Maybe it’s not apparent at first glance but R.F.Q’s/Procrastination and Galco’s do have a common connection. Me.
R.F.Q. Request for Qualifications. In my world it’s called a job application. The deadline…..4:00pm Monday; across the desk, no post marks accepted. Each application is never quite the same. This one wants twelve images, that one wants four. This one wants a 4″x 6″ dpi 300 numbered format, that one wants a 12″x 14″ dpi 72 numbered one through four (to be seen on the first round) format. I might gear an application more towards design while favoring the three dimensional for another. It requires a certain degree of strategy. The commission in question thinks I should go out and visit each one of the twelve proposed sites, select one and then describe why. This is asking too much. I googled map quest (love them) took in a street view, made a selection and then came up with a superficial line of intent that should pass muster. Of course in the meantime I’m plowing away on Face Book Farmville, reading Sedaris, blogging and feeling guilty. ADD? yes, I was raised on Ritalin. I often think of going back to it. It’s an option. I just keep putting it off.
Looking for diversion, I remembered Galco’s. I wasn’t really hungry, eating is a diversion too. Down the hill and west of the bridge to Galco’s house I went. I’ll spare you the reason I quit going to Galcos out of respect for the family, but things have changed. The Blockbuster is now $4.95 as opposed to $.95 when I first visited back in 74. I’m old. So is Cheerwine. They started in 1917 and use pure cane sugar. There really is a taste difference between cane and corn. Subtle
Galco’s is a kind of soda museum now. It’s also adjacent to my other favorite; the Highland Park Police Museum. Don’t want to do what you should? may I suggest a small diversion?
Meet painter John Kilduff. John is a man with a plan. For someone with a degree in contemporary art, he did the unthinkable; John displayed his paintings at a municipal art fair. He’s not an idiot, he chose Beverly Hills; ching ching. When OJ took over our airwaves 24/7 you could catch John, in his plein aire mode, sequestered among the media. Locals may recall the media’s massive presence down at Parker Center. Desperate for a story, reporters took to interviewing nattily attired John in front of his easel. John’s subject matter? satellite dishes.
Long before blogging, John used technology to get noticed. This video is from Kilduff’s long running cable series “Lets Paint TV”(part of his M.F.A. thesis at U.C.L.A.). His tenacity seems to be paying off. The man’s created a following. It’s not John’s first stint with cable television. In the mid 90’s I was the object of his reportage. He waited until I was completely inebriated to conduct the interview. He gave me a copy. It’s embarrassing. No…humiliating.
The moment you confess your love, you know that this day awaits. 11/02/09
In my world cats mark the passing of time. I can tell you what was happening when they came into my life and what was happening when they left. Ti Ling was a young Siamese cat who showed up at the Lacy Street Shelter back in September of 1988. The newly built shelter replaced the Anne Street Shelter which had been destroyed in the Whittier earthquake. This site also marked my first public art commission (now destroyed) as well as my artistic partnership with Mr V. An interesting career beginning and I have the stories to back it up; more on that in a bit. I walked into the shelter that morning, caught site of Ti Ling and immediately laid claim to her. That afternoon I surprised Ramona with her new birthday gift. Ramona was none to happy. I also knew it would pass. Looking for something asian sounding, mom made up the name Ti Ling. It was a good call since it turns out that Ling means “compassion and understanding” in Chinese. Ti Ling was a lover. Extremely adaptable, she never fought with other cats and moved into the niche that my father left with his passing.
What does this have to do with Trash Tuesday? The baby blanket. I found it curbside on a walk through South Pasadena. It seemed a good choice.
About those shelter stories…Anyone remember the “Great Burmese Give Away” fiasco? A little German woman (one time cat breeder of Siamese and Burmese cats) had 50 plus descendants from her original breeding stock holed up in her east Hollywood apartment. The cats were confiscated and brought to the shelter. They were “old style” and the most beautiful cats I’d ever seen. Every day the little German woman would come to visit her cats (they were in quarantine). Afterwards she’d come out and yell at me over and over again “get me a cab!!”while I painted. The situation was eventually plastered all over the local news and people were lined up the next day to adopt them. That “next day” the shelter pulled up the red carpet when the younger cats started breaking out in sniffles. Outside a few of the older cats, they euthanized the entire lot. I managed to use my newly acquired power to get two of the older cats into the hands of a friend. They would later come down with the same “said” sniffles. It was nothing more then a upper respitory illness easily treated with antibiotics.
Pasadena and the US Forrest Service consider Christo’s proposal as a means to bypass nature. Astroturf in front running as perfect cover. Considered inspired answer to fire ravished hillsides. Benefits addressed; a) super green b) requires little maintenance c) deer hate it.
My Adjacent U2 Adventure…(adapted to Trash Tuesday)
Pasadena Lockdown. Must see U2. Must not pay for the privilege of seeing U2. Park down side street west of La Loma Street bridge. Walk up Arroyo Seco to Rose Bowl. Traffic is pouring in. Take west side of Rose Bowl. Pass U2 convoy. Watching U2 perform from Imagine benchisdiscussed. Mr V scraps “said idea” Head onto golf course instead.We toastto the Black Eyed Peas.Gather up “Trash Tuesday” #48 folding arm chair. Mr V swings chair over shoulder. Passing resemblance to Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine in Kung Fu).
Head south towards Brookside Park. Climb back trail behind public pool. Discover gate locked. Mr V uses excessive profanity to express displeasure. Wants me to jump over gate. Not going to happen. Mr V complains of hunger. Bad sign. Head to lower ground. Cross Suicide bridge (David Bowie’s “Ground Control to Major Tom” is playing). Get car. Navigate road blocks. Get to other side of locked gate, park and enjoy U2. Compromise. Hunger. Leave for Glendale. “In and Out” burgers. Take home/go home. Catch last U2 song on You Tube.
I’ve been short on time, so for today I’m stretching the concept of “Trash Tuesday” to include tag/garage/parking lot/thrift store and rummage sales.
Art Center College of Design occasionally has a student parking lot sale where the kids can unload some of their accumulated creativity to make room for the next semester. These HAND(some) beauties may have ended up in anyone of the above venues (including the Art Center Dumpster) if it weren’t for the discerning eye of Mr V. Eight of them in total for a quarter apiece. They’re one of a kind castings that the seller took off his own hands. He said that he used them in a piece about the crucifixion; this might explain the recurring hole in each hand. Art Center kids don’t have time to shop around or maybe never had to and they tend towards the finest of materials. Does taking advantage of this make us bottom feeders or smart cookies?
This small 700 acre parcel of land is what remains of the Ballona Wetlands and the last remaining wetlands in the city of Los Angeles. Back in the 1930’s Ballona Creek was placed in a concrete channel. This disruption threw things out of balance greatly reducing the size of the wetlands. The newly open space gave way to farmland which in turn gave way to Howard Hughs and the aviation industry. Westchester was born. Developers and environmentalist have fought tooth and nail over the remaining open space. Notice the McMansions?NoticeMr Spielberg?
The Ballona Wetlandsare part of the Pacific Flyway. A major north-south route of travel for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia.
This 1963 Westchester California building designed by Eliot Noyes is presently occupied by Otis College of Art and Design. Here is a closer viewbeautifully documented by South Bay adjacent Tash. Before it was Otis the building served as IBM’s Aerospace Research Center. The window design is a reflection of IBM’s computer “punch card” system. Mr. Noyes also designed the company’s Selectric typewriter. Some of us didn’t part with our Selectric till the year 2000. Some of us created a museum dedicated to the Selectric
