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Peromyscus: Erect on the summit of the world, once again we hurl defiance to the stars!

Our Hellren Podcast #5

Our most recent episode and a trivia quiz!!

Hellren #5

Amazon.com: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (9780307266309): Christopher McDougall: Books

Amazon.com: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen (9780307266309): Christopher McDougall: Books

This was one of the craziest books I've read all year. A tale of elite runners and their quest to compete with a mystical tribe of Mexican long distance runners. Wonderful even if you're not a runner although you won't believe some of the races these people compete in - Mojave Desert Run?? Really? Yes, really, running on asphalt that could fry an egg. Wild.

Jack Skellington

New Work

Garlands to wear on a neck ring and interchangeable. Lots of fun to make!

TATE Concert 10/17

So I finally got away to see TATE (The Airborne Toxic Event) again. They've been touring like crazy and haven't been back in NYC since March. Drove up to Northern Lights outside Albany for a Saturday night show rather them see them at Webster Hall at 11 pm on a weekday! And the dress code at Webster Hall is "trendy". Oh, plu-eaze.



Not only bought a ticket but then won a pair as well through TATE's website. A photo contest no less, with a 100 words essay on why the photo represents their music. Re-reading it now makes me feel like I must have been having a flashback or something when I was writing. Just try writing anything meaningful in 100 words. Really. Difficult.

The show was excellent, partly because the audience was great. Small, but really into TATE. No dress code. And I was NOT the only woman wearing a skirt for once.



CD signing after the show so I got (another) copy of the CD. Man, these guys are so nice.

Bruce and I made a weekend of it and ate out, stayed at a place with a whirlpool and did a stop over at a small local winery for a tasting. Mmm, a lifestyle I could get used to.

A great outfit!

Episode #4

Episode #4

Vogue Photo Shoot

I recently worked on a project that happened on Tuesday. The Met lent some costumes to Vogue Magazine for a shoot that Annie Lebowitz was doing for the December issue. The theme was "Hansel and Gretel". Annie is on the left with the camera (duh). The two models on the ground wearing designer clothes are Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield. The Sandman in the tree (in the Met costume) is Sasha Cooke, the actual Met singer that sang the role on stage. The Maitre D' (fish) is also one of our costumes.


Here's the cottage scene were H and G are sad and half starved. The whole day was so interesting; everyone was incrediably professional and FRIENDLY!

Opening Night

Opening Night at the MET. Drinks beforehand and all the office friends on the plaza for the show. There is nothing like a cool, breezy fall night on NYC! Lights glitter like stars only matched by women's dresses and everyone's mood! Lovely!

One of my Favorite Songs

iTunes!!!

Our podcast has been approved and is available on iTunes!! Search in podcasts for "Hellren"

Glass Making Podcast

This is a podcast from the latest meeting of my glass beadmakers group, the Penn Dragons. Robi Eugster demonstrates how to make an implosion pendant in boro glass. It's only about 10 mins so listen in!

Wine, honey and...

So, since I took the day off the go to the doctor and Bruce's freelance job was cancelled, he corralled me into doing a bunch of home stuff.

Bruce's bees have done so well the past year that he has started a 2nd hive. Each one of the "floors" on the bee hive apartment building is called a "super" (why I have NO idea). He recently took a super off one of his hives and today he was extracting the honey. We did this last fall and got about 30 lbs from one super (those little bees are pretty darn industrious).

Afterwards he decided we needed to bottle the Zinfandel and the Malvaise Black that had been going thru their 2nd fermentation. We bottled 31 Zinfandel and 20 MB. Perfect since he had only sterilized 60 bottles!

Sunday we are going to a picnic and I promised to bring homemade wine. YUM!

Camp

Someone got dropped off for camp today! Sniff!

Show Notes Episode #2

Show Notes Episode #2

Our second podcast is live!

Rainy Days = Packed Subways

Unless you commute in NY you haven't lived - or regretted living as the case may be. On rainy days when it's too wet to walk to the P.A. I have to take the #1 subway. I think this underground passageway was featured in the subway scene in "An American Werewolf in London".

Podcast Live!

Our podcast is live and can be heard at www.hellren.com

More Copper

Free Fall

A few months ago I went to see The Airborne Toxic Event at a NYC club. It was such an adventure that friends encouraged me to write an "lifestyle" type article about it. So I did. And now, I have just sent it off to an internet mag to be reviewed.

And now I feel like the kid falling out of that tree, waiting to get slammed into the ground.

Working with copper lately.

