Category: california

more LA

Los Angeles is fun, I have found it amusing, eclectic, crowded, wild and calm all at the same time.

Music is such an important part of Los Angeles, as is art, movies,and theatre, writing.
The fellow looking skyward is Dix Denning, guitarist for the Weirdos, often mislabeled originators of Punk, still today they are described to me as exactly that. If you read their official site, They decry the monicker.

return from LA

Returning home not to be greeted by Tucou was a very strange feeling; a sense of a missing piece of our lives. Even after a few days we both keep thinking of him and the small ordinary everyday things of which he was part.

Los Angeles is so much fun. The good weather surely contributes to this. Eccentric people can still be part of the landscape.
Our purpose was to see our children. But the sideshow of humanity certainly made it even more fun.



shooting in Cody

A few years ago I was invited to be part of the Windigo shooting team competing in Cody, Wyoming. The team was comprised of some very notable shooters, including the Olympic shooting coach.

Cody was founded by Buffalo Bill and the principle hotel the Irma is named after his daughter. It is a voyage into another world. Guns and Rodeo.
The competition was spread over 4 days and numerous events. Silhouette shooting standing, against time; Trap from the 27 yard line; Wobble Skeet; and Sporting Clays. Ultimately won by the home team, however not without memorable moments.
There was a tie in the Wobble Skeet event, which meant a shoot off. One of our team was up first. Standing in the center, for doubles, he put the gun behind his back and called for the targets, crushing them. If that didn’t psyche out the competition, He did win that event overall.
After the formal event was completed there was a prize money competition which pitched me against my good friend Jimmy Gubelmann. We tied again and again. Finally as the sun was setting it was decided by the judges that Jimmy would shoot and I had to break a piece or Jimmy would be declared the winner. Jimmy called for the target and waited as long as he could before shooting it; leaving me no time. It was a hail mary shot. One of the only times I beat Jimmy shooting; but one of the most satisfying.


LOS ANGELES ARCHITECTURE


Never let anyone tell you Los Angeles is not fun. It is a most diverse city; culturally, architecturally; gastronomically. Full of Flowers. All that money has truly attracted the best of the best.

There is however , never a quite moment. there is always noise from something somewhere. It is a walking city contrary to urban myth. There are so many neighborhoods. The weather, what can I say, coming from New England, it is paradise.
I am a New Englander, burdened with the past, the puritan ethic that I deserve to suffer; and if I am having fun, something must be wrong and I will be somehow punished. It makes it hard to embrace paradise feeling that way, but I can try.



Christmas in LA

Christmas in Los Angeles is a concept that seems to embody everything we, from the East, imagine about California. Everything we are not, and If it not in our image, it cannot be right.

In the East we carry the burden of our history. In New England for example the heritage of the Puritans weighs heavily. We feel guilty if we are having too much fun, we scorn those who do not conform, perhaps not by putting them in the stocks in the town square, but rather with a social slight. Somehow we are right and they are wrong.
I have discovered the difference refreshing and not as great as we might like to think. I have found a place that is every bit as culturally rich as the East; but not in the same way. As it is still new to me I am still intrigued.