Warehouse (East L.A.)

East L.A. - Christmas Eve 2007

December 24, 2007: Jury Duty

Tomorrow, on what was to be the first day of my Christmas vacation, I will be deep in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, south of the 10, as part o f the jury pool for the Superior Court of California. I hope they don't ask me about my opinion of attorneys. Or maybe I hope that's exactly what they ask me.

Afternoon Update: First the Good News: It being Christmas Eve, the number of trials to be heard will be drastically reduced from 20 to 30 to three (3!).

If in the future your presence at 1945 Hill St. is requested, you're probably looking at a short, possibly one day misdemeanor trial. You'll get a brief, not exactly canned speech from a judge about your civic duty, a ten minute video outlining the process (which just about everyone ignores) followed by an open-ended amount of waiting in a room that is not as nice as what you find in an airport but serviceable.

Now the Better News: Without anyone being quizzed by a single attorney, we're dismissed at 12:05.

Bail Bonds

Wilshire

[click to enlarge]

"The only thing that can save the world is the reclaiming of the awareness of the world. That's what poetry does."

- Allen Ginsberg

Woman Ordering Food

Iglesia Nuestra Senora Reina de los Angeles.

Tucked off to the side of Our Lady Queen of Angels church is the above mission adjacent to Olvera Street. Together they seem to form a hub of immigration services, first-of-the-month baptisms, AIDS quilts (when was the last time you saw an AIDS quilt?) and a memorial to neighborhood soldiers who have died on Iraq. Neither the church or the mission are to be confused with the bombastic Our Lady of The Angels cathedral up the road on Temple.

Mural ( Hand, Heart and Eyes)

Statue

Speaks No English Whatsoever...

...but was very grateful for a half dozen Chesterfields.

[click to enlarge]

The Kid Gets Back Up

Quote of the Night:

Lester (to McNulty) - "Life", you know what that is, Jimmy? That's the shit that happens while you're waiting for the moments that never come."

("The Wire", Season 3)

Meal of the Night - Red beans and rice

Ringtone of the Night - this

Mr. Mark

As near as I could understand, Mr. Mark is an aspiring cartoonist working on a strip that involves "Mr. Mark", a homeless cartoonist.

David

In the Seventies, he was an art student. After we talked, he showed me his drawings. "They're about redemption."

Writers Guild Strike is Kicking Ass

I'm not exactly objective about the Writers Guild strike but the writers have put out some tremendous videos. And it really is about corporate greed.

Fairfax High School

Desk In A Cage

Foggy Jogger

Tired Man Reads His Bible

From my several visits to "Our Lady Queen of Angeles/La Placita" I knew this gentleman reads only the Bible while constantly shaking his cup for donations. Noticing that he was now on The Book of Job, I asked him what he thought of Job's hard life. He shook off any comparison to his current state of affairs to that of Job's. "Job was a righteous man, a righteous man."

Flowers And Cigarettes In Silverlake

Alley In West Hollywood

[click on photo to enlarge]

Pan Pacific Park

Late Night At The Getty

Union Collision

Being Rich

Being rich is ordering so many books from Amazon (new, half price and, unbelievably, one cent plus shipping) that when you come home after an endless week of work, not knowing which book it'll be while Bill Evans plays on Napster, eating Trader Joes sausage and potatoes while "The Godfather" (muted) plays on Bravo with The New Yorker still unopened &, at some point, after a night of photography, somewhere, [Los Angeles under a nearly full moon], something from Netflix.

House (West L.A.)

[click to enlarge]

Malibu Lagoon Before The Fire

Of course there's no comparing the rumored loss of a small lagoon to the loss of lives and homes in Malibu and San Diego but nevertheless these are some photos I took of the lagoon early Saturday morning, October 6, 2007.

Malibu Life Guard Station

Malibu Pier

At My Desk With Coffee ( #16)

The above is a large section of my mechanic's security gate. I believe its corten steel, often used by sculptor's for the beautiful way it rusts as it ages.

Meal of the Week: Chicken with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Double-Bill of the Night: "Shane" and "A Place In The Sun" (TCM)

Quote of the Night: There is no end, there is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life.

- Federico Fellini

Live Nude Cabaret

Hidden Treasures

My very talented and industrious sister-in-law has a new website of handmade jewelry that you should check out.

Hidden Treasures has dozens of bracelets, necklaces, rings and gift boxes - just in time for Christmas.

Yes, it's in Chinese but if you see something you like (scroll down each page to see larger images of each item) let me know and I'm sure we can work something out.

Los Angeles River (at Frogtown)

I know this shot is not unlike "At The Pier (Again)" but enlarge it anyway.

I'm enjoying:

• (again) the total chaos of "Dig!", the documentary on The Brian Jonestown Massacre;
• Trader Joe's Pomegranate Juice with Green Tea (diluted with Dr. Emoto water);
• Homemade macaroni and cheese.

I'm regretting the shot I didn't get very early this morning around Eighth and Hoover of a young man holding a Bible with the sun glinting off the gold edge of the pages.

Mother / Father

Angel Bra

Palm Tree

[click to enlarge]

Homeless Woman On Fairfax

"In 2004, Bush pushed through a Medicare drug entitlement program costing more than $700 billion over 10 years, passing the cost on to future generations. Now he's drawing the line on a Democratic proposal to expand a children's health care program costing about one-tenth that and paid for by higher tobacco taxes.

...With Democrats in charge, the president is threatening to veto virtually all of this year's spending bills. The amount saved by these vetoes would be dwarfed by Bush's request for more Iraq war spending."

USA Today
September 24, 2007

At The Pier Again

Spent the evening using Photoshop on this photo [click to enlarge], eating Trader Joes seafood pasta and, per Michael Lally's suggestion, listening to cellist Erik Friedlander (son of photographer Lee Freidlander) via Napster. Now I've got Chet Baker and Stan Getz playing (Napster again) with "The Fountainhead", a totally ridiculous movie, on TMC. By the way, you know that Google offers a free document and spreadsheet program at it's homepage, right?

At The Getty

At The Pier

Another Reason To Love L.A.

Pepe

He's at the Hollywood Farmers Market (near Hollywood and Vine) nearly every Sunday morning.

Cracked Face

Korla Pandit

It's so hot in Los Angeles that I can do nothing but drink banana yogurt smoothies and read "The Great Black Way" by RJ Smith. Subtitled "L.A. in the 1940s and the Lost African-American Renaissance", it's full of characters such as Korla Pandit. Passing as a ill-defined Hindu mystic, he was really John Roland Redd, a black man who performed live on KTLA for over 900 all-music shows.

Flag (West Hollywood)

Mulholland Drive

Flag (L.A. Times Bldg.)

Flag (Downtown)

Flag

Sleeping Man

Playground

Friday Morning: A long time reader of TJWG is having a play of his produced. Here are the details:

I'm excited to announce that the world premiere of my
new comedy, WALKING INTO TRAFFIC, starts August 24 at
Unknown Theater in Hollywood. I would be thrilled if
you could make it. I've listed a brief synopsis
below.

Sleepy office drone Bart Barton wakes up just long
enough to hear radio newscaster Sophie Snyder break
down in tears on the air. Both of them get fed up and
set out on foot to change the world…but who the hell
walks in Los Angeles?

The theater is located at 1110 N. Seward Street, just
east of Highland and north of Santa Monica. Please
see www.unknowntheater.com for more information.