Gallery of Introductions: Tara McPherson

In a late night working session I looked to my left wall of art for inspiration. This time I was featuring the collection of Tara McPherson postcards and stickers I had taped to my wall. Just added the cloth and the book of her illustrations (which I got signed at Comic-Con by the lovely artist herself) and voila! Another blog series is born.

I've been collecting postcards, stickers, books, and other collateral of contemporary "urban" or "alternative" art for over 10 years. I'm no expert by any means but I'm going to take a page out of the famous art collecting couple the Vogels and share the collection I have with the public. I don't have an amazing collection but I still have something I can share and since I don't have a physical gallery our online world will have to do.

So ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to Tara McPherson.

Tools of the Trade: "The Start Up Daily"

Hi neighbor

Some of you might be aware from reading this blog, I am a web entrepreneur creating a destination site for the Inland Empire. But at the same time I'm a marketing executive for an entertainment company in Los Angeles. As some small business owners are aware, it is a constant struggle balancing both a career and launching a start up company during the off hours. I'm always on the look out for new ways to become more productive and efficient while making time to gain more knowledge about all aspects of my business.

Through the years I've come across lots of tools to help me stay productive and I want to share this with our community. I believe it's important to share our knowledge with one another so that we can all gain and therefore strengthen our community. Plus sharing is just good karma!

So I've decided to start another blog series in addition to "One of a kind IE" called "Tools of the Trade." I'll discuss different tools, applications, and resources I've used to help me start my company and launch my site (now set to launch in the Fall *sigh*). I've done similar things like this in the past but I couldn't really figure out what direction to take it. So here goes!

To kick off this series I want to introduce a helpful daily email I've been receiving called "The Start Up Daily." According to their website, the daily emails provide "the best tips, ideas, and advice from great books on entrepreneurship, business, marketing, management, etc." I'm lucky if I can finish a magazine from front to back let alone a book so I thought this was a brilliant idea!

Here are some of the benefits:
- Look and feel of the email is a simple graphic which makes it easier to take their bite size bits of knowledge and absorb.
- Copy is short and to the point - no fancy talk. It just provides the key lesson of a new book every day.
- Following the key lesson is a synopsis of the book and, of course, a few well placed links that will take you straight to Amazon where you can purchase said book.

If you're also a fan of "The Start Up Daily" or something similar I'd love to hear about it. Give us a shout on FB or Twitter with your thoughts, or leave a comment below.

Till next time...

Autumn Fairs, Festivals and Fun

Hi neighbors -

Fall is just around the corner and I'm looking forward to pulling out the cozy sweaters, filling up on some pumpkin spice lattes and checking out the upcoming Halloween, Thanksgiving and pre-holiday fun around the IE. We have lots of events to look forward to this Fall. Below are just a few and we'll continue to add to the list as the weather cools down. If you have a recommendation please let us know. Give us a shout on FB or Twitter.

10/1 FAMILY VILLAGE FESTIVAL (Riverside)
http://www.riversideca.gov/museum/firstsundays.asp

10/8 10a-1p 2nd ANNUAL WALK-N-WAG-A-THON (Chino)
http://www.westendshelter.com/Upcoming%20Events.htm

10/8 9-5pm CALIMESA STREET FAIRE
http://beaumont-banning.discoverthepass.com/

10/22 TOMATO BATTLE at the Pomona Fairplex. Use discount code IEDD for 30% off tickets. http://www.tomatobattle.com

10/22 CLAREMONT'S 30TH ANNUAL VILLAGE VENTURE ARTS & CRAFTS FAIRE
http://cms.sbcounty.gov/parks/SpecialEvents.aspx

10/23 IE DERBY DIVAS “DIE ’N FOR DERBY" (Torque Wenches vs. Sleazy Riders) http://iederbydivas.com/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270985009580426

11/11-12 PILGRIM’S PLACE FESTIVAL (Claremont)
http://www.pilgrimplace.org/pilgrim_place_festival.php

11/19 ONTARIO EMPORIA ARTS DISTRICT ART WALK
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ontario-Emporia-Arts-District

11/25-27 HOLIDAY ARTS & CRAFTS FAIRE (Lake Gregory)
http://cms.sbcounty.gov/parks/SpecialEvents.aspx

And here's a picture of IE in the Fall to get us in the moood...Enjoy!

