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November 3, 2013 by tomdalzell

Flowers Painted on Houses

Van Gogh

As a species, we are drawn to paint flowers.  In Berkeley, we are drawn to paint flowers on our houses.  And gates and garage doors and other places.

For a flower song, how about Linda Ronstadt circa 1977?  I went to see the her sing with the Stone Poneys at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr on her 21st birthday in 1967.  The Main Point was on Lancaster Avenue, which we grew up calling Lancaster Pike.  Quaint!

Stone Poneysmain point logo

 

Waiting in line with friends.  I don't remember who was playing.

Waiting in line with friends. I don’t remember who was playing.

She is great.  She wasn’t there that night though.  Just the Stone Poneys.   I went to see  her perform Pirates of Penzance in Central Park in 1980.  She was there that night.  So was Paul Newman, in the audience.

What a tangent!

Meanwhile

The crown jewel of Berkeley flower-painted houses is 1917-1919 Parker.  I love the big butterfly:

1917-1919 Parker2

1917-1919 Parker

Parker Flower

When you drive north on Interstate 5 in the summer you see acres and acres of sunflowers.  What a sight!

Sunflowers

Drive through Berkeley any time of the year and you will see sunflowers too:

433 Parker

433 Parker

839 Channing2

839 Channing

839 Channing

839 Channing

1322 Hillside Terrace

1322 Hillside Terrace

1879 Catalina

1879 Catalina

2009 10th

2009 10th

Away from sunflowers.   This first one looks like something else.  Can’t put my finger on what it is though.  Anyway:

860 Santa Barbara

860 Santa Barbara

1110 Chaucer

1110 Chaucer

1133-1135 Bonita

1133-1135 Bonita

1554 Beverly

1554 Beverly

Now cartoon flowers:

2129 Spaulding

2129 Spaulding

IMG_5060

1534 Russell

1534 Russell

Euclid and Marin, NE corner

Euclid and Marin, NE corner

My friend got a faraway look in his eyes when I mentioned the Main Point.  He went to more concerts there than I did.  He has been listening to the 20+ versions of Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” that he owns, on account of he heard Springsteen’s first public performance of the song at the Main Point in 1975.  I asked him about the flowers.

IMG_3677

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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