It always catches my eye

There has been a whole lot of home improvement going on in North Atwater, Los Angeles.  This is just one of four homes within 100 feet of each other being re-built.  I am hopeful for the area because of this because it shows a willingness by the village's inhabitants to stay. These are people building homes not turning a profit.  No one makes money tearing it down and building it up again.  It is too much of an investment to make a financial gain in the end.  Flippers make small repairs and cheap cosmetic fixes.  Flippers are the gypsies of the modern real estate market.  Kudos to those who buy houses and invest their heart and soul to the betterment (never thought I would use that word) of a home and neighborhood. 

I gave myself some advice a few moments ago; "If you want people to remember what you say, don't say much.  Most people don't have great memories."  It is kinda like ninth grade English tautology concerning writing; KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid!

The pictures?  I love the way a wall looks when it's surrounding walls and ceilings are no longer there, especially when there is a window.  It is a window that lets you see what you can already see but frames it for you.  There is something deep in that. 

Post Script.  I used Gypsy in a derogatory fashion earlier.  I used it generically as a reference to people who migrate from place to place using thievery to maintain a morally questionable lifestyle.  In no way did I mean to offend any true Gypsy or person with origins tracing back to a certain ethnicity.  Gypsy is not always negative.  Fleetwood Mac has a song called Gypsy describing a 'poetic soul'.    "Into the Mystic" by Van Morrison (the best song EVER!) has the lyrics " I wanna rock your gypsy soul" I don't think that was meant in a negative tone.  Finally, there was a movie called Chocolat some years back where Johny Depp plays a very cool and good looking gypsy who helps the protagonist discover her bohemian nature.  Gypsy is not always negative.

Wow KISS is hard to maintain. 

BTW 'gypped' as in "he gypped me" is derived from the word Gypsy. So every time it is used it is insulting a certain ethnicity.

Have a Good Day! 

 

childhood friends

My photographic theme the last months has been Our World as Interpeted through Fences.  Do we see through fences or is the fence part of what we see?

Walking by my old elementary school, I think about how much it has changed since I left it in June of 1980.  There are many more bungalows and the playground has been re-configured.  The handball court revives many memories.

Handball was always a fun game.  We of course played it with an inflatable rubber ball the size of a woman's volleyball.  It was one on one, one set was played and the winner went on to play the next person in line.  Simple and orderly as children's games should be.  There were times,when supersvision was (how do you say) not up to par, we would then play a game called Suicide.  Suicide involved everyone (usually about 12 boys) standing in the court while one boy threw a tennis ball at the wall.  The tennis ball would bounce back from the wall and someone would try to catch it.  Catching it meant you got to throw the ball.  There was a caveat involved, in its bounce back from the wall if the ball touched you and you did not catch it everyone was obligated to hurt you until you made it to safety by touching the wall.  There were so many ways to make someone drop the ball.  Conspiracies arose like the one where one child would stand in front of someone and without warning deflect the rebounding ball onto that someone.  The deflector would be able to reach safety since all the other kids would have focused their blows and energies on he who last touched the ball. 

Oh, the HUMANITY! 

When we were forced to, my friends and I would play Suicide.  We never admitted that we didn't like it; not out loud anyway.  But we did have a game we played when it was just us that was similar to Suicide.  It was called Tags Up.  It possessed the same rules except that the person who dropped the ball was merely tagged out.  No physical pain was involved in our game.  My friends and I were not tough kids.  We lived our lives pretty safely. 

Today the inventor of Tags Up turns 39.  I want thank him for all the fun times in our youth, he always knew how to turn bland times into fun times.  Happy Birthday and my best to you and your family!  Though it is rare we see each other, things like a handball court or a Mitsubishi Cordia ("MITSUBISHI CORDIA!") always bring you to mind. 

Childhood provides our 'a priori' experiences.  The rest of our lives we sort out our moments according to those of our early years.  I thank God for giving me such happy tags to organize my folders with.

 

video store

Remember American Gigolo?  I was trying to recreate the effect they produced with Venetian Blinds in this picture using the shadows cast by a chain link fence.  Maybe Richard Gere is just a little bit more handsome than I am.

So today's blog concerns an incident at the Video Store last week.  I went in to rent a video which is something I do on my days off.  When I got to the counter with The Peaceful Warrior, the girl who works there told me that I owed $3.50 for a movie that I returned late the week before.  She said that I returned The Last Mimzy on Saturday and it was due on Friday.  At first I didn't question the delinquent return but when I thought about it I realized that the last time I was in that part of town was Friday not Saturday.  I worked Saturday so I had no time to drop the video off on Saturday.  Friday was the only day I was able to return the video and that was the day it was due.  She tells me she is going to double check and she says her records show the video being checked in on Saturday.  Furthermore she adds that the computer went down those days but it would not account for when I dropped off the movie.  I heard this and I thought, if your computer went down how can you be so sure of your records, so sure that you would argue with a regular customer about a $3.50 discrepancy.  I got mad and told her I would pay the late fee but would no longer be renting videos there.  Me getting mad is not as bad as it sounds.  As you can see I was passive-agressive in that I was going to pay the late fee but no longer going to patronize them.  So she says she would waive the late fee but "just try to get your videos in on time".  I thought this isn't about a late fee.  I have never argued about being late before, if I am late I pay.  This was about her not believing me when I told her I returned it on time.  I asked if I could see what my account looked like.  She showed me the screen and since she had waived the late fee there was nothing outstanding on the account.  She asked if I still wanted The Peaceful Warrior (ironic huh?) and I said no and walked out of the establishment for the last time. 

