First day on vacation HAS to be a big day: you’re excited about arriving in a new place and you want to see EVERYTHING right NOW…and boy did we try.
Our first order of business was to find and buy a cheap phone because the one I brought from Maine (an old Droid) mysteriously would not charge. I had spotted a phone stall on the main street just above our hotel the night before s so at 9:00 we went back to the main street to look for it. Shutters everywhere. There was very little street life (at least compared to the night before) and nothing was open. I guess our area is all about the night life.
One of the things I really liked about our hotel, as I browsed among the choices, was that they offered free access to bicycles, and many people we talked to who had been to Beijing told us that biking was a great way to travel around the city. After our failed attempt to find a phone stall, we returned to our hotel around 10am and picked up our bikes. They came with locks that were fixed to the bikes, and nice baskets on the handle bars. They were both one speed with sketchy brakes, but they basically worked. Continue reading “Beijing Big Day”→
Reno’s Hot August Nights — a 10 day homage to cars, especially vintage and classic — will be televised on the SPEED channel, for those of you who get lots of TV channels. Featured will be the 3 nights of the Auction. Check it out.
This first part was sent in an email to various folks… I repeat that here and add stuff from the auction. Good times. According to the RGJ, “…about 5600 cars were registered for the week-long celebration… Already, 3400 vehicles have been registered for next year’s event.”
Meanwhile, Carol and I, Brian and Natasza went to some events at the Nugget last (Wednesday) evening. Here are a few pictures:
We took Air Canada on our last trip to China and liked it so much (comfy, good food, GREAT on-demand entertainment system which really helps make those 14 hours “fly” by, and of course good price) we took it again. Either their mapping system is different, or the route really is different Beijing vs. Shanghai, but this time our map line went EAST over the arctic ice (there’s still ice up there in August!), instead of west before dropping in over Siberia crossing over the Chinese northern boarder before landing in the haze that blanketed the City today.
We’re not sure if it was an actually *foggy* day in Beijing, or if this is the infamous Northern Chinese smog…? Continue reading “Beijing Arrival”→
The cremains will be going up in the very first two shells starting the fireworks show at this week’s Festival finale (usually somewhere in the 10 to 10:30 p.m. window). Those first two shells will be what are called Gold Glitter Crossettes (plenty of YouTube video available upon Googling that phrase to review exactly what that variety looks like). Attached is a photo of the actual shells I received today, nicely labeled In Memory Of.
I don’t know who all will actually be attending the concert, but Michelle and I will be at a table, should be fairly easily found as we’re in the very last row of tables (row K), on the side nearest the main entrance, table number 21. If anyone else knows exactly – or has at least some sense of – where they’ll be onsite, let us all know so we can greet each other as best we can at some point during the evening, in what I hope will be a good sized crowd.
I hope we can all get some good photos of the Hale fireworks to share.
Kind of a funny place to plant roses, under the only covered part of our front courtyard.So Brian and Natasza volunteer to take the roses home…And we have that rose bed paved over.
A month or so later, Craig’s List Reno NV sez:
Futons are on sale at K-Mart, — $89 without mattress. But they’re kinda cheesy, so I thought I’d give Craig’s List a shot. Jason’s apartment was so full of furniture — from a friend who moved — he could hardly walk around and decided he had to get rid of the futon.
So his fortune became my fortune. Later that day, after a shout-out to Brian to help me with his truck…
The futon found a home on our front courtyard.
The preparation and thinking about our front courtyard took weeks and months, but actual getting the futon happened very quickly. Monday after dinner, we were able to sit and relax and watch the sunset. We were treated to these amazing clouds, something we would have surely missed had we not a comfy place to sit.
It’s 7:30pm. The sun — as usual — sets in the west. Our courtyard is on the east side of the house, so we don’t see the actual sunset; we see the effects of the sunset.
Artists that came across my phone iPod while walking along the Truckee River yesterday morning.
I follow this path along the Truckee River starting and ending in Mayberry Park. Something over two miles, about 45 minutes.
Bruce Springstein
Lucinda Williams
Thelonious Monk — the small group, not the band, though I have the band
Neil Young
Stan Kenton — Yes, from his album Cuban Fire
Bob Dylan
Macy Gray
I like the stuff on my iPod. Sometimes I think about loading new stuff, but I love what I have and I have enough in variety and quantity that I don’t tire of it. The last thing that I downloaded was Stan Kenton.
Near the western end of the path. The river is pretty shallow and runs fast making wonderful water music.
