Last night was the first new Heroes episode in three weeks, and a lot has happened since we last watched Hiro eat a pile of hallucinogenic hyena dung in Africa. Last week brought the big announcement that NBC was firing two major contributors to the show: co-producers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander. Though the firings are too recent to affect this episode, called "Villains," it was clearly a turning point for the season and was one of my favorite episodes this fall. Unfortunately, "Villains" was also a flashback episode whose revelations are only going to be interesting to die-hard fans. Not a good way to rescue a floundering show. Spoilers ahead.

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Kiosk.Net system sold by me commercially. The kiosks contain a notecard that is customized with gallery-specific data by the gallery owner - the gallery name, contact name, gallery type, website, etc. This data is stored in a custom SQL database on sasun.info that is dumped every sunday night to a custom script that converts the database into three output forms: plain text for the in-world notecards that are distributed by the kiosks, data for the in-world gallery tour HUDs also distributed by the kiosks, and HTML that I can copy into this blog showing the entire list by category. The SLURLs are stored as a location a few feet in front of the kiosks, so updating your gallery location is a snap, just move your kiosk and your SLURL will be updated automatically in the database. This makes maintenance of a huge list like this possible. I just give out the kiosks, and the users fill them out. The rest is automatic except for the weekly blog updates which doesn't take too much time.

I am currently working to bring this same system to market with some innovative kiosk functionality that will make this system perfect for people that want to make lists of locations or collect data from large numbers of sites or advertisers wishing to give out items or freebies in large number of locations across the grid in a reliable, scalable manner.

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Alan: I took early retirement from my work as an industrial research scientist and microscopist some years ago intending to spend more time concentrating on photomicrography, macrophotography and photography in general. However, the internet, and Flickr in particular, changed things for me. The worldwide interest in my refraction patterns or as I call them has set me off in a new direction towards, what looks like, the start of a new career. I work from home and need the dark to photograph the images, so from late September until March when the sun has set and its dark enough for me in the evenings I can spend a couple of hours actually taking photographs. Looking directly into the viewfinder at a bright light can be a big strain on the eyes so I limit the length of time. Ive had over 40 years training peering into microscopes in darkened rooms so Im quite used to it, but I still want to look after my eyes. During the day I spend a lot of time trying out new ideas, experimenting with plastics, resins, paints, dyes and seeing what sort of new refraction patterns I can create. Like a scientific experiment I keep a careful record of the things I try and all the samples I produce are coded and numbered for future reference. With the interest generated on the internet there is also the need to spend quite a bit of time replying to emails and comments on Flickr.
Looking out of the study window now I can see that after all the rain the lawn grass needs cutting and the weeds are beginning to take over the garden - if the weather stays dry Ill try to make a start later today. Theres always something waiting to be done.

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I don't mind bar codes, at least when they're on books, boxes, and bags of sugar. When I find them on ballots, though, I get more nervous. That turns out to be a legitimate concern in the case of the Screen Actors Guild, which sent out a 12-page mailing a few days ago assailing the studios' proposed deal, accompanied by a bar-coded postcard asking SAG members whether the Guild should keep fighting for a better contract or accept what the studios were offering. Now it seems the bar code may compromise Guild members' confidentiality.

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www.santafechambermusic.com for complete details in the concert programs.
In This Issue
The Festival welcomes new sponsor - LewAllen Contemporary
You have your concert tickets now what about other Festival Events
Program cover sneak peak
Artist Profile: The Escher String Quartet
2008 Season Festival Business Partners

The Festival Welcomes New Sponsor
The Festival is proud to welcome LewAllen Contemporary as a generous sponsor of the Festivals program notes.
Located in the West Palace Arts District in the heart of Old Santa Fe, LewAllen Contemporary has a long history of representing the best in contemporary art. With 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, it is one of the largest galleries in the Southwest, representing internationally known and emerging artists in painting, sculpture, photography, prints, ceramic, jewelry, tapestry, and glass. On exhibit now Joe Ramiro Garcia: Karaoke. Compounds of personal and collective experience, the familiar and the surreal.
We thank LewAllen Contemporary for their support and commitment to bringing wonderful music to Santa Fe.

