Norman Rockwell and the Moving Slideshow

Freedom from Want. That's the name of this painting and also one of the Four Freedoms spoken by Franklin D. Roosevelt during a state of the union address. Norman Rockwell's famous work was featured in a 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post accompanying an essay about Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. Thanksgiving just passed and the holiday always digs into my memory bank and spits out this image.

I remember sitting in a large lecture hall, which was actually an auditorium with a large stage and projection screen for university-related events. My art history class was held in this room.

It was early in my college years. I was an interior architectural design student, taking elective classes and minoring in English literature. That meant I'd pull at least two all-nighters each week, alternating between trying to complete an essay, read several plays or novels, and work on time-consuming drafting, model-work, or 2D design projects.

I sat in that auditorium, listening to the final review and looking at slides, sleep-deprived after a couple of days of staying up and finishing projects/essays for finals week. The Norman Rockwell slide appeared on the screen. The class wrote down who did the painting, what year it made and its cultural significance. I stared at the painting, unable to absorb any of the information being spoon-fed to me, and instead started hallucinating from sleep deprivation, like Salvador Dali liked to do. The grandmother and grandfather had an evil glow around them, sneering at the turkey and their grandchildren. The grandchildren and family members vibrated, as if they were in a hurry to receive their portion. This was the decline of America, people were on the advent of consumerism and greediness. I held onto my chair's arms and waited for the slide to change.

Public Transit

More often now, I've been riding on the Metro Red Line to get to work and back. The convenience of having it very close to where I live, for the past two places I've lived, allows me to leave my car behind and forget the stresses of traffic and finding parking in downtown. There's always been strange characters on the train, but my most recent encounter inspired this post.

On the Red Line, there's a short Asian lady wearing glasses, who's older with black hair, that goes around asking for donations for the homeless. I believe in charity, and hate to poke fun at this, but the way she asks is so distinctively amusing in her heavy Asian accent. And she doesn't miss a person.

"Wud yu liiike to donate to homeless peepo, sar? Wud yu? Wud yu?"

She gets in your face. She stares at you harshly and points at your face when she asks, "Would you?" She touched my bike.

I guess her tactics work though. I saw her get off the train and count the cash people gave her. I walked on with my ravished bike in hand.

The People I Meet #5: Film Alcoholic

Yesterday, a little before 11am, I hear playful, but violent knocking on the door. Stef had just left for work, so I was all alone. The knocking continued, and by habit, I got up and peeked through the peephole. It was a face I recognized so I opened the door. A waft of heavy alcohol came through the opening.

"Hey! You're not Stefan..." he says, confused as all hell.
"No, he's at work right now," I said, terrified to say any more.
"Oh! Uh, there's something I wanted him to help me with, you see, I'm working on a movie..."

Of course. Only in LA would someone completely drunk before 11am, come to my door and talk about working in movies. After more awkward conversation, I told him I would tell Stef about his visit and to call him. He agreed, turned toward the stairs, and left.

I hope he is okay out there in the world.

Augmented Reality is the Next Big Thing?

Augmented reality has been creeping up from under the radar for a while now. There is even a conference dedicated to it. In the game Heavy Rain, agent Jayden uses AR through special glasses to examine crime scenes and pull up his case files. In Vanquish, whose demo is releasing today(!), the robot suit is equipped with an AR mode that slows down time in-order to give the player an advantage in rough situations. How would it affect our reality though?

The video above seamlessly merges AR into the everyday happenings. It's a mindfuck to even think of the possibilities of AR. (By the way, the video was made for 3D so it looks weird to normal eyes.)

And we thought people talking with their Bluetooth earpieces was weird...

Emak Bakia

Yesterday was Man Ray's birthday. Happy belated birthday to one of my biggest inspirations.

Tunnel Vision on Sunset

I almost collapsed at Sunset Junction. I felt like that balloon in the picture above, detached from myself, floating to an unknown destination. It happened during Lee Scratch Perry, the only reason why I was at the festival, but its origins are unexplainable. Doing my research, I believe what I experienced was a panic attack.

I had all the symptoms:
- tunnel vision
- time moving slowly
- trembling
- sweating
- dizziness
- lightheadedness
- derealization
- nausea
- muscle weakness
- paresthesias
- the need to escape

Cold water is my safety blanket. It's all that's needed to make me come back to reality.

