Geary Concert Hall

It's a very beautiful building, nice lines, and really jazzes up downtown LA. The craftsmanship however is a problem. The angles don't really meet properly and the edges are coming apart. If this were a sculpture, my professor would definitely take issue with the execution. The first two shots show the beauty, but in the second two you can see where it's coming apart. And then, down at the bottom you can see an afterthought "band-aid" to cover the rough edges so people don't get hurt.

Clubbing in Tahoe

Back in LA!

Dagueneau tasting at Campanile

Can't possibly pass up on an opportunity like this... Got to taste through Silex, Pur Sang, and the Pouilly Fume, each specifically paired with a course. Brandy chose to do the Gruner Veltliner flight. Manifred Krankl of Sine Qua Non is one of the owners of Campanile, so I was hoping there might be some possibly moderately priced SQN on the wine list. Nope. 02 Chorea for $2,000. Instead, we had the Kerner.

Lake Tahoe Degenerates

Deluxe Accommodations

Kickin it at Jesse and Chris's Trailer. Thing is though, it was actually a pretty nice trailer park with a Lake Tahoe beach front access. I think I'll get them a "Fuck with this trailer, you fuck with this whole trailer park!" sign.

Closing out the Snowboarding season in Tahoe

That's Lake Tahoe in the distance as we made our way up in the gondola towards Heavenly.

Bodhisattvas of Three Rivers

So Eric's Dad, Niel Fishback, invited me up to come visit and check out Sequoia National Park. As life would have it, Niel was Maezumi Roshi's Dentist, and good friend. Niel had also lived in residence at ZCLA for three years before moving up to Three Rivers, at the base of Sequoia National Park. Niel is one of the more naturally and genuinely generous people you could ever hope to meet. Nothing could seem to make him happier than sitting down with you, cracking a beer, and hearing about your day in the park.
Up top is a picture of a mandala Roshi did for Niel, prominently displayed in his sitting room, and a shot of Niel and his friend Thomas out on the porch. (Niel wanted to make sure I got the roses in the picture) Thomas by the way is working on a project to set up non for profit breweries in South East Asia called Robin hood with all of the profits going towards clean water plants in disaster areas. We sat and spoke of the similarities and differences between the Tsunami and Katrina Victims. I think Thomas is really onto something and look forward to seeing his plans come through (and tasting some of his beer, he's got quite a rep as a brewer)

Moro Rock

The big Granite monolith of Sequoia National is Moro Rock. Here it is from a distance, on the way up to the top, and the view from...

Rock faces and Glens

Saw a small sign on the side of the road as I was driving in the first day, and pulled over. No maps or mention of this spot on the main map. I followed the water up though, and scrambled up some rocks and found a nice rock pool with VERY cold water and decided I needed to strip down and jump in. Cold as it was, the sun warmed me right up.

Random Waterfalls

This first one, trickles over the side of the mountain as you make your way up and into Sequoia National. How perfect, just a little hello as you make your way in. The next was after turning a corner on a trail way up a narrow dirt road, until suddenly this was there.

Lone Giant

This particular Sequoia was near a big open meadow, slightly up a hill and clawing at some rocks with it's giant roots. Not too far away is Squatter's cabin and the croaking of hundreds of frogs. Double click on this image to get an idea of how much larger sequoias are than normal pines. It looks as if the other trees are way off in the distance, but they're not, that's the true difference in size.
The conditions need to be perfect for Sequoias and the west slope of the Sierra-Nevadas in California is the only place in the world where they grow naturally. They need vast amounts of water, but must be out of the actual meadows or they'll fall over due to their shallow roots. Each spot these giants have found is a special place that has required just the right situation for thousands of years. I found a cozy spot nestled between three of them in a small grove and took a nap.

Sequoia National Forest

This is the root base to a giant 2,300 year old Sequoia that fell in 1959. Amazing to think that this tree pre-dated Jesus.
John Muir after exploring Giant Forest wrote, "When I entered this sublime wilderness, the day was nearly done, the trees with rosy countenances seemed to be hushed and thoughtful, as if waiting in conscious religious dependence on the sun, and one naturally walked softly and awestricken among them."

The top of some...

Very Big Trees

This cluster of three trees as one was my favorite, some were bigger, or older, but this one, or three, depending how you see it was something special, like something out of Lord of the Rings. The base of the tree, btw, is about the size of a car.