Why hate St. Jude?

So my sister-in-law kindly emails me... but with very, very bad news.

Remember that giant mural of St. Jude on 26th St? Someone had the audacity to paint over it!!! That Jesus-like image (non-christian/catholic folks like me called him Jesus) was a pseudo cultural landmark of Bridgeport/Chinatown. It's been there since I was born at least. Paint me shocked. I swore you had a blog entry about it, but couldn't find it. Anyway, what used to be the Hungry Hound is now a Mexican place...they painted the logo over St. Jude. It's hideous. We can't find our digital camera, otherwise you'd get a pic.

What a travesty. It's not like the perpetrators even replaced St. Jude with something better, like this:

Let's all smoke in memory of St. Jude.
May he live in our hearts and minds forever.

Happy International Women's Day!

(Please note that I started this post on the date indicated above but sadly was too busy to finish it. Don't get confused, ok? I don't want you going around wishing women a happy day and looking foolish and ignorant. You should have done that last Thursday, though it's a good thing to greet someone in the spirit of feminism. Anyway, thank you for your patience.)

To my Sisters in the struggle, this is OUR day. You are special and beautiful, and DYY loves you very much. So shine, bitches, shine!

In celebration of OUR day, a group of my female friends (including Tron, of course) and I went to check out Andrea Zittel's CRITICAL SPACE exhibit at the MOCA Geffen Contemporary. She's the featured artist of WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, the latest big exhibition at MOCA. I attended the member's party last Saturday. Le Tigre was dj'ing and they were cool and all but it was fucken crazy crowded and we had to wait in line for a long while before we were allowed to enter the museum to see the exhibition. To my chagrin (since I don't do lines anymore, well, not those types of lines), most of the art and artists were uninspiring... EXCEPT Andrea Zittel who is amazing and is my absolute favorite artist at the moment. Seriously, I wish I could be her.

Andrea was even better and more inspiring the second time around. I encourage everyone to check out her exhibit. You will be in awe.

For a far better description, check out her biography here. But this is why I adore her: She incorporates art in her everyday life and challenges that life with her art. She pushes our conception and construction of time and physical space. For example, she would create these tiny living spaces that incorporate a bedroom, bathroom, or whatever, and maximize the space so that every inch is utilitarian and functional, yet super designy and modern... so when you look at it, you think to yourself, damn this space is small, but I think I can live like this because everything looks so cute and comfortable.

Did you know that many of her structures can be folded into a trunk (which I had not noticed the first time)? Not only does she challenge the fallacy that bigger is better, she also believes in self-sustainable living and makes all her own very stylish clothes, furniture and architecture.

I am once again inspired to learn how to sew! I wish I knew how to make cool shit. Since her exhibit, I have also been thinking philosophically about my own lifestyle and my perpetual quest to downsize and minimize in order to truly expand and maximize. It's a struggle, man... but I've come to realize that the creativity and adaptivity that derives from such a struggle is really amazing and quite fulfilling. It's a natural high.

I can really go on and on about Andrea's pieces as she's quite prolific and diverse. But I know I'm not doing her any justice so visit her website for a glimpse of her genius. By the way, Andrea's a part-time resident of Joshua Tree and creates a majority of her art and conducts experiments there. Now do you see why I want to be this bitch?

A little chalk goes a long way

The works of Vija Celmins is showcased at the Armand Hammer Museum between now and April 22, 2007. Her works are mostly graphite (chalk) on acrylic ground on paper and includes exquisite details of her delicate renderings of lunar, ocean, and desert surfaces as well as clouds, galaxies, and nocturnal skies. Her pieces look like black and white photographs. She's that good. It's really amazing live and up-close.

Suzhou architecture

Suzhou, China -- Hometown of I.M. Pei
Courtesy of my main man, DBB. Come home, fool!
But I guess this is much prettier than the strip malls of LA...
Okay, I'll come to you.

