Instead, here are some shots from the Las Vegas section of the Miniland area of Legoland California.
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Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 05, 2014
Vegas Legoland
For a variety of reasons, I've been wanting to get back to Las Vegas recently. For mostly financial reasons, I am not getting there any time in the next couple months. Alas.
Instead, here are some shots from the Las Vegas section of the Miniland area of Legoland California.
Instead, here are some shots from the Las Vegas section of the Miniland area of Legoland California.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Charts In My Office
I've shown you some images from areas near where I work, but none from inside the office as yet. This is mostly because it's a pretty standard cube-farm arrangement and not very interesting to see. But it does have some details. Here are a few.
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Monday, January 13, 2014
De-Tached at Skinny's
De-Tached was performing at Skinny's Lounge in North Hollywood.
I really need to shoot shows more often.
I really need to shoot shows more often.
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Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Skyrose Chapel
A few years ago I had to bury a friend who died far too young: in his mid-40's, but looked no more than maybe 35, and the personality of a cheerful and gentle 20-year-old.
He was buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park, in Whittier, California. The service was held at Skyrose Chapel, which you might remember from its brief appearance in the Star Trek reboot movie. Though built in 1997, it features a beautiful, dramatic look developed almost a century before.
He was buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park, in Whittier, California. The service was held at Skyrose Chapel, which you might remember from its brief appearance in the Star Trek reboot movie. Though built in 1997, it features a beautiful, dramatic look developed almost a century before.
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Claremont Gardens
Technically the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden, locals usually call it The Claremont Gardens: it's easier and makes a lot more sense. Its 86 acres are dedicated to California native plants, and are home to thousands of taxa, tens of thousands of plants, and some very rare cultivars. Their greenhouse store is one of the few places I can find local species at any price, and during their periodic sales the prices are very reasonable.
I need to go back and get some more photos of the place. It's really beautiful.
I need to go back and get some more photos of the place. It's really beautiful.
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Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Calico Civil War Days, 2012
Each year on President's Day weekend, Calico Ghost Town (near Yermo, California) hosts an American Civil War reenactment event.
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Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Westwood Village Farmer's Market
It's a tiny farmer's market, but full of beautiful little details.
I'll need to go back and get some more pictures, now that I think about it.
I'll need to go back and get some more pictures, now that I think about it.
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Friday, November 22, 2013
Westwood Images
A few pictures from around my workplace.
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Friday, November 15, 2013
L.A. County Fair, 2011
It was a good year at the fair, and included meeting their current broom maker, who is an excellent and well-connected gentleman. For one thing, he did the brooms for the Harry Potter movies. The ironwork you see on some of the brooms was done by his friend, who worked on the ships used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Somewhere I have some pictures of when we went to see our broom maker at a different event, which was pretty cool, in its seriously retro way.
Spinning (as in thread, not as in the gym euphemism for stationary bikes) seemed to be a theme that year. The art building had quite the display of historical spinning methods, and there was a spinning competition with well over a dozen contestants using either wheels or drop spindles. I had no idea it was that popular a pastime.
In the art building's courtyard we met a man who used to live across the street from my grandparents, and had been a friend of my Mom when they were kids. He runs a neon museum in Los Angeles, would you believe.
There's also a few pictures in there of one of my crazy friends trying out a trapeze.
Speaking of crazy, I should probably explain the paper people who show up now and then. Ever hear of Flat Stanley? My brother and his wife currently live in China, but used to live very close to where my house is. So we have "flat" versions of them which we take on adventures, and to places they loved to visit, such as the county fair. The pictures can let them live a bit of their old lives, vicariously - not that they lack for adventure right now! There are a bunch of that sort of picture I don't have in these little slideshows, but I figure it would behoove me to let you know what's up with that.
The horse arena was hosting agility competitions when we went by it, and I recognized one of the riders, an old friend who loves draft horses. Now, seeing drafties running agility courses is like watching 18-wheelers navigate parking cones and somehow not knocking them over. Not very fast, but entirely amazing. I caught her attention and when they were done we were brought back to the stable and prep area, to meet the various owners and riders and mount up for a brief ride, ourselves. For most people, I imagine riding a draft horse is like sitting on a table, but as an oversized human, they feel just right to me. Plus, I neither feel vaguely guilty about having them carry my bulk, nor wonder if I'm going to touch the ground on both sides with my feet.
