The Spike: +30cents/gallon in 3 weeks

haha!
Originally uploaded by faria!.

Left: Gas prices on May 8th 2008
Right: Gas prices on May 28 2008

Both shots are of the Chevron station at California/Arroyo Pkwy. It appears they did some remodeling with their outrageous profits.

I wonder if this will cause people to start hoarding up on gas.

ferris wheel sold on EBay!

ferris wheel sold on EBay!
Originally uploaded by faria!.

This iconic wheel is to be dismantled and shipped to Oklahoma, after being sold on EBay to Grant Humpreys for $132, 400.
The new wheel is planned to be up and running in time for the Memorial Day weekend.


Pacific Park Ferris Wheel and amusement park, Santa Monica beach.

Yunagi City, Sakura Country

JFFLA
Originally uploaded by faria!.

We attended the US premiere of Yunagi City, Sakura Country at the 2008 Japan Film festival. The story follows several generations of a family that lived in Hiroshima at the time of the A-bomb. The scene that remains vivid in my memory is when Minami is dying, she thinks to herself about the ones who dropped the bomb, that they must happy and cheering 'Yes! we got another one!'. It was a poignant film, sometimes funny and often sad.

It has taken two generations to get to this point in time where we can see WWII through the eyes of those who lost. Another recent movie that comes to mind is Letters from Iwo Jima whose screenplay was written by Iris Yamashita. Both these movies remind us that winners and losers alike are human beings with families and roots.


~ Imaginasian Center, Los Angeles.

facing each other

facing each other
Originally uploaded by faria!.

Emerging into the sunlight from the last stop on the Purple Line, I see the past and the future collide at the crossroads of Wilshire and Western.

Left: construction of the new Wilshire-Solaire building directly above the subway station.
Right: The art deco Wiltern theater landmark built in 1931. The tiles of the building are a lovely blue-green terra cotta.

Collisions of past, present, and future bubble up along Wilshire Boulevard all the way down to the ocean. On the one hand, there is old LA with its love of wide open roads and cruising in the warm sunshine in your automobile. On the other hand is the cold hard reality of traffic congestion, pollution and lack of affordable housing. I wonder if the Wilshire-Solaire can preserve the past while brightening the future. Will it encourage people to use public transit? For that matter, will public transit be improved?

the taste was sweeter

the taste was sweeter
Originally uploaded by faria!.

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder

With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river

Forever and ever

~ Pink Floyd
High Hopes, The Division Bell

Originally a pink flower (camellia?), but I made it green and then it looked good enough to eat.

Happy anniversary

50th anniversary of Explorer 1
Originally uploaded by faria!.

The posters hung along California Blvd are in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first American satellite launch on January 31 1958. It was our answer to Sputnik. This poster shows a famous image from that time - the scientists William Pickering, Wernher Von Braun and James Van Allen holding a model of Explorer above their heads in celebration.

Onboard the satellite was an instrument designed by Van Allen to detect charged particles, and with it the Explorer discovered ribbons of such particles surrounding the Earth that are now known as the Van Allen radiation belts.

The successful launch of the satellite brought its creator, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory into the spotlight. Within the next decade, we would be on the moon.

ancient traveler

ancient traveler
Originally uploaded by faria!.

The life of a sea turtle is perilous. From the moment they hatch on a sandy shore, they face hungry predators. Even as old adults, they risk being trapped in fishing nets and left to die. Let these ancient travelers live in peace.

Aquarium of the Pacific

Medusa

Medusa
Originally uploaded by faria!.

I watched them pulsating their bell bodies as they propelled themselves around,
swirling, floating, meandering in the currents of the water.

I felt a strange alien sensation gazing at their silent forms.

They are such primitive creatures and yet they possess a mysterious power.

Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach CA

made from a rainbow

made from a rainbow
Originally uploaded by faria!.

First day of Christmas break.

We took the Metro Blue Line to Long Beach to visit the Aquarium of the Pacific. In addition to all the marine life, there is also a Lorikeet Forest.

This rainbow lorikeet waited expectantly on Luis' hand for some nectar. They have special brush-tipped tongues to feed on the nectar. This one was especially greedy and adorably perky in its own little way. After it was done eating, it peed on Luis' shirt, cackled, and flew away.

across the universe

on the air
Originally uploaded by Steakup.

A jet black traveler propels his way across the silver terrain.
Sky and earth meld into one,
the traveler is suspended in space and time.

Exciter

exciter
Originally uploaded by faria!.

Racing across the heavens
Straight into the dawn
Looking like a comet
Slicing through the morn
Scorching the horizon
Blazing to the land
Now he's here amongst us
The age of fire's at hand

Everything he touches
Fries into a crisp,
Let him get close to you
So youre in his trip,
First you'll smoke and smoulder
Blister up and singe
When ignition hits you
The very soul of your being will cringe.

Who is this man?
Where is he from?
Exciter comes
For everyone.
You'll never see him
But you will taste the fire upon your tongue

~ Judas Priest

Season's end

season's end
Originally uploaded by faria!.

The sidewalk is decorated with the leaves of yesterday,
crisp and crackling under the weight of hurried footsteps.


Down
down
down
Red
yellow
brown
Autumn leaves tumble down,
Autumn leaves crumble down,
Autumn leaves bumble down,
Flaking and shaking,
Tumbledown leaves.

Skittery
Flittery
Rustle by
Hustle by
Crackle and crunch
In a snappety bunch.

Autumn Leaves by Eve Merriam

fire walk with me

fire walk with me
Originally uploaded by faria!.

Walking west on california blvd, there is a million dollar home for sale, empty, save for the glowing lamps.


Always we are following a light,
Always the light recedes; with groping hands
We stretch toward this glory, while the lands
We journey through are hidden from our sight

Dim and mysterious, folded deep in night,
We care not, all our utmost need demands
Is but the light, the light! So still it stands
Surely our own if we exert our might.

Fool! Never can'st thou grasp this fleeting gleam,
Its glowing flame would die if it were caught,
Its value is that it doth always seem
But just a little farther on. Distraught,
But lighted ever onward, we are brought
Upon our way unknowing, in a dream.

Amy Lowell, The Lamp of Life

Stayin' Alive

Stayin' Alive
Originally uploaded by faria!.

strutting in front of a shoe mirror

Got the wings of heaven on my shoes
I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose.
You know it's all right, it's O.K.
I'll live to see another day.

We can try to understand the New York Times' effect on man.
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,
You're stayin alive, stayin' alive.
Feel the city breakin' and ev'rybody shakin'
and we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
Ah, ha, ha, ha, Stayin' Alive!.

The Bee Gees


Amusing myself at the Neo shoe store in Old Pas with the mirrors they put on the floor. The shoe salesman thought I was a freak. But he couldn't complain because we did buy some shoes.

spectre

spectre
Originally uploaded by faria!.

Where no gods are, spectres rule ~ Novalis

Of all the houses decorated for the occasion, this one made me stop and pause, and remember the childhood thrills and fears of halloween. I want to be a 10-year old, just for this one night and feel deliciously spooked.
~ off of Mission Street, South Pasadena.