When we got home from Sunset Junction, we watched Downtown 81. The film inspired us to listen to the Suicide so we played the music, turned off all the lights, and projected stars onto our walls.

As we laid in bed, I kept staring at the stars, thinking they were a metaphor for people: they moved at different speeds, but some were content with where they were. All of a sudden, synaesthesia set in and I kept seeing spots of purple fade in and out of the ceiling, but it only happened in a certain area of the ceiling. I couldn't control it. It just happened. Even when I closed my eyes, I saw the purple dots. It was my second time experiencing synaesthesia. The first was seeing streaks of orange, brown, and blue when I heard different sizes of vehicles passing by outside of the window.

But, I digress. Many times, I feel like that balloon in the picture, floating wherever the wind wants to take me. It controls my flow of life.

A 20-Something

I'm 24 and still in limbo between adolescence and adulthood.

This NY Times article reaffirms that.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

"Ten minutes is all it will take," said the woman on the phone. No, she had to be wrong. Sometimes ten minutes is not ten minutes. It can stretch and shrink. That was something I did know for sure."

August Downtown LA Art Walk

My favorite picture from this month's art walk is the one I shot above.

The People I Meet #4 - "Rich" Couple

Last Sunday, Stef and I decided to take a drive along PCH to Malibu to enjoy the California sun. Instead of listening to the radio, we jammed out on a KORG Monotron and Bebot on my iPhone the whole way. I could barely contain the necessity to keep my eyes on the road, getting distracted by Ferraris, motorcycles, crashing waves, and surfers. Stuck in sightseer traffic, we noticed strange things, like two people selling quarts of their gourmet basil lemonade on the sidewalk out of a cooler and a large sombrero-wearing Mexican statue holding a boat(?) that graces the roof of La Salsa.

After passing many seafood joints, we made it to our destination at Malibu Seafood. This shack is a tiny building nestled right at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountain Reserve, proving popular with its long line and filled parking spaces. Fish and chips were on our minds, but looking at their menu, we couldn't hold off on that day's special of grilled yellowtail, so we compromised and shared fish and chips along with the grilled yellowtail. That was the best idea ever.

There's only outdoor seating and the benches were made to accommodate large parties. The two of us took over a large bench (it was the only seat open) and felt bad that we were taking up so much space. Luckily, another couple came by and asked if they could share the space.

They were your "normal," "rich" couple: Prada purse, overdressed for a nice lunch right by the coast at a shacky seafood place, designer sunglasses, and I only assume they drove up in their black luxury automobile. Not to mention, miserable. Their interaction with each other was so stoic, so empty. The wife presented herself so horrendously, coming off as a controlling, needy wife that only enjoys her husband for his money. The husband seemed like a gentle soul, tending to his wife's needs to be nice, that I almost felt bad for him.

As soon as they sat down, the wife couldn't stop peering over at Stef and me. It was strange. Was she judging us? Was our apparent happiness radiating invading her personal space, causing her to sneer? We were having fun joking around and savoring our food on a lovely day. We talked about driving more up the coast to this biker hangout to grab a couple of cold ones. We were enjoying each other's company immensely.

Husband walks away from the bench to get condiments.
"Honey, can you get me some ketchup? Some ketchup honey. Ketchup please. I need some ketchup." Says the wife in a quiet, monotone voice.
He comes back with three tiny containers filled with ketchup.
"Why did you get so much ketchup?"
Us, in our heads, "Because you kept hollering your need for ketchup, you bitch!"

In the middle of the wife complaining about her food, the husband tries to relieve tension by saying something nice.

"We should get a boat, and sail along the ocean."
"Ugh, and where are we going to get a boat?"
"We can borrow my friend's. I don't know honey, we should just get away."
"Ugh."

In the mean time, she still kept peering over in our direction. She must have been looking at us because there was only a wall beyond us. We left, enjoying our whole experience eating some of the best fish and chips on a day we couldn't ask for more perfect weather.

Stef asked, "Was she looking at us?"
"YES." I said.
"What was up with her? Was she judging us? She kept complaining about her food, did you notice that?"
"I don't know. I'm sorry she was dissatisfied, I thought it was great. Did we bother her with our gleaming faces? Maybe it's so apparent that we're happy together that it bothered her because she looked miserable."

We walked to our car and continued our adventure along the Malibu coast.

