Talisman concert

Even though it is cool and rainy out, the plants are saying it is spring. Look at this beautiful Magnolia tree in Palo Alto:


The tree is at the Palo Alto Art Center, where we went with friends on Saturday to go see Stanford's Talisman group sing.
In this picture they are standing in a train formation while they sing a South African song about taking the train to the coal mines. The group sings "culturally substantive" songs, ranging from American blues, South African songs, and even an Irish ballad or two. At this performance many of the songs had themes of human struggle. One of the performers explained that while they have not experienced the struggles described in the songs first-hand, they sing and perform the songs in order to learn about other people's struggles.

Afterwards we went for dinner, and finished off the day with milkshakes at the Creamery.
We may have lost the tradition of singing together, but at least we still eat together.