Yay! Our tomatoes are getting red!
So far I've picked:
- 2 cherry tomatoes
- 2 yellow squash
- 1 zucchini
- 3 cucumbers
Soon the garden will explode, I think!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Garden 2011 Update
Yay! Our tomatoes are getting red!
So far I've picked:
- 2 cherry tomatoes
- 2 yellow squash
- 1 zucchini
- 3 cucumbers
Soon the garden will explode, I think!
Monday, July 4, 2011
4th of July, Hollywood Bowl Style
For the 2nd year in a row, Rick & I spent our July 4th at the Hollywood Bowl!
Last year was fun, as my mom and her husband were visiting us & got to experience it for the first time.
This year it was just the two of us. Well...us AND over 17,000 other people. We did the Park & Ride option, which makes the experience less exhausting. We parked in Arcadia and took a bus back & forth to the Bowl.
When we got there, they checked our bags. I'd already checked to see what we could bring food-wise and all that. When I opened my bag, I was shocked that they weren't going to let me in with my camera because it had a detachable lens.
Well...there was no way I was going to trek to the spot where we were told we could leave it...around a corner and up a hill and who knows where. We went to the back of a different line, I tucked my camera under my jacket and over my arm, and we went on in. I wasn't the only one - there were cameras (with detachable lenses) everywhere.
I only had my macro lens, so couldn't zoom in and out. The photos below are what I could get with it!
The show started off with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by the charismatic Thomas Wilkins. One of my favorite things at the July 4 show is that they play the songs from each branch of the military and have people stand up when their branch is played. I'm not super patriotic in general, but it's a lovely thing and quite moving when you see people all around you who have served for our country.
Missed the first part a bit, as I was distracted by seat issues right in front of us. Five girls there on a bachelorette party had to fight for their seats. An obnoxious group of people clearly had more people sitting in the row than they had tickets for. They were very annoying. The girls finally got their seats and were able to enjoy the evening & their champagne.
After that, it was time for the evening's special guests to make their appearance - Hall & Oates! This was our second time in a year seeing them... The first was by chance. We happened to be at the LA County Fair and they happened to be giving away free tickets to their show there that night, so we went.
Both times, the crowds went wild. This time I saw a couple people dressed like them, which was pretty hilarious. The show started off a bit rocky - sounded like Hall had lost his voice - barely getting anything out....going low when we all knew he should be going high. ;)
It got better as time went on. Kids (and adults) were dancing in the aisles, people were singing along and enjoying themselves thoroughly.
One of the fun things about going to the Bowl is that you get to enjoy fireworks from your seats. It's a pretty neat experience & the excitement of the young couple next to us seeing it for the first time was contagious.
After the fireworks, Hall & Oates came back on briefly.
Earlier that night, the guy next to me asked how late it all went. I said I thought it would end around 10pm. Sure enough, the lights came on at 10 on the dot. People all around us were highly disappointed. "Are you kidding me?!" one guy yelled. I'm pretty sure it's a venue thing or a union thing or whatever. It's not that Hall & Oates don't want to play longer or anything like that. :)
Rick and I inched our way back down to the bus from our seats at the very top and headed home.
We'll be going back to the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday! They're showing Westside Story and LA Philharmonic will be playing the score live. Should be fun!
Last year was fun, as my mom and her husband were visiting us & got to experience it for the first time.
This year it was just the two of us. Well...us AND over 17,000 other people. We did the Park & Ride option, which makes the experience less exhausting. We parked in Arcadia and took a bus back & forth to the Bowl.
When we got there, they checked our bags. I'd already checked to see what we could bring food-wise and all that. When I opened my bag, I was shocked that they weren't going to let me in with my camera because it had a detachable lens.
Well...there was no way I was going to trek to the spot where we were told we could leave it...around a corner and up a hill and who knows where. We went to the back of a different line, I tucked my camera under my jacket and over my arm, and we went on in. I wasn't the only one - there were cameras (with detachable lenses) everywhere.
I only had my macro lens, so couldn't zoom in and out. The photos below are what I could get with it!
The show started off with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by the charismatic Thomas Wilkins. One of my favorite things at the July 4 show is that they play the songs from each branch of the military and have people stand up when their branch is played. I'm not super patriotic in general, but it's a lovely thing and quite moving when you see people all around you who have served for our country.
