Friday, July 29, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, July 29, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

We've come to the end of another work week; I hope you fared well, and I hope you have fulfilling and useful things to do in the weekend upcoming. Out here in Malibu, here's how it's starting off...



























Clear blue sky with a bit of haze. Continued very warm, but hey, it's summer and that's what it's about. Enjoy it. Me? I just had a thesis job come in, so I'll be learning all about audio recording techniques at the master's degree level. Sounds fascinating no? No back-breaking labor hauling stuff out of a deceased parent's basement this weekend.

My daughter who lives at home with me has had a young man she's been seeing by the house several times in the last couple of weeks. In fact there was a stretch of days where the guy (along with a friend who an ex-boyfriend of this same daughter -- I know, it's complicated ....) where they've all been playing video games in the living room many days in a row.

I mentioned this to her brother who is just a few years older and thought it strange. This seemed more like high-school dating practice more than what 20-somethings should be doing. He told me to get real and get my old-fashioned ideas of courtship out my head as far as young people were concerned. He said people in his age group have terrible paying jobs if they have jobs at all or massive amounts of crushing educational loan debt so hanging out is what they do since they can't afford to do anything else. SO ... I have been schooled.

It's a tough world. And I'm sure they'll be resilient because of it.

It's time to go, so have yourself a great weekend and we'll see you next week.

Love,
Pops


Thursday, July 28, 2016

iT'S STreeTarT THurSDay iN eaST HoLLyWooD! with Malibu AM pic of the day-Thur., July 28, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers and other dear people,

OK, we've got a mural on a building that sort of hints at the type of business establishment that is housed inside the walls on which it is painted. I will put the type of business down at the bottom of this page. Take a guess and see if you got it right...



























This is a detail. It looks like we have a name "Fabian" (probably the artist) at the top against a black background. And we have this pointy headed bird like creature on the right. If you think this bird looks familiar, yes, we've seen them before down in Willowbrook on the side of the swap meet, remember?

This is quite the ornate mandala. The evenness of the detail is quite impressive don't you think? This is on a wall facing the parking lot of this business, in back of the building. Here's a larger view of the wall.










And here we have a detail of the features on the right side of this mural.

We've got yet another conical bird pointing into  a blue and gold mandala.

Colors stream out the bottoms of these avian cones, and bend and shoot about.








Here's an accompanying mural that is on the actual side the business:














We've gone into a limited blue palette. Here's a detail.

This artist must have been thinking of his or her geometry lessons when this was conceived.











And a detail of the triangles around the midriff of the bluebird on the right.

This last detail should practically give the identity away.

So what is it?
Buddhist meditation center?
Glass and screen shop?
Used book store?
Shuttered community theatre?
Antique store?
Live poultry?
Tattoo parlor?
Bike shop?
Ice cream parlor?
Custom bra shop?
Episcopal church?
Gay bar?
Gay bathhouse?
Straight bar?
Thai massage parlor?
Chilean deli?
Pizza parlor?
Beauty parlor?
Salvadoran Pentecostal church?
Laundromat?
Ukrainian culture center?
Bowling Association HQ?
Charity for the blind?
Pot shop?
(except for one, these are all entities right there, I kid you not... )


Scroll down to the bottom to confirm.


AND NOW, BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE

Hope all of that bluebird business, put you in the mood for more blue, because here it is ...




























Hey, I read a news story the other day about a study on the heights of men and women by country over the last 100 years and the shortest guys are from East Timor averaging 5'3". That measurement caught my eye because THAT'S ME! So, if I want to feel like a normal sized guy, I guess I need to move to East Timor.

Time to pay the rent. We'll see you tomorrow. Have a wonderful Thursday.

Love,
Pops





Answer to today's question about the murals... it's a pizza parlor!

Artist Fabian, Conical Chicken Mandala #1 and #2, paint on pizza parlor.

BTW: There is no live poultry shop right around there (corner of Melrose and Heliotrope), but there IS one over on nearby Virgil south a few blocks.



Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Wednesday morning in Malibu looks something like this:





























Blue-on-blue again. Just a reminder, I will only have seven more mornings to post and then I'm on vacation, and then I'm back to being a worker-ant in the San Fernando Valley (I was there the late 80s and most of the 90s so I know my way around ... even lived in Noho for a time). So, I'm savoring the blue.

What will become of this blog? Who knows? I'll decide when I get back. The "East Hollywood Online Museum of Street Art" will continue in some fashion, and I may kick out installments of my next kooky story to you, but we'll see. You'll just have to keep looking in to find out.

Time to pay the rent kiddies.

See you tomorrow.

Love,
Pops



Tuesday, July 26, 2016

"Winged Heart" and Malibu morning picture of the day - Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Hey, I didn't intend to put this in today, but here's an offering from the "Out of Bounds Gallery," collected on a recent trip up to Reseda.

Artist @Korsen, Winged Heart, paint on alley wall (2016).

















We have a flying heart. This looks like it should be someone's tattoo, no? Pardon the fragmentation. This was a walking Pano shot on my cell phone. This is in an alley so you cannot get far enough away from it to get the whole thing in a single frame. Separated from the arteries and veins, it's hard to know what is keeping this guy going. I'm going to guess this is memorial for "Sfb," whoever you are --your tribute is here.

You can see this in the parking lot of Continental Art Supplies on Reseda Blvd. Go and buy something from them and keep them in business would ya?

Back to Malibu:
It's a blue-on-blue day here at the coast today.


























Going to be 90 in L.A. today according to the weather report, so a good day to hit the beach if you're so inclined and not otherwise employed today ...

Hey, I was at the electronics store the other day (the big blue and yellow one) and I saw this in the parking lot and just had to take a picture.



You would feel like you're in a Disneyland ride anytime you got in this thing. Needs a garage though...

I've been a fan of weird versions of VWs since I was a kid. It's because I have the same initials as those cars. Strangely, I have never bought a VW to drive. I almost got a New Beetle a few years back, but a boring Nissan Maxima just had to be acquired at a price not to be argued with. Now I'm in a Toyota pickup truck (and a Miata). Maybe one of these days I'll trade the Miata for a vee dub. I guess you can buy a diesel pretty cheap right now ...

Gotta go kids, have a great Tuesday.

Love,
Pops


Monday, July 25, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Monday, July 25, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

It's Monday morning. We have a major brush fire going on in SoCal, but you can't see evidence in the atmosphere this morning.



























No second look, but on Saturday, smoke clouds were wafting over Hollywood and turning the sun red in the late afternoon, so here's a look at that.

Lots of ash on cars, almost like a light dusting of snow.

If it looks like the air would be somewhat bitter and maybe it hurt to breathe? No, not in this part of town. But a lot of allergic type congestion reaction in family member due to smoke.

Hey, I hope you had a good weekend. I was at the home of my father (who died over a year ago) to clear out any stuff of mine from his basement. I was given an ultimatum anything in the place after July 31 will be trashed.

I knew there was old schoolwork in the basement, which I pulled out. When you study art like I did, you create a lot of large-format stuff. I had quite a bit. None of it is very good, I'm sorry to say. I was no young Caravaggio whose juvenalia was worth looking at. So it's all going into the dustbin. I am taking pictures of a few things to remind me of those old dreams I once had.

Artist V. Way, Reclining  figure, charcoal on bond paper (1979)


























Here's a figure study from a life class I took in my senior year. Not terribly remarkable. There are a couple of decent parts. I believe I got a C in that class. The art teachers in the 70s were usually easy graders, but not this guy. He knew I was coasting. I have to admit I took his class only because I was curious about his reputation among the students (high drama, flamboyance, emotional, forbidding particular students to use certain materials, that kind of thing...). So, kids ... you get the grade you deserve. Give it your best effort, or don't bother. I think about how he must have looked at hundreds of thousands of students' life drawings at that time. How bored you could get! How satisfying it must seem when something good emerges. I would probably want to become outrageous too. He cared. He wasn't just picking up a paycheck.

