Bike ride, that is. Nicely sweaty, I think. This is from Saturday morning. For some reason the Sprint to Flickr posting by phone was not working the other day. Just tried it now and it is working again. Crazy computers never work, man. Amazing when they do.

I’m not much for religious messages here on the blog, at least not lately. God is where God is found. That is where. Lately God is found at the beach. Also, in music. Also laughter. Also in small things. Even films can have God in them. Despite the language and violence, I believe there to be spiritual truth in the movie Ghost Dog. It quotes heavily from the text Hagakure.

In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. Lord Takanobu said, “If discrimination is long, it will spoil.” Lord Naoshige said, “When matters are done leisurely, seven out of ten will turn out badly. A warrior is a person who does things quickly.”

When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion. With an intense, fresh and undelaying spirit, one will make his judgments within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side.

This evening I went to my current favorite beach — Thornhill Broome Beach in Camarillo, south of Point Mugu. It’s part of Point Mugu State Park. There’s not much online with photos, it’s rather spartan, being on the grounds of a State Park it’s been saved from being colonized houses and commercial properties. I like to think that the tax bill I’m paying off with them as though it’s user fees for that beach. God bless the Great State of California.

I really am enjoying California these days. Expensive though it may be to live here, I dig the place. I was born here. No immigrant me, though like many things, like San Diego, The Catholic Church, it’s something I come back to and leave periodically.

That’s what it looked like in 2004 when californiacoastline.org took a photo. You can see lifeguard tower #8, manned by a lifeguard during the day. Actually, they all seem to be teen boys, no more than 17 to look at them, but I won’t renege on calling the small blue buildings “manned.” The lifeguard kindly tells me the temperature of the water when I ask. Though today I didn’t ask. It was a little blown out and I just wanted to get out there. I wonder what he makes of the large, flabby hairy man who spends an inordinate amount of time getting pummeled by the unruly, strong waves. I wonder if he would agree with my contention that he (that is, me) is bodysurfing? I feel better having him there, the California State website says that when he’s on duty, there’s a one in 18 million chance that I’ll die by drowning.

I got some great rides today. It takes a great amount of force to move a man who weighs 24 stone. And I love that the waves can do that. Frankly, I enjoy it when the water is so strong I’m forced under for a time. I like being batted around. That means there’s real force happening. More force makes better rides. If I stop to think about the thousands of pounds of water that allow me to move at great speed I might get intimidated. Actually, I do think about it, and there’s a healthy respect that one might call fear. When I do too much I take a break. I haven’t been too scared there yet this year, but there’s still time.

If I nearly drown I think that teenage lifeguard will take good care of me. More money well spent with the State! Thanks Cali!

Thinking about the State as a “member state” of the dysfunctional family of states we call the United States, for some reason gets my mind thinking about how it might be different. In William Gibson’s novel Virtual Light there are two political entities, Los Angeles resides in SoCal, while San Francisco resides in NoCal. It’s not impossible to envision. In fact, California is already split. When you go to, say, Cabo San Lucas or Rosarito, you’re going to “Baja California” — well jimbo, that makes where I am “Alta California.” We dont’ call it that anymore, because of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. There’s a great page over on wikipedia showing the territorial evolution of Mexico.

Speaking of William Gibson, I’ve been looking forward to his new book for nine months, and the time’s almost here. I may even have time to read it. I know I enjoy reading his blog. Check out Spook Country on Amazon. It comes out Tuesday. I wonder if the local library will get a copy?

Speaking of the local library, the Moorpark City Library got divorced from the Ventura County Public Library system at the beginning of 2007. The way Ventura says it in a PDF on their site is this:

Effective January 1, 2007, the city of Moorpark has chosen to leave the Ventura County Library system.

Chilly, no?

When I was working in Ojai I dug being able to return stuff from Simi Valley there, and vice versa. I’m not sure how a small town can expect to go it alone with good services, but I wish them well. As I have more free time (theoretically -Ed) I think about how it might be fun to volunteer at the library a few hours a month. I don’t even know if they have anything like that set up though. When I was a teenager I enjoyed working at the downtown public library in San Diego.

What does the title of this post have to do with anything, why it’s a translation of a lyric from Frank Zappa.

I am the heaven
I am the water
I am the dirt beneath your rollers
I am your secret smut
And lost metal money
Down your cracks
I am your cracks & cranniesI am the clouds
I am embroidered
I am the author of all tucks
And damask piping
I am The Chrome Dinette
I am The Chrome Dinette
I am eggs of all persuasions

I am all days and nights
I am all days and nights

I am here
And you are my sofa
I am here
And you are my sofa
I am here
And you are my sofa

That’s translated from the German language, which how the Big G speaks whenever it’s Heavy Business.

I am eggs of all kinds. I am the Chrome Dinette. And you are my sofa.

My brother-in-law Rick has a new show at the Ruth Bachofner Gallery, entitled Zzyzx Road, as part of that show several new paintings have been placed (by me) on the Paintings page on his site. I find Rick to be an interesting character. At once he reminds me of my father to some extent, but he’s so not. He’s just a man, and a father, and a brother-in-law. I enjoy the fact that his paintings have mathematical precision, but inlaid with primal and base native arts. It’s interesting to see the id and the superego play so easily together.

