for Homeless Veterans. Homeless Connect is a program started by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Alex Turk which has been adopted in over 100 cities nationwide as well as internationally.

I personally have volunteered for several of these at the Civic Center and recommend volunteering to anyone who is able to.

For More on the Events of SF Connect Events (Green, Tech)

Blood For Art

"Blood For Art" featuring Bay Area artists from Quorum SF. In an upcoming exhibition, Quorum SF will present a simple proposition to the public: a pint of blood for an original print by one of thirteen artists. By asking people to contribute a small, but explicit quantity of themselves, and offering donors a gift in return, the artists are more than acting out a mechanical barter. It is an act of utopic economy, exchanging valuables that are not equal, but are equally personal.

LIMN Gallery
169 N. La Brea Ave | Los Angeles, CA 90036

The artists reception is scheduled for Friday, August 8 (7pm-9:30pm) and the blood drive will be held on the following Sunday, August 10 (10am-4pm).

SF based Artists Susannah Bettag - and Andy Hope works will be in this show.

Voyage in Utopia

Premiers Tonight (7/18)- Castro Theatre
(source: SF Bay Guardian)
Burning Man: Voyage to Utopia" is a celebratory tribute to the event and its central players, particularly founder Larry Harvey and temple builder David Best.
Filmmaker Laurent Le Gall, whose work premieres Friday at the Castro Theater (followed by afterparty at Cafe Flore), gives viewers an inside look at the 2003 event, starting pre-playa with the Temple crew and other attendees, through the arrival of the first dozen people on the playa, and continuing to the Temple burn that culminates the event and brings emotional closure to some of the film main characters, who came from France to attend the event.
Unlike in Oliver Bonin's "Dust & Illusions," where Harvey's disconcerting intransigence during his interviews reinforced accusations of a leadership vacuum, Le Gall shows Harvey at his creative best: engaged, inspiring, playful, cerebral and capable of dropping thought-provoking rhetorical bombs whose impact lingers long after the conversation ends. And Best comes through as the amazing artist and individual that he is.
This is a sweet film, maybe too sweet for many jaded old burners. But at a time when tens of thousands of Bay Area residents are busily preparing for their annual pilgrimage to the playa next month, it's a film sure to get many people's juices flowing.

The Wall (of Gear): Unveiled This Weekend

This in From Kal Spelletich.
The Wall : Unveiled

Sunday, July 20th 2008, come celebrate!
The Wall of gears built by all our hard-working gear-makers
will come to life at Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda
.
3pm - 8pm
2513 Blanding Ave, Alameda CA 94501

1 Wall / 25 Gears is a 7' x 8' kinetic monument of aluminum gears
being sponsored and built by 25 artists and artist organizations, in
honor of and to financially support Todd Blair. This event is to
celebrate Todd, the gearmakers' efforts... and of course, to have
plenty of fun doing all of the above and then some! BTW- care to
sponsor a gearmaker... ?

$5 to $500 donation at the door
All donations are tax deductible
All Ages Welcome

San Francisco Most Walkable of US Cities

(Source: San Francisco Chronicle, James Temple)
If you or your loved one is struggling to break the cycle of fossil fuel addiction, San Francisco may just be your Betty Ford Center.

The city by the bay is the most "walkable" in the nation, according to rankings set for release today by WalkScore.com, a service designed to help those seeking a less automobile-dependent life. The distinction encompasses a host of environmental, health and economic advantages.

WalkScore, a division of Seattle software company Front Seat, evaluated the 40 largest U.S. cities based on residents' proximity to grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, movie theaters and other amenities. Hills were not taken into account in the rankings, just distance and concentration.

San Francisco scored an 86 out of 100, besting New York's 83 and Boston's 79. Seventeen of San Francisco's neighborhoods ranked 90 or above - considered a "walker's paradise" - including Chinatown, the Mission, Nob Hill and Haight-Ashbury.

More of the Story...

To Find out How your Town Scores check http://www.walkscore.com/
I checked my address, it was 95 points, A Walkers Paradise!

Grissom Exits Stage Left - CSI

Sad but True, William Peterson is soon to exitas leading man on the #1 most viewed TV show in the world today, CSI.
William Petersen's `CSI' life of crime to end from Associated Press

Succulents And Paradise

Huntington Gardens and Museum Hosts and expansive botanical gardens and succulent collection. Avid horticulturist and friend Dan Lynch(of SRI Fame- early Internet Guru/Pioneer) was recently in LA for some UCLA Math and Science board functions -but made time for a jaunt to one of his favorite LA haunts, the Botanical Gardens and Huntington Museum.