He had us select our best 20 drawings of the semester as our final. Boy, did he tear me up in his remarks.When I looked at the 20 I picked for the final, I have no idea why I picked those either. They were not the best. Part of the art-learning process is learning to curate works. I sure had a LOT to learn at age 20 when I graduated. Stupid kid...

On the other end of the time spectrum here's something else from the basement:

Artist V. Way (age 6-7?), Daisies Under Clouds and Sun, tempera on paper. (1964-1965?)





























Probably one of the earliest paintings I ever made, around age 6-7. We did a lot of painting in my grade 1-3 classes (or at least it seemed like it to me). I don't think elementary schools in L.A. commit as much time and resources to art. This is only interesting because (like a lot of ancient literature) it's extant. I don't know too many people my age who still have an image they created from 1st or 2nd grade. This is what happens when you have parents who never throw anything away, and live in the same place for 50 years.

Was there progress in my art education from 1st grade to college senior? I like to think so. But in any case, I'm happy to say, when I create something today out of my head, it's no longer for a grade to make a teacher happy.

If you're a relative of mine, yes, I took pictures of all these grade-school tempera pictures before putting them in the trash can, so you can see what they looked like if you but ask. They are all crumbling to the touch, so there's no point in keeping any of them. It's amazing how vibrant the pigments still are, but they have been in the dark for decades.  Just taking pics of them took all day Sunday and killed my knees. I still have 4 portfolios to go...

Gotta go folks. Have a wonderful Monday and a great week.

Love,
Pops




Friday, July 22, 2016

iT'S STreeTarT THurSDay [a day late] iN eaST HoLLyWooD! - Friday, July 22, 2016

Hello Street Art Lovers and assorted friends,

Had to make an appearance in Tax Court yesterday, so this week's street art got delayed by a day. This homage to the Spy vs. Spy regular feature in Mad Magazine recently showed up down the street from me.

Artist Jerkface, Spies in Contemplation, paint on pizzeria.
































It's in a spot that turns over rapidly, image-wise. I meant to photograph things that were there but they've come and gone more quickly than I can get there. There's just something so Expressionist with a black-white-red limited, hard-edge compositional scheme, don't you think? This also reminds of graphics in Soviet publications as well. This can be found, at least for now, at the corner of Melrose and Heliotope, where you will find many things on the walls.

AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE





























Ah! Another blue on blue day. Great day for the beach, people. We're also in a heat wave (100s) so that makes a day at the coast seem even more enticing. I certainly hope you have great plans in store. Wear sunblock and stay hydrated out there.

Love,
Pops



Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Happy Wednesday. Got another blue-on-blue day for you all today.


























Hey, we're in the midst of the Republican Party National Convention. So here's a fun quote from Adlai Stevenson:

"I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends ... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them."

Have a great day!

Love,
Pops


Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Tamuning Guam mural and Malibu morning picture of the day - Tuesday, July 18, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

A Tuesday morning "Out of Bounds Gallery" offering:
While I was on the Island of Guam in May-June of this year, I looked around for street art. I've already shared one specimen that I found on a commercial building. Here's another example. This is right across the street from the Visitor's Center, so I'm sure this falls into the category of a public art commission. It has images you would associate with the desires of a Visitor's Center.

Artists Joshua Barrigada Agerstrand and Jiffy Ejan (?), Commemorative Mural, paint on retaining wall (detail).






















The dominant image is that of a a girl, looking half redhead and half mermaid. Here's the makers' mark with a tribute to Miyazaki's Ponyo.
























Moving to the right we have colorful sealife and an outrigger.

























Here we have young people probably depicted in the midst of a traditional dance. I am assuming the brushy nature of the rendering is meant to convey motion. There is the possibility they're shivering, but does it ever get cold on Guam?

Way over on the left there is this depiction of a carabao, the type of water buffalo that you see depicted all over the island.

This was lots of fun to look at. No social commentary or satire here. And that's fine, I wasn't expecting anything of the sort in this venue.  The neighborhood is just a little clean, if you know what I mean.

And down below I'll give the entire length.