You have your concert tickets, now what about the other Festival events?
You’ve made your concert selections (all of them, right!), and you have your tickets. Don’t forget to add to your calendar some of the other events the Festival offers in addition to its season concert programs: free and open rehearsals, the chance to observe a master class, a free Indian Market concert and a program entitled “Creative Dialogue.”
A wonderful way to see a piece come together before the performance and to see your favorite performers in a more casual atmosphere, the Festival’s rehearsals are free and open to the public. Schedules and locations are available during the season on the Festival’s website, www.santafechambermusic.com, and at the Festival’s two Santa Fe halls – the St. Francis Auditorium at the New Mexico Museum of Art, and The Lensic Performing Arts Center. You can call for the open rehearsal schedule at (505) 983-2075, when prompted press 6.
This season’s master class, free and open to the public, takes place on Friday, August 22 from 10:00 -11:30 am at St. Francis. This event presents a unique opportunity to observe the sharing of knowledge, advice and love of music from one of the world’s renowned chamber musicians, Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet, to one of the country’s up and coming star chamber music ensembles, the Escher String Quartet, as well as hear some great music making.
“Creative Dialogue” to be held on Friday, August 8th at 6:00 pm at St. Francis Auditorium, is a unique program that the Festival is presenting in cooperation with the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki. Finnish and American composers, and performance students, will perform music for the composer’s workshop with composer Kaija Saariaho and cellist Anssi Karttunen.
The Festival salutes the city’s annual Indian Market Concert, with a free concert held on August 22 at 7:00 pm at St. Francis Auditorium. The Escher String Quartet will perform two works by Debussy: String Quartet in g, No. 10, and String Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 “American.”

Sneak Peak at 2008 Program Cover Artwork by Emmi Whitehorse
Morning Song, which Ms. Whitehorse created specifically for the Festivals 2008 Season and donated to the Festival, is available for purchase at Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, 439 Camino del Monte Sol. All proceeds will benefit the Festival. The Festival gratefully acknowledges Ms. Whitehorse and Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art for their most generous support.

Artist Profile: The Escher String Quartet
The Escher String Quartet (Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Wu Jie, violin; Pierre Lapointe, viola and Andrew Janss, cello) takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher; inspired by Eschers method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.
Formed in 2005, the group has established a reputation as a world-class string quartet. San Francisco Classical Voice praised the group, “Though theyve only been playing together for two years, these performers have achieved the most unified sound that Ive ever heard from a string quartet. Its a cool, emotionally restrained sound that impresses through its sheer precision and clarity.” The New York Times stated, “The individual and sometimes concerto-like playing of the four musicians was notable for its polish and tonal beauty. This past September, the Escher began its Chamber Music Society Two Residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The ensemble is also Caramoors Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence.
The Escher String Quartet has attracted the attention of several esteemed artists who immediately admired the young ensembles individual sound, inspired artistic decisions and unique cohesiveness. Within months of its inception, the Escher was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be the quartet-in-residence at each artists summer festival: The Young Artists Programme at Canadas National Arts Centre and The Perlman Chamber Music Program on Shelter Island, NY. The following winter, the Escher Quartet made its Washington, DC debut, representing the Manhattan School of Music for the Kennedy Centers Conservatory Project. The ensemble has appeared at a number of venues, including Boston’s Gardner Museum, Ravinia, Music @Menlo, New York’s 92nd St. Y and at the University of Idaho, among others. The Quartet is also on the faculty of Stony Brook University as Visiting Artist-in-Residence in a unique relationship with the world-renowned Emerson String Quartet.
The ensemble can be heard in numerous performances during the fifth and sixth weeks of the Festival’s 2008 season, and will perform such works as Debussy’s String Quartet in g, Dvorak’s String Quartet No. 12 in F, Mozart’s String Quartet No. 14 in G and Bartok’s String Quartet No. 5 in A, as well as works by Vivaldi and Bach. They will also have a master class with Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet on Friday, August 22nd that is free and open to the public.

