A Visit to Endeavour

L and C needed to meet a friend near USC to go camping, so they requested that we make the drive into LA a little more exciting by stopping by the California Science Center to see the space shuttle Endeavour. We had not yet seen it, so it was all-systems-go. 

Art upon entering the Science Center.

A photo of a photo of the Endeavor making its way down the streets of LA to get to its final home. I remember when they had to cut down many trees to get it through some of the streets. There is a cool video of the move in the space shuttle exhibit.

The massive shuttle herself.

We remember this third shuttle mission. We were driving out to Berkeley to look at grad school during spring break of 1982. We left my grandma's house in Idaho in the morning, and by the time we crossed the Nevada border the shuttle had circled the earth a few times. We listened to news reports on the car radio.

This is where you could rescue the crew, if needed.

Art seen on the way out of the museum.

Food Trucks for Lunch

We have seen one or two food trucks outside of LACMA before, but this was our first time there during the work week, and we counted nine trucks lining Wilshire. After perusing the options, we split up and H bought lunch at the Thai truck and I got a falafel sandwich at the Kabob Express. 

While waiting for my food, four people dressed in Honda blue polos (you know the ads on tv), came around offering people hand sanitizer and a small tissue pack. When people took one and said "thank you," the Honda people said, "It's our job to be helpful."

This woman was actively hawking her truck's wares, taking orders on her iPad and touting the fact that their truck had a gourmet chef and had been featured on CBS. Maybe next time, Street Kings.

Birthday Trip to LACMA

Last year I joined LACMA for my birthday, especially to see the James Turrell retrospective. It was a deal to join since membership included free tickets to the special exhibit. Little did I know that I would return four more times to get my money's worth for the $110 "Dual Membership". If you are interested, here is a link to my year at LACMA. 

Yesterday we saw Van Gogh to Kandinsky which opens to the public tomorrow, but members got a special preview.  In this exhibit we were allowed to photograph a number of the works with a little sign next to the ones we were not allowed to shoot.

Paul Klee was a Swiss painter. Looking forward to seeing the Klee museum in Berne where he grew up.

I got in trouble for taking this photo. See the gentleman in black on the right side? He came over to me to explain the photographing rules. I just wanted to show the scope of the exhibit and how many people were there. It's a terrible photo, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

So, while I was pleased that our $110 membership had gone so far this year, we had to add an additional $58 to the total spent while going to LACMA this year. We parked on the street to save the $10 parking fee in the lot, and after 2 hours and 10 minutes in a 2 hour zone, we were awarded this lovely ticket from the City of LA. I guess that $168 is still a good deal for 5 trips to the museum for 2 people....

Twice into LA in One Day

When we first moved to Claremont, we rarely went into downtown Los Angeles. The freeways intimidated us, we weren't exactly sure what we might want to see, and we didn't have much extra spending money at the time. All those things have slowly changed over the past 28 years, and now we think nothing of either hopping on the 10 or buying a Metrolink ticket.

Yesterday I went into downtown twice. First time was with the CUSD string students for our 5th annual field trip to the LA Phil for Minimalist Jukebox: Toyota Symphonies for Youth: Finding Patterns in Music. As usual, we had a great time with the students, although some of them wondered "when the real music will start" after listening to the first few minimalist pieces. You can read about last year's field trip here.

We arrived back in Claremont around 2:00, giving me a little breathing time before heading back downtown for an HMC event at the California Club. I had never been to the exclusive California Club before, and I made sure to follow the strict dress code so I wouldn't have to sit in the car during the dinner. Once in awhile I enjoy getting dressed up and going to a fancy place to eat good food in interesting company. 

On Art Installation

Some of our book club members have moved from Claremont to LA and live near LACMA. That means that when we go to their place for book club, we stop by the art museum before we meet for book discussion. It's fun to go to LACMA with another of our book club members. He is an artist as well as the Associate Director at the Pomona College Museum of Art. He was particularly interested in seeing the exhibit called Four Abstract Classicists (which includes Claremont artist Karl Benjamin). He was greatly disappointed in the exhibit, however, and this is why. It consists of only 8 works. Only one Benjamin. 

Karl Benjamin work on the left

He also did not like the fact that these two Hammersley works were placed so close to one another. They are not naturally a pair, and the eye needs more space between non-related works.

In another room, he pointed out to us that the new rage is to place art in the salon-style, like it was done back in the day. (Think Isabel Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston.) Here are book club friends examining why it is difficult to enjoy individual works of art when hung in this manner.

