Laurel Canyon LACMA Blues: Monday, February 9th!

Activism is the rent I pay for living on the planet. -Alice Walker, author (b. 9 Feb 1944) 

For every language that becomes extinct, an image of man disappears. -Octavio Paz, poet, diplomat, Nobel laureate (1914-1998)

Hello Wrought Iron Gate/Pet & Grandchild Minder People! Trust you are both well! Thank you for the lovely snaps. They brought back many pleasant memories of the time we visited the same part of Cornwall with Gudrun and Stefano. How have they managed, of late? Are they both back from Colorado?

No bites yet on The Islay Inn so you will still have us to kick around there for a little while anyway! Sorry we won't see you in June but I might actually be in Europe that month. Bit of a back-story but the long and short of it is that I have been in touch with a friend of a friend who has a friend who leads bike trips. Katarina sent me the itineraries for both Slovakia and the Czech Republic. (I've attached them in case you are interested in what is involved.) I've only taken a quick look but from what I've seen, I'm hooked! I'm thinking very seriously of signing up for both as I can't imagine a better way to see these countries at such an affordable price. At the moment, as you well know, we are still in the planning stages for India and I hope we will have a fairly accurate cost estimate for internal fees in the next month or so. In fact, Cora Lee just had a message from Luxe India this morning letting us know that they themselves are still waiting on many hotel reservation confirmations.

Once I have a better idea of financial commitment required I'll be better able to look at this marvellous bike trip, both from the perspective of timing and cost. Again, as you know, we are right in the middle of "planning" to sell our place in order to move to the Okanagan. Cora Lee is off to New York, with friend Robyn for her niece's wedding, in mid-July, so she is happy to be rid of me for almost six weeks, should bike trip transpire!
 
Today we were planning to visit the Getty Center while Ayn is at work and then do a bit of shopping for Pierre's 26th birthday tomorrow. Originally we had planned to hold it in the evening but his class is not over until 9:00 pm so makes a dinner then rather late. Instead we will have a large lunch so that Alex can attend as well. He is also starting his Emergency Medical training morning courses at the same campus Pierre will be at, LA Valley College, just around the corner from where Ayn lives. However, Getty is closed today so we will now visit LACMA, the LA County Museum of Art. Ayn has given us directions to take Laural Canyon into LA as it is a very scenic drive. It is one we've not done before so looking forward to seeing the city from this perspective.

Must away to get ready to leave now that the worst of morning rush hour traffic has dissipated, I hope! Fondestos from Mme Coriandre to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Pics: Starting point for yesterday's ride; The Babes glad to be rid of me; surfer dudes; Ayn with her recently adopted rescue pooch; Cora Lee as surrogate owner; Los Horridos; bike itineraries 

Hello Desert Storm Troopers! Trust you are both well! Best wishes from Coramandel to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio

Hello Wild Bill! Sorry to learn that your eyesight continues to deteriorate but trust you are well, otherwise! Must apologize for not replying sooner to your Christmas letter. [Really enjoyed Saint John snow. As you might imagine, I had seen same clip but having to do with Dedicated Bike Lanes in Vancouver! Both are wonderful, of course!] No excuses but plenty of reasons! Busy time over those hols as Ayn and our grandsons were up from LA for a week or so. Fondestos from Mme Coriandre to you, William. Take care of yourself, dear friend. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi Ayn! Winston is reading with Nana on the couch. Not a big deal but I forgot to buy coffee at Trader Joe's so if you receive this message before you go shopping, I'd appreciate a small jar of the darkest roast available.

Had little difficulty following the directions you gave to us and were delighted with drive through Laurel Canyon. Once we'd parked at LACMA we visited the Ahmanson Building to take a look at Art Deco Textiles and on the same floor is the Janice and Henri Lazarof Collection which included works by Klee, Kandinsky, Feininger, all of the Bauhaus, as well as about twenty works by Picasso so it was wonderful to see so many we'd not seen. After that I was fascinated by another exhibition, Ernst Barlach: Portfolios. However, more than
Barlach's prints and book I was taken with the "2006 film Ernst Barlach: Mystic of Modernity, directed by renowned photographer Bernd Boehm. The film showcases the monumentality and timelessness of Barlach's sculptures". Both Coriandre and I had been particularly drawn to the two smaller bronzes exhibited in the gallery: Russian Lovers and the Flute Player. 

