Vintage Beauty

photo LA Frog

Awesomeness Of The American West

The Wave in Arizona:
images via MyModernMet

Location Location

Freezing cold in Europe but goldious Santa Anas in L.A.
image via LA Times

Breakfasts From Around The Wolrd

Interesting post by Travelin' Local on The word's favorite breakfasts. Aren't we French pathetic with our morning café-croissant? No.

image via French Conversation

The New French Underground

Wired magazine has a fascinating story about The New French Underground, an artist collective dedicated to saving the history of Paris -- one landmark at the time.

Fall Reflection

photo La Frog

Defining Free Speech

As I complete the United States' naturalization process, current events keep colliding with the very foundations of American history and democracy -- blurring the vision and discourse.

In its excellent Quick Civic Lessons for the Naturalization Test and Citizen's Almanac booklets, both distributed free to aspiring citizens, the USCIS defines what America stands for, what its values are, and what it means to become a U.S. citizen -- stressing the importance of free speech, free assembly, and citizens' participation in their democracy.

Some of the 100 Civics Test questions are particularly eloquent:

• Q2. What does the Constitution do? Official answers include: Protect the basic rights of Americans -- such as:
• Q6. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment? Official answers include: Speech; Assembly.
• Q51. What are two rights of everyone living in the United States? Official answers include: Freedom of expression; Freedom of speech; Freedom of assembly.
• Q55. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy? Official answers include: Join a civic group; Join a community group; Give an elected official an opinion on an issue; Publicly support or oppose an issue or policy.

Yet, every single day since Occupy Wall Street started a little over two months ago, the news is flush with stories of those very notions of free expression, speech and assembly being trampled on. Just two days ago, students staging a peaceful protest where hosed with pepper spray vermin-busting style -- and that's just one story among many others, as if the Arab Spring, and repression, became the blueprint.

One of the introductory pages to the Naturalization Test booklet states that "In the United States, the government gets its power to govern from the people. We have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Citizens in the United States shape their government and its policies, so they must learn about important public issues and get involved in their communities. Learning about American government helps you understand your rights and responsibilities and allows you to fully participate in the American political process. The Founders of this country decided that the United States should be a representative democracy."

So, what does it actually mean? Is it only a Kool-Aid aspiration? Who gets to define free speech and assembly, government of and for the people, community involvement, and representative democracy? More importantly, where does the line get drawn?
image: Wayne Tilcock/The Davis Enterprise

Fall Colors

photos LA Frog

Charlie & Co in Hollywood

photo LA Frog

On The Salton Sea

Vintage footage of the "miracle" Salton Sea, which is now a desert -- courtesy of our "civilization".

When Oil Wells Dominated SoCal's Landscape

A photo essay that makes us speechless compared to the beach-crowding today.
photo via kcet

L.A.: An Ephemeral City

Ed Schad on the upcoming Pacific Standard Time multi-show in SoCal:
"Los Angeles is an ephemeral city, with a history of ramshackle studios, temporary stagings and artworks that go into books and museums yet but all disappear from the landscape."

Work Interrupted

photo LA Frog

Define Patriotism

Tea Party co-founder Mark Meckler discusses America's debt ceiling talks and his party's "rationale" in Der Spiegel. Excerpt: "What you currently see in Washington is one of the most responsible debates ever about the size and scope of government. The world should look at what is going on in the United States as a model for what should happen in all countries." [Sic.] Meckler and his flock -- all ready to sabotage their country for political gain -- have the coucougnettes to call themselves patriots, but traitors is a better word.

There's Commute & Commute

Some commutes are tougher than others. Or more gorgeous, like this drive back to Santa Monica from up north along the PCH on a signature SoCal summer day. Forking out a living here may be tough and unforgiving, but it does have its upsides.

photo LA Frog

The Beauty Of True Nature

Urban farmed, uncalibrated eggs: all sizes and colors, like real life.
photo LA Frog

We ♥ Carmageddon

L.A.'s much feared "Carmageddon" came and went like a refreshing breeze. This weekend's closure of the 405 between the 10 and the 101 -- the nation's busiest highway -- was predicted to bring "epic" traffic jams of "biblical proportions" to the region, but the exact opposite happened. Beyond surreal views of an eerily empty freeway, the streets were unusually civilized, with very little traffic and good-humored people -- just like Paris in August. We should have this "Karma Heaven" more often. Photos.
UPDATE 07/18/11: Carmageddon: We Won [Kevin Roderick/KCRW]
UPDATE 07/18/11: Dining on the 405 [Curbed LA]
UPDATE 07/18/11: Real Lessons of Carmageddon: Angelenos Aren’t Idiots [LASreetsBlog]

