Well, I noticed a resonance over the last couple of days. In pictures: I know what you’re thinking. Another exotic place, right? Actually, no more exotic than Los Angeles. Yes, as I keep saying, it is not all concrete, despite what people say. This is essentially in the middle of … Click to continue reading this post
Well, it’s been a very busy week here, and today was one of the most exhausting. So I’m ending the day fading quite a bit. I’ll leave you with a shot of Zadie Smith in full flow, chatting to the LA Times Books editor in front of a paying audience … Click to continue reading this post
Well, although we can hold our own on the academic standards side of things, in this case I mean Gay Point Average. I saw in the New York Times today*, in an article by Stephanie Rosenbloom, that USC and UPenn both scored the highest possible score (20 out of 20) … Click to continue reading this post
You’ve probably gathered from my writings by now that I think that bike riding is a good thing. Particularly as an alternative to driving, where appropriate. One such place where biking is in principle a perfect alternative is Los Angeles. Mostly flat, wide streets, perfect weather most of the year … Click to continue reading this post
I’ve come to realise that there are all sorts of really interesting people on the USC campus, involved in fascinating work and interesting projects of one sort or another. This is of course true for any university. However, I am still finding pleasant surprises and connections quite regularly. The last … Click to continue reading this post
Well, Roy Hargrove was as good as I recall from the last time I saw him, in one of my favourite jazz clubs, the Village Vanguard in New York. In view of other live small club music events I’ve been to in LA, I admit that I was expecting a … Click to continue reading this post
One of my hobbies for a while when I was a young ‘un was origami. It was swiftly overtaken by other arts and crafts, and these were hobbies long before I started taking apart cameras and radios, and the like, to see how they worked, and collecting pondwater and pressing … Click to continue reading this post
So I learned earlier this week that one of my favourite young trumpeters, Roy Hargrove is going to be at the Catalina Bar and Grill from Wednesday through this weekend… …and -bizarrely enough- one of my favourite young saxophonists, James Carter is going to be at the Jazz Bakery precisely … Click to continue reading this post
It is Labor Day here (for once I use the weird spelling, in deference to geography, etc) and, as usual it is incredibly hot. Already at 92 degrees by lunchtime, and I’m in a relatively cool part of the city. Tomorrow will have lots of pictures in the newspaper of … Click to continue reading this post
I’ve been waiting for three years… another six weeks or so to go… It’s going to be great ! -cvj
At about 12000 ft up a mountain, near the supremely beautiful Willow Lake (my destination… I’ll tell you about this and why I was doing it in a little while, now that I’ve managed to get the pictures off my ailing Mingus) my faithful companions of 14 years -my Asolo … Click to continue reading this post
Lovely yellow folding bike, spotted on campus outside my building. Soooo cuuuuuute! Two comments: (1) I wish they’d raise the seat on this bike, give it a bit of self respect so that it does not look like a children’s toy. (Assuming it is not… I am not familiar with … Click to continue reading this post
Oh Boy. So it started this morning with me making some plans to do things on the bike, starting with a visit to the Hollywood Farmer’s market to get some supplies (especially some more superstring beans, which are delicious!) and meet a friend. Idea would be then to -after excellent … Click to continue reading this post
