Stop in here, at Wild Thyme. It’s a shop full of awesome.
Check out their website, sign up for a newsletter, and befriend Wild Thyme on Facebook. Better yet, stop in at her shop on Oregon Street in Redding across from Tapas and the Oregon Street Antique Mall. Say hi to Eileen.
Wild Thyme local gifts and goodness. It’s Really Redding.
Waterworks Park in Redding
Redding has a water based amusement park, Waterworks Park. Great place to be on a hot day like today.
According to the Waterworks Park website, these are among their rides:
- Cyclone
- Tropical Lazy Lagoon
- The Awesome Avalanche
- Raging River Tube Ride
- Corkscrew Flash Flood Slide
- Bucking Bronco Serpentine Slide
- Whipper Snapper Flash Flood Slide
- Kiddy Pool and Small Child Slides
Perhaps ironically, Redding is surrounded by lakes and rivers for water based fun. But Waterworks Park remains a popular destination, especially if you have kids. Many of the locals purchase Season Passes, so it is generally full of people having fun in the sun.
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Market Faire today, Redding California in 2013.
I like the interesting juxtaposition of elements in this photo from Market Faire a few weeks back. Click to expand the image. Examine the components.
Our Car Culture on Market Street, both background and foreground.
The Busker with the Blond Dreadlocks plays guitar to a Tattooed Man.
The Comely Woman in the Black Skull T-Shirt, looking right into the camera.
The guy with the Backwards Hat and a tattoo too, over by the motorcycles, also looking. Are you seeing me?
The Blond Woman in the Red Mustang with Gold Sunglasses completes the foreground. On her way somewhere, somewhat urgently.
This image has a lot going on, and so it speaks. A frozen reflection of our life and our time in our town. Thanks Market Faire.
- Photo 2013 by Skip Murphy
2013 Really Redding, just like they imagined it back in 1929. Not!
What will 2029 Redding look like? More tattoos, evidently.
Ask local blogger AskAnna
Go ahead. We know you have questions. Redding based AskAnna offers answers.
Answers to your cleaning and organizing questions and more. AskAnna has a sense of style that is really attractive. Check it out!
Sleakphotography captures Redding
Scott at Sleakphotography is an amazing photographer. You can tell he puts a lot of effort and skill into his images, so visit his website for more. Here’s a video he posted from last night’s 4th of July celebration in Redding. Our city’s annual free fireworks display, courtesy of the McConnell Foundation.
Scott really has a good eye, but great photography is a complex skill set made of technical knowledge, planning and preparation, and an artistic drive. I met a great many photographers during my career with Kodak, and Scott’s work is clearly among the best at his vocation. He’s developed a style of his own, which is rather like finding your voice in writing. A defining talent. You can also follow Sleakphotography on Facebook, where I look forward to his frequent posts. This image below looks great because of planning, exposure, experience, time, and effort. Nice shot.
Of course it never hurts that we live in an area of such great beauty. It’s Really Redding.
Redding isn’t hot enough
DEVO drummer Alan Myers passes away
Sad news today about drummer Alan Myers. Condolences to family, fans, and band mates evolved and de-evolved. In memorial, I’m re-running this post from last year.
When DEVO came to Redding
Wow, was it thirty years ago? Looking through an old box in the closet, I ran across these photographs I took at the Redding Civic when DEVO came to town in 1982.
Are we not men? We are DEVO!
Sure, it looks like the singer is wearing a flower pot hat, but DEVO fans know them as “Energy Domes.” I was a fan back then, but not enough to have bought a ticket. A friend gave me the ticket. Her 15 year old daughter won the seats from a radio promotion, and mom really didn’t want to go. Front row! Hence, the good shots. The show was much better than I expected.
This was the era of the “It’s a Beautiful World” single, which was a show highlight.
It’s a beautiful world we live in,
A sweet romantic place,
Beautiful people everywhere,
The way they show they care
Makes me want to say,It’s a wonderful time to be here,
It’s nice to be alive,
Wonderful people everywhere,
The way they comb their hair(Chorus)
It’s a beautiful world (three times)
For you (three times)
Everything I’d heard by DEVO was sort-of deliberately sterile sounding, I think. Art music. Almost a parody of itself. Certainly a sarcastic reflection of pop culture.
The funny thing about pop culture is that even self-parody acknowledgement of its own banality becomes more pop culture, perhaps even the best of it.
What I wouldn’t have guessed was how hard they rocked. Obviously, having risen through the punk clubscene, they’d learned to move an audience. This wasn’t studio music played live. They engaged the crowd, playing it hard with abandon. Up front, and hearing mostly the stage monitors, I was impressed. A tight rock band.
Devo singer Mark Mothersbaugh has gone on to become an accomplished artist in both film scores and visual arts. An extremely impressive list of accomplishments by any measure.
They still play as a band too. The DEVO webiste had recent video from a SF show at the Fillmore.
Amazing.
I like the final image in my series. You can tell this was taken some time ago. Outstretched arms aren’t holding up cell phones recording the moment. They were just in the moment.
All photos by Skip Murphy, 1982. Below, I wanted to post one of their many online videos, but it was so hard to pick one. This one was recorded just few days ago, 1-13-12 @The Fillmore. Impressive longevity for any band!
Try Moseley Family Cellars at Market Street Faire today
We love local vintners Moseley Family Cellars. Stop by their booth this evening at the Market Street Faire on the Promenade in Redding. Starts at 5 pm. You can keep up with the Moseleys by subscribing to their newsletter online. Click below for more:
Wine tasting at Market Faire. It’s Really Redding.
Fajitas for Fathers Day via Upstate News
I like to read the Sunday papers in the morning, when I can. A local Redding business named Upstate News delivers the Chronicle to our door. Reading the Food section of the Chron always makes me really hungry, though. Yesterday was quiet, so I decided to follow the featured recipe from writer Lynn Char Bennett for marinated skirt steak fajitas. I didn’t take any pictures of my results since I was too busy eating, but really I did like how it turned out. I can recommend that you try her “Marinade can work some magic” at the link.
Upstate News will deliver any of several newspapers to your door, including USA Today and the New York Times. They are also planning on delivering the Sacramento Bee soon, so call (530) 246-2333 if you want to inquire about that.
We still like newsprint. And we are fortunate to live in an area where a San Francisco newspaper still feels somewhat local.
