junctqin keyboard collective

thanks to facebook i was able to reunite with a long lost high school friend. turns out she's a concert pianist now!

she is also part of a cool trio (a group of self-professed keyboard geeks) that performs contemporary music written for none other than toy pianos!

last week her group, junctqin keyboard collective, performed at a beautiful outdoor stage as part of the 'plein air concert series'.

the concert made me feel like i was transported into a live version of an episode of brave new waves or the signal. all the songs were unique and the trio gave us some background info on all the pieces the performed.

i loved all the songs (especially the ones that were duets or for trio), but the last song was performed by all three on table in perfect synchrony. here's a version that i've found on youtube:



the other amazing thing, in addition to the music? the plein air concert series, is a series that is organized and run by susan brown on a volunteer basis so that the artists can benefit from the ticket sales! ... i think that it's also her backyard and stage that is being used for the concert series. what an benefactor of the arts!

i love yoko ono.

she has totally embraced social media and connects with her fans daily through her facebook and website. she is also a prolific tweeter! among her tweets for peace, she frequently proposes small actions or thoughts for her followers to try - mini, personal conceptual art projects for the masses.

what an amazing artist and activist. how she stays free of cynicism to keep on believing and fighting for world peace is beyond admirable. after decades of unwavering activism, she is still sending out messages and tips for attaining world peace.

and at the age of 66 she had her first song reach the top of the dance charts last year!

my little urban jungle

as you can see, my little garden plot has grown into a mini jungle and since these photos were taken, it's kind of gotten out of hand. all the stems are growing over each other and despite the bamboo stakes they are toppling over.

last year, my little garden was a bit sad with very few tomatoes harvested. so this year, with the help of a lot of organic compost, the 4 tomato plants became large bushes with lots of tomatoes growing.

the basil is doing really well too and is probably 4 feet tall now.

lessons learned for next year:

• leave waaaaay more space between the plants so that they don't end up growing on top of each other
• get thicker stakes
• trim the sucks