My recently published Baudelaire translations

Click on title to read them

Guides to Buddhism

To find the article Gary Gach has written that is like a ready-made kit for learning about Buddhism, click on "Guides to Buddhism" above. There are links that include further links to Buddhism.
Gary advises also that for those who may want to write about or discuss Buddhism, the website http://www.patheos.com/ has opened its portal to Buddhism.

British Columbia Visits the Embarcadero, San Francisco...

..with these photos taken on a cloudy rainy days. Click on title above if you want to see the slide show.

Filoli March 2010

Click on title above to see a slide show of Filoli (Fight,Love,Live).

The Buds at the Utah Hotel, San Francisco...

...on 15 April 2010. Click on title above to see a series of photos from their appearance at the Utah Hotel.
As I was (happily) ensconed among Code Pink friends, I could mostly photograph only Jim McLaren. True, Jim is very photogenic, but I am sorry that there is less representation of Bryan Harrison, vocal and guitar; Dave Coan, percussion; and Elisa Welch, flute, keyboard, guitar (http://art.net/~elisa). I don't know the name of that Chevy Chase lookalike who sat in on mandolin.
For information on the Buds, their upcoming Bay Area concerts, how to order their CD, etc., go to www.TheBudsMusic.org

Andrew Kelsey of the group Uncle Charlie...

... at Hotel Utah in San Francisco on 15 April 2010. Click on title for a handful of photos.

Caetano Veloso 17 April 2010 San Francisco

Click on the title above to see Caetano Veloso at this 17 April 2010 concert in San Francisco. (Excuse the few obscure pictures of the audience, but I wanted to convey their enthusiasm, finally crowding the edge of the stage.)
Personally I like his dreamy, romantic songs, but they do not truly represent the wild things he does with his voice, especially with his trio of very young musicians who are hard driving, with a beat that seems ritualistic, with Veloso as their slow, shuffle-dancing priest (Pedro Sa, electric guitar; Ricardo Dias Gomes, base and Fender Rhodes; Marcelo Callado, drums). As the booklet for the San Francisco Jazz Spring Season notes, Veloso "has taken on everything from funky samba workouts to ethereal balladry and orchestral pieces." Recently, as demonstrated in this concert, Veloso has "used jittery indie rock in order to process the intense emotions surrounding his divorce..." He now has "an edgier vision..." But you might want to sample the sweeter side, you might copy and sample this from YouTube, from Almodovar's film TALK TO HER: "Cucurrucucu Paloma," or discover pieces of Veloso there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CsA1CcA4Z8&feature=related

Plum Blossom Festival, 18 April 2010

It is not news that San Francisco can feel more like a film than reality. So many possible things to do today -- the new Ecology Center at Third Street and Cesar Chavez, where the native Ohlones would be present. But I was instead going to the annual Northern California Book Awards at the Main Library. But before I could get there I found myself walking parallel to some portion of the Plum Blossom Festival ... and that seemed to blend into something else .. Was it a Fools Parade? ... Cllick on title above, PLUM BLOSSOM FESTIVAL ...

The Two Chanas Win the Prize - 18 April 2010

At the 18 April 2010 Northern California Books Award, Chana Block and Chana Kronfeld won in the category of "Translation -- Poetry" for HOVERING AT A LOW ALTITUDE; THE COLLECTED POETRY OF DAHLIA RAVIKOVITCH.