Christmas Spirit Hits The City

Small Destructions

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Yesterday was Free Museum Day in the city, so of course I went to the Cartoon Art Museum. It's a great little place. Definitely recommended for anyone passing through who also has an interest in such things.

It was difficult getting good shots of pieces... primarily because of the glass reflecting a flash, but also because photography wasn't allowed and they seemed kind of serious about it. Why must things be so difficult for me?

They had a huge section of art from Mary Blair, someone I was not familiar with, or rather, didn't know I was familiar with. She was a Disney artist who was behind a lot of the design of some of the first feature films they did. She was huge in the concept design for Alice in Wonderland.



There was also a big section of artwork and designs for Edward Gorey's Dracula.



I had a chance to see some original cells for animated films and a lot of comic strips. Here's an original Bill Watterson.



Plenty of other amusing strips to check out.







My favorite was a short film showing the progress of a piece by Lark Pien. She's a Bay Area artist and worked on this piece called Small Destructions over the course of many days inside the museum, being filmed the entire time. When she was finally finished, they left the final panel up and put together a time lapse DVD. Here's the first part of it. Just check it out, it's easier to understand that way.



The final panel.



Kind of reminds me of Phil Hansen's work, more in terms of the time lapse than specific style.

She had a lot of interesting work. I really appreciated it because it seemed as though most of what she had put together (books, strips, and random merchandise) had been completely done so independently. That's the spirit!

Letter

LONG BEACH/LOS ANGELES, CA (VICARIOUSLY) - Chris received an email the other day from Kike (pronounced kee-kay), a Spanish friend who wandered through the hostel for a few days just last week.

I just wanted to share the email. I thought it was beautiful in it's own way. I have included both the English and Spanish versions he wrote. Please enjoy.

(10:44am. Highlights were added by me. I know "highlights" isn't the precise term for it. But I can't think of the other and it's going to bother me all day. I'm crazy.)

(4:36pm. Now I remember. "Emphasis added." Thank god. It really was going to bother me all day.)
___________________________________________________________________

Hello my friends!

Now I am in L.A. and today I was in Long Beach, that place is really amazing! but today I felt overwhelming fear because one guy shot other guy at 20 meters from me, and the killer get away by car! and the police come so fast with helicopter and 8 police cars and an ambulance!
the victim fell down to the floor like dead! It was horrible, 'cause I had never been in a situation like that or similar, and I never heard a real gun shoot! It is so scary!
I was buying some food and drinks to have a lunch in a park close to the shop and in the spar of the moment a man came into the 7eleven and without apparent reason shot the other guy, both of them were black, young (between 20 - 25 years old), and they looks like rapers but this is a normal looks like here!
After that I leave all the things in the shop and went out so fast, my hungry suddenly dissapear! and I was watching how the paramedics work and I have to say that they were so so good! better than some nurses or physicians that I know, hehe! I was impressed!

So after that horrible moment I decided to go back to L.A. and when I arrive at hollywood there was any movie premerie, because the hollywood bulevard is closed to the traffic and there are a lot of limos, I could see some actors and actress! and I thought how different could be the life in a short space! just 50km away you can die for nothing and here you are a star! that is so sad! This is a hard life, people! live it as intense as possible!

So changing topic! my travel around west coast of united states are finishing! Tomorrow at 6pm I will take a plane going home! I am a bit depressed because I had a great moments here and I don't want to go back to work and do the same life like ever! but I this is the real life! I am really happy about how I enjoyed this trip and how this trip was easy-going for me! I met amazing people from all over the world and had good impressions and conversations with them!

hope to do another travel like this asap! hehe!

all my love to everybody!

kike.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hola amigos!

Ahora estoy en Los Angeles y hoy he estado en Long Beach, ese sitio es increible! pero hoy he experimentado una terrible sensacion porque un xaval ha disparado a otro a escasos 20 metros de mi! y el que ha disparado se ha ido corriendo en un coche! y la policia llego enseguida con un helicoptero y 8 patrullas de policia han acordonado la zona, la ambulancia tambien llego enseguida!
la victima ha caido al suelo como si estubiera muerto! Ha sido horrible, porque yo nunca he estado en ninguna sitiacion asi! y nunca he oido como es el disparo de una pistola en la realidad! Ha sido acongojante!
Yo estaba comprando algo para comer y beber para comer en un parque que habia cerca de la tienda, pero de repente un xaval entro y sin motivo aparente y sin decir ni mu! entro y disparo al otro xaval, los dos eran negros de entre 20-25 anos de edad y vestian como de raperos pero es que eso es lo mas comun aqui en america! Despues de esto yo deje todo en la tienda y me fui rapidillo de la tienda, tambien por que la policia nos lo dijo, pero aunque no lo hubiera dicho yo lo hubiera hecho igual! en fin que mis ganas de comer desaparecieron de repente! Desde fuera del perimetro me quede mirando como los paramedicos actuaban y tengo que decir que me dejaron impresionado como de bien lo han echo! mucho mejor que algunos enfermeros o medicos que conozco, jeje! muy bien por ellos!

