White Powder Puff Tree, Calliandra haematocephala 'Alba'

I decided that this day I would focus on the flowers at the Zoo.  It was a hot day so green and pretty was helpful.  I don't have names for all of these but, as time goes by, I will find out what they are and will let you know.  I am still learning on how to negotiate Word Press, especially the photos.  It's a puzzle why sometimes the captions work and sometimes not.  Sigh.  But here's a start.  I am working on trying to get more botanical information.  I have met with a Board Member and four members of the horticultural department hoping that we can get something going to bring more prominence to  the botanical collection.  We'll just see how that goes.

Sun Bear

Exploring the Zoo during the early opening hours is fascinating: to see the animals and plants but also to see who's there.  Naturally, the stroller brigade and I'm finding there are people like me who come each day to walk, take photos and just hang out. These tend to be my-people (older) and it's nice to see them there.  Today was a day of Lions and Bears plus a few others.  As the weeks go by I will delve deeper into the animals and botany which are less-noticed.  And there are fabulous aviaries sprinkled around the Zoo.  You can click on the photos if you'd like a larger view.

Wolf's Guenon

Each day reveals more treasure not only in the animal collection but also the plants.  Who knew that would ever be of interest to me, but, hey . . .  I am going to find out more and will report in when I do.  In the meantime, I spent this day wandering down Easy Street on to the Tiger Trail and then to the Hippo Trail on up to Park Way.  I can see that I will zig zag around various paths, overlapping with places I've been before.  But there's always something new to see.  This time the tiger seemed to pose for me.  During these morning visits, many of the animals are stilled tucked away but some are ready to face the day and the tons of visitors looking at them taking their pictures.  Bear with me as I learn my way around.

Eastern Angolon Coloubus

I love having a reason for going to the Zoo 3-4 times a week.  I am now planning and plotting to talk about  some topics other than the animals.  I see that they have very cool art/sculpture so will find out more about that.  And, as a person also interested in design, I am noticing the great seating for us who want to sit for awhile  sprinkled around the paths.  I am more and more impressed as I pay more attention to the whole place.  As I mentioned before, I will also show and say something about the botanical collection but need to read up a little about that.

Desert Bighorn

The key to visiting the Zoo is to get there when the gates open, especially during the summer months there are tons of tourists and families with strollers.  I am planning to spend at least an hour each visit and to make it a regular part of my life rather than a "special event."  These first visits will cover the whole zoo and then what I want to do (we'll see how this goes) is to delve in a little more deeply to the less big-deal new exhibit areas (Koala, Pandas, Elephants) to see what's going on with the birds, seals and the less showy critters . And, I want to learn more about the Zoo's  impressive botanical collection too.  I know nothing about all those trees and plants. So anything I learn will be a plus.

Welcome to the San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo July 13, 2013

First day of my new venture

I was tired of being bored in San Diego so I decided to explore the parts that I have known and loved for many years.  I was born here and now will now re-explore from a more grown-up perspective.  I am going to visit the San Diego Zoo 3 -4 days a week.   My plan is to walk through every nook and cranny, taking a different route each day and checking out all the creatures along the way.  It’s a huge place (over 100 acres).  It opened in 1915 (4 years after my dad was born here).  When I was a child my mother took me to the Zoo every Sunday and I took my kids there too, though not so often. I’m going to try to find some of those really old photos.   It’s now really interesting for me to see what’s still there unchanged and how much has been built and/or transformed over the decades. I have been told that their botanical collection is as big and important as the zoological collection and here’s some stuff from Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_Zoo

Me at age 3 visiting the elephants with my cousins-- I'm in the middle.

Today I was there for about an hour, walking around the south eastern portion, taking photos along the way.  The map says I was in the Outback, Africa Rocks and Elephant Odyssey.  Then I took the Skyfari back to the Entrance.  After that I walked over to the main part of Balboa Park where all the museums are.  I became a member of the SD Museum of Art and will re-explore that part of Balboa Park after my zoo ventures.