There were some runners to the right as you can see (this was probably commemorating a 10K run), but I'm not sure where I put the details that I shot of the right side.







AND NOW BACK TO MALIBU

Here's what today's Tuesday looks like out here ...




























Haze on the horizon, but lots of blue.

OK, gotta go.

Love,
Pops

Monday, July 18, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Monday, July 18, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Another Happy Monday to you. Here's the view at the coast today:




























OK, half the month of July is gone, but this is what July mornings usually look like. Blue and high clouds, or just all blue.

Here's the second look. Sunbeams streaming from above.

I just got word that August 9 is our moving day to Calabasas and so, Friday, August 5 will be the last day of the Malibu morning picture of the day blog. So we have 14 mornings to go. We'll see what Mom Nature has in store. My prediction is lots of blue.

Gotta go, so we'll see you here tomorrow.

Love,
Pops



Friday, July 15, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, July 15, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

It's Friday and it's another overcast morning here in Malibu.


























... with afternoon burn-off of course. I hope your weekend is getting off to a good start. Even if you're at work, your mind is probably on things you want or have to do the next two days, eh? So in that sense, it's already started. Just like it ends somewhere on Sunday night when you start thinking about what you have waiting for you back the the workplace come Monday.

I'm considering going into a master's degree program and in order to be accepted, I have to make some repairs to my peculiar undergrad history (I was an art major, so I'm sans course credit of academic rigor that academic admittance committees like to see.) So it's back to night school for this old codger.

There's a nearby state college that let's un-admitted people like me take classes for credit to make such repairs, but you are a 2nd-class student who has to stand and wait at the gate while all the regulars snap up spots in night classes. Only on the first night of class are you allowed to go in and beg for a spot.

Unlike when I last took a college-credit course, everything is online now. If you monitor daily, you watch classes fill up at a rate and precision in real-time only known to college registrars in ages past. Back in the predigital age you'd have to physically visit a room at the college and look at papers posted on the wall at the number of seats available in a particular section. You'd fill out the "add card" (a machine-readable card scanned in somewhere in the data processing dept.) and hope it wasn't filled by the time you got to the front of a line that was 50 students long.

It's fun to watch the invisible hand of the market at work with daily check-ins of enrollment totals. When I first started this process there were five possible upper-division courses that would meet my requirements: Report Writing; Contemporary Poetry; Adolescent Lit; 19th Century British Lit; and 20th Century Satires of Consumerism.

The most slots that were available were Report Writing - 30. Within 2 weeks that class was fully enrolled (1st week of is 8/29). That course looks like the most perfunctory, utilitarian, and with probably the lightest outside reading load.

Next to close about a week ago was Contemporary Poetry. Pretty obvious there. Short works don't require hours of outside reading required compared to novels.

OK, you'd guess Adolescent lit would be next, right? Reading level and length of stuff like Twilight or Harry Potter and the like. But no, lots of slots persist. Commercialism Satires is rapidly closing - looks like a highly specialized senior seminar too. I was curious why. I looked up all the teachers  and voila, bad professor reviews online for Adolescent and middlin' for British. LESSON TAKEAWAY? Online reputation and reviews counts for a lot people.

One thing all these profs have going for them is scarcity. There are no other choices for 3 units of upper-division English at night in Greater Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, so good prof or not, I am sure these will ALL fill up at $1K per pop. It may be a while before I can even start my delayed academic journey. The totally online MLIS program at San Jose State is better every passing day...

Oh well. I guess in the meantime I can just take my $1K to Las Vegas and turn it into $10K eh?

Have a wonderful weekend.

Love,
Pops

Thursday, July 14, 2016

iT'S STreeT arT THurSDay iN eaST HoLLyWooD! with Malibu morning pic of the day - Thursday, July 13, 2016

OK, Rohrshach test time! Pencils up! Who is this person?

Artist Delta Mear One, Old Dude from Silverlake: Consciousness ... , paint on coffeehouse.
























