Summer Darling: Silverlake Jubilee

I am on vacation so I've decided to entertain you with some photos from Silverlake Jubilee.

Summer Darling

Lovely Bad Things: Silverlake Jubilee

I'm on vacation so I'm entertaining you with photos from Silverlake Jubilee.

Lovely Bad Things

Black Flamingo: Silverlake Jubilee

I'm on vacation so I'm posting photos from Silverlake Jubilee for your entertainment.

Black Flamingo

Marvelous Toy: Silverlake Jubilee

I'm on vacation so I'm entertaining you with photos from Silverlake Jubilee.

Marvelous Toy

Having sex with a car?!?

From the UK Telegraph (21 May 2008), Man admits having sex with 1,000 cars.

This seems to be a dated article, but it just started popping up as one of the most viewed articles on the UK Telegraph. When I saw the headlines, I thought for sure it was a story about some quirky UK guy. But no, it is about a guy from Washington state.

Robert Kelly and Peachy Keene at Hotel Cafe

It was off to Hotel Cafe to see Peachy Keene and Robert Kelly.  A friend recommended checking out Robert Kelly.  I decided to show up a little early so that I could catch a couple sets.  Peachy Keene was up, a country-inspired rock band (per their website).  When first seeing the lead singer/guitarist, this description might catch you off guard as she does have the look that would fit in with a punk band.  But country-rock, it is.  (Noticed:  lead singer/guitarist dealing with some technical difficulties.  It didn't subtract from their set, but instead made it memorable.)  Robert Kelly closed out the night as my friends arrived right on time.  He hails from Nashville, TN.  He gave us an energized set filled with smiles and laughter.

Peachy Keene









Robert Kelly

Randomly Noticed on the Highway

So I was driving on the 10 Freeway in the Inland Empire (having visited my parents).  On the side of the road, I noticed a CHP car right behind a van.  It appeared they were moving at a very slow speed.  I was like, "What's up with that, some slow cop chase?"  Actually, as I looked more carefully, it appeared that the van had stalled out and the CHP car was pushing the vehicle towards the nearby freeway exit.  Randomness on the roads.

A Movie Review: Thor

Thor. I read that the small drop in weekend-versus-weekend box office was driven by families showing up on Sunday. Though I wouldn’t rank this movie anywhere close to The Dark Knight and Iron Man, I can definitely see the appeal this movie would have with parents. It is an action packed movie that shows the value of family. You have Thor (Chris Hemsworth) who is a little too self-confident and acts in a rash way (lacking in certain skills of diplomacy). He is banished by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) to Earth. While on Earth (though I’m not sure how he learns the following) he learns that the gray hairs on his father’s head equals wisdom (and doesn't equate to the need for his father being sent off to an old folks home). A movie that perhaps a mother and father wouldn’t mind having their young children see? I think so.

Ranking the Winter/Spring 2011 Films (that I saw)

This winter/spring, I was a bit more selective with my movies versus last year. Last year I saw 16 movies. This year I saw eleven. How do I see this year ranking with last year? Last year we had Alice in Wonderland, Ghost Writer, Kiss-Ass and The Runaways to mention a few.  I loved those movies.  This year I found a handful of movies that I liked, but I don't think Limitless, The Adjustment Bureau and The Company Men rank with the 2010 movies mentioned.  I did; however, have high regard for Lincoln Lawyer and wish it had done better at the box office.

Cream of the Crop

Lincoln Lawyer


Good


Limitless
The Adjustment Bureau
The Company Men

Okay

Fast Five
Hanna
Battle: Los Angeles
Sucker Punch
Paul
The Green Hornet

Skip

Just Go With It

A Movie Review: Fast Five

Fast Five. Are there potentially liberties taken here in this movie? Oh yes. I’m not sure the whole final chase sequence makes any sense what so ever. Can a large heavy safe really get towed through the streets without tumbling wildly out of control? When did Gisele (Gal Gadot) become part of the Israel Mossad? And let’s just say that it takes you about 15 minutes to get used to the over-exaggerated dialogue.

But . . . though I wouldn’t rank this as one of the best 2011 movies (only five months in), I did have fun. How can you not when Vin Diesel (Dominic Torretto) and Dwayne Johnson (Hobbs) are beating each other up? And you have Gal Gado and Jordana Brewster (Mia) on screen. And the basic theme of the movie is stealing money from the kingpin – who doesn’t like that.

So, not a great movie, but a movie worth seeing (especially if you’re a Fast and Furious fan).