Moser and Dresser Duo

July 22, 2012

Dizzy’s @ 98 Bottles

Diane Moser, piano; Mark Dresser, bass

This evening to celebrate their CD, “Duetto.” Our own brilliant bassist, Mark Dresser, continues to wow me with all the gorgeous sounds he creates on his bass.  They played most of the music on their CD, much of which was composed by Diane when she was at a residency at the MacDowell Colony.  Her cottage was in the woods and nearby birds were a prominent feature.  She composed pieces taken from/inspired their songs: “Hello,” “If You Don’t Call Me, Then I’ll Call You,” and “Won’t You Come Out to Play.”  While I enjoyed these I gotta say that Mark’s compositions were the ones that were special to me.  On “Para Waltz" he plays arco so masterfully.  It was sensitive and passionate and I wish I had more words to describe the music and the feeling. On “Mattress on a Stick” he continued with the haunting and ringing arco along with amazing pizzicato.  He creates a plethora of beautiful sounds, not tricky; all of them enhance the music.  It was a beautiful composition performed with style and elan by both Diane and Mark. I particularly like piano/bass duos for instance Charlie Haden with Paul Bley and Lisle Ellis with Paul Plimley. My ongoing gripe is with 98 Bottles.  It looks terrific BUT the noise is irritating: airplanes flying over, dishes rattling and talking both in the venue and in the bar right outside the room. Arghh. Robert Bush review: http://bit.ly/M6mxI3

The Quartet

July 21, 2012

Dizzy’s @ 98 Bottles                                                                                                                                                                               Diane Moser, piano, with Duncan Moore, drums; Rob Thorsen, bass; Peter Sprague, guitar.                                           Diane gathered together some of San Diego’s top jazz musicians for the evening to celebrate the release of their new CD, “WDMO.”  Much of the music was composed by Diane, opening the set with “Rhythms” written when she lived in San Diego way back in 1979. She’s now based in Montclair, NJ.  It was great to see all the musicians enjoying the night -- often with big smiles on their faces.  I loved how they played together and when one was playing solo, the others complemented them so well: quiet but interesting.  It was really nice to get to hear more of Sprague who is well known in San Diego but I haven’t heard him often enough.  I was particularly taken when he went “out” a bit with looping and electronic bits.  They also played a lovely version of “Summertime,” a couple of tunes from Thelonius Monk, and a tribute to Mel Waldron, “One for Mel.”  Robert Bush’s review: http://bit.ly/Mjyc1m

La Jolla at sunset

So, there's not as much good music here as in NYC but the weather is gorgeous - 72 - and a picnic at the La Jolla beach this evening was not so bad: fish tacos while the sun sets.  Music  tomorrow night.

Hafez Moderzadek and Amir ElSaffar

July 13, 2012

Jazz Gallery 

CD Release concert: Hafez Moderqadek’s “Post-Chromodal Out!”

Quite a line-up: Hafez, saxophone; Amir ElSaffar, trumpet; Royal Harrtigan, drums; Vijay Iyer, piano; Ken Filiano, bass. Vijay performed at Spruce Street Forum back when he was still a whipper-snapper living in San Francisco and it’s nice to see that he has become a highly respected, well-deserved presence in the music scene. All night long the music was remarkable.  The piano had been re-tuned so all that Vijay played had very different and highly effective sounds. Hafez and Amir’s duos were ear-popping as was Royal’s solo especially the one where he played with his hands only.  The second piece of the night was dedicated to Fred Ho.  I went especially to hear Ken Filiano as he and Anders Nilsson are coming to perform in the Fresh Sound music series in San Diego on Oct. 2 and, once again, his playing struck my heart.  It was fun to see Ken and Vijay give each other appreciative nods after particularly striking connections between the two of them. I luckily bumped into Fred outside the club so we had a chance to catch up. He also performed at SSF years ago with the Brooklyn Saxophone Quartet.  David Bindman, also in BSQ, was in the audience too -- a star studded band and crowd. This is when I wish I were Robert Bush who writes so eloquently about San Diego concerts but, lo, my musical descriptive skills are lacking.  I will just say that this last night during my month long visit to NY was one of virtuosic music.