Friday, February 26, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, February 26, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

It's Friday and relatively warm and clear conditions persist in the Southland.


























We have some killer waves here right now in So Cal, but not in the Bu. West facing beaches are big right now (this is a south-facing beach)--apparently a fisherman was captured by a wave off a jetty in Redondo. Lots of water moving at once is very powerful, so respect it.

Here's a 2nd look for today. Did you know that palm trees put out "flowers?" You can see those orange growths among the fronds in the foreground. They're very intricate. I'll try to remember to go over and take some close-ups for you all.




Image result for man of la manchaA fundraiser I have been working with has had to deal with old, grey guys wanting to put a pithy allusion into various messages, and they insisted on, but later got rid of a reference to "dream the impossible dream."  This was partly due to my advice as well. Man of La Mancha is a great, inspirational theatre production, but it's fallen out of the public the eye for some time, and a lot of people below a certain age have no idea what show it's from.

It was a big hit when I was in high school of Phantom of the Opera proportions, and it seemed every school choir had to do it. I was wondering why this show has disappeared. I think perhaps it's a little to earnest for current times. Right now it's a little too sweet, a little too hopeful. We're in a time of de-struction; the phoenix is flaming up, old structures are crumbling. I think La Mancha's songs resonate in a time when good ideas have become strong and powerful and maybe are a bit too sure of themselves? The story of a weak, little guy battling the entrenched establishment was great in the 1970s, even if he lost, the struggle was the main thing.

I was looking for something that suited my fundraiser's purposes, and I find I rather like the words from a song from Wicked:

"For Good" by Stephen Schwartz

GLINDA
I'VE HEARD IT SAID
THAT PEOPLE COME INTO OUR LIVES FOR A REASON
BRINGING SOMETHING WE MUST LEARN
AND WE ARE LED
TO THOSE WHO HELP US MOST TO GROW
IF WE LET THEM
AND WE HELP THEM IN RETURN
WELL, I DON'T KNOW IF I BELIEVE THAT'S TRUE
BUT I KNOW I'M WHO I AM TODAY
BECAUSE I KNEW YOU...
LIKE A COMET PULLED FROM ORBIT
AS IT PASSES A SUN
LIKE A STREAM THAT MEETS A BOULDER
HALFWAY THROUGH THE WOOD
WHO CAN SAY IF I'VE BEEN CHANGED FOR THE BETTER?
BUT BECAUSE I KNEW YOU
I HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR GOOD …

ELPHABA
IT WELL MAY BE
THAT WE WILL NEVER MEET AGAIN
IN THIS LIFETIME
SO LET ME SAY BEFORE WE PART
SO MUCH OF ME
IS MADE OF WHAT I LEARNED FROM YOU
YOU'LL BE WITH ME
LIKE A HANDPRINT ON MY HEART
AND NOW WHATEVER WAY OUR STORIES END
I KNOW YOU HAVE RE-WRITTEN MINE
BY BEING MY FRIEND...
LIKE A SHIP BLOWN FROM ITS MOORING
BY A WIND OFF THE SEA
LIKE A SEED DROPPED BY A SKYBIRD
IN A DISTANT WOOD
WHO CAN SAY IF I'VE BEEN CHANGED FOR THE BETTER?
BUT BECAUSE I KNEW YOU...

GLINDA
BECAUSE I KNEW YOU...

BOTH
BECAUSE I KNEW YOU
I HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR GOOD...

