Philippine Butterfly

Archive for January, 2010

I don’t think I’m the only one who first thinks of Richard Nixon when they remember Elvis Presley.  For both of their sakes, I wish the picture didn’t exist in my head at all, but there was something about it that seemed and still seems so iconic to me.  He was as famous as anyone could ever get.  In order to set foot at the door of the White House of all places, completely gone halfway to the moon and four sheets to the wind, carrying a pistol, and be invited in rather than taken down and beaten like a savage dog is a feat only this King could get away with.  Even the Queen Mother has probably had a few shakedowns in public places before, but this is something entirely different.

There’s also something terrible iconic about Fort Lauderdale.  Where luxury hotels are every bit as decadent as you can imagine, and there is a gorgeousness of the place that still carries some of the traces of its spring break glory.  There’s a lot more to it these days, of course, but it’s easy sometimes to sit back on the water and start to see Elvis.  It could be his ghost, or it could be any number of impersonators who work at being him in town.

This kind of legacy is a fascinating one, and is kind of like Genet’s idea where love means the desire to become the other person.  Or it could be simply that there are a lot of people out there who remember Girl Happy in a better light than I do.  It would be one thing to think about Elvis and clams on the beach, but to have to live it every single day would be Sartre’s real nightmare.  Fortunately, nothing and everything can happen here in the course of any afternoon, and the best part about it is that the beach will still call you, no matter what you may have done the day before.

No matter what city I find myself in, I try to check out the local museums, whether it’s Kansas City, Missouri or Miami, Florida, I’m drawn to museums as an expression of that city’s culture and heritage, of what people there think of as art and how that affects their lives.  It’s true that some people never make it inside a museum, just as some people never go to the theater, but it’s a life experience that they’re denying themselves which has the capacity to enrich them in ways they would never think possible.  After all, art is communication with others — sometimes living, sometimes dead — but always communicating an emotion, an experience, an attitude, even ideas, whether they’re political or not.  There’s always something in the work itself that’s of interest.  Let’s use the Miami Art Museum (MAM) as an example.
 
Imagine yourself traveling to Miami, staying the night in its fine hotels, and, next day,  investigating the MAM.  Currently, until February 28th, you’ll find a Portuguese artist’s first solo exhibit, Carlos Bunga: Metamorphosis.  The exhibit contains two large structures, made from material that will perish, like packing tape and cardboard.  The idea here is to emphasize the idea of impermanence, of crisis and decay.  In part, they resemble street shelters and, placed in specific sites, create a discussion with its surroundings.  How do we get the idea of crisis and decay from structures of cardboard?  This is not just an exhibit to be watched, like a painting, but to be witnessed, like a performance, with the artist himself, one evening, cutting and tearing open the cardboard structures, exposing inner layers and meaning as he does.  For me, it’s sometimes difficult to find meaning in these works without program notes, but I always feel like I’m gaining something, exposed to the ideas of others, especially those outside my frame of cultural reference.
 
In this case, Carlos Bunga’s work seems to be a part of a larger whole.  The museum is also exhibiting as a group, Space as Medium, which explores the idea of the artist working directly with the physical spaces in which the exhibit is installed — reacting to the floors, ceilings, and walls.  These works are by artists William Anastasi, Rachel Whiteread, Lynda Benglis, Nicolas Lobo, Tom Burr, Ryan Gander, and Katharina Groose, as well as Wade Guyton, and meant to be, like most art, a conversation between the artists of the 1960s and the younger artists for whom the older artists were an influence.  I may not always understand what I’m seeing, but if I take away an idea, no matter how small or large, I’m satisfied.

Once we arrived in Santa Monica, we headed straight for the beach and what a great beach it is! The sandy beach area was wide, which gave plenty of room for plenty of people. The beach was clean and beautiful! There were no pebbles or stones like our beaches back home. The ocean was a deep blue and in the background were the Hollywood Hills. It was picture prefect.

We went on the Santa Monica Pier and rode on the roller coaster, but not together, one of us had to watch each others bags. The roller coaster was massive, it was hard for me to believe that it was sitting on a wood pier above the ocean and that it was stable and all. But, even with my worries, it sure was fun. After about an hour on the Pier, and enjoying some of the best ice cream, we walked down to Muscle Beach. This is where body-builders come to workout and flex their muscles, showing off really. I couldn’t help look down at my pudgy stomach and feel somewhat flabby compared to these blokes. I was trying to show off by lifting myself up on the ‘chin-up’ bars, but all I managed to do is make all the muscle men laugh.

We walked further down and came across Venice Beach, then headed to the Santa Monica shopping district where I found Abercrombie and Fitch. After a very brief look inside, it was time to check into our nice hotel in Santa Monica, which we made reservation for one night only. After we found the hotel, we dropped our bags and went back out to find some high-end pet store, we wanted to see what kind of dogs were ‘in’ in California and to buy a nice souvenir for our dog Cha-Cha back home. They had all these puppies running around and they were so cute, so terribly cute, it was really hard to leave the store puppy-less.

