This Macy’s Christmas window display in Broadway Plaza has been up well before Halloween and a reader writes in:
It is all Christmas and has been like that for two weeks now. Can you get a photo of it and do a poll to see how many folks think it is too early seeing that it is before Halloween AND Thanksgiving?
So do you think it’s too early for Christmas window displays? If so, what’s the best time to start displaying?
Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek
Friday, October 25th – Saturday, November 23th, 2013By Marc Camoletti
Adapted by Robin Hawdon
Directed by Michael ButlerOctober 25 – November 23, 2013
Here comes the brilliant sequel to REP’s hilarious and stylish sold-out hit, Boeing-Boeing. It’s 10 years later, Robert and Bernard are happily settled down, but the shenanigans continue in what many consider to be the most brilliant bedroom farce of all time.
“Hurtling along at the speed of light, Marc Camoletti’s breathtaking farce is a near-faultless piece of theatrical invention.”
– The Guardian
“A nifty farce about double adultery and gourmet cooking.”
– Sunday Times of London
Anyone remember when Odwalla sold unpasteurized juice back in the nineties? I do, and I also remember when Odwalla started pasteurizing all their juices due to an E. coli infection contamination of their apple juice that caused the death of a child and serious illness in others.
From a Food Safety News article:
When the outbreak was over, one child was dead from complications arising from her E. coli O157:H7 infection, and more than 65 individuals were confirmed infected with the bacteria in the western U.S. and British Columbia. Of these reported cases, more than a dozen developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life-threatening condition that causes the body’s major organs – particularly the kidneys – to fail.
It’s with this memory that I asked around at Whole Foods in Lafayette about the safety of their new fresh, unpasteurized juices they seem to be heavily promoting lately. Apparently the Odwalla scare of the nineties was before their time as one of the responses I got was in effect, “of course it’s safe, why wouldn’t it be?” Another Whole Foods employee looked at me like I was joking. So I smiled back and thanked her for letting me know. However I noticed this warning on the back of an apple juice container:
This product has not been pasteurized and, therefore, may contain harmful bacteria that can cause serious illness in children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems.
Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I see two potential issues with this notice. One, they forgot to add “and death” after the ’cause serious illness’ part, and secondly, they didn’t mention that even healthy adults could potentially become seriously ill.
Will you give your children Whole Foods tasty, fresh squeezed, unpasteurized juices? Or is it better to be safe than sorry?
3420 Mt. Diablo Blvd, Lafayette
Back in August I noted that the Lafayette Art Gallery sculpture garden was removed due to the expanded parking lot for the new Cooperage restaurant and a few weeks ago noted that the Klein Gallery was replacing the Lafayette Art Gallery. Now, the Lafayette Art Gallery is open in a more spacious building on Mt. Diablo Blvd next to Bo’s Barbecue. I stopped by and it looks great. The outside area in back is really nice as well although it won’t be used for their sculptures. However, I’ve been told that sculptures will be placed outside near the building itself.
From their website:
After 14 years on Lafayette Circle, the Lafayette Art Gallery will open it’s doors on October 8, 2013 at a new, and greatly expanded location, in the historic Forge complex of Lafayette.
The new space was formerly occupied by the Pacific Wildlife Galleries, and has been designed expressly for displaying art, photography, ceramics and jewelry. The new Gallery space is next door to the well-known Bo’s Barbecue, and adjacent to The Artisan Bistro. With nearly double the square footage, the new space will accommodate additional artists, sculptors and ceramicists.With the newly available space, the Lafayette Art Gallery has added a new focus on ceramic art: the gallery will now be featuring an award-winning group of ceramic artists whose work includes sag- gar fire, rake-pit fired, wood-fired and low- and high- fires work. The new ceramicists include James Aarons, Coreen Abbot, Steve Allen, Michael Berkeley, Lauri and Kurt Fehlberg, Lesley Jensen, Olga Jusidman, Judy Bolef Miller, Virginia Rigley, and Cheryl Wolff – all are well-known artists who have their own stable of collectors.
The grand opening reception will take place on Saturday, November 9th.
Check out part of the inside:
Evening Discussion on Eugene O’Neill:
Swan’s Fine Books
1381 Locust St, Walnut Creek
Thursday, November 7th, 2013
7:30pm | FreeSwan’s Fine Books will be hosting an evening discussion group on Thursday, November 7th, on Eugene O’Neill.
Mr. O’Neill, one of America’s most renowned playwrights, was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama on four separate occasions.
His plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism, and were among the first to include speeches in American vernacular and involve characters on the fringes of society, where they struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations, but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair.
Please join us to learn more about Mr. O’Neill; RSVP if you’d like to join us, as seating will be limited to the first 30 respondents.
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Parking is available either on-street or in the city parking garage across the street; we will validate garage parking for this evening event.
965 Mountain View Dr, Lafayette
I was coming out of Trader Joe’s in Lafayette the other day when I noticed this sign in the Susan Foord Catering store across the street. This sign really spoke to me because indeed I must have passed by thousands of times. But why the fuss about a catering store? Well, it turns out that in addition to catering it’s a really nice looking cafe. I can’t believe I missed this! Check out their lunch menu here. They are open Mon – Fri 11 – 6pm and Saturdays 10 – 5pm.
Of course I ordered the chili and it was quite good! Has anyone been here? What’s good to try?
From their website:
In 1998 Susan Foord Catering relocated to Lafayette. Since opening, the dream has been to create a friendly, neighborhood atmosphere reminiscent of the corner cafes of Europe where people gather for friendly conversation, and good foods.
The Café is a food shop that doesn’t compromise –a rarity in today’s world.
We do our utmost to behave responsibly and ethically and to purchase our ingredients from the finest sources. Our obsession with quality and freshness stems from our desire to produce the very best.
Check out photos of the inside after the jump…
Back in April I noted that the florist Anahid Designs opened in Orinda Theatre Square but they moved to 100 Hartz Ave in Danville in September according to their Facebook page here.
California Independent Film Festival:
Orinda Theatre & New Rheem Theatre
4 Orinda Theatre Square, Orinda & 350 Park St, Moraga
Thursday, November 7th – Sunday, November 10th, 2013The 15th Annual California Independent Film Festival will be held for the third year in a row at The New Rheem Theatre in Moraga, CA. Films will also be shown at the Orinda Theatre, providing attendees additional opportunities to screen films and even more ways to experience the festival.
The California Independent Film Festival Association (CAIFFA) has begun announcing this year’s impressive line-up of films (some creating Oscar-buzz), a wide variety of foreign films, documentaries, short films and children’s programs.
Films opening this year’s festival include Body Complete, which has been screened at 13 film festivals world-wide and is an enthralling thriller taking a journey through war-torn Bosnia. In synopsis, Nicole is a journalist working for a TV station in Vienna, Austria. In 2004, she travels to Bosnia to film a report about Edina, a young woman who has gone missing. Edina wanted to bury her Muslim father in Bosnia, whose remains were discovered in a mass grave. Nicole`s search takes her to Morovci, the place where Edina was last seen. Morovca, located in Republika Srpska, is a nation created after the war. It was a major site of ethnic cleansing, in which thousands of Muslim civilians perished. Nicole`s tenacious inquiries put her increasingly at risk. The fanatic nationalism and open aggression all around her make Nicole`s search a life-threatening mission.
