SXSW update #3: The Idyllists and Bop Glasses

The Idyllists' stylishly sport bop glasses during their shows and give them out to their fans. Who doesn't love bop glasses?

Friday's Photo Of The Week #8

Since I already posted much of my favorite photos in the shoot earlier this week, I decided to have my photo of the week as my favorite road trip photo (feel free to click on the photo to enlarge this one):

And in addition, here are a few more Santa Fe pictures for your enjoyment:







Because of all the eating out while we've been working on the kitchen, I've gained an unwanted amount of extra weight and have been opting for fruit instead of chocolate to quench the sweet tooth. Except I'm not very good at peeling oranges:
Take care everyone! And have a great weekend. :)

SXSW update #2: Saturday

(Meg and Me in Santa Fe, 1st night's stop)

There are too many good photos to decide which to post, so this might be a tough post to write. The trip was amazing though, and since we were caravaning back, we decided to drive the entire 22 hours in one shot. All home safe and sound.

Downsides of the trip include a speeding ticket (darn turbo engine...), Sam losing his phone, and Meg getting a rock crack in her windshield. First battle wound to her new mini cooper:

Not to mention Meg and I both being sick just about the entire trip... But overall the road trip was amazing. I didn't think I'd like SXSW and Austin as much as I did. I guess I didn't know what to expect, but it was freakin' so much fun. I would definitely go again.

So the list of bands that I saw on Saturday were quite a lot, most you probably won't recognize (I only knew of a couple since a few weeks ago): Children Collide, Codeine Velvet Club, Happy Hollows, Henry Clay People, The Idyllists, Allo Darling, Smokey Angle Shades, Doll and the Kicks (who recently toured with Morrissey), and Until June. These bands were all amazing. It is just a shame when I see all this amazing talent that is unknown to most of the world.
My favorite shows this day were Codeine Velvet Club (really great music, playing the Palladium supporting Metric this Friday $30/ticket, their new CD is released April 6th), and Doll and the Kicks (really great live show...I'll probably be going to their acoustic show at the York tomorrow (Wed) night, since it's down the street from my casa and free. They also have several shows in L.A. including the Bootleg Theater in Silverlake).

Anyway, on to the band photos from Saturday. I will have to post more, but this is a good start... (Feel free to comment on your favorites! I'm always curious to see what people like)

Children Collide:

Codeine Velvet Club:

Doll and the Kicks:

Until June:

SXSW update #1: Rogue Wave

The Idyllists had three shows yesterday and two today. The first at the Thirsty Nickel with DL Music was great. The second was at a music hall in Taylor, TX. The place used to be in Austin, and they sort of advertised the show as part of SXSW, but it was about an hour away in the middle of nowhere. And it was pure Texas. Playing in front of a mural-size American Flag, the boys sounded great.
I was pulled from my seat by the only dancing girl: a teenager with plenty of jangles, who was on the dance team and had to dance. She credited the success of the show to her constant movement, and getting more people like myself to dance. It was slightly annoying, yet pretty hilarious.

The highlight of the night, besides seeing my amazingly talented husband play so well, was after waiting in line for about 40 minutes, I got to see the last half of Rogue Wave's show. It was fantastic! I saw them a few years ago and was not impressed, even though I had loved their record "Descended Like Vultures." But wow, they blew me away tonight! Here are a few of my favorite photos:

(The picture below is Friday's photo of the week #7)

Road trip pics will be coming! Santa Fe was beautiful and Austin is amazing.

The Weekend

The Rose Bowl Swap Meet!The Art Institute gals at the mini reunion: Yuko, Kim, Fabiola and Vanessa.

My brother Robbie and his friends at the tourist hangout, Hollywood and Highland.

Friday's Photo Of The Week #6

(Bridget Johnson, 4 years old) ;)

This past Sunday, my beautiful sister stopped by for breakfast on Sunday (Auntie Em's!!) with her 3 friends and one of her friend's son, Cameron. He is also 4 and they had all gone to Disneyland. Rita did really well with Cameron. However, Klaus apparently doesn't like kids and we had some drama. He bit Cameron in the face and the skin tore under his eye! :( It was very scary and we had to give Klaus back to our friend Nick. Everything worked out ok, but wow, what a day...