While searching in google images...

for a flying bird in the post below, I found this:

Dude, it's soooo cheesy, it's awesome. I want this as a T-shirt. Because all you need is love.

Snow Globes and Politicos

I fear that I seem much more craftier than I am. That's not even my snow globe above. I am merely a wanna-be, an arts & crafts neophyte... but with a deep interest in projects of self-sustainment i.e. making your own shit in order to reduce corporate consumption. It's really hard not to be a cog in the consumer culture (especially for me!) but I think every little action counts. Soon, I'll be sewing my own clothes and harvesting coffee beans in my backyard. Okay, that's a lie. But if I could, I would.

Plus, it's just fun to mix arts & crafts with friends and alcohol.

Pictured above is my christmas tree ornament. It turned out to be a lovely colorful furry ball. Since we do not have tree this year, it's now hanging from the rear view mirror of my car.

It was such a surprise to arrive at Craft Night and see the gang there -- Blu-Tooth, Minnie Mouse, Tron, Lady Pun and the newest angeleno, Mkydy. I love how something so small has grown among my group of homies. I did not expect them as George and I arrived late after attending Mike Eng's Swearing-In Ceremony as the newest State Assemblymember representing the 49th District. I haven't been interested in politicians since college, but I love Mike. He's a solid, progressive leader. He's one of the few politicians that I would wholeheartedly support. In fact, if he asked me to precinct walk for him, I would, even though I hate doing that shit. Thank god he never asked.

If Mike ever asked me to be one of his political strategists, I would be on board in a heart beat and leave my job and everything. I doubt he would ask though since I have 0% experience. But it seems like something I could do and do well. It actually seems fun. Fortunately, I made George promise me that if he ever runs for an elected office, he would hire me as his strategist. Years ago, I also made my former roommate from law school promise me if she ever ran for political office, she would make me her campaign manager. Dude, you always gotta think for the future.

Snowman Puppets

Creations of DYY and WhyJaneInsane at Craft Night at Akbar.
Mine is named Stony the Snowman. Of course. The other one is Stony's very fashionable supplier.

I have been so domesticated lately. See above. Also, I have been baking cookies! Thanks to the 99 cents only store and the Pillsbury Doe Boy, I have placed and baked chocolate chip cookies, smores cookies and reeses peanut butter cup cookies all this week! And I don't even eat that shit! I make it for my loved ones. You know, to show that I care.

Appalachian Art

So awesome.
I want one like this but with Judas helping me navigate my veggie car.
Like so many others, wondering where is Appalachia?
Check this to find out.

Public Art

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Mural of Ole Dirty Bastard in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Art + Graffiti in Crown Heights

I feel so safe

Check this out. It's a series of safety posters designed by Department of Homeland Security to protect us from terrorism. As suspected, they aren't very helpful, but extremely hilarious when interpreted creatively. Below are my favorites:

If you spot terrorism, blow your anti-terrorism whistle.
If you are Vin Diesel, yell really loud.

If you've become a radiation mutant with a deformed hand, remember to close the window. No one wants to see that shit.

If your building collapes, give yourself a blowjob while waiting to be rescued.

Crafts over Cocktails

Last night, Blu-tooth and I attended CRAFTNIGHT hosted by Julianna Parr and held at the Akbar in Silverlake. CraftNight is a weekly Wednesday night community craft and cocktail social hour.

Craftnight's mission: Run by artists for all people, Craftnight strives to bring forth the unrealized artistic talents of the greater public. We perform this mission by incorporating an atmosphere of bohemia and great cordiality.

Yes, expect bohemia and lots of it. But it's true, there was great cordiality, even for two outwardly-appearing non-bohemians like Blu-Tooth and I. We really appreciated the warmth and hospitality, and the complimentary donuts from the craftspeople of the adjoining table.

Also, the theme changes each week. Yesterday, we focused on public spaces and had a choice to either make a warehouse or a convenience store.

