Languid LAist

So, I know this may burn some potential bridges, but has anyone else noticed what Laurel (a workmate of mine) and I have noticed. LAist has really gone down the tubes. The writing is like reading a high-school english project...and the subject matter is not terribly current. To be brutally honest, they've never seemed truely "In the Know" but on the other hand scouring the blog on a daily basis I have discovered a few informative things from time to time. And this is why I come back. But in the last few months....nada. So what give's LAist...uninspired? I can certainly understand that feeling, but hey this is LA...there is always something to discover.

Waraku Cool

Today, Cool Hunting highlited a shop on Abbot Kinney called Waraku. I discovered this gem of a shop over a year ago. They focus on designer sneakers and apparel, much of it from Japan. Once more, the wise Josh Rubin focused on the line of surf wear from Namitatsu. Namitatsu decorates its t-shirts and shoes with neo-traditional japanese imagery of Sumo-like characters surfing dragons and the like. Some of the coolest shit I've seen in ages. As well, Waraku sells a line of shoes called Patrick that are probably the coolest sneaks I've seen in ages, but sadly also carry a steep price-tag. Across the street from Waraku is the house-wares shop Tortoise. Also worth the trip to the west-side.

Living La Vida Lotus

Although the Echo Park Lotus Festival was held several weeks ago, the lotus' themselves have just started to really show their full beauty in the last week. Those of you in the area should stop by, feed a goose or two and check them out.

MorYork

Saturday night, I hit the David Wilkins opening I mentioned the other day. The show was great. The guy’s stuff was beautiful. Much of it were maquettes for larger works and process stuff. There are three bronze sculptures that I could only dream of owning. The show is up for a very limited time. I encourage you to check it out. In addition to the Wilkins show there is a permanent collection of trinkets and oddities created or collected by the owners of the space. Chandeliers made out of buttons and bottle caps, bizarre found objects (including what could only be described at Cock Rocks) and things that blur the definitions between the two...definitely a marvel.

The space, in and of itself is a piece of history and art. Having acted as a Grocery store and roller rink the building was built in the 30's and If you watch Reservoir Dogs....you may find the space familiar.

Next weekend, the gallery will be hosting the Ave. 50 Studio Fundraiser. Avenue 50 Studio focuses on artwork by Latino/Chicano, the donation is 20bucks. Check it out. Saturday August 5th at 7pm. Again the gallery is located at York and Ave. 50 in Highland Park.

Thanks to Scott and Johanna for being such gracious hosts.

The Shirting of Nairobi

A few months ago I mentioned my friends trip to Kenya. My workmates and I got a collection of shirts to give a group of kids living in a orphanage outside of Nairobi, run by a single nun. Well, I finally got some snapshots of the kids in their brand new duds. The gifts went over really well evidently and my friends Kelly, John, and I hope to put together some other fund-raising type things for the cause. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I'll keep you posted.

Year Old Stink

Stinks Good turns 1 today. I've been doing alot of self-reflection about this whole Blog thing lately. When I have a few minutes, I'll give you my perspective on it. For now, thanks to all my friends who have come by regularly and to all you Kiefer Sutherland tweekers.

Sculptor David Wilkins

Want to get hip to the Bomo Vibe, stop by 4959 York Blvd. in Highland Park on Saturday. My good friend Scott Nadeau from 10ten furniture is curating a Eponymous show of Sculptor David Wilkins at Mor York Gallery in Highland Park. Mr. Wilkins passed away last year I believe and wished for Scott to repesent his body of work. The show will be well rounded in showing maquettes as well as full-sized versions of many sculptures. David's work can also be seen around the Los Angeles area including Padadena's Cal Tech. The opening, again, is Saturday from 5pm to 10pm. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 - 5.

I believe there was a mention of the show in Thursday's LA Times.

The Bomo Effect

Barbara Bestor, local architect, released her book Bohemian Modern/Living in Silver Lake a few months ago.

The book features houses, shops, and people who define what Bestor believes to be a significant cultural force of eclectic and design oriented artists and creative types.

If you live in the area, or if you know Barbara...its like looking at a yearbook of people you probably see quite often. In part, it seems kinda cool. Makes you feel like you're part of something hip and influential. On the other hand, it seems kinda self-serving. Like through this book, a particular segment of Silver Lake (or should we say those east of Hollywood) have branded themselves instead of letting someone outside of the community attach the term.