Fun Fair Day

Hi neighbors!

We recently had the good fortune of finding a cheap way of getting into the L.A. County Fair. We knew from the beginning that we would have a lot of pictures to share with you from our day but we did not anticipate this many. Just in a matter of hours we racked up over 300 pictures. There were just too many fun attractions we couldn't help but get a little shutter happy.

We hope you enjoy the loads of photos captured from that day starting with the Pomona Day at the Fair, the tons of rides, yummy food, petting zoo, wine tasting, Dude Ranch, exhibits, shows and parades...whew..the list goes on. We want to share these fun memories with you and hope you get the chance to create your own. You can enter our L.A. County Fair ticket giveaway on our Facebook page. Just like our page and tell us something you and your family like to do together in the IE. And if you already are our FB friend then go ahead and just leave us the same post. Can't wait to hear from you!

All right already, enough with the yapping let's get to the fun stuff!












* By the way, we won the pig pillow at a fair game ~ yay!

LA County Fair Ticket Giveaway

We really appreciated the response from our last ticket giveaway so we were encouraged to share more goodies with our friends and neighbors. And after our recent adventure at the L.A. County Fair this weekend we were convinced. So, for our next giveaway we're sending two people to the LA County Fair - on us!

Entering is simple. Like us on Facebook and leave a wall post telling us where you like to go with your family in the IE. Do you have a favorite park, Friday night dinner spot, or maybe a local antique shop you've been going to for years?  We wanna hear them all. Also if you are already a FB friend you can enter to win by leaving us a wall post.

Enter from 9/12 to end of day 9/15. We will announce the winner on Friday morning at 10 a.m. PT. Here are the official rules for more details.

Check out some of our photos from our trip to the Fair this past week. It's just a taste of the loads of pictures that we're going to share with you this week. The picture of the canned goods are the ones we purchased for our fair entrance. We read on the Fair's website that if guests bring five Ralphs private label canned products on Fridays then we receive a free Fair admission good that day only. Doing good and ticket to fun?! Sign us up!



*If you don't enter for the food and fun enter for these cute guys!

One of a Kind IE: World's Largest Photograph

Hi neighbors!

So I may be cheating a little bit on this blog post but bear with me. Last Saturday I attended the Riverside Food Truck Fest (check out the pix!) and I got the chance to check out some of the spots from my Riverside itinerary. One new spot I've never been to is the California Museum of Photography and the UCR Sweeney Art Gallery.

The Sweeney Art Gallery's current exhibit is "The Great Picture." This mammoth 32 x 111 feet photograph taken by the largest camera made its way into photo history by placing in the Guinness World Records. This photograph has only been shown for a short period in Pasadena and again in China. However, right here in our area, it is the first time that the process for creating this photo is being displayed along with it. It's an interesting exhibit not only because of its size but the documentation of this entire process.

The development of "The Great Picture" was conducted in an old jet hangar on the old El Toro Air Base in Irvine. This no longer functioning air base spans numerous acres and is being turned into the center point for the Orange County Great Park. One of the functions of this Great Park is to be a cultural focal point for the people of Orange County. "The Great Picture" is the first cultural endeavor made by the upcoming park. My description does not do the exhibit justice and you can find out more here. Or even better - take a trip down there! The exhibit ends October 8th.

So did I cheat? It's not specifically something from the IE but this very unique exhibit is here in our IE for us to share. I'll stretch that into the "One of a kind IE" list. :)

Here's some pix from the day. Let us know what you think or if you've seen the exhibit we'd love to hear about your experience. Give us a shout on Twitter or Facebook ~ we'd love to hear from you!

*"The Great Picture"


*Far left is a remnant from the hundreds of quonset huts from the El Toro Air Base. Far right image is a close up of a part of "The Great Picture." You can slightly make out a cityscape. Neat!


*Look at this amazing camera. If you look closely at the glass pane of the camera in the top right hand photo you'll see that it's taking a picture of the outside ~ it's just upside down. That Camera Obscura door led out to a large walk-in camera obscura - complete with pinhole and everything. Super neat!


*Another great exhibit at the California Museum of Photography (right next door to the Sweeney Gallery). Some great portraits from yesteryear...


*Some more shots from our fun - and very hot - day in Riverside