I'm sure you can tell by now there is a slight political bent... but that's what makes Craftnight even more special. There's a reason to the madness and creativity. It's not just about construction paper and crayons and glitter, although I wouldn't mind if it was.

So Blu-Tooth chose to make a convenience store that sells children.

I opted for the warehouse, and made a Crack-Whore House.
Two in one, baby!

Dude, can I tell you that coloring brings me back to the good ole' days! Well, it was either that or I was getting high from the flavor-scented markers... or maybe it was the two margaritas I had. I can't be sure. But it was nice.

In our make-believe crafts world, our buildings would be located next door to one another. When "an accident" occurs in the Crack-Whore House, you can sell IT at CHILDREN R US!

We even made new friends!
I think craft-making bonds people instantaneously. Like Helmer's glue.

Blu-Tooth and I intend to return to make snowman puppets (Dec. 6) and holiday snow globes (Dec .13). We can't wait!

More from before

As promised, Tonk forwarded a picture from the Tigers and Jaguars exhibit:
Pretty fucken tight, huh? I don't remember the artist's name (a Japanese American who grew up in East LA), but it's a mixture of graffiti art and 3-d animation.

Here's one by another artist:

I'm not sure if you could tell by the picture, but it's a militant bird forced to use a gun, and any other means necessary, in nature's fight against the industrial takeover of the world. That's how I interpret it anyway.

Recent museum and gallery excursions

Okay, I must either be getting older or lamer but I must say... I had a blast at the Huntington Botanical Gardens when my family visited last month. We were suppose to go to the popular Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena, but lucky for me, there was a Rosebowl game and so the museum was closed. As a fairly new fan of horticulture, I was in heaven.

Here I am with the special men in my family.
We're striking a pose in the Desert Garden.

Here's another marvelous work of nature.

Here's my dad picking a tiny unknown fruit from the tree... and yes, he ate it. The white people thought we were strange and probably a bit ghetto or foreign, and my sister walked away in embarrassment, but I found it very amusing and encouraged my dad to eat as much fruit as he could pick... we paid a hefty admission fee so I felt it was acceptable. He just ate one though, just for taste and curiousity.

Two weeks later, Tonk and I went to the opening reception of Street Signs and Solar Ovens: Socialcraft in Los Angeles at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Mid-Wilshire. This exhibition is so so cool. I encourage all my artsy and/or environmental friends to check it out... it runs until December 31, 2006. The exhibit is described as a thought-provoking exhibition featuring artwork created with social activism as its inspiration. The exhibit explores the inventive objects & strategies created by artists in response to the environmental, political and social issues of our time. The objects featured will include protest art meant for public display as well as tools for socially concious living... such as a bicycled-powered blender. I'm totally for real. Another piece I thought was totally cool was Fallen Fruit: A Mapping of Food Resources in Los Angeles. Three artists/activists created map legends of fruit trees in Los Angeles that are accessible and available for picking by the public! When my dad visits next, you know what we're going to do.

We were also able to check out Tigers and Jaguars: LA's Asian-Latino Art Phenomenon on the same night. Unfortunately, the exhibit ended that week, so it's too bad if you missed it here or at LACMA... because it was really rad. Dude, an artist made a low-rider rickshaw. Enough said. I did not have my camera to take pictures, but Tonk took several photos from his camera phone... perhaps he'll share them in a future post.

Finally, a few of us went to the Calavera Fashion Show & Walking Altars at Tropico de Nopal Gallery in Echo Park, in celebration of the Day of the Dead. Since I love love love fashion, as well as Day of the Dead celebrations, and had missed the annual Dia De Los Muertos at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary (one of my absolute favorite places in LA), I knew the fashion show was a must-see. And I am so glad I was right, like usual...

The organizers did an amazing job tranforming the back courtyard into a real professional-looking fashion show runway.

Poli, a close friend of Tonk's grandparents, was jamming! I was so impressed by her artistic vision and dance skills. She was paying homage to her grandmother in this homemade outfit.

