Lafayette Songstress Hits It Big While Singing With Van

No, NOT Van Morrison. Check out these songs by a former Acalanes Don who somehow sounds just as crystal clear singing upside down as she does piloting a VeeDub full of musicians.

  This from Lafayette City Manager Steven Falk, a music lover and fan of all things Lafayette, who caught the buzz in the music world about a local gal with a stellar set of pipes. Acalanes High graduate Nicki Bluhm and her Acalanes High guitar player childhood friend Deren Ney made, while driving in a van, a great video cover of the Hall & Oates classic “I Can’t Go For That.”  It went viral, attracting more than a million views. And so Nicki and her band are heading out on tour and – in respect for their Lafayette roots – asked the promoter (Greg Perloff/Another Planet Entertainment) to book them for an evening at Town Hall Theatre. Nicki and the Gramblers will be here on June 10. Come on out and see a small-town gal with a big time voice.

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Orinda Ballerina Center Stage In "First Position"

Orinda's Miko Fogarty is one of several young dancers featured in a new film on ballet.

Critter Cams Capture Four-Legged Lawn Mowers, Steely-Eyed Mice-Eaters

Patch shutterbugs Rob Blits and Thomas Black walk the wild side of Lamorinda, looking for worthy shots of the local wildlife. Amazing what you find staring back at you, sometimes.

Patch contributor Thomas Black reports that a hard-working goat herd are being paid "alternate worker" wages by the East Bay Municipal Utitlity District while trimming grass at the 925-acre Lafayette Reservoir so he took a few shots of the herd for posterity. Tom captured these images with a Nikon D7000 and he said he wasn't the only shutterbug smitten by the herd. Dozens of other Rez visitors stood in a row along the rim, snapping away with smartphones. Apparently the herd is surrounded by a mildly electrified fence, as one amateur photographer discovered when she strayed too close. And then we have Lafayette resident Rob Blits, out and about south of Moraga when he got that "someone's watching me" feeling and looked up -- to find that …

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Fritz 'Congodog' Stoop

4:01 pm on Monday, April 30, 2012

I am with you completely, Rob. But secrecy relative to location is mandatory. Years ago, early 1970s, I came across a golden eagle nest in Sibley Park and watched the pair in humbling astonishment and wonder for several years (as you likely know they pair for life and return to the same nest annually for breeding). One spring, as I approach my vantage spot, I was horrified to see the rope ladder …   more ›

Lamorinda Potters Ready To Throw Down In Weekend Artists’ Market

The Clay Arts Guild event is at Civic Arts Education Studio in Walnut Creek's Civic Park.

  The Clay Arts Guild will focus on outdoor garden pots and garden decoration at the Artists’ Market spring sale Friday through Sunday in Walnut Creek. Several Lamorinda "clay throwers" will be present, with their creations available for sale. A reception with live music, light refreshments and a flower-arranging demo kicks off the sale from 5-9 p.m. Friday at the Civic Park Studio, 1313 Civic Dr. The sale continues 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and April 29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday at the Civic Park Studio. Art lovers will be everywhere on the sidewalks of downtown Walnut Creek as the Downtown Business Association also holds its Fine Arts and Crafts Festival Saturday and Sunday on North Main Street and Locust Street (the latter will be closed to …

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High School Reporter - The Mirador

The Mirador View: Zou Bisou Bisou — Megan Draper and You

Patch was enamored with Mirador Opinion Editor Tamar McCollom's take on the season premiere of Mad Men. Give it a read...

By Tamar McCollom Seventeen months. That’s how long I spent waiting for Mad Men to return. That’s how long I spent re-watching Season 4 Episode 7: “The Suitcase,” in hopes that it would magically extend on infinitely instead of ending in a mere 47 minutes. That’s how long I spent muttering Roger Sterling one-liners to myself in my sleep. That’s how long I mourned Ida Blanketship’s death. And most importantly, that’s how long I spent asking myself: why did Don randomly propose to that French Canadian, horse-faced 25-year-old secretary now known as Megan Draper? Megan is, how shall we say this, not a popular character. And it’s no secret why. Last season, Megan appeared out of nowhere—she literally only had one episode of note before Don …

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On the Home Front

Patch Tackles Some Weekend Raised-Bed Gardening

Who needs a gym membership when you can work up a mega-sweat pushing dirt around all weekend?

  Patchers may know we like to get our hands dirty in more ways than one around these parts. We've had it in our heads to experiment with some raised-bed gardening for some time and recently came across a kit we sent away for to see if we could help make that happen. Patch Disclosure Moment: Full price was paid for this system and no favoritism has been shown to or asked for by its manufacturer. It's a little pricey at $2,000 but we've been hoping to find something a little different than what's normally available out there and Gardens to Gro down in San Diego seemed to have the closest approximation to our mental picture of what we wanted. Our goal was to increase our growing space, create an optimal space for deep-root vegetables, and to…

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Steve A. Singer

9:40 am on Thursday, April 5, 2012

Zoe, one person could build this...but it is nice to have two people when connecting sections of the garden. One person holds the sections in a level position while the other uses the screw-gun to connect the sections. It can be done solo, but you will probably get a better result with a friend. Steve   more ›

High School Reporter - The Mirador

Miramonte's "Mattress" An Amusing Success

Mirador Entertainment Editor Rachael Oczkus reviews her school's production of "Once Upon a Mattress."

Sláinte To You, Lamorinda, On This Fine, Rain-Washed Morn

A little morning wake-me-up music.

  Corned beef in the pot and a dram for later. Here's a little something to get the day started in a manner befitting the occasion.

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Kathleen

1:01 pm on Saturday, March 17, 2012

Thanks!   more ›

And Now, the Morning Patch Musical Weather Report...

No green screens and droning weather personalities here, folks. We let the Eurythmics do our forecasting for us.

  It's Friday and we've got a couple of more commutes to get through -- and Mother Nature doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Let's let Annie and Dave tell us what's in store for us weather-wise today, it beats the standard morning weather report hands down.

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