Missed the first part a bit, as I was distracted by seat issues right in front of us. Five girls there on a bachelorette party had to fight for their seats. An obnoxious group of people clearly had more people sitting in the row than they had tickets for. They were very annoying. The girls finally got their seats and were able to enjoy the evening & their champagne.
After that, it was time for the evening's special guests to make their appearance - Hall & Oates! This was our second time in a year seeing them... The first was by chance. We happened to be at the LA County Fair and they happened to be giving away free tickets to their show there that night, so we went.
Both times, the crowds went wild. This time I saw a couple people dressed like them, which was pretty hilarious. The show started off a bit rocky - sounded like Hall had lost his voice - barely getting anything out....going low when we all knew he should be going high. ;)
It got better as time went on. Kids (and adults) were dancing in the aisles, people were singing along and enjoying themselves thoroughly.
One of the fun things about going to the Bowl is that you get to enjoy fireworks from your seats. It's a pretty neat experience & the excitement of the young couple next to us seeing it for the first time was contagious.
After the fireworks, Hall & Oates came back on briefly.
Earlier that night, the guy next to me asked how late it all went. I said I thought it would end around 10pm. Sure enough, the lights came on at 10 on the dot. People all around us were highly disappointed. "Are you kidding me?!" one guy yelled. I'm pretty sure it's a venue thing or a union thing or whatever. It's not that Hall & Oates don't want to play longer or anything like that. :)
Rick and I inched our way back down to the bus from our seats at the very top and headed home.
We'll be going back to the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday! They're showing Westside Story and LA Philharmonic will be playing the score live. Should be fun!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Cinefamily: Everything Is Festival: Day 3, Part 3 & Day 4
In the previous posts, I neglected to mention the 4th and final Cinefamily show that we attended on Saturday night: Supercuts & Trash Compactors. Highly entertaining! I'll just quickly mention two of my favorite videos that were shown. One was an edited version of a Christmas episode of (the original) Beverly Hills 90210. Everything was edited out EXCEPT every occurrence of the word "Christmas". Man, they said it A LOT. Another was a two minute version of the film Doubt. I've never seen the film, but found this to be pretty freakin' awesome. It's basically the intro, a monologue by Meryl Streep about her...well...doubt, and the end credits. Genius.
Which brings me to Day 4 - the final day that we attended the festival.
The first screening of the day began at noon and the place was packed! It was Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. Back in 1982, a group of teens began a shot by shot remake of the original film! It took 6 years to complete. The "star" and producer Chris Strompolos grew up before our very eyes! He was at the screening and his stories were amazing!
He talked about the great lengths the boys went through to get as close to the original film as possible without the use of the internet or even a VHS copy of the movie. They took a lot of risks, which resulted in such things as broken arms, burnt bodies, and a head stuck in plaster. The hand that went along with that head finally had to write on a piece of paper "Hospital" in order to get the assistance he needed.
Had there been no time limit, I'm sure that the audience could have continued asking Strompolos questions for hours. Amazing and fascinating!
Next up was Neil Hamburger's Tribute to Dora Hall. You don't know who Dora Hall is? That's weird! (Not really.)
Dora Hall was married to the founder of the Solo Cup Company. He used his resources to let Dora explore her dream of becoming an entertainer. He financed record releases and TV specials and would both package things with Solo Cups and allow consumers to redeem their proof of purchase for copies.
A small dose of her stuff went a long way for me and it was the first time during the festival that I considered leaving before the end! It was being stuck in someone's bizarre fantasy world - one that creeped me out a bit! Here is (one of) the number(s) that just about put me over the edge:
I was glad I stayed until the end, though, as the last video was my...um...favorite. It was a weird Twilight Zone wannabe that didn't actually have Dora in it.
Neil Hamburger is quite the character. It was disappointing that no one had any questions for him at the end. I think we were all speechless. And exhausted.
After this screening, Rick and I decided to take a little break and go get some food before the final event we planned to see. I had a minute when I was close to wanting to go home, but was SO happy that we stuck to our guns and went back to see the film Dangerous Men.