The week didn't get much better. We had a plumbing issue which ultimately ended up with raw sewage exploding underneath the house and all over cousin Brian. So disgusting. I don't know how to make it up to him. Not worth the pay for a problem like that to happen.

I conveniently ditched the situation... that night I had a ladies craft night and Genna helped me with a doggie crochet pattern. I didn't get too far, but it's looking more like a squid than a dog. I may have to adjust accordingly. I'm sure the little creature, whatever it turns out to be, will show up on a post soon.

The good news? Well, this week I took a morning hike in the hills behind my house, which was just beautiful. I also learned on Sunday how to properly prep and mud drywall. It's been a lot of fun. Last night I worked on the mudding in the living room for 3 hours while listening to the Killers and Metallica. Pretty hardcore, right?

Well, that's the week. This weekend is busy as always with my brother Robbie visiting, house work, a college mini reunion I'm going to try to make, and the Rose Bowl swap meet on Sunday. I'm sure it will fly by. This coming week I leave for SXSW! Can't wait to get away...

One more photo for you all: playing with my new HDR software:

(Bridget's dad, Kyle, in his studio, wearing night-vision goggles)

Weekend fun with the 14mm lens

Nice weekend show at the Stronghold: beautiful cozy venue in Venice on Abbot Kinney. The Idyllists were fantastic as always...
I rented a 14mm lens for a weekend photo shoot for a friend's music studio, and was able to use it at the show as well. This lens is $2300, so renting it for $35 for the weekend was well worth it! Sam and I had a great time in Ventura. Here is a picture of my friend's studio:
...and I got to play with HDR because he bought me the new program to adjust some of the pictures from the shoot. Here is a picture of his house in HDR:

Sweet, huh?

Friday's Photo Of The Week #5

This is my photo of the week. I love the composition, lighting and subject. Everything feels very real. Meg and I are planning our road trip to Austin, TX. My first time to SXSW (South By Southwest, a huge music festival), and I'm super excited... can't stop thinking about it. We're going to stop in Santa Fe on the way there, spend a couple days with the Idyllists in Austin, then stop in Tucson on the way back, where I am eagerly looking forward to revisiting my favorite joint: Bison Witches, a sandwich and soup place near the University of AZ, where I went to school my first year of college. It's been fun planning the trip. Meg's place is such a cute little haven in the Laurel Canyon hills. Here's some more photos from her house:

Have a good weekend my friends.

The Ritz

The Ritz Carlton/Marriott, near the Staples Center, is the newest building added to the downtown Los Angeles skyline. It is amazing! I've been intrigued by it since I saw it from a distance during construction about a year ago. The shape of the building and how it adds to the skyline, from most vantage points, is stunning. The reason I say MOST vantage points is because I personally don't like the southwest (looking northeast) view from the 10 fwy. The building seems to block the unity of downtown's previous skyline. However the reason it seems to be blocking the skyline also adds to the building's uniqueness: They add lights to the outside of the building to create a definite outline and a texture to the building's front.
I was curious how they get this multi-colored tetris look with the windows and such. It's mind-blowing to me.

I read this article about it and here's what they had to say: "The façade’s visibility graduates from opaque to transparent as it rises vertically, while simultaneously maximizing energy efficiency. The resulting curtain wall uses numerous glass types—both in color, transparency, reflectivity, and frit pattern—to refine the façade for optimum performance."

Here's another interesting review:
"To keep the many height differentials from cluttering the facade, Gensler designed a unifying glass mosaic. This skin, or “veil,” is composed of alternating transparent, translucent, and fritted glass, along with units colored in blue, silver, and gray, all accented with metal panels." -Sam Lubell, The Architect's Newspaper
Beautiful overall shape. Apparently it opened Feb 16th, just a couple weeks ago, and was designed by an architectural company named Gensler. You can find the article here, with some clearer pictures.
Sort of looks like a cobra, right?