Handmade baskets of Exuma

 my beauties

The ladies of Exuma make these with the leaves of the Silver Palm.  The pics below are from the Straw Market in Georgetown. 

 the raw material

 

Unidentified sea creature

 Does anyone have any idea what this is?  It is organic, feels like hard rubbery plastic, and appears to have grown around a frond of soft coral.  It is also quite large for a weird-sea-creature.  I can't find anything even remotely like this in Reef Creature Identification by Paul Humann, my oceanside bible.

 (all click to enlarge)

What do you get....

when you cross a proper British colonial band with a junkanoo spirit?  The Nassau Police Band.

 

 Click to enlarge to see best smile on the band leader's face.

The local kids in the community band were equally sweet....

Tomorrow...the beautiful baskets from the straw market.

It's a Bahamian Ting

 Have arrived in Exuma for last two days of the National Family Island Regatta when traditional wooden sailing sloops from all over the Bahamian archipelago arrive in Georgetown Harbor for five days of racing competition.  This is one of the biggest events of the year in the "Out Islands" (the ones where the cruise ships don't go) and Bahamians pour into Exuma from all the other islands.

All these people will race the boat -- when the wind picks up they shimmy out onto two wooden rails to keep the boat from blowing over.  You can see this in the previous pic although the wind was not particularly high so they weren't all the way out.

 Many of the boats are brought over from the other islands on the ferries.

 And because this is Exuma, where everything and everyone is mellow, the police boat not only has  policemen with bulletproof vests and guns, but also all their family and friends.

 During and after the races the party continues on the government dock in Georgetown which has been transformed by the temporary construction of a Main St. of food and drink shacks.  What you can't hear is the blasting music from the huge speaker towers.

 

 

 Guava duff and sheep tongue souse....it's a Bahamian Ting....

 I can personally vouch for Froggy and Yvonne's ribs....and the Bahamians do in fact make the best macaroni in the world, served by the slice.

Coldest beer and gullywash.

Tomorrow, the parade!

What photons say. Happy Easter.

click to enlarge

Greetings from the Big Apple

Where to begin?  With an apology to all those who have been asking after me!  I am alive although you would never know it to judge by the activity on this blog.  Since late January I have been deeply involved in two large science projects and, in whatever spare time was left, was readying my house to put it on the market.  It is now for sale and at the first open house many people apparently commented on the beautiful wallpaper -- Yay William Morris!  In June I am moving to Manhattan and am currently renovating an apartment on upper west side.  I think things are still going to be pretty busy over next 8 weeks as I get ready to move, pack up household, sell house, etc, but please keep checking in!  Lots of great travels coming up including transit through the Panama Canal in June, followed by visit to Amsterdam.  Back to Urbino, Italy, then Switzerland and Ireland in July.  And later in year I'll be spending a few months in India.  So lots of fodder for posts on art, craft, architecture, and neat stuff coming up!

jacksonpollock.org

(me)

Jackson Pollock's splatters really do look nicer than mine.  Make your own Pollock painting at www.jacksonpollock.org.  It's fun....a puzzle to figure out how it works, then more fun creating your masterpiece!

Number 1, 1950 (Lavender Mist)

"It is impossible to make a forgery of Jackson Pollock's work," Time magazine critic Robert Hughes claimed in 1982. It is a telling comment that gets to the heart of Pollock's authenticity as an artist." Lavender Mist about sums up his most ravishing, atmospheric painting....Pollock used the patterns caused by the separation and marbling of one enamel wet in another, the tiny black striations in the dusty pink, to produce an infinity of tones." 

---from the National Gallery of Art website

Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody, Infinity Music Hall

What a combo!  A stunning renovation of an 1883 theater in northwest Connecticut, Infinity Music Hall, provides an incredible, intimate (300 people), and acoustically brilliant concert space within which to hear Al Di Meola, possibly the best jazz guitarist ever, play his new music "Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody".  This followed a sumptious bistro meal served in the arty downstairs restaurant.  Love the horizontal bead-board everywhere.  I look forward to my next visit!

 (all pics from internet...didn't have my camera)

Go Al!

"The maestro is back and he is killing! Al D throws down beautiful nylon-string parts and blazing electric lines on this tango-riffic collection. The playing is spectacular throughout but tones, particularly on 'Paramour's Lullaby' and 'Full Frontal' are so cool they almost steal the show. Bravo!" – Guitar Player

Now that's what I call an x-ray!

yuk. yuk.  A new freshwater  "pancake" stingray discovered in the Amazon River.  More info and pics at Our Amazing Planet!

A Steampunk H. H. Richardson Train Station Diner

A clever renovation of an historical building, with a steampunk themed interior decor, yields delicious food and drink paired with great architectural karma....the Deluxe Station Diner in Newton, MA.

Added 3/28/11:  more pics and narrative about renovation can be found on artist and sculptor Mark Fisher's web site. 

Wow! Tomorrow is a super-Moon!

(image compliments of NASA)

Time to grab the hand of your someone-special and go watch the moon-rise at sunset tomorrow.   From NASA: "On March 19th, a full Moon of rare size and beauty will rise in the east at sunset. It's a super "perigee moon"--the biggest in almost 20 years".   They give a nice explanation on the web site.

For the love of color...

I think you will like this blog, For the love of COLOR, which has the motto "Engaging the world with a colorful perspective and finding inspiration in everything from architecture to nature".  Here are a few excerpts.  There must be some kind of software that extracts colors from photographs but it is not explained.  Does anyone remember Martha Stewart's first set of paint chips?

 

Happy Pi Day!

(a pi pie from wikipedia, looks like my mom's cheesecake...yum)

Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses

As winter drags on it's a good time to visit a greenhouse.  A few historical greenhouses can be found around Boston, including the Ferguson Greenhouses at Wellesley College.  They were built with funds raised by Dr. Margaret Ferguson, master of the Wellesley College faculty in the first half of the 20th century.  She completed a Ph.D. at Cornell in the 1800s (extraordinarily rare for a woman at that time) and in 1930 became the first woman president of the Botanical Society of America.  The greenhouses were designed by her and built by the firm of Lord & Burnham, the preeminent builders of greenhouses at that time.

 Begonia House

Potting Room

Desert House

Cryptogam House

Tropic House

 

Seasonal Display House

Hydrophyte House