How many of you said "God?" C'mon. Show me your papers.Yeah, ... yeah ... yep. I thought so. Patriarchal consciousness dies hard, doesn't it. Ah well. Here's a guy with laser vision apparently. Sports an earring on the left. When I was a lad, I remember being told a man with an earring on the left ear was straight and on the right was gay. Who knows if that were true or not? Boys tell each other tons of stupid things.

I digg this pic. Back when I used to draw and paint a lot, I liked drawing this kind of nose--long and large. BTW: I find women with large, long noses quite attractive, probably because I don't have one. Not having a prominent bridge on my typically flat Chinese-heritage face meant that my glasses were always falling down to the tip of my nose. Adults constantly told me to push my glasses up. I learned later that looking over one's glasses is a "power" move, which is likely what was bugging them. They probably didn't like some 11-year-old twerp, giving them what they thought to be scolding look. They make better glasses now than they did in the 1970s, Thank Old Dude! (oh, I mean God). Enough old-man rambling. But if you had to wear glasses back then, you know exactly what I mean.

This mural is to be found at Sunset Junction, where Sunset Blvd. meets Santa Monica Blvd., Manzanita, and Sanborn. Do you know what it means? I sure as hell don't, But I think it's cool, so enjoy.

If you own property around there, you're probably pretty happy right now. It was all cheap, working-class-serving petite "Bush-WAH" merchants, but now it's a hip place to buy $6 coffee from a barista who'll tell you all about the climate of the 3rd-World country it came from at a discourse level worthy of a dissertation defense.  I was looking for a another mural, but this replaced it. I'll try to find the prelim pics (that image is now gone). Sic transit Gloria--she takes the Metro Rapid 704 to Westside last I heard and for the most part remembers to take Dramamine ... 


AND NOW, BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE




























Yes, you've seen this before (well, not EXACTLY), and you'll see again I'm sure. Cloudy at the coast this morning. But, drink it in folks anyway.

See you here tomorrow!

Love,
Pops

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

This shot today is pretty moody don't you think?

























Something is glowing beyond the ridge ... And here's the second look, turning to the right about 90 degrees. Change your perspective, change your mood.

My daughter from out of town is staying with me these last few weeks. She brought a dog she adopted recently. Damn animal can't decide whether she thinks I'm a threat or a friend--snarling one second, nuzzling for a treat the next. You'd think after 3-4 weeks she'd have figured me out. Dog people are as crazy as human people aren't they? Humans are just more subtle.

OK, gotta go. See you tomorrow.

Love,
Pops





Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

I was going to give you more of the teapot mural as part of our "Out of Bounds Gallery,"  but instead I'm shifting focus over a few streets in North Hollywood to give you another Noho picture ... just because I want to.

Artists Levi Ponce et al, Soliloquy, paint on East San Fernando Valley furniture store.





















This very theatrical work is appropriately in the Noho Arts District, just south of the Noho Red Line Station on Lankershim. It decorates the side of furniture store, one of many that abound in North Hollywood.

This work is unusual in that it has a name and it is painted along with its artist and contributors alongside.

Here's the context shot.











If you've traveled up Lankershim, this definitely catches your eye. It's such a flamboyant piece sitting within a very drab, mundane landscape. I hope you'll pardon the odd, distorted angle. I wasn't planning on taking this shot and as you can see, it was blocked by cars and you can only see it full head on through a chain link fence. For some reason it makes me think of Gone with the Wind meets Hamlet.

Anyhow, if you've been contemplating beauty, death, futility, and suicide lately, this might be the mural for you. And you can pick up a cheap futon while you're there...

* * * * *

It's Tuesday on the coast and again, we've got early morning clouds. You cannot see across the bay to Torrance and PV today.





























So far it's shaping up to be a mild summer in the Southland. But we've got months left to go. We'll see about that...

Gotta go kids. See you tomorrow, unless my partner in the Danse Macabre has got me on her dance card before then. Why so morbid? I guess we're all thinking about death this last week, but thousands die every week. Funny thing eh? Those seven American deaths? They are almost like art.

Love,
Pops


Monday, July 11, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Monday, July 11, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

A Happy Monday to you all! Early morning clouds scheduled for burn-off later today ...

