Laurel & Hardy

Love on the Venice Boardwalk.
photo LA Frog

Totally Skateboardable Home

French skateboarder and Etnies honcho Pierre-André Senizergues created the ultimate dude dream for his new Malibu abode: a totally skateboardable house -- all curves, grooves, and flow. Even the Architects' Newspaper's Sam Lubell fell for it.
UPDATE 07/21/11: The challenges of building a house/ramp hybrid [NYT]
images via Etnies

That Creamy Object Of Desire

What makes a perfect cheesecake? New York Times' food critic Melissa Clarke shares her tips, but the real answer is in this mouth-watering photo by Andrew Scrivani.

When Locals Matter

High-end "lifestyle hubs" are all the rage -- highly scripted spaces designed as consumer-tourist emporiums; pumped up heirs of Disney and Vegas, as genuine as The Truman Show. Rick Caruso's Grove and Americana at Brand in L.A. are perfect examples. Yet, these "concepts," which look so brilliant on the drawing boards, have shown their limits as instruments of urban development and revitalization.

As highlighted in Urban Land's The New Geography of International Retail Development, glitter is not the answer, even in emerging markets such as the BRIC or Dubai. Why? Because, unless they serve local demand -- "hypermarts and smaller shops rather than Gucci" -- they don't work, especially in this economic climate. Developers all over are rediscovering the virtues of catering for the middle class, "with more affordable retail choices that serve the local demand," a focus on "community, place and [civic] pride," and projects "designed to reflect the social and cultural life of the local society."

Our little Santa Monica is a case in point. In an effort to revitalize its downtown, the City signed off chunks of land to a corporation charged with the redevelopment and management of what is now called the Third Street Promenade. Public space was privatized and turned into a retail mix that caters essentially to tourists and visitors, with chi-chi stores that don't meet local needs. The adjacent Santa Monica Place mall was also recently revamped into luxury boutiques and high-end restaurants. Conclusion? Locals have shunned the area. They don't have a choice: they can't afford, or even find what they need in town (how about schlepping all the way to Culver City or WeHo for the nearest Target store?)

But now, Santa Monica wants its locals back. As reported in the SMDP, the downtown area is being re-branded, with a new "Everyone's Downtown" slogan aimed at letting people know that "Downtown is the place to be and that it is open to everyone, [with] an overhaul of events and activities held on the promenade and throughout the district to change the perception of it as simply a mall or tourist trap [...] By attracting locals, the district hopes to create an authentic Santa Monica experience that will feel natural and be more interesting to tourists that come to visit." That's a first step, even if this revived interest in locals seems to be as mere gimmicks.

The next step may be coming from a SMMirror report that sales in the new Santa Monica Place are not meeting expectations. Even with 6.5 million visitors per year (vs. a population of 85,000,) there are only so many Vuitton bag one can sell in a day, yet there will always be a need for a good shoe or watch repair, or affordable food, clothing and home fare for all -- a need that is not adequately met. Santa Monica has been so busy puffing itself into a high-end international resort and "lifestyle hub" that it's forgotten all about its locals and true character. Now may be a good time for a reality check.

Paris Illusion

François Abélanet's temporary installation Qui Croire? on the Parvis de l'Hôtel de Ville in Paris has the design world all abuzz. The 3-D anamorphosis optical illusion, whose French title means 'Who to believe?', "consists of a sprawling mass of grass and sand that appears when viewed at the proper angle as though it were a large sphere," says designboom. The awesome 100-meter long project, made of straw and sand covered with sedum, was "designed to rise above the heated environmental rhetoric of scientists and builders and other stakeholders, [and] invites people to simply question the role that nature plays in their lives," adds Inhabitat. More info + videos here.

images via designboom

The Scent Of L.A.

