Space Shuttle Endeavor's Last Mission Thru Los Angeles

This morning, I woke up at 3:45am to see if I could photograph the space shuttle Endeavor travelling the final 2 miles along Martin Luther King Boulevard to it's final home at the California Science Center. It was a surreal experience seeing this mythical machine that as a child existed somewhere between science and science-fiction rolling past you at half a mile per hour.

Mia Doi Todd, Frohawk Two Feathers and Om'Mas Keith Sing Vote Yes On Prop 37

It's voting time! I got my absentee ballot yesterday and am hanging chads as I write this post. When I got to Prop 37, I wasn't sure what to do. Lots of commercials on TV were telling me to vote no, but then I saw that my good friend the amazing Frohawk Two Feathers recorded a public message for all Californians. Let's take a look together, shall we?

Election day, November 6, 2012 is fast approaching, and Californians have the opportunity to pass this very important law. 

Proposition 37 would require food sold in supermarkets to be labeled if it contains genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Studies have shown links between GMOs and cancer, allergies, and organ toxicity. 

Monsanto and other GMO and pesticide firms have contributed nearly $35 million to oppose Proposition 37. 

All of Europe, Russia, India, Japan and China require labeling of genetically engineered food, and so should we. We are what we eat, and we have the right to know what we are eating! 

For more information on Proposition 37, visit: www.carighttoknow.org 

Performed by Mia Doi Todd, Frohawk Two Feathers and Om'Mas Keith Produced by Om'Mas Keith and Mia Doi Todd

There you have it! Vote Yes On Prop. 37! Thanks Mia, Frohawk and Om'Mas!

Death at Los Angeles Critical Mass, Rest in Peace Jerico Culata

If reports are true, Jerico Culata died last night for a number of reasons. The most important one was that we was not wearing a helmet. The second reason was he was riding a bicycle with no brakes. The third reason was he was riding beyond his skill level. It is extremely sad but comes as no surprise that someone has died at Los Angeles Critical Mass.

When I was told of his death, my mind instantly played out following scenario: A young inexperienced cyclist was riding a fixie with no helmet and lost control on a downhill descent. It turns out my guess was not far off...

Jerico Culata of Los Angeles was participating in the Critical Mass ride with up to 700 other riders when he lost control of his bike and slammed into a masonry wall, Clark said. He wasn't wearing a helmet, said LAPD Officer Sara Faden. Faden couldn't confirm reports about whether the bike Culata was riding had brakes. She did say, though that there is a trend of riders are using bikes that have no brakes. Culata went wide on a downhill curve, his friend told a photographer outside the hospital.

After a near death experience thanks to a hit and run driver, I no longer ride critical mass. Sometimes I miss the experience of riding with thousands of others, but it also comes at great risk. Young children with no helmets and no brakes abound at the rides. It's been a ticking time bomb for quite some time. I recall seeing a young rider lose control on a descent in West Hollywood several years ago, run right thru a red light on Santa Monica Blvd and slam right into an Audi. The impact was so severe, the Audi's radiator was crushed and instantly spilled coolant on the street. The cyclist got up, brushed himself off and rode away. It was humorous but also foreshadowed the events of last night.

My heart goes out to Jerico's family and friends. I hope the cycling community will learn from this tragedy.

Please. Wear a helmet, and put a brake on your bike.

Like This Guy!

Or These Guys!

Keep your eyes open at all times!

Know the limits of your skills.

Always look out for your friends.

Beach House at the El Rey

Live music, when done right, is an immersive experience for the audience. The sound washes over you, filling the entire concert hall and bringing all who listen into a unified resonant frequency. Such was my experience at last night's performance by Beach House at the El Rey Theater.



Words can't describe exactly how a certain combination of sounds and rhythms result in virtuosity, but when you hear it you know it.

I have to make a confession. I had no idea that the voice singing those hauntingly beautiful songs by Beach House were a woman's. Does it matter? Sort of...



Here's a set they recorded for NPR in December 2010.


