Gilmour-Floyd at the Tower Theatre

I worked wardrobe and make-up last night at the sold-out performance of local Pink Floyd tribute band Gilmour-Floyd, complete with a theatrical performance during Comfortably Numb. I re-created the surreal mom from the film, complete with 40's style hair, and 'Divine-esque' make-up, and enjoyed seeing so many old friends out on the town. It was truly one of those Fresno party nights where everyone is happy to see everyone else, with a giant melange of people you only get to see here and there every once in a while.

The Fresno Bee article, in their typical dissing of the locals, got it wrong when they focused their blurb on the opening act, Heartbreaker, a Led Zeplin tribute band, from the bay area. (Complete with a Robert Plant look-alike, who my husband warned me not to run off with.) Like Gilmour-Floyd, they were spot on, but the crowd of three generations was there to enjoy the songs of Pink Floyd and, of course, the light show (with over 150 changes).

Did I mention the food? I don't exactly know who the caterers were (Marilyn and her husband), but the food was fantastic, and I certainly didn't want to share. I'm so looking forward to it again next year!

Shirley Spencer - Naturalist/Artist

I spent yesterday morning in the beautiful foothills of Prather at a botanical drawing workshop. Shirley Spencer, a Naturalist in Yosemite National Park, shared her knowledge of drawing botanicals and using watercolors.

Our setting was the Intermountain Nursery, a wonderful place in itself, specializing in drought-tolerant plants and trees. We worked outside with a wonderful view of the moody skies and rolling green foothills, and I thoroughly enjoyed the class, experimenting with masking fluid and watercolors, a medium I have never spent time with.

Shirley has a book coming out this summer featuring her watercolors and drawings called Flowering Shrubs of Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada , and you can pre-order it on Amazon. It would make a lovely gift and I look forward to her book signing this summer.

Flying to Paris

So I'm starting my hunt for a great flight at a decent price for my fall trip to France. Can't start too early, at least the fare watching part.

The two main things I definitely consider when choosing my flight are the carrier and the stops. I always recommend taking using a European airline even though the fee may be a little higher. I've found that the level of service is astonishingly better than any domestic carrier when flying coach, the planes are nicer. Air France (and others) serve real champagne and Lufthansa's restrooms are discreetly located downstairs where there is also a little snack area .

The food is generally better too, although I try to make sure I eat enough that I won't really need to eat much plane food. I am just not that much of an experimenter when it comes to food, and have found myself being very hungry when I didn't go for island cuisine on Air Tahiti Nui. I did not touch the fish egg salad . Yes, fish egg, as in roe. The young woman next to me gobbled down the food, no problem, but then again she was Tahitian. I was just thankful that my friend at the hotel packed a couple of croissants for my flight.

As for the customer service issue, let me share with you that for some reason my last trip I used United. I waited too long to buy the ticket and was stuck with it. Not only did I have the horror of flying domestic and changing planes at Dulles (ie with plastic bag o' food on the overseas part or paying $10 for a snack box during the domestic part) , but needless to say my suitcase didn't make it to Paris with me. Sure I planned ahead, and had some extra items with me so there wouldn't be an issue. One of my guests flew American on her frequent flyer miles, and her suitcase made it.

Unfortunately we weren't staying in Paris, but taking the train to the Loire valley. After several phone calls to UNITED, and a promise of a $25 travel voucher for the inconvenience, my suitcase arrived. It showed up three days later, the afternoon before we headed back to Paris.

Now, a few weeks ago, a client came home on Air France. She won't fly anything else. So let me juxtapose her scenario with mine. At the airport, they asked for voluntary bumps, and she took it. They gave her a voucher good for $200 on her next flight, money to eat while she waited, and bumped her to business class for the direct flight home. All this for waiting three hours and catching the next flight.

Needless to say, I'm taking my own advice and choosing an international airline. The search starts now.

My Latest Book Reviews

I recently read Cara Black's latest, Murder in the Latin Quarter, as well as Jake Lamar's Ghosts of St. Michel. Both are murder mysteries set in Paris, with Black's heroine detective Amy Leduc sorting out difficulties with Haitian refugees sans papiers (literally without papers), and Lamar's dealing with black American ex-pats coming to grips with the past.

Murder in the Latin Quarter was just released this month, and I was second in line to read it via our excellent library system here in Fresno. Did you know that you can research your book requests online, pick the book (vhs, cd, dvd or whatever) you want, and they will send it to your neighborhood library for pick up? My husband and I love this feature and utilize it extensively.

