THE FLAMING LIPS LIVE

Georgette took me to see The Flaming Lips set the Fox Theater's smoke alarms off...

The show was like nothing I had seen to before. The reviews I had read beforehand could not do the live spectacle justice. It was so entertaining to have a host like Wayne interact with the crowd beyond said vocalist duties. They handed out lazer pointers to everyone in the crowd to enjoy for the whole set. Wayne held up a giant mirror at one point for everyone to shine there lazer off...

We Danced | We Sang | We Were Merry

[by Georgette!]

X-Games Meets Poncho

Last week's vacation was pretty much the greatest (see below post), but this week is shaping up to be pretty good as well. On Monday, my roomate and I went and saw the new XGames 3D movie. It's only out for a week so get to it before Friday! Below is a still of one of my most favorite and innovative skateboards of our time, Mr. Bob Burnquist.

To see Burquist's switch BS180 the mega ramp on the big screen was worth the $16 alone.

It was quite the show of athletic ability... I found myself wondering about the difference in atheles in this modern world. There is the classic sports, such as baseball or basketball, that have seen a proven decline in viewership and participation, but still the individuals seem to make millions of dollars. When on the flip-side you have the ever increasing individual sports like snowboarding, surf, and skateboarding that make so little to get by b/c so so many corporate ties have burdened the sport. I mean really, why do YOU think they added snowboarding to the Olympics years back? Beacause viewership was down...........

Anyways, on to Tuesday's fun....

Streaking underground, carried by two rails, some friends & I were off to Hollywood & Highland for Wine and free Latin Jazz. However, this was not just ordinary latin jazz. It was the grooves & rythms of one of the best in the world, Pancho Sanchez. By the end of the first set there was a decent two or three hundred people watching the event. Good times were had all around.

Vacation Time

"Summer time and the living is easy." A line sung by numerous artists all throughout the decades from jazz, to reggae, to street performers. I must say this last week of Summer has truly been living easy. I spent my first full week off work since August of last year! Six days a week for a year.......... anyways. I wanted to share a short overview of the events that took place b/c I made sure to fill each day with activities.

SUNDAY - Abbot Kinney St in Venice

My parents came out to Venice from San Diego for lunch and an afternoon visit. My Mom is staying in LA with my sister who just gave birth this past week to my new nephew Jackson Armstrong Geller. Congrats!

My Dad & I spent some time looking through records which was a good time. He bought me Cream's Goodbye album on vinyl.

MONDAY - Found a deserted skatepark in Burbank

Thanks to a tip online, TheDude and I checked out a new skatepark in Burbank, which we found to be closed with no one rolling around. Well, the fence was only 6ft high so what do you think we did? Hoped that, and rolled around. The Cops showed eventually, but posed no threat.

TUESDAY - Walt Disney Concert Hall Tour & THE FLAMING LIPS

Designed by Frank Gehry, the Disney Concert Hall is a terrific display of imagination and engineering. It is free to take a 'go at your own pace' audio tour of the whole building. This is a must do tour!

PICTURES FROM THE FLAMING LIPS CONCERT SOON!!

WEDNESDAY - More skateboarding & Friends

The Usual*

THURSDAY - Angeles Crest & Beyond

Stepping back into the past for a moment, to February 2009. My friend Carlos & I took and adventure out into the mountains via Highway Two aka Angeles' Crest, only to be met by a road block 40 miles deep amongst the trees. Flash forward to vacation 09, packed the car with more friends to shoot some black and white photogrpahs.

Ed, Collin, Carlos and I made or way over the sixty plus miles of mountains to meet the town of Wrightwood on the far side for an ice cream. There will be a post soon with a lot more details about this trip. It was primarly for photography purposes... hint hint.

FRIDAY - Six Feet Under House & The Farmers Market

At roughly an hour an episode, 12 episodes a season, and five total seasons, it would seem that I know the Fischer family pretty well. My girlfriend Georgette sure does. Well, since she was the prevailing influence in my appetite for this HBO show entitled Six Feet Under, I only found it fitting to give a little back to her. On my last day of vacation I took her on a surprise visit to the funeral home that the Fischer family lived & filmed at for the duration of the show (2000-2005). You should have seen her smile!

Then it was off to the food paradise that Los Angeles' Farmer's Market on 3rd. After making a slow lap and working to decide on a food choice, we opted, before even buying the first round, to come back later that week to try others. On a full stomach I spent the rest of my last day of vacation relaxing. Saw good friends that night with some good music.

Ennis House - Frank Lloyd Wright

There once was a time... a time close to a decade ago when I was studying the angles and shapes of buildings over the cuts and structure of the motion pictures. There once was a time when I wanted to be an architect. I truly wanted to design roller coasters, though fearing many of them even here in LA at Six Flags.

Alas, I spent years studying other designers, learning AutoCAD, and working to understand landscape and its influence. I even have blueprints for a house I designed on ETID Drive. Even though my path did not continue this way I learned very valuable things from looking at the world around us just a little different.

Another great aspect to this is I was introduced to Frank Lloyd Wright's work. One of the most important days in my architecture history was the day that my parents took me to tour two of the homes he designed in Los Angeles, Ennis House (shown here) & Hollyhock House. I had never seen such inovative design when arriving at the Ennis House that day in the Los Feliz Hills. Built in 1924, it was quite different for it's time. The exteroir portion seemed to flow out of the hill as the drive wrapped around it's castle like structure.

I love how you can see through the driveway out to an enourmous view of Los Angeles. The interior is a gorgeous wood & stone world with many of the rooms seperated by small changes in elevation, which was one of my favorite features.

However, these photos I shot a week ago when I reviseted the house for the first time in eight years. I spent almost tour house walking around the house shooting photos and just looking at the ideas presented in the house's design. You can really see the Mayan influence through the building.

The sad part is the house is no longer available for tours. It had become to costly for the city to keep up the renovations to allow tours. The house is now on the market for $15 million, with an estimated $10 million in work to get it up to great standards.

Now Who Inspires You

Amidst the attention given to the sciences as how they can lead to the cure of all diseases and daily problems of mankind, I believe that the biggest breakthrough will be the realization that the arts, which are conventionally considered ‘useless,’ will be recognized as the whole reason why we ever try to live longer or live more prosperously. — John Maeda via The Universe Will Fly Like a Bird

>>> Here for more Inspiration <<<