ELPHABA
AND JUST TO CLEAR THE AIR
I ASK FORGIVENESS
FOR THE THINGS I'VE DONE YOU BLAME ME FOR

GLINDA
BUT THEN, I GUESS WE KNOW
THERE'S BLAME TO SHARE

BOTH
AND NONE OF IT SEEMS TO MATTER ANYMORE
___
[They sing simultaneously]
GLINDA
LIKE A COMET PULLED FROM
ORBIT/AS IT PASSES A SUN/
LIKE A STREAM THAT MEETS A
BOULDER/ HALF-WAY
THROUGH THE WOOD
ELPHABA
LIKE A SHIP BLOWN OFF ITS
MOORING/BY A WIND OFF THE
SEA/ LIKE A SEED DROPPED BY A
BIRD IN
THE WOOD
___
BOTH
WHO CAN SAY IF I'VE BEEN CHANGED FOR THE BETTER?
I DO BELIEVE I HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR THE BETTER

GLINDA
AND BECAUSE I KNEW YOU...

ELPHABA
BECAUSE I KNEW YOU...

BOTH
BECAUSE I KNEW YOU...
I HAVE BEEN CHANGED FOR GOOD.


Just in case you're one of the few people in the US who don't know, these are the two witches that you know from The Wizard of Oz whom Gregory Maguire has riffed into a great backstory which was adapted into a musical. The witches were schoolchums back in the day. But it's a perfect statement that all of your relationships have an effect on you and you on them. I don't need to tie this up for you as you can think about why songs like this are currently resonant.

I read the book Wicked, but I have not seen a production of the play. I have read the script and plot summaries of the play and trust me they are two very different works in tone and content, at least to me. The main thing to me is Wicked is a personal work, while something like La Mancha and maybe Don Quixote are grandiose. Oh gosh, the clock shows I'm out of time. But who the hell cares what I think? Just enjoy the poetry above and find the YouTube of it...

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Pops

Thursday, February 25, 2016

iT'S STreeT arT THurSDay in eaST HoLLyWooD! w/Malibu pic of the day - Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers,

It's time again to go back to basics and view some exemplary name-tag art. Here's one that was here yesterday, but gone today:

Artists CBS, TBG, Lords, Qrast One, Street Birds, paint on garage.






















The images you see today are no longer here; gone the way of most street art, fleeting flashes of color and braggadocio that excite us for mere moments in urban life. So enjoy these images here for as long as this blog lasts.  Here are some details for you.

The artist who rendered the left panel obviously was feeling tender about matrimony. The date on this piece is 2013.




On the left I like this one owl-like character quite a bit. The treatment of the eye, the forehead, and the appearance of a backward facing baseball cap makes this look like a very specific portrait to me.













Go around the corner of this garage and on the north-facing wall (toward Melrose Avenue) you've got this quartet portrait. What a flock of odd birds, but boy do they have character.


Artists Bob, Sk8, Bizare'68, and Nace, The Legends Can't Be Stopped, paint on garage.























Go all the way around to the south side facing the alley and you've got this complicated name structure.

Artist GbJ?, Name in Camouflage, paint on garage.




















Man does this one pop, even on the cloudy morning that I took this. You'd think since I'm always looking intensely at these kinds of things that I'd be able to read the names? Nope. I think you have to be a graffiti practitioner and know a lot of these guys before you develop the true for this kind of work. Can't read it to save my life, but hey, it's in camo, right? So isn't that the deal? Hard to see?


AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE























Clear and sunny today, again. Stay cool people. Traffic was so  bad on the 134 today. Can't talk. Behind...

See you later.

Love,
Pops

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Clear and sunny again today...




























You've seen this before. Catalina. Warm Santa Anas are gusting out the canyons this morning. Twill be another 80s February day.

Here's a preview of something I'll show at a later date. When I drive to work I get a passing glimpse of this piece. I decided to stop and take some initial shots. I'll have to wait for a day when there're not so many shadows being cast on it to get a full treatment. There's more to this, but it's quite a different sort of thing which catches my attention.





























What this kind of reminds me of is ... you know that dreamy, idealistic girl in your class at school? She preferred footwear that did not require socks? Her jeans were always kind of worn out? Like to wear a headband now and then? She could smell crunchy at times, but you liked it? Filled her notebook with pithy, optimistic sayings or abstract nouns. Was artistic, but never up to the point where the execution of the craft or artisanship became the focus of her existence? That girl.

