’10 January

January 31

The Skirball Center on a bright and beautiful day in LA.

Me and Burt, snappin’ a few pics.

We strolled through Noah’s Ark, saw the permanent exhibit, had a tasty lunch, and got to enjoy a couple of photo shows.

One was of old pictures called “Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956–1968” including many classic shots we’ve all seen before.

Also they had a really fabulous show called “Breach of Peace: Photographs of Freedom Riders by Eric Etheridge” where they had a mug shot of an arrested Freedom Rider and next to it a recent portrait. We both thought the portraits were excellent.

And speaking of Burt, here’s a picture he did of his grandsons. The boys are living with Burt and Charlene and have for years now. It is a marvel what they do.

bw.

January 28

My outing day with Susie! Today we went first to the Banning House in Wilmington…

…and an entertaining and instructive tour focusing on the life and times of Phineas Banning who “was a visionary …who played a pivotal role in the development of one of this country’s great cities. Banning was instrumental in building the Port of Los Angeles, constructing the first breakwater and dredging the harbor. He ran an extensive network of stage and freight routes that connected the nascent port east to San Bernardino and south to Fort Yuma.”

We had our private guide and then a sweet high school kid on a class assignment joined later.

Next we had a yummy lunch at the Nosh Cafe followed by a visit to the South Coast Botanic Garden.

It was a gorgeous day after a week of rain.

Bright, clear, and altogether a delightful day.

January 27

Out with the boys…always a Great night!

January 26

Rome took these pictures with her own camera and we made the collage together.

She wrote a note to her Aunt Cynthia: “I took these pictures today and it’s my collage. I want you to see it. The flowers are geraniums and daisies. And my baby sister Lilly of course and Granny’s feet. Is it raining there? On our way back we had to run because it was starting to rain!”

January 24

Happy Birthday dear Angela, Happy Birthday to YOU!

January 23

Nancy and I went to McCabe’s tonight to enjoy some music. Shows at McCabe’s are so cool, so intimate and of such good quality.

The opening act was Lawrence Lebo and her backup band singing bluesy bar riffs with a little country thrown in.

The headliner was the very entertaining Doug MacLeod. He sang mostly original material in a deeply Delta Blues tradition even taking on the voice and mannerisms of an old black bluesman, which he did pretty well, but the highlight was his guitar playing – yummy.

January 22

More movies. (Here’s a link to the last set.

Inglourios Bastards: First, it’s a Quentin Tarantino flic and it is what it is. Second, Brad Pitt is a stone cold riot.

(500) Days of Summer: A romatic comedy that tries to be more but, for me, isn’t so much.

Sherlock Holmes: Oh that Robert Downey Jr is a cutie, and I didn’t mind that the movie presented a very very different Sherlock and Dr Watson.

Fantastic Mr Fox: Not great, not really bad I think, but in the year of UP, it pales.

District 9: Violent, creepy, loud, very weird, and I liked it a lot.

internet pix.

January 18-19

Two great days of Grandbabies! HuRRay! First our Tuesday and an afternoon playdate with Claudia and Sarah.

ALL the girls want to hold Lilly. ‘Where’s baby Lilly? Where’s baby Lilly?’ is always the first question.

Hi baby Lilly!

Claudia specifically asked for a picure with baby Lilly.

Ann, mother of Claudia and Sarah, brought a couple treasures for Baby Lilly including this grand entertainment center. Lilly Looved it, and after just a few minutes she was moving herself around and happily whacking away at all the attachments.

Now it’s the next day. I know these pictures are massively grainy which is why I’m lusting after a new camera with all that new low light capability that can take pictures in asa total darkness. I’m using 5 year old technology…ancient I tell you.

First I went to an eye appointment to get my eyeballs measured for their new clear sharp beautiful lenses that will be applied during the cataract surgery…one in February and the other toward the end of the year. Another big hurray!

Time for Rome’s Broadway Musical class to do a short presentation!

Rome and her friend Claudia wanted to wear their princess dresses and since the scenes they were doing were set in the children’s playroom from Mary Poppins, the teacher said of course you can wear anything you like.

All Singing All Dancing Mary Poppins!

A little sooo cute.

The teacher. She introduced herself to me as ‘Hi my name is Miss Melody’. Miss Melody, isn’t that just perfect.

Nancy was with me too and her eyes glazed over and her teeth hurt surrounded as she was by all this cuteness.

January 17

Ben and Bonnie have the Golden membership at the Huntington with guest passes and a very early entering time, which we did today and it was gorgeous.

(My collection of favorite Huntington photos.

It seemed the lily pond had been expanded and relandscaped and done very well.