Echo Curio on August 9th

howardAmb's matching shirts

My assumption was correct. The lighting at Echo Curio set the scene for some great photos.

Devin Sarno and Bobb Bruno playing experimental tunes

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any photos of Kandyce and the Killdozer because my hands were occupied by a video camera.

Below is their lovely performance in two parts.

WGWit, HARD Summer and C Strut

Strange road signs like the one above are the kind I have an unexplainable affinity for. Some of them make me smile and wonder how/why they were designed that way. The day I took the sign, we had our blog launch meeting and I finally met all of our other contributors. We are a VERY eclectic mix I must say, so we'll be covering a lot of ground. I like how everything is going right now, but there is/will be a lot of work to do and it can't be more exciting.

In light of the EDC tragedy where a 15 year old died from being a complete idiot being irresponsible with drugs, HARD was filled with cops, inside and outside of the venue. There were even drug-sniffing dogs roaming the area. Despite all that, HARD Summer was a blast. The two stage setup was perfect, making it easy to switch between the stages to get a maximal taste of music.

I got to catch The Gaslamp Killer, Sinden, Breakbot, The Twelves, Switch, Benga, Skream, Erol Alkan, Flying Lotus and CC and all were very enjoyable. I got tired of The Twelves and Benga/Skream's set because there's only so much dubstep I can take.

I wish I had stayed to listen to Soulwax drop their collab with Crookers + Mixhell mix "We Love Animals," but festivals are long and I expended all my energy earlier in the day. It's difficult to stay until the end of shows now, unlike how exciting it used to be nine years ago.

Maybe if I took things this slow the whole day, my energy would have been saved in reserve:

Tonight at Echo Curio, Stef will be playing as part of howardAmb, with Devin Sarno + Bobb Bruno, and Kandyce and the Killdozer. I will be taking pictures to add to my live band photography collection. Hopefully the cool lighting is still installed in the space. It would make for great footage and photos.

Blueberry Muffins

Last Saturday morning, Jen and Sarah baked these wonderful blueberry muffins with a lemon zest sugar crust for breakfast. Points if you can spot the naked muffin they made for me since I am not a fan of fruit. The night before, Jen had cooked a pot roast (which I also wouldn't eat since it's beef) and roasted veggies for the three of us to feast on.

S: "Dude, this is like how we hung out in high school."
A: "Except instead of baking cookies and drinking soda..."
J: "...we're making pot roast and drinking Mojitos."

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

Sometimes I wonder if my next job interview will be anything like this:

Bowed Glockenspiel

Stef finally got his glockenspiel back. He was interested using a bow with it, but weren't any videos on the web showing how it's done or how it sounds, so we took the initiative and created one ourselves. With my little Flip cam taped to our floor lamp, we were able to get an awesome angle of the glockenspiel. I edited the parts together and Stef worked a bit on the sound. 'Twas a fun little project.

July in Music Retrospect

The Toughcats at Echo Curio

This is an early retrospect. Yes, it's being written a week before the month officially ends but there already has been a ton of great shows.

July started with Woolen and Lou Barlow and the Missingmen at The Hobby Shop which came the day after Stef's solo performance at Echo Curio. The next day, Stef and I saw a friend's band, Marcus Very Ordinary at Hotel Cafe. Three days of great music back to back to back. A great way to start the month.

Bayyyyy Areeeeeeaaaaaaa!

The next night, Sarah and I went to Freak City and experienced an all night party with various DJs and hoped to see one of our favorite French electro DJs play the afterparty after hearing the rumor. DJ Mehdi was in town performing as Carte Blanche with Riton and his posse showed, but he never played. This place was more of a urban/hip hop scene, but filled with good vibes. I remember one tiny room being aurally dangerous because the decibel levels were off the charts.

howardAmb at Pehrspace

Bobb Bruno's last solo show?

A friend of mine curated a video game themed art show at Pehrspace called Tetricide where howardAmb and Bobb Bruno played. howardAmb was spectacular, as always, and it was a treat to have Bobb decide at the last minute (that day) he was going to play. Being sleepless the night before, I walked around with a Red Bull in my hand. Bobb handed me his Jägermeister in a flask to make a Jäger bomb in my mouth.

Amanda Jo Williams at Las Perlas (I know, dark picture.)