I must also mention that this book suffers from the same problem that the LA Times article Ritzing up Silver Lake has with painting Silver Lake's neighborhood way too wide. But to be honest, I probably do the same thing. Echo Park, Elysian Park, Atwater, and many other neighborhoods get lumped into the Silver Lake realm. Funny, Echo Park has tons more historic significance then Silver Lake, but SL's cache is tremendous these days and it certainly not Barbara who is solely responsible for that.

I guess the whole thing is a bit close to me personally. For a variety of reasons. Regardless, I feel like the book is rather essential for those of us living in the area. And yeah, i got the limited edition signed soft-cover (with the droog inspired invisible spine) at A+R (a joint that opened just too late to get mentioned in the book). I recommend purchasing it over Amazon, where you can buy both the hard and soft-cover for about the same price i bought mine. I certainly hope that some day I may live in a house deemed worth of Bomo Vol. 2. Its a cool funky book. If not a little over designed.

It's all about the Buckle

While in Michigan a month or so ago, My friends and I popped into a small little diner for some lunch. After an adequate lunch, we peered up on the chalkboard at the special deserts available. Blueberry Buckle stood out like a glorious epiphany....Oh yes, Buckle we all conversed...Yes we must all have the Buckle...its like a Crisp or a Cobbler right? The discussion was frenzied. The waiter came over and we ordered 6 Buckles. The waiter replied...."You do know what a Buckle is don't you?" We all, awkwardly said...."well, yes we think so...but just to make sure....what exactly is a Buckle?" He explained, and although it wasn't quite what we had in mind...after showing us a slice we all decided we would like the Buckle regardless. It was delicious!!! Not only did the taste remain with us, but Buckle talk persisted for days. Even as I returned home, we chatted about the Buckle. Well, the latest is this amazing list of Buckle Like concoctions and their defining characteristics. Never have sweet goodness and poetically whimsical names been consolidated into such a blissful list. Enjoy.

Betty: This dessert, dating from Colonial times, is made of stewed fruit and buttered bread crumbs.

Buckle: Buckles are a cake-like mixture of berries or fruit with a crumble layer on top. Sometimes the berries or fruit are mixed into the cake batter. In other recipes, they form a middle layer between the crumbled topping and the cake.

Clafouti: Cake or pudding tops the fruit.

Cobbler: Fruit is placed in a baking dish and topped wit biscuit dough. The dough may cover the fruit or be dropped in biscuit size dollops.

Crisp: Fruit filling is topped with a crunchy layer crumbled over the top.

Crumble: same as a crisp.

Grunt: Stewed or baked fruit topped with rolled biscuit dough and baked.

Pandowdy: The rolled out dough on top of the fruit becomes crumbly.

Tart: A bottom crust of pastry with short sides topped with fruit.

Thanks to Maya and the Boulder newspaper for the list.

Personal Updates

To all of you who are friends of mine who I don't get to talk to very often and check this site to keep updated on the various ups and downs of my life, I give you the following lowdown.

a. Lu is feeling much better. She has a spur between two of her vertebra that has been aggrivated and causing her pain...the thyroid issue may very well be the result of that. Two weeks of anti-inflammitory pills and some other stuff and she's back to her peppy self.

b. Jenny may very well have sold her condo....but we have certainly learned to not count our eggs until they're hatched...so keep your fingers crossed.

c. I got my tire fixed on my bike, and am biking to work again. In this heat, not so much fun.

Nerds Stick Together

Hey a quick shout out to LA City Nerd who, out of nowhere, linked me on his swank blog. Thank you sir (or madam).

Anyone coming here from Mr. Nerd's site, please take a few minutes to browse around....I'm sure you may find something of interest. I'm certainly not a full time blogger, so the organization is not the best.

Snow In Silver Lake

Sweltering hot weather and humidity that reminds me of my days in Washington D.C. is one thing, but I think we'd all be even more perplexed if we saw snow outside our front doors.

The picture above is a postcard rendition of a staged snowstorm that Max Sennett put together when he had his studios in the Edendale/Silver Lake area. But evidently, it truely did snow here at one time. In 1949 to be exact. The Edendale Post Office (on the corner of Alvarado and Glendale) has apicture of the snow but I haven't been able to find any online.

More Shattered Dreams

Two times in as many days my dreams have been crushed.

