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Archive for May, 2009

Purple haze

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Jacd up

Right around Memorial Day, LA emits this otherworldly purple glow. The jacarandas bloom and give way to June Gloom, I thought as I was walking home yesterday, spotting sprays of lavender splotched randomly like graffiti tagging the hillsides. It’s LA’s purple rain, I laughed (yes, this is how I entertain myself while walking around town). But wait, I thought, I wrote all this about jacarandas already, didn’t I?

Didn’t I? I searched my blog a year ago. No. I searched one of the other blogs I had written for in May for the past few years, in the off-chance I had been able to tie a post about purple trees to some pithy statement about effective landscape design (hey, they’re drought-tolerant; it might have worked). Nope. I conducted a full-scale Spotlight search on my computer: JACARANDA. Nothing came up.

It wasn’t until I was searching for an old email today that I remembered: I had created a series of captioned photos and published it to a .Mac page. In 2005. A .Mac page! How quaint!

But because I was so thrilled to rediscover it, I’ve reproduced the entire page’s content below. Remember, it was written in 2005, when I was barely a writer. However, it certainly conveys the way I feel about those jacarandas. Even today.

Jacd up

Jacarandas are desert-dwelling trees with delicate fern-like foliage.

Jacd up

For about three weeks in spring, they explode in hot lilac trumpets.

Jacd up

Providing summer shade and lovely texture, they’re perfect for yards.

Jacd up

But in LA, you’re more likely to find them lining the streets.

Jacd up

Jacarandas are huge.

Jacd up

You’ll never notice them the rest of the year.

Jacd up

But right about now, they seem to be everywhere you look.

Jacd up

The slightest bit of wind triggers a shower of blossoms.

Jacd up

If one falls on your head, it is said to be good luck.

Jacd up

They cover the sidewalks.

Jacd up

They cover steps.

Jacd up

They cover streets.

Jacd up

And cars.

Jacd up

They make entire blocks feel like walking on rubber.

Jacd up

And yards look like they never cleaned up after a surprise party.

Jacd up

But in LA’s super-steady climate, it’s one of our only signs of summer.

Jacd up

And it’s the closest most of us will ever get to snowfall.

Posted in greening, growing | Comments

Melt with you

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

Buttons!

Thanks to everyone who checked out our little project yesterday, either online or in-person. I think it was a huge success for the Academy of Art to really get the word out about the Spring Show, plus it was great to see so many of you lining up for the Pop-Up Gelateria! My personal favorite combination was Stracciatella and Salted Caramel, but I also heard some really good things about the Nutella and the Dark Chocolate. And, okay, I also thought Pistachio and Strawberry Sorbetto were pretty great, too. A huge thanks to Gelateria Naia for all their hard work!

It was an exhausting but exhihilirating day. In the morning we improvised through the prerequesite tech hiccups (Randy actually had to spend the first part of the day at a Starbucks down the street to get a more reliable internet connection), but as the day wound down (and the wine rolled out) we couldn’t help but feel a little sad that it was all about to end. You can check out all the video interviews from yesterday, more than 400 photos taken by a roving band of photographers, some longer blog posts, and of course, all my Tweets.

A huge thanks to Pam Williams, Kim Rogala and Linda McNair at Williams + House for approaching us in the first place to do this. Thanks to Randy J. Hunt and Ross Pike and everyone at Citizen Scholar without whom none of this would be possible. And thanks to the Academy’s school of graphic design—namely Mary Scott, Phil Hamlett and Hunter Wimmer—for not only letting us invade a corner of their operations, but making sure we were fed and watered throughout the day. And of course, thanks to Elisa Stephens and everyone at the Academy of Art University. We can’t wait to come back next year. Start building that blogger cage!

Posted in crafting, creating, designing, eating, gelatoing, partying, speaking, traveling | Comments

Spring Show with gelato, baby

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Spring Show with Gelatobaby

Here is what you need to know:

• It will happen on Thursday, May 21 from 11:00am to 8:30pm.

• It involves young, raw, intelligent, unfathomable talent.

• It involves gelato. Prominently.

• If you are in San Francisco, you should set aside the hours of 2-4pm on Thursday, May 21.

• If you are not in San Francisco, you should set aside the hours of 2-4pm on Thursday, May 21 for crying.

• Just kidding about that last part, you’ll actually be able to participate as well.

• But it would be a lot better if you were in San Francisco.

• This whole thing would not be possible without the sleepless nights of Randy J. Hunt, Ross Pike and everyone at Citizen Scholar.

• Like every sentence uttered in 2009, it includes Twitter. If you’re not already, follow me @gelatobaby to join in on the fun.

• More information will be revealed on a need-to-know basis at springshowwith.gelatobaby.com. It’s not live yet. But it will be.

• In the meantime, get out those spoons.

Posted in advertising, crafting, creating, designing, eating, gelatoing, partying, playing, speaking, traveling, writing | Comments

On Today’s DnA: Billboard blight

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Besides having Sir James Dyson on today’s show, whose super-sucky products I have always patronized—from my pink vacuum cleaner to the only hand dryer I have ever taken a photo of (I seriously dried my hands three times)—a highlight has to be concerned citizen Dennis Hathaway talking about getting tough on billboards. It’s serious business, I suppose, so much so that the Planning and Land Use Management committee has indeed approved a new sign ordinance which means it will now go before our city council. But I had to laugh when I saw the image that Frances posted on the DnA blog to illustrate the kinds of clutter that the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight is fighting against:

Hollywood!

