Sound Structure

Sound Structure, Torrance, CA (January 2012)

A new wing of Torrance Memorial Hospital is under construction,

with a promise of a great view of the mountains on clear January days.

Miss South Bay to Others...

... Miss World to us. My friend's daughter is as beautiful on the inside as on the outside.

Photo by Tash

"The House That Sam Built: Sam Maloof and Art in the Pomona Valley, 1945-1985" Pacific Standard Time

The exhibit at the Huntington Library's Boone Gallery "showcases classic examples 
of the work of Sam Maloof (1916-2009), a nationally recognized leader of the 
American studio craft movement -- a movement that favored 
the aesthetics of the handmade over the machine and mass-produced." 

The exhibit is extremely well done and Maloof pieces are very appealing.
The style has been popularized and mass-produced but those
 pieces do not come close to the beauty of the handcrafted originals.

For you locals, the exhibit runs through tomorrow, so you can still rush out to see it.

Watercolors by Maloof and others, memorabilia, and even a painting by Millard Sheets is also on display. 

Approaching the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Gardens

A Nice Day, San Marino, CA (28 January 2012)

High Flying, San Marino, CA (28 Jan 2012)

Variety (is the spice of life)...



BROAD CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM -- LACMA -- 15 January 2012
Canon EOS 50D, f/4, 1/30 sec., ISO-800, 18 mm focal length

...not much variety, only a variation on the night theme with this one. The photo came out pretty good for a hand-held shot.

Night Moves in RPV

Hawthorne Blvd at Knollbrook Falls Apartments (24 January 2012)
Canon EOS 50D, f/11, 10 sec., ISO-400, 18 mm focal length

Remember the Night Photography class I was going to take...well, it started.  As my blogger friend The Chieftess said "it's all about using a tripod and a remote shutter release". And then lots of playing with settings on MANUAL (oh, no!).

The class will be great, with the benfit of 2 photographers as instructors - Bernard Fallon and his very talented, visual journalist son, Patrick T. Fallon.

 The photo is straight from the camera, taken near where I live.

Still Snazzy After All These Years ... (Wednesday Doorways)

3200 La Rotonda Dr., Rancho Palos Verdes (22 January 2012)

Built in 1974, as the sole condominium complex on the south side of Palos Verdes, now with only a couple of golf fairways and cliffs separating it from the Pacific, the complex still looks in great shape.

To Infinity (in Art) and Beyond in "Pacific Standard Time"

As promised, here are bits of the exhibit "Everyman's Infinte Art" at Chapman Collage by Harold Gregor, a repeat of the installation in 1966. In 1966, no one saw the art since the campus was closed for winter break. But the instructions and materials list (which appeals to the engineer in me) were available, so that EVERYMAN can recreate it at ANYTIME at ANYPLACE and the possibilities to arrange ensembles that "suggest an infinite continuum" are INFINITE.

I agree that this isn't EVERYMAN's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed the stacked stryrofoam cups, the line of overlapping black sheets of construction paper... and my absolute favorite: the shinny rings of joined vent pipe elbows.

Let's get PHYSICAL ...

...at Chapmen University, Orange California....

Whaaat?? You know that I mean for you to get going on that New Year's resolution to get more exercise.

Happy Chinese New Year!

 (I went at Chapmen U. to see an installation for Pacific Standard Time that will knock your sweaty socks off... or will just amuse you, as it did me. More to come tomorrow.)

Saturday Skies at Southern California Soaring Academy - Crystal Airport (SkyWatch Friday)

 Photo's from last Saturday.

One of the Academy's new 2-seater ASK-21 glider is being towed for a flight. My son flew two flights and got up to 14,000 feet during one of them -- a definite thrill. 

Here is a view of both of the new ASK-21s.

PV Protesters

PV joins in ... "BAIL OUT SCHOOLS NOT BANKS"... "JOBS NOT CUTS"...

Saturday on Hawthorne Blvd.

I like my small, local bank...

The back courtyard at Malaga Bank at Malaga Cove Plaza, Palos Verdes Estates

Photographer's De-light at LACMA

Chris Burden, URBAN LIGHT, 2008

Last Sunday evening, I visited LA County Museum of Art for the last day of three Standard Pacific Time exhibits. 

These were shocking and disturbing (Edward Kienholz: FIVE CAR STUD, 1969-1972, Revisited),

well excecuted and interesting  (Sandra de la Loza: MURAL REMIX),

and unusual but a bit banal (Maria Nordman: FILMROOM: SMOKE 1967-PRESENT). 

All are worth a click on the links.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

A day to honor and reflect upon the word of the great MLK.

Post office window at Vayermo, CA

We have some bananas today... (SkyWatch Friday)

On the south side of Palos Verdes, on a small hill, sandwiched between Gaffey St. and the busy 110 freeway, is a quiet sanctuary of San Pedro Gardens where small parcels are leased to those interested in cultivating a bit of land. I met a man, who had mostly fruit trees including a big avocado and a few vegetables, who said he just liked coming there to be out in the open air.

My mother-in-law kept a small vegetable garden like that when they moved into a retirement community with no yard.

Do you have a vegetable garden or fruit trees? What do you grow?

Hello kitty

A resident at San Pedro Gardens.

Our Amy at Home

1-0 for The Zero

As I drove to work last Friday, I spotted the two men changing the huge sign on a billboard at Western and PV Drive North. It was impressive how quickly they replaced the sign... except that they had to do it twice!

I rather liked it this way though.

Colorful Morning Sky (Redux)

Seems that every year, in early January, we can count on a colorful sunrise as viewed from Longhill Road.

Click HERE for 2011 and HERE for 2010.

'47 Ford "SUV"

A super-sweet ride with a super nice owner.

Surf's up!

Bishop, CA ...

... West at its best, just a stone's throw away from Hwy 395.

Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains in the background. No snow anywhere in sight this year. 

Wednesday Doorways ...

... on a typical Southern California winter's day.

"Leaving" ...

... on a winter's day in Southern California. The leaves are on a hood of an old Jeep in the charming Bixby Knolls neighborhood in Long Beach.

Front Gardens of the Shriver Home



 An architectural treasure in Rancho Palos Verdes, behind the gates of Portuguese Bend community.

Wishing You a Good Year

Hope that a great 2012 has landed your way.