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Second Friday Art Walk
··· Oct 14 2010 · By ···
One of the nice things about San Rafael is that there is a rather strong arts community. This means that there are lots of opportunities to take in, purchase, be inspired by, even exhibit art.
One of the ways that the San Rafael arts community presents its art to the public is by holding a monthly art walk downtown on 4th St. (and some of the surrounding streets). This event is called the 2nd Friday Art Walk, and happens – you guessed it – on the second Friday of each month. It’s put on by Art Works Downtown, a San Rafael arts incubator.
Well, since Dorothy and I are interested in local art, and have missed taking part in things like this since we left Kalamazoo (where they have a monthly Art Hop that is similar to this) we thought it would be nice to head downtown and get our art on.
We didn’t have a lot of time, so we felt it would be best if we stuck to the densest part of the art walk, between C and D Streets on 4th. This worked out good, as we were able to check out a number of galleries and the Art Works facilities. Overall, most of the art was paintings, mixed media, and photographs at most of the places we went. I didn’t take too careful of notes on who the artists art or anything this time, but one of the things that I did notice is that a lot of artists are working in encaustic. For those who haven’t heard of encaustic, it is basically a pigmented bees wax that is layered onto the canvas (or board, or whatever). That layering gives the work a really cool depth. You can also do stuff like transferring things onto it, then covering the transfer with more encaustic medium. You get the picture, I am sure, if not check here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encaustic_painting . Anyway, maybe it is a bit played out as the medium of the moment, but I like how it looks and I even hope to get into a little experimental wax painting some time soon (hands rubbing together)…
One of my favorites is the Folk Art Gallery. I had a nice chat with the owner, Sharon Christovich, who is also an artist (it is indeed obvious that she has an artist’s eye). She really seems to enjoy what she does. They specialize in unique, handmade things that are produced by various native peoples from Mexico to Africa to Peru to the Middle East (and a lot of places in between). One of the things that I enjoy about a lot of the products in places like this is you see a lot of re-use of items that in the USA we typically will throw out. Dorothy pointed out a neat chicken (or cock) made from old plastic bags (hopefully clean). I noticed this door curtain made from strung together plastic bottle pieces, garden hose, and other stuff we normally pitch, or recycle. It’s cool!
There are also some more traditional items like this funny hat that might have been used in some ceremony or celebration that you see in National Geographic magazine.
It’s nice to be part of a community with a thriving local artist scene, and I have only scratched the surface with what D & I experienced here in San Rafael. A few years back we produced a little video about a Cotati based artist 3D Edddy. Needless to say, Dorothy and I are totally looking forward to exploring the art scene all up in this place we call home.
Lowdown ina Showdown
··· Oct 01 2010 · By ···
I’m just going to come out and say it right away, Dub Step is the ultimate underground dance music. Now that I got that out of the way, let me get down to some of my reasoning.
I attended the September 19th Lowdown ina Showdown event at the Showdown bar in San Francisco, right next door to the legendary Tu Lan Vietnamese Restaurant. This event is a free, monthly Dub Step dance party and BBQ that is also in collaboration with a weekly free Dub Step event across 6th St. at Anu called Ritual. Really, how can you go wrong with two free events. (as of this writing, it is unsure whether either of these events are continuing)
So I called up some friends in the City, and we headed down to see what all the fuss is about. The fuss is all about deep dark beats, MCs rhyming, bodies moving, and some good clean underground fun.
Ritual is the larger event, with a bigger dance floor. It looks like there is a waiting list to get in, but what really goes on is that the club is 21+ so anyone younger than that just hangs out on the sidewalk in front, dancing, hanging, eating BBQ, even playing retro video games on some old NES consoles that are set up. When you go in, Anu is dark, hot, and loud – just the alchemy needed to get bodies moving. We set up camp along the side for a while, had some drinks (I had some water since I was driving) and watched the action and took in the sounds.
The one thing that you immediately notice when listening to Dubstep in a proper setting (loud dark club) is that the music is pretty stripped down, almost minimal and sort of slow. That’s alright, because it is really the underlying bass line that serves as the meat of Dubstep. I could go into a whole page on what makes a song Dubstep (versus, say Garage, Twostep, Jungle…) but it is better to just provide a link to the Wikipedia article on Dubstep to get you started. I do like this opening quote attributed to the All Music description of Dubstep.
“its tense, almost oppressively dark sound was built on tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals”
Meanwhile, over at the Showdown, UFO! was getting ready for his set. I have been a huge fan of UFO! back when I lived in SF and was part of the Jungle scene in the late 1990s. In case you missed out on that scene, too bad, because the way that I feel currently about how Dubstep is the ultimate underground dance music, is the way I felt about the San Francisco Jungle scene back then. I was familiar with the UK jungle that was popular, with all of its offshoots. But I was fortunate to see first hand how those building blocks were interpreted and transformed by a bunch of talented DJs and musicians, who created a very unique San Francisco Jungle sound. Among them was UFO! Part of the Phunckateck crew UFO! regularly filled the dancefloor wherever he played, mixing a tight combination of UK and local tracks, while keeping the beats gritty, dark, and full. In addition to his spinning and mixing, UFO! was a character, sometimes stopping a track to yell something across the floor, then getting right back to it, without missing a beat. Oh, those were some good times!
