Ice Skating

This is the sign in front of an ice rink on Sepulveda Blvd, in Culver City. I've always liked it, but what I really liked was this statue of a figure skater they had on top of the front awning. When I first moved here it had a really weathered paint job, almost like she was in a zombie movie or something, paint chipping off or still peeling, quite freaky. But since they have given the statue a new paint job, so she looks normal....Oh well, maybe it was scaring the clientele. I liked it, though.


G

Canter's Deli

Although I know this is a pretty well known spot in LA, I thought I'd go ahead and post it. Some people might not know about it, or where it's located.....PLUS.....it's main sign is so cool, as well as the others. Too bad that stupid spiderman banner's in the way, I couldn't get everything in without having it there. Oh well. So this is THE famous Canter's deli, of which my friends have been by copious times late at night. I've never been there myself, but I heard it was a good diner and bakery. Their sign pretty much says it all, and I was delighted to notice the "Cocktails" sign later when I was looking at the photo....gotta love those. This was taken on Fairfax Ave, pretty close to Beverly Blvd, but maybe closer to Sunset, can't quite remember.


G

Cars

I saw Cars on Saturday night at The El Capitan in Hollywood. I'd never been there before, so that was an experience in itself. They had this organ player and games, quite the production. BUT I got see The Ratatuille teaser, which I thought was great, and I got to see a movie I didn't think I was going to enjoy. I don't know what it was, but when I first saw the teaser for Cars I wasn't that interested, even leading up to the movie I wasn't that interested. Maybe it's because I felt disconnected from cars in general? I'm not really a car person, I thought maybe that's why I wasn't anticipating it like The Incredibles (I'm a comicbook guy). But I think I've finally figured out why I wasn't interested and now why I thought it was such a great movie. Because it was, and not just for my reasons, but artistically it was beautiful, some of the shots I felt my jaw drop, absolutely gorgeous, and the animation was spot on, but I expect nothing else from those guys, I always stand in awe of what they can accomplish.....I thought maybe because it's easier for us humans to empathize with an animal, rather than a machine, (i.e. dumbo instead of C3PO)? That's why I wouldn't like Cars...They're machines, I can't relate to that. But that's where Pixar got it right. By the end of the movie I felt like I knew all of them, I even found myself silently cheering (while the rest of the theater erupted) after Guido changed the tires so fast at the end race. I genuinely was cheering for him to show up the bad guys. I never would have thought I could do that for a car......But Pixar accomplished it, they breathed life into these otherwise inanimate (no pun intended) objects. So my hat's off to Mr. Lasseter and the whole crew up there. Way to get a non-car enthusiast interested in cars.

and I have only one word for you.....


"Pitstop!"


G

The Wiltern

Sorry for the absence, been way too busy at work. But I managed to get this one up tonight. I still need to go out again and get some more pics, there's about 5 streets I want to walk down.....just need to find the time to do it. Anyway, here's the old Wiltern sign. Though I've never been there for a show, I hear it's a great place to see a band. Not only is the sign cool, but the whole building has a nice look and is painted the color of tarnished copper. Sweet.


G

Oscars Market

This was a market on the northern side of the Hotel Normandie building. I like the colors...well worn. It used to be a neon sign, but most of the neon is gone now.....just the outer light bulbs are still left.


G

Wayne E. Heath

My wife happened upon this yesterday. A man by the name of Wayne E Heath passed away on May 15th. I had no idea who he was til I read his obituary. Turns out he was probably responsible for the majority of signs I'm trying to get on film. He and his partner started out painting signs, then moved onto designing them using neon, plastic, and paint colors never used before. He's responsible for the Felix Automotive sign on the corner of Figueroa and Jefferson (top) as well as the infamous Denny's sign and the neon display of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. A very talented man that I will always remember.


G

Monthly Rotations

It's back to the best stuff out there....unheard funk and soul.

Black Smith - Jimmy Smith

Now Again on Wax - Various Classic Funk Artists

Looking Backwards (2001 - 1998) - (not classic soul) The Sound Providers

Stones Throw Records Podcast #4 - Madlib's 45 mix

and a couple classic soundtracks

Una Lucertola con la Pella Di Donna - Ennio Morricone

La Donna Invisible - Ennio Morricone




G

Santa Monica Liquor

Finally an update! I've been pretty busy lately, so it's taken me awhile to find the time to get these out. PLUS, I haven't been out to take pictures, so the motivation has been waning. But fear not all 3 people who read this! I'm back, and can hopefully get out over the holiday weekend to snap some more photos.

This is a liquor store I pass on my way to work. Wilshire Blvd and 10th St. I never really noticed it til I started taking these pictures. At night half of it is lit up......it would be really cool if the liquor bottle-shaped neon lights would still work. I imagine they used to sequentially glow, leading the eye to the store. But alas, three or four are broken so I don't even think they light up regularly. I didn't even know they were shaped like bottles til I looked at this picture close.


G

Leonardo's Dancing and Cocktails

Ah Leonardo's......I shot this when I was walking up La Brea.....it was about 2 blocks south of Wilshire Blvd. This sign's great, and so was the one below it....which I'll post later. But this restaurant looks like it's alot of fun. It just has the "fun' aire to it. The people dancing on the top of the sign and, or course, the "cocktails" underneath make this one of my favorites.



