Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Wendy's friend Vivian was visiting L.A. from Hong Kong for the first time this weekend, so we did a little sightseeing. Of course, The Getty Center was part of it. No matter what your stance is on the art collection, the architecture, landscaping, and view are unbeatable. The Getty made Los Angelenos care about what a building can aspire to be, leading the way for the Disney Concert Hall and so on. And after taking the tram, you really do feel like you're in another world. We walked down to the garden as the marine layer was burning off and got there just in time for clear skies. Yes, we applied sunblock to Eloise and carried one of those free-range umbrellas, too. I love those dumb umbrellas but I also wish they chose yellow or orange or something more cheerful. Later on, we discovered a section dedicated to children. It was still pretty early and uncrowded so we screwed around there for a while. The cubicle below is a kid-version of furniture in one of the crustier sections of the museum. This mini mattress was complemented by books on beds in both English and Spanish. Below, an illuminated version of an illuminated manuscript with spots left open for little hands to fill in. I started the bunny head for Eloise to finish… (I expect to be done drawing outlines pretty soon, since her draftsmanship is improving exponentially.) We also saw a grown-up exhibit: Engaged Observers: Documentary Photography since the Sixties. As a guy who likes to take pictures, it was mind blowing to see what the selection of “real” photographers did, taking their cameras to places where they could take pictures that would make a difference. Among others, Leonard Freed's Black in White America series, W. Eugene and Aileen M. Smith's photos of Japanese villagers who were poisoned by mercury, Susan Meiselas's images of revolutionary Nicaragua, and Mary Ellen Mark's encounters with homeless children in Seattle are as moving as they are artistic and inspiring as they are depressing. Philip Jones Griffiths on the above image: “Limits of friendship. A Marine introduces a peasant girl to king-sized filter-tips. Of all the U.S. forces in Vietnam, it was the Marines that approached 'Civic Action' with gusto. From their barrage of handouts, one discovers that, in the month of January 1967 alone, they gave away to the Vietnamese 101,535 pounds of food, 4,810 pounds of soap, 14,662 books and magazines, 106 pounds of candy, 1,215 toys, and 1 midwifery kit. In the same month they gave the Vietnamese 530 free haircuts.” All this and way more at the Getty until November 10, 2010.
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Back-to-back nights at the Hollywood Bowl. I swear I'm not that upscale. I was going to take my dad to see Tom Petty & the Hearbreakers for his birthday way back in May, but it got postponed. My friend Hane suggested one on the Heartbreakers must have been in rehab, then added something to the effect of “Whatever! Now we get to see ZZ Top open instead of Joe Cocker!” It just so happened that the show was rescheduled to the night after Sonic Youth, Pavement, and No Age. The atmosphere was totally different, with throngs of hippies, classic rockers, burnouts, and entertainment lawyers working their way up Highland. We heard ZZ Top's first song while waiting to get in, and were in our seats by the second number… I didn't really expect much, but crap. ZZ Top was damn good. Leader Billy Gibbons shared that after 40 years, it was the same three guys and same three chords… Those are three mighty
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The last time I saw Sonic Youth and Pavement on the same bill, it was for the former band's Dirty tour. After playing the Palladium a few times to promote the excellent album, they came back to play a huge outdoor show with Sub Pop's biggest band, Mudhoney, and the still up-and-coming group from Sacramento. That show was out in the dirt, Thurston some passed the mic around the front row for some spoken-word action, Kurt Cobain showed up for some surprise songs, and Eric Nakamura took some rad pictures! Who would thought that Sonic Youth and Pavement would play again but at the Hollywood Bowl? And that their positions would be reversed! While Pavement's reunion is a serious cause for celebration, I guess sometimes sticking together, cranking out important music on a consistent basis, and playing out sometimes doesn't pay off…
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Yes, driving to Sawtelle does take some time, but I love living in Silver Lake. Besides enjoying the fixed-up reservoir and brand-new library and walking to the bank and Trader Joe's (as well as being almost right between my parents' place and the in-laws), sitting 5 minutes from Spaceland or the Echo isn't bad, either. I can call either venue, find out when a band I want to see goes on, leave 15 minutes before that, and be back home and in bed in less than 90 minutes. That's faster than most people's trips to the gym or a movie. Often, cheaper, too. Last night, I bust out from deadline mode to see Thelonious Monster. It's been a while since I've mentioned the band in the blog, so I'll do my best to describe them once more. The often-changing lineup used to play around L.A. a lot in the late '80s when I was a student at UCLA, and kind of served as a missing link between early L.A. punk and “college rock.” The band included Dix Denney from The Weirdos and Zander Schloss from The Circle Jerks and was produced by John Doe from X, but really its focus has always been on singer Bob Forrest and his highly confessional, shockingly melodic lyrics. He is noted for writing literate songs detailing his problems with drugs, love, and family, but I've always liked the songs about Los Angeles, from race to economics to architecture. He actually shared an anecdote about frequenting the bar when it was still called Dreams, describing it as “heterosexually challenged” and recalling how he used to sell meth to customers. Forrest always gives great banter, especially shit-talking with Schloss, but last night's show was a lot tighter than usual. It came on the heels of the band playing a fairly big benefit with Rancid and the Adolescents, and it seemed as if they actually rehearsed. They blazed through a lot of older, more blues-based stuff, and sounded really heavy. Even the fucking around seemed solid. After Forrest cited his self-destructive tendencies and how he has the names of his favorite bands, “The Clash” and “The Beatles,” tattooed onto either wrist so he won't slit them, the group started a blistering version of “White Riot” before cutting it off just as quickly. After a super hard version of their traditional closer, “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean,” they orchestrated two more covers to try to derail the set and almost succeeded… but not quite. The show was completely different from the last time I saw them at The Echo–a gig with a lot of Stones covers, misfires, and trash talk. That evening was awesome, too, but for totally unrelated reasons. Instead of bringing up The Replacements or Van Halen, I'll say that for me seeing a totally tight set or one in total shambles by Thelonious Monster is like seeing the Dodgers win by a walk-off or through an opposing player's error. Either way, I walk...
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I just realized that I've talked about a few highlights of the new issue, but have neglected to provide a proper rundown of its contents. The mag is already at many cooler stores and shops, and here's what's in it: * Matt Furie cover story and FREE VIDEOGAME featuring his artwork * Tricked-out big rigs in Japan * HK filmmaker Daniel Wu vs. airsoft kingpins RedWolf * Award-winning illustrator and comic book artist Jillian Tamaki at Comic-Con * Old-school Chinese martial-arts actor Bruce Leung * New-school Chinese comedic actor Huang Bo * Indie rockers turned free jazz freaks Kite Operations * Bollywood actor, producer, and stud Aamir Khan * Len Higa of Oni Motorworks * Chevy Ray Johnson is FlashPunk * In isolation, at war with cancer * Holiday in Mongolia, save Mongolia * Plus totally opinionated reviews and previews of movies, music, comics, manga, anime, videogames, toys, books, and fiction (!)
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