Grant Ernhart photography

“AM Herculis is the prototype for a category of cataclysmic variable stars called polars, or AM Herculis stars. It is located in the constellation Hercules, and was discovered in 1923 by Max Wolf in Heidelberg, Germany and was then listed in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars as an irregular variable which ranged from 12th to 14th magnitude. In 1976, the astronomer S. Tapia discovered that light from the star is both linearly and circularly polarized , showing that there was a strong magnetic field surrounding the system and revealing that the system was more complex than previously thought.” – according to Wikipedia

Assuming that made no more sense to you than it did for me I will also tell you that AM Herculis is the name of my friend Chad Salmela’s new band! AM Herculis recently put out a new album, and I included the first song below in this post, or you can hear a few more tracks on the band’s myspace page. I am glad to see that my friend is still being creative and making new music. Duluth has a thriving local music scene, which occasionally launches some bands, such as Low, out into the greater world. If you ever want to sample the range of music that happens around Duluth plan a trip there to coincide with the annual Homegrown Music Festival,which happens every spring.

“Our Little Peace” by AM Herculis

This past Sunday I went to the SF Moma to see a little bit of art. I really was planning on quickly walking through and then spending a couple hours sitting outside at the cafe reading a book with my girlfriend. However, once we got to the museum we saw that the cafe was cLose Weight Exercise/”>Lose Weight Exercised and were a little disappointed. Then I remembered that the museum recently complete a new Rooftop Sculpture Garden and we had not seen it yet.

I think I can say that we were both happily surprised at how well done and welcoming the roof top area felt! It is a nice addition to the museum, with two outdoor areas for sculpture and a well sized inner space that is open to the outer courtyards through sliding glass walls that were all the way open when we were there. The other good surprise was that the new addition also included a small coffee bar up there as well! I will definitely remember this small comfortable spot in the city for my days off. It is a perfect place to see some art, drink a coffee, read a book, journal and relax, plus they are serving Blue Bottle Coffee. Perfect.