On the opposite side of the fair, we discovered a pair of piratical performers doing songs we knew, and it didn't take long for Kristie to end up on stage. As usual. Returning other days to see them again, I also did some performing with them, both harmonizing and playing whistles & bodhran (that's an Irish drum). Good guys, and I wish they were around here more often. You might recognize them from my more recent county fair photos, the ones from this year.
We did none of the loud, expensive, annoying things that people so often go to the United States' largest county fair to do (rides, carnie games, endless As Seen On TV shopping, deep fried everything) and as much as possible of the things far fewer people even pay attention to. About normal, in my world. The above is more a sampling than anything: art competition halls and such aren't very interesting for me to photograph.
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
Spinning (as in thread, not as in the gym euphemism for stationary bikes) seemed to be a theme that year. The art building had quite the display of historical spinning methods, and there was a spinning competition with well over a dozen contestants using either wheels or drop spindles. I had no idea it was that popular a pastime.
In the art building's courtyard we met a man who used to live across the street from my grandparents, and had been a friend of my Mom when they were kids. He runs a neon museum in Los Angeles, would you believe.
There's also a few pictures in there of one of my crazy friends trying out a trapeze.
Speaking of crazy, I should probably explain the paper people who show up now and then. Ever hear of Flat Stanley? My brother and his wife currently live in China, but used to live very close to where my house is. So we have "flat" versions of them which we take on adventures, and to places they loved to visit, such as the county fair. The pictures can let them live a bit of their old lives, vicariously - not that they lack for adventure right now! There are a bunch of that sort of picture I don't have in these little slideshows, but I figure it would behoove me to let you know what's up with that.
The horse arena was hosting agility competitions when we went by it, and I recognized one of the riders, an old friend who loves draft horses. Now, seeing drafties running agility courses is like watching 18-wheelers navigate parking cones and somehow not knocking them over. Not very fast, but entirely amazing. I caught her attention and when they were done we were brought back to the stable and prep area, to meet the various owners and riders and mount up for a brief ride, ourselves. For most people, I imagine riding a draft horse is like sitting on a table, but as an oversized human, they feel just right to me. Plus, I neither feel vaguely guilty about having them carry my bulk, nor wonder if I'm going to touch the ground on both sides with my feet.
On the opposite side of the fair, we discovered a pair of piratical performers doing songs we knew, and it didn't take long for Kristie to end up on stage. As usual. Returning other days to see them again, I also did some performing with them, both harmonizing and playing whistles & bodhran (that's an Irish drum). Good guys, and I wish they were around here more often. You might recognize them from my more recent county fair photos, the ones from this year.
We did none of the loud, expensive, annoying things that people so often go to the United States' largest county fair to do (rides, carnie games, endless As Seen On TV shopping, deep fried everything) and as much as possible of the things far fewer people even pay attention to. About normal, in my world. The above is more a sampling than anything: art competition halls and such aren't very interesting for me to photograph.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Playing Pin The Grapes
This image has garnered a certain amount of interest, lately:
It's from a group of pictures I took a few years ago in Temecula, California, which have always drawn views on Flickr even though I've never promoted them in the least. Hmm, I should show you the lot at some point. Anyway, a little over a month ago the picture's traffic suddenly jumped to top of my Flickr Stats list and pretty much stayed there. Why that photo, and why the traffic?
Turns out, someone added it to their Pinterest list (or whatever they call it), and several others have after that, setting up something of a loop between Pinterest and Flickr in which the interest bounces back and forth. The traffic history for the image is odd and amusing.
There's probably some way in which I can profit from this, or at least gain notoriety from it (and the pair set up a feedback loop like Pinterest and Flickr apparently can), but I really don't know. If you have any idea about that, by all means clue me in!
It's from a group of pictures I took a few years ago in Temecula, California, which have always drawn views on Flickr even though I've never promoted them in the least. Hmm, I should show you the lot at some point. Anyway, a little over a month ago the picture's traffic suddenly jumped to top of my Flickr Stats list and pretty much stayed there. Why that photo, and why the traffic?
Turns out, someone added it to their Pinterest list (or whatever they call it), and several others have after that, setting up something of a loop between Pinterest and Flickr in which the interest bounces back and forth. The traffic history for the image is odd and amusing.