What does L.A. smell like? Says Swiss perfumer Andy Tauer:
"L.A. smells like blooming citrus trees, rosebushes, iris, jasmine everywhere. [It] has the slightly disturbing smell of homeless people and the perfume used in detergents. You use heavier stuff, in higher concentrations. L.A. also smells of fat and sugar -- the cheap donuts served at my hotel." Sweet, exotic, slightly putrid; add a whiff of MSG and car exhaust, topple with a thin marine layer, et voilà!

Desertification

Michael McMillen' Mojave-inspired Lost Lake @ La Louver.
photo of artwork LA Frog

Summer Into Fall

Summer has barely begun, and already the days are getting shorter at an alarming rate, with that unmistakable autumn light seeping through. Like Gary Shteyngart wrote in Super Sad True Love Story:

"I hate the Fourth of July. The early middle age of summer. Everything is alive and kicking for now, but the eventual decline into fall has already set itself into motion. Some of the lesser shrubs and bushes, seared by the heat, are starting to resemble a bad peroxide job. The heat reaches a blazing peak, but summer is lying to itself, burning out like some alcoholic genius..."

America The Romantic

On this 4th of July, here is beautiful letter by Bernard De Voto to a fellow historian who had been accused of being too romantic about American history -- via The Economist:

"American history is the most romantic of all. It began in myth and has developed through centuries of fairy stories. Whatever the time is in America it is always, at every moment, the mad and wayward hour when the prince is finding the little foot that alone fits into the slipper of glass. It is a little hard to know what romantic means to those who use the word umbrageously. But if the mad, impossible voyage of Columbus or Cartier or La Salle or Coronado or John Ledyard is not romantic, if the stars did not dance in the sky when our Constitutional Convention met, if Atlantis has any landscape stranger or the other side of the moon any lights or colours or shapes more unearthly than the customary homespun of Lincoln and the morning coat of Jackson, well, I don't know what romance is."

"Ours is a story mad with the impossible, it is by chaos out of dream and it has continued as dream down to the last headlines you read in a newspaper. And of our dream there are two things above all others to be said, that only madmen could have dreamed them or would have dared to -- and that we have shown a considerable faculty for making them come true."
photo LA Frog

Dancing With Wheelchairs

Axis Dance Company, scheduled to play in L.A. this weekend, seeks to alter perceptions about physical disabilities through superb choregraphies. Review and clip here.

photo Kevin Colton via LA Times

Goodbye

RIP 11AM PST. Such a long, rich, generous life!
photo Domi

Guinguette Revival

Guinguettes, the open-air dance halls of France's Belle Epoque immortalized by the Impressionists, "are finding new fans in a fast-paced modern world," writes Devorah Lauter in the LA Times.

"In their heyday, hundreds of guinguettes were perched along the banks of the slow rivers that loop through the Parisian countryside [..] They were magnets for young, working-class people who were drawn by the low prices, fresh air, cheery accordion music and hourglass-shaped women flirting in their Sunday best. Pierre Auguste Renoir famously painted one of his favorite guinguettes in Le Déjeûner des Canotiers."

Though in a more contemporary format, today's guinguettes attract crowds for the same, simple pleasures: dancing in good company, cheap fried fish meals on checkered table cloths, and a relaxed, cheerful setting rooted in quainter times. "It reminds us of the films, and our grandparents. It was another time then. A friendlier time," says a guinguette enthusiast.
photo Devorah Lauter/LAT

Colonies De Vacances

The local version.
photo LA Frog

The (Lost) Art Of Reading

Nothing beats the pleasure of holding a book: turning the pages; feeling the grain of the paper; inhaling the ink, taking the time to slow down, to embark on literary adventures. Nothing?

"In the 21st century, our dystopias imagine a world where books are forgotten," writes Johann Hari in an Op-Ed for the Independent. "The book -- the physical paper book -- is being circled by a shoal of sharks, with sales down 9 per cent this year alone. It's being chewed by the e-book. It's being gored by the death of the bookshop and the library. And most importantly, the mental space it occupied is being eroded by the thousand Weapons of Mass Distraction that surround us all. It's hard to admit, but we all sense it: it is becoming almost physically harder to read books."

Hari argues that in today's digital age -- an age of constant buzz and distraction -- we need paper books more than ever. "The paper book that doesn't beep or flash or link or let you watch a thousand videos all at once gives you the capacity for deep, linear concentration." Quoting from David Ulin's The Lost Art of Reading: "Reading is an act of resistance in a landscape of distraction. It requires us to pace ourselves. It returns us to a reckoning with time. In the midst of a book, we have no choice but to be patient, to take each thing in its moment, to let the narrative prevail. We regain the world by withdrawing from it just a little, by stepping back from the noise."