A Keith Herring inspired skeleton dancing to Madonna's Vogue.
Let your body move to the music...hey hey hey... C'mon Vogue!

The three women above inspired me to learn how to sew. After all, I do own a classic old school sewing machine. Yeah, it's a paradox.
Anyway, Tonk agreed to teach me. YES!

I'm not generally into goth or death metal, but I was really digging the pinhead dude.

Long Live The Dead!

Miguel's art

This is my favorite piece of Steve Sueoka's artwork at his Never Die, Just Multiply opening at the Treehouse Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. The colors on the giraffe are made up of little tiny circles. Believe me, it's better to see it in person than through the lens of my outdated and shitty digital camera.

Steve's the bald-headed dude on the far right of the picture. Sexy, huh?

Lady Pun in motion.

Represent

My newest t-shirt, a belated birthday gift from Kim Chee Farmer.
SOUTH SIDE!
(That's his painting in the background. Fresh!)

Culture Clash taught me to speak like a Vato

I just found the program for Culture Clash's latest production, Water & Power under a pile of junk mail. Tonk and I were fortunate to get tickets to the final show of the production at the Mark Taper Forum in downtown a couple of weeks ago. Although not as impressed with the actual performance, I was tickled to find a glossary in the program filled with Spanish slang that both Gringos and Chinos can appreciate.

Here are my favorites. I took the liberty to mix and match words and phrases:

Poquito mas mota -- A little more marijuana
Poquito mas gavachita -- A little more little white girl
Poquito mas pedo -- A little more drunkenness and/or trouble
Callate, Viejita! -- Shut up, Old Lady!
Clamate, Chavala! -- Calm down, Little Girl
Poquito mas cabeza, Chavala! -- A little more head, Little Girl
Que casualidad, que curioso -- What a coincidence, how strange (this is an actual phrase from the program booklet)

Oh how I love learning other languages. But in retrospect, I should have went to the Banksy exhibit which happened to have ended that same Sunday.

Check out the controversially painted Elephant in the Room:

I'm ambivalent about the elephant issue. It's such a beautiful art piece with a meaningful message. During the show, cards were handed out explaining: "There's an elephant in the room. There's a problem we never talk about. The fact is that life isn't getting any fairer…. 20 billion people live below the poverty line." On the other hand, I could see why animal activists were upset. Although nontoxic, the paint was unsafe and illegal to be used in such a manner. Plus, there was a huge crowd and it was very hot for the elephant.

Despite this, Banksy is cool as hell. His graffitti art has been all over LA. He's very anti-corporate, anti-government, yet his art is not didactic or obvious. It's actually very artful. It makes you think but not too hard. Just the way I like it.

So Banksy's just as political as Cultural Clash, but different. You should check out both websites that I conveniently included in my entry above (especially Banksy's).

Me entiendes, Chingadera? You get me, you piece of crap?

Si? Sabes! Palabra.

I won!

Can you believe this sweet lady is mine? I won her from my bid on Ebay with the help of my sister, who is a mother of two toddlers and, consequently, a skilled Ebay user. Or shall I say Ebay winner? Because that's what I am, bitches. I beat fellow Ebay user, ValleyOfTheDolls.

I spotted this poster when I went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market this past Sunday. The bohemian guy selling it wanted $30 for it. I said $10. He said no. I walked away... but with much regret.

Then I thought, wait a minute... I live in the 21st century! I don't have to buy merchandise from this stupid hippie. I can buy it from the internet!

This Nagel's going to hang in my office. It will be perfect. I will be adored by co-workers. I can't wait.

The official inaugural ceremony will be held in October.

You know, back in the late 80s, I remember thinking Patrick Nagel's work was so cheesy. I speculate my unappreciation stemmed from simple oversaturation. It seemed like every teenager and mother in Chinatown had a print in their room.

Today, I embrace Nagel's work and take delight in his images. All the women in his pictures have suddenly become fresh in a postmodern way. Maybe that's why I like Nagel now. It's amazing how your perspective changes within the context of your most current existence.

