• Last Sunday’s Salinas Obon Festival in Chinatown showed off engaging facets of Japanese culture, including kendo martial arts, bonsai trees, gyoza and udon treats, kimono clothing and taiko drumming. You’ve probably encountered all this before, but to see it presented all at once, on the lovely grounds of the Buddhist Temple of Salinas, felt like a complete simulacra of Nihon. btsalinas.org.
  • The Center for Photographic Art has a double-header of artists’ talks this Thursday, Aug. 1.David Pace and Stephen Wirtz have recontextualized wire photos from World War II, originally transmitted by radio or wire to newspapers, into an art book titled Images in Transition: Wirephotos 1938-1945. Also speaking is Kirk Crippens, whose latest book Going South – Big Sur, chronicles the 2017 winter rains that caused a bridge collapse and a landslide that cut off access to the coastal community. After the 5pm talks, there is a 6pm reception. 625-5181, photography.org.
  • Andrew Jackson hosts an artists studio mixer 6-8pm Wednesday, Aug. 7, at his space in theAmerican Tin Cannery (Suite 312-B, so you’re not wandering the cavernous industrial passages of the shopping mall). Beverages and a light meal will be provided, though Jackson’s exceptional paintings and good nature will likely be all the sustenance you’ll need. outeredgestudio.com.
  • My wife’s parents gifted us Colson Whitehead’s novel The Underground Railroad a couple years ago (Time Magazine put him on the cover this past June), but it wasn’t until I started using the Monterey County Free Libraries’ e-book apps and “borrowed” a digital copy of the book that I actually started reading it. It’s just another thing the library system does that works for patrons. Another, according to its 2018 annual report, is its volunteer one-on-one adult literacy program, of which 38 percent of its learners “are striving to read with their children or communicate with their children’s teachers.” Much respect. montereycountyfreelibraries.org.
  • While we’re on the subject of free e-books, local author David Spiselman (who writes as D.S. Kane) has shared a tip on free e-thrillers lurking at FreeThrillerBooks.com. It’s not my go-to genre, but it sure has plenty of fans. Suddenly I heard a sound. “Not your go-to genre, huh?” I turned around. It was Hunter McKnight. And he didn’t look happy. “H-h-how’d you find me?” I stammered. He snarled back, “Wherever there’s a thriller skeptic, smirking at its more familiar tropes, I’ll be there.”
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