The festival program described it as being "THE holiest of all Holyfuckingshits" and I would say that's pretty accurate!
I sat there, mouth agape, for the duration!
It's one of those films made in earnest with high hopes/expectations. Hadrian of Cinefamily told us a story about how he had gone to see it in the theater (which was rented out by the filmmaker) and was the ONLY person who had shown up so far for the run. While watching the film with a room filled with people, I imagined him sitting there ALONE with no other witnesses around him...
Perhaps the audience reaction wasn't what was originally intended, but it's undeniable that we all had a pretty freakin' good time watching it.
One of my favorite moments was a flashback scene in which the main character (I guess...she wasn't actually in the end) presented her (now dead) boyfriend with a gift. It was a little scene of owls made of seashells that she had made herself. I can't imagine coming up with this randomly. I can only conclude that John S. Rad (creator/writer/director/producer/COMPOSER/etc.) was plucking this from a specific and real experience in his life.
Here is the very beginning of the film. You'll get the feel, even before any cast appears.
Amazingly, a cast member came to the screening. She played the maid, but told us all that later Mr. Rad told her that he should have cast her as the lead. The lead, by the way, once stole a pair of her shoes.
The biggest gem she let us in on, though was this. John S. Rad had told them all that this film was going to be "as big as E.T."
Priceless.
And an awesome way for us to conclude our experience of the Everything Is Festival!
Which brings me to Day 4 - the final day that we attended the festival.
The first screening of the day began at noon and the place was packed! It was Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation. Back in 1982, a group of teens began a shot by shot remake of the original film! It took 6 years to complete. The "star" and producer Chris Strompolos grew up before our very eyes! He was at the screening and his stories were amazing!
He talked about the great lengths the boys went through to get as close to the original film as possible without the use of the internet or even a VHS copy of the movie. They took a lot of risks, which resulted in such things as broken arms, burnt bodies, and a head stuck in plaster. The hand that went along with that head finally had to write on a piece of paper "Hospital" in order to get the assistance he needed.
Had there been no time limit, I'm sure that the audience could have continued asking Strompolos questions for hours. Amazing and fascinating!
Next up was Neil Hamburger's Tribute to Dora Hall. You don't know who Dora Hall is? That's weird! (Not really.)
Dora Hall was married to the founder of the Solo Cup Company. He used his resources to let Dora explore her dream of becoming an entertainer. He financed record releases and TV specials and would both package things with Solo Cups and allow consumers to redeem their proof of purchase for copies.
A small dose of her stuff went a long way for me and it was the first time during the festival that I considered leaving before the end! It was being stuck in someone's bizarre fantasy world - one that creeped me out a bit! Here is (one of) the number(s) that just about put me over the edge:
I was glad I stayed until the end, though, as the last video was my...um...favorite. It was a weird Twilight Zone wannabe that didn't actually have Dora in it.
Neil Hamburger is quite the character. It was disappointing that no one had any questions for him at the end. I think we were all speechless. And exhausted.
After this screening, Rick and I decided to take a little break and go get some food before the final event we planned to see. I had a minute when I was close to wanting to go home, but was SO happy that we stuck to our guns and went back to see the film Dangerous Men.
The festival program described it as being "THE holiest of all Holyfuckingshits" and I would say that's pretty accurate!
I sat there, mouth agape, for the duration!
It's one of those films made in earnest with high hopes/expectations. Hadrian of Cinefamily told us a story about how he had gone to see it in the theater (which was rented out by the filmmaker) and was the ONLY person who had shown up so far for the run. While watching the film with a room filled with people, I imagined him sitting there ALONE with no other witnesses around him...
Perhaps the audience reaction wasn't what was originally intended, but it's undeniable that we all had a pretty freakin' good time watching it.
One of my favorite moments was a flashback scene in which the main character (I guess...she wasn't actually in the end) presented her (now dead) boyfriend with a gift. It was a little scene of owls made of seashells that she had made herself. I can't imagine coming up with this randomly. I can only conclude that John S. Rad (creator/writer/director/producer/COMPOSER/etc.) was plucking this from a specific and real experience in his life.
Here is the very beginning of the film. You'll get the feel, even before any cast appears.
Dangerous Men (excerpt) from Cinefamily on Vimeo.