Lynch donated his once "largest collection in North America" of succulents to the museum years ago when he went off to college to become study math. Pictured here




The museum has a lovely photography exhibit now through September.

This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs

"This Side of Paradise: Body and Landscape in L.A. Photographs examines the dynamic relationship between the city and the art of photography from the 1860s to the present. Divided into seven thematic sections - Garden, Move, Work, Play, Dwell, Clash, and Dream - the exhibition explores photographs of the city through the dual lenses of landscape and the human body, as well as the provocative visual interplay between the two."

Happy Hooker Coming....To You

Xavier Hollander will be in town from Amsterdam for the screening of her documentary film

Xaviera, The Happy Hooker, life of sexual revolutionary


Screens at The Westcoast Film Festival on July 28 at Laemmle Sunset 5 on sunset strip
This won 1st place recently at the Philadelphia Film Festival.

Xavier's Site

She also hosts guests at her Villa Caprice in Spain.

Comedy at The Largo

Largo on La Cienega



Known more for singer-songwriter performances and surprise guests, but according to my comedian friends, Largo is the one of the places to see great funny shows too.

Singer-Songwriter Ron Sexmith performs Largo next week.


Hotel Cafe in Hollywood is another great spot.

Trendy & Torch-Free Domiciles

Berkeley architect David Stark Wilson designed this 2007 house, above and at top, which Metropolitan Home magazine featured in a large spread in June, naming it one of the top 100 houses of the year.


Wilson and his associate Chris Parlette designed it partially for fire resistance and partially for durability and low maintenance. The red steel columns have a coating of intumescent paint, which swells in heat and becomes fire resistant, preventing the metal from melting. Wilson says the zinc siding should never require work in the future. He and Parlette prefer metal for siding and roofs; they frequently use galvanized steel, preweathered steel and zinc siding. Wilson doesn't see metal exteriors as inherently harsh and says that with this house, the shingles, the ripples in the metal and the shadows all read as "rich and almost soft compared with a big stucco wall that might have a warm color but is basically just a flat wall plane." This project, he says, "is all about expressing the skin of the building and making it textural and rich." (source, san francisco chronicle)

Thoroughbreds

Our friend Marcelo has just added thoroughbred Monkey Jones to his line-up which currently includes up and coming racehorse Scibelli (who recently placed 2nd July 7th in Hollywood). Keep an eye on these beauties..

Marcelo and bro Anthony in LA

Journey to Love

The Conference

In Malibu this weekend, July 18-20th.

Can't make it, well at least you can take the free quiz to see if you need it
http://journeytolove.com/freequiz.htm

Go Solar Campaign

The Go Solar California campaign, is part of California's larger fight against global warming. Over the campaign's 10-year span, the state will pump $3.3 billion into financial incentives for Californians who go solar, with the money drawn from utility bills. By the end of that time, the program should fund roughly 3,000 megawatts of new solar generation.

The Go Solar rebates were first offered in January 2007. Since then, the PUC has received 11,653 active applications, for projects capable of generating 251.5 megawatts. If approved, those projects will receive $635 million of incentives.

"We're on track to grow to 3,000 megawatts," said Molly Tirpak Sterkel, the solar project's supervisor for the Public Utilities Commission. "I have every reason to be very optimistic about the solar program."

(Source: San Francisco Chronicle)
Solar Power 2008 Conference 411 - October 14th, San Diego, CA

Van Hunt- DUST

Discovered this band when they opened for Seal at the Warfield in San Francisco about 5 years. Van Hunt invited us to their in store at Amoeba on Haight the following day and we quickly fell for them. Combination Sly and Marvin Gaye with his own personal style and great lyric writing abilities. Also awarded a Grammy in '06 for Best R & B Record.

A Funk Soul Brother.

Dust Video

Here with you in Hell (love with pain)

Untamed and Diabolical -7/13- LA

Very distinctive guitar sound

Diabolic Live

Gunslinger StringBender
You can catch James Wilsey at a Free show July 13th - ECHO, Echo Park.


Post Show Notes:
Dave Gleason sat in with Wilsey's band, these guys put on a great show great guitar sound. Definitely one of the most amazing covers of Loneliness (Karen Carpenter)

Street Art Seen- SF

This massive metal sculture seen crouching on Octavia st. in Hayes Valley.