Joe Gil at Hotel Cafe: Link to another Blog

So the photos will look exactly the same (my photos -- I e-mailed them over), but the words are different so head on over to the Fill Your Well blog for a different perspective of the Joe Gil set at Hotel Cafe.

Joe Gil at Hotel Cafe

It was off to Hotel Cafe to see Joe Gil. A couple friends of mine were doing back-up for Joe Gil.  This was also the first time I was trying out a new lens, a 50mm f1.4.  The below photos aren't awesome, but they're better than my first attempt at taking photos at Hotel Cafe with my new camera.  I still say the lights are way too low to capture decent photos at Hotel Cafe.  Of course, I'm an amateur at all this.  I'm sure there are some professional photographers out there who are laughing at my opinion.  Anyways, there was one song by Joe Gil that reminded me of The Swell Season -- so high praise for his set.

Another side note, this night represented the 5th night of music in 7 days.  Crazy.  It was unintended.  Generally, I try to limit my music outings to a couple times a week.  

Up on Intraffik: Heading out to 2011 Silverlake Jubilee?

Head on over to Intraffik.com for some suggestions on which bands to catch this weekend.

Gentlemen Prefer Blood and The Bloody Brains at the Blue Star

Another birthday party arrived and this time it was off to the Blue Star where Gentlemen Prefer Blood and
The Bloody Brains were playing.  As I walked in, Gentlemen Prefer Blood was getting ready for their set.  I couldn't recall the band name, but I knew I'd seen these guys before and had enjoyed their set.  Well, the lead singer introduced themselves and then it hit me, I saw them previously at Mr. T's.  They gave us a solid set.  The Bloody Brains came up next.  This was their night and they gave us about a 45 minute set.    


Gentlemen Prefer Blood







The Bloody Brains

The Mo-odds and Restavrant at Bordello

It was off to the Bordello for a birthday party. While there I caught The Mo-odds and Restavrant. A rather cool birthday party with those two bands playing.

Restavrant



The Mo-odds

The Mots Nouveax, Sean Kangataran and Persephones Bees at Bootleg Bar

It was off to the Bootleg Bar last week to catch The Mots Nouveax, Sean Kangataran and Persephones Bees.

I was there mainly to see The Mots Nouveax though I did catch the back end of Sean Kangataran and the front end of Persephones Bees.

The Mots Nouveax are really putting things together.  There are a couple songs are their set list that truly inspire you to wonder. 

Enjoy some of the below photos from the night.

Persephones Bees



Sean Kangataran



The Mots Nouveax

He's My Brother, She's My Sister and Sweaters at The Satellite

With Los Angeles dealing with some May drizzles, it was off to The Satellite to catch He's My Brother, She's My Sister and Sweaters.

Sweaters started the night off for me with some energizing music.  They had the quote of the night when the lead singer from He's My Brother, She's My Sister jumped on stage to join in on a song:  We'd like to thank Jules Verne.

And then He's My Brother, She's My Sister went on stage.  I'd seen the band name on various venue schedules, but just never made it out to see them.  Well, they played a packed house at The Satellite.  The band includes a tap dancer and two siblings along with a couple others.  They also had a guest appearance from Harper Simon.  As per request, some of their fans dressed as if they were going to a costume ball.  A night to remember.

Sweaters





He's My Brother, She's My Sister

Tamaryn and The Ravonettes @ Troubadour

I took off to the Troubadour to catch Tamaryn and The Ravonettes.  This is obviously a little dated, but see below some photos from this awesome show.  I saw Tamaryn about a year and a half ago when she did a show over at the Bootleg.  That night was an interesting set filled with smoke machines and a dedicated fan base.  For this night, the smoke machines were gone, but that didn't lessen the impact of her music -- a set that hooked me in from the start.  The Ravonettes went with the smoke machine theme and played in front of a packed Troubadour.

Interesting side:  After The Ravonettes set, a young lady jumped up on stage to try and grab a set list that was taped to the floor.  She was quickly chased off.  The set list was than handed to someone else who was waiting in front of the stage.  As I was walking out, I happened to follow the young lady who got chased off the stage:  I'm a real dunce.

Other interesting moments:  I ran into Queen Kwong at the door.  Cool experience.  Than as I was walking to my car, some random guy called out to me and mentioned he'd seen me at the Romper Room for a Barb Wire Dolls show.  Interesting that someone would remember me from a show that happened a few months back. 