The Ruth Bachofner Gallery is located in Santa Monica. I’m hoping to get down there before the show closes September 1st. If you’re in the L.A. area, I surmise it’s worth a look. As a bonus, I can tell you that Bergamot Station is worth visiting anytime.

Leah’s response when I sent her a link to lpcoverlover.com — a blog that shows the covers of old LPs was “talk about a blog with a singular purpose.”

Today there’s one I really like:

And Leah’s reaction was “oh my god. that is awesome.”

And of course she’s right. Soundtracks I understand, but soundtracks for reading? This is a new and incredible concept. Well, maybe it’s not actually a new concept, since this is decades old. But still.

I have spent more time than you may be able to imagine looking at old records — LPs, singles, 12″ singles, cassettes, CDs — and there are way more than you can imagine out there. I have the patience to look at every single record in a record store if I have the time. I just let the torrent of visual input — imagery, artist names, titles, the age of the record, how it has worn — wash over me. I would not be a fan of Dead Can Dance or Roxy Music were it not for running into their records in record stores and wondering “what is this?”

lpcoverlover.com features all kinds of records. ALL kinds. It’s a wonderful blog to let wash over you.

This morning I saw this post on LAist about Google Maps Street View in L.A. That works well, but despite the fact that I live approximately in Los Angeles I was more interested in San Diego views. And downtown, my old stomping grounds is pretty well covered. When I was 18 years old (uh, that’s like 19 years ago hoss) I worked at the Central Library, pictured here inside the Street View interface at fullscreen:

I like what they’ve done here. The interface has a lot going on, and despite some unsure clicking on my part, I managed to get around okay. I like the convention of having the marker you place change when you pick it up. The animation here reminds me of editing a Mii on a Wii, where you sort of pick the avatar up and he sort of struggles, as though you’ve picked up a rabbit who’s not too pleased to be picked up by the scruff of her neck.

I did some searching around San Diego with this and noticed the old AVENCOM offices at 10th and G were missing, it looks like they were demolished and replaced with housing. More condominiums it looks like. I was hoping to see Leah’s and my former place on 21st Street but there are not photos that far east of downtown.

I poked around Los Angeles too, it was fun to see some sites. There’s a lot of photos in there. The thing I keep coming back to is that this kind of “screen scraping the world” as in the Amazon Maps views that came out some years ago (doing basically what Google’s done here, but a bit clunkier), geotagging of photos on photo sharing sites, etc. … will only get more real-time, not less. I suppose there will be a view on these maps sometime for “live view” at some point. You might be working in your office and browse around to see what the line looks like at the local bakery, or directly see the traffic cameras on your commute.

None of these science fictional seeming technologies sounds crazy to me. And the fact that they don’t sound crazy indicates to me that they’re coming fast.

Compare and contrast:

Perhaps it’s time to again try for a Zappa style arrangement, though that particular arrangement freaks Leah out a little because it reminds her some jerk. And I am not a jerk. Well, usually:

Tune in tomorrow on WHAT’S JOE’S FACE LOOK LIKE!

I’ve started reading many more blogs about drawing, illustration, animation, and comics, and I have to mention an artist who quite impressed me, and who I had never heard of. Over at lines and colors, Charley Parker posted about him the other day and it wowed me:

lines and colors: A Little Bit of Leyendecker Greatness
For the benefit of the uninitiated, Joseph Christian Leyendecker was one of the all time greatest illustrators. He is also one of my personal favorites. In my original post about him I tried to convey how flabbergasted I was, and continued to be, at how relatively unknown he remains; particularly when compared to Norman Rockwell, who followed Leyendecker into the role of main cover illustrator for the Post, considered Leyendecker a major influence and a friend, and receives credit that I think belongs to Leyendecker for setting the high-bar on American magazine illustration.

Yes indeed. I suppose because he followed Norman Rockwell he doesn’t get the kind of notoriety Rockwell gets. But clearly he was a talented illustrator. When I was a kid and teenager I dug Norman Rockwell. I dug Warhol too, and Jackson Pollock too, but a good illustrator, despite their subject matter being prosaic can say a great deal. Here’s a detail from a posting to the Leyendecker blog Parker mentions.

This was in 1933, the depths of the depression. You can see the NRA symbol right on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. It’s a New Year’s Theme, a wish allegory for a recovery on Wall Street in 1934. I’m not sure why his work hits me, I think it’s a combination of draughtsmanship and showmanship. He revels in these illustrations. They’re fun and detailed and bursting with energy. I’m happy I found them.

For Father’s Day this year I received a set of really nice pens to draw with.

Time’s always the thing, no? Perhaps I’ll find some.

Half an hour ago there was an earthquake – 4.5 on the Richter Scale. More info here: Info is here or here. Keep up to date at Recent Earthquakes in California and Nevada.

Kind of exciting. Felt all over Los Angeles, and centered in Chatsworth, so say the sources.

Today I have nothing particularly on my mind, only things miscellaneous.

Variously some nouns that are swirling around: deadline, William Gibson, ruthlessness, trash can, dish, invoice, milk, gasoline, PayPal, telephone.

Apropos of that nonlinear list, here’s a pixel drawing from approximately 20 years ago!

He’s great. This photo was sent to me by my sister.

Donation Derby has been going great as well.