Bueno despues de este terrible moment decidi volver a los angeles, y cuando llego a hollywood veo que hay una presentacion de alguna pelicula por que la calle estaba cortada al trafico y estaba lleno de limusinas, pude ver a algunas actrices y actores! y pense joder que diferente puede ser la vida en un corto espacio! tan solo en 50km puedes morir por nada y aqui eres una estrella! me parece increible! que triste es esto chicos! esta vida es dura gente, asi aprovecharla!

Bueno cambiendo de tema! mi viaje por la costa oeste de los estados unidos se esta acabando! manana a las 6pm cogere un avion para volver a casa! Estoy un poco depre por que he tenido momentos increibles aqui y no quiero volver a trabajar y hacer lo mismo de siempre! pero asi es la vida! Estoy my contento de como he disfrutado de este viaje y de lo bien que me he desenvuelto sin ningun problema! he conocido gente increible de todas partes del mundo y he tenido muy buenas impresiones y conversaciones con ellos!

Espero volver a hacer otro viaje como este, lo mas pronto posible! jejeje!

con todo mi carino para todo el mundo!

kike.

Dig Deep

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - It has been a really laid back week around here. The energy has kind of been lacking a lot of the time and I've had money/jobs on the mind. My resume is finally updated all the way and I'm working on getting copies out. Let's hope it works...

Sunday ended up being a good day for deep conversations though. Again and again, similar topics came up. I suppose I should have written about that the other night, when it was fresh. Unfortunately, things fade a little as the days go on. I remember the gist of the conversations and definitely recall touching on some really meaningful stuff (Golden Ratios, synchronicity, the meaning of life and whatnot) with a variety of people, but there is certainly a fuzziness for the fine details now that a few days have come in-between.

A job would help. Thoughts of money start taking up precious space in my brain when there are much better things it could be doing.

Like writing something a little more permanent.

These Are A Few Of My Least Favorite Things...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Saturday night as follows.

1. Space Gallery - You promised me zombie art, but broke my heart. Left me for dead, really, when I was hoping for undead. If you post a flyer online saying that you are having a reception that night, there should be some kind of legal precedent preventing you from changing plans at the last minute to hold a birthday party instead. At least the guy at the door let me lean in and snap a couple shots. (Sincerest apologies, Blair. I tried.)





2. The Temple nightclub.
Liars.

3. Kamel of Ankh marketing firm.
Also liars. Don't promote stuff that isn't really going to happen. Don't have people stand in line for a long time and wait around in some club with a bunch of drunk assholes to see a show you know isn't going to happen. Don't make flyers.

4. Talib Kweli.
Lazy. If you know a show has been promoted as having a performance by you, maybe you should actually sing one damn song while you're on stage rather than just dancing around talking to friends before wandering off to the VIP area in the corner to drink for the night.



5. Drunk girls who keep bumping into me while I'm just trying to wait to see some guy who is never coming on stage while she's telling her dumb, drunk boyfriend that she wants to hit me.
Bring it.

6. Whoever keeps doing this.

I mean, yeah, it's funny when you see it, but I'd be a little upset if I wandered out to my bike and found it in this condition.

All I Want Is Boundless Love And A Horseshoe

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - It has been a slow couple of days here.

I'm in need of a quick job. If money was a lush field, I'm walking through a desert.

That's pretty much consumed the past couple of days. Not much has happened. So... more about the ocean night.

We started a hike from the beach. Wilson had horrible blisters on his feet from some crappy shoes he had bought. Even Dr. Scholls didn't help him. He said the salt water helped a lot and he was able to make the hike.

That didn't last long though.

Chris offered a piggy back ride. That didn't last long either.



The crew stopped for some Indian restaurant for dinner. We decided to order a lot of dishes and just share between everyone. A poor man's feast.

