Beyond Beyond Well Being

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.

They come from everywhere to enjoy the sunshine and sea breeze.

Kites from every race, creed, and color come to wave in the wind at Santa Monica.

A close-up of some of the kites in the air. They're located just south of a California historical marker that points out the location of the formally-named "Ink Well" which was the segregated location of the beach where blacks were allowed to swim. All of this is about a mile south of the pier.

The Annenberg foundation purchased the land originally used by Cecil B. Demille for vacationing. On this property has been built a great public pool and social space. Adjacent, (shown here) is the Marion Davies Guest House. Nice archetecture, seems to have been inspired by the same style as a local baptist church.

A draft of smoke arises from a fire near Malibu, while the rest of the Santa Monica bay remains picturesque.

The clouds slowly roll in, giving the water an almost indoor eeriness.

There's actually a relationship between fires in nearby hills and calm waters in the Santa Monica bay. Fires spread with hot dry winds. Hot dry winds come from the northeast, high pressure in Utah generally. The hot dry winds blow the wave energy away from the California coast giving rise to darkened orange skies and an almost silky smooth character to the ocean.

The image above may not have been taken on the same day as the fire, but when the fires really get going, I'm telling you, the ocean's appearance is amazing. Someday my batteries will be charged when I'm around to see it.

So I'm taking a picture of a really cool front door facade. Beautiful, simple, clean architecture. I'm framing things just right and some DUFUS comes into the picture, sits down, lights a cigarette, and starts to talk on his cell phone.

This is the down-side of operating in stealth mode. I am invisible. Of course, if you know I'm there, you can see me, but most don't notice the guy on the bike in the background. This guy certainly didn't notice me taking this picture.

Took me a few months to get this uploaded, but this was taken on Memorial Day, adjacent to the Santa Monica pier where every Sunday an organization puts up a wooden cross for every soldier killed in the War of Terror (sic). They call it "Arlington West".

Had some good rains in early 2008 in Southern California. While they did little to alter the long-term drought we're experiencing, they did have a positive effect on the potency of the wildflowers this spring. Sorry I don't know what these flowers are called, but they smelled like a candy store.

This sculpture is actually considered to be in West LA, found adjacent to the Los Angeles National Cemetery at the corner of Wilshire and Veteran.

Its inscription quotes Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address which talks about "...care for him who shall have borne the battle and his widow and orphan". It is a touching and fitting memorial to those who have lost their lives so that I might benefit. Nothing short of impressive there and I want to clearly offer my gratitude for such deeds.

Now, on to my point. My god, she's HOT!

Where was Jesse Helms when this sculpture was approved?

She's practically naked to begin with and although this image can't really pick it up, there are fully formed nipple erections and everything. No wonder the soldier's weapons are so erect and ready for action!

Seriously, you gotta check out this sculpture carefully next time you're driving by. I might also suggest that you cover the eyes of your preteen children less they erroneously begin to connect sex and war.

Too late?

I try to only upload good pictures and this one ain't.
However this young man's value isn't his appearance.
It isn't his singing either. It's his guitar playing.

I believe that this is the same young man who started out playing for
change on the 3rd Street Promenade a few years ago. He was probably nine
years old at the time. Now he looks to be well in to his teens. He was a
genius as a child, and nothing has changed. He's only gotten better.

I call him the Spirit of Jimi. This is not something that I say lightly.
He's an incredible guitarist, but there are plenty of them around.
What makes this young man different is his lack of self-consciousness,
his innate understanding of electric blues, he really looks and sounds
like he is quite unaware of the fact that he's playing in public.
Just like Jimi.
There's something amazing going on here...

I really shouldn't call ginkgo "trendy". However it has been a popular subject for Asian artists for years and one that has been enthusiastically embraced in the West. And for good reason too, as you can see, ginkgo trees turn a brilliant yellow in the autumn.

Santa Monica locals love Chinese feng shui. However what few locals know about Chinese culture is that they put a LOT of thought into their naming of things because of a sort of verbal feng shui. Obviously, this apartment building was named long before feng shui ever entered the local consciousness.

So this Maxstudio clothing store on the Third Street Promenade is putting up a new display exploiting the whole green revolution. It bugs me enough to snap a picture of it, just in case I want to mock them on a blog or something. If it isn't evident, the signage reads: "Global Warming Panic Sale - 60% off"

Feh!