G

Jose Lopez

Yesterday I made a drive into the valley to check out Jose Lopez's new sketchbook, "Mariachi Samurai". He was doing a signing at Earth 2 Comics on Ventura Blvd. The book turned out great! I've been following his blog for awhile and couldn't wait to see his sketches in book form. Really nice stuff, I'm a big fan of the cross genre that has erupted between comics and animated cartoons. The style's so fresh and the drawings speak volumes. As an animator I get such a kick out of seeing nicely done poses, great silhouettes and a strong line of action. I get giddy when I see a comic with that kind of drawing style. I love it! Great book, Jose!


G

Dear John's

This is a restaurant on Culver Blvd, just west of Sepulveda Blvd. I've always liked the sign, the lampost and all. Very cool.

G

The Kipling Hotel

As I was walking North on Western Ave I wasn't really finding any signs. Of course there were signs, but all relatively new. I walked by W 3rd St and and looked to the East to see this building in the distance. So I meandered up another few blocks then turned around and came to this building on the corner of W 3rd St and S Kingsley Dr. I assumed it was an old hotel that they have gutted and are making into "Luxury Studios". As it plainly states in the banner. But the whole mystique of the name, harking to Rudyard Kipling and this building's prime being in the past (though not as old as Kipling himself, I know); I felt like this hotel along with The Hotel Normandie, The Gaylord, and The Picadilly were much bigger deals a while ago. Maybe not, I tried googling this hotel but only came up with an address, so I guess I'll never know it's history. It did however salvage what I thought was a lost trip out to take photos, and it led me to many other signs on my way back to my car. If you can, never take the same route twice, most city streets are laid out in a grid, and you can see so much more if you find an alternate route back to your origin......unless of course it's a bad neighborhood or the streets aren't in a grid format, but I digress.



G

House of Irish Coffee

I saw this restaurant one night when I was driving past on Fairfax Ave close to Olympic Blvd. I decided I had to get a picture of it. It did look a little more impressive at night, with the neon and all, but I still like it here......maybe I should try their steaks and Irish coffee?



G

Monthly Rotations

Been listening to alot of movie soundtracks lately, just trying to get a focus on my work and have something in the background that'll cover up the noise around me. (I'm easily distracted....especially with the open layout of our studio.)


Beat Konducta Vol. 1 and 2 - Madlib

I forgot a few albums that I just bought, so here they are:

Puppet Jazz - Various songs from German movie composers of the 60's and 70's

Texas Funk - Various Funk and Soul Songs from 60's and 70's

Danger Doom - MF Doom and DJ DangerMouse




G

The Hotel Normandie

This hotel's on the corner of Normandie Ave and 6th St. I was walking around that area not really finding many signs(I was walking north along Western at first) Then I decided to cross over a few streets and low and behold I happened upon this hotel and a few other great signs. Very nice sign, and the hotel itself is pretty cool, located on a hill facing Downtown LA. That's an interesting area over there.


G

Gustav Kilmt@LACMA

I went to the Gustav Klimt exhibit, currently at LACMA. I'm a HUGE fan of his work and I don't think I could have passed up a chance to see his paintings up close. They were everything I imagined and more! He was such a great artist. The show does only contain 5 of his paintings, Adele Bloch-Bauer(pictured above being one of them). I wish there had been more, but this was a private collection so, kinda limited. BUT that brings me to the next reason to go.......which is......at the beginning of the gallery they have a little video that recounts how these paintings came to pass and what they had been thru up until this day. From being taken in WW2 to going back to the neice of the Bloch-Bauers in 1998. Very interesting video, but I kinda like history and stuff.

Amazing works!

G

The Cinema

When I first saw this sign I thought maybe the building had been a theater at one point and the new owner never bothered to take the sign down, but then upon driving past it many more times I realized it was a sign for the bar just below it and to the left. The sign is anchored to the adjacent building. The "cocktails" sign in the background is at the other end of the bar. At night this sign looks totally different. If I remember correctly, the "The" is that neon pinkish color and the "Cinema" is in green. I need to go by some time at night and take a few pictures, the majority of signs I've taken pictures of would look completely different.

G

Biltmore Glass

I saw this store on Sepulveda just north of Braddock St, in Culver City. Not much to say about it, I just liked it. It seems like it's one of those businesses that's been around for awhile. Doing the same thing they did 30 years ago. Have glass and mirrors changed that much since then? Maybe they have and I'm shortsighted for thinking they haven't. But I'd venture to say that the majority of the signs I'll see will be of a similar business type. A business that hasn't seen as much change, say, as the family owned restaurants that will ultimately get shut down and turned into a Denny's. Or the motor inn that gets turned into a Motel 6. They'll be the antique shops or the fabric stores that most people barely recognize or even bother to see, but keep moving on because they fill a niche that WalMart can't.......yet.

G

Mesmerizing

I'm not sure if anyone's seen this, but it's pretty cool. If you're a fan of MouseTrap or that Honda "Cog" commercial, you'll definitely enjoy this video. NOTE: the beginning of the video is an anime tv show credit opening, but after that's done you'll see the goods. I was mesmerized, watching it at work. I found myself saying, "I'll watch just one more....one more...one more" It's like crack! That is if crack resembles watching a series of intricately assembled machines that lead to a final goal by using different smaller machines to achieve it. I don't think that made sense at all. Oh well, enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1990145653298392267


back to watching,

G

The House of a Thousand Fabrics

This store's about a block north of Wilshire Blvd, on Fairfax Ave. The sign alone is pretty cool, such a great design, but the pieces on the front of the store add even more to the picture. How could you go wrong at "The House of a Thousand Fabrics"? There was also a sign around the side of the building, but I'll save that for another post.

G