Tamaryn







Ravonettes

Up On Intraffik: David Edward Byrd

I'm up on intraffik with a handful of pictures from David Edward Byrd's art exhibit that occurred this past Saturday night.

LA Times Festival of Books. The Living Constitution

My final panel on Sunday was about the US Constitution.

Below are stolen biographies from the LA Times.

Jim Newton (moderator):  Newton has written hundreds of newspaper and magazine stories.  He shared in the Pulitzer Prizes awarded to the Los Angeles Times for coverage of the 1992 riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.  He is the author of 'Justice for All,' and Editor-At-Large at The Times.

Erwin Chermerinsky:  Chermerinsky, founding dean of the UC Irvine Law School, has also taught at De Paul and DUke.  An expert on constitutional law, he has frequently argued cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals and occasionally before the Supreme Court.  His latest title is 'The Conservative Assault on the Constitution.'

John W. Dean:  Dean was White House legal counsel to President Richard Nixon for 1,000 days.  He also served as chief minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee and as an associate deputy attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.  Dean is the author of 'Broekn Government' and 'Blind Ambition,' among other works.

Henry Weinstein:  Weinstein was a reporter for the Los Angeles Times for 30 years, covering law, labor and politics.  During those years, he received numerous awards, including a John B. Oaks Award for Environmental Reporting.  Weinstein now teaches law and journalism at UC Irvine's School of Law.

Below are my imperfect notes from the panel.

Henry Weistein. Original constitution had flaws. Women were not allowed to vote. Slaves were 3/5th people. Just because it is in the constitution doesn’t mean it takes immediate effect. There must also be political will to implement the constitution.

Confirmation process could be a wonderful forum for what the court does, but they’re too worried about being attacked.

Bradley Manning. Treatment has crossed the line of the 8th amendment. He was recently moved. Doesn’t consider him a criminal.

Erwin Chermeninsky. From 1968 to 2008, 13 justices nominated by Republicans and only 2 by Democrats. Scalia and Thomas are most conservative justices since 1930s. Not all areas have been shifted conservative, but most have gone conservative, especially those focused on business.

Because of the Supreme Court, we have unchecked presidential power. Church/state separation eroded. Rights of those accused of crime limited. Individual liberties reduced. Only gun owners have gotten new rights in that time frame.

Constitution is there to protect minorities. Check and balances get enforced. Court is not doing this. Education limits on desegregation. Cruel and unusual punishment should be put on hold even if the majority wants it.

No life sentence for stealing video tapes – shoplifting.  If someone is caught for shoplifting 15-20 times, maybe punishment needs to be increased, but not 50 years to life.  (This was related to a case he brought in front of the Supreme Court.)

As long as Senate and President are of the same party, confirmation hearings is nothing put pandering. Only when the two conflict does the process mean anything.

The Supreme Court decides about 73 cases a year. Republicans are more idealistic. Republicans also filibuster more.

Doesn’t believe abortion would have been made legal via political process. Doesn’t believe gay marriage will either.

Bradley Manning. He is under the military, but military must also work under the constitution.

Judicial activism by conservatives via over-turning state and federal laws.

John Dean. Below the radar regarding how lower seats are filled. You go from centrists to conservatives. Losing good people from the judges because of money. This will need to change.

Rehnquist. Vetting process was really bad. Howard Baker was considered, but couldn’t decide. Believes Rehnquist lied. Nixon was sold when he learned Rehnquist finished number one at Stanford.

Bradley Manning. Don’t underestimate the impact of the Naitonal Security Community on Obama. They have a great influence on a president, especially one who isn’t experienced.

Keep an eye on campaign finance. Likely to see campaign finance laws outlawed. What if you wipe out disclosure laws. At the state level, justices are elected and could be elected via funds raised from corporations with cases that will be decided by the judge.

For perhaps a better review of the panel discussion, head on over to the LA Times.

LA Times Festival of Books. Busted: Uncovering the Bell Scandal

My third panel on Sunday was regarding the city of Bell scandal.  This is a scandal that fascinated me as it was unfolding.

The following are stolen biographies from the LA Times:

Christopher Goffard (moderator):  Goffard writes for the Los ANgeles Times and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing in 2007.  His first novel, 'Snitch Jacket,' was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

Rick Cole:  Cole Became city manager of Ventura in 2004 after serving for six years as city manager of Azusa.  Called 'one of Southern California's most visionary planning thinkers' by the Los Angeles Times, Cole was honored by Governing Magazine as one of its nine '2006 Public Officials of the Year.'