Ah, those girls were perfect to me. Wouldn't give me the time of day though--they tended to like slim Byronic, long-haired lads who could grow pencil mustaches, you know, the heroin-addict junkie kind of boy. (Did this "Asian Guy" just "type" a lot of people? Crud, I did! Oh well... I guess we adopt these various uniforms for all kinds of reasons ...)

Anyway, I'll be back to get a better look at these butterflies soaring free. Till then, have a wonderful Wednesday.

Love,
Pops





Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Malibu "Doomsday" picture of the day - Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Ever have one of those mornings where everything goes wrong, and you get it under control, and then you step outside and then the sun falls out of the sky? ...???






























... and you think, "Well, I thought I had problems ... maybe it's not so bad." Yuk yuk yuk. (Sometimes the confluence of visual sky elements gives you interesting and speculative results.)

Anyway, in other parts of the sky it's not so dramatic.

Nice and serene. And high 80s today forecasted.




Here's the scene in the quad yesterday when I was out at lunch. The students look like adults here on my employer's campus, but really nearly all of them are just 1-4 years out of high school, so they're really kids who look adults. And so one of the student orgs decided to bring in "bounce houses" with the cover story of some kind of national fitness day.

But bounce houses for college kids are somewhat extreme. They gotta be.

And this is a good thing. Bask in the joie de vivre of your youth, my children. Because tomorrow, the sun will fall out of the sky.

And on that note of destiny, I must leave you to go pay the rent.

Love,
Pops






Monday, February 22, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Monday, February 22, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Were you looking for this? Sorry. Had computer problems all day. It was clear and hot out on the coast. Expect to see five days of this. Maybe 10.






























That's it for today. But at least we got today documented. Gotta hit the road Jack!

Love,
Pops


Friday, February 19, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, February 19, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Well, now that Storm #5 has blown by, we're back to this.























Blue-on-blue but with low-level surface haze (can't see the offshore islands). In case you're wondering what the bales of hay are for over on the right, they're placed there for erosion control of the hillside. A lot of water travels off the parking lot to that corner and the hay is there to absorb water and avoid collapse of that part of the parking lot.

Hope you have a nice weekend planned. This time of year I always get at least one graduate thesis project come my way, so I'll be reading someone's research in earnest and getting smarter at the same time as working--what a system!

Hey, we are still in the 15-day observation of Chinese New Year, but it will wind up on the Full Moon, Monday, February 22, the day of the Lantern Festival. Pursuant to that, and the fact that today's picture is just another clear sky day, let me share with you an image.

If you know what this is, goodbye. You know MORE than what I'm about to say.

There is a Farmer's Almanac in Chinese tradition that tells farmers when to plant, harvest, marry off their children, close a business deal, etc. At the front of this annual publication is a diagram which encapsulates much of what you can expect in the coming year. This is like Bible study with Evangelicals--every detail has meaning. Where is the God of Spring (the person) standing in relation to the Spring Ox? Is the person a child, a full-grown person, or elderly? Where is the sun? Does the person have shoes on, sandals, or is he barefoot. They can be in color. What color are the ox's shins? What color is the rein? What kind of plant is hovering in the foreground? Is the ox's mouth open or shut? And on and on...

I'm no expert on this stuff, but it's a way with a very little ink to get a lot of info to an illiterate population. Pretty clever eh? And people still use this almanac; it's called the Tong Shu or Tong Sheng.

So, to those of you who believe in astrology who are wondering if the almanac has a general forecast, what is it? Here it is:

  • The price of gold and metal stocks will soar.
  • Industries that will thrive: banking, shipping, gambling, retail
  • Industries that will wane: computer, internet, telecomm, electricity, paper, fashion, timber
  • Stock market: it will dip in the first half of the year but soar in the 2nd; so buy in the 1st half, sell in the 2nd
  • Real estate: don't buy investment property this year; think twice about a home purchase


Got that? Good luck! You can report back to me if any of this worked for you. Me? I'm gonna buy a lottery ticket. See you next year.

