Wednesday, October 23, 2013

I Can't Believe It's Almost Wednesday! 10-22-13

This morning was I Hop day! Yay!  For some reason, I was needing pancakes.



Yes, I'm a tourist.  The hand railing and the door handles are wrapped because they get so hot in the sun.  Today it was a mere 93 degrees F (not at breakfast though, that was later).  Apparently, it's usually around 87 in October.  But we didn't hit the 2003 record of 105 F. (mercifully).

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So last Sunday we went to the College of the Desert (COD) for the Street Fair.  The parking is now shaded because they have put solar panels on stilts.  The panels create the shade for the cars while soaking up the sun.  They have done this at the high school in Palm Springs too.  It's very creative.  Of course, they don't have to worry about the weight of snow ...

Anyway, I didn't take a lot of pictures because most of you have seen the Street Fair before.  And it was bloody hot because we went around Noon.  It's actually hotter here at 3 p.m., but still it was hot!  The gold blouse below was just the tip of the surface of the Palm Spring bling.  The Street Fair is in Palm Desert, but they like PS Bling too.



 

I think I might need one of these garden ornaments, but I don't think they would fit in my suitcase.



This horse bag was surrounded by Kliban cat bags.




Do you see the solar panels on the right (above)?  This is another giant parking lot for the students and the vendors set up under the solar panels.



This photo doesn't do justice to these glittering bags.  I think it's because it was so sunny.

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On the way back, Mom asked if I wanted to see the Palm Desert Art Museum.  She stayed in the car 'because it's really quite small.'  Well, she wasn't kidding -- you can do it in 15 minutes!  I did linger a bit though.

 





 
 
 
 
Below: Exhibit name.

 
 
Below: two Dale Chihuly glass sculptures.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I think of this as the Picasso Nook.
 
Picasso
Picasso
 
 
 
Forgot to get the artist's name of the tryptich.
 
 
 
I should know who did this, but I can't remember! It's right at the front door as you enter.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I really wanted to move the three plastic layers of the Rauschenberg above, but I didn't think I could get away with it since the sign was kind of explicit.
 
 
 
This is a wood carving.
 
 
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So today (Tuesday) after our luxurious I Hop brunch, we went for groceries and cruised a couple of stores and then it was time for Happy Hour!  We went to 360 North which is a new restaurant opened by Tony who used to work where Mom had her champagne brunch birthday party.  Well ... the "well" drinks were only $4 so we moved from a fabulous appetizer of mussels with cannellini beans, tomatoes, and a bit of beef to a fabulous lasagna (with chorizo on top) for me and ravioli for Mom.  The second bourbon on the rocks rounded out the meal nicely.
 
We zipped back here, got into our suits and were in time to see the evening star from the pool.  It had cooled down considerably, so the hot tub was wonderful.  And since we were the only two at the pool, it had again become "Mom's pool."  We were back in time for NCIS, which is a good thing since we have watched all of the Homeland and all of Nurse Jackie that there is.
 
Last night, we perused HBO on Demand and alit on Lewis Black.  He was SO funny, we had tears running down our face from laughing.  If you can't tolerate the F word, he's not for you.  But he's REALLY funny.  When he was talking about last winter (I think it was at least a couple of years ago), he said he would walk outside and say, "F...., it's COLD!"  Now, what New Englander hasn't said that?
 
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A couple of days ago, while in the pool, Eric was saying that he used to have a house on the side of a mountain and he had a glass humming bird feeder right on a window.  He said it was huge, holding almost a half gallon of syrup.  He said it was 'like LAX' with a bunch of hummers drinking while others hovered, waiting their turn.  Normally, hummingbirds are very territorial, but they were able to wait their turn.  He said, eventually, he could get them to sit on his hand.
 
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A few of the Canadians have returned, but not all.  The Gay Pride Parade will be this Sunday after I have already returned.  I'll miss all of the bling in the parade!  Maybe I should buy some glitter socks ...

Friday, October 18, 2013

Before Friday's Villagefest 10-18-13

We visited

 
 
the Palm Springs Desert Art Museum.  This metallic sculpture had arrived some time last year.

Mom and I use the elevator which is to the right of the front side of the building.



 
I was fascinated by the texture on the mountains.  The elevator is to the left just before the Annenberg Theater box office which you see named here.
 
Below you see "my dog," which is the Nara sculpture.  Last year, he was on loan to the new Palm Desert Museum and I was not amused.
 
 
Many of you have heard me try to describe the size of my dog.  So here's a way to judge.
 
 


What follows is a random collection of things I like (or think is weird) and many are things that I have not photographed before.  See if you can figure out what I really liked (or not!).
 
 
Below is what I call "The Green Thing."  Sorry, didn't get real name.
 
The piece above glittered and glistened in the light.  It's painted in green underneath.  It turns out that the glitter is provided by millions of staples crisscrossed and parallel all over the place.  The "paper" is created by strips of paper and canvas.  Below that photo is a detail of the back of the work above.  You can see these staples are holding the strips together.  It was amazing!


 
A guard told us that if you walk in a circle around the stacked bowls, an optical illusion makes you think they are moving and turning.  Yup! It's true.
 
 
 
Yes, it's a chair made of stuffed animals.
 
 
 
 
 
 
I wonder if this is Eve?
 
 
Below, you see George Montgomery's bio.  I don't remember him as an actor, but I met him a few years ago at the Desert Museum (former President Ford was there too).  At that time, they were rededicating the museum and they had Montgomery's whole dining room on display.  Now it's only his hutch, with branding irons on it, and some of his art collection.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Glass Desert Flower
 
 
Glass Man
 
 
All Glass Pieces
 
 
Greetings, Earthlings!
 
 
Below is my favorite hat.  You'll notice that it's right near the restrooms.  Hmpf!
 
 
 
This detail shows what is not readily apparent: this work is made from over 3,000 corsage pins.  Those lines on the inside of the 'ribbon' are the pointy parts.  Would be kind of painful to wear!
 
This is "Pickett" by Judy Chicago and it's named after Wilson Pickett.  Years ago, when I was in my twenties, Mom took me to see her "Dinner Party" when it was in Boston.  (Dinner Party now lives in Brooklyn.)  Judy Chicago was the first time I viewed a feminist artist's work.  My eyes were opened.
 
 
 
And that's it!