los angeles: LACMA

Chris Burden - Urban Light (2008)
"a building with a roof of light."

Richard Serra - Band (2006)
"the gravitational load that will freestand in conjunction with other gravitational loads, will build spaces."

Chris Burden - Metropolis II (2012)
"the noise, the continuous flow of the trains, and the speeding toy cars, produces in the viewer the stress of living in a dynamic, active and bustling 21st century city."

watts towers

watts towers was build by simon rodia, an italian immigrant, over the course of 33 years from 1921 to 1954 in the watts district of los angeles.  in its construction, rodia  used steel pipes, wire mesh and mortar to construct the towers, two of which reach over 90ft in height.  the structures are decorated with found objects such as bottles, tiles, sea shells, and metal scraps and were build without any special design or equipment.

the site is an example of american naive art and became a national historic landmark in 1990.

disneyland

here are a few long exposure photos i took while on disney rides over spring break

pirates of the caribbean

winnie the pooh

space mountain

pirates of the caribbean

winnie the pooh

indiana jones (i think)

los angeles: abandoned nazi camp

I went back home a couple weeks ago and we visited this old ranch in Los Angeles that was built in the 1930s.  

It apparently was bought by Winona and Norman Stephens, a wealthy American couple who were attracted to  Fascism and Hitler's Third Reich ever since they had come under the spell of a mysterious Nazi known only as Schmidt in local lore.  

Under his direction, the Stephens spent over $4,000,000 to develop the estate into a self-sustaining Nazi hide-a-way. Schimdt had used his alleged psychic powers to determine that in the coming war with Germany, America would be destroyed and one year after its destruction, he and his followers would emerge from the estate and take over what had once been Los Angeles to start an new community allied with Hitler. 

 According to the LA Times, Schmidt was arrested by the FBI the day after Pearl Harbor and the land has since fallen into disuse.

on the way home.

we stopped at the counter, an awesome restaurant in westlake where you can built your burger.
i got one on a whole wheat bun with sprouts, onions, pepperoncinis, and gruyere cheese with balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard sauce.

mom got a veggie "burger in a bowl"

a trio of sweet potato fries, onion rings, and regular fries.