Well, it's time to get to work kiddies. Have a good weekend.

Love,
Pops





Thursday, February 18, 2016

iT'S STreeTarT THurSDay in eaST HoLLyWooD! w/Malibu AM pic - Thursday, February 18, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers and Dear Hearts,

Before Valentine's Day 2016 gets too far way from us let's give that celebration of love a good ol' East Hollywood tribute send-off in street art shall we?

Artist unattributed, Love-Rise over the City, paint on nondescript warehouse.
















If you drive east and west on Santa Monica Blvd. through south Hollywood, zipping past the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, your eyes will eventually settle on this which is on one of the west-facing walls.

It seems so simple, so optimistic, so damn cheerful. And yet cropped off to itself it almost feels kind of isolated, lonely, and cold. Or maybe I just like to find irony in everything ...

I do think this was probably commissioned by the building owner and a group of artistic young people got this jam together. It just has that kind of vibe, versus risk-taking, rebellious street urchins. Here's a context shot. I took this on a hot day, so there was ambient warmth about it at the time.

Well, in keeping with the spirit of cheerfulness, I'm giving you a preview panel of something that I'll probably put up on Tuesday. It's a celebration of home arts.


So what part of L.A. would you guess that this ode to domesticity comes from? I will let you wonder about that and discuss it next week when I put the rest of it up. So, stay tuned, if you're curious that is. I don't know about you, but I'd be a bit concerned about birds walking around in that bowl of custard(?) bottom left--you know, feathers, and other  ... stuff.


AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE

[created at noon Weds. previous] According to the weather report, Thursday is supposed to be rainy. Let's see if the reporters are worth their keep and if cloudy, drizzly scene is what I'll have to post here...









Hey, we did have rain last night. Residual clouds are out this morning. I particularly liked this one chain of low clouds just hanging out under the upper layer, with some parts catching filtered sunlight.

Here's a big-sky shot.






























So, this makes, at least for L.A., El Nino 2016 Storm #5. They haven't called off the drought yet. But I'll enjoy this rain-washed atmosphere for today. Back up to summer temps on Monday.

Have a great Thursday.

Love,
Pops

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Here's a view to the canyon this morning. Just because the blue-on-blue seascape was getting monotonous.
































... and because the morning sun makes the hillside shadows that much more dramatic.

But here's the second look for you anyway. Somewhere out to the right (west) there's a storm system over the Pacific which is supposed to bring us rain this evening. We'll see what tonight brings.




Here's the satellite about an hour ago. You can check this stuff out  at http://www.intellicast.com. It's a pretty sweet site if you're a weather person. I'm not sure I see rain here, but I'm not expert in reading these tea leaves.

Gotta run. Have a great Wednesday. And if you are eating something with cheese sprinkled on it or even walking over a storm drain inlet later, have a grate Wednesday! yuk yuk yuk


Love,
Pops

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

"Voice of the Ghetto" & Malibu AM Pic of the Day - Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Last Tuesday we went "Out of Bounds" and looked at some street art that had been invited into a museum atrium (the Hammer). It was colorful, joyful, happy, and as edgy as a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

Afterward I got on the Wilshire Blvd. bus and headed home, and right across from another museum at about Fairfax (you art people all know which one ...) and I caught a glimpse of something down a side street. It caught my eye because it was NOT colorful. It was a mural and here's the central image:

Artists Dense in the Head, Alscrow, RTP, CBS, TFL, K2s, et al., Voice of the Ghetto, paint on concrete.






























OK, you may disagree, but I think the missing person, or the unarticulated gray silhouette is primary, the person you don't see. This seems to have four distinct sections, so I'll just shut up and put them up as you would see them left to right.

Left section
Center left section see 1st image.

