Fred Sandsmark's Blog

Tonight's NOVA scienceNOW includes a segment on the THEMIS project -- the study of the aurora borealis, on which my friend John McDonald works.

Check here for an earlier post on THEMIS with more links.

Labels: friends, science, TV, weather

The San Francisco Chronicle has an article today by Charles Burress about one of Seyed Alavi's public art installations -- specifically, the traffic-signal boxes in Emeryville. The photos are worth checking out, too. As commenters on the article have pointed out, the work isn't new, but nevertheless I'm pleased to see it get some attention.

I'm very happy to own one of Alavi's "Aquamano" prints, called "Loon Song."

Labels: art, friends, people

Delta checks out the new "furniture" in the family room, then goes looking for earplugs.

The drumset is on long-term loan from Dave E. Thanks, buddy!

Labels: friends, fun, music

Those of us who love The Book Shop in Hayward were happy to see the article about Hank Maschal in Saturday's Daily Review. In it, Staff Writer Kristofer Noceda got a lot of the details exactly right. For example: "If friends were made solely on first impressions, Maschal wouldn't have many. Yet he does, several of them longtime, loyal customers. That customer loyalty is what helps keep the store open." Count me among them. I also liked Noceda's calling Renée Rettig "the sweet to [Hank's] sour." An excellent article about a gem of a place.

Labels: books, friends, fun, Hayward, writing

Ha! Joanna Sandsmark has called me out in the current installment of the hilarious blog Comic Books Revisited.

(I realize I'm not using the expression "call out" quite accurately, but somehow it feels like it fits anyway.)

Labels: blogs, friends, language

My pal Cary Nasatir has a new article on the Vic Firth website entitled Taming the Volume Beast in the Percussion Section. He talks about drumstick selection, drum stands and hardware, the angle of the drum itself, and tuning up drums. He also addresses player confidence and motivation. Good reading.

But it's funny: Cary doesn't explain how to get drummers to stop talking between pieces. That's the real volume beast! (Just kidding, buddy ...)

Labels: friends, music, writing

The gallery show of Searching for True North at ModernBook has received a very positive review from Ben Marks on KQED.org. A snippet:

What's refreshing about Jordahl's work is that, in an age when we've become numb to the guilty pleasures of Photoshop, there's nothing inherently fake about these pictures. Yes, the artist's bag of tricks includes infrared film and panoramic cameras, but what we see is precisely what those tools and materials deliver, no more, no less.

The full review is here.

Labels: art, friends, Norway, poetry

Surreal story in today's New York Times about an entrepreneur in the United Arab Emirates who's so smitten with the French city of Lyon that he wants to build a small version of Lyon in Dubai. Among the points of interest:

The Paul Bocuse Institute is hoping to set up a branch to train young chefs and restaurant and hotel managers. The Museum of Textiles is poised to open a silk museum and lend select treasures from its vast silk collection. Lyon’s soccer team has signed up to operate a center to train a Dubai team. Research is under way to cool outdoor spaces naturally to make strolling bearable during dust storms and 105-degree heat. [Emphasis mine.]

I, too, love Lyon. It's the home of our dear friend Hélène and the setting of many wonderful memories. It's a superb walking town -- the Castro Valley Boulevardier would appreciate it. Its festival of lights is breathtaking -- do a Google image search for "Lyon 'Fete des Lumieres'" to see some examples. Lyon has the finest farmer's market in France, which says a lot. (Interpol headquarters is there, too -- what could be cooler than that?)

But loving Lyon is one thing; trying to re-create it under a dome in the Middle East is something else entirely.

Labels: food, France, friends, science, weather

Norway.org, the official United States web presence of Norway, has a wonderful article about Geir Jordahl's new photography book, Searching For True North.

A gallery opening for Searching for True North is slated for Friday, February 1, 2008 at ModernBook Gallery in Palo Alto. These images -- many shot with a Widelux panoramic camera and many made using infrared film -- have been described by Margaretta K. Mitchell as "restless dynamism." See you there!

Labels: art, friends, Norway

I was thrilled to read on CSUEB View that our friend Eric Kupers earned a $10,000 Princess Grace Fellowship and a $15,000 Rockefeller Foundation Multi-Arts Production Grant for his contemporary dance work. Eric runs Dandelion Dancetheater and is Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance at CSUEB. Jane danced in (and thoroughly loved) his "Dance For All Bodies and Abilities" class at the University. One of her cane chairs now serves as a prop in some class performances.

Eric's response to the good news: "Now the work begins."

Labels: art, friends

Our friend John S. McDonald is involved in NASA's THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) Mission to study the Aurora Borealis.

You know the project has hit the big time now because it's being discussed (ahem) on Slashdot.

The press release for their latest findings is here.

EDIT: Added a link to John's own website; be sure to check out his amazing collection of thumbnail book reviews.

Labels: friends, science