There's probably some way in which I can profit from this, or at least gain notoriety from it (and the pair set up a feedback loop like Pinterest and Flickr apparently can), but I really don't know. If you have any idea about that, by all means clue me in!
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Comic Con San Diego, 2011
While I'm in wayback mode, here are some pictures from the 2011 Comic Con, where I got to spend a day. Good fun.
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Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Labor Day, 2010
Bit of a flashback, I know. Might as well get used to it, as I'm one for reminiscing.
This particular Labor Day, like a few others, was spent at our dear friends the Angottis, some of the most pleasantly hospitable people you could hope to meet. Their love of good food, refined music, and excellent company makes their house a source of all kinds of good memories.
Here are some samples of what we tasted that day.
My contribution was the grilled nectarines with balsamic-honey glaze. A dollop of slightly honeyed sour cream on top completed the dessert. If you're around my place, I might make them for you, if properly persuaded.
This particular Labor Day, like a few others, was spent at our dear friends the Angottis, some of the most pleasantly hospitable people you could hope to meet. Their love of good food, refined music, and excellent company makes their house a source of all kinds of good memories.
Here are some samples of what we tasted that day.
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
My contribution was the grilled nectarines with balsamic-honey glaze. A dollop of slightly honeyed sour cream on top completed the dessert. If you're around my place, I might make them for you, if properly persuaded.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Hike To Little Jimmy Spring & Mt. Baden-Powell
Start the hike a mile and a half above sea level. Go up from there.
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Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Days At The Beach (part 2)
From my stay in Oceanside in September.
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Monday, October 14, 2013
Days At The Beach (part 1)
From my stay in Oceanside in September.
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Friday, October 11, 2013
Sand Stuff
Things I made while staying at the beach.
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Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Beach House Party
From my Oceanside vacation last month.
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Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Stan's Donuts: an introduction
In the heart of Westwood (by Los Angeles), across the street from the Mann and Fox theaters where so many movies have had their premiers, is a tiny donut shop. Its proprietor, Stan Berman, has been there, witnessing the happenings and changes of Westwood, since he opened it in 1965. He's the prototypical small business operator: friendly, aware of his neighborhood, old-fashioned, modest. He's a lot of fun as a person, and with more interesting stories than there'll ever be time for him to tell you.
It also happens that his donuts are absurdly good. Forbes declared them America's best in 2001, Huell Howser visited twice to feature him on California Gold, and any time you see a show about donuts on either a travel or food network, Stan will get a mention. Just a sampling; I could go on. In fact, I will, at some point, but this is just an introduction to a fascinating individual I'd like you to meet, and his products, which you'd do yourself a disservice by not meeting. I'm not the only one to think so: Stan can always tell if a show he was featured in got played, because the next day he gets orders from all over the country to overnight ship dozens of donuts. He seems amused at this, because without marking up more than FedEx's cost, this means the recipient will be paying about $6 for each day-old donut! Now, I like Stan's day-olds more than a lot of place's fresh donuts, but that's entirely crazy. Besides, if you have a maple bar, glazed buttermilk, or any of his other creations a mere few minutes after they were made, you'll understand what donuts are supposed to taste like.
I know you think I'm exaggerating. That's because you haven't visited Stan's yet.
It also happens that his donuts are absurdly good. Forbes declared them America's best in 2001, Huell Howser visited twice to feature him on California Gold, and any time you see a show about donuts on either a travel or food network, Stan will get a mention. Just a sampling; I could go on. In fact, I will, at some point, but this is just an introduction to a fascinating individual I'd like you to meet, and his products, which you'd do yourself a disservice by not meeting. I'm not the only one to think so: Stan can always tell if a show he was featured in got played, because the next day he gets orders from all over the country to overnight ship dozens of donuts. He seems amused at this, because without marking up more than FedEx's cost, this means the recipient will be paying about $6 for each day-old donut! Now, I like Stan's day-olds more than a lot of place's fresh donuts, but that's entirely crazy. Besides, if you have a maple bar, glazed buttermilk, or any of his other creations a mere few minutes after they were made, you'll understand what donuts are supposed to taste like.
I know you think I'm exaggerating. That's because you haven't visited Stan's yet.
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