I learned that "although he was a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, his participation in the war made him change his position, and he is mostly known for his sculptures protesting against the war. This created many conflicts during the rise of the Nazi Party. In 1936, Barlach's works were confiscated during an exhibition and the majority of his remaining works were confiscated as "degenerate art". Barlach himself was prohibited from working as a sculptor, and his membership in the art academies was canceled." 

Next, I spent about an hour in the Art of Americas Building drinking in Haunted Screens: German Cinema in the 1920s:

"An exhibition that explores the height of German Expressionist film history through nearly 250 objects. Augmenting a vast collection of set design drawings—on loan from the Cinémathèque—an array of film clips, photographs, posters, documents, and cameras represent 25 films, 20 artists, and 14 directors."

I could have spent even longer but one can only see so much! A quick look at a number of the paintings by both Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and then we took the long escalator to the 3rd floor of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum where Cora Lee knew I'd be able to take a couple of snaps of the Hollywood sign, having been there on an earlier visit. Back to the car we retraced our route up Fairfax to Sunset. Traffic was fine and I thought I knew where to turn back onto Laurel Canyon but we missed the exit as it is not actually called Laurel Canyon at that point, but rather Crescent Heights.

Nevertheless, soon after we passed the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel, my trusty navigator came up with an alternative plan and we ended up using Beverly Glen Blvd to return to Sherman Oaks, enjoying the picturesque drive. Wanted to make a quick stop at Trader Joe's on Riverside before heading home but it turned into a parking lot nightmare. Extremely busy spot and so it took us ages just to get in off street to park and then endless waiting for spots. Finally managed to squeeze in to a "compact" space at the adjacent Chase Bank as Mme Coriandre needed cash anyway. Then, after we'd done our shopping, I literally couldn't get out of the lot as a huge semi blocked off the exit for almost ten minutes, the driver having to wait himself as crazed shoppers refused to obey chap trying to direct traffic and semi had nowhere to go!

Eventually we were able to extricate ourselves from the mêlée and were soon back at Casa Van Nuys. Poor Winston had been alone for over seven hours so the Surrogate Dog Walker took him out right away while I put away the groceries. Once back we spent the rest of the time reading/messaging until Ayn came home from work. SHe had stoppe doff at her favourite Armenian butcher, Olive's Garden, to pick up the ribs for tomorrow's birthday lunch, as well as salmon steaks for the evening meal. While Ayn had a quick shower I put together a large mixed green salad and when that was done we set about watching more Outlander. Pierre arrived after his AutoCAD course, which went very well, he reported. 

The salmon steaks were simply mouth-watering so we were very well served for dinner and managed to enjoy both a white, a 2013 Azan Picpoul de Pinet, 13%, a delicious varietal from Languedoc we'd quaffed there two summers ago, as well as a red, a 2010 Soda Rock Malbec, 14.5%. Xavierino favoured the Booker's Bourbon, weighing in a 63.95%, a bit of medication to overcome the stress of being back at college. He had to leave at 9:30 pm, for work, so we bade him goodnight before watching one last episode of Outlander. Now we only have two left to view before we head to Palm Desert. Bed shortly thereafter and, (as Ayn later reported), we fell asleep almost immediately, our conversation stopping abruptly mid-sentence!Bed shortly thereafter and, (as Ayn later reported), we fell asleep almost immediately, our conversation stopping abruptly mid-sentence! Probably post-coital fatigue but Mme Coriandre hotly disputes this fact!

An evening of near infinite sadness; on top of a Canucks loss, the forces of evil (Byron & Clive) triumphed over the just and the good (Robert & Roger)by a score of 7,900 to 4,360. A travesty, but it will be so recorded in Clive’s book. There is always next week. Cheers, Roger Tut Tut - how are the mighty fallen mostly on their own swords.  There must have been a record number of 2 down doubled by the so called "just and good"  By the looks of it I have finally eaten the goat entrails See you next week Who is up to host? Cheers byron We are just and good. Just not good at bridge. Robert