Amazingly, a cast member came to the screening. She played the maid, but told us all that later Mr. Rad told her that he should have cast her as the lead. The lead, by the way, once stole a pair of her shoes.
The biggest gem she let us in on, though was this. John S. Rad had told them all that this film was going to be "as big as E.T."
Priceless.
And an awesome way for us to conclude our experience of the Everything Is Festival!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Cinefamily: Everything Is Festival: Day 3, Part 2
Note: A couple people have asked me if., after seeing Andrew W.K., I looked him up to see if past appearances have been similar to what I experienced at Cinefamily. I have not! As long as I don't know any better, this was a unique event. :) I'm sure that what follows is more a reflection of me than of Andrew W.K. or the audience...
---
Saturday evening at Cinefamily included what was billed as the Andrew W.K. Party Lecture.
I must admit that I had only vague ideas of Andrew W.K. Optimistic, right? Enthusiastic? Positive? Life's a party?
What happened on stage was completely different from what I had imagined. It was fascinating and ended up being one of the highlights of the whole festival for me.
At once, I felt like everything done and said was sincere and in-the-moment AND like it was planned and meant to mess with my head.
Andrew W.K. came onto the stage in his white pants and white t-shirt and sat down at his keyboard. He looked like this:
He told us that it was going to be an evening of discussion - a chance for us to interact with him and with each other. With each other? This stuck with me. He invited the audience to ask questions.
The first person to grab the microphone was this girl:
She made me very uncomfortable. She is likely someone who frequents Cinefamily - she seemed to know people there - it's possible she is a very lovely person. All I have to go on is what I experienced at this show.
From the outside, she seemed to want this show to be for her...like perhaps she felt that she had a deep connection with Andrew W.K. and this was her chance to make him see it. And to be in front of the audience herself.
Just from the photos - her body language and such...what would you think?
I don't even remember what her question was. I do know that later when she tried to ask another, Andrew W.K. respectfully told her that she had already asked one and that he was going to allow someone else a shot.
A lot of people asked questions that didn't seem to interest Andrew W.K. too much. Not a whole lot of thought in them or else pointing him towards an answer they wanted to hear.
He talked about how he has been thinking about death lately and how he has lived the last several years in a "glass half full" kind of way, but that it was only one perspective and that other perspectives are valid. He talked about giving people the benefit of the doubt. About how he thought he'd found his soul mate, but had he? What does that even mean?
It felt as if we were experiencing a shift that he was going through before our eyes. (But were we? I don't know! It was a performance, right?)
The questions continued. Often, Andrew W.K. would pause and look thoughtful and just as I was looking forward to hearing his answer, someone would shout a new question out, not giving him the chance to respond to the last one.
The audience seemed particularly afraid of silence, which made for an interesting opportunity. Andrew W.K. shut down. He sat, motionless, staring into space. He stopped responding to people. It ended up feeling like a social experiment. The audience started interacting with each other (which he told us in the beginning would happen, right?) and they started trying to figure out how to turn him back on. There must be some way that they could bring him back.
I sat watching him in silence and listening to the explosions of activity happening around me.
I don't know how much time went by, but it was enough to make a lot of people kind of freak out. Those of us watching him, saw tears come to his eyes.
One audience member did something unexpected. He brought his camera up on stage and took a photo of himself with Andrew W.K., who didn't seem to react.
I felt an odd combination of "that's funny" and a sarcastic "oh, yeah, take a picture with the 'freak' - nice."
The cat girl tried to get everyone to shhhhhhhhh. Even though she was the one who demanded quiet, she was the one who broke it, bringing attention to herself again. She began banging the arm of her sofa with her palm.
One of the Cinefamily folks walked to the sound area and she jumped at him and said "Hey! Can I..."
I like to believe that it wasn't a coincidence that Andrew W.K. took that moment to make a move. He struck a chord on the keyboard, which prompted her to jump back to her seat to watch.
He then did this (he wasn't making any sound - just the keyboard):
Until he finally was looking straight at the cat girl like this:
He held it there for a little extra time. Then he finished and it was "thank you and good night".
Some people were baffled. Some were delighted.
I became an immediate fan of Andrew W.K.
