When writing out indefinite numbers and amounts, use words. A common mistake is to use numerals with the trailing ‘s’. Don’t do it. An even worse habit is to include an apostrophe.
So I had the TV on this morning and this video came on. The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Desecration Smile”. I’d never seen it before.
The first thing I noticed about the video was its location. Walking distance from the pad, down in Sunken City. Our backyard. I’m guessing this was shot just after the New Year; we had lots of boats off Point Fermin immediately following Mario Danelo’s death. As a matter of fact, I can vividly remember having these two thoughts one chilly evening this January while taking in the beauty of the illuminated vessels on the ocean. Who knows. Maybe it was the same night.
The second thing I noticed was that it was shot in one continuous take, nice and loose, which fits the song beautifully.
I wonder if Flea stepped in any of Vive’s unnoticed business that night…
A working sketch for a painting on 54″ x 54″, based on the Golden Ratio. Biggest canvas so far. Worked out the math and penciled it in tonight. Should be an explosive day in the sun.
While killing some hours with Paulie this afternoon hopping around Long Beach, we eventually ducked into the P.F. Chang’s bar for some seared ahi and Sierra on tap. Hanging out getting his grind on solo style was my newest pal Cesar Millan, known to many as the Dog Whisperer. One of the good guys. A true hero.
Great bar, that one. I’ve been a rabid Chang’s fan since those special trips to Fashion Island in the mid nineties. The Long Beach location’s been far and away my favorite restaurant in the chain, although Del Amo looks like it may be having something to say about that. 
Are you a pack rat, or do you know one? Paul Graham’s written an excellent essay on the topic of stuff and clutter, what it means, and what it doesn’t. I’ve run out of fingers trying to count how many people I know that need to read this, including myself.
The only way you’re ever going to extract any value from stuff is to use it. And if you don’t have any immediate use for it, you probably never will… A house full of stuff can be very depressing… A cluttered room saps one’s spirits… The harder a scene is to parse, the less energy you have left for conscious thoughts… A cluttered room is literally exhausting…
Amen. Throw the shit out!
So here we are. August 11th, 2007. A huge day of closure. With the papers signed a few weeks ago, her movers came in this morning and took what’s no longer legally mine. It’s actually an incredibly cleansing feeling, albeit somewhat inconvenient for the time-being. Example: I never really knew how much I used the dining table until this afternoon after the beach. I suddenly realized that I no longer had a place to stockpile unopened mail on the way to the fridge.
There’s some inventory I need to take in both directions. First, I need to sit down and document what’s gone, and second, I need to make myself a shopping list to replace the departed items. So here we go: [click to continue…]
Paulie and Gina brought their wolves down from Burbank recently for a doggy hang and some beach action. From left to right: Kona, Ginger, Footsie, Vive.
More from that day:
Ron Mueck is a London-based photo-realist artist. Born in Melbourne, Australia to parents who were toy makers, he labored on children’s television shows for 15 years before working in special effects for films such as Labyrinth, the 1986 fantasy epic with David Bowie.
After concluding that photography pretty much destroys the physical presence of the original object, Mueck turned to fine art and sculpture. In the early 1990s, still in his advertising days, Mueck was commissioned to make something highly realistic. He began researching the perfect material to do the trick. Latex was the usual, but he wanted something harder, more precise. One day he saw a little architectural decor on the wall of a boutique and asked the owner about the pink stuff’s nature. Fiberglass resin was the answer, and Mueck has made it his bronze and marble ever since.
His work is lifelike but not life size, and being face to face with his work is an unforgettable experience. I spent several minutes tripping out on the naked giant a few years ago back in Washington D.C. Below are some examples of his work. [click to continue…]
