This little instrument is the bane of my existence. It's a gas leaf blower. Here in Los Angeles, every bonehead with a front yard has a guy come blow their leaves, dog poop and other bits of landscape detritus onto the street. This all makes for a very noisy and stinky day in the neighborhood. You would think with the price of gas and all the talk of going green, that this would be a very unchic thing to endorse, but alas, it is not.

And then, there were 3. 

Saw this landscape scenario while driving this weekend.

 I like the graphic simplicity. 

It makes me wonder who built these little barns? 

Why are only 2  red? 

What are they for? 

Are they used today? 

Who owns them? 

It doesn't really matter though. I will enjoy this picture without the answers and I hope you do as well. 

This is "A."  She's doing thirty years for murder in an all girls prison in Texas. She's fifteen years old. I met her while shooting "Hard Time," a documentary on teen violence. She killed a man who tried to attack her.  

I took this photograph of "A."  while she starred out the window. She was telling me that it was hard for her to dream of freedom. Life wasn't always fair.  I asked her if she could see anything outside. She looked beyond the guards, the guns and the dogs, beyond the yellow line painted down the prison yard where she walked daily. And she said, I dream of an open field.

 A few months later, I took this photograph.  I imaged this is what "A" might be dreaming of.

When I was a kid growing up in Northern California, we lived in a Joseph Eichler home. I'm convinced that was a beautiful accident, because if you ever met Leon and Elaine, my parents, you would immediately understand that they are not style mavens, quite the opposite, to say the least. They are NOT and were not they kind of parents you see here in this glamorous publicity photo for an Eichler house. 

 

Joseph Eichler was the only merchant builder in America who built modernist style homes on a large scale, designed by skilled architects and using quality materials. His contemporary houses have not been equaled since, and 50 years on they still look 'modern'. The homes were also inexpensive.

My parents were attracted to the atrium styled layout. They loved the light streaming in and they liked the price tag even more. It was only $60,000.  This was about thirty years ago... can you imagine? So that's where we lived and they still live there today. Leon and Elaine have no idea  how valuable the homes have become an are completely oblivious to the fact that they are sitting on architectural history.  A couple  (collectors) from San Francisco wanted to buy the house for a huge amount of money, but my parents were not interested in moving. They said, 'where would we go?"  And, indeed, they did not sell. www.eichlernetwork.com

Another design accident of my childhood, was my mother's purchase of entire twelve piece "Romancz" set of Rosenthal China. It was 1957, she was about to marry Leon and she was traveling around Germany with her best friend, Marlene.  Somehow, she had good sense to buy herself an astonishingly  beautiful and modern set of china.

 Philip Rosenthal Sr. founded the company in 1879 in Selb, Germany. Over the decades, it emerged to one of the world's finest porcelain and crystal manufacturers in the world. Rosenthal has been around for a long time--over 100 years.  The company was also known for working closely with about 1000 artists, designers, architects, couturiers and prominent people from all over the world. There are pieces in museums for crying out loud.

 So, here's my mom, at 24, traveling around Germany and I actually have no idea what processed her to buy something so exquisite because she hates to cook (never has), would be the first to admit that she is not exactly what you would call the hostess with the mostest and quite frankly, never once did we use them during my entire childhood.

 But, I always admired the simplicity, the clean elegance, their minimal lines and utter architectural pureness. They were the most delicate items in our entire home.  They are truly amazing classics and they are no longer made. She gave them to me as a wedding gift. I was the only thing I've ever taken from her and quite happily, I might add. 

Now, at some point, we also seemed to acquire some amazing modernist furniture. Again, I'm not really sure how that happened because my parents did not like to take care of things. They were not shoppers, more like schleppers.  I think it was simply a matter of economics because thirty years ago, people were not swarming to buy modern furniture as they are today.   So, here we lived in suburbia, in an Eichler house filled with amazing Scandinavian furniture. 

Our chairs were by Hans Wegner, the tables were by Kaare Klint, the lights were Verner Panton. 

My bunk-bed however, was made my Leon Starkman and it was a sleep-at-your-own-risk kind of situation because every night as I climbed into bed, the entire thing would wobble and wheeze and I was certain it would come crashing down into many pieces.  This is the kind discrepancy that lives on even today with my parents. But, I have to say, growing up in that environment completely shaped my entire life. 

Who doesn't love a Hans-Agne Jakobsson light? 

I love modern architecture, furniture, and simple classic lines. I even like nature that is modern, clean, graphic. I love the indoor outdoor living we have here in California and I wish I had rescued a few more pieces of furniture from my parents.

 But that brings me to this wonderful website for rare, modern furniture.

 KLASSIK is an amazing resource.  They are based in Denmark. They buy and sell original classic Scandinavian Modern or Danish Modern furniture.  They have a large collection from  1920-1975.  Not only do they have furniture, but ceramics, fine art, lighting and more.  They ship anywhere, even to Suburban California. But, I'm pretty sure Leon and Elaine have never heard of them. . 

 www.klassik.dk

Gastronomica is my absolute favorite food magazine. It's also quite unlike any food journal you've read.

 

With it's brilliant photography, elaborate illustrations, and not a recipe in site, it masterfully appeals to the cultural, intellectual and academic side of food lovers. 

This quarterly is not for the trend seeker, recklessly in search of a trendy place to eat, simply be seen.

 That's what makes it so deliciously unique. Instead, you'll find thoughtful articles that trace the history of ingredients, cultural eating habits, and personal stories of how food affects lives.

A more controversial story featured the artist, Chrissy Caviar, who had a proclivity toward collecting who own eggs, much as fisherman would harvest a mature female sturgeon.

This is all, of course, a gesture done in the name of art and meant to be a commentary equating the casual, if not, cavalier method, in which some women sell their own eggs and the waning fertile caviar trade. 

 

You can order on line:

 

http://www.gastronomica.org/

 

My dad is an usual man to say the least. Growing up in Chicago he harbored idealistic views of helping the world. He became a doctor, but his true passion was taking pictures and  documenting his family on his Super 8 camera. From the time he was a young man in his twenties,  throughout my entire childhood, he used his Braun NIZO Silent film camera to capture me and my three siblings. Whether it was our two year stint in Israel living on  a Kibbutz or the many adventures we had traversing the United States in our red VW camper, I always remember that camera in my dad's hand.  I'm editing together the films for him for Father's Day. Here are some screen grabs from his films:  

 

Pack at your own risk. 

Not only do we now have to deal with baggage theft, inept security, power hungry TSA personnel, screaming babies, overbooked flights, delays, cancellations, no food on board, and lost luggage (just to name a few pleasures of flying today), you will now also have to pay an excess baggage fee on most carriers. 

What is excess baggage? Two bags. Typically, it's $25 clams for the second bag $80 for the third and so on. The more you pack, the more you pay.

So, pack light or stay at home.  

Welcome to the friendly skies. 

Photographer, Todd Heisler's, graphically compelling pictures, convey the complicated reality. These pictures, in particular, captivated me: