The Gun on the Pavement: Marc Haefele on the Santa Monica shootings and John Zawahri's gun
Law enforcement/Brian Watt
A police photo of John Zawahri's old Army Colt, found on the pavement near Marc Haefele's home in Santa Monica.
It looked kind of familiar, the handgun that John Zawahri didn’t get around to using in his Santa Monica murder rampage last week. Lying there on the pavement, three blocks from my home. Among an infantry squad’s worth of ammunition for his automatic rifle and the other paraphernalia of mass murder.
Zawahri was reportedly carrying 1,300 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition—hundreds of dollars worth of cartridges at today’s prices. Most of these cartridges were loaded into rifle magazines of 20 to 30 rounds capacity— the sale, but not the possession, of which is a felony in this state, according to the Attorney General’s website. The gun he used turned out to be a replica AR-15, assembled from presumably mail-order parts. Both the AR-15 (a version of which was long the US Army's standard rifle) and its imitations are illegal in this state. Particularly with those super-sized magazines. Just having a gun like this in your closet is a very serious crime.
Rabe heresy: A real martini includes vermouth
John Rabe
A perfect martini, with measurable amounts of dry vermouth.
From the days of Winston Churchill, who would only scowl at the vermouth from across the room, to author E.B. White, who would mix martinis in pitchers on summer days, then drink the whole thing, to certain modern macho types, a "martini" means cold gin and nothing more.
First of all, that's not a cocktail, friends. You could keep a bottle of gin in the freezer and swig from it and achieve the same effect. (I'm not against this practice; it's just not a mixed drink, nor especially restful.)
Secondly, the gin-centrics are missing the big news of the 21st century: you can get good dry vermouth. Yes, if all you can get is Trader Joe’s horrid Ponti or the only slightly less vile Martini & Rossi or Cento, you might use an eyedropper to put vermouth in your martini. But at any good liquor store, there’s now Dolin, the French vermouth. And some even carry Vya, the California-made vermouth that comes in Extra Dry and Whisper Dry. The website’s martini recipe would horrify Sir Winston:
What the French are good at: driving
John Rabe
A car in France.
If you followed us on Facebook, you’d know that I spent the last couple weeks in France. The French get a lot of heat for many things – the guillotine, dog poop on the sidewalk, Serge Gainsbourg, Napoleon Dynamite -- but you may not complain about their driving.
From Paris to Avignon to Montélimar, I drove the lanes, streets, highways, and freeways of France. I encountered thousands of drivers, and only one was what I’d call a bad driver. He was a jerk driving a huge SUV way too fast one a 1-1/2 lane country road on the way to the town of Lussan, and who very nearly caused an accident. I’m assuming he was an American, or a fan of the movie Ronin.
This was a movie, not real life. In real life, when driving, the French do a number of things we might consider wrong, or “foreign.”
Abutilons to succulents: Descanso Gardens Memorial Day Plant Sale
Richly Chheuy, Flickr Creative Commons
Descanso Gardens
On Memorial Day, the Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge will hold a sale where you can buy plants to take home with you -- from abutilons to succulents.
Prices range from $3 for smaller plants, to $9 for the larger ones.
The sale will take place on the Magnolia Lawn. Monday, May 27, 9am - 4:30pm at the Descanso Gardens: 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. More info here.
Experimental filmmaker Phil Solomon comes to Los Angeles
Courtesy Phil Solomon
Still from "Remains to be Seen" by Phil Solomon
Courtesy Phil Solomon
Still from "The Snowman" by Phil Solomon
Courtesy Phil Solomon
Still from Psalm II: "Walking Distance" by Phil Solomon
Courtesy Phil Solomon
Still from "The Exquisite Hour" by Phil Solomon
Courtesy Phil Solomon
Still from "Nocturne" by Phil Solomon
Courtesy Phil Solomon
Triptych capture from "American Falls" (2000-2012) by Phil Solomon
Filmmaker Phil Solomon's works are coming to Los Angeles, beginning with an installation at Young Projects at the Pacific Design Center which runs through August 2.
Solomon's experimental films aren't your typical movie-watching experience. Watching a Solomon film feels less like watching a movie than looking into a kaleidoscope or opening your eyes underwater -- a haunting, dreamlike experience.
Sometimes Solomon's works are a little scary, like his 1978 silent black and white piece "The Passage of the Bride," in which eerie faces subliminally flash across the frame. In some of his more recent works, Solomon even used digital backdrops from video games like "Grand Theft Auto" to create ghostly landscapes.
You can catch Phil Solomon in person at REDCAT on Monday, May 20 where several of his films and digital works will be screened, including "What's Out Tonight is Lost" (1983) and "In Memoriam" (2005-09). Tickets and more info at REDCAT's website.
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