Friday, June 29, 2012

trash porn, pt 13


shattered dream not yet worth putting in the trash.  it may still have life.  but for who?

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

dark rites



continuing with the "weird, large object carried on train" motif, we have here what i can only guess is an art project.  from this distance, it looks like a paper mache ram's head.  usually, if i associate "ram" and "shaved head" and "train rider," the professional football team that used to be in l.a. comes to mind.  this experience shows i need to add "dark wizard, possibly egyptian (see pharoah goatee)" to the list.

in one of the more bizarre coincidences, just a couple of days later, another member of the army of darkness waits by this very same light pole.


wait, no, it's no coincidence!  this gold line platform is where the mayan spirits will rise on dec 12 and smote all us into ... wait for it ... (according to wikipedia) ... wait for it ... the next ... drum roll please ... b'ak'tun (to the best of my knowledge, that's sort of like y2k, but for mayans.  whooo hoooo!!  costume party in a very small coffin dressed as a god with a ram's head!)

Saturday, June 23, 2012

hot wheels double loop

this blog is probably too boring for all the extreme sports types out there.  but, when there's a spectacle as big as the hot wheels double loop being constructed just outside your bus's window, it seems both picture-worthy and post-worthy.  so here are the pictures i got from the bus (look closely for the hard water spots on the bus window).


though this was completely unintentional, the banner there at the bottom will give all you curious folks a place to go look up more information on this big, orange beast.  basically, it looks like hot wheels is taking one of their tracks that they make for toy cars and making a real one for the EXTREEEEEEEME drivers of the games.  it's funny what can happen when kids grow up and get SHITLOADS of money to spend on whatever they want.


i like this one because those things up on top of the crane are construction dudes with hard hats.  they look like ants up there, which gives you some idea just how big this thing is.  also, you can see that the loop over there on the left is being held up by a giganticer crane and isn't quite in place yet (no, the iphone camera doesn't suck that much at distance shots).  depending on which direction someone is trying to drive through the loop, that kink could either be just a slight jolt or the thing that really ruins your day.  this is actually evident in the first picture too, now that i look a little more closely.

while i'm sure the actual stunts that will be done on this contraption will actually be more impressive to the world than the construction and design of it, this is one more little reminder of how nerds bring the world to life.

Friday, June 22, 2012

irony of ... iron (or maybe aluminum)

i've seen a lot of crazy contraptions associated with bikes.  there are those trailers for taking your kids.  there are those weird things that go on in front instead that are almost as big as the kid-size trailers.  there was the candyland bike.  and this guy (not really a contraption, but still associated with a bike).  and then, there's the thing pictured below.


that there is an oxygen tank strapped to a bike with a hose feeding the nostrils of the rider.  what's the irony here?  well, what if this person were playing a pick-up game of basketball with the tank on his back?  i guess i just don't associate heightened physical activity with someone who needs an oxygen tank.  and there's the delicate issue of what happens in an accident and the tank regulator gets knocked off.

nonetheless, you gotta hand it to this guy.  he'll use a lot less oxygen biking to the hospital (trust me, he was on his way there) than walking.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

hatching art egg

the artwork below wraps around a pillar.  i've never been able to make much sense of it, even after reading the artist's statement, but there's hand art all over that others are connoisseurs of and might be able to shed some light.

hand and balls/eggs
occasionally, i think the hand on the top is throwing these ball/egg things to the set of hands in the picture below.  but then the butterfly hands on the bottom just make me think of a curb your enthusiasm episode.

passing the baton eggs
and here is one final airborne ball/egg thing with what may be expectant hands.

more ball/eggs and hands on pillar
oh, look at that.  one of the ball/egg things is hatching.  i'm hoping a baby dino crawls out of this thing in the next year or so.


Friday, June 15, 2012

people talkin to themselves

back in boston, there used to be this guy who would wear parts of a military uniform, cap and jacket most of the time depending on the weather.  he would march on occasion, but mostly just gave speeches.  the words he used didn't match any language i recognized, mostly hissing and spitting sounds.  we called him "fidel."

he was never waiting for a bus or anything.  that was just his spot, where he was allowed to talk to his following of zero without harassment.  i've come across a decent number of people who talk to themselves.  but for the first time one of them was talking scientology, in rhythm no less.  it was kind of like that talk-sing crap that bone, thugs n harmony passed along to destiny's child.

                                    GEE
ron__          sci       tah  luh  
     hub  bard      en


                                    GEE
ron__          sci       tah  luh  
     hub  bard      en


his sermon wasn't much.  mostly just said a lot of people's names over and over again.  i didn't recognize most of them.  i think trump might've been in there.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

eyelashes and drugs

i often notice the beauty treatments of people who ride the train (see any of my nails posts for instance).  that's probably just because it's where i see the most strangers every day.  if i were a courier and walked into a bunch of different office buildings every day or a ticket-taker for the greek theater, maybe i'd notice the beauty treatments there too.  of course, sometimes beauty treatments just kinda jump out at you.


like these lashes.  they may not be the longest.  they may not be the thickest.  but it wouldn't surprise me if they were the heaviest.  this picture doesn't really do them justice, but tried as i might to get a better picture, i couldn't.

when googling for more profile lash shots to compare to (i thought the shape of the above a bit odd), i came across another bizarre twist of science.  one could argue the entire pharmaceutical industry is built on side-effects.  putting it that way's probably a bit of an insult to the r&d folks, but if any of them deny taking advantage of accidentally discovered side-effects, i simply refer to the most famous neurotoxin in vanity-driven los angeles, botox.  well, i don't want to be advertising, but let's just say there's a glaucoma medication that leads to longer, thicker lashes.  now if only we could be certain about what all the side-effects are, i might get on the drugs-for-beauty campaign.

Friday, June 8, 2012

free swag fashionable?

every once in awhile, a bunch of girls going to fidm (fashion institute of design and merchandising) get on the train together.



as is typical of this demographic, there's always all kinds of talk about, well, things.  this teacher did that and another girl did this and did you see what she was wearing and oh my god how was your date.  amongst all this, i just got one question.  the bags clearly fit the m in fidm, but do they really scream out f-able (remember, f is for fashion)?

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

first responders and coffee...again


ok, lafd, i'm sure you had a valid reason for being at this location.  but you don't exactly inspire confidence when you gather in groups this large under a coffee shop's umbrella as patrons.  maybe they've been hanging out with the l.a. sheriff's deputies.

Friday, June 1, 2012

creative ways to pass the time

i used to love jumping rope.  what happened?  i became old enough to go to high school.  this girl has yet to give in to the pressures of life that forced jumping rope out of my life.


ooohhh!  this is more my speed.  a lot of people simply listen to their headphones.  much more brainpower and time is required to undo a gordian knot of frustration.  unlike a rubik's cube, the challenge is vastly different, every single time.  this puzzle managed to keep this person busy the whole time they were riding.