Center section
Center right section

Far right section

It's so big I can't walk the length and get it in one pano shot, so here are two:



Got all of that? Aren't you glad you came? Anyway, next time you hit LACMA and you walk out maybe feeling unbalanced to the cerebral, just cross the street and take this one in admission-free. BTW, we've seen Dense in the Head before on this blog, if  you think this stuff looks somewhat familiar. 

Love the subtle use of monochromatic shades. One artist I think was showing off his/her technique with this lovely detail "arabesque." Ain't that great Ladies and Gents? Put your hands together!

Oh, and it looks like we have room for a context shot too.








OK, now here's your Blue-on-Blue picture of the day. Continues hot and sunny in So Cal. Possible rain tomorrow, but evidently we're doomed to be denied wintry weather as it will go right back up into the 80s afterward.





























And here's the second look.  Normally photographers hate the "sunshine hot spot" (the sun's reflection on the water) but I liked it so much that I cropped to emphasize it.

You have heard the term "track of the moon on the water" right? I use it in my novel in one of the dream sequences. But here it almost looks like a white pathway has opened up from the Malibu Colony at the left so you could walk across Santa Monica Bay to Manhattan Beach if you wanted to.

OK, I've stolen enough time from my employer. Better stay late like usual then and even it all out ...

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Love,
Pops























Monday, February 15, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Monday, February 15, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

It's Monday. The start of another week for you all. Clear and sunny and the Santa Ana Winds are blowing hard out at the bottom of Malibu Canyon.




























February is now more than half gone. Hope you had a memorable President's Day/Valentine's Day/1st Sunday of Lent/6th Day of Chinese New Year/L.A Marathon Day and whatever else you could think of to celebrate something. (All this coming off Super Bowl Sunday and Mardi Gras). February is short, but it's sure festive.

I was out walking my neighborhood on Saturday, and as festive as February gets, this sad tree overstayed their welcome and has been tossed in the gutter. Nobody loves a Christmas tree this time of year. The needles were as dry as toast. The trickster inside me wanted to get out my matches and dispatch this corpse in blaze of final glory and send its spirit into the air, but I restrained myself. Fear of jail time will do that to you.

I made my way to a new-old Chinese restaurant that opened up in the neighborhood. It's been there under several names; I think it just gets passed around to relatives. The soup stock is good, but the Cantonese entrees I selected were pretty darn bland. Oh well. The drought of good local Chinese food continues in East Holly. I did encounter this little bit of graffiti art border that a merchant didn't mind adorning the part of their building  just above the sidewalk.

Artist unattributed, Decoration, paint on liquor store.
As for my weekend, I attended a Pulitzer Prize winning historian interview an equivalent of a U.S. Supreme Court justice from the U.K. (Lord Mance), an equivalent U.S. Circuit Court judge (Lady Arden DBE), and a 9th Circuit Judge about the Magna Carta, which is enjoying it's 800-year run of relevancy. Originally written for the benefit of Barons, it made it down to us U.S. citizens. Now THAT'S good trickle-down! Are you still reading? Don't worry, I'm done.

As I drove back from the Marina Del Rey Ritz that night, an uncharacteristic fog came in and sat over most of West L.A. I liked the atmospheric feel going down Cochran Avenue with hazy streetlights glowing above, so I tried to take a picture.

If you are a bicyclist or a shy motorcyclist, Cochran is your street for traversing north-south Wilshire to/from South L.A. It's quiet, it's narrow (cars avoid it except locals), it's residential, and all intersections with major streets are regulated by semaphores. It can be hilly in a couple spots, but doable for out-of-shape bicyclists with a low gear.

OK that's all for today. Have a great Monday and a great week.

Love,
Pops

Friday, February 12, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, February 12, 2016

It's Friday! And for some of you, you're looking into a long weekend. (Not me, we don't get Presidents Day off, commuting traffic will be nice though, I'm sure).























