Go with the Glow

And the beat GLOWS on...

It's difficult enough to capture the essence of a festival with photos, but at night with a point and shoot and then trying to be in the moment and.....

Ok enough excuses....




N-04 Celeste Boursier-Mougenot--shaped noise

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. This was definitely a crowd favorite. It was fun, true, but maybe it reminded me of when I put the wrong soap in the dishwasher, just last week. Or maybe it was reminiscent of all those foam parties in Ibiza, I was reading about while I was on neighboring island Mallorca.


Follow the light




These big glowing orbs dotted the coast and marked where the various exhibits were.





No 4--Steve Roden--coast lines

In my opinion and that's all it is really, I thought that a lot of the exhibits were interesting concepts that for various reasons missed their mark, at least for me. Part of it was being tired, but a bigger part was hoping and wanting something more, or at least more different.




Often the juxtaposition was more moving than the individual piece. So hat's off to the arranger of that. I mean really hat's off to many, many people who pulled this night off.




N-14-Rafael Lozano-Hemmer--Sandbox

Many of the exhibits relied on audience participation, which of course can have mixed results.
I loved the concept of this and really enjoyed it.





More of the sandbox, hard to know what's going on, also hard to get it all in the frame.


N-16 Hadrian Predock & John Frane--Luminous Passage




A long line, a beautiful installation, lots of work, but rather pedestrian at the end of the day, for me, but still got to appreciate the work.

No Orb, Not on the Menu

A fallen angel, a very tall fallen angel.

If you're what's waiting for me at Heaven's door,
leave the keys under the mat.

Speaking of menu:

Not N-07 Pentti Monkkonen-Barbecue Train

In the Northern parking lot there were a bunch of celebrity food trucks that made up No 07. These are trucks in a parking lot way south of the official exhibit. In my mind they make up the caboose of the train.





N-17 Syyn Labs--DNA Sequencer

Are the brains or controls part of the exhibit? They were certainly a site to behold. We were entering the Rave Zone.




N-13 Robert Chapin, Jessica Cail, Ian Forrest & Team--Muscle Beach Glow

This one definitly took audience participation to new heights



Literally, ........



There were many, many other exhibits and highlights. Too many to get too, too many to shoot. Looking forward Glowing forward.

Stair Climb to the Top

CLIMBING THE TOWER

At 1,108 feet, the tallest building in Los Angeles is the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Climbers will race or walk the 1,500 steps (75 stories) and take an elevator down.* Most participants will climb to the top in 20 to 45 minutes. Elite climbers will race to the top in 13 minutes or less. The course record is 9:28.





This race is tough enough without all the gear the fireman have to lug up. Pretty impressive.




The party hadn't really started when I got there, however by the time I finally got to race, most of the booths had shut down. At least the beer tent was still open. After 75 flights, I figured I deserved it.




Let them eat cake.

The Tower got more beautiful as the evening came upon us.



A View from the Top




I DID IT!!!!

I missed the climb last year but in 2007 and 2008, I ran 17:32 and 17:09 respectively. I was hoping to beat those times but came in at 17:20. It was my first race since tweaking my ankle a few months back, but still.


Here's how I stacked up next to the competition.

Runner Details	Race Results
Bib: 380 Name: Jon Danniells Gender: M Age: 43 Hometown: Los Angeles, CA	Overall: 93 out of 514 Men: 79 out of 267 M 40-49: 18 out of 54 Finish: 17:20 Pace: 57:46 Tag Time: 17:20 Gun Time: 5:05:20

Looking forward to running in Chicago and running up an even taller building, the Sear's, I mean Willis Tower. 110 Stories. Yikes

How Glow Moves Me

An Evening of Art

Saturday night Skye and I made it to Glow Dusk and Beyond 2010 in Santa Monica, as did most of LA or at least that's how it felt with the traffic getting there. Actually the roads were jammed all over town. We had started the evening at an art opening at Gallery 800 which happened to be deep in the valley.

It was an absolutely wonderful event, so glad we went. It will be impossible to recreate experience. If a picture is worth 1000 words then video would be worth....?

I've put together some clips. Now I know these clips are tiny , so imagine them like 1000 times larger and then instead of being indoors on a computer, imagine being on the beach with sand underneath your feet. And then imagine it being a beautiful moonlit night with thousands of people all over the place.

Here we Glow

N-08 Steven Roden--Coast Line






N-15 Corey Madden, Bruno Louchouarn, & Keith Mitchell --Day for Night






N-18 Anne Herlihy--La Bella Luna








N-17 Syyn Labs--DNA Sequence








N-17 Syyn Labs--DNA Sequence






N-13 Robert Chapin, Jessica Cail, Ian Forrest and Team --Muscle Beach Glow




N19--Machine Project--Nautical Music Encampment

Farmer's Market #3--Venice Fridays

Venice Farmer's Market

Compared to the two Santa Monica farmer's markets, Venice on Fridays is quaint. Still compared to a typical farmer's market, it is still quite snazzy.




