Friday, October 16, 2009

SPACE: ART CENTER, LIVING, OUTTER

Yesterday I had a wonderful, inspiring day. First, I picked up my friend Sheila and took pictures of her cool, wonderfully decorated apartment. I especially loved her oven!

After we went to see Caleb Deschanel (Zooey Deschanel's father) speak at Art Center. I haven't been up there in over a year. I think I finally feel an appreciation for my time there and can look back with fondness for the experience. Some things have changed, but a lot is still the same. It definitely brought back memories.



The location of Art Center is truly amazing. It's nestled up in a hill near the San Gabriel Mountains of Pasadena, and sometimes it seems as if you are miles away from the rest of the world. My favorite places to spend time (what little there was) were in the Art Center cafeteria, and outside the cafeteria on the lawn. You could almost forget all the stress you felt sitting on the grass. The food wasn't too bad either--for a cafeteria. I've definitely had worse.

One of my favorite things to see now is all the student projects going on in the halls. I loved it when I was in school too, but sometimes I was too busy or stressed out to really take the time to stop. Now when I go back I feel in awe of what a great creative environment it was with so many talented people.



Caleb Deschanel was very down to earth. At times, I was a bit lost by some of the tech speak, and I know a bit about film, ASAs, and the like. He did give some hopeful advice about working in a creative industry, he talked about digital influences on the film industry, and showed us a wonderful short film he made about trains. Some of the shots were so beautiful and perfectly exposed. The film was in B&W with fantastic ambient sounds and some George Gershwin music dubbed over. You definitely could see why he has become such a successful DP, and it made me want to give our train system a chance. Although, the film was shot in the 70s and he even conferred most of the service aspect of train travel has since disappeared.

In the evening we went hiking up to the Griffith Observatory. I really wish I had brought my camera up there because the skyline was the richest shade of red I have ever seen here. 2001 A Space Odyssey comes to mind. We watched the sunset over the city, and I chatted with some Argentine tourists. It made me very nostalgic for my time in Argentina, where I was this time last year. I love the way they speak Spanish there, and Buenos Aires really is an amazing city. We also had a chance to see Jupiter and her moons through a high powered telescope. Apparently, they have a telescope out on most clear nights, and it's FREE! I obviously couldn't take a photo of this either, but below is my interpretation of how I remember it.


Very cool! The visit left me pondering how vast and yet how small our universe is, and how things can be so chaotic and yet sometimes seamlessly come together at the perfect moment as Jupiter came into view on a rare clear night in Los Angeles.

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