Plum TV!

This is Mike's new video:

Moon Over Miami

To me, this photo says it all. I love Miami and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Super Bowl Hoopla Part 2: Game Day

Pre-Super Bowl Hoopla

This week South Beach is bombarded by blimps and football crazed fans, mostly rooting for the Saints. I don't know who the other team is. I went to check out the activities on Ocean Drive, which is currently closed to cars.

Viva Wyoming

I went back to my home town in Wyoming recently for a reunion. Needless to say, it was awesome.

Easter Con Mi Familia

Easter Bubble Invasion

Christmas in April

Better late than never...

Beacon, NY

A couple weeks ago I went to visit my friend at her hideaway in Beacon. By train, it was less than 2 hours from Manhattan. She has a little studio there where she composes music.

We went for a lovely walk in the woods at Dennings Point, an historic thumb of land that sticks out into the Hudson River. Beacon is famous for being the home of one of the world's largest contemporary art museums Dia: Beacon, housed in the old Nabisco factory.

My friend, Deb K. in front of the concert hall where we saw a nice chamber music concert.

Map of Dennings Point

The video:

Thanksgiving at Lizzy's

Going to Carnegie Hall to Watch Irene

Giovanni, Suzanna and Liz

My friend Irene plays cello with the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. They performed at Carnegie Hall last week in a concert benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Due to high ranking connections, we scored the President's box. The concert was a little long, but fun. Arun showed up late (from work) slept during the concert, and went back to work, where he planned to spend the night (dude, you're working way too hard). There was a REALLY noisy group in the box next door. All of us gave them dirty looks, and they turned out to be one of the guest performers, a country western guy, and his family. You just can't take them country people anywhere.

Me and Lizzy

Park Avenue Chamber Symphony

Irene - see red mark

On another note, I played a trio with Yuri and Dili at Spielathon this year:

El Grand Canon

Whenever I come back from someplace like the Grand Canyon or Wyoming, I feel like a wild animal thrown back in its cage. I want to chew off my shackled paw and run back to the wilderness as fast as I can. I'm designing my escape plan.

En route...




One of my favorite places. It's better at the bottom.

Viva Las Vegas!

Soy Una Tortuga

Man, I don't know why this year is going so fast. My head is still in February/March time zone. Spring was a blur and this is all I was able to capture:

Is Nothing Sacred Anymore?

The ultimate Peep show

March Madness

Body Paint by Rudy Everts (Australia)

What is a Pisces? Some key words to describe us include: Dreamy, psychic, sensitive, imaginative, creative, intuitive, abstract, compassionate, introspective, religious, clairvoyant, versatile, procrastinating, fatalistic, idealistic, unworldly, vague, easily led, addictive and exceptionally elusive.

Yes, we are slippery creatures and very hard to capture. Here are a few excellent examples of Piscean elusiveness, demonstrated by my subterranean friend Valerie:

My own preference is to take indoor photos with no flash under low light conditions. This creates a beautifully blurry world where anything can happen. Here are the highlights from an excellent party that we had recently. March/Pisces in attendance: Arun, David, Debbie, Diliana, Heather, Lenir, and Lucy. Isn't that amazing? There was A LOT of love in that room:

As we're a little hard to put into words, and as I'm a little lazy (being a double Pisces - Moon and Sun), I collected a few links for you that will shed more light on us:

How to Date a Pisces

Pisces Factually

General Observations

Our World At Night

The Fairy of Eagle Nebula

You have to turn out the lights to appreciate this post.

I'll bet you forgot that we're just a small but special organism living on a liquid marble in the middle of nowhere. Jobs and credit card payments aside, what are we doing here? I could tell, but I don't want to ruin the ending for you. We live in two universes; the day and the night. One we know so well and one we hardly know at all.

When Hale Bopp flew by our planet, I drove to Death Valley, one of my favorite places on Earth. Death Valley is so dark, you can see the enormous medicine shield drawn by the stars in the sky. It is impossible to miss. And heart stabbing. I highly recommend it.

I hope these images of our beautiful Universe give you a new perspective, just in case you're missing the point.

Elephant's Trunk in IC 1396



Horsehead Nebula



Venus and Jupiter Over Turkey




Winter Stars in Southern Iran




Stars over Mt. Taftan, Southeast Iran




Stars Over Monument Valley




And last, but not least, my number one very favorite horizon anywhere on Earth: The Teton Range, Wyoming

Tell me why you are here. I want to know.

Photos courtesy of the people who submited them to NASA and TWAN. Click on the photo title to view its source.

Mongolian Horse Head Fiddle

Do you know anyone who has been to Mongolia? No one that I know of has. Mongolia has this really cool instrument call the horse head fiddle. I found this guy on YouTube. He is totally crazy.

Mongolian Music on Wikipedia

Der Spielathon

Every year some friends of mine host a fundraiser for their music organization by hosting an event called the Spielathon, whereby amature chamber musicans purchase time to perform alongside professionals. The last one was held in December at Alina's house. Alina's dad was an internationally renouned pianist, but I like to maintain everyone's privacy, so I never mention last names here. You might be able to figure it out, though.

Kyle, who used to be a caterer, supplied a rather exotic (ok, erotic) schmorgesborg that was assembled by Heather and Lizzy in the kitchen.











Aren't these the most beautiful cupcakes you ever saw? They weren't actually at the Spielathon, but Kyle brought them to another event so I thought they were related. He claimed to have bought them but I think he really made them and then put them in a local baker's box to make it look like he bought them.

Heather and Lizzy making a big mess in the kitchen

Kyle and friends

Naomi and Bernie, true music lovers, with Diliana, Bulgaria's finest cellist

Larry seeing what it feels like to be in the audience

Tony the Tiger
Tony is one of New York's bravest (FDNY in Queens) who plays a mean violin

Me and Lizzy

A photo of Alina's dad talking with Albert Einstein

A painting of her dad

My all time favorite photo - her parents taking a stroll before they were married

Ah yes, the performance links
(these are not all of the performances of the evening):

Robert Shumann Fantasy Pieces, performed by Alina on piano and Diliana on cello
Zart und mit Ausdruck
Lebhaft leicht
Rasch und mit Feuer

David Popper, performed by Diliana, Suzanne, Larry (piano) and Valerie (I'm sorry this piece ended up in two pieces due to a camera technician issue)
Requiem for Three Cellos and Piano, Part 1

Requiem for Three Cellos and Piano, Part 2

Brahms Piano Trio in B Major, performed by Tony (violin), Diliana (cello) and Larry (piano)
Allegro con brio, Part 1
Allegro con brio, Part 2
Allegro con brio, Part 3
Allegro

People Who Have Been Married For Too Long

If you don't know who these people are, I'm sure you can figure it out. I sent them to Palm Beach for a week so they could have some quality time together.