It was Chris' idea, so he is stuck with all the responsibility for the cockroaches another diner at the table next to us said she saw. I didn't catch any. Those suckers are fast, though.



The spicy food was a good follow-up to the ocean swim.

After dinner, a few people decided they wanted to make the hike back on foot. Chris and I helped Wilson limp to the bus stop. But not before stopping at a donut shop.

Chris and I had been talking about donuts for two hours at this point. He mentioned eating contests and the conversation obviously turned to donuts. A one point, a couple dozen seemed to loom in our immediate future. Instead, we settled on one a piece.

I thought the clerk at the shop said there were fresh long johns in the oven (people on the east coast don't seem to know what long johns are). I almost lost it I was so excited. But then I was informed I had heard wrong.

I must have looked pretty excited over the misheard comment. Chris laughed loudly about it the whole bus ride home.

Later in the night, I crashed. I haven't been sleeping very well for a few nights and it was all building up by that point. And anytime I get into water (pools, baths, hot tubs, oceans, large puddles) I get so sleepy afterward. I haven't been able to help it since I was a child and certainly couldn't help it that night.

Luckily, I have made good friends here who wouldn't let sleep in peace without screwing with me.



They ended up covering a lot of my clothes with various messages, like "Cheese is Fantastic!" and "I'm Outstanding!"

The good part is that it didn't even wake me up. At one point, I had a Fat Jeff alarm go off, where I suddenly came to for several seconds, just long enough to say, "What the hell are you doing?" to someone who was approaching. I guess that's what it feels like to be on the other end of being screwed with while sleeping. Otherwise, I kept sleeping soundly.

Until Gia came out into the common room at 3:30 in the morning and woke me up, telling me to go to bed. Reminded me of my dad shaking me late at night when I would stay up to watch Saturday Night Live as a kid, infomercials blaring in the background. At least this time I didn't fall asleep with a pizza in the oven. That time the charred remains were just left out on the counter by one of my parents, like evidence for me to see in the morning.

In the end, I guess some things never change.

Me vs. The Ocean

BAKER BEACH/SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Chris says to me, "I'm gonna go for a dip in the ocean. You know, just jump in for a minute."

"Let me know when you're heading out, I'm in," was my reply.

We ended up getting really hyped about the whole ordeal and did our best to peer pressure everyone possible into coming out to the beach with us.

The common reply? "It's 50 degrees out. You're crazy."

Well, yes, that's certainly debatable. But why should that stop anyone from having a good time?

Our recruiting efforts were not in vain, though. We ended up with a crew of seven. Of course, two swore they were not getting in the ocean, but it was a crew nonetheless. As always though, with more people comes further delays. We didn't get moved out until after 6pm. The sun was down and the temperature was dropping.

The bus ride was intense. We were yelled at by no fewer than two bus drivers for a variety of reasons... none of which were the fact that were the loudest people on the bus.

We finally made it to the beach. The sun was nowhere to be found, the gates were locked, and the beach was officially closed for the day. Optimal conditions.

We walked along the sand and the edge of the water for a bit, trying to find an area where it looked like the waves wouldn't kill us. Our journey took us to a small stream emptying into the ocean that may or may not have contained raw sewage. I'm choosing to go with not. Several people were a little concerned about walking through this. So much with Chris that he hitched a ride on Maxine's back.



I thought it seemed better to just wade through the shallow parts of the coast.

By this point, we were all rather cold. The wind had gotten to us. One more person, Alex, had changed his mind and was no longer getting in. I was pumped this entire time but felt a small dip in motivation level. This was time for action.

We were down to four guys (myself, Chris, Dylan, and Wilson) who were going to go through with this. We were committed.

People stripped down to boxers or swimsuits and began the approach. Wilson was the first to head in and was almost washed away with a massive wave. It would have been terrible.

But Chris made a good point: "We still have six others." True, friend. True.

Wilson seemed to be enjoying himself, despite the near death experience.



I had talked a good game until now. No backing out. It was time to get my ass in that big, beautiful ocean. I ran to find a place to deposit my things.



A string of houses sat on the bluff above us, staring down. No doubt not thrilled with the hooting and hollering drifting up the cliff side.

I made a decision, then and there, that there was really only one way to jump into the ocean in the moonlight. To dive in the same way I dove into this world.

Naked.

A primal yell came forth and I sprinted into the sea. And it was cold.

And I felt alive.