Weird Music Again – Zawinul

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Steve

(rolls eyes) Here goes Steve with the weird music again……………

It’s about sound. Sound is a sense.

I always loved this guy’s music! Joe Zawinul died at 76 – two years ago now. The live performance included here was done in 2007, I believe, with members who are somewhat different to me. I know most of the guys, just not all. The bassist, Linley Marthe is my version of maybe the ‘best ever’.

Anyway, Zawinul was experimental and a virtuoso. Here he plays with sound like few others. Innovative, different, somewhat jazzy, give it some time and let it grow on you while you listen. The best players in the world played with Joe Zawinul. Please give a listen. You might like it.

More On Bubble Rocks

Posted on January 27, 2010 by Steve

It’s funny how many people have asked me what a “Bubble Rock” is. I guess, since I have done so many, it just rolls off my tongue like any other noun. I even have a separate category all dolled up in the “Pages” section where you can see them all on their own. It might need some work. Hmmmm.

A “Bubble Rock”, in my lexicon, is a large rock which has had a hole bored through it. Now, what I like doing then is placing a water pump down near the bottom and sending water bubbling up through the top, thus the “bubble” feature. What gets accomplished is that these rocks then get very much featured, as not only the sound attracts attention, but then so do the innate colors and general features of the rock get highlighted as well. It goes without saying that many of these also have small spotlights on them at night – a groovy and very cool feature which adds a new and different dimension to the highlight. (Bear in mind, in many of these pictures – as always – they are taken as we complete projects. Therefore those little plants will look teensy-weensy. Believe me, they grow, later. We just get too busy to come back – or some fool forgets his camera when he does go back – all those things.) 😉

(left click any image to enlarge)

Their placement becomes important as well. Because of their inherent possible compactness, they can be put into some relatively small spaces. I put many up near entrances to homes, for example, where their bubbling and peaceful sound can be enjoyed by anyone entering.

Others, we put out back – in or around a patio, so that the owners can enjoy those same soothing sounds a bit more selfishly.

Terrible photo, but it reflects the sun so well, I had to include it. It spends much time looking very much like this.

A better look, with a better picture, check those tidy “monoliths” out in the distance here:

These are just a few items of “Bubble Rock” interest. There is always an ongoing urge for the sounds of water in landscaping. These I have found very satisfying to customers, especially with the wonderful new technologies available in coring holes of that length, and through such hard materials. In the end, there is no end of possibilities for an imaginative designer or homeowner. Find a great rock and you’re off to the races, the truth is.

Sometimes we just add to an existing flow of a bunch o’water. This is an extravagance, to be sure, but it sure looks wet!

Sites I Bookmark

Posted on January 25, 2010 by Steve

Among the sites I am most prone to drop into when I need or want a real different and invigorating experience, there are 3 which move me most. The three sites I include here can make a difference in a day, simply by clearing the mind and providing some of the most interesting thoughts.

http://www.avo.alaska.edu/ The Alaskan Volcano Observatory

If you don’t think volcanoes are interesting, then Heaven help you. Having lived near Mt. St. Helens in Washington, seeing it every day from Portland from the highway, and having heard it erupt when working in Vancouver, British Columbia, 250 miles away (“What was that?” “Wow, dunno, must be dynamiting for roads.”) 😉 – having been around the North West cluster of geological events, this site offers every possible thing a person could want. Information on recent eruptions and tendencies, plus live web cams one can tune into at any hour of the day, just to see what’s going on in the Alaska Chain. Those web cams are live, by the way, streaming in real time. I watched Redoubt go through some interesting pulsations, complete with a bit of bright orange, last summer. There is some “dome formation” going on at another, usually a precursor to an eruption.

OK, I may as well give up another source of Volcano Love right here -but it’s almost like cheating: http://www.volcanolive.com/volcanocams.html In here, you get Fuji, Mt. St. Helens and many more, including Redoubt.

