Scribbles and Photos

I have been meaning to post some photos of the gardens at the Hotel Bel-Air  where I stayed with the intrepid Nancy B (aka the B) on my recent "mini-cay" in southern California. The gardens definitely offered an opportunity to re-acquaint myself with an older (and more cantankerous) camera -- the Olympus Utz.  For the record, it still has a mind of its own when focusing and it still performs just "so so" in low light.  On the positive side, it's a lot smaller and easier to carry around than my usual travel companion (the Olumpus 520 DSLR). I've waxed rhapsodic about the Bel-Air in a review,  Oasis in a Big City , on TripAdvisor.  It is a great hotel that came out of a two-year renovation ready to host the Hollywood elite -- and folks like me -- for another decade or so.  As for the flowers -- it's clear that a lot of hard work goes into the gardens and grounds and that work pays off in a big way. They grow them big and showy in southern Califo...

Sunday, I headed West to Riverside Park to check out the restored section of Hudson river walk (between 96th street and the Boat Basin) and see what was up with the 69th street Transfer Bridge.  Since discovering Central Park's Conservatory Garden, I hadn't spent any time in Riverside Park in well over a year.  I was reminded that the walk along the river is one of the best in NY -- particularly the section below the boat basin which has been restored to feel like a boardwalk meandering among sea grasses. Much to my surprise and delight, the 2012 Model to Monument (M2M) show had opened on Thursday.  Brought to us by the Art Students League of NY, M2M has art students working under Gregg Wyatt (sculptor in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine) to learn how to create site-specific public art on a monumental scale. Of the seven sculptures ( map ), my favorites are Cope (Damien Armondo Vera) and Proceeding Being (HakSul Lee). Cope The only angle you...