Eyes Wide Open Installation (SF)

Pics from the touring Eyes Wide Open installation recently at the SF Civic Center (sfist).

The Darlings

Watch the Decemberists' "16 Military Wives" video which The Morning News describes as, "a little Rushmore, a little Edward Gorey, pretty much incredible."

Walking the Walk

For three days prior to a New York Philharmonic performance, a college teacher, students, and an 8 year-old walk 33 miles in homage to Bach's 250-mile trek in 1705. (NY Times)

Book News from Boldtype

Interesting book news from Boldtype's latest issue includes: Zapatista guerrilla chief Subcomandante Marcos's foray into mystery fiction; an anthology to benefit tsunami victims with contributions by Nick Hornby, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Paulo Coelho, J.M. Coetzee, and Ian McEwan; and an interview with Zadie Smith and her brother, rapper Doc Brown.

826LA Opens

LA Writers can now inspire 6-18 year olds to write through this offshoot of San Francisco's 826 Valencia. 826LA is located in Venice and they still need volunteers, or you can donate items on their wish list. More info here.

Starting in April you may notice a bit of a shift in event coverage as I'll be leaving the sprawling city that haunted Raymond Chandler, Roman Polanski, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers and returning to the little city-by-the-bay that inspired Dashiell Hammett, Alfred Hitchcock, and Green Day.

Julie/Julia

Julia Child didn't begin cooking until age 37. She inspired cook and blogger Julie Powell who was on KCRW's Good Food this morning talking about her book and her popular cooking blog The Julie/Julia Project. Julie no longer posts to her blog, but I recommend reading through the archives.

A Church in San Miguel de Allende,
originally uploaded by kaskew.

This Jacques-Louis David portrait of "Bonaparte Crossing the Alps at Grand-Saint-Bernard" (currently on loan to
The Getty for their David: Empire to Exhile exhibit) rocked my world today. Stop by The Getty between now and April 24 to see this and other Napoleonic-era paintings by David and try to arrange your visit to coincide with a group tour of the exhibit. The one-room Images of Violence in the Medieval World, which closes this Sunday, made quite an impression as well in its own way.