Sonos Studios

I called my friend Eli Ziv this evening to meet at Sonos Studios an acoustically designed gallery that celebrates music listening. So I got in Sonos Studios and saw a bunch of people lying down in mattresses hearing repetitive new age music (weird sounds but I will call it music) and elliptical art videos projected on big screens. It was as if I was in the Twilight Zone. The environment was exotic and I even tried to meditate but the reason for the line outside will remain a mystery to me. Conversation about the Middle East conflict was interesting but Eli tried to throw a shoe at me. Considering his object selection I think Eli is becoming an Arab, who says there is no hope for the Middle East conflict?

The DJ was an old fart in a cathartic state, and if you heard his music selection you would understand why.

If the video artist was trying to hypnotize the room she achieved her goal. I myself saw her work and felt like going to sleep.

Sphere with lights, everything new age.

People laid on mattresses on the floor hearing repetitive new age noises (music) and watching repetitive patterns projected on the screens.

Aspect of the room.

Sorry for the bad quality of the picture, but when we left the Sonos Studios there was a Grammy winner trying to get in. I would have loved to see that suit lying on the floor with the other hippies but, alas, one can't get everything.

Underwear

There are three signs of the arrival of the apocalypse, Snoop Doggy Dog making a reggae album, RuPaul coming out as straight and me writing a post about underwear. So, in face of the title of this post, we arrive at two conclusions, one the end is near, and two the future of the world is in the hands of RuPaul. If the first conclusion worries me the second leaves me extremely comfortable with the future of our species.
Today, I woke up and said to myself "it's time to buy underwear", I could have said something else like "it's time to watch a movie", or "it's time to get a foot massage" but instead I thought I might as well buy underwear. Social norms tell us that underwear has a sexual connotation and as such it is mainly a female concern. Women worry about which underwear they should use, so they can look more attractive to their partners, though for most men lingerie (if it's a word for fancy underwear it should be in french) is a hassle and something that is separating them from a naked woman.
Straight men don't care about underwear, specially theirs. There is in the US nevertheless, a rule, a female imposed rule - NEVER WEAR SPEEDOS. Now Speedos is a brand of swimwear but what Americans mean with this expression is don't wear jokey briefs. Women in America think jokey briefs make men look effeminate, just like scarfs. Whenever you use a scarf in America women always ask you if you are European or gay. So men don't care about male underwear but in America women do. American women don't want men to look gay or European when they take their clothes off to have sex with them - making sense?
Because boxer shorts are a fashion statement that disappeared in the 90's, Americans came up with the boxer briefs, which are jokey briefs that go slightly down the thigh covering a bit of the upper leg. That small piece of fabric makes the difference between a gay, European man and a MAN. H&M has specialized in boxer briefs and it struck up contracts with David Bekham (who played soccer in America but actually played football in Europe) and film studios like Warner Brothers and Lucas Film to produce movie themed boxer briefs. That's right. Not only won't you look gay and European with H&M underwear you will also entertain your partner with film commercials before you have sex, or at least make her think she is getting laid with David Bekham (who is European). I have some boxer briefs from H&M but they don't last long and soon get holes in them.
When visiting American Apparel some years ago I found out they had really cool jokey briefs. Now they are back in fashion because of the whole retro thing. I bought a pair then. They were comfortable, and really well done - they are produced in downtown LA. I still have the pair I first bought and I have bought many American Apparel jokey briefs since and they have all lasted years.
So this morning I went to American Apparel to buy another pair of jokey briefs but I bought them with the colors of the American flag because I don't want my female partners to think I'm European!

Red and Blue like the stars and stripes!

           

The Dirty Babayan

I met Sam Babayan a year ago on The Euro Luau For Carmen (http://thewayiseeitla.blogspot.com/2013/07/yesterday-my-friend-benjamin-organized.html) a gentleman and a scholar Sam played then a great set under the LA night stars and I promised him I would comeback for more.
As I am a man of my word, yesterday, I went to hear Sam's band The Dirty Diamond play at the Harvelle's, a small Rock and Blues joint on 4th Street, Santa Monica. The diamond may be dirty but the sound was as clean as a marine latrine after inspection. Dirty Diamond has a tight sound, a great lead guitarist and Sam's astonishing voice. It also helped the fact the previous act Duane Betts and his band were also pretty good.
The environment was OK, though it wasn't exactly a rock crowd attending. It was more older people and some slick thirty year old rich boys, but as long as I can find my beer and hear the band, alles kosher.

Sam talking to his audience.

Techno club babes? No it's just Duane Betts schmoozing after his gig.

Make no mistake The Dirty Diamond is a great band.

Don't look at the camera, dude!

And the concert's alignment, what else do you want?

Lena Fayre at Voila!

Yesterday,  at around 9 PM, I was walking around Beverly and La Brea, LA's little Jerusalem, (yes, I will consider Pico and Robertson little Tel Aviv) and I passed by a place called Voila!. It was full of pretty well dressed people in total contrast with the orthodox surroundings. I approached Voila's door and the blond hipster at the door asked me "are you here for Lena?" - Was I ? - "Yes" I answered and I got in.
It was the launching concert of the new album of an artist called Lena Fayre. Voila! is a vintage art gallery that evolved into a furniture and lighting design space. The owner is European and you can clearly feel that reference in the vibe of the place.  The room was crowded and the walls were full of art. The music was very ten's, meaning very blend and repetitive. It could play on NPR and you wouldn't even notice. A kind of androgynous Florence And The Machine.
I got a grapefruit vodka, sat down, and listened to the concert as it was being recorded and live streamed. I thought how strange it was to be in a hipster party in the middle of a Jewish orthodox neighborhood. I took two pins from Lana and a white rose before I left and tried to walk in a vodka straight line back home. Check the Voila! Gallery next time you are in West Hollywood. It's definitely worth a visit. 

Culver City's Bacaro

Culver City is a suburb of Los Angeles that separates Mid City from Santa Monica. Like so many other parts of Los Angeles, Culver City grew in the early twentieth century with the help of the film industry.  Metro Goldwyn Mayer had their studios there and though the only thing that survives from that era are Sony Studios, a replica of Scarlett O'Hara's house from Gone With the Wind, and a cute lion statue, there is still an aura to the place.
If movies from the 30's brought magic, then the magic was produced in Culver City. Not exactly the best name for a dream factory, Culver City has recently specialized in restaurants. It's the Abbot Kinney of the middle class. There are bars and the great Kay n'Daves, but today, dear reader, I will talk about the restaurant Bacaro.
Bacaro is an Italian restaurant, and if you follow this humble publication you know my principle - never eat Italian food in the West Coast, California's Italian is Mexican. But Bacaro is interesting for its simplicity. It does not venture into carpaccios or polentas and other truly unique Italian dishes, but it sticks to the simple universal pasta dishes that anyone has already tasted, can cook at home or buy frozen in the supermarket, except Bacaro cooks them really well. The chef has no point to make and does not want to be original. He seams to be telling us "you ate all of these dishes before and probably in more imaginative ways but because you don't have an Italian grandmother like me let me prepare them simply as they should be cooked." And he achieves his goal. The lasagna is great! Entrees are good, decoration is simple and of good taste, the owner waits tables and the prices are acceptable. Good choice!

Good rigatoni

Glorious lasagna

Holy Neighborhood

My neighborhood isn't pretty or ugly, clean or dirty, gay or straight, forgotten or understood. My neighborhood is diverse like the world, dirty as a war and as real as Hollywood.

Fox Studios

Hanging around Fox Studios...

Yes, for all you Die Hard fans that is the Nakatomi building behind Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Follow the grey brick road...

General Lee, is that you?