... but we are getting some blue this morning. The camera is sure liking the color yellow this morning.

For all you Hamilton enthusiasts out there, the namesake of the hit musical was shot on this calendar day, July 11, 1804, 212 years ago; he died on the 12th. So it's a good day to get out there and take a bullet for honor if you're so inclined, but I don't recommend it.

Have a great Monday and a wonderful week.

Love,
Pops

Friday, July 8, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, July 8, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

Well, some of us made it through this short work week. I hope you are doing well yourselves this Friday.


























The early morning overcast skies continue. Just over the hill in the West San Fernando Valley, it's blue skies though in the 7 AM hour.

Hey, it's been a while. Are you ready for a 4-word Chinese idiom?

自相矛盾 (zi xiang mao dun)

You say this when you're commenting that a person is contradicting him-/herself.

If you take a Chinese language course, you will invariably run across a lesson about this saying, it's quite famous. Literally it's self-mutually-spear-shield, but the teaching story that goes with it decodes it:

There was a man who made and sold armaments. He was set up in the marketplace and gave his pitch. "My shields are so strong, they will repel any spear! My spears are so strong, they will pierce any shield!"

One of persons gathered to hear his spiel asked, "What happens if someone who has one of your spears attacks someone else who has one of your shields?"

The smith-seller had no answer for that. (He was at least smart of enough to NOT say, "Well, let's give it try ...")

Fun hunh?

Well, I gotta pay the rent, so I'm going to leave it there. Take care of yourselves and have a nice weekend.

Love,
Pops

Thursday, July 7, 2016

iT'S STreeTarT THurSDay iN eaST HoLLyWooD! with Malibu morning picture of the day - Thursday, July 7, 2016

Dear Street Art Lovers and my good friends,

Today's offering showed up only a few months ago on my street. Color is the name of the game here ...

Artist Spencer McCarty, Edgemont Chieftainess, paint on brick wall (2016).





































There are some who would reactively say "cultural appropriation," but I dunno, I think this is pretty cool and it sure dresses up a crappy looking street corner. Besides, Native American aren't the only people to have used feathers in headdresses, and who's to say this isn't a chief-prodigy girl who happens to like makeup?

There's not a lot to unpack here. Just sit back and enjoy as you sit at the long red light, heading south on Edgemont at Fountain Avenue. (This is the Scientologists' business district BTW...)

I was telling my son I think she's African American, but I don't know exactly why. I guess she reminds me of Vivian, a beautiful violinist I used to be in love with, but that's another story ...

The artist is Spencer McCarty, prominently indicated in the upper left. The artist has a website spencermccartyart.com which you should check out if you like this work. If you couldn't tell from this piece, he likes girls ... a lot. But it seems mostly the faces.


AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SEASCAPE

Another cloudy morning...


























But there is a break to the southeast ...

Just got a call into a meeting, so we'll leave this at that.

Have a great Thursday.

Love,
Pops



Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

A happy Wednesday to you all. June Glume continues to leach over into July. It's been very cool, relatively speaking.




























Here's the view looking toward the channel between Palos Verdes and Catalina. Catalina is not very visible this morning.

Can't chat this morning. Two accidents were in my way on the road to work so I'm running behind. Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow.

By the way, if you crave the occasional fairy tale before turning in at night, go to my project website www.windycragtaverne.com and go to Ella's Bedtime Storybook. I'm starting to post readings of fairy tales that I like, for practice at keeping my oral interpretation skills up, but also because somebody kind of requested them. These will be stories that I find in my many story books. Right now there is "Prince Amilec" and "Finding a Wife for the River God." "The Great Qillow" is probably going up next. All the other things you find on that site are my own mediocre writings.

It's very strange. I've had thousands of hits on that website over the few years I've kept it up. Outside of the occasional mention here, 2X a year maybe? And yet it seems a lot of people seem to find it and listen to what's there. It's not a commercial enterprise or even self-promotion and it's totally not advertised.If you go and actually enjoy something, I encourage you to leave a note.

OK that's it. See you tomorrow.

