You Can Forget All Your Cares and Go Downtown - Monday 5/11/2009

Antipasta, Braveheart and I ventured into downtown Los Angeles for the day to visit some museums and soak in the atmosphere. Central Los Angeles doesn't have the kind of street culture that other major cities do, but it's still pretty wonderful.

I'd driven by the new(ish) Walt Disney Concert Hall but I hadn't been up close or inside. It seemed rather sharp to me, but it's quite sensuous when you see it up close. As Braveheart said, the building itself evokes the movement of music. I really wanted to put my hands on those walls. And maybe even try sliding down them!

We went inside and there were tours offered, but they didn't offer a viewing of the auditorium. Antipasta and Braveheart were mildly shocked that I haven't been there yet. There they go, setting the cultural bar a little higher again.


Above the entrance to Our Lady of Los Angeles Cathedral. I love that her toes stick over the edge of the platform.

Oddly, I didn't take a photograph of the outside of the cathedral. You can get an idea of it from the church's architecture page. It felt very uninviting to me. Layers of shingled concrete give the impression that it's like an armadillo ready to roll up at the slightest provocation.

Maybe this armored effect is a symptom of the struggles the Catholic Church faced during the time when this structure was designed and built, as it was under siege of so many accusations of sexual abuse by its priests.


A noon mass began as we stepped inside the gigantic sanctuary. See the three-dimensional cross in the window?

The windows were probably my favorite part of the cathedral. The thinly cut natural alabaster lets in a most benign light.

I happened to take a shot almost identical to the cathedral's own representation.


One of the small chapels that line the corridor outside the sanctuary. The Cathedral commissioned some truly lovely artwork.

All in all, though, the cathedral feels like a mausoleum. Cold and impersonal. I wonder if it will resonate for people in a hundred years when it has had time to absorb the hopes and fears of those who worship here.


It was just a little misty up at elevation. This building is on 4th Street near Olive.


Our next stop was MOCA [Museum of Contemporary Art], where it's okay to photograph exhibits from the permanent collection.

I like the sculpture on the left. It's called "Soft Scissors."

See it now?

I like art that doesn't take itself too darned seriously.



Number 1, 1949 by Jackson Pollack surprised me. When you are in the room with this piece, you can follow all the different colors and layers in succession and see so much.

It struck me that it's like looking out at the whole amazing universe and simultaneously inward into the heart of the atom.


We explored the performance room part of the Dan Graham exhibit.

Braveheart's response to most creative challenges is to remove her shirt.

Me?

I take pictures or notes. Or both.


Well-walked and hungry, we arrive at Grand Central Market to seek out lunch. It was after 2 p.m. by then and some of the stuff on the steamer tables honestly looked a little crusty. But we scoped it all out and came up with a shared lunch of teriyaki chicken, ceviche tostada, scallop burrito, and tilapia.




The tilapia plate, served with rice, beans, shredded lettuce and corn tortillas. Mmm.



And we're off to Los Angeles Public Library's Central Library. This building and the services it provides along with all it's branch libraries are one of the truly great things about this city. I use it all the time.
Along with books, interesting architecture and literary events, it houses a gallery on the 2nd floor and an exhibition space on the 1st floor.

This is a self-portrait of Richard Neutra, a California architect whose designs had a great impact on California. I have to say that I am not a huge fan of the sharpness of his building designs, but I was very impressed with his artwork.

Antipasta pointed out that there were early 1930s style cars parked in front of his futuristic looking buildings in many of his renderings. Interesting!



Stairs up from 5th Street to 4th, across from the library. There's usually water running through the rocks on top of the bannister.



These kids aren't fooling around. They know how to get around downtown.


We search in vain for a Pinkberry...


Yes, my toes are a little tired. After yesterday's calf-stretching climb up and around Vasquez Rocks, they've had a bit of a workout.

Santa Fe - Canyon Road Arts

We got up bright and early on Friday morning and, after breakfasting on muffins and fresh fruit in our casita, walked down to the Canyon Road arts district which started just a few blocks away.

The B&B is off of Acequia Madre, which means Mother Ditch. This is the mother ditch, an irrigation channel that was built 400 years ago, around the time of the founding of Santa Fe.



