March 14, 2010

Ikebana V.18 Dynamic and Complex

100_0065.jpg

I don't particularly care for twisting branches away from their original shape, but the goal of this exercise was to create a circular movement, which I did by bending these willow branches. Overall, looks nice, I like it. Do you?

Venice Beach Drumming Circle - Peeps

A few random shots of people at the VBDC.

100_0051.jpg

I call him The Banker. He's got hands the size of Joe Frazier's, but he's not a boxer. He's actually an economist from Zimbabwe who wants to work in the music business here.

I call him The Banker because he keeps an eye on people's backpacks at the base of his keyboard setup. He's very trustworthy. Sorry I can't remember his name, only his story.



100_0060.jpg

This is Edgar, he's from Columbia as I recall. I call him the Red Pepper, he's very warm inside thermally speaking. He enjoys taking a dip in the ocean all year round, and then comes back to the drumming circle and dances for hours. Guy's full of energy, one of my favorites there.


100_0058.jpg

100_0053.jpg

More regulars who's names I don't know.

March 4, 2010

What I love about Santa Monica: Crop Circles

IMG_2601.jpg

Finally! A MYSTERY.

How that little gull was able to drag his little feet through the sand to arrive at this lovely pattern is beyond me. Perhaps the gull is actually an extraterritorial. That would explain things nicely.

January 14, 2010

Venice Beach Drumming Circle - Humanity Version

This is really nice. Take the drumming circle, remove the audio, replace it with piano and violin, slow it down, and edit it to perfection, and what do you have?

Click "play" to find out. (Yes, that's me at 2:45.)

The Anatomy of a Radio Commercial

Back when I was working on the airwaves, one of the sponsors requested that we make a "Making of the Louis Rich Turkey Bacon Spot" video. We thought that was a big effin hassle, but we did it anyway. What remains however is kind of fun to watch. Mostly as a sort of memory book of people I used to work with at Power 106 in Los Angeles.

December 5, 2009

What I love about Santa Monica: Gulls and Choppers

IMG_2591.JPG

Just a gull and a chopper, and a sunset. And some reverie.

November 20, 2009

What I love about Venice Beach: Ungraffitiable Signage

IMG_2579.JPG

So, there are some structures at Venice beach where spray painters (graffiti artists) are legally allowed to do their thing. There was a long time in which no permit was required, then that changed. So, they put up a sign saying that you need a permit to pain on the provided walls.

Thing is, the sign itself would naturally be a target for graffiti and it wouldn't take long for taggers to completely cover up the message. So, the friendly folks at Venice Beach did something really smart. The words on the sign pictured above are actually cut-outs. It is impossible to paint over this message. Although that didn't stop someone from painting the sign the same color as the surrounding sand rendering it almost invisible.

For more, see: VeniceArtWalls.com

What I love about Santa Monica: Angry Sunsets

IMG_2580.JPG

Just a sunset with a coming storm, which ended up loudly drizzling on Santa Monica for about three minutes and that was it for us.

November 1, 2009

Ikebana V.17 Corny as Kansas in August

IMG_2573.JPG
Nice arrangement featuring some late-summer, harvest season, thanksgiving, Sukkot stuff. Those are real peppers, though they're considered ornamental rather than culinary.

October 10, 2009

Ikebana V.16 Gladiolas, not Sadiolas

IMG_2562.JPG
The piece above was the class project. This is one of the few Nageire (vertical) format arrangements that I've felt good about. Finally got my little spiral mirror candle holder into one of the shots.

IMG_2565.JPGSome unused flowers from today's class allowed me to really work with the shape of the rosemary. I deviated somewhat from the traditional arrangements here. I'm sure you'll find a way to cope.

Santa Monica acupuncture and herbs

HOME | BLOG
IBS | Headaches
Contact | About | Al | Policies
Testimonials | Support | Prognosis-O-Rama
Customized Formulas TCM Style


© Al Stone 1995-2009 All Rights Reserved and Stuff