Jeff Gottlieb:  While at the San Jose Mercury News, Gottlieb received the George Polk Award for his reporting on Stanford University's questionable spending of federal research funds.  As a senior writer at the Los Angeles Times, he received the Polk Award again this year, along with colleague Ruben Vives, for their reporting on corruption in the city of Bell.  Gottlieb and Vives also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.


Ruben Vives:  Vives is a Los Angeles Times reporter whose coverage with Jeff Gottlieb of the City of Bell involved more than two dozen other reporters and editors, and led to criminal charges against eight current and former officials.  This reporting won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

And my imperfect notes from the panel discussion.

Vives and Gottlieb.  The story started with Maywood.  Maywood decided to outsource their police unit to the County Sheriffs and municipal services to Bell.  There were already some questions/inquiry by the DA regarding Bell.  The city council was getting $100,000/year.  It reminded Jeff Gottlieb of East Palo Alto.  He felt something was going on.  Jeff and Ruben went to talk to Rizzo, the city manager.  He told them to talk to the city clerk.  The city clerk pushed them off, saying they needed to wait ten days on something that could have taken 10 minutes.  Activists at Bell said Rizzo made $300k.

On day 9, the clerk called to say Rizzo wanted to meet.  Rizzo and others (police chief, some from the city council) met the journalists.  Rizzo said he was making $700k.  $457k for the police Chief.  $215k for the assistant city manager.  The interview went on for four hours.  Two councilmen were there.  Pastor said, I thought it was a gift of God -- $100/year.  Later, when everything was being uncovered, the pastor said, "Rizzo was sent by the devil."

53% of Bell is foreign born.  Folks don’t understand how government works.  No big newspaper to watch. No checks and balances.  No city council.  Auditors didn’t do their jobs.  Fake documents were handed out.  Rizzo looks like Danny DeVito from the Penguin from the Batnam movie.  Rizzo put the city on its feet financially, but by 2003 he was trying to scam.  By 2005 there was a vote on Tuesday the day after Thanksgiving for a charter vote.  Many absentee votes.  Questions of voter fraud.

City employees were also paid high salaries.

Bell faces a 5m deficit by June.  A recent city council meeting went from 7 p.m. till 3 a.m.  13 million budget with a 5 million deficit.  Do they get rid of police and transfer to the Sheriff to save $3.5m.

Bell is the 3^rd poorest city in the county, but had the 2^nd higheset tax rate. 

Both journalists were a little worried for their safety.  Why meet in a park?  RV went early.  Started writing down license plate numbers of the cars parked in the lot.  Felt it was sketchy.  JG told his editor he was going to the park.  Rizzo had fake contracts to divide his salary into five.  The person who signed was not the mayor.  One problem, old mayor only had a sixth grade education from Mexico. 

Bell was having problems due to the economy.  Why did Bell pay higher taxes, illegal property tax against them.

Rick Cole.  No one has written a story on why these conditions exist.  500k people live in 9 South East Los Angeles cities.  Rights are being deprived.  Working class moved out, the poor moved in.  Cities don’t serve them.  Currently little boys and girls are growing up where schools are bad, libraries are only open 12 hours a week.  Believes government needs to consolidate.  That Vernon is battling so hard to stay alive shows how corrupt it is.  Run like a mafia.  Passing more laws doesn’t prevent evasion of law.  You can put in more checks and balances, but what is needed is a better electorate.  Not sure passing more laws is needed.  Need government reform/consolidation.

     

Vernon has a value of 3.1b and just 96 people.  Bell has a value of 2.4b and 35,000 people.  People of Bell work in Vernon.  Their money is going to crooks in Vernon.

Communities that are hard to govern, city manager must be very creative.  Best people go to cities where little happen.  Tough cities don’t have same public civic ethics.  Erosion of public service ethics.

Head on over to the LA Times for their review of the discussion.

LA Times Festival of Books. Ted Danson in Conversation with M.G. Lord

My second panel on Sunday was seeing Ted Danson.

Below are stolen biographies from the LA Times:


M.G. Lord:  Lord is an author, critic and cartoonist.  She wrote 'Forever Barbie:  The The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll,' as well as 'Astro Turf:  THe Private Life of Rocket Science.'

Ted Danson:  Danson currently stars in three critically acclaimed television shows:  'Damages,' 'Bored to Death' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' In addition to winning two Emmys and three Golden Globe awards throughout his career, Danson is the author of the newly released 'Oceana:  Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do to Save Them.'

