Saturday, September 24, 2011

a taste of lotus fest, anyone?

bloomington's lotus world music fest is sort of a big deal - at least in bloomington. i don't know if anyone else in the world has ever heard of it... but i suspect some have. this is a "so i don't forget to check into this band more" type of post. from sweden, i give you, MOVITS!

i miss you, i'm going back home to the west coast...

whenever i head west, this song invariably gets stuck in my head. it's a problem. coconut records, "west coast:"


today a week ago, i was so, so happy to board a plane in portland, oregon, to head back east. it was a long, excellent trip... but mostly, i missed home by a week and a couple of days in. but i saw some amazing things while i was there.

japanese gardens, portland.
20110915. japanese gardens, portland.

steps at the japanese gardens.
20110915. japanese gardens, portland.

i bought a new ring. cargo in portland is a fantastic store - and right by rogue pub and distillery on flanders!
20110908. fancy ring from cargo, portland.

i loved all the bonsai trees at the lan su chinese garden.
20110910. lan su chinese gardens, portland..

an old growth forest on the coast.
20110916. on the coast. in the forest. oregon.

my second trip to rogue - i like beer.
20110914. rogue pub and distillery, flanders, portland. hotel bed.

we took a dinner boat trip on the willamette.
20110912. cruise on the willamette river.

me at the lan su chinese garden. each of those buildings was designed and built by chinese designers and builders (duh!) in china, then disassembled and reassembled, piece by piece, in portland by 90 or so chinese workers. amazing.
20110910. lan su chinese gardens, portland..

CHEESE!!! at the tillamook creamery. in addition to beer, i also love cheese.
20110915. tillamook creamery!

waterfall, i like your colors.
20110915. japanese gradens, portland.

my buddy, my buddy. wherever you go, i'm gonna go.
20110915. japanese gradens, portland.

oh man... voodoo doughnuts. serious yum for just $1.50. i was boring and got the portland cream (this little guy). i did NOT sample such wares as "triple chocolate penetration."
20110915. portland cream, $1.50 of deliciousness at voodoo doughnuts.

this is an accurate representation of my first day on the coast - classic oregon, in other words.
20110915. oregon coast, on the way north.

ominous clouds.
20110915. oregon coast, on the way north. CLOUDS!

ominous logs.
20110915. oregon coast, on the way north. rawr!

the sun came out for just a minute at cannon beach.
20110915. oregon coast, cannon beach.

so many starfish at cannon beach.
20110915. oregon coast, cannon beach.

so many anemones.
20110915. oregon coast, cannon beach.

and some more starfish.
20110915. oregon coast, cannon beach.

and my last day on the coast was sunny and fantastic.
20110916. oregon coast, somewhere south of cannon beach.

20110916. oregon coast, somewhere south of cannon beach.

20110916. oregon coast, somewhere south of cannon beach.

20110916. oregon coast, somewhere south of cannon beach.

as they say in portland, please bike responsibly.
20110916. portland state ipa.

have i become someone who goes to the symphony?!

why, yes. yes, i think i have.

we went to the indianapolis symphony orchestra last night - my first trip - to see CARMINA BURANA. it was amazing - full choir for the final part, hilarious (and incredibly talented) operatic folks, a very talented orchestra (which was fun to watch in itself, since i used to play the cello). the coolest thing? we just got the youngest maestro ever to lead a big city orchestra, and he was showing his stuff in full force. his first public concert was a week ago, and there he was, leading the whole huge SOUND coming from the stage without using a page of sheet music. seriously - this whole piece, not a page of sheet music in sight.

i might have a little crush.

here's the indianapolis choir's flash mob of carmina burana at the airport earlier this year:


i think the ISO is going to have some exciting things on the horizon! can't wait to see more.