I take a pen and paper on holiday with me, but that’s just in case the muse strikes stronger than the need to photograph stuff. Photography got the upper hand recently and I’ve left the pens and paper in Los Angeles so that at least I don’t have to take it with me again. I’ve also been blogging most days, probably because it was a way for me to remember rather than for you to know about. When back from hols it gives me a chance to reflect on what to do next. Tidying up some old paperwork is an … Continue reading Time to reflect, perhaps.

It’s more than ok. There are a lot of excellent things about it. It’s difficult to choose the highlights. We are back now and the memory lingers on! Traffic moving like a road of metal, some excellent architecture, blue skies, friendly people, multi cultural uber drivers, signs, baseball, big food ( onions as big as small footballs ), big appetites, poor people, rich people, flowers, gardens, polite driving, Norman Rockwell ladies  We came back with Virgin, I’m not sure what to expect really but could have guessed that it would be similar to the trip out. It was, so uneventful, apart … Continue reading OK California and the “Homelanders”

They say everything is bigger over here, and so it seems. The cars are bigger and the roads are huge. The driving is civilised, at a stop sign you have to stop for 3 seconds and then wait your turn. It’s remarkably  successful! On to gardening. In smart areas, and we are staying in one, not luxurious by LA standards but pretty smart, there is little gardening activity at the weekend. No sound of lawnmowers and machinery, no one pottering much in the manicured front areas. Very smart gardens in some with a wealth of healthy planting, and almost all … Continue reading Californian gardening…

A night out at the Dodger’s Stadium was an education in many ways. The Dodgers were playing the Chicago Cubs. Unlike a football match in England the fans were mixed together and there was no bad language or screaming at the ref. It was an altogether civilised affair. We got there by Uber taxi , which has been a favoured mode of transport. Son in law took me and we armed ourselves with a supper of a hot dog and chips plus what looked like a pint and a half of beer, that we could take to our seats and … Continue reading LA Dodgers, what a night!

We were at the Museum of Contemporary Art, not modern art as in a previous post. I suppose contemporary adds something to the name. It’s like we were told by our guide in the Broad that “we don’t say graffiti we say street art”, she at least said it with a twinkle in her eye. Why use just one word when two or more will do. Over here if you go riding a horse it’s called “horse back riding”, as if you could ride any other part of the horse. I digress. Whilst at the Museum we took in a … Continue reading Brassai, Arbus and Another

The Board is a private museum of art featuring the collection of works owned by one couple: The Broads He made his fortune in housing and insurance, and they choose to spend this fortune on modern art. He has a net worth of 7.4 billion dollars! Good for them, and good for us. Though how someone can amass a fortune like that is beyond me. Across the road from the Broad is the Museum of Modern Art. Worth a visit, only 10 dollars each and it’s all on one level with the ‘works’ displayed in huge white rooms. Charming staff … Continue reading Major work of art or pretentious cr*p?

This is the State flag and nothing more than that really. I thought at first that it might be a gesture of independence, but it’s not. It was raised on a couple of houses in the district we are staying. It’s described as follows: “Historic Bear Flag raised at Sonoma on June 14, 1846, by a group of American settlers in revolt against Mexican rule. The flag was designed by William Todd on a piece of new unbleached cotton. The star imitated the lone star of Texas. … The word, “California Republic” was placed beneath the star and bear.” Still … Continue reading Californian Republic

A stroll away from where we are staying is an area with some pretty fancy houses, and I took a stroll that way just yesterday with the intention of finding my own favourites. Not many people do stroll around these parts. Most of these are the sort of places that have gardeners and automatic watering. Whilst in Larchmont village, a bit of a misnomer really as it’s just a short area of a very long road that has some very pleasant shops and coffee places there, I was accosted by the other side of this society. As with everyone over … Continue reading LA Houses and the menu please.

My second job title when I first started working was : Typographer. I was hardly qualified in many respects and ‘winged it’ to get the position which was in a large advertising agency. In those days we did a character count and produced type mark ups for the typesetters to follow. I had no idea what I was doing until Norman came to the rescue. He’d been there for years and knew all the ins and outs. He could also see that I had no idea what I was doing. I learnt pretty quickly, thanks to Norman A visit to … Continue reading Completely unjustified!

As an aside from my Californian sojourn we are able to view the World Cup from here. I did this drawing for the last one, or it could even have been for the one before. No need to stray away from the telly here with “Piranha Ready Chewed Food” I can tell it’s an older piece of work as it’s in colour! As for myself, I’m being taken to a baseball match here tomorrow evening, I’m told it’s like rounders on speed. I’ll let you know.   Continue reading World Cup telly

We’ve been to LACMA. That is the shorthand for Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I like art galleries, great places to watch people as well as the exhibits, so this was well worth the trip. There’s loads to see and plenty of space to see it in. Without going into detail here are some of my faves from the day. All of these taken on my daughter’s iPhone lent to me for the day, as my own seems to have melted. We are hoping to return to take a little more of it in soon. One of the great … Continue reading An art scene seen.