Monday, August 31, 2009

More Boise Curb Cup…

According to the Idaho Statesman, over 10,000 people attended the Curb Cup yesterday!
Here are a few more photos (as promised in yesterday's post). In the photo above, mimes taking pictures of people taking pictures. (Or maybe they were just miming all the photographers...)

These guys combined plastic cups, drums, and a table top (as well as many other things) to create fantastic rhythms.

Cool bluegrass/folk sounds.

A dance/comedy/burlesque/theater-of-the-absurd performance.

Hot hip hop.

I hope they do the Curb Cup again next year -- it was a creative blast!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Boise Curb Cup

We attended an extraordinary, new event downtown today called Curb Cup: The great street circus of creativity. It featured 130 street performers who did a wide variety of acts, including dance, magic tricks, different “flavors” of music, stand-up comedy, juggling, yo yo tricks, clown follies, live graffiti, jump rope drills, martial arts, hula hoops, and more.

Each spectator received three “voter tokens”, to put into the bucket of their favorite acts. At the end of the two-hour extravaganza, the tokens were counted and the performers with the most tokens won cash prizes. The grand winner got not only cash, but the Curb Cup trophy, which was created by a local artist. (I'll have to give you results tomorrow).



More people came out than expected; it was literally a “sea” of people, and hard to get from place to place. But this crowd was mellow and courteous to one another.

It was a lot of fun! I’ll post a few more shots tomorrow.

http://boisecurbcup.com/

Friday, August 28, 2009

Thinking ahead…


...for the weekend.

As the old song says: “And you know two heads are better than one.”

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Interpretations


Sometimes it’s refreshing…


to look at a scene…


from different “perspectives.”

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Stripes of sun

...on another summer morning.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Slices of sun

...on summer morning.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Looking through


A glimpse through a window can open your imagination.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Fun with fish

Reflections on a Saturday…

Friday, August 21, 2009

Microcosm

If you stepped into this pool, would you glide into an alternate world? Travel through time?

Could this be another Looking Glass, looking for another Alice?

Just imagine...

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Pisces


I especially like the electric one.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Cloud glow

Caught this shot last week during a break from the rain. It reminds me a bit of clouds in scenes painted by Frederic Church.

Along with creating exquisite paintings, Church built a magnificent villa, Olana, in the Hudson Valley. A work of art on all levels.

[Thanks to N, who introduced me to Frederic Church's work -- xxoo]

Monday, August 17, 2009

After the rain

Hard to equal the beauty of a rose.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Elephant Head Amaranth

According to a gardening site, this plant is so named because it “evokes images of elephants' trunks reaching to the sky”.

I can see it – but I have to say it evokes other images for me, too…

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Tile art


We came across this mosaic project in a sort of scrubby side yard between houses during a walk. I wonder if it’s a work in progress, and what it will become?

Speaking of tile art, we got a great book through the library about historic Portuguese azueljos, titled “Portuguese Decorative Tiles: Azulejos”. The patterns are incredible, and we were also fascinated by the surreal quality to some of the scenes depicted.
Examples: A tableau of cats being taught to sing, and being “treated” by monkeys (there are vials of potions, surgical tools in the scene). A trompe l’oeil of fish hanging on coat hooks in a kitchen. An unusual depiction of the death of Dido (with a bonfire and a rainbow). Human bodies transforming into vases. Life-sized figures of guards in a hallway or entrance. And many allegorical, religious, historic, and mythological tableaus.

This website about Portuguese azulejos is excellent; like a book online.

And there’s always Wikipedia.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Double take


Another "set" of windows from the same church in last night’s post.

There is no phrase without a double meaning.
-African proverb

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Of another era



These windows are part of a building constructed in 1911. It used to be a church. Now, it’s being repaired and restored, and will eventually become home for a children’s arts center.

More photos will follow…

Points of view


Several angles in this photo – like good conversation.


A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month's study of books.
~ Chinese proverb

It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.
~ Yogi Berra

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Bountiful harvest?


Flowering crab apple tree. The blossoms are lovely in spring, but the little apples -- although pretty in this photo -- are so sour they are usually only used in jelly or preserves [Around here, they often end up on sidewalks and lawns, rather than in jelly jars]. I couldn’t find how they got the name of “crab apples,” but their Latin name is malus.

May your Monday be blessed with lovely blossoms, rather than sour fruit.

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Rain and imagining

Today was a moody day, a diverse day, with many thunderstorms passing through. Hard rain. The sun popped out from time to time, trying to shine the heat back in. But the air smells wonderfully damp and it’s cool, not beastly hot.

It's the kind of day I’d love to be on a comfy screened in porch with large windows where I could watch the storms come in, hear the rain, and curl up on a rattan sofa with a good book. Maybe a story about ancient secrets, two voices whispering in a corridor, mysterious stairways…

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

A day in August

Seeing so many of these golden flowers in bloom reminds me that fall is coming soon. The days seem to pass by as quickly as flickering sunlight…


Love is like wildflowers; it's often found in the most unlikely places.
~ Anonymous

You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.
~ Paulo Coelho

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Flash of gold

What is it? Will it tell your fortune? Predict the weather? Is it a bird feeder? A new kind of disco ball? The goose’s golden egg?






Rumors keep buzzing…

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Local art

“Cleveland as a Pig”, chalk on cement. Artist unknown.


Possible interpretations: Perhaps Cleveland is a spy or a camouflage artist. Maybe he has duel personalities, or is a trickster.

Or maybe he just doesn’t know who he is.

What do you think?


If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
~ Chuck Palahniuk

Gardening

Many people have planted “boxed” gardens in their front yards this summer.


Looks like the tomatoes are coming along, but the chives?


My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view.
~H. Fred Ale