A bonus was hearing a set by Wild Nothing, a solo project of the incredibly talented Jack Tatum. The songs were poppy, danceable yet full of emotion.

Frohawk Two Feathers: We Buy Gold, We Buy Everything, We Sell Souls, at MCA Denver

Frohawk Two Feathers
The Battle of Tallow (Blood) River Or The Bear and The Wolf destroy the King of Gold and The Two Hells for enemies and traitors are opened. 1794, 2012
Graphite, and acrylic on elk hide, bison rawhide, and nails.
70" x 50"

I'm in Denver this week preparing for the opening of Frohawk Two Feathers's first solo museum exhibition at MCA Denver. The show, entitled We Buy Gold, We Buy Everything, We Sell Souls, opens this Thursday. Here's a preview of the installation.

Taylor De Cordoba is thrilled to announce that MCA Denver will present the first solo museum exhibition dedicated to the work of Frohawk Two Feathers, the pseudonym for L.A.-based artist Umar Rashid. The exhibition, entitled Frohawk Two Feathers: We Buy Gold, We Buy Everything, We Sell Souls, will be on view from June 21, 2012 through September 9, 2012, and feature more than 20 paintings, works on paper and sculpture. 

Over the course of his career, Frohawk Two Feathers has created works that provide a magnificent re-imagining of history, narrating the story of Frengland, his fictionalized empire of a combined France and England. His drawings are detailed accounts of the traditions and rituals associated with the Frenglish leaders and culture, confronting issues of racism, power, greed, and ideological opposition within an invented period during the eighteenth century. By re-imagining colonial history, his work shows the subjective nature of historical recollection. 

Co-curated by Nora Burnett Abrams and Tricia Robson, the presentation at MCA Denver focuses on key characters and battles from the initial formation and early expansion of Frengland, as well as subsequent imperial conquests and campaigns against the crown. Rooted in this early history, the artist produced new works for this exhibition that further develop the complex narrative of the Frenglish empire, expanding the scope of his earlier work to North America and linking the narrative of Frengland to Colorado.

If you're in Denver be sure to check out the show.

Portraits in the garden

Last night, I cooked salmon for a group of lovely ladies. The light was perfect so I talked them into some snapshots.


Beatrice


Jeana


Megan

The Hunger: Diana Nyad and the pursuit of an "Xtreme Dream"

In August of last year, I received a phone call that changed my life. I had just married the woman of my dreams, our art gallery was beginning to recover from the recession and I was in the early stages of launching a web development and social media consultancy business.

When I answered the phone, the voice of a close friend said to me "Alex, I have a job for you." Diana Nyad, the world champion long distance swimmer needed my help. Her attempt to swim across the Florida Straits from Cuba to Florida ended after 26 hours in the water. But she was not finished. In fact, she would be leaving for Cuba in a couple weeks to try it again, a dream that would not die, so difficult some would call it impossible, but in her mind it was a forgone conclusion that she would walk on the Florida shore 60 hours after jumping into the harbor in Havana.

I joined Diana's team as her webmaster, tasked with a similarly impossible task of keeping her website from crashing when 1 million people stopped by to get hourly updates on her progress. The blog posts I  transcribed arrived to me via a sat phone on ship to a scribe in New York and then on to me, to post on the website and spread the word on Twitter and Facebook. At all hours, I would await a phone call with the latest news to share. Being the #1 trending topic on Twitter was a heavy cross to bear! Luckily, I had many friends supporting me in this herculean effort.

Alas, Diana was stung twice by deadly box jellyfish and yet continued to swim towards her dream, until the poison forced her to abandon the swim. But quit is a word not in Diana's vocabulary. In about a month, Diana will once again set off for Cuba to make her swim across the ocean, at the youthful age of 62. When I speak to her, there is no doubt that this time she will make it. And I could not be prouder to be a part of her team.

Rivka Galchen has written an amazing profile of Diana in this month's issue of Elle Magazine. If you have ever faced a seemingly impossible challenge, take a moment to read Diana's story and be inspired to live your life with no regrets, and pursue your goals with passion and determination.