Ya see, I guess at heart I consider myself an idea guy. A dreamtime philanthropist without a cent to my name even. I come up with ideas that stick in my head. I know they're good ideas. I tell my friends and they say, "yeah those are good ideas, you should do them." And then I don't....I just keep them as ideas. Largely out of fear of what it takes to make an idea real. Lots and lots of money and time. I have neither. But maybe I'm kidding myself, maybe I'm just too lazy to really follow something through. Who knows? But I'm just being dramatic. If I really wanted to follow through with something, just because a version of it exists doesn't mean there isn't room for one more. I mean, there's always room for one more Thai restaurant, there's always room for one more Bar...

So what am I babbling about? Well, yesterday I stumbled upon MenuPages LA. This site essentially does what my friend Rob and I have been discussing for years. A web site that houses menu's from all your favorite restaurants, so you needn't keep that sloppy folder stuck in some random drawer. You know, that mess of menu's you have...of pizza joints and cheap Thai. It's a great resource. Check it out, and if you think it could be better, send me comments and maybe Rob and I will get off our butts and give it a run for their money....or we'll just sit back and say....yeah I coulda done that.

Then, this morning Jenny brought to my attention an article in today’s LATimes. The article titled Ritzing Silver Lake is about a woman who plans to open two Hotels in the Silver Lake area. One an hip moderately priced place where the old Sunset Pacific hotel stands. The other, a seemingly much more posh event in the Paramour Estate (Jenny and I briefly checked out this place for our wedding). This is another concept I had talked to my friends about several times. SL has needed a decent Hotel for years. In fact, my friend Cinnamon and I concepted a B&B in Silver Lake back when I worked at KPE which seems like a lifetime ago (and to give C her props, I believe it was originally her idea). Anyway, again, regardless of whether I created it or not, It's a good idea and I'm excited to see its fruition.

And just for the record, I wont go off on the writer of the article who lumped the Sunset Pacific, Short Stop, and Lucky Joy (i believe its Little Joy jackass) into the Silver Lake neighborhood which I'm sure will have Echo Park and Los Feliz hipster spinning in their couches.

So who wants to give me a million dollars for my next bright idea? Clearly we can't let this keep happening.

Keepin Cool

It's hot as balls out there. Yeah, we've all been complaining about it all week. It makes me lithargic and grumpy. Even my trusty 1940's Vornado fan can't keep me comfortable right now. But i don't blame the poor little baby. This fan, that I found while living in Richmond VA. at a swap meet has kept me cool with its soft steady breeze for the past 10 years! I just discovered that a reproduction of the fan is available on Amazon. If the repro is just as dependable as the original, I highly recommend this puppy for small spaces.

Today, in a fit of heat induced frustration a co-worker and I drove to Office Depot in search of a desk fan to keep us "less-hot".
Again, Vornado has come through with a mini-fan called the Zippi. The Zippi is a little peculiar, what with its cloth blades and mini steel torpedo body.

Steal this Post

The Coup are playing at the Knitting Factory this friday. Jenny and I are going. C'mon out and get your agro-groove on with us.

Surly Doug, Manic Wayne

So this last weekend was unreal. The heat and humidity just ruined everything. Put me in a surly mood. Yet, I had high hopes that the show at the Bowl on Sunday would crack through the oppressive heat and funk of the LA air and my mind.

I was very eager to see the opening band Os Mutantes, as I mentioned before. So after some traffic and a quick nosh in the park, we made it to our seats just as they took the stage. I enjoyed them, but just as with most aging rekindled bands from the 60's, the stage presence wasn't all that. Regardless, the mix of Bossa Nova and Santana was perfect for the muggy day.

Thievery Corporation took the stage soon after. Although being from my hometown and having seen them in their element before...for some reason I wasn't too eager to see these guys. I try to like their albums, but they fall short for me most of the time. With that said, I give them props for being able to get the crowd going and the live performance added a needed energy to many of the songs. The two guys who are actually TC, didn't seem like they did all that much...I was kind of confused as to where they fit in. The last three songs really got the place jumping, only to be dampened by the last song where Wayne Coyne stepped up to sing in a barely audible raspy tone.

After a bunch of stage altering and maintenance....Flaming Lips took the stage, and so did dozens of St. Nicks, elves, aliens, and topless chica’s. Wayne informed us that the show was being taped for a DVD that would come out at the end of the year and urged us to go Ape Shit. Big white bubbly balloons, Confetti, and other insanity filled our vision while the band began a muted lackluster version of Race for the Prize (from my favorite lips album). After the song, Wayne again, told the audience to get into it and get nuts. The Sabbatical song was next, and pretty fun. Except that Wayne's voice was so far down in the mix and raspy that it sorta fell short. Oh, and after....he asked us to....yeah, get nuts. In fact, there wasn't a point in between any songs where Wayne wasn't pleading to us to make him look good for his precious DVD. The end of the show was salvaged with a glorious rendition of War Pigs by Black Sabbath.