"It's precisely because it is not immediate -- because it doesn't know what happened five minutes ago in Kazakhstan, or in Charlie Sheen's apartment -- that the book matters," Hari adds. Like sugar or alcohol, the web brings amazing pleasures and joys, "but we need to know how to handle them without letting them addle us," he concludes -- proning a digital (detox) diet. So it's time to wrap up this post, kiss the iMac good night, grab a good book, and prendre son envol (as the title of Aurida Rouha's photo above suggests.)

Summer SOULstice

What a glorious day! After weeks of mood-altering June gloom, this Sunday started/ended with de saison warm, blue skies. Might as well: L.A. was celebrating Summer all around town -- including in Santa Monica, with the Summer SOULstice festival on Main Street.

The street was packed with a fun, eclectic crowd of locals, bums, and tourists -- from rednecks to rastafarians; kids to seniors; whites to blacks. All rejoicing in the weather and awesome music, with bands ranging from ingenue to punk rock and everything in between. Special kudos to Southbound's fantastic blues-rock Allman Bros tribute, and Dr. Wu's Steely Dan tribute. A glorious day indeed.

photos LA Frog

L.A. Cool

photo LA Frog

Molière In The Canyons

"Outdoors and inspired" (per the website tagline) best summarizes last night's Tartuffe at The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. Set in the wilderness of Topanga Canyon, the Theatricum is a unique arts and theater place, with an open-air amphitheater oozing hippie-zen vibes, and a bunch of actors concocting awesome theatrical events on shoestring budgets, carrying on the theater's founding legacy of unimpeded, joyful creativity.

Tartuffe in such a setting felt like a match made in heaven. As LAist writes in its review of the play, "The Botanicum space is expansive, with hillside walkways, cultivated gardens and plenty of picnic room in front of the concession stand. Beyond that, the gently sloping walk gives rise to a wide wooden stage and a two-level playhouse sitting squarely stage left. Seating pushes up and away from the stage in a series of benches and bleachers before giving in to the woodland beyond the lights. This, here, with the chandelier dangling from the wise old tree at the back of the stage, is where Tartuffe belongs."

With plenty of room for Molière's signature quid pro quos and other buffoonish outbursts, "The space, as open as it is, lets the whole production breathe and simply play. Characters enter and exit in all manner, using corners and pathways that help blend the landscape into the show."

Kudos to Ellen Geer for her excellent adaptation of the play (unimpeded indeed,) and to Aaron Hendry as a larger than life Tartuffe in this timeless critique of human character. A thoroughly enjoyable evening, with lots of laughter and action.

photo LA Frog

Capturing Paris' Energy

Using the multiple exposure technique, photographer Edouardo Mortec captured the intense energy and magic of Paris' street crowds -- to dizzying effect. More images here.
images Edouardo Mortec

Venice Beach Defaced

The gentrification of Venice Beach, once a haven of counterculture, is picking up pace. In an effort to rein in the free spirit which makes the place so unique, local officials had already attempted to regulate its graffiti walls; then a permit lottery was created to regulate the arts & crafts vendors, which resulted in less art, less craft, and more cheap trinkets; beach cottages have been systematically torn down, to make way for luxury loft developments; American Apparel set up shop on the Boardwalk, paving the way for more chains; local artists, dreamers and other hillbillies who make up this highly creative urban fabric have been pressured out. Mercantilism is slowly but surely erasing local character.

Worse: the Venice Beachhead reports that local councilman Bill Rosendhal recently endorsed a L.A. Parks Foundation plan "to raise money for city parks maintenance and operations by selling space to 'corporate sponsors.' The Venice Beach part of the plan called for 200 signs on an 8-block stretch of the Boardwalk -- a total sign area of 10,000 square feet, or the equivalent of 15 full-size billboards."

Now, that's a whopper. The State of California may be in dire financial straits, claiming parks as one of its many victims, but this proposal is stretching the concept of public-private partnership beyond the limits of the socially and visually acceptable. The arrogance of power over the public interest, as BanBillboardblight calls it -- making a quick buck at the public's expense. With arrogance comes a false sense of impunity, leading to lazy thinking and silly ideas. Public-private partnerships are an excellent tool when government fails, but not on such preposterous terms.