The new Contemporary Art Museum opening in Yerba Buena soon.....

Aerial Tricksters

Fly girl JO will be performing her trapeze art in Santa Monica..7/12-13

JO Performance Pix






7/15
Post Performance Aerial Trickter Jo, looks perfect while sporting battered and bruised appendages from the weekend shows.

Here with Cassie, pre Step Bros Premiere.

Bohemians Making Wine

Sampled the BOHO Chardonnay from at the Producers Guild mixer last night, very interesting wine from Bohemian Vineyards

Packaged in eco-friendly 3-L bag-in-box wine casks made from unbleached, natural brown, chlorine-free kraft cardboard containing recycled paper.

Requiem for a Dying Planet

This is a unique collaboration between Werner Herzog, Dutch cellist and composer Ernst Reijseger, Senegelaese singer and instrumentalist Mola Sylla and the Sardinian shephherd choir Cuncordu E Tenore de Orosei is an essemblage of imagery and sound, featuring Herzog's documentaries, The Wile Blue Yonder and The White Diamonds.
UCLA Live Exclusive, Royce Hall, feb 20, 2009

The following from Thomas Jefferson;
The Earth belongs to the living
No man may, by natural right, oblige the land he owns or occupies to debts greater than those that may be paid during his own lifetime. Because if he could, then the world would belong to the dead, and not to the living.

Designs by OHIO

David Pierce, founder of OHIO and furniture designer, works primarily in wood and metal crafting.


OHIO's warehouse in the Mission was open last weekend for their annual Summer sale, where we picked up a set of low coffee endtables and perfect for the spot in mind (and we think that we can even dance on them too).

David has also crafted custom designs for the new NapaStyle stores including coffee tables based on a champagne riddling racks.

http://www.ohiodesign.com/

Some other Ohio Designs include:

Sophia Bedroom



Natural bench designs feature a solid wood slab taken right from the tree and finished to perfection. Functional sculpture, each one is unique and can be used indoor/outdoor.

The New Book Paradigm

The Kindle from Amazon.

We got a demo of this at Entertainment Gathering in LA from Jeff Bezos, who was in attendance. Cool device- great screen clarity, as the screen uses a custom font/display technology - Bezos was explaining to a group of us post- event on the terrace at the Getty last December.


Jeff Bezos not only is brilliant - he seems a genuinely nice individual.

The website for Kindle (which sells for $349) has over 35,000 user reviews already.

The jury is out on Kindle and whether or not people want to enjoy books this way.
but based on the IPhone, mobile content is so now.

Sweet Stuff

There's a cupcake phenom; definitely has hit LA....not quite so in the Bay Area.


In LA-
Bite Me, has a different twist on things- they make their cupcakes from pure ingredients - including Madagascar Vanilla - and will deliver to your location. Currently a few permanent stops, including Swingers. Started recently by 2 very sweet young ladies, both with baking in their blood (Natalie & Sarah from Bite Me pictured here.)

d

In San Francisco
The Mielle- is the sweetest shoppe we've come across in some time- boutique candy store located on Octavia St. in Hayes Valley, didn't try the goods as it was after hours, but window shopping was close to bomb.

TCHO,"Obsessively good" dark chocolate made from scratch are only available on-line
-we tasted Beta versions of the choc last December with TCHO Founder Timothy Childs at the Entertainment Gathering.



Across the Bay in Emeryville is even more deliciousness from Charles Chocolates, but you can shop the on-line store
for those great Chocolate covered almonds - $12 for the tin which will be sent chilled to your destination.

Urban Stitch Bitches

Very very cool, we just loved this place upon discovering by accident en route to meet a friend in Hayes Valley.


STITCH one of those truly great ideas and could be the latest trend in urban fashion - repurposing your old duds for yourself, friends or resale.
check out the Bitches behind the brilliant idea that offers up sewing machine rental stations, interesting fabrics for purchase, patches and one-on-one consultations and instructions, in addition to classes for seamsters. They also Blog about tips for giving your clothes new life and designing your own style masterpieces.
Sew:Urban

Chef Chiarello Decends on Yountville

Great news; friend Chef Michael Chiarello is setting up a compound in the beautiful, historic Groezinger's complex in Yountville.

This weekend he opened the NapaStyle store, complete with open kitchen, wine bar and plenty of space for the great items Michael hand picks for his NapaStyle shops and catalogs.

His Bottega restaurant will open late fall, designed with wife and partner Eileen- this place will definitely delight guests.


