genius in the family

I just ran across this on my Dad's website - and was really struck by how amazing it is.

This is a book that my niece, Marlena, made when she was in the 8th grade. Beyond the words, which are so sharp and poignant, I really love the entire look of it. The typography and handmade cuts of how it was put together, the photographs and how she used them - even the dark edges of the scans (which may be Dad's doing) - all bring out the raw power of the words. I just think its brilliant... and am amazed that she did it when she was only 13... take a few minutes to see for yourself:

rusted trees by marlena weiss

maxi meets mini

I went to grab a beer with a buddy a few nights ago. Parking in Venice isn't always easy to find, but we managed to get Doris Day parking right near the bar. It so happened I was parked right behind a Mini. When we got across the street I laughed and had to take this pic...

I've had this truck since 98 (though I just lifted it this year) and its never had a name, now that I write this, I like the name 'Max'.

east la meets far east

My freind Lauraine and I went to lunch a couple weeks ago and she told me about this exhibit she wanted to stop by at LACMA (Thursday is free day!), so we walked over there for lunch. Its pretty small, but very cool - those of you in the LA area may want to stop in and check it out. Its on view through February 12.

This guy used to be in a tagging gang, but now mixes tagging and type with traditional Japanese-style imagery on gold leaf surfaces - the mix is really powerful. Here's an official description I ripped from the net since they say it better than I can...

"Mixing spray-painted graffiti with illustrative brushwork,LA-based artist Gajin Fujita sends mythical Japanese culture spinning into the 21st century. Street tags, freestyle lettering, palm trees, intricate patterns, and waves collide with angry gods, erotic geishas, and beguiling devils on prepared wood panels constructed in scale and proportion to time-honored Japanese screens. Fujita references his East LA 'hood with the repeated use of its 213 area code and tips his hat to New York from the West with cryptically crossed fingers and a monogrammed fan. His cocktail of inner-city funk, fabled figures, and bling-bling backgrounds serves a wildly wicked punch"

thanksgiving at the beach

I moved from Silverlake to Manhattan Beach this year, and I'm still discovering how life at the beach is how I always thought living in LA should be. As much as I love Silverlake, the Beach is a different world. While it is so white and homogeneous at times that it can be disconcerting, the connection to the ocean - just being here - never ceases to connect with something inside.

So this morning I got up to take my friend Casey to the airport (which thankfully got me out of the house), and then took a slew of architectural pattern photos at LAX and other neighborhoods around there - tooling around the neighborhoods and taking the pics gave me one of those 'this is what I was meant to be doing' feelings. These are the type of photography that will be the basis of my website once it's up.

I got home and jumped on my beach cruiser and took a ride up the beach. Its sunny, clear, 75 degrees. Its Thanksgiving. This is why we live here. The RV park near Dockweiler State Beach was full of people making their Thanksgiving dinners outside their RV's. People are out riding bikes, playing volleyball, taking walks. This isnt my vacation, I LIVE here. How did I get so lucky? I rode on through the Ballona Wetlands and saw people taking their sailboats in and out of the harbor. Up through Marina Del Rey through the seafood restaurants and yacht and fishing stores.

On the way back, halfway down the beach the sunny sky suddenly became a thick fogbank. Jets taking off out of LAX materialized just over my head out of the clouds with a roar. The fog was so thick that you could see wisps of cloud between yourself and the bike in front of you. Before I even realized it, I was back in Manhattan Beach. Time to fix the Turkey...

Thanksgiving in LA. This is why we live here.

my first post

this is just a test post so i can format the look of the page...