AMGENA Tour of California Stage 1 Here!

Stage One of AMGEN's Tour of California just start here in Davis at noon.
It's Lance Armstrong's first race out of retirement. It's pretty cool but super wet.
Here is what we wrote about the race in 2007.
Tom and The Monkey are over at the starting line watching "pro cyclists, cause my dad use to be pro cyclist...he rides fast."
Oh, Tom's good ol'days.

Ahh, An Early Campy Christmas Memory...

We all know, when you have kids, you begin to remember things from your own childhood more often than you did before you had them. Case in point, Christmas memories. Now, Tom and I both grew up in Los Angeles but his memories are a bit different than mine (maybe he'll post something about his). My earliest Christmas memory is from 1975 and is very L.A. In my family, we would go to the local lot and get our tree the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We would get the decorations and lights out and begin decorating after dinner, while watching on the tube "The Hollywood Christmas Parade". Yes, "The Hollywood Christmas Parade". Over the years, watching the parade was huge. We couldn't wait to see what movie and t.v. stars would grace every one's presence along the parade route (with their microphones rarely working and with the audience always screaming too loud for them to hear the announcers questions about their latest movie or show, all along waving and smiling, well most of time). Like any parade, it would have a Grand Marshall and in 1975 it was the cast of The Waltons, John-Boy and all. Other Grand Marshalls over the years were, George Peppard (from my brothers' favorite show at the time The A Team), Michael Landon (Pa from Little House) and Tony Danza (Who's the Boss?). Hot? Not. Then at the end, Santa would ride his sleigh down Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. Classy? Not.
Hmmm...not quiet the snow falling, Christmas caroling, chestnut roasting, mistletoe hanging perfect first Christmas memory one would have but oh well it's mine.
Merry Christmas and Good Night John-Boy.

Artsy Fartsy

This past Tuesday night, I was fortunate enough to be artsy fartsy again (it's been awhile) for a couple of hours with my (our) dear friend Sara.
UC Davis' Art Department Gallery, is presenting a show, You See, which shows off works of past faculty, Wayne Thiebaud (Uncle Wayne), Manuel Neri, William T. Wiley, Roy De Forest and Robert Arneson. After the reception, there was a panel discussion with the three surviving artists, Thiebaud, Neri and Wiley. The discussion as a whole was O.K. (we felt the moderator could have done a much better job) but for me, it felt so good to be back in an academic setting listening to, Thiebaud and Neri specifically, discussing what art is, teaching and old stories of the notorious group. These men are our generation's great artists.

Thiebaud was one of my teachers when I was a student at UC Davis (I have degrees in Art Studio and Art History). I took three courses from him (2 painting and 1 theory) and admired him since 1995, when he was an artist in residence at my old junior college in Pasadena, CA. In our household, we call him Uncle Wayne, for his kindness, openness and wittiness towards teaching and life. He is someone truly unique not only to the art world, but the world as a whole. Gosh, I'd love to go to that theory class with a cup of coffee and listen to him talk. The time would fly. He's 86, teaching and a true painter. I will never forget him saying to us, "Paint what you know. Search within yourselves. There is only one of you, that is what will make your art unique."
So true.

Neri is one of my favorite sculptors (along with, Hesse and Giacometti), for his beautifully formed and isolated nudes and complex surfaces and textures. And oh, I love his drawings. I'm a sucker for well drawn nudes, especially one's with a great use of gesture and lines. Mmmmm, yummy. He opens his studio up every once and awhile and I've been so lucky to have gone a couple of times. Neri's figures hold life. You can feel the energy when you're in a room full of them or see one alone in a museum.

Plastic God

The family did something crazy and went to San Francisco for 1/2 a day to see our dear friend Plastic God. He had been asked to paint a room for Hotel D'Arts, in his notorious style. Plastic God and nina go way back, about 15 years. We met at Pasadena City College, where we were taking design, painting and drawing classes. He knew he was an artist, nina didn't know anything. Plastic God went on to The Art Center, worked in the corporate world, quit that and now makes his cool heads that he is famous for (nina has Billy Idol and Police). nina went on to drift around (a.k.a party), fall in love, finish school and now makes baby and kids clothes. Strange where life takes you. It was great to see him and talk about things, past, present and future, all the while having The Monkey run around the pub. I'm so glad were still friends and miss the old days a little.

Tour of California in Our Little Town

Yesterday, the Tour of California came whizzing through our little town of Davis. It was a nice break to go outside and watch some of the world's finest cyclists race down B Street. For us, cycling has an important history. When Tom and I met, almost 12 years ago, he was an American pro and I worked behind the counter at a coffee house in Los Angeles. While training in the local mountains, "Hot Cyclist Guy" used to come in and order a cappuccino before his rides and I would gladly make it for him. The rest of the story is like a tour it's self, long, hard and challenging. We are not sure what stage we are at yet or who has the yellow jersey but realize we have a ways to go. (I think I'm kicking his ass.)