April, 2016 | Dog Eaters

Los Angeles…

Posted on 04.19.16 under glassblowing, Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, Jug Holt, los angeles, Robert Mapplethorpe, Steve Correia, topanga canyon

It’s been a while since we’ve been to LA. It’s the Jerusalem of Western Culture.

It permeates everything. Drivers seem to think that they’re in their own action movie and with a GPS, you can drive like you think you know where you’re going.

We met up with Steve Correia at his place in Topanga Canyon.

He was my first glassblowing teacher and I hadn’t seen him since 1978. He went to Honolulu for Jug Holt’s memorial service and met up with a lot of his old cronies including my old housemates. I had some photos that Peter Brown had taken and sent them on.

We reconnected and it was the old, “If you’re ever in LA, look me up,” line that old acquaintances say all the time but rarely take up on.

As it turned out we were going to LA and Steve was as good as his word. He blocked off the day and we went to Hauser, Wirth, and Shimmel and LACMA (got us in for minimal cost). There was a 2 hour standby line for the Broad, so we passed on that. But what a fantastic tour guide!

Steve’s had a great run starting with supplying the Carter administration with the art nouveau glassware. Pretty innovative, he was utilizing cheap Mexican labor back in the early 70s!

He segued into cut and polished crystal.

I had brought a couple of my wine glasses to give to Steve, so he reciprocated. Isaac picked out a couple.

(These are mine)

At Hauser Wirth & Schimmel

This is my action movie…

It was Collateral meets Pulp Fiction

LACMA…

California Dreamin’

Posted on 04.15.16 under topanga canyon

“This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes, again…”
— Jim Morrison

The gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” can be seen everywhere, even where the PCH meets Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

It doesn’t last forever, so live life now

Posted on 04.01.16 under Uncategorized

We heard this morning that our calabash daughter’s fiancé died in her arms this morning. He was only 30…

It tears a hole in our hearts…

Good stories, always end, too soon
Good stories, never should end…

Incheon and Seoul

Posted on 04.01.16 under dongdaemun, incheon, korea, korean wedding, seoul, Uncategorized

A quick two-nighter to Korea for Jonah and Hanna’s wedding. It’s only a 2+ hour flight and an hour and half from Tokyo to Narita, but it’s still a trip to another country.

And a bus ride from the terminal to the plane.

It was a late flight, got in at midnight…

Incheon is an island, the infrastructure is new, neat, clean. Construction from the room window.

You may hear stories about the toilets in Korea, but as you can see, this hotel has great toilets!

Took the shuttle bus back to the airport.

All the architecture is new, so there is a cohesive but sterile feel to it all.

This is the Airport Railroad to Seoul. It is twice as expensive as the “All Stop” train and not that much faster but the seats are reserved and nicer.

Like an airline, they had a magazine in the back of the seat. It was fun to see this Eau de Toilette in a kitchen spray bottle.

Strange seascape-like terrain, it looked like they were draining the water or something.

Train stations and trains reminded me of Singapore. Japan is noted for it transport, and rightly so. There are more trains and they run more often, but the infrastructure is older than Korea’s. Korea just looks more slick. They speak more English than the Japanese as well. However, they are aggressive on foot, always trying to cut in front of you.

Got out at Dongdaemun, a big wholesale shopping area. We went there to buy accessories for Blythe.

I guess the tourists need policing. Actually, it was like an information center. We found out that the wholesale market was closed on weekends (it was Saturday) and they were open from night til morning.