Love,
Pops




Tuesday, July 5, 2016

"Men in black with tea" with Malibu morning pic of the day - Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

When artists paint things to please themselves and not others, you get some very interesting images. I think this is a good example:























I see the Men in Black with teapots for heads, being served a pink brew snuff out of the nose of a pipe-smoking teapot host, rendered to look (I think) as a friendly, mustachioed, Chinese elder, with a background image of a human spine culminating in a lotus blossom where the head/skull should be.

Did I miss anything? Yeah, sure, this the right side detail of a larger mural, so there are other things. But I'll get to those in a later post (and the location, hint, it's not East Hollywood). I just thought this would be a be nice weird image from the "Out of Bounds" Gallery to kick off your week.

Here's what it looks like on the coast today:



























Cloudy and overcast, but interestingly, the camera is capturing a warmness in the sky's color today. It's usually a colder kind of blue. Here's the second look.

I hope you had a nice 4th of July weekend. I got so fully rested that it was hard to fall asleep last night. And not just because of the "bombs bursting in air."

I don't have to go to a show to see fireworks. I just go on the front porch. I live in a neighborhood where people set off fireworks launched into the sky, not just the cones and fountains you set in the street. All totally illegal, and for good reason. You worry about the duds that would fall to earth and set someone's house on fire. You also heard on the news last night that a little girl had her hand blown off somewhere in L.A. You have to be careful people.

Well, gotta pay the rent kiddos. We'll see you here tomorrow.

Love,
Pops


Friday, July 1, 2016

Malibu morning picture of the day - Friday, July 1, 2016

Dear Family, Friends, and Gentle Readers,

It's Friday. Getaway day for the the 4th of July Weekend. And, despite it no longer being June, it's cloudy this morning.

























See the bright white line off the coast? That's the break at Surfrider Beach and it's pretty high, so it was a crowd in the water waiting for waves that I saw as I took the bus into work today.


ANOTHER BRIEF LESSON IN LIBERTARIAN POLICY

It's slow this morning, so I have a minute to day to return to my occasional explanation of Libertarian policy since everybody is thinking about those kinds of things in the presidential election year.

Let's take foreign policy and waging war. To Libertarians, the ONLY REAL JOB of a government (other than maintaining a court system, but a free society could just as easily create a dispute resolution system) is to defend the nation from foreign aggression.

I think most Libertarians would agree that such defense does not extend to theoretical or presumptive threats. When you get down to it, Libertarians are basically peaceniks. We don't want to threaten anybody with force to get our way, and we don't want to be threatened. We want to live in peace and just cut deals as necessary and proper. But there are bad people out there who want to do bad things to us who may employ the use of force. So it's important that we have access to sufficient force to counter or dis-incent them. That's why Libertarians are adamant on having access to weapons. When threats appear, we'll band together in mutual defense in militias or an organized armed force.

But what draws aggression from other nations or groups? Generally, it's alliances with troublesome partners. Or because we're doing something aggressive ourselves where we have no business being. Right now we're most fearful of being attacked by ISIL and Al-Queda. Why do they even care about us? Who are we propping up and why? Are we pro-Shia? Or is it because we're pro-Israel? Or is it just perceptions thereof? Frankly, I'm not even sure these days.

A Libertarian country would not make any alliances nor render military aid or economic aid to any other; citizens would be free to deal individually or in organized groups with other nations or persons within those other nations, but there would be no national entity with resources to even deliver such levels of influence. A Libertarian executive branch would just start to pull out troops, advisors, aid programs, etc., out of all foreign countries.

But what if really bad people take over "that country" but for our being there and restraining them? Well, if we don't like them, then we just don't buy their ____________. But their internal problems are not our problems. When you start following all the objections, it takes us to the proposition that has led us to becoming "the World Police." And we know most people don't like police.

Anyway, if we had Libertarian executive, that's the direction I think we'd start to see ourselves go in--troop pullouts and cutting off of foreign aid for starters.

OK, that's it. Happy 4th of July to you all and have a great weekend.

Love,
Pops