2008 Season Festival Business Partners
The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival wishes to express its thanks to all of the businesses who have generously contributed to the 2008 season. The Festival gratefully recognizes the following individuals and businesses:
Adobo Catering
Adobo Star Properties
Albertsons
Albuquerque International Sunport
Amanda’s Flowers
Amavi
Amaya
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Bank of America
Casa Nova
C Gallery
Chocolate Maven
Classical Music Festivals of the West
Community Bank
The Compound
Cowgirl Hall of Fame
Coyote Café
Darnell Fine Art
Dougherty Real Estate
Linda Durham Contemporary Art
Eldorado Hotel Spa
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
First Movement Moving Company
First National Bank of Santa Fe
First Presbyterian Church
Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery
Fusion
Garcia Street Books
Gebert Contemporary
Geronimo
Gruët Winery
Allan Houser, Inc.
Il Vicino
Inn of the Anasazi
Charlotte Jackson Fine Art
Jennifer James 101
Jewel Mark
La Boca
La Casa Sena
Las Campanas
La Mancha
LewAllen Contemporary
Luminaria
Heidi Loewen Porcelain Pottery
Albert Lucero Bartending Services
Mauka
Los Alamos National Bank
Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen
Migs Pro Systems
Mountain Living Magazine
National Dance Institute
New Mexico Bank and Trust
Niman Fine Arts
O’Keeffe Café
The Old House
Omaha Steaks
Osteria d’Assisi
Paper Unlimited
Patina Gallery
Peas ‘N’ Pod Catering
Plaza Bakery-Häagen Dazs
Pranzo Italian Grill
ProPiano
Rancho de San Juan
Ristra
Salman’s Santa Fe Greenhouses
San Francisco Street Bar and Grill
Santacafé
Santa Fean
Santa Fe BMW
Santa Fe Desert Chorale
Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Realty Partners
Santa Fe Symphony Chorus
Santa Fe Weaving Gallery
Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery
Shibui
SITE Santa Fe
Southern Wine Spirits of New Mexico
Sunstone Press
Tad Tribal Art
TAI Gallery
The Terra Restaurant at Encantado
Thornburg Investment Management
Thornburg Mortgage
Torino’s @ Home
Touching Stone Gallery
Tumbleweeds
Uncharted Outposts – Safari Travel Company
The Violin Shop
Walter Burke Catering
Riva Yares Gallery
Zane Bennett Gallery
Zara Arts International
Should you have the opportunity, the Festival urges you to patronize these fine establishments and organizations.
Artists Corner
What do you feel it is about the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival that makes it unique compared to other chamber music or summer music festivals?
This Festival produces the best quality live recordings; it catches the perfection of recordings and the excitement of the concerts. The town is so relaxed and friendly, it is work and leisure combined.
Yuja Wang, pianist
Ms. Wang can be heard during the first week of the Festival in performing Rachmaninovs Sonata in G for cello and piano, Op. 19 with cellist Lynn Harrell and in solo recital. Check the season schedule at www.santafechambermusic.com for complete details in the concert programs.

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My husband and I live in a one bedroom apartment in New York that we chanced upon just over a year ago. When we walked through the front door and saw the morning light streaming through the windows and washing over the walls, we rented it on the spot. The building, lovingly owned by the same family for generations, used to be a single family house and our apartment was originally a set of parlors (separate for ladies and gents, thank you very much). It’s the third floor of a four story prewar building and the apartment has barely been renovated. On the positive side, that means it has beautiful hardwood floors, high ceilings and tons of light. It also means the kitchen is tiny, I regularly have epic battles with the oven and there are no electrical outlets on the entire left side of the apartment. This has lead to a lot of creativity in terms of furniture placement and candle lit dining (since the dining room is on the left side of the apartment).

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This is "version 2.0" of the designer's alphabet... black is the new black!
50% newer, 75% darker, 100% awesome!

The new colors are muted with a hint of blue added to the grays to make it cooler (temperature-wise). Some new characters are featured while some old ones are staying. It also features a construction grid, based on a modified golden ratio, where the rule of thirds is applied.
I hope you like it.

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