Damn, I'm deep. Do you think I sound like a philosopher? Maybe I should consider that for my next career change...

Privatization of Public Space

As a cautionary measure, the Olympic National Park requires all campers on the beach to store food in bear cans to prevent bears and racoons from destroying your camp and lovely camp experience. Since most visitors rarely have bear cans handy on them, the Park usually provides them free of charge.

Not any more!

When Tonkhero went to retrieve a bear can from the office, Ranger Ian asked him for a $3 donation. Tonk said no, as he already paid a $25 entrance fee to enter the grounds (it used to be free) and a $9 fee to camp (it used to be free). But Ranger Ian continued to press Tonk for the three bucks. Ranger Ian became increasingly angry as he argued that the Park employees are basically volunteers, making $10 a day or something piddling like that. He argued that it was these "volunteers" that kept the bathrooms clean, and the area habitable for campers like us. Tonk, who was also getting increasingly angry, responded that he already paid the necessary fees, and also his federal taxes, and that it was the federal government who has failed to allocate tax money for the rangers' services and, instead, squandered the money to construct new roads accessible for RVs, who consequently contribute more waste to the Park versus backpackers like us who barely make a dent on the campground. Tonk continued, why don't you ask RV campers for an additional fee? This is a gradual attempt to have visitors accustomed to paying fees for public spaces so when private companies take over and make the Park into Disneyland, we won't have a problem paying. Why don't you lobby your representatives in Congress to pay you a fair salary and keep public land public?

Please keep in mind I was not privy to this conversation. I was sitting in the parking lot eating potato chips and enjoying the sun. This was told to me by Tonk, when he returned in a huff.

We learned a couple of days later, Tonk's name now appears on a blacklist with the Park, along with a comment that says, "Camper refuses to pay fee for bear can."

At first I didn't see the big deal... until I was in the security line at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport on route home to LA. I noticed a special "express line" near the security line entrance that was also managed by federal TSA employees. The sign above the express line stated that only the following persons were permitted to use this line:

• people with no carry-on bags
  
• people with disabilities
• on-duty employees (although I don't quite understand why on-duty employees would need to use this express line)
• Alaska Air Members
• American Airlines Advantage Members

What the fuck?

Needless to say, I was very perturbed. Although, I must say, the Sea-Tac Airport is one of the cleanest airports I have ever been to. The airport stores are very upscale and the women's bathrooms have toliet seat covers. Plus, check out the public art at Sea-Tac:

Photo by DYY

Women in Art

Remember Nagel, you all? It's so '80s ugly, it's cool.

Here's Blu-Tooth... a work of art!

Sounds (and Sights) Eclectico

Nortec (from the combination of "norteno" and "techno") is an electronic musical genre from Tijuana that first gained popularity in the late 1990s. Nortec music is characterized by hard dance beats and samples from traditional forms of Mexican music such as Banda sinaloense and Norteño - unmistakably Mexican horns are often used.

I fucken love horns.

Tonkhero and I went to a free KCRW-sponsored concert of the Nortec Collective as part of the Grand Performances at the California Plaza in Downtown LA. I love outdoor events that are free to the public. I truly think it's a great service.

We jammed to electronica dance music Tijuana-style yo. They totally rock.

Lastest Album.

We then migrated to Night Visions: MOCA After Dark (late hours every Saturday night in the summer), and drank and danced with the fucken hipsters. Despite my personal distaste for them, I do love their fashion. It's the only time I people-watch.

But it also gave me an excuse to check out the Robert Rauschenberg exhibit. Even though it's not my aestetic, I admire his use of so many random-ass materials to make his art. He'd use a neck tie, a stuffed eagle, all types of metals, door knobs, a tire, wires, mirrors... all types of bullshit. It's very masculine installation art, I think.

Here's one of my favorites because, it's like, who would think of this shit? Gotta give the man some credit.