Month: October 2017

Gravestone salt and pepper shaker

Be alive in Colma

Silvia

If your favorite Halloween outing is going to a cemetery you might find Colma attractive.

The city’s population of 1792 (2010) has seventeen cemeteries – , including one for pets. Four are listed in the cemetery travel guide! Hence the ratio of alive to dead is 1:1000 and the cities motto:”It’s Great to be Alive in Colma”. Colma was build as a necropolis, after San Francisco in the 1900 outlawed interments and then in 1912 evicted all cemeteries.  

Hair jewelry at the Colma Historic AssociationI started my exploration of Colma at the local Historical Association (free, but donations are encouraged). They embrace the dead neighbors with interesting knowledge about customs about grief. For example did you know that hair of deceased was made into jewelry? For those of you interested in genealogy the museum also has a reading room.

Crypts at the Italian Cemetery in ColmaI can recommend the walkable Italian Cementy next to the museum. A lot of interesting crypts and someone at the museum told me that people like to picnic there on the weekends. 

 

Some famous underground residents of Colma are:

Joe DiMaggio

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery

Wyatt Earp

Hills of Eternity Jewish Cemetery

William Randolph Hearst

Cypress Lawn Cemetery

Levi Strauss

Home of Peace Jewish Cemetery

None of these resting places has a special Halloween offering, but two of them do occasionally offer tours:

Cypress Lawn (http://www.cypresslawnheritagefoundation.org/events/activities-presentations/) and Holy Cross

(http://www.holycrosscemeteries.com/locations/colma.htm).

Grave decorated in Halloween theme

For a Halloween event in the area you can go to the Annual Halloween Spook Parade and Costume Contest, Tuesday, October 31st from 3 pm – 5:30 pm at the Serramonte Center in Daly City.

What is your favorite passtime on Halloween?

Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colma,_California

https://cemeterytravel.com/2013/01/06/colma-before-the-graveyards/

www.findagrave.com/

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/sports/football/the-town-of-colma-where-san-franciscos-dead-live.html

http://usgwtombstones.org/california/sanmateo.html

Shakespeare bust from the Shakespeare Society of America, Moss Landing

Unlock the Shakespearian treasure trove

Silvia

Sometimes I find the most amazing things without looking for them. I was killing time in Moss Landing last weekend before a beautiful kayak tour and stumbled upon this little gem of a museum: the Shakespeare Society of America and its collection of artifacts, plus a gift shop. The museum is free, but encourages donations. Opening hours are usually from 10 am – 5 pm daily.

 

Shakespeare bust from the Shakespeare Society of America, Moss LandingWhen R. Thad Taylor, the founder of the Globe Playhouse in Los Angeles, passed away in 2006, the Shakespeare Society of America had to relocate. In 2008 it moved to Moss Landing.

 

If you are an admirer of Shakespeare you should check it out. The collection consists of rare books, artwork and other memorabilia. A tour especially for school classes grades 9-12 teaches the work of William Shakespeare.

 

What is your favorite Shakespeare play?

Victor Arnautoff's mural depicting neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing at work

Find Arnautoff’s murals

Silvia

Ever since I saw the murals on the Roth Building in Palo Alto I was intrigued to find out more about Victor Arnautoff. The Roth Building located on 300 Homer Ave is the former Palo Alto Medical Clinic and the soon-to-be Palo Alto History Museum.

 

Mural by Victor Arnautoff depicting Sir William Osler and a patient at the Roth Building in Palo AltoWhen the hospital first opened in 1932 it was quite a stir due to one of Victor Arnautoff’s murals depicting a half undressed woman receiving treatment. In fact it caused a traffic jam on Homer Ave due to the cars driving by so slowly to get a glimpse of the art work.

 

Arnautoff himself a Russian-American artist who trained with Diego Rivera and came to Palo Alto to teach art at Stanford is most famous for his artistic contribution to the Coit Tower. The Roth Building frescos are among his earliest works in the United States.

 

Replicas of Victor Arnautoff's murals at the Palo Alto Medical FoundationWhen the Palo Alto Medical Clinic moved to 795 El Camino Real, it placed replica medallions of the artworks at its front entrance. On my search for these replicas, I talked to a woman from the hospitals philanthropy department, who knew there had been a story about Arnautoff on KQED that morning. Apparently a once lost mural had been found in the Richmond post office and is now waiting to be restored for the Richmond Historic Museum. (https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2017/10/04/richmond-mural-rediscovered/)

 

But this does not conclude the Arnautoff concurrences. The San Francisco State University Library currently has an exhibit about Arnautoff: “Arnautoff and the Politics of Art” which runs through December 12th. You can see it Monday – Friday from 1 pm to 5 pm.

 

Have you spotted Arnautoff’s work?

 

Resources:

https://richmondmuseum.org/arnatouff-mural/

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2015/10/02/richmond-post-office-mural-missing-for-decades-rediscovered/

https://news.sfsu.edu/news-story/library-exhibit-features-new-deal-era-murals

http://www.sfchronicle.com/art/article/Famed-labor-murals-reproduced-at-SF-State-12178439.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Arnautoff

http://www.frugalfun.com/discovered.html

http://www.pastheritage.org/Tours/Homer/HomerWalk.html

http://www.pastheritage.org/Articles/ArnatouffMF.html

http://www.pamf.org/about/pamfhistory/moral.html

https://library.sfsu.edu/exhibit/victor-arnautoff-and-politics-art

Set of bowls at the Sunnyvale Lawn Bowling Club

Bowl on a lawn

Silvia

Pauline explaining lawn bowling at the Sunnyvale Lawn Bowling ClubHave you seen my list of 50 things to do in Sunnyvale? Number 36 on the list (not in any order) is Sunnyvale Lawn Bowling. The club invited me and a group of my friends to come check out the game. Joe, a lawn bowl Hall of Famer, and Pauline were our coaches for a beautiful Sunday afternoon lawn bowling session. We learned all about the Jack (a small white ball) and the bowls that you roll at the Jack.

A game easy to learn – and hard to master. Joe, explaining lawn bowling at the Sunnyvale Lawn Bowling Club

 

Joe and Pauline were constantly helping and correcting us, but in a fun way. This sport is also relatively inexpensive. You have to join a club near you, but they usually let you use their bowls for a while to try out the right size for you. I think every club around the area has a drop-in policy where you can check out the game.

 

There are quite a few places in the Bay Area to try out lawn bowling.

Rossmoor Walnut Creek Lawn Bowling Club

Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club

Oakland Lawn Bowling Club

San Jose Lawn Bowls

Santa Clara Lawn Bowls Club

Sunnyvale Lawn Bowling Club

Palo Alto Lawn Bowls Club

Santa Cruz Bowls Club

San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club

 

who is closest?Our whole group had a fun time, and we all agreed we would love to bowl again.

Thank you again Joe and Pauline for a great Sunday afternoon!

 

Have you ever bowled on a lawn?