House At Midnight

It might look like a drawing but it's a photo,
taken just a few blocks from my house.

Happy Summer Soltice Day

It's the first day of summer. And remember, it's the tilt of the earth, only 23 and 1/2 degrees, that makes the difference between winter and summer, not that we're any closer to the sun. The tilt is what gives us more direct radiation and this is what makes the seeds germinate.


"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edgedsword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind...And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boilswith hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizingthe rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so.How do I know? For this is what I have done.
And I am Caesar."

-William Shakespeare

"A Place In The Sun"/Hollywood Forever

Hollywood Forever has come a long way since they first showed "Blood and Sand" for Rudolph Valentino's 100th(?) birthday. I showed up forty five minutes early and this was thirty minutes too late for a good seat. It's located on Santa Monica Blvd, just east of Gower. Small, insignificant coincidence: Paramount Studios, producer of "A Place In The Sun" was to the audience's immediate right.

Coming soon: Dr. Strangelove

What The Hell Happened?

This is not what I expected to see. I attribute this to the weirdness of the movie I'm watching - "Cisco Pike". It's not what I expected to see either. It isn't a lively time capsule of Los Angeles in the early 70's. For the most part its a listless, meandering, stoner talkfest. Kris Kristoferson is in every scene and he (under)plays them all as the brooding hippie loner, pissed off at the evil hypocrisy of The Man. Harry Dean Stanton arrives to liven things up but that lasts for about five minutes.

Now its off to Hollywood Forever, the cemetery that screens movies on the wall of Rudolph Valentino's mausoleum. Tonight it's "A Place In The Sun."

One Legged Pigeon

Hardest Working Man in LA

Literally digging ditches for a less than thriving church near downtown, this man was covered in sweat at nine in the morning. I asked to take his photo and in a heavy African accent he very politely explained that I couldn't for fear of losing his spirit. But then with a laugh he compromised by allowing me to take a shot from the back.

Homeless Feet and Shoes

Quote of the Night:

Mr. Shannon: You weren't disgusted?
Hannah: Nothing human disgusts me, Mr. Shannon, unless it's unkind or violent.

I'm watching just the last third of "Night of the Iguana" and while it's easy to be distracted by Ava Gardner, it's a genuinely interesting movie. I'm sure most of the story and dialogue are straight from Tennessee Williams' play.

Meal of the Night: Trader Joe's pre-packaged salad: Spinach and mushrooms with blueberries, cranberries, toasted almonds and white Dijon vinaigrette.

Music of the Night: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Brian Eno and David Byrne

Alley In Venice (Midnight)

Scary. On the other hand, it makes it nice to be home with bbq chicken with pineapples mixed in and am listening to Chet Baker playing West Coast jazz with Gerry Mulligan. You can find it on Amazon (I'm too lazy to link it).

"Johnny's"

Movie Review: "The Proposition"

Within the first five violent minutes the terms of the proposition are clear and in motion. Not unlike Captain Willard in "Apocalypse Now", Guy Pearce sets out into an Australian Heart of Darkness (more brutal than any river in Africa or Asia) to terminate a former compatriot who has gone insane.

I'm a big fan of Nick Cave's music and his screenplay has many of his recognizable characters and themes - madmen, drunkards and violence of Biblical proportions.

There's also a vain, George Bush-like popinjay who is quite out of his depth as a leader and completely unable to control the violence he has foolishly put into motion. I like to think the resemblance was intentional.

The actors are great but they are almost overshadowed by several of the extremely weathered extras who seemed to have spent their entire lives in blast furnace of the Australian outback.

"We're Open"

A diner on Echo Park, just north of Sunset.

Echo Park/Sunset Junction & Back

This evening, in keeping with my "I'm photographing L.A., all of it" credo, I walked through both the Echo Park and Sunset Junction sections of Sunset Blvd. For you out-of-towners, these are the semi skanky, semi hip parts of Sunset Blvd., east of East Hollywood. Yep, it was a helluva lot of walking.

Car Wash (Alvarado & Sunset)

Lunch Room

Browsing At The Circus of Books

Welcome To Silver Lake