And my imperfect notes from the discussion.

Ted Danson.  "Early departures are what we mind, not late seating."

Grew up on a museum in Flagstaff. Decided to cut down these billboards. Cut all of them down except for the museums. Got in so much trouble.

Oil. Oil is a global commodity. Drilling won’t impact gas prices. Alternative energies will create more jobs than drilling.

Oceans becoming acidic, because of carbon dioxide in the ocean. CO2 is destroying the bottom of the food chain. The way we fish is destroy the bottom of the ocean. Destroying the nurseries.

Wasting fish. Fishing fleets are over-subsidized. Cut subsidies and half the boats would get eliminated. 90% of the work force gets 10% of the fish. 10% gets 90%. So if you eliminate subsidies, maybe actually increase jobs. US has best fishing policies in the world. Spain is awful at fish management. 25% of your fish isn’t what you may think. From BUSH EPA, 1 in 6 or 1 in 10 women have too much mercury to give birth safely without neurological damage.

Better to keep stock above minimum levels less you have a natural disaster like BP or Japan. Start behaving how you want to be now.

For a better review of the panel discussion, head on over to the LA Times.

LA Times Festival of Books. Science: How We Invent the World

On Sunday, some of the flaws from day one were resolved.  The ticket process went much quicker.  A simple solution was to have the tickets with those taking the requests versus the tickets being on another table.  Also, there were signs around campus directing people to the bathrooms.  

My first panel of the day was about Science:  How We Invent the World.  This was a unique panel, because the moderator never showed up.  Also, one of the panelists didn't show up until the last ten minutes -- a traffic accident had occurred in front of him on the freeway.


Mike Brown.  Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology.  He is best known for his discovery of Eris, the largest object found in the solar system in 150 years and the object that led to the debate on and eventual demotion of Pluto.  His book is 'How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming.'

K.C. Cole:  Cole is the author of numerous books on science, including her latest, 'Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens:  Frank Oppenheimer and the World He Made Up.' Cole is a faculty member at USC's Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism.

Anonio Damasio:  Damasio is David Dornsift Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology and Neurology and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC.  He is the author of 'Self Comes to Mind:  Constructing the Conscious Brain' and has received the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research.

Here are my imperfect notes from the panel discussion.

KC Cole. “If we stop trying to understand things, we’re all sunk.” Frank Oppenheimer. We can no longer afford  the old ways of doing things due to nuclear weapons. Frank Oppenheimer created a place where people could take part in this process. Invent a world that allows one to be aware.

We need social inventions to help solve problems of life. Traffic lights, for example. We must reduce the damage we can do to each other.

A lot of science is based on wrong info. Gravity is not a force. Do we need to change everything for the public? Why change Pluto from being a planet?

Antonio Damasia.  Self comes to mind. Process of the self coming to the mind. When we think about the mind, we don’t think about the self. You don’t come to the end of the story in science. Start with the end and do reverse engineering in science of the brain. How brains are put together in humans. There are techniques that allow us to get to the human brain directly without doing harm.

Capacity to be conscious allows things like this meeting happen. When you’re in a dreamless sleep you are not conscious. When you are dreaming you are conscious. Conciousness is when you wake from a dreamless sleep. Gives you a picture that is audio, visual with self in it. We know we are doing things. How does the brain form images? How is it you hear me when I talk? Build of self. We never have developed conciousness without a cause of life. We need to manage life. Very complex. A brain manages our bodies. Conciousness helps regulate even more. Critical issues, self is because there is a body to regulate.

Brain stem is important to study, because it manages our body. Emotions driven by body and brain stem.

Creativity needs social emotions, moral behavior. Humans only have this ethical ability, not monkeys, apes.

Mike Brown. Stuck in a wreck. His book is how he killed Pluto. Pluto was a mistake in 1930s. Was falsely called a planet. Initially thought to be larger than the earth.

LA Times Festival of Books. Fear & Trembling in the New World

My final panel of Saturday was called Fear & Trembling in the New World.

Here are some stolen biographies from the LA Times:

Jonathan Kirsch (moderator):  Kirsch is the author of 10 books on subjects such as religion and law, including the bestseller 'A History of the End of the World.' Kirsch is also a contributor to the L.A. Times. His most recent title is 'The Grand Inquisitor's Manual:  A History of Terror in the Name of God.'