Beauty Culture

"Beauty is a short-lived tyranny" - Socrates

The Annenberg Space for Photography is treating us to another fascinating, schizophrenic experience, with its new exhibit Beauty Culture: a celebration yet indictment of beauty diktats; gorgeous yet disturbing images; desires yet denunciations. The show "provides a seminal examination of photography’s role in capturing and defining notions of modern female beauty and how these images profoundly influence our lives in both celebratory and disturbing ways."

A must-see for women (and men) of all ages, shapes and colors. And a healthy reminder of the futility of cosmetic surgery. Bottom line? The real winners are those who embrace who they truly are, challenging as it may be. Because in the end, it's nothing but Big Business.

Reviews: Photo Exhibition Challenges Media's Standards of Beauty | Photo Induced |  LA Times | Kids (Teens) Off The Couch.
photos 1+3Tyen/2 Orlan/4Google/5Susan Anderson/6Martin Schoeller/7Lauren Greenfield

Spring Gloom

June Gloom and jacarandas in Downtown L.A.
photo LA Frog

Techno Beach

Between trash cans turning into mobile apps, and iPod-recharging bikinis, there's no escaping techno-life on the beach this Summer!

Freeways As L.A. Metaphor

As part of his Reading L.A. series, LAT architectural critic Christopher Hawthorne delved into David Brodsky's book L.A. Freeway: An Appreciative Essay. Though published 20 years ago, the book could not be more contemporary. As Hawthorne writes, "As far as polarizing subjects in Los Angeles go, freeways have long ranked near the top" -- gas guzzling sore thumbs for some, freedom symbols for others.

"The freeways keeps us cocooned in our cars, within sight of yet apart from our fellow citizens," writes Brodsky. "Protected by the detached single-family home and private automobile, the Angeleno can maintain his/her daily life remarkably free of intrusion. Thus Los Angeles is able to maintain its facade as a garden patch of urban villages, a metropolitan small town, without ever compromising the anonymity that is a hallmark of city life."

L.A. freeways' vital role as a backbone to local life is best illustrated in the upcoming closure of the 405 in July, from the 10 to 101 freeways. Nicknamed "Carmageddon," this local end-of-the-world event has the local community all freaked out and preparing for what's already regarded as a disaster -- from Metro offering free subway and extra bus rides, to local businesses and museums shutting down. Residents are also advised to stay home and listen to the news. Paul Haggis' movie Crash could not have portrayed the Gestalt better.
UPDATE 06/02/11: 405 shutdown will be "heard around the world"
UPDATE 06/08/11: Carmageddon in AP + SMDP
photo via Google Images

Beef Jerky: The Chanel Version

Via Inhabitat.

Paris Arrondissements Explained

Paris' Arrondissements, aka districts, can be confusing to visitors. Yet, their unrolling snail-like -- from 1st to 20th and center-outwards -- makes perfect geographical and Cartesian sense. The Paris Blog has an interesting post on the origins of those districts, which date back to the 13th Century, but were only made official in 1860. The post brings historical perspective, too. For instance, did you know that Paris street-naming dates back to the 12th Century? Or that there are about 6,000 streets in the city? More here.

Pushing 3-D Video Boundaries @ SMMOA

Marco Brambilla's The Dark Lining exhibit at the Santa Museum of Art could be regarded as underwhelming, if not for its 3-D baroque videos Civilization and Evolution. As Holly Willis writes in LA Weekly, "Hollywood has embraced 3-D again, with blockbusters from Avatar to the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, and more directors are trying to use the technology to create a new language of cinema. But what about 3-D in the art world?"

Brambilla brilliantly addresses that question, creating a stylized 3-D experience, "To comment on the vacuity and interchangeability of so many contemporary movies," writes Willis, but also as a critique of today's superficial, destructive society. "There is no emotional connection," says Brambilla, "There is no narrative arc. There is no character development. None of the kind of formulas that would go into making a feature film are applied here. It's more associative."  
UPDATE 05/30/11: Working on multiple dimensions [LAT]
UPDATE 06/07/11: In a Dark Room. Intoxicated. [KCRW Art Talk]

image via smmoa.org

News Of The Weird

Local headlines, and initiatives, can be real weird sometimes.
scan from the Monica Daily Press