Tuesday, September 05, 2017

Mindfulness and Crazy Wisdom October 28, 2017 Alameda Sangha

Mindfulness and Crazy Wisdom
 October 28, 2017, 10am-4pm
Location: Buena Vista Methodist Church, 2311 Buena Vista Ave, Alameda
Details: Treat yourself to a relaxing day of mindfulness meditation - sitting and walking – interspersed with the poetry and humor of the ages.
The workshop will include guided meditations on the evolutionary origin of our body and emotions; reflections on death and dying; and an exploration of the tricky delusions of mind and the mystery of consciousness itself. Drawing on the book that became an underground classic, “Essential Crazy Wisdom,” we will hear from poets and crazy wisdom masters from Lao Tzu and Hafiz to Mark Twain and Lily Tomlin, giving us some perspective on this strange, impossible life we are leading. You may not get enlightened, but you are likely to have a few laughs and acquire a healthy dose of inspiration.Cost: This event is offered on a donation basis.
More information and registration for Alameda Sangha special events can be found at alamedasanha.org

Sunday, July 02, 2017

Ramana Vieira & Ensemble July 16 at Docs Lab SF

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Ramana Vieira & Ensemble
Sun, July 16, 2017
Doors 6pm    Show 7pm
$20.00  
Tickets-http://www.docslabsf.com/event/1509282-ramana-vieira-ensemble-san-francisco/

Doc's Lab
124 Columbus Ave,
San Francisco, California 94133
http://www.docslabsf.com/event/1509282-ramana-vieira-ensemble-san-francisco/

Ramana Vieira & Ensemble make their first-time appearance at San Francisco's premier night spot in the heart of north beach, Doc’s Lab. Ramana Vieira and her ensemble will be performing beautiful and haunting romantic folk music of Portugal, her own compositions, and some American Classics.

Ramana Vieira has been described by Mundo Portugues newspaper as the “New Voice of Portuguese World Music.” She has headlined the world's largest Portuguese festival, the New Bedford Portuguese Feast in Massachusetts, and has performed at the 2010 Encontro Festival in Macau.

One of her original songs, “Unido Para Amar,” was played for the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, and she was chosen to submit to sing for the 50th Grammy Awards special MusiCares benefit honoring Aretha Franklin. She also is a prolific songwriter having penned her own original Fado-inspired tunes, teaming up with some of the most award-winning luso-Poets. Joining Ramana is Ela Polak on violin, Stephen La Porta on drums, Steve Fowler on bass, and Brad Bivens on Guitar.

For more information:
email:  fadodiva@gmail.com
Phone: (510) 409-1809
www.ramanavieira.net

"...new age sensibility" -The NY TIMES, "...breathes new life into Fado,"- SF Chronicle
"...Fados with a contemporary Spin"-The Boston Globe



Thursday, June 08, 2017

Marsha Balian's Art at Uptown during Open Studios


Marsha Balian's Art will be at:


NEW EAST BAY OPEN STUDIOS
   June 10 & 11 and 17 & 18
   Saturday and Sunday
   11:00 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
   Uptown Garage
   401 26th Street (off Broadway)
   Oakland
   eastbayopenstudios.com


The Uptown Garage will feature work of 19 artists this year.
Please let me know if you have questions
Looking forward to seeing you!
Marsha
marshabalian.com
marshabalian@gmail.com

Monday, May 29, 2017

Otherwise - Marsha Balian and Sherry Parker June 29 - July 29 at Oakland's GearBox Gallery


                     

Otherwise - Marsha Balian and  Sherry Parker
June 29 -July 29, 2017
First Friday Opening Reception Friday, July 7 6-9 pm
Reception Saturday, July 22, 2 - 4 pm

GearBox Gallery
770 W Grand Ave,
Oakland, CA 94612
For more information contact Marsha Balian at 510-601-1632
Gallery Hours-Thurs. And  Friday 12-6pm and Sat. 11-5pm
GearBox Gallery announces an exhibit by collage artists Marsha Balian and Sherry Parker, entitled Otherwise. The exhibit will run from June 29 to July 29, 2017. All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served at the receptions.
Artists Marsha Balian and Sherry Parker both work in the medium of collage, using instinctive juxtapositions of found images and intuitive compositions to create works full of mystery and humor.


Balian, who leaves behind a long career as health care provider, sees her work as reflecting an interest in the bits & pieces of narrative that make up a life. Her collages, however, are never straightforward stories. They begin with a playful mix of odds & ends, ephemera, and studio scraps. And she builds on each work as improvisation, letting the sense and direction of each piece unfold intuitively. As she says, “I continue as much as I can to absorb stories, irony and the humor that is just beneath the surface. That humor feeds me and infuses my artwork where I have the lucky opportunity to celebrate and laugh.” Viewers are free to extrapolate about the characters and stories hinted at in Balian’s work. Balian’s artwork has been shown throughout the Bay Area and throughout the US.

Of her work Sherry Parker says: “Chance is my muse. Chance has been a pervasive force in the sequence of my life as an artist, beginning with my unexpectedly intriguing involvement with Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence School in the late 60's through which I was introduced to the addictive magic of collage and collaboration.” Her impeccably crafted collages have much in common with classic Surrealism, with their shadowy landscapes and enigmatic hybrid animal/object forms.
The works of Balian and Parker draw on unconscious
choices mediated by thoughtful aesthetic consideration.

The exhibit will be at GearBox Gallery, 770 West Grand Ave in Oakland from June 29, 2017 to July 22, 2017, with a reception on Friday, July 7, and a closing reception on Saturday, July 22, from 2 - 4 pm.
x







Friday, April 28, 2017

A Pretty Pic


Oddities from Victorian Times

Queer Plungers,
Cheats who throw themselves into the water, in order that they maybe taken up by their ac complices, who carry them to one of the houses appoint ed by the Humane Society for the recovery of drowned persons, where they are rewarded by the society with a guinea each ; and the supposed drowned persons, pretend ing he was driven to that extremity by great necessity, is also frequently sent away with a contribution in his pocket.

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