Today really liked this ultra thin cloud cover on the sun. That "hanging leaf" to the sun's right was really delicate, but you can't really capture it. I really don't know how to take picture with the camera looking straight into the sun, I suppose there are techniques to do it, guess I better take a class.

Here's the more usual shot, with the continuation of that thin cloud over the sea.
John Quincy Adams

Hey, remember to contemplate your favorite president(s) on Monday. I always liked John Quincy Adams, #6. I believe he remains the only guy to hold the office when the popular and electoral college vote system failed to pick a winner; and so the House of Representatives had to choose one out of the top three.

There was only one  political party at the time. With two parties, it would be really hard for that situation to happen right now. Of course, I have this feeling that both the Republicans and the Democrats are about to each split in half because it seems to me that there are just too many viewpoints in American to be contained in the two simplistic buckets that the Reps and Dems are trying to offer. It'll take a while, but I think we'll be a 3- or 4-party country before I die.

Anyway John Q. had to do a tough job that a lot of people did not want him in. It reminds me of me in certain points of my life. And her survived. And thanks to his work as Secretary of State under Monroe, we can go to Miami, Florida, without getting out our passports. Thanks JQ!

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Pops






Thursday, February 11, 2016

iT'S STreeTarT THurSDay iN eaST HoLLyWooD with Malibu morning pic of the day - Thursday, February 11, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers and Assorted Spare Parts Out There,

Today we're back to a street of my roots, Mariposa off Santa Monica, where I spent seven years of my childhood during weekdays--yes, my elementary school is on this street. But we're not looking at that today. There is this mural across the street on the corner store, which as I recall used to be a laundromat when I was a pup.

Artist lOVE CREW, Kaps Zeal, paint on local business.






















This mural is not grandiose; it's probably just name art along with the artist's favorite cartoon or video game character (I'm not familiar with this one). It's pretty small, but well executed and not offensive to the hundreds of school kids who must walk past it everyday--so it's a good choice. I also include the context shot.

Since the featured mural today is rather simple, I think I'll throw in some images from a light box I found downtown. I hope you like purple. It appears to be the artist who did the "Be the Change" series (2)  I showed you in earlier times.

Artist unattributed, Purple Love Revolutionary,
paint on traffic signal box.
If you're thinking the sidewalks look rather run-down in East Hollywood, you're right. They weren't so cracked and eroded with I was walking them in the early 1960s. Believe it or not, the area was predominantly white at the time. Kids I went to school with had the last names Grant, Stromer, Zeppenfeldt, Cochran, Lunstedt, Goddard, you get the idea. There were only two or three Chinese families at the school, so my brothers and I were always considered odd.

Remember her?
Sappy slogan on her chest
instead of oversized
mammary glands?
All the teachers were women. I think I even remember all of their surnames in chron order: Millman (K), Rivera (1), Haas (2), Granucci (3), Romano (4), Pauker (5), Museus (6), and the principal, also female, was Hinkle. Can you recall all of yours? Romano was a great proponent of corporal punishment.
I remember her hitting one boy with stick in front of class. I remember him yelling out "You're hurting me!" and her responding "No. Mrs. Romano never hurts anyone." Funny what memories stick with you. It had its effect. I never gave her any sh!t in class.  By the way, swats and spankings were legal back then, so don't think ill of Mrs. Romano for using a tool that was available to her for keeping order. We 4th grade boys can be real asshats.

I'm sure most of those women (except Haas and Museus, those two really had teaching hearts) would have chosen other professions had they been open to them. As I recall them back through the lens of my adult eyes, Pauker, Romano, and Granucci all seemed to have their attitude dial set to "pissed off." But maybe that was just a discipline tactic.

AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE

'nuff rambling. Here's your blue-on-blue picture of the day as we continue our minor February heat wave in the 80s.






























Serene ain't it? Hope you have peaceful, pacific day yerself.

Love,
Pops