Saratoga

Villa Montalvo is an Italian Mediterranean style mansion nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, in Saratoga, California, United... States. It was constructed from 1912 to 1914 by California statesman and businessman James Duval Phelan. After Phelan's death, it was donated to the state as a park and then a cultural and arts center, as it exists today. It is a historic landmark and in 1978 was awarded inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. The grounds of the villa now encompass 175 acres , more than the original 160 acres purchased by Phelan. The estate boasts several large structures as well as gardens and untouched natural areas. Montalvo includes two theaters, an art gallery, the historic Villa Montalvo, an artist residency complex, hiking trails and gardens. The mansion itself boasts 19 rooms and two stories. The first floor of the mansion used to host art exhibits, but is now open only for the many weddings and other occasions that are held there. The grounds include several gardens embellished with marble sculptures and garden structures.
more

Steven Allan Spielberg is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than... four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. He is considered one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan . Three of Spielberg's films—Jaws , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , and Jurassic Park —achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts Spielberg's wealth at $3.0 billion. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a Jewish family.
more

Cynthia Yih Shih , better known by her stage name Vienna Teng, is a Taiwanese American pianist and singer-songwriter based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.... Teng has released four studio albums: Waking Hour , Warm Strangers , Dreaming Through the Noise , and Inland Territory . She has also released one live album, The Moment Always Vanishing , on which she is double-billed with her percussionist, Alex Wong. Teng's musical style incorporates folk, pop, classical piano, and a cappella. She uses piano as her primary instrument and writes lyrics with emotion, narrative, and personal history. Teng took her stage name "Vienna" from the capital city of Austria. A native of Saratoga, California, she began playing classical piano at age 5. While pursuing a degree in computer science at Stanford University, Teng joined the Stanford Harmonics, a student-run a cappella group. She began recording her compositions at the studios in Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics , intending to distribute her music on campus. Many of these recordings were eventually released in her debut album Waking Hour.
more

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third most extensive . It is home to the nation's second- and sixth-largest census statistical areas , and eight of the nation's fifty most populated cities . The capital city is Sacramento. California's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west, to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east – from the... Redwood–Douglas-fir forests of the northwest, to the Mojave Desert areas in the southeast. The center of the state is dominated by Central Valley, a major agricultural area. California contains both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States , and has the third-longest coastline of all states . Earthquakes are a common occurrence due to the state's location along the Pacific Ring of Fire: about 37,000 are recorded annually.
more