Barry Glassner:  Glassner is the author of 'The Culture of Fear' and president of Lewis & Clark University.  He is the author of seven books and countless articles that have appeared in magazines and newspapers around the world.  His academic research has appeared in the most prestigious journals in sociology and psychiatry.

Shane Harris:  An author and journalist, Harris has spent the past decade writing for prominent magazines and newspapers.  His work has focused primarily on national security and counterterrorism.  He is the author of 'The Watchers,' a narrative about the rise of terrorism surveillance in the United States.

Chris Hedges:  Hedges is the author of 'I Don't Believe in Atheists.' A seasoned journalist, he was part of a team that received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.  His latest title, 'Death of the Liberal Class,' was released in 2010.

Russell Jacoby:  Jacoby is the author of the recently released 'Bloodlust.'  He is the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship, and Andrew Mellon fellowship, a Lehrman fellowship and an NEA grant.  He has published articles and reviews in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and other publications.  He teaches history at UCLA.

And my imperfect notes from the panel discussion.

Russell Jacoby. We fear the wrong things. The threat is closer to home. Civil Wars are the most common war. Fear of the stranger, but the real dangers are closer to home.

We can misread the Holocaust. Jews were highly integrated/assimilated. There was a complexity to the genocide. We can’t say that the Germans were targeting the stranger. The genocide took place in a kindred community. Civil Wars can be more brutal than normal wars: our civil war, Greece and Spain.

We see efforts to pass laws to prevent Islamic law where there are no Muslims. France has outlawed burkas. And yet we often see very fashionable Muslim women in Europe. Muslims are on the road to assimilation in Europe. To the extent they aren’t, the talk is about burkas and not economics.

Car Talk – sometimes we spend too much time reading the news.

Chris Hedges. Fear leads to a population that is politically passive. We have allowed ourselves to be fearful via propaganda.

Millions of Americans feel betrayed by the liberal class. We destroyed our socialist, anarchist, communists movements. These groups made piecemeal reforms possible. The new deal is an example of this. The liberal class created the opportunity to help the working class.

Sees similarities between Yugoslavia and what is happening in the US. Leads to irrational beliefs. Danger we face is that there is no mechanism to address the poor.

What if the currency goes down. All government loses legitimacy. Those who are reviled suddenly come to power. We need to check the interest of corporations for capitalism to survive. Liberal class severed itself from the working class.

We have inverted totalitarianism (corporations dominate government). Not top down, but via corporate cooperation. Economics trumps politics. There is no way to vote against the interests of Goldman Sachs. Obama is no different than Bush in how they deal with Wall Street. Seeing a breakdown of globalization. Commodity prices. Credit gone. Products more expansive. Inverted totalitarianism could turn to the more classical form.

Folks need to walk away from the democratic party.

Reads NY Times, BBC, Guardian, Common Dreams, Truth Out. Reading about coal mines, as his new book will deal with that.

Shane Harris. We should fear our response to terrorism vs the act of terrorism. Erosion to the resistance to those attacks on our privacy.

Government hasn’t come to grips with the fact that some events are not predictable. For example, the 200 marines that died in a peace keeping mission in Lebanon. George Bush tried to have that conversation, but described it in terms of fear. We are still in the middle of that narrative. We haven’t had a real discussion regarding our personal liberties versus the government keeping us safe.

Though Obama deals on the front end differently with terrorism than Bush, in the background he follows the same path.

Believes journalism should change and take a point of view versus being neutral.

Gets his morning news from Twitter – what are his friends reading.

Barry Glossmer. We should fear hunger. State of public schools. Guns, firearms. Income gaps.

Thought we’d see a different world after 9/11 – talking about more serious issues. But 8 months after 9/11 we were back to talking about (over-exaggerating) missing children.

Reads the Independent.

LA Times Festival of Books. Patti Smith and Dave Eggers in Conversation with David L. Ulin

The second panel I went to see was Patti Smith and Dave Eggers.  Patti Smith was vibrant while Dave Eggers left the impression that he is a tortured soul.  There was a fun moment, where Patti Smith went over to Dave Eggers and asked him to open her water bottle.


The below are biographical information stolen from the LA Times:


David L. Ulin:  Ulin is the book critic for the Los Angeles Times.  He is the author of 'The Lost Art of Reading' and 'The Myth of Solid Ground.'  He edited 'Another City' and 'Writing Los Angeles,' which won a 2002 California Book Award.

Dave Eggers:  Eggers has written seven books and is the founder and editor of McSweeney's, an independent publishing house based in San Francisco.  Eggers was the recipient of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize's first-ever Innovator's Award and was the 2009 Book Prize winner in Current Interest for 'Zeitoun.'