Our friends invited Stef and me to watch Amanda Jo Williams perform at Las Perlas on the first night of music there. A friend plays guitar in her band. The sound system could vastly be improved, and maybe the loud nature of the bar isn't the right setting to have music, but her performance was still entertaining. They'll need a PA if they're serious about hosting music acts there. Though I must say, the tequila selection is pleasantly daunting.

Missincinatti at Human Resources

Someone I know recently opened an art gallery in Chinatown called Human Resources where they occasionally have music performances. Missincinatti is one of my favorite bands and they played outside under the perfect summer night atmosphere. I wish they would have had bands set up at the far wall so it wasn't so awkward for the audience. The entrance is located where I was standing, and people kept having to distractingly walk in front of everyone to get to the other side. Missincinatti released their debut CD at the show and it is a must have in your collection.

The Toughcats in color

The Toughcats traveled across the country from a small island off the coast of Maine to embark on a West Coast tour for two weeks. Their first stop was at Echo Curio in Echo Park and I haven't seen that place that crowded in a very long time. It was a great start to their tour. Many friends made it out and those who never experienced one of their shows were enthralled by their performance.

Here's to a great August.

Vegas and Beyond

One of the very few photos I took in Vegas

My month was kept busy attending several live music shows and taking a trip to Vegas. Stef has never been, so I thought it would be nice to take him to see The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil show for his birthday.

Funny story: I booked everything in advance and planned it out in my head--we'd drive out on Sunday, have the night to roam around Vegas, and then see Beatles LOVE Monday night to leave the amazing show in our heads during the long drive home. The website had technical difficulties so I had to book tickets via phone, which I absolutely abhor. They misspelled my last name by one letter and I never got my e-mail confirmation.

When we arrived at The Mirage on Sunday, we played around with the idea of picking up our show tickets since the lines weren't atrocious. By the time we got back to the hotel after enjoying a night out, the box office was closed.

The next morning, I opened the Word document that included the scribbled confirmation number and the date we were seeing the show.

The date was for the night before.
Ifreakedthehellout.

Coming to my senses, I remembered that I ended up booking tickets for Sunday night since there were better seats available for that show. Not getting the e-mail confirmation, that thought was buried in the back of my mind.

Luckily, The Mirage was very accommodating and were able to transfer our tickets to that night. Dancing around with an air of relief, we headed to the pool with a bloody mary and strawberry daquiri in our hands.

I am very grateful. The show was spectacular. One of my favorite parts was when the dancers were engaging in high-jumping acrobatics onto London-style telephone booths. Another awesome part was seeing the dancing yellow boots to Lady Madonna. The best part was seeing it with Stef.

Vegas is what you want it to be. For us, it was the perfect, relaxing (and hot!) mini-getaway.

The Hobby Shop Music Series - Woolen + Lou Barlow and the Missingmen

The July 1st The Hobby Shop music series featured Heard of Elephants collective band Woolen and Lou Barlow + The Missingmen.

Woolen is a band I haven't heard of before that night and it was great to see them at an aurally pleasant environment as my introduction to them. They are a great indie rock band to check out.

Lou Barlow played a couple of songs solo and then asked The Missingmen to join him for the rest of his set. I just missed him at the Bootleg Theatre and discovering that he was playing at The Hobby Shop was a treat. The set had a nice mix of heavy sounds and slow-paced music.

I was spoiled by the setting that night. It's going to be difficult to experience live music at a larger venue. Sadly, The Hobby Shop music series has ended, but there are plans to revive it in August.

To hear recordings and view video of past performances, visit The Hobby Shop Studios site (http://www.thehobbyshopstudios.com) and click on "Live at The Hobby Shop."

Orbital at Glastonbury 2010

Orbital performs the Doctor Who theme song with current doctor, Matt Smith

I crave this experience.

Coast Starlight

I recently hopped on a 11 hour time machine (er, train) from Union Station to Oakland where the sights were majestic and life was undoubtedly slow-paced. I admit, I did fall asleep for a couple hours, but even so, the train jolts woke me up enough times to quickly snap scenery before falling asleep again.

Unlike planes, where hardly anyone talks to anyone else, the train is a very social place. At dinner time, we opted to eat in the Dining Car where a couple joined us at our booth. They had just gotten on the train in Salinas and were on their way home to Eugene, Oregon.

For those who haven't experienced a train ride, I recommend taking the Amtrak on one of their long routes.