Wayne, you're starting to annoy me. Your desire to milk your music for cash is starting to bother me. DVD's, JC Penny, and Snotty concert antics do not make a respectable rock act in my mind.

Japanese Beer Garden

At the corner of 2nd and Los Angeles downtown is the New Otani Hotel. Catering, typically to Japanese clientelle i believe, the third floor features a pleasant japanese garden. My fiance, Jenny, had her sweet 16 party there back in the day. Recently it seems the hotel fell into disrepair, but signs in the hotel have been hyping a complete renovation.

Over the last few weeks friends from work and I have hit there new Beer Garden at the japanese garden. Pitchers of Sapporo are 18bucks and you can order beef, chicken, and veggies to grill on a mini electric hibachi on your table.

For downtown workers, this place is a great spot to detox/intox after a hard week at work.

Last Minute Mutantes

Hey, anyone reading this before they go to see the Flaming Lips tonight. Make sure you get there early (7pm) to check out the opening band Os Mutantes. They were written up in the LA Times weekend section as well as on NPR recently. Although this 60's Brazilian Psychedelic band made a resurgence in the 90's I was totally oblivious to it. Regardless, I finally got hipped to them this last week and they're not too shabby. Bossa Nova meets Santana and the like. Really fun stuff.

Bless This Heap

The annual Blessing of the Cars will be going down on July 29th. Gearheads bring their Pre68 hotrods to be blessed by an actual Catholic Priest. The rest of us come to gawk and oggle the cars and their "made up to the nines" owners and fellow admirers. This is Rockabilly central people. Damn good people watching. The ubiquitous Jay Leno usually shows up at some point, if you're into big chinned hacks.

Ragatta Absurda

The Echo Park Yacht Club Presents:

PADDLEBOAT RAGATTA 2006
SUNDAY, JULY 23, NOON
ECHO PARK LAKE BOAT HOUSE

The time has come once again to decide who is the master mariner and ruler of the Echo Park high seas. A race to the death (or finish) by crews of 2-4 sailors will take place at noon via paddleboat upon that treacherous body of water known to most as Echo Park Lake. Pirate, mariner, mermaid attire encouraged. Water pistols and other nefarious means will not only be tolerated, but rewarded! Awards and food from the sea at nearby Happy Coast (Costa Alegre) to follow. Paddleboat rental is $10/hour with $20 deposit.

Brought to you by the LA Cacophony society.

Rubber Soul

On monday of this week, about a third of the way into work, my bicycle tire blew. A big nail punctured the "green slime" protected inner tube and my morning was killed.

For the last few months, I've been pretty good about biking into work an average of 3 days a week. I've been really happy with it. My rough estimates indicate that i'm probably saving $15bucks a week in gas. I'm not polluting the city as much. I'm getting a good amount of excersize ( its a solid 5 miles in and another 5 miles back and by another loose estimate I'm burning potentially 800calories each day I do it). Unfortunately, Its all built muscle in my legs but hasn't taken anything off my chest or stomach which is in dire need of reduction.

So now I need to simply change my tube, which i fear may be complicated by the inner tube that came with the bike containing this funky green goo that supposed prevent flats. Regardless, I'll take a stab at it and hopefully get it fixed in time for a sweltering trip in on Monday.

Bikely is a cool but relatively young site that aims to help people exchange bike routes around their respective cities. Especially in LA this could be a useful tool since the streets here are so damn bike unfriendly.

My purpose for this entry....well i'm not sure. I guess maybe to encourage you to dust off that Huffy and get out on the road. But if you do, make sure you bring an extra inner-tube.

More Evidence of Al Gore as Human Being.

Good lord, why wasn't the country able to see THIS when Al was running for President? Could the world have been a different place?

Silver Lake Explained

Many times I've seen my fair neighborhood listed as Silverlake and/or Silver Lake. City Nerd sets the record streight.

Tape Babies

Those of you who are reading this in or near my home town of Washington DC may already be familiar with the work of Mark Jenkins. His urban works seem to have been popping up around the city for the last few years. Those of you who haven't seen his work may be as fascinated as I am by his creepy yet whimsical pieces. Many of them created from "molded" layers of packing tape. Any Washingtonians who have snapped your own images of his work, please send them my way.