Patti Smith:  A writer, performer and visual artist, Smith gained recognition in the 1970s for her revolutionary mergence of poetry and rock.  Her album ' Horses,' bearing Robert Mapplethorpe's renowned portrait, has been hailed as one of the top 100 albums of all time.  Her memoir, 'Just Kids,' won the 2010 National Book Award and is finalist for the 2010 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Current Interest.

Here are my imperfect notes from the panel discussion:

Patti Smith.  She left public life in 1979. She didn’t stop writing; however. She spent 16 years writing prose. She was friends with Robert Mapplethorpe. Her book “Just Kids” is about that friendship. Poetry is code while a memoir is more generous. "Coral Sea" is a personal letter to Robert while the memoir is for the people.

It took her awhile to write this book. She had felt a lot of loss in her life. Her husband. Robert Mapplethorpe. She attempted to focus the book on Robert. Folks don’t know much about Robert other then that he took controversial photos and died from AIDS. Robert wasn’t much of a reader and so she wrote her book in a style that she felt he’d actually enjoy reading.

We live in an age where people aren’t truthful in their writings. Books should not be used to settle scores. One needs to look at people holistically.

Feels her role models were various oral poets. Doesn’t feel that she needs to be just a singer or a poet or an author. Did folks tell Michelangelo that he could only work in a single medium?

Feels that being a writer is both a blessing and a curse. Whenever she goes to a movie, she is re-writing it. When she goes to a party, she finds herself writing about it. Artists are always a little removed from life. Condemned to observe.

People are called to be something. One becomes like Jonah, you become dogged by it. You must do it.

Can we live in an atmosphere of truth?

She told a story about running into poet Allen Ginsberg at a cafeteria.  She was starving and was able to find $0.50 in her apartment.  She went to this cafeteria where you put money in a slot to get your food.  She put in her $0.50 and the slot wouldn't open.  She realized the price had gone up a dime.  Someone came over and offered her the dime, it was Allen Ginsberg.  She went over to eat with him.  After a brief conversation, he looked at her and asked, "Are you a girl?"  The message was clear, he'd thought she was a boy.  She asked, "Should I return the sandwich?"

Note: She wrote something on a piece of paper and tucked it into her pocket. She was asked what she wrote. "I wrote amplify," she responded. She always uses the word magnify and finds it redundant. Dave had used the word amplify and she felt it was a good synonym to use.


Dave Eggers. He has trouble reading memoirs, because he keeps on thinking about how his could have been improved. Wrote his in 8 months. Considers it a very sloppy, painful book. He thinks that Patti Smith’s book is beautiful.

He didn’t realize how permanent a book was. He decided to put the phone numbers of his friends into the book (with their agreement). What was the worst that could happen? Folks started to call his friends. After each addition, he’d make changes to the book. As books are permanent, he feels you have to be responsible in how your write it.

In regards to his diverse career:  When a door opens, you go through it.

When he was making money as a writer, he felt guilty. Ridiculous to make a living that way. There is a lot of hard work, but was feeling guilty. "Is that some kind of twisted Catholicism?"




For a more professional review, go to this article written at the LA Times.

LA Times Festival of Books. People Power: The Rise of a New Middle East

One of my annual pilgrimages is to the LA Times Festival of Books.  This year it was moved from UCLA to the USC campus -- I wasn't that thrilled about it though I knew there were certain advantages to it being at USC.  For Saturday, I decided to take the bus down to USC (an advantage versus UCLA).  Not a bad way to go about it.  When I got to the ticket booth at a little after 8 a.m., I was shocked to find that there were less than 20 people in line.  At UCLA, when arriving around 8 a.m. on Saturday there would be a couple hundred folks in line.  When 9 a.m. hit, I suspect there were 50-60 folks in line.  Luckily, there wasn't the normal line, because getting tickets was like pulling teeth, painful.  There were probably half as many folks helping with tickets and the process was extremely slow.

Anyways, the first panel I went to was called People Power:  The Rise of a New Middle East.  The following biographies are stolen from the LA Times: 

Reza Aslan (moderator):  Aslan, an acclaimed writer and scholar, is a contributing editor at the Daily Beast.  His first book, 'No god but God' has been translated into 13 languages.  Aslan's most recent book is 'Tablet & Pen:  Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East,' an all-encompassing anthology of Middle Eastern writings.

