An Education in Brewing

This past week Georgette & I got to attend a rather interesting class on the art of home brewed beers.



There is a great shop down in Los Angeles called Culver City Home Brew. Two nights out of the month they offer a "How To" class on brewing your own beer at home.


[GROWING HOPS]

The store speciliazes in all the materials needed & multitudes of ingredents for all styles of brews. Both guys at the store were friendly & personable. Especially our teacher who stays around till ten at night to finish up the class for us all newbees.



The class was taught around the shop over the course of three hours or so... which learning that night, is about how long it takes a very experienced person to set up a brew to ferment.



Alas, the store offers various starting kits to get any home brewer going. Myself you ask? I had to pass only due to vacations coming up... but that will be in time.

CHEERS TO CULVER CITY HOME BREW! [info]


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ODDSac - Hollywood Premeire

ASTOUNDING.
Cinerama dome - Los Angeles, CA

Danny Perez directed, visual album teamed with Animal Collective



An all-encompassing experience that is not quite for everyone, but for those few... it's the bees kneees. Coming to DVD soon & select cities for one near you... maybe.

Activities

Been stocking up on things to write about b/c life has brought one great adventure after another lately. Shown below was the first adventure that arrived... my good friend Adam was in town with friends after an extensive road trip throughout California. They emerged from their wooded home in Trinity County & managed three major cities (can you tell?).

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Some great hiking in the Los Angeles hills led to some delicious BBQing at the home that night, with a rousing game of Monopoly. You know it.



Friday morning at 6:30am Adam & friends took leave to their next California destination while I pressed on to another day of work. Alas, this Friday night brought on adventure number two. Some friends & I found our way to a new destination in Los Angeles, the Roberts & Tilton Gallery.



As seen above, it was the opening night of skateboarding legend, Ed Templeton's photo exhibit, The Seconds Pass. Collaged in frames across the white walls were years of photos Ed has taken from the seat of a car looking out. Many told stories of fleeting moments, while others seemed to be poised ideas.



Sunday brought us to a Southern California tradition... beach party! My friend Max is moving back to upstate New York to live on a farm, so what better way to leave California for the opposite extreme than get outdoors & into the sand.



Good times were had all in all at Point Dume that day. Cheers to Max on his further adventures.

2010: A NEW DECADE

WE'VE MADE IT TO 2010. LET'S MAKE THE NEXT DECADE A LOT BETTER THAN THE LAST. THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN IMPORTANT PLACES NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS.

WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS WORKING TO LIVE OUR LIVES TOGETHER ON THIS ONE PLANET WE HAVE.

ONE LOVE

2010: Bought a new Nikon D5000, so expect many more pictures. Also finally made it up to San Francisco again to spend some good time with good friends. It had been just over a year now.

CHEERS TO A NEW DECADE

Latest Creation

Worked together with Nik Ewing of LongStay to create a short visual work to accompany their tunes.

Homes & Houses from Longstay on Vimeo.

HomeMade IceCream

Photos from Christmas break down in San Diego. Making ice cream, old fashioned style.

Missle Stations in LA

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Collin, Georgette & I spent a nice Sunday afternoon hanging around a non-operation missile station. Decommissioned in 1966, the United States Nike Missile Guidance Facility LA96C is now the best scenic point I have been to since living in Los Angeles.

Hidden off the beaten path of Mullholand drive, deep in the San Vincente State Park one can find extensive fire road hikes with passing Los Angelians of all kinds. The photo below has an excellent last sentence that cracked me up. Reminded me of the show Lost as well.

The hike to the actual towers is not very strenuous in any way, but it is quite a site to marvel once at the station. There are several viewing areas w/ tables & benches alike to relax & spend an afternoon.

My favorite part was being able to look out to the mountains & see the first snow covering Big Bear & the surrounding mountains. It was then possible to turn your head to the right & look out over the Pacific Ocean & on out to two smaller islands off the coast. Miraculous!

From this point there are several other hikes & bicycle routes to take.

And remember, "WE WILL BURY YOU."

TIME TRAVELING

This past week an amazing exhibit opened up that I hope everyone can get to see sometime in the next five months. The California Heritiage Museum has worked with several skateboard historians to gather a plethora of boards, skates, photos & wheels together under one roof.



The museum is located just off Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California. Almost set in the heart of the original Dogtown, where skateboarding crawled out of the ocean & onto the streets. The old two story house/museum has been ronvated to help bring each visitor back in time to what many of the homes in California looked like when the area was first developing.

As you wander through the bottom floor, gazing upon roller skate relics & a new style of soap box racer you can't help but wonder how the search ever began for such items, let alone who had them?! Some of my favorites were the older photos of kids riding the old plank & box scooter racers.

Up the stairway their is two great displays of skateboards as they evolved into a trendy childs toy, taking on the shape of small surf boards. Some of my favorites were on these walls.



As the exhibit snakes around the top floor of the house, visitors see the progression of board shapes, wheel materials, and the varrying bright & evolving graphics that accompany the boards from day one. I even saw the very first board I had in 1988!!

Lastly, you come to some of the newest boards on the wall (pictured above) made by Girl Skateboards. These are a tribute to the history of our sport & an homage to the past. These boards display a history that is important for future generations of riders to understand, to help them see where their sport came from. Thank you so much to the California Heritage Museum for putting together such an amazing exhibit for the public to see.

CALIFORNIA HERITAGE MUSEUM MAP

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OUR AMAZING EARTH

*make sure to click on some of the photos to enlarge. they are spectacular! especially the first on the right, my favorite.

I recently was turned onto one of the most amazing YouTube videos I had ever seen! My jaw locked wide as I viewed the 6 minute clip that I have posted below. It is of El Camino Del Rey a narrow 3 foot wide path built into the side of a cliff wall 900 feet up. Built in 1905 for construction workers to move supplies between to water falls in southern Spain, El Camino Del Rey alas has fallen into serious disrepair & only now temps the bravest climbers.

GREAT SITE WITH MORE INFO, STORIES & PICTURES

Skip to 1:20!

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Now we move over to China where there is a mammoth staircase, plank walk ways & there is no way you can look down in search Daosist temples high atop Mount Hua. Travelers to Mt. Huang/Hua Shan have come experience death-defying & awe-inspiring views like no other on the planet. Below is a short video of just a small portion of the trek that is like nothing you have seen before.

GREAT SITE WITH PERSONAL ACCOUNTS, STORIES & MORE PHOTOS

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Lastly, on down to South America & into the jungles of Bolivia to travel the infamous Yungas 'Death' Road. This is a narrow dirt road that connects two smaller towns with La Paz that has heavy traffic flow despite the 200 to 300 deaths a year! The video below is a great little insight into traveling the Death Road & making it out alive.

GREAT SITE WITH MORE INFO, STORIES & PICTURES

MAGNITUDE - A Look Back

Was taking a trip down Nostalgia Road. On the corner I came across these three videos from last summer. These are of our 'for fun' jam band Magnitude. All these songs were made up as we play them & have never been reproduced. All Improv. Hope your enjoy! These are my three favs.

NOT EVEN

FALL OF APOLLO

SENSES