"Ten Practice Courts, Pasadena High School" (2011)

Five practice tennis courts face east and another five face west.  On occasion, a ball clears the top of an east-facing court and ends up on the west-facing side.  Each wall had survived taggers and hundreds of thousands of hits from students, weekend athletes and serious ballers.  Pasadena High School opens its athletic facilities to the community every weekend and is a place where neighbors meet.  Each photograph has a shadow that reveals the court's orientation relative to the afternoon Saturday sun.

The Photographic Moment

For years, I've been carrying a camera in my car and this shot was taken while waiting for the light to get on the 210 Freeway on Day Creek Blvd.  The late winter afternoon sun filled the opening between the eastbound and westbound lanes and as I turned this runner was crossing my field of view.

Hammer Time

After six 1-hr rides in 3 weeks on the Bianchi cruiser bike, I've decided to get serious and get myself new cycling shoes (Pearl Izumi) and new gloves from REI in Rancho.  Today, I went up Day Creek Blvd twice on my road bike and actually felt good.  I miss the feeling of going uphill and reaching the top -- like stopping after hitting my head with a hammer.  I vividly remember this guy from the Montrose ride, Arsenio.  He only rode an hour every day and does the 65 mile club ride every Saturday and somehow he stays in racing condition.  Not that I even remotely consider bike racing again but it just feels good to be in shape and go up the hills fast.  Nonetheless, I have an hour to ride everyday (given work and home constraints) but I am definitely on the "Arsenio Program" -- hammer hard for an hour to get in fast and strong.  I'm not quite there yet but by the start of summer, I'll probably be shaving my legs again.

Art For The Masses

A good 500 years after the renaissance, this iconic image still pervades our daily consciousness and will probably continue to do so for another 500 years.  I was extremely lucky to have found my one and only version of Leonardo's Mona Lisa in an 18"x24" version from a thrift shop in Upland, California yesterday.  As soon as I saw it, I know paying $30 for it was definitely worth every penny.  Here's why. This acrylic version is done using the traditional paint-by-numbers technique from a kit available at any crafts store by a person of indeterminate age.  While I have never done a single paint-by-number piece, I believe that with patience, a bit of a steady hand and a drive to make art is all one needs to accomplish something like this.  The merging of this iconic image with a modern (ok, 50s maybe) technique is a truly art for the masses.  I knew I was destined to get this piece because as I was waiting in line, getting ready to pay, I looked outside and just across the street, painted on the building (that housed a custom framing store) is another image of the Mona Lisa.

What Incentive?

I am hard-pressed to find a more inefficient agency that does not have the acronym "DMV".  A week ago, I got a notice in the mail that the personalized license plate I ordered had arrived and that I need to pick it up.  The only problem is there is not a single indicator on the notice nor on the envelope where the plates can be picked up.  Luckily, I remembered that I indicated the Rancho Cucamonga DMV when I ordered the plates online a good 10 weeks ago.  I actually took a Friday afternoon off to brave the non-appointment wait of about an hour -- which is not bad, except when I was 10 numbers away from being called, I have to leave to pick up one of my boys from school.  Which meant returning a couple hours later to wait yet again -- with a new number.  The late afternoon wait was actually shorter by a good half hour and is somewhat tolerable.  Until I had to get to talk to a DMV employee at the window.  What is the incentive for a state DMV employee to be efficient, engaging and capable?  They know the office closes at the exact time whether they serve 200 or 2000 for the time they are open, it doesn't really matter.  I did finally get D LINKIN around 4pm and was quite happy to leave and put the new plates on Elsie -- until he told me that I need stickers.  Stickers?  Yes, month-and-year-of-expiration stickers.  I needed to wait in different line for stickers.  Again, what is the incentive to come up with an efficient process?  I stood in yet another line waiting for stickers when my original DMV agent, walks up to the sticker window and asks for my paperwork.  Why on earth did he just walked over 15 steps earlier, grabbed my stickers and saved me the frustration of another line?  If there is ever a stereotype of a state employee, it's got to be a DMV clerk.  Now I know why I pay AAA membership so I could do all my DMV transactions in the more efficient, privately-owned Auto Club of Southern California. Needless to say, I like the new plates but I wish there was a simpler way to get it.

Relics Of An Analog World

This is a section of the radio room inside the aircraft carrier museum USS Midway in San Diego.  I've never been inside this floating airport until this week when the kids and I visited during spring break.  Although all the knobs in this panel look overwhelming, it's really very obsolete and analog.  Digital technology has afforded the modern sailor simpler GUI-based control in switching communication calls between pilots, control tower, officers and other personnel.  I would not be surprised if all the radio equipment in this room at the Midway is compressed to a single rack in the more modern Nimitz-class USS Abraham Lincoln.  Not only is digital communications systems smaller in scale but also has higher capacity (handle more phone calls) and more secure. But hey, what would a museum exhibit be without knobs to turn and switches to flip?

The Stingray Project Update 3/26/11

All fiberglass defects had been repaired and sanded earlier this week and I returned to McJacks on Friday afternoon to check on the completed primer coat.  For my next visit in a couple weeks, I plan on bringing all the chrome bumpers and hardware.  The underside is also getting a steam wash and hopefully the engine compartment will look a lot better too.  I originally planned on driving the car by March -- but since this month is almost over, obviously I'm behind schedule.  I finally decided on Can-Am White after going back and forth between red and white.