Home again.

My friends rent this place out, in Joshua Tree. It's called SKY HOUSE. I dream of renting it for a weekend and having friends come out and stay. Would be amazing, the location has a great view, firepit, hot tub, wonderful decor, sleeps about 6, plus heart campers on the floor... Only minutes from the national park, which is an unreal place to visit. Let's go!

All 3 of these pics are not really fun until you click on them to enlarge.

These first two are not mine, but pretty damn good,,,


I passed this place a few times and finally had to stop. It made me laugh every time... ... wondering how they answer the phone?!

Pics !!!

In my friend's car in Joshua Tree - we were NOT offroading, just a GPS glitch...

Look up "Play Him Off Keyboard Cat" on youtube and then "3 Wolf Moon" shirt on Amazon, and you'll see why this shirt it extremely brilliant!


Beautiful light fixture from the (rarely open) rear bar on the Queen Mary, circa 1929...

Found this photo on the web accidentally and fell in love with the design, from a home and garden show.

On the road again...

Wow, been a LONG time since my last post. Very busy, I guess. This is not so much photos though...

Just now back on the road again. A short-ish time, but I’d rather be home. Not to complain though, it’s things like this that have taken me all around the world a few times, paying for me to see places I would never know. One pic only for this post – I wasn’t going to do any, but it’s kinda a photo (we)blog so I have to put at least one.

Tonight in Denver. Stepped out after dinner and then a movie. Felt like a warm night out, so I walked unguided. It’s this thing I do all over, and tonight I remember so many of the places I’ve been an done this. On the road, I have many friends in the crew, but none that close, and I often end up on my own. Don’t really mind, as I get to go whenever and wherever I want. And “I want” to wander randomly a lot. I love abandoned places, historical spots, factory districts. I actually prefer dark and seedy sides of the tracks to the clean and plain. Walking around shopping malls and city centers seems pointless – almost no surprises unless you really get lucky. They often put us in the city center, so all you see is Nike, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble. Not bad, but just the same all over the world. I’d rather see the old part of town, the factories, working areas, abandoned buildings.

So tonight, walking around I came to realize this comfortable feeling I’ve developed, setting out on my own in the night (usually), not knowing where I’m going or how far. It feels like instinct, like hunters who would set out in search of something – but they only knew it when they found it. And like instinct, I have a strong feeling for where to go, and my senses heighten to everything. (This never happens in busy cities or malls) I can often find my way around with a clear sense of how to get back – yet in a different way, not retracing my steps. I go for miles and often find a circle back to “start”. I’ve only gotten truly lost twice – once with a friend in Vienne, France – we took a bus into town and when we were ready to leave the buses had stopped. We knew it was a 12 mile walk back but, hey – we’ve got legs and time! So we walked – took a wrong turn (we later found what it was) and went 12 miles. Didn’t find the hotel, but saw a lot. Twice – as we had to retrace and head back to the missed turn. Tried to get from there back but it was just as hard to follow the vague memory of the busride in we had taken – do I remember that landmark or not? So, at one point, we called the hotel for a taxi back. Still – a 25-35 mile hike that day made it seem we didn’t give up – we got somewhere, just not our planned place!

A second time was early this year in Sydney, Australia. I went through the local mall area, and the university, the downtown and outward. Kept going into amazing factory districts, and then into rundown neighborhoods with the most amazing old houses. Then circled back and almost found my way, but a few unclear directions had me confused. So I pulled out the GPS on the phone (easy cheat I usually avoid) and walked back – a good 4-5 hour night walk. Great times, and I could now show you where I went.

It seems strange to me that I have good recall of places, but I have VERY clear memories of these streets and hills and railroad tracks I find. I often see amazing sights of interest BUT it’s often night and I have no camera (or only cell phone that doesn’t do “night shots” well). Memories are better in some ways than the “proof” of a photo. But here’s one – empty tonight but the Union Station in downtown Denver (“Travel by Rail”) it says in old neon on the roof. Beautiful inside, from the era when style was more important than profits. Nicely kept up and/or renovated. I probably saw 20 or more equally great views; waterfalls, old railroad cars, a church called “Pillar of Fire”, the capitol, etc. - but only took this one photo.

Maybe someday I will take a friend or family to one of these places and be a good tour guide: Osaka, Dublin (where the huge Guinness plant makes the fog taste like beer), Vienna, Hamburg (my favorite city in Europe), New York City, Paris, Dallas (very rough, not recommended), Little Rock (my least favorite place on the planet), Portland, Locarno (in Switzerland - amazing), London (of course), Strasbourg, Seattle, Verona (Italy), Boston, Mannheim, Geneva, Adelaide, Barcelona, Munich, Tampa, so many others. I’ve been lucky to scour these places by foot. I’m sure there’s a lot I don’t know about each city, but I did make a big dent in knowing them from the street level, places that are not the normal tourist stops. Some amazing sights. More to come even in the next few weeks, I hope…

The real Tyrone Green is back...