As for Lamar's book, Ghosts of St. Michel, strangely enough it wasn't in our library system at all, and I requested that they purchase it. Well I had to read it, because it's the second it the series after the excellent Rendevous Eighteenth. I was notified that it was no longer available, so I bought it online for a few bucks. Even stranger, this book only came out a few years ago, and the book I purchased was a withdrawn library book. One has to wonder if it was pulled from American shelves due to hints of the conspiracy theories of 9-11. Does anyone know if there is a list of blackballed books that the library uses to cull undesireable reading material? I really enjoyed this book as not only was it a great read, but gave a lot of history unbeknownst to me regarding Place St. Michel.

The Place (pronounced ploss san michelle) is a favorite spot of mine as Mike (as I like to refer to him) is my patron saint. A woman like me needs a good warrior saint to keep up the good fight!

Needless to say, the Place is noted in French history as a site for many political protests and the most notedly, as the spot where the Resistance, Communists, Allies won the fight against the Nazis in WWII. How many Americans knew that the Communists were on our side? If you stop and think about it, it makes you realize why they have such a strong socialist party.

More to come on Mike and the Place.

Catching Up with Me

Let's see. Well first, Cattie Ness and the Revenge had a brilliant show at the Rockabilly Revenge 6. Lots of friends I haven't seen in a long while who joined us in Long Beach for a good old time. Thanks for coming out and all these years of support. There's actually a video for Triflin' Woman on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXfOV0a6I2c



Also at Spectrum Gallery, this is the last weekend to catch the lovely black and white nudes of Bob Barks, and also the huge scenics of Purple Hat. Wit the purchase of Bob's latest book, you also receive a free print. Feel free to call the gallery at 559-266-0691.



I have been spending lots of time in the darkroom myself, examining three years worth of proof sheets for my show next year celebrating my twentieth anniversary in photography.



The dates for my fall trip Paris for Art Lovers are confirmed as November 16 through 23, 2009, and will include ParisPhoto at Carrousel du Louvre. E me for details or check my website: La Belle France Tours . I have had a lot of interest in this trip, so sign up early.

Last weekend my husband and I went to the OC for the Hardcore Reunion show that featured lots of 80's hardcore bands (and friends) like No for An Answer, Carry Nation, Head First, Chorus of Disapproval and Black Spot. These bands and more are highlighted in the new book Radio Silence.

Parties for the Parkway Kickoff Event

I am so excited to attend. This is the first time I've been asked to donate one of my works to the River Parkway Trust, and this is one of those big fancy fundraising parties where all the who's-whos show up. This year it's at the new Clovis Veterans Memorial District Building in Old Town Clovis.

If you're not familiar with the Kickoff, this is actually the first of a yearlong series of fundraising events, with over seventy parties this year. These small intimate parties are as diverse as an Evening in Provence (complete with games of petanque, hosted by my petanque club) to a Barndance (at the Hallowell Barn) to an architect Art Dyson themed party on the Kings River at the home of my friends, Deb and Gregg Lapp. The money raised supports Trust's the effort to protect the San Joaquin River and helps to connect people to the river through programs and activities.

And I won't hide the fact that I'm excited about the food. There will be food from fabulous restaurants and caterers including my favorite, Sam's Italian Deli, where the guys know me by name. Plus lots of the local wineries as well.

The admission fee is $35 for members and $40 for non-members at starts at 5:30.

Great Fiction Books I've Enjoyed About Paris and France

I have always been a voracious reader and whizzed through all of Cara Black's books since I discovered them a few months ago, and am anxiously awaiting the release of her latest book Murder in the Latin Quarter this month.

The heroine of the book is Amy Leduc, a private investigator, who seems to get herself into and out of a lot of trouble. Each book is based in a neighborhood of Paris, and filled with murder and mayhem, coupled with political intrigues and social unrest, and of course, Amy's lovelife. Black gives you great background information on the different cultures that meld together to make Paris Paris. She is based here in California.

Another great book I recently devoured was Rendevous Eighteenth by Jake Lamar. The highlight for me was that the story takes place in Montmartre, my favorite part of Paris. Lamar's character is an African-American ex-pat who goes to Paris to get away from his past, and is enjoying his life until his cousin shows up. Lamar does a great job of capturing the streets of the eighteenth arrondissement that I love to walk. He's a great writer and another one of those Americans thought he'd stay there for a short while, and has now lived there for over ten years. He was a writer for Time magazine for six years. His website is nice and hs some good links as well. I cannot wait to read Ghosts of Saint-Michel, but my library doesn't have it, yet.

If you are interested in medieval life, and especially medieval life in France, then I highly recommend Sharan Newman's "Catherine Le Vendeur" series. Newman is a medieval historian and Ph.D in twelth century France. I have only read one of the books, out of sequence, and am now ready to start the series from the beginning. She prefers to do her teaching through her novels, and seems to have written a very large amount of them.