Up on the roof

Hey, I have the perfect place for all press releases that bill events as "shimmering" or "the most unique." (Hint: Circular!)

However, the so-called "Russian folk 'n' roll" band Limpopo gets a thumbs-up for chutzpah. Here's an excerpt from the band's website:

If your house parties are getting a little bit dull and predictable, I beg of you to slip a little Limpopo into your stereo and see what happens. Your most crusty house guest will be up on the house top in their underwear with a beer bong, sucking down a dozen raw eggs, and screaming at any Italians in the crowd where Rocky can go and what he can do when he gets there.

I don't know if this means the band is good, but I do know its next concert in Palo Alto is free. Limpopo plays the city's Twilight Concert Series next Tuesday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Mitchell Park Bowl.

Actually, you could plan a lot of your social life next week around free summer outdoor concerts. Also on tap:

• fiddler Tom Rigney in Menlo Park's Fremont Park on July 30 at 6:30
• the jazzy Harvey Wainapel Quartet at Stanford Shopping Center on July 31 at 6
• the Silicon Valley Houserockers (rock and R&B cover band) at Cuesta Park in Mountain View on July 31 at 6:30

Enjoy.

Pictured: One of the members of Limpopo (the website doesn't give his name, but I do like his hat.)

Sweeter than candy on a stick

Applause for Terry Tang, an AP reporter who used to write excellent stories for the Weekly like this one, and is now living in Arizona. One of her recent stories is now being splashed all over the place. The hot topic? Frosting shots. As in little cups of sugary goop you can slurp down if you don't feel up to eating the whole cupcake. Criminy.

Terry is a terrific writer and I love her toothbrush lead. But the topic kind of makes my lip curl. I can understand the appeal of food in miniature. Sometimes things just look more appealing when they're cut down to doll size, as in every teensy Japanese cookie you ever bought because of the packaging.

But frosting. My incisors hurt. I'd be stunned to find this in Europe, where all the desserts are so much better simply because they're less tooth-achingly sweet, leaving room for actual flavor. OK, I'm a Eurosnob. I should just emigrate now and be done with it.

Is the frosting-shot fad a symptom of America's short attention span, or its obsession with over-sweetening, or its obesity epidemic? I guess we can all find out for ourselves when Sprinkles opens at Stanford Shopping Center in August.

Cupcake photo from Wikipedia.

Spotlight on local musicians

I really should not point at "American Idol" singers and laugh. Putting yourself out there is not a snap, especially while being judged. (Dance auditions are my personal ring of hell. If I had to do one on national TV, even my own mother would point and laugh.)

Locally, musicians have a new arena to put their art out there -- without the glitz or call for overwrought vibrato. The Media Center has a new locally produced TV show, "American Songwriter," which is seeking new artists to feature.

The first episode was hosted by Gunn High School student Alex Rusoff and featured Sugaree and the Shakedown. Band members are two recent Gunn grads: singer/songwriter Dorothy Wood, who also plays guitar and banjo; and Neva Hauser on bass and recorder. (John Bradshaw also sat in on lapslide.)

With songs such as "Old Train" and "Appalachia," the performance had a folk, Americana feel anchored by the smooth, classically trained strains of Hauser's bass. Wood's voice is distinctive, with a textured feel and lots of sobs and leaps. She cited Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez as two of her influences, and said the band name comes from the song "Shake Sugaree" by Elizabeth Cotten.

The episode is being shown periodically on channels 27 and 28 throughout July -- and you can also watch it here on the Media Center's website.

For information about appearing on the show, call 650-494-8686, extension 11.

Photo from Sugaree and the Shakedown's MySpace page.

Don't I know you?

When you work in the area you grew up in, the it's-a-small-world-moments just keep on coming.

The person tapping me on the shoulder at a recent Cantor Center exhibit was my high school English teacher Shannon Griscom. I said the first thing that came to mind: "'The Cherry Orchard' is still my favorite play." Hey, if you can instill a love of Chekhov in just one student, you know you've done something right.

Then there are the unexpected connections. Earlier this spring, I walked up the steps of photographer Mark Tuschman's house, all set to interview him for a cover story. When he opened the door, this time I came out with a surprised "Ohmigod, I used to babysit your kids." It's always good to make a professional first impression.

For last week's cover story, the connection -- which we didn't realize until halfway through the interview -- was that sculptor Maria Koretz used to work with my father in biotech.

The other nice connection this month is that Janelle Brown, a friend from elementary, middle and high school, is coming to town to speak about her first novel. She'll be talking about "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" next Monday at Kepler's, and is a terrific writer with bylines in the New York Times, Vogue, Wired and others. Congratulations, Janelle!

Pictured: Janelle Brown

Musicians go green

When Weekly photographer Danielle Vernon and I saw this low-hanging branch on a tree behind the Bus Barn Theatre in Los Altos, we knew it would be a perfect place to photograph our interview subjects, kids' musicians Doctor Noize and Andy Z. The guys were all for it, and even gave us an impromptu concert. Is it Arbor Day already?

Midpeninsulans here and there

Spring means the plein-art painters and photogs are out in force. (Try crossing Gamble Garden without tripping over a lens.) Local artists are also out exhibiting in many venues beyond the Midpeninsula. Here's a sampling:

* Several local plein-air painters are gearing up for "A Breath of Plein Air," an exhibit opening May 2 at the Leonard & David McKay Gallery in San Jose. Palo Alto pastel artist Mary Stahl is showing "Receding Bay Waters" (above), together with two other PA artists, oil painters Lin Ching Peng and Karen White. Other oil-favoring locals in the show are Agnes Derbin-Caulfield and Will Maller of Los Altos, Rebecca Osgood of Stanford, and Lucy Sargeant of Los Altos Hills.

* Visions of Tibet abound in the art of Los Altos doctor-painter Ming Jing (Mike) Wang, whom I profiled in the Weekly last year. He's currently taking part in a four-artist figure painting show at the Triton Museum of Art, called "Narrative Realities."

* Laurie Naiman of Palo Alto is in a show of 61 photographers at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado. "Tired of Waiting," the photo on the center's press release, displays Naiman's signature witty style.

* And closer to home, Palo Alto itself is on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Italian photographer Gabriele Basilico has turned his lenses on several Bay Area cities. Our city of the tall tree is included in these celebrations of the American asphalt jungle.