Finally, the video is out- and on an official site so they won't pull it down. From Normal Mailer, this short video from SNL a long age ago. (Probably also THE very first Eddie Murphy appearance on television).

"Images", by TYRONE GREEN

Why do I live in L.A.?

So I can see things like THIS (all in one week, and these are just the ones I had a camera around for...)


Just like it looks - a boat crashed into a car in an intersection. NO other car was around, just what you see here. I don't know how, I just saw it and had to get it.


Huh? 18' wheels on the Left, and 15" on the right or...
Maybe they're taking home their solid-brass lifesize Michael Jackson statue.




Window display from the wig shop down the street. I don't think they are the BEST wig shop in town. Just the most inspired!

Hometown News:

KIDS HAPPY LAND again - it never gets old! This shot shows how popular it is!




Miss Morgana and I went to Disneyland a week ago, and got the scoop on one of their deep secrets: We were wondering how the posted signs say "Wait Time: 25 minutes" with any accuracy. Here's how - they hand some customer this card and say "Hand this to the attendant when you get to the ride." We thought we could sell the card on ebay to Disney geeks for zillions! Gotta be rare. But we were good and handed it to the clerk at the ride - and he promptly did nothing with it for as long as we watched! Didn't check his watch or anything... accuracy shmacuracy!

One of the things I see around my town that others don't.


Unique! An advertizing URINAL CAKE for Gene Simmons' Family Jewels reality show. When you pee, it triggers it and it SAYS "Gene Simmons Family Jewels... New season on A&E". I never once thought of stealing it from this location, but I wondered how much it would be worth in the future?


Another thing I see in my daily life, that many people might not....

The Eagle has Landed!

So - my good friend Michael Ackerman spotted this on Craigslist, in Orange County (about an hour from here). It was an old A&M Records recording console, custom built in 1969/70. It took a lot of sleuthing to find anything about these, but information finally showed up. The photos of it in the ad were really poor quality - so I (and anyone else looking) couldn't tell much about it.

This is the console, as it sat in storage for a plumbing firm for 26 years...

I finally got better photos, but could not identify it in the few vintage A&M Studio photos that survive. As it turns out, it was used in a rarely-photographed room, called "Mix 2" where people would simply mix - and not record new parts. All the desks were built by HAECO - by their chief technicial engineer at the studios, Howard Holzer, a famous designer and engineer himself. These desks are excellent quality, built of various legendary components; Spectra Sonics, Electrodyne, API, Stephens, etc. Many famous records were done on these A&M desks - Almost all of Joni Mitchell's LPs, Herb Alpert, The Carpenters, Carole King's Tapestry, etc etc.



It took months and several trips to the O.C. warehouse, but we finally got the console up here to L.A. again, it's old hometown. (A&M is actually just up the street from my house). It took a sturdy trailer (we tried trucks and lift-gates - all too small) and a special winch to get it on and off...



The cool trumpet logo is for Herb Alpert, who was the "A" in A&M:


Colorful sucker - isn't it? From the mellow/yellow formica top, to the colored switches, and the custom-made plastic balls on the fader tops! One of the reasons I'm happiest to find it, is that almost ALL vintage consoles have been removed and repackaged from their original situation - the desk and frame are usually changed. This one is intact, including the "belly up to the bar" brass footrail underneath! (See top photo).


One of the few shots of these mixers is this one of The Carpenters sitting at one of the sister Haeco desks made for A&M. Smiling because it sounds SO good, I think! Or maybe because theirs has the colored-ball tops too!


I stored it for now in a space right near a friend's studio. They are gonna refurbish it and get it running. In return I will let them install it in their studio to use. (I have a GREAT mixer already to use - so this will be nice for them, and I can keep my eye on it while it gets used!)

Great view as a storm comes into Hollywood (hoping to make it big I bet)

Largo club doors - empty after the final show. Spent well over 10 years going here, off and on. Some great times, and some terrible ones. But memorable...

"DO NOT..." what?

Honesty is the best policy at "The Smelly Cheese Shop" in Australia...

More randoms...

I never get tired of this one...



I guess someone decided this is a better band name than "The Who" which is very old and tired now...



Their FIRST selling point sure does grab the customer!



New Years' Even with my very mature friend Paul, who had just heard that shaving cream could be ignited. And we threw firecrackers.



Finally!



Another effect of the slow phone camera - like the propeller in the posts below, this one is out the car window in London. Love it.



The guitar guy sometimes plays VERY hard for a man in his 60s!



And so does the keyboard player!



Wait, are these the dummies the display, or are they for sale, or is this "The Emperor's New Clothes"?

Traveling?

You could do worse than wait for your flight in the VIRGIN Atlantic lounge at Heathrow airport in London! I took these pics on the way home last winter...