Laurie Brand:  Brand is a professor and director of the School of International Relations at USC.  She specializes in Middle East international relations and inter-Arab politics.  Brand is the author of 'Citizens Abroad:  States and Migration in the Middle East and North Africa.'

Tom Hayden:  Hayden is an expert on the '60s era and its legacy.  He is the author of 17 books, including 'Writings for a Democratic Society' and 'The Long Sixties:  From 1960 to Barack Obama.' Hayden continues to write for the Nation and many other magazines.

Parag Khanna:  Khanna is the author of the newly released 'How to Run the World.'  He directs the Global Governance Initiative in the American Strategy Program of the New America Foundation.  Born in India, Khanna was raised in the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and Germany.  He is completing his PhD at the London School of Economics.

Here are some of my notes from the panel, hardly perfect.

Laurie Brand.  Quoted a Tunisian poet, "If the day comes when people choose life, fate must respond."  There is a belief that Muslims just accept their fate.  These developments in the Middle East/North Africa will get rid of this fatalism.  Arabism is not dead.  Similar symbols were/are being used:  various national flags, slogans across nations.  We are seeing a mix of Arabism and Nationalism.  Though the youth movement is important, we shouldn't over-emphasize social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as workers were also largely involved.  We should also not over-emphasize the influence of non-violent Western activists.

Obama is constrained by the current situation.  He isn't doing anything right on human rights.  We were using Egypt to play a security role for us with Israel.  Egypt won't play this role anymore.  US is trying to get Bahrain to tone down its crack down.  We are having issues with Saudi Arabia.  We don't have as much leverage as we think.  Obama is having to deal with the constrains presented him versus what is good or bad.

The Muslim Brotherhood has said it'll run in districts, but not in the national campaign.  It isn't really clear what they want.  When other parties form, will they still have sway?  Not sure how it will play out.

Porag Khanna.  Washington DC is behind the curve in understanding what is happening in the Middle East.  They are not understanding the people.  The media is also not understanding, unable to understand the various religious, ethnic and generational differences.  Arab League went against Libya/Gaddafi though this was probably driven by horse trading.  Al-Jazeera deserves credit for highlighting corruption.  Youth want a proper government.  It is a great thing that government officials are constantly having to resign, it shows that the people want change and not just a new face from the old regime. 

Obama's dealings with Israel and Palestine are worse than Bush.  We've prohibited regional organizations in the Middle East, which results in us being a global cop.  Obama should support a security organization in the Middle East.  We need to stop Saudi Arabia from getting involved with other countries.  Obama has no vision.

Feels we should assassinate Gaddafi.  We should support the rebels and not fear Al-Qaeda.  Libya may end up being a divided country.

It is unlikely we'll have an uprising in Saudi Arabia.  Dispersed population.  Very conservative.  Money can launch programs that can be considered either bribes or public policy.

Tom Hayden.  The Freedom Ride was 50 years ago this week.  It was led by young people who could not take the future that was presented to them.  Robert Kennedy asked the Freedom Riders to call off their ride to prevent civil disorder.  The Youth said no and that they'd already signed their last will and testament.  There is a spiritual awakening when you put death aside.

The military establishment is facing its own shock and awe regarding the Middle East.  Our interests were stable dictators, curbing radical Islam, protecting Israel, ignoring Palestine, securing bi-lateral military agreements, controlling oil.  The US is still trying to pursue this and put humpty dumpty back together again. 

We need to consider economic interests.  The owner of the LA Times negotiated a deal to get natural gas for Israel from Egypt.  Very favorable terms.  The pipeline has been bombed multiple times now.  Israel looking for other sources or a military option.  Shouldn't the LA Times ask its owner why he negotiated this deal.

There is nothing unique about negotiating with those who are violent against you (Israel and Hammas).  Egypt will be more pro-Palestinian.  It is important not to avoid the inevitable and holding to positions that are not tenable.

Street Art near the Hollywood Farmers Market

Mad Planet, The Shakers and The Mulhollands @ Satellite

It was off to Satellite to catch The Shakers, The Mulhollands and Mad Planet.  I only caught a couple songs from Mad Planet.  For some reason I just couldn't get out of the house soon enough.  As can be seen from the photos, they can put on a great show.  The Shakers were the middle band, rocking us through a set.  The Mulhollands ended the night, leaving us on a MEGA-phone high.

The current progress with the new camera:  learning that red light is a killer when not using flash.

Mad Planet







The Shakers













The Mulhollands