So I had this chance to see UFO! perform again for the first time in like 12 years. Seeing that he is on a bill for some Dubstep, I thought that is a good change for him. Wow, did I ever enjoy his set! It was like a natural progression that took some 10+ years to get from the Jungle he was producing back in the late 90s to the Dubstep whatever you wanna call it that he was throwing down here in 2010. I felt that the only thing that was wrong with things during his set was the mic hogging MC who couldn’t shut up! There is a time for MCs to do their thing, but they don’t have to try to find a rhyme all the time (sorry). And the lady MC who had the mic during UFO!’s set was just harshing things in a major way (and don’t get me started on the feedback from the mic). Regardless of all that, UFO! worked his style into his mix, including his patented “stop the music to yell things across the floor” move (mostly aimed at the girl on the mic).
Driving back across the Golden Gate Bridge, through some of the thickest San Francisco fog I have ever seen with the sounds still fresh in my head, I smiled and sent cosmic thank you to UFO!
Good Festival a Good Reason to Take a Bike Ride
··· Aug 08 2010 · By ···
For the most part, the bike route from San Rafael to Fairfax is one of the most enjoyable, easy routes to ride. The middle part, going through San Anselmo is kind of tricky, and not very direct, but once you figure it out, it’s not so bad. We had to ride through that, and on to the town of Fairfax for the 2010 Good Festival. The preeminent event for hanging out in a park and getting your hippy on, or letting your hippy hang out or whatever the kids are saying these days.
For those who don’t know, Fairfax is the last real town heading west on Sir Francis Drake until you get to Point Reyes Station. So it is a major stop on the road bike circuit. The Fairfax Coffee Roastery is lined up 4-5 deep with nothing but bright spandex, as was the case as Dorothy and I walked in to get a recharge before heading over to the Good Festival. We got our drinks and headed up Bolinas to the park, and remembered that we needed to get some grommets for some curtains I’m making, so we stopped into Rainbow Fabrics, and a few minutes later I had what I needed. This is a really cute independent shop with some great fabrics (Hello, Burning Man’ers) and some nice beads, and cool old buttons.
Fairfax is one of those places where you never know what you are going to see. So you just expect anything, like seeing a 10 foot tall winged creature with furry long goat like legs walking down the street. Or the local Fairfax old hippy who we warmly call Rainbow Dread.
Well, they were both there, and other people doing a bunch of stuff. Stuff like visiting some pretty cool vendors, with everything from soaps, to green home technology to back rubs. Big props to Whole Foods for handing out free, reusable tote bags. D and I picked up two to add to our ever growing shopping bag collection. Some folks were lounging in the grass enjoying some bands perform their music, while others lounged in some hand made bent wood chairs. Rainbow Dread was cold rocking it, perched on top of his bike, almost levitating, keeping watch over things.
We got our fill of the Good Festival, and hopped back on our bikes and pedaled back to San Rafael.
Picnic and Concert at the Marin Art and Garden Center
··· Jul 29 2010 · By ···
Last Thursday Jeph and I packed a picnic dinner and headed over the hill to the Marin Art and Garden Center (MAGC), in Ross, for the weekly farmer’s market, where there was also a band playing on the lawn. We’ve been walking downtown to our local San Rafael farmer’s market every week since moving here, and enjoying it, but also want to visit some of the other markets nearby. This was great because it introduced us to a new part of the area: Ross and Kentfield. On the short drive over Wolf Grade, meandering down a few side streets, we saw some lovely properties – great Sunday drive/bike/walk potential.
I read about the concert (part of a summer concert series) while looking around on the MAGC website, and was excited by the idea of a picnic accompanied by live music. What’s not to like about eating outside, on the grass, in the beautiful early evening warmth and setting sun, with a band playing? Apparently, many other people love the idea too, because the parking lot was full. Not a big deal; we found a spot up the street and walked back, picnic basket and supplies in hand.
After getting our weekly veggies and fruits on, we found a central spot on the lawn with a good mix of sun and shade. Out came the tapestry to sit on and appetizers: white wine, flatbread, and baba ghannouj (homemade, of course.) Jeph wondered if it was kosher to drink wine in this public setting – my response was that this is Marin County, the gateway to wine country, and people love to drink wine here. And, I was right, because, as we enjoyed ours and looked around, there were many others doing the same! One lesson learned, though, is that it is tricky to balance wine glasses on a picnic. So, next time we’ll either bring more sensible glasses (but that’s not as fun), or a flat surface to serve as a little table (I’m sure Jeph can fashion something.)
We had no idea what to expect from the band, “Rich Fike & Friends” (would love to give them a shout out here, but unable to find a website for them), and were quite pleasantly surprised. They were really good and did a bunch of fun classic rock and reggae – perfect for a lawn picnic.
Our main course was one of my personal favorites for picnic fare: Panzanella, also known as “bread salad.” I’ve been making it since my mid twenties. The recipe, cut from a newspaper, is tattered and faded, and not even really necessary at this point. As good food can do, preparing and eating this dish brings back memories of other fun times (a hot summer afternoon at Walden Pond, a windy day at Delores Park with family visiting from back east.)
As we enjoyed our meal and the music and looked around at the families and groups of friends doing the same – kids running around, pregnant moms, grandparents, old friends catching up – I celebrated the fact that this is where we have chosen to make our home and begin growing roots. The scene all around me there was confirmation of a wise choice!