Oddly enough, there is also an enigmatic music journalist in DC with the same name. Does anyone know if there is a relation?

Polar Inertia

Polar Inertia contains some great photographic urban anthropology. Images of Taco Trucks and Burger Joints in our fair city.

Listless Lu

Over the past 5 or 6 months my dog Lu has mellowed out. Extremely mellow, you might say outright lazy. She don't run like she used to, she don't wag her tail like she used to. And recently, she seems kinda depressed.

So the other day, Jenny urged me to take her to the vet, and we did. At first discussion with the vet, he mentioned that it could be neurological, for she has been stumbling alot and drags her feet when she walks. This really freaked me out, I instantly imagined some sort of degenerative desease that would keep stealing away my once happy go lucky pooch and turn her into a hobbled ghost. It was too much to think about. Lu stayed at the vet for a few hours for a work-up, blood tests and the like. Upon our returning to pick her up, the vet lessened the possibility of the neuro thing...but we'd have to wait for the blood tests to come back.

Turns out she has Hypothyroid, her Thyroid gland isn't producing this stuff called T4 enough. Hopefully this is the complete and only reason for her condition. So now, in addition to enzymes for her tummy, Lu gets to take two pills a day to increase her T4...and hopefully bringing her back to her goofy self. I'm quite relieved to say the least.

Summer Flicks

I've managed to check out three different "non netflix" films in so many weeks. That's impressive for me....for some reason I just haven't been making it out to the theaters enough.

Sketches of Frank Gehry: I was pretty impressed with this movie. I think alot of SoCal people want to not like Frank...he's become such an icon...and the goto guy for anyone who wants to think they understand contemporary architecture. But if the movie holds any truth, there isn't any reason not to think this guy is totally legit (although it was directed by his pal Sydney Pollack). It's interesting to see into the mind of a person who creates art that, unlike a painting, is imposed upon the collective viewership of any given city. And the movie is largely about the mind and instinct. This is where i really think this film hits the mark where others don't. I got a good impression on where Frank is coming from...and I admire it.

Wassup Rockers: My company presented a sneak peak of Larry Clarks (Kids, Gummo) new film at our factory. Jenny and I went down to check it out. We felt super old, the event drawing almost purely pre-twenty year old skate rats. The movie was projected onto a big white sheet outside and the sound was miserable. Assuming we weren't missing any insanely deep dialogue through the wind muffled speakers I'd have to say this one was a clunker. Replacing Clark's typical shock-value with derivative story-line, I felt like this was a failed attempt at creating a Suburbia for the Latino's of East LA. Instead of understanding their day to day environment though, we follow them to Beverly Hills where Zaniness and Danger ensues. Whatever.

Nach Libre: I had very low hopes for this one, and I was pleasantly surprised. Nacho Libre was a very entertaining and incredibly well art-directed summer flick that was perfect for Jack Black. Go check it out. Enough said.

In Your Area

A few other cool LA oriented blogs i've recently found.

1. Atwater Village Newbie
2. Los Anjealous

Time Piece

I've recently really gotten into watches. I've periodically owned one...but I've either broken them all or just slacked on replacing their battery or something. All of them, previously, no more expensive then like 60bucks. But in reply to my engadgement ring to Jenny, she bought me a watch. So I obsessed. I wanted something pure and timeless. I've found that i'm not really a metal band guy...mostly leather. Anyway, So I settled on a Hamilton Jazz Master. Moderately priced but very good looking and well made. I was torn between the Quartz or Automatic. Quartz supplies more acurate time, Automatic is wound by the motion of your wrist and can lose time depending on how much you wear it but looks cool with all its funky metal moving parts. Hamilton is the oldest existing american watch company (although now owned by Swatch) and evidently created the first Electronic watch.

So now I'm always on the lookout for cool watches. Not necissarily to buy (not until i make that first Mil), but to admire. Yeah, if I had the cash, i could see getting pretty into it. Anyway, I think I'm once again on the front end of a trend. 121 Time is a new website that lets you customize the complete creation of your watch. Pretty impressive. Cool Hunting just posted an interview with a guy who runs the site Watchismo. I've even found a few blogs devoted to the Watch.

You may think your cell-phone is your end-all be-all gadget, but a good watch is still damn handy.

It aint all Youtube these days.

Don't have VH1? Or simply rather hand-pick your retro-video reunion? check out "I Heart 80's Music"