I liked this stuff. Giant seed pods, and roaming moose.


I felt a great affinity for this guy, clutching his creation to him. Artist's dilemma: the best work is closest to the bone. Now you're supposed to share it with the world.


Nice, colorful sign.


Lovely and simple.


Diver and I both found this one a little disturbing.



Even more disturbing: the submerged woman.


One of the many fabulous doors of Santa Fe. I love how the colors of the houses and businesses are all very similar, but the buildings vary marvelously in the details. Doors, windows, hinges, all provide opportunities to make the place one's own.


Great spot for this statue!

A little wild art, Banksy-style!


My foot in Santa Fe.

We walked back part of the way on another street, with a sidewalk that wound along next to a creek. If you're not into buying really high end art--like I'm not--this is an excellent way to visit Canyon Road. We did the whole walk before 9 a.m., and had the sidewalk and road to ourselves...well, plus a few friendly joggers and dog-walkers.

Once More Into the Breach - Sunday 9/7/2008

Okay, not really into the breach. Up the mountain. This is Sundry's Mountain, so-called by locales.

Okay, really just by Sundry and Hydra. And a few of our more attentive friends.



My foot amongst the rocks on the interesting hilltop. There are little egg-like bits of quartz up here amongst high-iron content volcanic looking rock.

I know just enough about geology to wish that I really understood this stuff.

Usually my left foot is in the photos alone. Clearly my right foot has had enough of this folderol.



As soon as I stop being tired all the time (except during and directly after exercising) I'm going to ask an acquaintance who's in the know to do a geologic diagnosis of our area via photos.

I think this is maybe a volcanic plug at the top of one of our hills.

Last Day of Freedom - Friday 2/22/2008

Okay, yeah, the title may be a bit dramatic. The good news is that work is picking up enough at last, post WGA strike, that we've all been called in to work the full week next week. Bad news is, I have to give up my chair by the window five days a week and actually do something I get paid for.


May I just say that this is my absolute favorite type of weather in Acton? Cool, not too windy, with clouds playing through the mountains. Each breath of air on my little hike around the neighborhood was like a peppermint landing on my tongue.



The hill behind our house is responding well to the rain. This was blackened by fire last March.



My foot wanted to get into the picture and show you the teensy purple flowers that are blooming on the hillside.

Getty Villa - Saturday 10/20/2007

It was a beautiful day to visit the Getty Villa. It's the "old Getty," which was closed for several years for renovations. Mom and I went to the "new Getty" on something like the 7th day it was open. We'd been here years and years ago. The herb gardens are in much better shape than they were there.


My foot at the center of the universe. Just one of the amazing floors in this reproduction of a villa found buried under ash in Herculanium, Italy.



Detail of a fountain in the east garden. Beautiful colors and patterns.


Detail of one of the trompe l'oiel walls. This is one of those museums where the building is as much of an attraction as the artwork. Which is rather like some of the best European museums.




There's so much attention to detail. Even these electric lamps with Medusa heads molded into their bottoms.

And the displays are of a manageable scope. You can get through the whole thing in a leisurely one and a half to two hour visit and not feel you've rushed or missed anything.



I took this one to show the thin panel of marble behind this statue, which allows light from outside to glow into the room. I remembered this as one of the more magical features of the villa from my last visit maybe 15-20 years ago, but there was no mention of it in the room. I wondered if I'd just dreamed it.

But no, I asked one of the docents, who was delighted to confirm that the sheet of marble here is only about 1 inch thick and that it's lit only by sunlight.


Perhaps my favorite work of art today. If you are lucky enough to visit the family room when there are no kids around, you'll feel comfortable doing as we did and decorating one of the vases that's there.

The figures in the middle of this vase were drawn in by Hydra, who has the advantage of a lot of knowledge of ancient art under his belt. Pretty cool, huh?

My lion was pretty sad. Mom did some nice patterns, but erased hers too quickly!



Cool Thing: We stopped at Patrick's Roadhouse for a bite to eat to kill time before the museum opened. We made great time. It's a fun little place I'd go back to on purpose, especially knowing the history now. The Arnold Swartzenegger chair is no longer pulled up to a table, but that's really okay by me.