At work a lot of people come up to me and begin thier adress with " I also work with people and I know how you are supposed to treat customers".  This usually means "give me what I want or else!"  The incident at the video store showed real bad business sense by my antagonist.  Maybe I only spent $15 a month there so I wasn't a valuable customer.  I think it is a shame that they would lose me for a $3.50 disagreement.  And, I REALLY DID RETURN THAT VIDEO ON TIME!!!

Do I sound stressed?

June/July 2007

June/July 2007

I needed to update sono in transito.  Decided to do it with a video.  Click on the box and enjoy.

Last burned C.D.

I hate having to use a flash.  But Milo is so darn dark!  Here he is on one of his favorite perches- throw-blankets above the sofa.  I think he is part cat.

So... I am planning to buy an IPod soon.  But I gotta tell you, I am sure going to miss burning CD's.  So I am burning one last CD.  The CD to end all CD's.  The quintessential Erick CD!!!  So what tracks will I use?  I haven't decided on the order but the following list is a list of songs that made the cut:

1.  The Police, Every Breath You Take.  The best love song that was really about a stalker.

2.  U2, Beautiful Day.  The best U2 song since Desire (just kidding Desire is a terrible song.  I would rather listen to a J. Geils track than Desire) since B.A.D.  I will forever associate that song with my trip to Europe.  It came out around the same time and parts were filmed at Charle De Gaulle Airport where I first set foot on that old continent. 

3.  The English Beat, I Confess.  There is a line in that song, "I know I am shouting and I LIKE TO SHOUT!".  I LOVE THAT LINE!!!

4.  New Order, Bizarre Love Triangle.  Can you use the same word twice in one blog entry?  The quintessential eighties song.  If you looked up the eighties in a mixed media Dictionary, that song would be playing.

5.  Depeche Mode, But Not Tonight.  Let's talk about the elephant in the room.  I came of age in the eighties and a lot of my favorite music came from that period.  Had I been born 10 years prior, you would see bands from the 70's on this list; Blue Oyster Cult, Boston, Yes, Genesis, ELO or Supertramp.  That is not the case and this song, this song I have a special memory associated with it:  Windy night, souped up japanese cars in an indoor parking lot in Westwood and my high school buddies waiting for a dance to begin in a hotel on Wilshire, I remember hearing this song that night and it brought to mind how special that moment was.  It still is.

6.  Peter Gabriel, Salisbury Hill.  No explanation needed.

7.  Psychadelic Furs, Heaven.  There are rules to burning a good mix C.D.  One of them is not to use the same artist twice.  If I could break this rule I would use Love My Way and Heaven by this group.  Heaven wins out because it is not as played out as Love My Way.  I can still remember the video with Richard Butler spinning in the rain.

8.  Gordon Lightfoot, If You Could Read My Mind.  Don't laugh, I am serious.  This is classic sadness, the kind you want to bottle so you can have it handy for those moments when you feel a need for catharsis.

9.  Doobie Brothers, What a Fool Believes.  This song always bring to mind that 'road not taken'.  And I wonder how she's doing.

10.  Simple Minds, Someone Somewhere in Summertime.  A perfect blend of nostalgia and drama.

11.  Earth Wind and Fire, Fantasy.  Ever listen to this song while driving at night on an empty freeway? :)

12.  The Killers, When You Were Young.  This song had the same appeal  as Beautiful Day by U2.  Inspirational?

13.  When In Rome, The Promise.  It is everything I ever wanted to say to a girl but didn't.

14.  Fleetwood Mac, Sarah.  Stevie Nicks has a hypnotic voice.  This song and Dreams capture best that talent.  I like Sarah for the lyrics, "if you build your house... then call me...home."

15.  Led Zeppelin, Going To California.  It is a song about resolve and starting over.  Don't you wish you could just resolve and start over?

16.  Led Zepellin,  Over the Hills and Far Away.  I always break the rule limiting one song to each artist. Both Plant and Page strut their stuff in this existential ballad, "I live for my dream and a pocket full of gold."

17.  Van Morrison, Into the Mystic.  If I use Roxio to burn my CD I will not be limitted to the 16 track ITunes allows me.  In a dictionary of mixed media the word "Sublime" would be defined by this song.

If you read this far, thank you!

 

Pictures of Griffith Park

Anyone else saddened by the fire 3 weeks ago?  I walk Milo by the wash.  Now the once lush hills of Griffith park are charred landscapes with little green to offer.

I missed the actual fire.  I was at work.  When I came home that night, the hillsides looked like lava was flowing down.  It was quite spectacular.  I found some pretty cool pictures on Flicker (click here) 

One of the things to note about such occurences is how the whole city becomes involved and worried about the possible loss.  No matter what strata you fulfill or think you fulfill, something is happening that you realize affects everyone, including you.  Like Jury Duty, catastrophes are good equalizers.

I have seen fires on the hills before.  The worst one I hear is one that occured in 1933.  The park usually recovers.  I hope it does so soon.  I miss the green. 

Have a good week.

editing sound

editing sound

I am working on a video with an actual story line.  This was an experiment in that direction.  Click on Alaina to see!  plus the bonus of seeing Milo sit.  BTW anyone got any tips on housetraining a chihuahua?  Number 2 is under control.  But we can spend an hour outside and nothing.  But as soon as we come in, it's straight to the carpet.  Frustrating it is.