Then we went to see the Frances Gearhart retrospective at the Pasadena Museum of California Art and it was well worth the detour.

And finishing up the day – dinner with Nancy. Nancy was in NYNY last week for a short visit with her daughter and she Still loves NY.

January 16

The Guitar Geek Festival. Yikes! I went with Bob and Richard and it was f.u.n. We had us some many hours of masterful guitar playing.

There were thirteen acts, the show starting around 3:30 with the headliner, Duane Eddy, coming on at midnight. I left around 8:30 but Bob and Richard were going to stick it out until the very very end.

Who ARE these people? The Meshugga Beach Party. And they could Play.

There wasn’t any rock ‘n rollers on the bill – mostly we had country-swing-jazz guitar wizards.

Carl Verheyen and Steve Trovato.

‘Crazy’ Joe Tritschler, amazing. And 94 year old ‘Honey Boy’ Edwards, last of the original Delta Bluesmen, playing not so well really but the crowd went wild.

Everyone was invited to bring their own 12-string guitar for an audience participation segment called Electric 12-String Nightmare.

It was Great. They all played Mr. Tambourine Man with the show’s organizer, Deke Dickerson, singing reworked words that there was no way we could hear what with all those electric 12-string guitars.

Crazy Joe up there was pointing to the chords to keep everyone on the same ‘page’ and they had one guy who spent an hour before the performance tuning all the guitars so it sounded surprisingly good.

Oh yea.

Another jaw-dropping guitar hero.

OK guys, see you next time!

January 9

I’m in San Francisco now, the weather is lovely, and hope to get some pictures done tonight. Ahh, the Golden City by the Bay.

You can click here to go to the chapter on San Francisco.

January 7

Vastitude, an electronic/trip-hop ensemble. What a great show!

They were playing at TRiP in Santa Monica – a surprisingly nice bar/venue on Lincoln Blvd. I can heartily recommend the entire evening.

Neal Rosenfeld (guitar/electronics); Darryl Kanouse (bass); Bob Sterling (drums/electronics); Chip (electronics)

I’m just so SO excited to report I have a date for my liberation. YEA! I can hardly WAIT to go under the knife and SEE again. I can Hardly Wait.

The ophthamologist did say that without spending a few thousand more dollars not covered by insurance she can’t say for sure what glasses I’ll need when it’s over (maybe just distance, maybe just reading, maybe a little of both, maybe none) but it will be SOOO much better. I’m SOOO excited!

It’s cataract surgery btw. It’s nothing everyone says and I believe them.

January 6

Sharon and I went walking this late afternoon. Here’s a view from the bluffs in Pacific Palisades. It was this yellow/gold although usually it’s that pink-and-fire color.

January 5

Many of my pictures of Lilly look a lot like this one. Rome is the best little photo girl ever…she Likes to be in the picture.

So…

…when Rome and her mommy went out for a shopping date this afternoon I took some pictures of Lilly just hangin’ out.

What a lovely Lovely little Lilly!

January 4

I went to lunch today with Peace Corps Volunteer Christopher, home for a couple weeks soon to return for his last 15 months in Morocco. So Cool! After lunch we went into a smoke shop to buy a lottery ticket and I got to hear Christopher speak some Arabic with the proprietor. Now there’s a skill.

These are family members in Christopher’s town.

Mindy in Zambia is my other current Peace Corps Volunteer. Here is what Christopher has that Mindy doesn’t have: walls that meet the roof, running water, indoor plumbing, electricity.

??

January 2

Had to go see some movies, to catch-up for the awards season. Gotta have an opinion after all. Recent viewings noted below.

A Serious Man: If you are unfamiliar with life in a Jewish household you might miss some of the bits, but go anyway.

Julie & Julia: I was constantly aggravated by the designer’s overdone efforts to make Meryl Streep (5’6″) look like Julia Child (6’2″). Constantly.

The Blind Side: Surprisingly, sweet without being too sticky, and a career maker for the little kid brother.

The Hurt Locker: My Best-Movie-Of-The-Year so far…except maybe for the Michael Jackson movie which was entirely FAB.

Avatar: I am Not the only person on the planet who found this, basically, not very good. You can google salon.com avatar review and read what Stephanie Zacharek has to say. What she says, that’s what I think too. (Spoiler Alert! White man goes native, marries the princess and becomes their leader.)

internet pix.

January 1 (Happy New Year!))

Standing in front of my house, the first sunset of the New Year. Wow. It’s a lively one.

Thanks to Marsha and Tom for a most festive New Year’s Eve and thanks to Sharon for a most festive New Year’s Day. Already a lively and festive year – sounds right up my alley!