UPDATE: I just learned from a post on the LA Weekly site that the cookie I ate at the show had weed in it. It might be surprising, but I've never smoked it and had never eaten pot brownies or anything before. So, um...did that have anything to do with my reaction to the show and/or the people around me? The world may never know.
---
Saturday evening at Cinefamily included what was billed as the Andrew W.K. Party Lecture.
I must admit that I had only vague ideas of Andrew W.K. Optimistic, right? Enthusiastic? Positive? Life's a party?
What happened on stage was completely different from what I had imagined. It was fascinating and ended up being one of the highlights of the whole festival for me.
At once, I felt like everything done and said was sincere and in-the-moment AND like it was planned and meant to mess with my head.
Andrew W.K. came onto the stage in his white pants and white t-shirt and sat down at his keyboard. He looked like this:
He told us that it was going to be an evening of discussion - a chance for us to interact with him and with each other. With each other? This stuck with me. He invited the audience to ask questions.
The first person to grab the microphone was this girl:
She made me very uncomfortable. She is likely someone who frequents Cinefamily - she seemed to know people there - it's possible she is a very lovely person. All I have to go on is what I experienced at this show.
From the outside, she seemed to want this show to be for her...like perhaps she felt that she had a deep connection with Andrew W.K. and this was her chance to make him see it. And to be in front of the audience herself.
Just from the photos - her body language and such...what would you think?
I don't even remember what her question was. I do know that later when she tried to ask another, Andrew W.K. respectfully told her that she had already asked one and that he was going to allow someone else a shot.
A lot of people asked questions that didn't seem to interest Andrew W.K. too much. Not a whole lot of thought in them or else pointing him towards an answer they wanted to hear.
He talked about how he has been thinking about death lately and how he has lived the last several years in a "glass half full" kind of way, but that it was only one perspective and that other perspectives are valid. He talked about giving people the benefit of the doubt. About how he thought he'd found his soul mate, but had he? What does that even mean?
It felt as if we were experiencing a shift that he was going through before our eyes. (But were we? I don't know! It was a performance, right?)
The questions continued. Often, Andrew W.K. would pause and look thoughtful and just as I was looking forward to hearing his answer, someone would shout a new question out, not giving him the chance to respond to the last one.
The audience seemed particularly afraid of silence, which made for an interesting opportunity. Andrew W.K. shut down. He sat, motionless, staring into space. He stopped responding to people. It ended up feeling like a social experiment. The audience started interacting with each other (which he told us in the beginning would happen, right?) and they started trying to figure out how to turn him back on. There must be some way that they could bring him back.
I sat watching him in silence and listening to the explosions of activity happening around me.
I don't know how much time went by, but it was enough to make a lot of people kind of freak out. Those of us watching him, saw tears come to his eyes.
One audience member did something unexpected. He brought his camera up on stage and took a photo of himself with Andrew W.K., who didn't seem to react.
I felt an odd combination of "that's funny" and a sarcastic "oh, yeah, take a picture with the 'freak' - nice."
The cat girl tried to get everyone to shhhhhhhhh. Even though she was the one who demanded quiet, she was the one who broke it, bringing attention to herself again. She began banging the arm of her sofa with her palm.
One of the Cinefamily folks walked to the sound area and she jumped at him and said "Hey! Can I..."
I like to believe that it wasn't a coincidence that Andrew W.K. took that moment to make a move. He struck a chord on the keyboard, which prompted her to jump back to her seat to watch.
He then did this (he wasn't making any sound - just the keyboard):
Until he finally was looking straight at the cat girl like this:
He held it there for a little extra time. Then he finished and it was "thank you and good night".
Some people were baffled. Some were delighted.
I became an immediate fan of Andrew W.K.
UPDATE: I just learned from a post on the LA Weekly site that the cookie I ate at the show had weed in it. It might be surprising, but I've never smoked it and had never eaten pot brownies or anything before. So, um...did that have anything to do with my reaction to the show and/or the people around me? The world may never know.
Cinefamily: Everything Is Festival: Day 3, Part 1
Saturday at Cinefamily's Everything Is Festival was our longest day!