The Pantages

In the nearly 28 years we've lived in Claremont, we had never been to the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Until now. I do not know what it has taken so long. We've been to the Music Center downtown, Disney Concert Hall, Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa - all of those venues on multiple occasions. 

So, here is the exterior of the Pantages at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. We wandered down Hollywood Blvd. looking at the various stars on the walk of fame, the people hawking tours, the open-air buses, the sleazy stores, and we asked each other - why would people consider this as a tourist destination? 

Then we walked inside the Pantages, and wow! It is like someone on Art Deco steroids went crazy. My camera would not take very good pictures in the darkly-lit interior, but if you google the theater and look under images, you can see much better photos than I would have taken. I especially loved the light fixture at the very center of the ceiling. 

We saw the show The Book of Mormon, and the production was very good, but despite some very funny parts and good music, it just didn't rise to the top of my favorite shows list. Lion King, Wicked and Sweeney Todd still sit there.

Philippe's For Breakfast

All good things come to an end, and this morning we took L and C back to Union Station for their return home. Their train left at 10:10, so we thought it might be a good time to try Philippe's for breakfast. L had only ever been once, and C had never been to this iconic LA eatery. Traffic was light, so we made great time, and the lines at Philippe's were not long. Somehow we never get to LA for breakfast, so this seemed to be our chance to try it out.

The portions are large, and we were pretty stuffed when it was all over. I had the veggie omelette which comes with hash browns, coffee, and either biscuits or toast. I think it will hold me until lunch!

LA Natural History Museum

What I learned at the LA Natural History Museum today:

California teachers get in free. Not advertised... Students still have to pay. 

The plesiosaurus, a large sea reptile, had one baby at a time and it was a live birth. The baby was 40% of the mom's size at birth. This skeleton, found in Kansas, is complete with fetus. I already knew that Kansas was under water at one point. This skeleton was nearly complete, only the head and the top of the neck are fabricated.

The T rex grew rapidly and did not live particularly long. These two skeletons show a two-year-old and a juvenile, about 13-14-years old. Huge size difference.

The museum has a very cool miniature replica of downtown LA, a WPA project built between 1939 and 1940. 

We had not been to the museum for many, many years, and I enjoyed seeing how more open and bright the dinosaur exhibits are. Unfortunately, C was not feeling well, so she and B did not accompany us on this trip. However we did make a stop in Arcadia to pick up a friend of L and C's (a student at the U of O) who is home on vacation.

Die Zauberflote

Last night I was trying to remember how many operas I have seen staged. I think it was about 6. Un Ballo en Maschera in San Francisco as a teenager, one opera in Vienna as a college student, two in Chicago on our last sabbatical (Dr. Atomic and La Traviata), and two LA Opera productions - Grendl and Marriage of Figaro. Maybe there are more, but I can't remember them.

Last night makes 7, then. We went to the LA Opera to see this amazing production of Mozart's The Magic Flute. I can hardly begin to describe it, so here is a link to the trailer so you can get a taste of it. This particular interpretation of the opera comes from the Komische Oper in Berlin, and it looks like a silent film from the 1920s. The wall on stage is white, and all the "scenery" is projected animations. The Queen of the Night is a large spider (creepy). Truly, this is a production for the whole family. Very kid-friendly.

We also attended the pre-opera talk given by the conductor which was very helpful and enjoyable, although I think we were about the youngest people there. It's unusual for us to go into LA on a weeknight, but it was so worth it, and I will probably always remember it. Also, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is all gussied up for Christmas, so it was especially lovely.

Calder at LACMA

Somehow I got it into my head that it would be fun to take a swing by LACMA after our afternoon in Westlake Village. I had seen the ads for a new exhibit of Calder mobiles, and I just love his work. Now that I have a membership to LACMA, it makes sense to drop in, even for just 45 minutes, since we can get into the exhibits for free.

Of course, the 35-minute drive from the edge of Ventura County took over an hour, and by that time we were starting to feel the effects of that 8-mile hike. Nonetheless, I am glad that we stopped in to see the art. The exhibit was not huge, so we could take our time in enjoying each of the pieces. I wish I could have taken photos because the shadows cast were pretty cool as well as the art itself.

However, here are some images for the blog anyway. The first one is one of the permanent Calder sculptures that sits outside at LACMA. I took this photo back in June.

I had never seen Urban Light at night, so I snapped this shot. They need to replace one of the lights….

This is the cover of an invitation for new members to attend a reception for the Calder which is this Wednesday - not a great time to get into LA for us.

Another Little Free Library

When we went into LA for our Peruvian reunion, we met our friends in Grand Park by the fountain which is also right by a Starbucks. In front of the Starbucks and in at least one other place in the park I found these pink Little Free Libraries.

