“Buzz” Aldrin-1969

Amidst the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, we never really take the time to realize the quiet and powerful beauty of the universe we live in. Nasa Images recently came out with a digital archive of their space images taken from the past 50 years and made it available for the the public to see, and share with others.

Kepler’s Supernova Remnant

“Mountains of Creation”– Where stars are created.

As an attempt to make space exploration and all of its esoteric mysteries a topic of real collaborative discussion here on Earth, Nasa created the “Guest Showcase” series, where various authorities in the fields of art, science, entertainment, business and academia curate exhibitions. The first was Pasadena Art Center’s Art Director, Stephen Nowlin who created a video titled, Things That Float. So sit back and relax with a glass of a fine red:

Funny thing is when scrolling down the list of names, all these potential ideas for awesome screen names or pseudonyms came to mind. These NASA guys really thought about the captions for some of these images! My favorite? The Sombrero Galaxy. teehee Don’t judge me, but I also tried looking up “alien” in the search box. A crap shoot, but secretly hoping…

The Sombrero Galaxy

All images from Nasa Images

As far as I know, this was the first art walk of its kind for Echo Park. Our good friends Heather and Marc Mertens put this together. Got to visit some amazing studios, the most memorable being sculptor Peter Shire. You probably know his brother, Billy Shire of Soap Plant Wacko and his gallery here in LA.

Peter has been an Angeleno native, specifically Echo Park since childhood. His studio is massive, over 10,000 square feet, complete with every tool imaginable, sculptures all over the place, and a library of design books. Here is Peter Shire and his wife, Donna Shire.

We picked up some of these ceramic cups from Peter’s studio, each one splattered with rad colors, all one of a kind.

Also got to meet Ricky Kim of Evil Monito. We have corresponded via email years back, when Poketo first started in 2003. At the time, Ricky sent me his rad toy he created with AdFunture and we sent him some wallets. Crazy how it took 6 years to finally meet, super cool guy.

The Grill ‘Em All truck was out front. Probably the best looking truck and logo I’ve seen yet. They make burgers.

Mr. Marc Mertens, one of the brains behind the walk.

Visit Echo Park!

Come celebrate opening night with The Wild Up Modern Music Collective–a 24-man group of musicians coming together to create a unique atmosphere of art and music. Tonight’s premiere will be a progression of classical music to present-day with a program consisting of J.S. Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Igor Stravinsky – Dumbarton Oaks, and John Adams – Chamber Symphony and a few outstanding orchestrations of Radiohead, by Joshua Bornfield.

Here’s a little taste of Joshua Bornfield’s beautiful music doing his acoustic rendition of Villa-Lobos Prelude No. 5:

What an awesome way to make classical music relevant and interesting again. I’ll be there tonight. It should be a perfect ending to your hectic week!

Just read an article in the OC Register regarding cultural faux pas which I thought to be kind of obvious and common. Along with some of their recommendations of never sticking chopsticks in a rice bowl (which is representative of the incense in an urn), they also discuss never raising your voice at someone who doesn’t understand English in the hopes that a louder voice will magically teach them the language. (Duh!)

What I’m curious about is knowing from our readers what kinds of cultural faux pas we should be aware of–particularly regarding the dining experience. Classic one every knows and loves: the Japanese and their noodle slurping.

Another one I’m really gung-ho about is Soju-shot receiving. Receive with two hands if received by an elder. Receive with one if received by friend or younger person.

It was also interesting to read that some cultures find it polite to arrive 30 minutes after start time of a dinner event, and in certain parts of Mexico, it’s better to leave some food at the end of your meal instead of cleaning your plate.

France–don’t put bread on plate. It’s okay and more common to put it on table. (yes, even with crumbs!)

What’s something you’ve had to discover first-hand that you had made a cultural faux pas? Or what do people do that irk you because it’s a faux pas in your own respective culture?

Taken from Arts for LA website:

Join Arts for LA at the Los Angeles City Council meeting TODAY to give public testimony regarding the value of the Department of Cultural Affairs.

This motion will go before Council for a vote this TODAY. Show the City Council the power of the arts community by attending the council meeting. We need to remind Council of just how important the arts are to Los Angeles.

This would be a serious detriment to the development and nourishment of the arts and culture in Los Angeles! Even if you can’t attend the council meeting tonight, spread the word!

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz around San Gabriel’s food scene, and knew I had to contact my old roommate from college to show me around the area. In the past few weeks, I’ve discovered so many hidden gems: dim sum, pho, banh mi, warm and gooey red bean desserts…My newest discovery?? All you can eat HOT POT @ Amrose Restaurant. I was unable to take pictures when I went, but these pics taken from their Yelp page pretty accurately represents my experience there:

It’s basically like the Chinese version of Shabu Shabu. Supposedly the dual broth they serve you is more of “Szechuan”-style with their bold seasoning and spicy broth. And for 15 dollars, you can eat all you want–even seafood and meat!

Lots of different variation of sauces. We had the garlic oil one.

All topped off with some good ol’ Taiwan beer.

Highly recommended for anyone willing to track out into the valley.

Amrose Hot Pot
529 E Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776

I was so happy to hear that Spike Jonze teamed up with yet another company, Absolut, to create a 30-minute robot love story that was featured at Sundance 2010. Titled, I’m Here, the short film–or really really long advertisement, doesn’t feature any blatant plugs of the vodka, but like any other ad that’s out there, it’s suggestive. The movie’s trailer seems pretty cute. But when you get down to it, it’s an advertisement for alcohol, and tells us that by consuming Abolut, we too can have “out-of-the-ordinary” experiences.

True that.

Remember this hilarious IKEA commercial he did back in the day?

And my favorite, the mini music vid he did for Lakai. Pretty much the only thing I’ve seen out there that’s made me so moved by the actual sport of skateboarding. So beautiful.

Love that “Lone Ranger” touch he does at the end as the skateboarder rides into the sunset.

I’ve recently come across this cool key-calendar by Takumi. It’s beautiful in design and makes you anticipate the next day just with the sound of a “click.” I’m not quite sure what else it does. It would be pretty cool if it triggered an automated voice reciting a proverb to keep you spiritually nourished for the rest of the day.

We’re always looking for new and innovative ways of making the every day a special day.