I’d heard of Trader Joe’s before I came here. I follow a blog called Become Betty, where Betty, who’s not called Betty, reviews their products all the time. I like the blog, it gave me a taste of what the Americans like to eat and the strange things they do to their food. Now I’ve experienced the place for real, and came out unrealistically excited about their re-usable bags. You get three re-usable bags in a Mystery Pack, and you get each bag with a unique design representing a particular place. Here you can see one for Atlanta, and one … Continue reading Trader Joe and their brilliant bags.

No thanks, like a badly built skyscraper that’s just wrong on so many levels. I’m keen on coffee shops and they are here too in Los Angleles, so we tried one out on Sunset Boulevard. Intelligentsia was the rather pseudo name for the place and I was sent there while others had other things to do. They thought rightly that I’d be amused by a good coffee and a sticky cake, and I was. The guy making the coffee was smiley and pleasant and the one taking the money was the opposite, looking at me as if he could just … Continue reading Coffee shop speak: “Would you care for the cayenne garnish?”

It’s a massive sprawl, with street after street of houses and offices. It ranges from the seedy, the very seedy to the rich and the very rich. Possibly there are areas where some people live that just about manage, there are certainly areas, generally near to freeway bridges were people are not even doing that. All their belongings in a small area, a tent if they are lucky and a shopping trolley. They just about exist. There’s no net for those in these areas. These are definitely the “have nots”. I suppose that some of the “just abouts” might also … Continue reading Someone’s got to live there, perhaps?

Continue reading Yet more culture?

As I recall these golden words were spoken by Shirley Conrad, who many years ago, was a doyenne of home making. It’s a phrase that came to mind on today’s visit to the Arts District of Los Angeles to the Hauser and Wirth Galleries. These first painting were all of a palm tree with Perspex screen in front and these screens as you can see have what looks like a colour blindness test with numbers. The galleries are really brilliant. A wonderful place to exhibit art and photography. I loved these images and there was someone there to explain that … Continue reading “Life’s too short to stuff a mushroom”

Huntingdon Park. Pasadena. Very hot day, in the 90s. This place is big, loads of brilliant gardens and plants to feast the eyes on and in a variety of styles, even a bonsai area if you like that sort of thing. The light yesterday was to me as bright as you can get it. The colours and the deep blue sky in particular made it feel like technicolour with all the buttons turned full on. This is a well organised place to take a day or even a few days to explore. And after the gardens there are art galleries … Continue reading Bright? It’s almost day-glo.

Continue reading Skateboarders:Venice Beach,Los Angeles.

No flooding in this Venice, apart from the light. Continue reading Cool when it’s hot

This place is worth a visit, it’s in Pasadena and is the former home of the head of the Proctor and Gamble soap empire. It was at first their second home. It was a lesson in architectural and other design. Fantastic woodwork and an eye for every detail. Not a thing out of place. What struck me about it most of all was how unbelievably dark it was in the house, which is not really surprising given that it was in the main constructed of dark woods and any painted areas were a dark rose colour. It followed the principles … Continue reading The Gamble House, thanks to all that soap.

So there we are on an afternoon out in the Park for the Harvest Festival event, not a tea tent in sight but plenty of all American food and some poor bloke who’s been strong armed into volunteering to be a bear for the kids. It’s 26 degrees and he’s wearing some monster Levi’s and a bear suit. Visibility and health and safety dictate that he needs a carer I suspect. After all we don’t want any crushed kids if Mr Bear keels over in the heat. Imagine what the job description would be for this thankless task: “Suitable candidate … Continue reading Not a Tea Tent in sight.

Ron Galperin is what’s called a ‘Controller’ here in LA. From what I can gather that means he and his team keep a watch on how the City spends their budgets. He has to get votes to become a ‘Controller’ so in an effort to glean votes here and there he hit on the idea of offering sunglasses. How do I know this? Well, we went with the family, to a small gathering at Griffith Park, which was billed as a Harvest Fesitival. Not in a religious way, but just a celebration for the time of year organised by someone … Continue reading Free Sunglasses with every vote

So here we are back in the land of the free, home of the brave. It’s a family visit to see grandchildren and family here in California. Flying in from Heathrow was the usual torture where I brew up a headache on the steps going up to the plane and keep it brewing for the next 10 hours or so until we land. It does not appear to matter which airline you choose, if you fly economy, you get a cramped little seat and meals on wheels type food. At least New Zealand Air who brought us did not seek … Continue reading Back in the USA