Unfortunately, this little library had only one book. Or maybe that means that people took books out and are reading them, which would mean that it was fortunately.

Mo-Chica

Because we enjoyed the camaraderie of the people on our Peruvian tour so much, we have now officially carried over our friendship into our North American lives. We checked our calendars and found a date that all six of us were available and then chose a Peruvian restaurant in downtown LA in which to continue our friendship and adoration of Peruvian food.

We chose Mo-Chica, a fusion restaurant (with Italian overtones) partly because the menu looked interesting, and partly because they serve pisco sours.

The place was crowded, so I'm glad I made reservations, but that also meant that the noise level was high. Our service was excellent, the food (which are like tapas - small plates to be shared with everyone) was very delicious, and the pisco sours were delcious, but very small and quite expensive. The plates were also on the pricey side, but we decided that it was much less expensive than actually going to Peru.

The pisco sour with the restaurant logo in the egg white foam

LACMA Again

In between Canter's and book club, we had time to kill and a desire to stroll through LACMA. Although we had just been there earlier in the month, I knew there would be art to revisit and perhaps something new to see. I've read that the best way to get to know a work of art is to have multiple encounters with it, so I was ready to see some of my favorites. What I had not realized that when we were there in early June was that we had totally missed the special exhibition of Hans Richter art. Granted, I think I had heard his name, but was not familiar with his art, film or writings. This retrospective has so. much. stuff. that it was overwhelming, so I concentrated on the pieces which caught my eye. I particularly liked these works (and I checked with the guards to make sure that I was allowed to photograph). Apparently these are scrolls which he made as a model for a film: The Orchestration of Color. I found this video online.

Now that I've seen that little clip, I think that this exhibit makes a great companion to the James Turrell exhibit that is also currently at LACMA.

Canter's Deli in LA

I'll file this story under the column of "I'm Learning to Like LA".

H and I have been part of a co-ed book club for about eleven years now, and the couple who invited us to join have, in the past year, moved to the Mid-Wilshire District of LA so they don't have such awful commutes to Santa Monica and Downtown. That has not stopped them from attending book club in Claremont, and June seemed to be the right time for a book club field trip to LA.

We carpooled with other friends who were jonesing for a meal at Canter's Deli, and we were happy to help in their pre-book club stop at this 80-year-old landmark eatery. I loved the step-back-in-time atmosphere of the place. You get a sense of what you are in for when you see the signs outside. The food was excellent, and Kim bought some cookies to take to book club which were also yummy - melt-in-your-mouth. I'm sure there must be a Huell Howser episode about this place that I should look up and watch. We'll be back.

LYFE Kitchen

During our day trip to LACMA on Saturday, we took a little lunch break and drove to Culver City to try LYFE Kitchen. H had read about this place in the NY Times Magazine in April and wanted to try it out. Although it's the kind of place where you order at the counter and they bring out the food, it feels like a nice place and has these herbs growing right in the indoor seating part.

I enjoyed the fish tacos, H had thai curry soup with his grilled asparagus flatbread, and we both tried the chia water with strawberries, mint, ginger and lime. I have been eating chia seeds on my morning yogurt because of their omega 3s and 6s. The chia water was pretty good. This restaurant also has a vegan menu as well as gluten-free, but serves sustainable and local meat, as well. Each entree is less than 600 calories, and if there was a location closer, I would go more often. The other location is in Palo Alto, a little far for lunch.

Birthday at LACMA

Yay for a birthday that falls on a weekend! On my Kansas trip I read a few articles about the James Turrell Retrospective at LACMA and knew that's how I wanted to celebrate my birthday. I had also been wanting to see the Levitated Mass, so that was a bonus.

I have no photos of the Turrell exhibit since they are not allowed, but let me say that I am glad we saw it. I think if I was not familiar with his Skyspace at Pomona College, I may not have enjoyed the show as much, mostly because his work is very subtle and takes time to enjoy. 

When we arrived at the museum just before it opened, the skies were still holding on to June gloom, so the light was soft, but the skies uninteresting. If I lived closer to the museum, I would watch the skies and take opportunities to photograph this rock. The bolder is actually smaller than I had envisioned, but, nonetheless fun to see.

Of course I enjoyed much of the art that we saw (mostly modern), I was particularly enamored of Metropolis II - a model city with trains and cars that zip around like crazy. The kids watching the cars were clearly thrilled with the excitement, as evidenced by their chatter and occasional shrieks.

We capped the evening off with a trip to the Pomona Skyspace.