This "little" market holds a special place in my heart because when we lived in Venice forever and a day ago, this market was "our" market. We'd walk to it on Fridays(when we weren't working, that is) with Skye in her stroller and pick up a couple bags of fresh veggies and then stroll on home through the canals.





Not nearly as crowded as Santa Monica, it's casual.




Small compared to SM but much bigger than most and much bigger than when we used to go.



Nice and mellow without the bump and grind, not to mention the life-size game of "Frogger" you end up playing with the array of strollers that show up at the Santa Monica Sunday market.

Viva la Venice

Marathon Training

My Marathon Diet

The LA Marathon is 180 days away, just a little this side of 6 months. I plan to have my best marathon time to date. That is the goal.

Usually my goal is simply to finish the 26.2 mile event with as little pain as possible. And try to have some fun along the way. But this year, I want to train to finish faster than I have in the past which won't be too difficult given that most of my times are north of 4 hrs and south of 5, like the freeway, 405???

The tricky thing is that I really don't like running. Actually it's not the running I mind, I mean, I like being able to run far and a good run really lifts my spirits. I get a lot of my best(and worst) ideas on those trails. What I don't like is the regularity of the training, running 4-5 times a week, its like a job or something. So that said I am going to train with a 1-2 run a week regime, filled in with lots of fun cross-training. That's right I am going to try to post my best time ever by running less. I long run a week and then maybe a medium run. The rest of my training will be juijitsu, stairs, my version of cross-fit aka FUNctional Fitness, aerial arts, circus skills, frisbee, what have you. But as far a traditional running training, yep, gonna keep it at 1-2 times a week, starting now.

I'll keep ya posted.

Farmer's Market #2--Santa Monica on Wed/Sat

My Favorite Martian...I mean Market

My favorite Farmer's Market is the Santa Monica market. Not the one on Sunday, which has as many craft and prepared food stalls as "farmer" vendors and more strollers and hoover-parents than I could imagine. No I'm talking about the one that takes place on Wed and Sun and is semi-overrun by buyers from restaurants and catering companies. The one that is nestled in the Third Street Promenade. That one.




So popular that the cops are the bouncers.



"Chemical and Pesticide Free Vegetables" should be the norm not the exception. It's cheaper to buy corporate veggies in the short run, but the long term costs.....Insurmountable.



What exactly is "organic"? Too often it is becoming a tool for big farms to shut down small farms, ironic isn't it.



Being a localvore is easier when you live in California, the bread basket to the world.



A carnival of good food.



One booth I don't need to visit. Remember Milagro Vertical Farms is the home of the golden eggs. At least that's what they would cost if you factored in all of the upkeep and housing for my little flock of eight. Eight is more than enough.





This is growing like a week in back yard. It's beautiful granted and the birds love when it starts to go to seed, but I had no idea of the possibilities for cooking it like kale or spinach. Yum.

Come out and meet the farmers and see real food, pay now or pay later.

Breaking my writer's block.

Dove aka Peace

Newsflash

Yay!!!! Another one of the chickens is laying eggs. In fact, Peace aka Dove is the first of the juniors to start dropping eggs. Bravo for you.

Look at the beautiful speckles. A little galaxy

They were just trying to help.....

Cindy was rushing to get ready to return to Chicago, so she decided to help me out by cleaning the cat's water fountain. Yeah, I know the cat has its own fountain, what kind of yuppie nonsense am I partaking in. Really it was a matter of convenience, it was an easiest way to keep the kity hydrated.





Somehow while cleaning it she broke it and then had to go.
Now I have to fix it.
Oh well...

Don't ask, don't tell

When we found out that Ostrich was a rooster and suddenly was taking great pleasure in singing out to the world. Crowing and crowing to beat the band. What does that expression even mean?

Well, whatever....We sequestered our little turken in the guest bathroom, which I thought was a good idea. I mean, I could just wash everything down the drain, but then I started thinking that might clog up the pipes. Skye made the suggestion we put newspaper down. That's a great idea.

In my mind, I saw a way to just roll up, fold up the papers after the guest has been relocated and call it a day. It was great idea Skye had.
Until....

I realized she meant shredded paper, which really just made the job a lot harder.

I love my girls and I know they love me. But sometimes their love hurts.

An interesting (?) Labor Day

Skye started taking a beach volleyball class in Hermosa, where we then had a lovely little brunch before having to say good-bye to lovely Cindy who was off to Chicago.