In addition, Chiarello will host his TV show in the space as well.

Congrats!

Hand-Crafted Incense

The Sword and Rose is a mystical experience, in addition to the incense you will find many other magical offerings here including very special oil blends, gemstones and other oracles. Possibly some of the best Tarot readings anywhere.



A very old friend recently turned me on to a truly rare find, a place you can find hand-crafted incense which the proprietor of 20 years, Randy, makes himself from markets he shops around the world. Powerful stuff, I picked up a few different kinds as gifts and chose the 'transformation' vial for myself.

Hours Tues-Sun 12-6, Cole Valley, SF - one block off Cole on 85 Carl. Tucked back off the street among a spiritual statue garden entranceway.

Thank you Ian for sharing this special place.

A Thousand Kisses Deep

Just bought my 10th "new" copy of the Leonard Cohen 10 new Songs CD today- as it keeps being gifted, borrowed - or otherwise somehow misplaced.

Understandably so, as this is a magical collection of songs from Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson, post Mount Baldy Zen monastery. Cohen spent over 6 years studying and became a monk. According to LC, he stayed there as long as he did because he longed to free himself of depression and would not return until he felt he had.

These talented artists collaborated on what many believe is one of his best collections of songs. One after another, mesmerizing. Painter and friend, Tim Weldon turned me on to this in his Tiburon gallery space, where quite literally art patrons would become transfixed on a certain painting and almost always ask "what is this we are listening to?"

Collection includes my favorites...In My Secret Life, A Thousand Kisses Deep and Back on Boogie Street...
Lyrics and Audio Samples on Leonard's site

Women of Vision

Acceptance speech of Justine Cassell, who was the 2008 Women of Vision Award Winner for Leadership. The video is in two parts, which automatically play sequentially. Total running time is about 12 minutes.

Healing -Spiritual Rhythms

•Karma Moffett, Tibetan bell master - Journey into Bliss, with Visual Mandalas to facilitate meditation.

Other very healing music offerings:
•Steve Halpern, Chakra Suite (kind of the grandfather of healing music and founder of Inner Peace Music)
•Dave and Steve Gordon (sequoia label)
•Steve Chesne and the Luminous World Orchestra
•Revive CD
•Maximus,
•Jai Uttal, Loveland, especially.
(if you live in Northern California, you should definitely make it a point to see Karma and Jai if they are playing anywhere remotely near you).


Music in Schools Today, provides research on value of music to teach and nurture young minds and souls.


The Healing Music Organization provides information, resources, tools and a forum for dialogue to people interested in the healing power of music and sound. The Healing Music Organization serves as a bridge between the worlds of spirituality and medicine by honoring the value of both modalities. Supporting the concept of miracles in healing when the spirit and body learn to harmonize together and resonate with the vast energy of the universe.

Dock of the Bay- Reds stays true

This great little shack remains in tact on the bay- after 20 years- the same Greek family still runs REDS Java House while much around it has been developed, this prime piece of real estate remains the same old haunt with consistently great burgers and Gyros- a nice place to enjoy lunch and sit by the San Francisco Bay (on the Embarkadero)

Spooky Art & The Midnight Disease

Excellent books for any writer, I've read both. Avail on amazon, ha!

Spooky Art, Norman Mailer
Midnight Disease



And GonzoThe Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson releases in theatres this week.

Mick Lasalle's review was quite favorable:
"The film is thorough and entertaining. It's enthusiastic about his contributions, but it's no hagiography, and it serves as both a celebration and a cautionary tale."
Lasalle gives a breakdown about why kids should not try to do drugs and alcohol to help them write, ala Thompson style.
"You want to write? Avoid drugs and alcohol: Sure, drugs and alcohol fueled a few incandescent years for Thompson, but once it's admitted that Thompson was good because he was a good writer and not because he was a substance abuser, the ways in which his habits cut short his creative period become clear.

Beyond the obvious, that drugs and alcohol sucked his vitality and damaged his health, those substances also pickled him in a set of ideas and attitudes that he'd developed as a young man. What comes through between the lines of "Gonzo" is that Thompson didn't grow as a thinker or as a writer. His preoccupation with the "death of the American dream," which was at the heart of his important work, became the reflexive prism through which he interpreted everything.

It's ironic that the man who foretold the end of 1960s idealism should have been so frozen in the attitudes of that period. Was it drugs? Was it fame? Was it the drug of fame mixing with the other drugs and alcohol?"