My friend Bill Williams was the principal trumpet for the Barcelona Symphony back in ‘93 - ‘94. We took this shot of his trumpet in an abandoned country house in the mountains outside of Barcelona in the winter of ‘93-’94.
Nothing
November 25th, 2009I discovered that it is necessary, absolutely necessary, to believe in nothing. That is, we have to believe in something which has no form and no color – something which exists before all forms and colors appear. This is a very important point. No matter what god or doctrine you believe in, if you become attached to it, your belief will be based more or less on a self-centered idea. You strive for a perfect faith in order to save yourself. But it will take time to attain such a perfect faith. You will be involved in an idealistic practice. In constantly seeking to actualize your ideal, you will have no time for composure. But if you are always prepared for accepting everything we see as something appearing from nothing, knowing that there is some reason why a phenomenal existence of such and such form and color appears, then at that moment you will have perfect composure.
Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind (Weatherhill, 1970), pg 116
Tanja & the Bear
November 23rd, 2009The inaugural Platinum Oasis, 2001. Each artist had a room to do our installation inside the Coral Sands, a gay speed and sex motel on Western just above Hollywood (back before it was all a mall). (I remember moving stuff around and finding a used rig behind a nightstand, coated in dried blood). Either I was looking particularly stressed and hungry or else Margie Schnibbe was feeling particularly motherly. She kept sending her adult babies and her furry bear down to my room with food and drinks.
What I remember most about the bear is that he was extremely drunk and his bear suit was soggy with sweat. This photo is my friend Tanja with the bear.
Click on the image to see it get larger, just like magic.
A Warm Rain’s Gonna Fall
October 14th, 2009I was raised in the desert. I’m not so much of a rain guy. Yesterday evening, though, I was out walking down Sunset, and it was a really warm rain, so instead of dashing from under one awning to the next I decided to just stroll and get soaked. When I got to the coffee shop I was pretty much drenched, I guess - everyone kept commenting “Wow, it must be really pouring out there”…Not really, though. Just a beautiful warm rain. And this morning it feels like the same.
Here’s what it looked like at my place up on top of the hills in Echo Park last year in the rain:
Discarded Underwear
September 28th, 2009
Venice Beach, Labor Day 2009
September 25th, 2009
Two cholitas on Venice Beach, Labor Day 2009.
Surfer Girl. Venice Beach, August 30th, 6:30 pm
September 3rd, 2009
Venice Beach, August 30th, 6:30 pm. I’ve never before ridden the bike path through Venice - too much work dodging tourists and roller skaters - but there was no riding in town due to the toxic air from the fires.
Never having ridden the path I’d no idea how different Venice looked from the perspective of 10 feet further south than the boardwalk. It’s a completely different viewpoint, an insider’s viewpoint maybe, and I’m always thrilled when something as simple as a shift in position opens up what is to me a complete change in perspective, especially of something I’ve seen so very many times over so very many years from the earlier seemingly fixed viewpoint.
If you click on it you can see it bigger. It’s like magic.
Grandma Tranny Goes Shopping
August 22nd, 2009The remodeled Vons on Alvarado had its grand unveiling last weekend. It is now officially un-ghetto.
In the center of the parking lot is a big truck covered in pictures of delectable juicy tender meat. They are giving away samples of this meat and blaring NASCAR style country music, the kind that white folks who support the war in Iraq and enjoy their meat like to listen to…although there aren’t too many of those kinds of white folks in this neighborhood.
The new un-ghetto Vons is packed, which it never used to be. My checkout line isn’t moving. There’s a matronly Hispanic tranny all dressed up like she’s going to church, looking like someone’s manly grandma, and in her huge fists she has a bunch of coupons that apparently do not apply to the goods she’s purchasing. Of greatest urgency is this one coupon she is sure is going to give her a free 16 ounce bottle of coke. She doesn’t care what the checker says. She has extraordinary sculpted eyebrows that are designed to make clear her disapproval of whatever is in front of her, and she is determined to turn this into a war of wills.
The cute little cholita running the next checkout lane has been forced to tone down her makeup and redo her hair since as of last weekend this is officially a non ghetto Vons. She is trying hard not to laugh at the situation. The heavily pierced Hispanic girl just behind the grandma tranny is not amused. Her boyfriend is. Which way they end up leaning as a couple likely all depends on whether or not they get to buy their stuff anytime soon. Behind them is a hipster with a jar of maraschino cherries. Behind him is me.
The checkout guy holds his ground against the grandma tranny. She pays with small change and then heads off to argue her case to a manager.
Country music is still blaring from the meat wagon.
Celia, Baja, 1991 #2
August 4th, 2009
This is a shot of my (now ex) wife, down in Baja California, a week or so after we got married, which was somewhere around 1991, I’m pretty sure, although I have really always struggled with dates.
We were living in London at the time.
She bought the blue dress at Ardvark on Melrose when we stopped off in LA for a few days before heading to Mexico.
Loving Touch.
July 28th, 2009
Long Beach 2002.
I was dating a girl who liked to bite.
It didn’t last long.
She was into pain.
I wasn’t.