After I tried to find The Fellowship of the Ring to download from both the LA and Santa Monica, only to find that there was a long wait for it, I decided that we might as well watch the movie, since we have the DVDs.

Skye liked it so much that we decided to do a double-feature. Midway through the Two Towers, we heard sirens real close to home and a police helicopter over our house. I got up on the roof to get a better look and realized that was not the place to be. When I got down and looked outside the front window, what I saw I couldn't believe.

Around a dozen LAPD guns drawn aimed at my next door neighbors house.

Room with a View

For the next half hour, the helicopter circled above while a bullhorn demanded that everyone come out of the building with their hands up.

The neighbors were having a Labor Day BBQ. It was quiet and I would barely have known there was a party except for all the cars parked outside.

Finally a very freaked out group of people ranging from baby to seventy something, filed out and were marched down the street to be detained as things got sorted out.

As it turned out it was practically a case of mistaken identity, rather a pissed of girlfriend, sister of girlfriend, or something. Really hearsay and rumor, but the whole affair was pretty intense and I felt really bad for the neighbors.

When this guy threw some shells in in his shotgun and a group of around a half-dozen officers marched into the house I thought we were in for a shoot-out. Thankfully nothing happened.

Crazy labor day.

The Spirits Move Me

Lifelong Learning

I was at my favorite purveyor of fine libations, Beverage Warehouse, in the Marina, picking up a birthday bottle of akvavit for my good friends birthday when I ran across some interesting spirits on nearby shelves which often happens.



One of the best things about giving the gift of akvavit it sharing it. The lingering hint of carroway is practically on my lips as I recall the evening.


Akvavit or aquavit (English pronunciation: /ˈɑːkwəviːt/, /ˈɑːkvəviːt/; also akevitt in Norwegian) is a flavoured spirit that is produced in Scandinavia and typically contains 40% alcohol by volume. Its name comes from aqua vitae, the Latin for "water of life".



Exploring the shelves

After finding the akvavit, it was time to meander among row after row of wonderful and exotic beers, wine, and all nature of stronger liquor.

Oh look, good ol' fashioned American made home brew. Well almost home brew. It made me think of a book that I picked up at the Great Smoky Mountains gift shop, "Moonshine!" by Matthew B. Rowley.

Corn Whiskey

a note from the not so small distillery, Heaven Hill:

"The forerunner and kissing cousin to Bourbon, American Straight Corn Whiskey is defined by the US Government as having a recipe or mashbill with a minimum of 81% corn, the rest being malted barley and rye. Today, Heaven Hill is the sole remaining national producer of this uniquely American Whiskey style, bottling such classic names as Georgia Moon, Mellow Corn, Dixie Dew and J.W. Corn. As world-renowned whiskey writer Jim Murray wrote, "If you are a true student of whiskey, your education is a long way from being complete until you have mastered this particularly charming form."

It went down easier than I imagined, quite tasty actually.

Junior Johnson's midnight moon

"Smoother Than Vodka, Better Than Whiskey, Best Shine Ever"

How could I pass up such a statement without giving it a go? It was as smooth as a lot of vodkas and better than many whiskeys I've had. Best shine? Well, I've barely begun that journey.

And then there was the Junior's.... story


In the beginning .....

I likey the Root

The Story of Root

a little bit from the makers of this wonderful elixir, Art in the Age, artintheage.com :

"In the 1700’s, it was called “Root Tea.” An herbal remedy made with sassafras, sarsaparilla, birch bark and other wild roots and herbs. Native Americans taught the recipe to colonial settlers. As it was passed it down from generation to generation, it grew in potency and complexity. Particularly in the Pennsylvania hinterlands, where the ingredients naturally grow in abundance.

At the close of the 19th century, as the Temperance movement conspired to take the fun out of everything, a Philadelphia pharmacist removed the alcohol from Root Tea and rechristened it (ironically) “Root Beer”. He did this so that hard drinking Pennsylvania coal miners and steelworkers could enjoy it in place of true alcoholic refreshment. He introduced his “Root Beer” in a big way at the still legendary 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The rest, as you know, is flaccid history

Here at Art in the Age, we thought it would be interesting and fun to turn back the clock and recreate a true pre-temperance alcoholic Root Tea. We’ve even made it certified organic, since back then, everything was organic. This is the opposite of corporate culture. It’s a genuine experience rooted in history and our own landscape. It is a truly interesting and contemplative quaff. Certainly like nothing else we have ever tasted before. It is NOT Root Beer flavored vodka or a sickly sweet liqueur."


Too good to be true. I suggest you give it a try. I did and I'm a convert.

Salute , cheers and Slainte..