It's Quiet in Here

Empty desks at the El Segundo Public Library

Do you ever have that weird feeling of being alone in public places? Have you ever spoken aloud but no one seemed to hear? Are you troubled by a sense of alienation, as if the you're somewhat out of synch with the rest of the world?

Yeah, me neither. ;-)

"Creep" by Radiohead

Enjoy!!!

Lunacy and the Worm Moon

The first full moon of Spring, also called a Worm Moon, Crow Moon, or Paschal Moon.

It's been a while since last I posted. That seems to be how I start each blog post nowadays. Pretty soon, I'll set up a ritualized opening, something like "Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. It has been x days since my last confession." ;-)

Well, although I've been away from here, I have not been idle. I've got works in motion, new ideas, and innovations to my approach to blogging. Yes, we're getting experimental again!!!

In any case, we've done this routine a few times before, mostly to middling results. But this time will be different!!! I'm a changed man!!! I've got a foolproof plan!!!

Detail of Maita in Gold Dress (2010) by Priscilla Monge

Trust me. It'll be awesome.

February: Decades of Music

Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" was one of the hits of February, 1998.

It's that time again, when we take a stroll back through the years and listen to various hits from over the decades. This month, our selection is eclectic, ranging from instrumental to hip hop, but it's predominantly mainstream. I didn't go looking for off-the-beaten-path songs. Diverse though they may be, these were all chart toppers.

For all the criticism that can be lobbed at popular musical tastes, it's kind of nice seeing how different styles and sounds gain prominence over the decades. Any list that includes such varied music as from the likes of the Bee Gees and Queens of the Stone Age, Toto and Alicia Keys, is a list that can be appreciated. These songs capture the quirkiness and trends of their day.

Alicia Keys' "Like You'll Never See Me Again" made its mark in 2008

Well, let's listen to some music.

January: Decades of Music

The Bee Gees kicked off their Saturday Night Fever success with "How Deep Is Your Love"

I stopped writing the old "Monthly Dance Party" posts a while back because of two reasons. First, although it's fun to look at different musical trends over the decades, contrasted in five-year intervals, I didn't feel as if my writing was giving anything special to the topic. My posts were little more than a couple pictures and a list of videos.

Second, I got lazy. Feeling as if these music posts were just list-compiling drudgery, I couldn't muster up the energy or enthusiasm to write about the songs or my experiences of the music. Yeah, with a little effort, I could have addressed my first concern, but that very problem broke my morale and sapped my will, creating a vicious cycle of negative feedback. My posts were vapid and that drained my enthusiasm, which, in turn, kept me from improving upon my posts.

That's kind of stupid, but that's how it went down. But, with a new year, I'll try to start the project up again and try to make things more interesting. We'll see.

Artwork for Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" from the interior of the Wedding Album 

This month, I went easy on the selections with nothing too far from the mainstream. I didn't hit many Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers, but they all probably made good chart positions. Sure, I could have dug a bit deeper into the music, turning up forgotten gems, but there's nothing wrong with mainstream music.

After all, we're here to have fun. ;-)

Looking at the Sun

The Sun behind a telephone pole

I'm an old-timer when it comes to photography, with most of my habits developed way back in the film exposure days. Although I have been using a digital camera for the past decade, I have a hard time shaking the techniques learned for an obsolete technology.

Lately, the unusually cold weather, at least for Southern California, has been weighing upon my mind. One idea that popped into my mind was whether or not the upper atmosphere would have enough ice crystals to create nice solar halos. People who live in northern climes are familiar with the phenomena of light refracted through ice, but the climate conditions don't show up that often in the Los Angeles region.

So, when running about my business, I looked up and, sure enough, I could see the circles glowing around the sun. Then, I began my quest to find a way to occlude the disk of the sun, so as to showcase the halo, earning many a green retinal burn along the way. ;-)

The sun partially obscured by a lamppost and the clouds

To be honest, I have never been much of a "Sky" photographer, especially not with a subject as difficult as the sun; give me the moon any day, or night. But repeat attempts brought out some decent images. It was a nice day for sky-gazing.

The rice blue skies, the wispy clouds, and the solar halos made for tough but engaging compositional elements. As the day progressed, I got to snap them from different angles. It was a fun project.

The upper arc of the solar halo, peeking over the top of a streetlamp

And that's when I came to a revelation. . .

This Could Take All Night

Long Beach Harbor on a gusty winter twilight

Again, my blogging time has slipped away from me.

Although I'm doing a decent job of putting up a daily post, I would like to write more things with actual substance. I don't think that I'm totally failing at this goal, but I can do better. Nevertheless, we make the most out of the time available, doing our best with the situation in which we find ourselves.

Therefore, tonight's post will consist of a few photographs, images that I've taken over the past few days that caught my fancy. Outside and inside, any location presents interesting sights. ;-)

The claustrophobic trail through the library's book-laden shelves

And, to celebrate the birthday of Dave Grohl, let's listen to some music.

