You could use a chuckle today. Sometimes even a simple fishing trip can end unexpectedly.
A Short Film About Ice Fishing from Jason Shahinfar on Vimeo.
Our thanks to film maker Jason Shahinfar for lightening the day. Excellent work.
Imaginative Burney Falls mural graces Pine Street
Titled “Twisted Burney Falls,” this large mural is seen on Pine Street in Redding at The Darkside and Tatooing. Painter Guy Hailey seems to have captured the living essence of the watery rock in moonlight beneath the world famous magical waterfall that lies to the east of Redding in Burney.
Always nice to see large displays of public art like this unapologetic mural on an otherwise nondescript building. Nice work, Guy. It’s Really Redding.
A Day in California -time lapse
A Day in California from Ryan Killackey on Vimeo.
Awesome timelapse video shot in our lovely state, by Ryan and Sheri Killackey. From Vimeo. Thank you for sharing!
A Cinemagraph of Erin
A Cinemagraph is described as an image somewhere between a still photograph, and a video. I saw some very creative and artistic Cinemagraphs by talented New York photographer Jamie Beck. Inspired, I thought I’d try the technique. Like anything truly artistic, it’s much harder to do well than one might think.
Well, I learned a lot while creating it. I’d like to try some others. This was my first attempt. The effect is kind of mesmerizing. Thanks, Jamie. You should view her lovely photographs on her blog.
Images of metaphorical Manzanita
The living ruddy flesh of the Mazanita flows gracefully over the gray wooden skeleton of it’s past. A living glacier.
It doesn’t ask for much. A shallow footing of brittle gravel, or some hardpan clay. Daylong relentless scorching sun. Seeds germinate in nothing less than brushfire.
Tenacious Manzanita. Ubiquitous Manzanita. That’s Really Redding.
“Star Dive” at the State Theatre in Red Bluff
Craig Padilla recently uploaded a video made at his benefit concert performed at the State Theatre in Red Bluff from 2000. The show was intended to benefit both the State Theatre restoration project and the Red Bluff Skateboard Park, which was fundraising. The video, Star Dive, is classic Craig, and is fun to see again. Along with Venita Philbrick and others, I helped Craig produce the stage show, and did some lighting and soundwork. The video brings back some fond memories. The music stands the test of time. It still sounds great.
At the time, the State Theatre was not much more than a building with seats. The rescued remains of an old movie house. The stage had no lighting. We built a small setup structure out of ABS pipe (yes, sewer pipe!), and put up our usual low-budget lightshow. I suggested to Craig that he wear all white, so as not to be lost on the dark stage in dim lighting. At the last minute, Craig was able to talk Morpheus Lighting of Redding into donating some lighting for the show, and it made a huge difference. The videographer, whose name I don’t recall, sorry, mixed in the effects and projected it onstage. Awesome in person. The show was well attended, and we later got a nice thank-you letter indicating that the Skatepark had been built, along with the donations of many others. It was very gratifying.
State of the art back then, it looks pretty retro now. Crank it up!
Today, I see the State Theatre is still under restoration. Learn more at the State Theatre Restoration project. It’s a worthwhile project. The Cascade Theatre in Redding was in similar condition, and it’s subsequent restoration has proven to be the cultural spark that fires up the old downtown. We hope the same for Red Bluff.
Quantum Swirl, a new video features our music
Here’s and video by a French artist made using music by Craig Padilla and me. Quantum Swirl is from our CD Analog Destination, and is one of my favorites.
You can even watch it in HD 720p. Enjoy!
This is a mash-up. Media created by mixing elements. French artist Zrnho did this without asking our permission, but in fact we were flattered. What’s the harm? Some other musicians we know were not so kind, and made him take down some of his pieces. Just bad ju-ju, I say. Online mash-ups recycle art into new forms. All part of our digital age. Thanks, Zrnho. We embrace the chaos…
Slam Buckra now a crossover artist.
One of my all time favorite Redding artists passed away recently at age 53. Damn. 53.
Like much of Redding music, Slam was hard to categorize. I won’t try. Jim Dyar does a good job of it at this post over at A News Cafe. Blogger Marc Beauchamp pointed me to Slam’s MySpace page, where you can listen to some recordings, and which will hopefully remain available. I can say the times I met him, he impressed me as a truly genuine character, and that’s a compliment of the highest order. He was a creature of the stage, and could be found playing live all over the Northstate whenever possible, often with his band, the Groove Palookas, laying down some funky beats to rocking audiences. A skilled musician, with his own very original style, in an artform where originality is a most prized attribute. He had a great many enthusiastic followers. RIP doesn’t seem appropriate to this energetic player. I’d prefer to believe he’s just appearing on a stage somewhere else. Given the relatively small local music scene, I’d always hoped to jam with Slam at some point. But it looks like that’ll have to wait until we meet again on the other side of the stage curtain. Our heart goes out to his family, friends, fans, and Groove Palookas everywhere.
Art Hop images include fashion show
We attended the Art Hop function Saturday night at the spa on Oregon Street. BTW> You can buy this historic building on Oregon Street if you’d like.
Designer Will Curtis (left) was showing off his latest work, seen here with few of the models.
Here’s a few “Art Hoppy” shots I took of Erin, modeling some of Will’s creations. There’s a bunch more on Facebook.
A couple more images of the spa. Did I mention it’s for sale? Listed by Kimberly Pederson of Coldwell Banker. 
Art. Fashion. Spa. It’s ReallyRedding.
Live recording -Craig Padilla’s “Sundial Bridge”
Here’s a live recording of Sundial Bridge by Craig Padilla. It was recorded on the patio of the cafe of the south end of the bridge. It’s about 20 minutes of symphonic electronic music. It starts off quietly, until it begins to soar. I accompanied Craig, and ran audio. There is no mic on the audience, but you do hear our voices briefly at the very end.
Sundial bridge2 by SkipMurphy 
The Sundial Bridge has arguably become the symbol of Redding CA. The architect for the bridge is a world famous artist named Santiago Calatrava, although I don’t see this particular work listed on his website. I haven’t looked through the whole site.
The folks at the host Turtle Bay Museum seemed happy to have us play there. The venue was really hot (thermal hot, not swinging hot) and it’s not acoustically great for either listeners or players. And for an art museum, the staff seemed really unimpressed that world famous musician Craig Padilla had composed a complete symphonic music composition named after the bridge, just for the occasion. Like, “Yeah, that’s nice.”
Anyway, I came across the recording in the studio, and thought I’d share it with the world again. At least, that part of the world that wasn’t at the event. Like any live recording, it has some issues, but I think the spirit of the muse comes across intact. See what you think.