JJ's Bass Guitar

As a child, one of my most vivid memories with my father was listening to records.  I remember putting marching band music on the turntable and just enjoying the music.  I picked up early on an appreciation for music of all kinds.  That affinity for music is one of the gifts I really would like to pass on to my kids, for I know it's a life-long passion that only grows with time.  My kids and I share plenty of music listening these days from radio stations to live concerts.  However, I definitely would like for the three of us, someday, to play together -- guitar, bass and drum.  That dream just got a little closer this week when we picked up this used bass guitar from a craiglist ad.  Mind you, this bass is just a few inches shorter than JJ but he goes at it anyway.  He already plays guitar and trumpet and I think he'll find the bass a little bit challenging.

Overheard At BCAM

I've had this in my journal since July 2008 when BCAM opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA):

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A month after BCAM's grand opening, I overhead this at the gallery housing Damien Hirst's "Away From The Flock" piece.

Guard: "You know, these exhibits ain't for everybody."

Couple of gray-haired museum visitors, seniors, continue to observe sheep encased in formaldehyde. No response.

Guard walks closer, "You know, these exhibits ain't for everybody."

Older gentleman: "Excuse me?"

Guard: "They aint' for everybody."

Older gentleman: "They ain't for me either."

Guard smiles, obviously proud of the affirmation. They all walked away to look at Hirst's more colorful but equally dead butterflies instead.
I walked toward the sheep thinking, would they have liked it better if I had some red ink with me?  Hmm.

Drawn To Watching Bad Movies

"The Miracle Mile" is a bad movie (1988) in terms of all the individual attributes typically considered when reviewing movies -- acting (average), script (below average), plot (depressing), cinematography (made-for-tv) etc. But every time I put my 15-year old worn-out copy in the VCR, I cannot stop watching the bleeding thing from start to finish.  The movie was way before Anthony Edwards made it bit with ER (on NBC) and certainly before mobile phones were actually portable (and weighed less than 15 pounds).  The premise of the story is that of nuclear holocaust getting in the way of Harry (Anthony Edwards) meeting the woman of his dreams, Julie (Mare Winningham) and living happily ever after.  I suppose anyone familiar with the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles would appreciate all the landmarks that they showed in the movie -- Johnnie's on Fairfax and Wilshire, Park La Brea, the tar pits, etc.  Maybe it is the appeal of driving through the deserted streets of LA at 2 am and the calmness of Wilshire Blvd. as shown in the movie that somewhat gives it a dream-like texture.  And this is before nuclear war (sort of like before gridlock hits the city). I mean how many movies are there that show the end-of-the-world from a local LA neighborhood perspective?  Maybe it's some kind of fascination with the macabre in figuring out what to do when you only have a couple hours to live. The only curve ball the director, Steve De Jarnatt threw is how the story of Harry and Julie ended -- sad but very poetic.  De Jarnatt went for the jugular in opting to portray the deaths of these lovers by sinking a crashed helicopter into the La Brea tar pits.  Yes, those dreaded tar pits. So after all, maybe this kind of ending (not necessarily cinematic) is enough to pull a bad movie by its bootstraps into the video store shelves for cult classics. (BTW, I find it somewhat spooky that this movie was released on Sept. 11, 1998, exactly 13 years before the attack on the World Trade Center.)

Views of Kusama's "No. C.A.9"

From LACMA's permanent collection, Yayoi Kusama's 1960 piece "No. C.A.9". Love her work and she doesn't look a day over 80. This collage is from several photographs I took at different distances from the piece during a recent visit. (They do allow photography of the permament collection.)

How To View A Modigliani Painting

Do ya think she likes the colors Amedeo used in his portrait?  I can't help but take this photo during a visit to the Norton Simon.  There aren't enough Modiglianis in the Los Angeles area museums.  A couple at LACMA and at the Norton and that's about it.  In fact, I can't even remember a Modigliani exhibit in LA ever.

Some Thoughts On Online Taxation

One of the attractions of using Amazon.com to purchase anywhere from books, videos, office supplies to sporting goods, clothing and music is the fact that I don't have to pay any sales tax on any online purchase and if the total exceeds $25, shipping is free as well.  There is this ugly fight in the State of California over Amazon customers and sales tax collection.  Where this showdown is headed, who knows but I did look today on my Amazon account activity and I find it hard to believe that it's been at least 11 years since I made my first online purchase.  In 2000, when I'm just starting to get comfortable with the concept of online shopping, here's what I ordered:


1) 7/19/00 - "Richard Scarry's Best ABC Video Ever" - Ok, to me it's obvious, Sam just turned two and Richard Scarry was a well-worn videotape by the time we donated it to Goodwill a couple years back.
2) 8/18/00 - "The US Intelligence Community" by Jeffrey Richelson - This was a good, fun read for anyone in the aerospace industry.  Richelson was the author of another popular book that a co-worker recommended at the time.
3) 10/5/00 - "The Red Violin" DVD - I saw the movie at the theater but decided that I should get a copy for my birthday.  I had seen the movie at least a dozen times and at some point, I think I ordered the soundtrack as well.


Fast forward to last month when I placed my latest Amazon order and obviously, the kids are now 11 and 13 and I've already bought several art books online.  Gone is the VHS videotape format, DVD is now the predominant movie format and mp3 is the audio format of choice.  However, the printed book is still king, despite electronic books and such.  My last 3 orders are as follows:


1) 8/8/11 - "Art In The Streets"  by Jeffrey Deitch - I had to get this book discounted at Amazon after seeing the MOCA Geffen Contemporary exhibit of the same name.
2) 8/13/11 - "Geek Wisdom" by N.K. Jemisin - Some things don't change, ok.
3) 8/13/11 - "The Complete Twilight Zone Collection" DVD Box Set - Sometime between 2000 and 2011, we got the entire X-Files TV series on DVD.  The kids are just beginning to appreciate the simplicity of the Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone.  Each episode is a bite size 20min of TV that the kids and I can watch.


As some point, I should probably calculate the overall taxes I would have paid in the last 11 years based on all these Amazon purchases.  And I can see why Amazon is fighting this sales tax law because, I for one will think twice about online purchases if I'm taxed for every item.  However, I can also see why the mom-and-pop stores are for the sales tax in order to level the playing field. Only time will tell who wins but I have a hunch, it's not the consumer.

Seven Years Ago, Today

If time travel were possible, I would like to be transported to Hapuna Beach, August 31, 2004.  It was a good day in the Big Island.  Maura, kids and I drove out to have a picnic lunch to this beach, about 30 miles north of Kailua-Kona.