A Friend With Gold Is the Best I'm Told

Leprechaun (1993) featuring Warwick Davis

This week marked the 20th anniversary of the cult classic horror movie, Leprechaun, starring Warwick Davis, as the title character, and Jennifer Aniston, as the female protagonist. Although it was an eye-bleedingly terrible film, with dialog and plot so inept that they verge on madness-inducing, it spawned a franchise of six movies, albeit mostly direct-to-video, with talks in the works to launch a theatrical reboot.

Now, there are some notable, even positive, aspects to the Leprechaun movies. First, Warwick Davis really gives the little green sociopath a distinct personality, a style unique to the slasher genre, with a cheesy but creepy mix of humor and malevolence. Another praiseworthy element is the make-up that transforms the rather nonthreatening features of Davis into the otherworldly malice of the Leprechaun. It's an interesting blend. ;-)

And, of course, it's awesome to remember that this was Jennifer Aniston's first significant theatrical role, before Friends, when she became "America's sweetheart" and influenced hairstyles. After starring in this clunker of a movie, Aniston must have found herself a four-leaf clover indeed; other aspiring actresses have found their careers derailed by such a memorable stinker.

Detail from Leprechaun (1993) theatrical poster

While I don't mean to offend the fans of this franchise, I have to say that this movie and those that followed it, even with the quotable lines and Davis' unique charm, were abominable. Really, death by pogo stick, journeying into space, killer go-karts, these movies dredge up the bottom of horrific absurdity. Sometimes I think that they are so bad that they become good. . .

But, no, they're just really, really bad. And, therefore, Leprechaun and his pot o' gold go into my Hall of Shame!!!

Dance Party: August

Meg White as a Mexican prostitute in The White Stripes' video for "Icky Thump"


It's time for our monthly celebration of music. I know that many of my recent posts have been heavy on the tunes, but, whereas those other posts focus on a theme, the "Dance Party" is chronologically arranged. From 1967 to 2007, we've got some fine and fun songs to bring back memories from these bygone years.

It's a fine way to end a summer day, sharing music, like bringing gifts from far away. ;-)

And it's better than standing in line to see the show tonight. . .



Image from The Beatles' Yellow Submarine


Doesn't take much to make me happy. :-)

So, let's listen to some music.

Late Night at the Hell Station

(S)hell gasoline station around 1am

Yeah, it's late tonight. Perhaps it's a function of being sleep deprived, but this photo makes me laugh. ;-)

Since we're on the topic of gasoline, let's take a look at some old commercials.

After all, we can't pass up on Bing Crosby, Charlie Brown, and the Answer Man.

Dance Party: July

Detail from Ultra Nate's "Free" EP (1997)

Comin' in just under the wire. ;-)

Well, we've got a goofy mix of music this time around, but lots to enjoy, admire, and appreciate for beauty, playfulness, or originality. The nine songs in tonight's post are all certainly evocative of the era in which they came to prominence. Yeah, there's a bit o' cheesiness that can't be denied, but, over the years, popular trends go from cool to kooky, poised to playful. And a whole lot of loneliness. . .

From tear-jerkers to trance, big hair to big butts, disco to emo, tonight we'll play out the month with an eclectic mix.

Cover detail from Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" (1992)

Let's listen to some music!

Dance Party: June

Detail of the cover image for Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By"

It's that time again, amigos!!!

We've got a fun roster of classic and quirky songs to celebrate the month of June, at least in five year increments from 1967 to 2007. ;-)

The night is pressing and I haven't the time to get all prosaic on you all, but, since we've been doing this for over a year now, just imagine that I'm engaging in some rants and raves. It can be a form of Paideia "Mad Libs", going something like:

"I'm not much of a (Noun) for (Band Title) but this piece is (Adjective), showing real change from the (Adjective) style of their early music towards a more (Adjective) sound."

See!!! Music criticism is easy!!! LOL!!!

Cover image from Kim Wilde's "You Keep Me Hangin' On"

Let's listen to some music!!!

Short Side of Nothing

Creepy mirror-faced mannequin

Holiday weekend, tired, I got nothing.

But I can post up a quirky photo and link to some fine music. Since today marks twenty years that Los Lobos released their awesome album, Kiko, in 1992, let's have some dreams in blue or, if you'd rather, some lavender. ;-)

(As always, we love our fellow Angelenos here at Paideia).

Dance Party: May

Detail of the cover image from Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up the Sun"

It's time for another set of music flashbacks. Yeah, we've been doing a bunch of music posts over the past few weeks, but the next couple of weekends are likely to be busy for me. Therefore, since I don't want to miss out on celebrating May's music over the decades, I'm putting this post up tonight.

But it'll be just as good going early as keeping it late. And either way is better than nothing at all. ;-)

So, from '67 to '07, let's have some fun!!!