We caught the bus to Universal City, we didn’t have much time to spend there, but what we did get to do was a total blast. We had dinner there and then caught the bus back to Santa Monica and back to our hotel for the night.

There are many chances to enjoy the outdoors in Los Angeles.  Not only are there many different activities to partake in, but just about 365 days a year to do them, give or take a few days during the months of January or February, for contrary to the popular myth that it never rains in Southern California, it does a bit, and when it does it pours.  Many people like to spend their visits to the city taking in the historical sites, such as a walk down Sunset or Hollywood Boulevards.  Others prefer to spend their days on the beach, surfing, playing volleyball, or biking up and down the boardwalk.  For a list of great hotels along the beaches and in the city of Los Angeles, click here.

But one thing that visitors may not be aware of, are the numerous hiking trails located throughout LA and the neighboring cities.  Most hikes you will find in LA are easy to moderate in difficulty, and offer not only incredible views of the city and the coastline, but walks through some incredible flourishing areas, with tall trees, flowers and wildlife.  One fantastic hike is up to the Griffith Park Observatory. This is known as the West Trail Loop and offers not only views of the Observatory itself, but of the famed “Hollywood” sign and the Los Angeles Basin.  Located along Los Feliz Boulevard is the Fern Dell Park and Picnic area.  This is where the trail up to the Observatory begins.  Be sure and bring you camera as you will have many opportunities for some really grand shots of the city.

And for the Santa Monica Waterfall Hike…yes, there is a waterfall in those mountains, you would head up the Pacific Coast Highway, and turn off at East Winding Way.  You will hike back into Escondido Canyon for about a mile until you reach the falls.  The best time for this hike is during the springtime months, as they follow the rainy season and the falls are will be active with the water from those heavy rains.  There are many trails throughout the mountains, in the middle of this city, and it is a great way for those who live in the middle of it all, to get out for a bit of a respite from the hectic days sitting on the 405, or the 101, or the 10.  And for first time visitors, they see that the city is much more than movie stars and surfing…although, there is quite a lot of both of those too.

The Dallas Cowboys have been a iconic figure for the city, state and even nation for many decades. They are known throughout the world and are favorites for football fans all over, even for people who are not from or have an association to Dallas. And while some of the greatest football stars of all time, like running back Tony Dorsett and quarterback Troy Aikman. That’s not to overlook equally respected, or at least arguably near it or maybe even slightly higher, Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin. Okay, so there are even more that should not go nameless and save for the fact that listing off the great players isn’t the intention of this writing, they wouldn’t. However, it should, and sometimes is, pointed out that one of the reasons they are so popular all over the world is also part of their legendary status. Their cheerleaders are as well known and adored as the team itself. And they are partly responsible for raising the status of cheerleader to a socially respected and sought after position. In fact, it has been, and probably will continue to be, argued that the cheerleaders are as fundamental to the Cowboys as the players themselves.

The cheerleading section for the Cowboys is definitely a visitor draw and something many of the guests staying in a hotel Dallas look forward to seeing. And while they may know some or all of their names, they are less likely to know the history of how they became so popular or what it takes to become and remain a Cowboys Cheerleader. They are also unlikely to remember or know that during the 1960s the cheerleading squad for Dallas was composed of both male and female high school cheer squads. In those early days cheerleading was rarely considered to be a significant aspect of the game and little attention was given to their visual appeal potential. The major renovation in Dallas’ cheerleading squad was due to an attempt to create greater audience attendance. It certainly did the trick and these cheerleaders have become some of the most popular in the world.

This was the summer that we had planned to cross the country in my volkswagen van.  We thought we might even have it shipped over the ocean to Europe, to continue that leg of our tour, if things we going well enough.  They did go well enough, but not enough to have the money to ship a bus overseas, but that doesn’t matter all that much.  My friends said that New York was going to be the biggest challenge, because it’s not easy to sleep in your vehicle in New York.  That turns out to be very true.

It’s also difficult to get into New York restaurants when you only shower every week or so.  Some cities are more accommodating than others, by in Manhattan, they’re picky about smell.  It’s probably a good thing for everyone, in hindsight.  We really wanted to visit this restaurant, however, where my aunt had once, long ago, enjoyed the best dinner conversation of her life, with a Frankfurt school anarchist who told her about everything he’d learned after the war.  I wanted to have that conversation.  We found a friend who was willing to put us up long enough for a nap and a shower, and we were booked for a meal.

It was splendid, actually, but our favorite conversation was with each other, the continuation of a long dialogue that began before the van even.  We didn’t see any Marxists we could recognize, but we did see the supermodel Adina Fohlin, or at least someone who could certainly pass for her.  She’s from Sweden, and her commercial for Apoliva has caused 100 000 Swedes to join a group for people who are scared of her.  We decided to go to Sweden next, bus or no bus, because any culture that has that kind of sense of humor is worth visiting.