Luckily, one of the perks of having a membership is the ability to be let in before the other patrons. And the main reason that's important is that there are 8 couches up for grabs in the theater... There are a lot of members (and on certain rare occasions a couch may be reserved), so you still have to show up a bit early to make absolutely sure you can get cozy and comfortable. That's what we did.
Another cool thing is that with our festival passes, we could just leave stuff on our couch and claim it for the duration of our stay. On Saturday our stay was over 8 hours!
First up was David O'Reilley's Found Animation. This was far from my favorite part of the festival, but there was a lot of variety and I hadn't seen anything before. "If you love Pixar, you will hate this!" the program said.
David O'Reilly:
Next was Schrab and Harmon's Found Crap. They were there to present the videos and to comment on them throughout the screening. A lot of the time was taken up by Paul Knop videos, which all ended with the same "twist" - the presence of vampires where you (he hoped) would least expect them.
An entertaining first half of our day at Cinefamily, made better by the comfortable seats! ;)
Luckily, one of the perks of having a membership is the ability to be let in before the other patrons. And the main reason that's important is that there are 8 couches up for grabs in the theater... There are a lot of members (and on certain rare occasions a couch may be reserved), so you still have to show up a bit early to make absolutely sure you can get cozy and comfortable. That's what we did.
Another cool thing is that with our festival passes, we could just leave stuff on our couch and claim it for the duration of our stay. On Saturday our stay was over 8 hours!
First up was David O'Reilley's Found Animation. This was far from my favorite part of the festival, but there was a lot of variety and I hadn't seen anything before. "If you love Pixar, you will hate this!" the program said.
David O'Reilly:
Next was Schrab and Harmon's Found Crap. They were there to present the videos and to comment on them throughout the screening. A lot of the time was taken up by Paul Knop videos, which all ended with the same "twist" - the presence of vampires where you (he hoped) would least expect them.
An entertaining first half of our day at Cinefamily, made better by the comfortable seats! ;)
Friday, July 1, 2011
Cinefamily: Everything Is Festival: Day 2
On Friday night, Rick and I headed back to Cinefamily for more fun & entertainment!
First up was the festival's "Keynote Presentation" by Mark Hosler of Negativland. The festival program asks "Is Negativland a 'band'? Media hoaxers? Activists? Artists? Musicians? Filmmakers? Culture jammers? Comedians?" They seem to be a pretty good combination of all of those things...and have been since 1980!
The videos shown were interesting, but the real draw was listening to Mark Hosler, who had so many amazing and unbelievable stories to tell! For instance, pre-internet, they created a rumor that their music was being blamed for a shooting. They got all sorts of attention from the media, which didn't exactly fact-check the press release that was put out by Negativland themselves...
Here is the video he ended his presentation with:
After Hosler's presentation, we stayed for one of the things I was most looking forward to - The Pelican Brief Project.
You know that movie, right? The Pelican Brief? It's probably not the first film most people would choose to write a new score for. But that's what Candybox Violence did.
So we sat in the theater, watching The Pelican Brief, sound off, with Candybox Violence performing live. It was freakin' awesome. The film was much better this time around! (And yeah, I saw it back in 1993 when it came out.)
If you ever get the chance to experience this, I recommend it!
First up was the festival's "Keynote Presentation" by Mark Hosler of Negativland. The festival program asks "Is Negativland a 'band'? Media hoaxers? Activists? Artists? Musicians? Filmmakers? Culture jammers? Comedians?" They seem to be a pretty good combination of all of those things...and have been since 1980!
The videos shown were interesting, but the real draw was listening to Mark Hosler, who had so many amazing and unbelievable stories to tell! For instance, pre-internet, they created a rumor that their music was being blamed for a shooting. They got all sorts of attention from the media, which didn't exactly fact-check the press release that was put out by Negativland themselves...
Here is the video he ended his presentation with:
After Hosler's presentation, we stayed for one of the things I was most looking forward to - The Pelican Brief Project.
You know that movie, right? The Pelican Brief? It's probably not the first film most people would choose to write a new score for. But that's what Candybox Violence did.
So we sat in the theater, watching The Pelican Brief, sound off, with Candybox Violence performing live. It was freakin' awesome. The film was much better this time around! (And yeah, I saw it back in 1993 when it came out.)
If you ever get the chance to experience this, I recommend it!
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