"Point of No Return" was Exposé's second hit in 1987.

What the world needs now is. . .

Sharks with Friggin' Laser Beams

Mike Myers as Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

It's been a while since I've done a "cinema" post, but, with Blockbuster season starting off this weekend, I figured we could celebrate the fifteen year anniversary since the release of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery on this date in 1997.

It's weird to think about how various phrases from this movie have become pop culture fixtures. From "Yeah, baby!" to "One million dollars!!!", the presence of this movie was hard to ignore in the late '90s. Two sequels later and another in the works, it's certainly become a cult classic.

"100 Billion Dollars!!!" Mike Myers as Dr. Evil

So, lets take the way back machine a couple decades back to the groovy days of the 1990s. ;-)

I Want a Clydesdale

Parked Budweiser truck making a delivery, but where are the Clydesdales? ;-)

Nothing much to share tonight. Honestly, I'm a bit drained, hoping to get my mojo back in order soon but realizing that I'm going through one of those cyclical phases of the "blahs" that all writers, great or small, experience. But that doesn't mean that my ability to write has up and vanished.

It just means that I'm having a tough time developing a thesis with eloquence and artistry. My words are not failing me, but I might be failing them. ;-)

But, hopefully, we can amuse ourselves with meandering thoughts and whimsical play. We can dream of ponies and balloons.

Well, there are no ponies, but we've found some balloons.

A bit of popcorn and lemonade go a long way to having a good time on a hot Spring afternoon.

Yum!!! LJ loves kettlecooked popcorn and fresh squeezed lemonade!!!

And some music will make the night go right.

Dance Party: April

Detail from the cover image of Celine Dion's A New Day Has Come (2002)

So, we've been doing these monthly dance parties for a year now. My focus and approach has changed a lot since my first post last May. I used to focus exclusively on "Dance/Club" music. I used to write a lot of context on how the musical styles had changed over the 5-year increments.

But my "curatorial" style has changed over the year. I've broadened out my selection criteria and allow the listeners to bring their own experiences or context to my monthly playlist.  Yeah, I know that this is my blog and that, ultimately, everything boils down to being "all about me" but I like being "light-handed" and subtle. After all, if my song choices are interesting, then they can tell the story themselves.

Image from Soft Cell's Tainted Love (1981)

So, what narrative arises from this month's selection?

Dance Party: March

Cover image from Vanessa Williams' "Save the Best for Last" (1992)

It's time for our monthly celebration!

This time around is a whiplash of styles, but I love them all, for different reasons both aesthetically and personally. Whether you want to be "There beneath the blue suburban skies" or "Feel the sun on your face and tell me what you're thinking" or feel that the "Night is young and the music's high. With a bit of rock music, everything is fine", there's something for all types tonight. ;-)

And we love variety!

Image from Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" concert film (2006)

So let's listen to some music!

Dance Party: February

Cover image for Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" (1992)


It's that time again.

This month's selection is filled with memorable songs, love 'em or hate 'em, tunes that set the sound for their era. From the Trammps' "Disco Inferno" to the Spice Girls' "Wannabe", these songs became pop culture icons.

To be honest, I wasn't fond of many of these songs back in the day, but time has given them the warm glow of nostalgia. ;-)

Image for the J. Geils Band's "Centerfold" single (1982)

Let's listen to some music!!!

Hasta La Vista, Baby

Detail from Jody Watley's 1987 self-titled album

When it comes to the R&B dance divas of the '80s or '90s, one of my favorites is Jody Watley. In terms of technique and variation, I'd say that she was the best.

Sadly, she never gained the popularity of her peers, such as Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston. That's a pity, seeing as how she was more experimental in incorporating diverse dance music traditions, from freestyle to New Jack to downbeat. I guess that mix of style might have been the problem, making her music a tougher commodity to market.

Regardless of the lack of long-lasting chart-topping fame, I still regard her as one of the defining voices of R&B dance.

Jody Watley in 1990

Anyways, let's wish Jody a Happy 53rd Birthday!!!

Beavis and Butt-Head Are Not Role Models

Beavis and Butt-Head in Kevin Kirkpatrick's Dill Hole on view at CoproGallery


Don't try this at home. ;-)

I don't normally visit CoproGallery. It's a mighty cool place, but the exhibits generally aren't my thing. So, when visiting Bergamot Station, it's toward the bottom of my "must visit" list. Normally, I run out of energy before getting to it.

While strolling around Bergamot this week, I happened to wander over and decided to have a viewing. There were plenty of fun hardcore "lowbrow" works on display, but my attention was immediately caught by this sculpture of Beavis and Butt-Head by Kevin Kirkpatrick. It takes the express train down into the Uncanny Valley!!!

You almost expect to hear "Fire! Fire!" or "Uhhhh. . . this sucks! Huh huh huh."