Every so often there’s a story that you read/hear/watch that stabs deep into your mind, your head shivers, you blink your eyes and softly mutter “whoa!” Here is one of them, which I heard the beginning of on Maine Public radio during their “Public Affairs” hour today just as the Farmers’ Market ended at 1pm. I had heard the promo for this story, which sounded interesting but I wasn’t prepared for the five minute slice I heard, about ten minutes into the story, and I wrote down the name of the program and it’s source “Transom.org” before I went about my normal banking and shopping after the market.
Essentially this is a visit inside the life of one of “The Tribe” of foreign correspondents upon whom we depend for some picture of the violent parts of this world. I think, in general, we romanticize their lives when we ever bother to stop to think about what it takes to do the work of telling the story of war. However, I’m sure we also know, deep down, that the Nora Ephron script in our head is FAR FAR different from the reality of the job. Luckily, one of “The Tribe” has taken the time to share a bit of her life with us — the good, the bad, and the scary.
Prepare an hour of time to listen straight through because you won’t want to stop it once you start.
BTW: You can listen on your computer using the link above, OR you can try to find it on iTunes or through your favorite Podcast app (I use Podkicker on Android right now) to listen on the ear buds while you’re in a less static mood (traveling, gardening, etc.).
A little rain, a little wind, a lot of joy at Artown opener
Some great fun was had by yours truly. I needed to see what a free event at Wingfield Park was like. Were there traffic jams? [No] What’s the parking like? [I snagged a place on the street, but was plenty lucky to do so. There are plenty of parking garages around.] Can I take a folding chair and sit and see? [Yes, but of course the best spots go early.] What’s the weather like at 8pm when today’s high was 101°? [Very pleasant in a polo shirt and shorts… a light breeze.] Is there food? [Yes, see story] Port-a-potties with short or no lines? [Yes] I didn’t stay for the whole deal, but I’m glad I went and I’ll be back./m
The stage at Wingfield Park. You can almost see the rapids of the Truckee River on the right.The crowd. On the opposite side at the bottom of that tall building is the Great Basin Community Food Coop.
The following is excerpted from an RGJ story by Katrina Raenell. A link to the Artown web site and calendar of events is at the end of this posting.
Front page of the RGJ
Relief from the 105-degree heat wave burst over Wingfield Park with strong winds and pelting rain.
Blankets and umbrellas scattered along the grass as the gathering crowd took refuge under trees and bobbing river swimmers rushed under bridges.
The opening night of Artown had fallen under the shadow of a rainstorm.
“A little rain isn’t going to stop me,” a passerby said. “Give it five minutes. It’s Reno.”
As the rain dwindled, the people began to pour over the bridge and park entrances into the park.
They came with chairs, coolers and Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon” T-shirts. The mood was light, friendly, and the crowd buzzed about the upcoming performances from Reno band Jelly Bread and the “Return to the Dark Side of the Moon” musicians.
Kelsey “J” Rosser said she has attended Artown every year for about 10 years and she was excited to see the “Return to the Dark Side of the Moon.” She said she didn’t care how hot it was, she wasn’t going to miss the opening of Artown for anything. “Reno’s art community has grown so much over the past five years,” Rosser said. “I don’t know what to expect from this year’s Artown, but I think it will probably be bigger than in the past.”
The searing heat of the day was comfortably cooled by the time Jelly Bread took the stage.
To an opening set of upbeat funk-jam, the crowd settled into a rhythm of its own with bobbing heads, tapping feet and children spinning in circles. On the outskirts of the crowd, Barbara Rodriguez had just arrived to the fest and was enjoying listening to the band. “These guys have a groovy vibe,” Rodriguez said.
Set up to feed the masses was barbecue restaurant Men Wielding Fire, and Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice. James Hinkel of Little Jimmy’s was invited to participate in Artown last minute and was looking forward to opening night of the festival.
“I’ve traveled all over, and I’ve never known a community to do something so culturally sound for a whole month,” Hinkel said. “This event involves every aspect of culture and arts.”
A trippy, slow moving heartbeat filled the air as Dark Side took the stage with heavy rhythm and instrumentals.
Nora Hendryx joined the musicians on the stage and harmonized her vocals with the music as it began to build in tempo. The first riff of Pink Floyd’s “Breathe” began, and the crowd cheered and sang along.
ARTOWN is Reno’s July Art and Culture Festival. For nearly two decades, Artown has brought together local and global talent to promote and showcase the arts through a mostly free or low cost month-long festival.
I could go on and on, but go ahead and check out renoisartown for the calendar, events, mission statement and so on and on. Who knew. Last year we had just arrived in town and didn’t know nothin’. Now we know.
RectorSite 