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/ The Hubble Site Gallery Page

What can one say about the Hubble telescope that has not already been said? The pictures here on this site are stunning – simply amazing. Anyone with the slightest scientific interest in the world around them, and in the Heavens above us has to look in total wonderment at the glories of space. How rich, diverse and incredibly active and colorful it all is! This should be a bookmark for everyone, just because of the killer wallpapers it can yield.

http://oxblue.com/pro/open/ksfb/louisvillearena The Louisville Arena Construction Project Web Cam

Louisville is building a fascinating new basketball-primary arena, right out on the riverfront and smack in the middle of its downtown. An Adobe Flash presentation, I can’t really download a ‘screengrab’ picture, but I absolutely insist you check it out while this construction project is ongoing. Constructo-philes like me will especially love the cranes and the new roofing being applied. Don’t forget to check out the time lapse scenario presented at the top of the page. You can see every single step of the construction from the initial cleanup, the excavation and the resulting progress, all scrolling at rapid speed. Maybe too rapid, actually. As well, the calender on the left can allow one to scope out the progress at the recorded different months and days as well as times. You can scroll through the months to see all the stages at your own pace.

http://www.blotanical.com/ Blotanical

I absolutely adore this site. Started up by Stuart Robinson, an engaging, popular and smart Aussie from THIS WEBSITE, Stuart’s great original idea and his engaging ways have coalesced a massive influx of garden bloggers, all of whom share the wealth with relish. It is a wonderful way of introducing oneself as a garden blogger and also a fascinating stroll through all the very best gardening bloggers in the world. I should pay more attention to the site, myself, but I sure have zero compunctions about sending folks there. This is the perfect starting point for anyone interested in gardening and in seeing what others do. The tips and information flow as freely as the good vibes and the incredible photography. I feel very lucky to have found Blotanical, the truth is.

Other Sites of Interest

http://chinesegardenscene.com/ – The Resource for Chinese Gardens the world over.

http://www.bewaterwise.com/ww_landscaping.html It is exceedingly rare to find such salient and relevant information in such a surprising place. This is put out by a bureaucracy – which, for me, usually means various peter Principled persons battling for air – but the Metro Water District of Southern California really pulls it off. A must-read for people out West.

http://pruned.blogspot.com/ – I just like this place. He seems smart and super interesting. Some candy, I guess.

http://www.shrinkpictures.com/ This is where I go to shrink my photo’s. Easy as pie and loadable directly from my own files, this takes just moments. Like most of us, my camera takes immense pictures. I like that because, when I download them intact, they can be enlarged in great detail. But when I need something less than Gigantic, this is where I go.

http://www.astronomyforkids.net/ Astronomy For Kids

OK, shameless plug here. This is a site I had ignored for a while and am bringing back up to speed. Having had a kid who was an avid Heaven’s watcher and, having lived out West, where the night skies can simply be other-worldly and maybe, somehow even closer – I have developed a real “thing” for astronomy and the stars. For those with children, allow me to acquaint you with another resource of which I am in much admiration as well – this is someone else’s site, but it is perfectly constructed, IMO, and very kid-friendly. Check out this: http://www.kidsastronomy.com/

Anyway, I bet a few of those people find entertaining. I know I sure have.

Random Pictures Of Blooms and Projects

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Steve

In no set order. Blooms supply the candy, along with many other items in a landscape. Always sort of breathlessly pretty, blooming things have a set limit of endurance – one reason I plant so many shrub roses any more. They are seasonal and fluid, if planted correctly, leaving something blooming at just about any time of the year not named Winter. Here’s some now:

I’ve always had a secret affinity for Smoke Trees, myself. Their subtle blooms really do look like smoke.

The early seed formation of Sumacs are another very under rated beauty, in my opinion. Naturally, landscapers also use them for dual purposes – their Fall foliage is out of this world.

But they can shimmer in the right light and look as good as any bloom anywhere, when happy:

Durable, reliable, easy-to-please and wonderfully fragrant, shrub roses and wild roses are an absolute must-have in my landscapes. These newly-developed cultivars require absolutely nothing special to bloom, look and smell happy and just plain be pleasing.

I think we can all agree that this is a big lump of Phlox. Man, these guys smell fabulous.

Poppies are always good for a solid month, if not more so. I plant tons of these guys as well.

Technically, not a bloom per se, grasses and especially this Purpurea rank highly as objects of beauty similar to blooms. The nicest part about the temporary nature of this “bloom” is the fact that it just gets bigger, rather than smaller as the year unfolds. This was an interesting project, high above Reno. Lots and lots of brick pavers.

We put this Clematis inside an entryway for a satisfied couple and got a satisfied plant as well!

This one is cool, from Vancouver. This time we got the bloomage and the architecture together. Those pots are some heavyweight suckers. Lots and lots of Rhodies and Azaleas here. This is North West landscaping, for real.

Speaking of the North West style, here’s from a project we installed, using about 7,000 Railroad Ties at a massive apartment complex in Vancouver, BC.

Rhododendrons are obviously (as evidenced all through this blog) my favorite bloom. Here’s a few from the Crystal Springs Rododendron Garden in Portland, Oregon. (These enlarge nicely)