Hollywood, CA (2006)

Street Musician

Trying to make conversation, I asked him if he had ever been to New Orleans.

"Not habitually ."

Cold Night in L.A.

 

Snow Pea Soup

Don't bother going to the cookbook, it's snow peas in chicken broth with lots of garlic and a little tofu ('cause I'm so sick). 

A Delicious Cup Of Coffee

Sore throat, runny nose, etc. Two maximum strength cold tablets and I was up and out the door to take some pictures before seven thirty this morning. The photos may or may not be okay but at a quarter to ten I was back inside, in Famima on Santa Monica Blvd., for a cup really good coffee (Allegro). I came home and immediately went into a deep sleep for thirty minutes. I woke up and made more coffee. Then I remembered that in yesterday's mail I received my (in all likelihood) final Christmas present, the above expresso maker. So I made yet another cup of coffee. The pills, the nap and the three cups of coffee have just about plowed through my congestion. But I'm still going to have another nap...

Early Morning On Venice Blvd.

 

Abandoned Garage

As I was shooting this there was a bad traffic jam less than a mile north of here at the Four Seasons. Less than a mile and a half to the west there was a worse traffic jam at the Beverly Hilton, both because of the Golden Globe Awards. All through this part of town there is a definite franticness with no feeling at all that this is Martin Luther King Day. And I had to go out into it twice. Once to pick up my photos for my photography class and a second time to take them to a hopefully much more competent film shop. Some, but not all, of the fault was mine. I'm having trouble with the technical aspects of transferring the photos I'm posting to a "real" photograph. Something to do with pixels, resolution and other stuff I might have to actually sit down and learn.

Angeles Crest National Forest

Less than 70 miles from the center of Los Angeles.

Yep, That's Ice

It's damn cold at nearly 8,000 feet.

 

Angeles Crest

Angeles Crest

Last Days of the Ambassador Hotel

As I was taking these shots a young and presumably off duty security guard asked me why there's been so much interest in this building as its being torn down.
"Fifty-sixty years ago this was place was hot. Lots of movie stars."
"I gotta read up on that that."
"And of course Robert Kennedy was assassinated here."
"Oh, really?"
"This country would be entirely different in that hadn't of happened."
"I gotta read up on that." 

The Ambassador ( 2 )

At this point, its cold, I haven't had breakfast yet and rain is starting to fall [that might be a smudge of rain on the lens] but I really like this vantage point. Technically, I guess I'm trespassing and this isn't the nicest part of town but I can feel the building fall and taste the concrete in the air. So what the hell...

From The Embassy

Window (West of Rampart)

 

It's Turnip Time In Los Angeles

Too bad they taste so vile....

 

Red Door On Cahuenga

 

Barbershop on Temple (Jan. 2006)

The Waiting Room

The Sunset Pacific Motel

Late Saturday Night

Possibly as an antidote to the above photo, which I'm told is a little on the grim side, I'm listening to "Smile" by Nat King Cole. I remember it from many juke boxes in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

I saw an article that made reference to "Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Five-Spice Butter." Does anybody have any idea what 5 Spice butter might be?

At the moment I'm eating more pasta with seafood. I only wish I had (you guessed it) more.

East of West L.A.

Beauty School

 

Asthma Vapineze

Quote of the Night: "If you don't care where you are, then you aren't lost."
- Unknown
Song of the Night: "London Calling"
- The Clash
Meal of the Night: Pasta with seafood

First Turnip Of The Season

Homegrown, with twelve more on the way. Will I be saving the leaves for a weekend vat of vegetable soup? Stay tuned.

Green Chair On Orange Tiles

Water Fountain In The Park

At My Desk With Coffee (#5)

Happy New Year!

I came home from taking photos and turned on the television to see the famous mirror-at-the-bottom-of-the-swimming-pool shot. What a great movie with which to start the New Year.

Earlier this morning the plan was to pass out some sandwiches, cookies and, yes, cigarettes in exchange for some portraits. But everyone was, no surprise, so forlorn that I just gave them the food without asking for a shot. Then I drove to Echo Park but the party people there were already drunk (at eight fifteen in the morning). But I did get the above Walker Evans-type shot so it wasn't a wasted trip.

Howard Stern never made me laugh. Ever. On the other hand, Adam Corolla, who is taking his place here in L.A., is always funny.

Everybody knows what movie I was referring to, right?