That was pretty much the view out my bedroom window for three years. And I have to say, I never minded it. Actually? I liked it.

I know what you’re thinking. But I ask you to think, for a moment, about the tourists, because when you live in Hollywood, you become an honorary tourist every time you leave the house (and if you move to Hollywood, and are somehow expecting this not to be the case, my friend, I believe Tujunga is calling your name).

Now think about those people—perhaps even you—exiting the 101 and heading south on Highland, cruising into Hollywood for the first time. You want to see ads for three movies, one car and one Renaissance festival (?). You want to see Seth Rogen. You want to see HOLLYWOOD!

Across the universe

You want to see movies not only plastered on billboards, but plastered on buildings!

Another bad wrap

And come on, you gotta hand it to people like Asics for converting this building into a shrine of sweat.

Protectors of your money

And Wachovia, who conquered it next, transforming it into a veritable castle, complete with two-dimensional knights.

Plug it in, plug it in

Actually, I thought this one was rather clever.

Semi-Pro synergy

And I was always impressed with the (accidental?) synergy between ads.

Everywhere fires

Okay, I admit it was a little creepy when that single bionic eye was watching me sleep for all those weeks.

The critic

But sometimes, being the only lit object in the sky made for a fantastic cinematic image.

Good evening, Oscars.

If not the most appetizing.

Enchanted

And if you caught the right billboard, at the right moment, with the right backdrop, with the right message, the effect was nothing less than…well, you get it.

You can listen to DnA on KCRW live every 3rd Tuesday at 2:30pm PST, by podcasting through iTunes, or by streaming the audio at any time by clicking the little ‘Listen’ button underneath each show’s title on KCRW’s website. Be sure to check out the DnA calendar this month, freshly restocked with delicious items. And as always, if you know of any design or architecture events in Los Angeles—or have any good billboards to show me—please send them my way.

Posted in DnA, advertising, building, eating, traveling | Comments

Eat My Words: Mother truckers

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Green Truck!

From the way some—okay, all—publications are covering LA’s mobile dining scene lately, you probably think we’re spending three hours per night waiting in line for tacos served with kimchi and an oDD prediLection for speLLing woRds with randoM capitaLiZed LetteRs. Not so, my fine foodie friends. Way before Kogi had a Twitter account, there was a groundbreaking mobile eatery providing not only sustenance, but education, as a type of organic intervention center-on-wheels. After spotting it all over town, I finally caught up with the frying oil-powered Green Truck for ReadyMade.

On a sunny weekday in Culver City I located Green Truck founders Mitchell Collier and Kam Miceli, just a few blocks from their solar-powered headquarters. I thought my timing was so good because I was straddling the transition between breakfast burrito and lunchtime burger (yes, I had both), but I also lucked out because they just happened to be doing the photoshoot for the article with David Hennessy. Who knew how many actual burgers it took to get that one perfect burger shot? Three. Regardless of how they looked they all tasted perfect to me.

Mitchell and Kam call themselves “all-food-itarians” and they love a good Niman Ranch burger just as much as their tofu burrito, a perspective I found overwhelmingly refreshing. Truck service covers a range of sandwiches, tacos and wraps but they can make just about anything you’d like if you hire them to cater your next event, which they’ve been doing a lot for photoshoots and festivals. Mitchell also introduced me to my first kombucha, which was a pretty excellent refreshment as I snacked on the “reject” fries (a russet and sweet potato combo).

Green Truck!

While Mitchell and I chatted farmers markets—he was raised on an organic farm that raised pine trees, cattle, peanuts and watermelon—Kam cranked out the veggie burgers using their recipe. I’ve never made them from scratch and it seems pretty foolproof, but if you’re feeling hesitant, you can buy their frozen patties—and homemade Trucker sauce, which is like organic In-N-Out spread—on their website. You can read the article (and get the recipe) here: “Green Machine.” [PDF]

Green Truck co-founder Kam (with the apron on, above) will be speaking at Dwell on Design at the end of June, alongside the folks from gourmet wienermobile Let’s Be Frank (which is parked weekly at Silverlake Wine). On the other side of the thermometer, I hear Locali will be peddling organic snowcones on their Icycle, but this summer I plan to be chasing Coolhaus, an ice cream sandwich truck dispensing design and dessert with flavors like Richard Meyer Lemon and Mintimalism.

More great news that will have to tide me over until then: Remember a few months ago I was anxious about big changes at ReadyMade which I thought might signal the end of one of my favorite mags? Well. I recently got word that Andrew Wagner—former editor at Dwell and for the past two years editor at the revamped American Craft (which I reviewed in last year’s Print)—is now the new editor-in-chief at ReadyMade. Their blog recently relaunched and you can take a tour of their new digs in Des Moines as well as meet all the staffers who are making it happen. Now I can’t wait to see the changes in store for the re-made ReadyMade.

Green Truck!