What is the message here?

OK, here's the latest series of posters in the tunnel between the 42nd St station and the Port Authory Bus Terminal. These two posters line the entire block long tunnel. You have a women as either a "prick" or as a "temptress".

Mmmm, what's the message here?? I liked the "Big Love" posters better.

Mother's Day

So in tribute to Mom's everywhere, here's what makes me a mom - my son of course. And here's his latest art project in claywork class, A Boy Pets His Dog. Quite good don't ya think?

Stand by Me

Birthday Bash

So my son recently entered teenagerhood with big ole #13. Since he loves hibachi we went to the original (?) Gasho in Central Valley. I'm not sure if it really is the original but I remember going there as a kid so at least I know it's old.

Ahem, anyway they do a birthday song for the honoree and the kimono-ed waitress comes out with a large pink hammer and bops you on the head while everyone sings. Some sort of good luck eastern thing I guess.


I was tempted to sneak the hammer out under my coat but I restrained myself.

The Airborne Toxic Event Encore, 3-8-09

So during the encore of Sunday's show Anna, the violinist, got people from the audience up onstage. What a hoot. Here's an amateur video from the night.
The kareoke guy was hilarious. Viva la iPhone!

If you don't take the subway and walk from the 1, 2 or 3 into Port Authority you may have missed this ingenious billboard display. Its an ad for Big Love the HBO series. The ads, light from behind like many nowadays, actually has small ports so passersby could plug in their iPod ear buds and listen to the "thoughts" of the people in the ads. Absolutely brilliant. And yes, I did see people listening in!

Need I Say More?

Whole Lot of Wining Going On

So it can be very dangerous to leave a husband at home alone. Yesterday he drove down to Corrado's and dropped some dinero on malolactic bacteria, demijohns, 20 gallons or so of new juice and other assorted wine making equipment.

This was brought on by the wine test we conducted a few days ago.


We had 18 gallons of semi fermented juice that we needed to rack and 5 gallons we needed to bottle. So Bruce labeled each type and we compared colors, clarity, taste and then he went on to combine different amounts of each until he got what he wanted. Oy! He got two 23 liter demijohns so I guess we'll have to invite a large group of friends over when we open it.


So here Bruce is mixing his wines. Who knew you could get a syphon attachment for a hand drill? Really, who thinks of these things? We topped off the bucket of Carignane with some finished Valdespina and then bottled the rest. Another 19 bottles for the wine cellar (a cement basement closet).

His next project is to make some wine storage racks, we are in serious need of legitimate bottle storage.

A hike recently in the Catskills. They had several weeks of below zero temps so the High Falls are very frozen over. Spectacular!

No Time Today

Not a lot of time today so just a few pictures of what I have been making lately and will post on Etsy. Inspired by my first teacher, Stephanie Maddalena, I have been trying to do flowers and other organic shapes.

Today I get my heart health check up at the new Women's Heart Health Center at Valley Hospital. My cholesterol is up but since my HDL's and VLDL's are so off the charts I really don't give a **. Now if I could just get those washboard abs! Oy!

Etsy

In the next day or two, we will be posting a totally new Etsy inventory. Stay tuned.

Letterman Revisited

So here we are!

And we now have tickets to see TATE at the Bowery Ballroom in March as well. Woo hoo!!

The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd!

So as I walked to work this morning I saw the Big Apple Circus box office go by (yes, the box office is a converted 40 ft truck). So sad to see the circus leave town, it signals the total and complete end of the holiday season.

However, this year we got a thrill at the show, Bruce was part of the act!

Since we go every year I suppose the performers get to recognize the regulars, and this year we were once again in the front row. Grandma pulled Bruce out to do a schitck and he was hilarious.



Quite frankly, I was laughing so hard that I had trouble holding the camera.



An actually one of the funniest things was how relieved Max was that it wasn't him that got pulled out.

Letterman

So last night we watch the taping of the Friday night episode of "Letterman" and all I can say is, it's one of the 100 things every NY'er should do before they die.

We had so much fun. From the lines,the the screaming interns, to the folks on the line, to the show, everything was totally a blast.

We also saw my favorite new band, Airborne Toxic Event live, performing Sometime Around Midnight.

While I figure out how to get the photos off my own phone, above is a photo of the theater.

Letterman

Today Bruce and I are going to be at a taping of the Letterman show. I had wanted to go and see Toxic Airborne Event play but, of course, they won't tell you who is appearing until you get there.

But it should be fun nayway - more on the date later.