City Life

City Life, a photo by Jodi K. on Flickr.

We Got No Reason I Can See To Hold Back Tonight

Check out this awesome new video. It was creatively filmed in Echo Park, which many Angelenos probably recognize. Look for a flock of birds in the background, across the lake, around 2:46. Those are the pigeons E and I helped wrangle with lots of bread. We then scared them to fly off on cue. They're easier to see in HD. Also, look for a goose that appears often alongside the band. He wanted to be the fifth member. Pretty fun stuff!

Feel free to leave a comment on my Facebook post for the video (there's a contest).

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?

I love L.A., which is no big surprise if you know me. I've lived here far longer than any other place in my life and in spite of all family being really far away, it feels like home. I'm a little too sun tired to expound on my affection for the city right now. I guess I was thinking about it earlier today when spending a few hours in the glorious weather by the lake in Echo Park.

Echo Park Lake* looking toward Downtown Los Angeles

I never thought I could add "pigeon wrangler" to my resumé, but apparently I can. This morning, I was part of a team tasked with luring in as many pigeons and seagulls as we could. We had them surround us as much as possible and then when told to do so, we spooked them so they flew off in a glorious spectacle. The things you'll do to help out some friends shooting a music video!

It's just been one of those weekends that makes my feel lucky to live in such an amazing city.

*I almost fell in the lake when taking this photo with my cell phone. I have it on good authority that if you go into this body of water, you instantly get TB, so thank goodness I didn't.

Brushing Away The Cobwebs & 4th of July Recap

*Gently taps screen* Hello! Hello! Anyone home?

I've been neglecting this blog a lot lately. I don't have a lot to say at the moment, but in an effort to get back the groove of working on my many projects and interests, here's a glimpse of how we spent our 4th of July in a fairly non-traditional, but oh-so-fun way in Echo Park.

Click on photo to see a larger version

Echo Park 4th of July, left to right, starting at the top:

1. Machine Project's members-only Freeze-B-Q. Everyone brought food and beverages and we experimented freezing them with liquid nitrogen. I now think I know how the marshmallows in Lucky Charms get their texture! Not everything worked, but a blended mix of fruits with a little rum thrown in seemed to turn out great.
   
   
2. Machine Project from the street.
   
   
3. In the evening, a group of musicians lead folks in a sing-a-long. Lots of traditional songs. It was bizarre and fun. People really go into it and I felt like I could sing out in my out of tune voice.
   
   
4. Independent (*ahem*...illegal) fireworks over the Echo Park Lake. Downtown L.A. in the background. Every year, lots of people put on their own displays of fireworks in Echo Park for hours and hours. We walked down to the lake, which was interesting as we walked right by some fireworks being shot off. I'm a little twitchy about that sort of thing. It was lovely until the po-po kicked us out of the park for "trespassing." It was bogus because it was only 9:30 and the park is open until 10:30, but arguing with the LAPD never seems like a wise idea.

We topped the night off with dinner at one of our favorite Thai restaurants.