This incredible human is the lifelong woodcarver Hal Yoak. At 100 years and 9 months of age, he just made me the most amazing personalized cane, and I could not be more excited about it. I had seen some viral news coverage back in December about the jolly centenarian who spends each day making wooden toys in his garage, either for sale or for donation to a school in Mexico, and immediately knew I had to meet him. I gathered that people had quickly swooped in and cleared him out of many years’ worth of toys, so I gave it a few weeks. By the time I made it down to his place in Garden Grove in late January, I was delighted to see that not only had he finished some brand new pieces (utterly charming animals and cars), but that another significant part of his craft he was advertising were these biographical canes, mostly intended as a retirement gift. Well, I didn’t figure I could afford to wait that long, but a mid-career retrospective seemed acceptable, so I gave him a timeline of my life thus far and some reference images and waited another few weeks for him to call—and WOW! This special piece really encapsulates his charm and generosity of spirit. I certainly will treasure it for many years to come. 🪚🥹
The vibrant, intricate, often comical and always prideful murals of @rosietos1 have been among my favorite discoveries from visiting every fire station across the city, and in my continuing journey expanding county-wide. Starting in her neighborhood of Venice, she has gone on to create art for dozens of stations, leaving a mark on an astonishing percentage of these facilities. The paintings are commissioned by the crew members, who she works closely with to depict existing mascots, slogans, community landmarks, specific functions or apparatus, and the occasional personal tribute or memorial. I’ve anecdotally gotten the impression that this work is more meaningful to the firefighters than any of the more “official” public art that graces the more modern station buildings courtesy the percent for art program, the latter often beautifully honoring their work but doing so somewhat generically or abstractly. Given that fire stations are also part-time homes, it’s particularly wonderful how these works help create a sense of identity and camaraderie. Brava! 🔥🧑🚒🎨💫
“Show your love for the world’s most famous beagle and support California museums with an official Snoopy license plate!
Snoopy was chosen as an ambassador for museums because his well-rounded life and interests exemplify the kind of life-long learning that museums make possible. Snoopy’s multiple guises in the PEANUTS comic strip (e.g. WWI Flying Ace, “Joe Cool”, Olympic athlete, scout leader, writer, the first dog to fly solo across the Atlantic) relate to 20th century history and culture, a key subject in many museums.
Snoopy is a proud Californian, and being the community-minded beagle he is, understands that museums are for everybody.”
NB: I was unable to get “MUSEUM”, presumably because it was used in the promotional campaign for the Snoopy plates, but “MUSUEM” is a not uncommon misspelling, so I’ll take it. Thanks to @ca_dmv and @schulzmuseum for helping facilitate this exceedingly nerdy expression of one of my great passions. 🤓💫
#beabeaglebacker
The iconic institution known simply as the City Museum has been among a relatively small number of sites that I would file under ‘pilgrimage’ status in my longstanding quest to find the best and most interesting things that human creative expression has produced. Strange and hyperbolic as it may sound, I must admit to having a distinctly spiritual experience during my recent 3-hour visit.
Anyone who’s been to this St. Louis landmark may find the use of the term ‘museum’ here to be loosely applied, but it hardly matters since the place defies description and is so obviously in a league of its own. Local listings often bill this popular attraction simply as an artsy all-ages playground, maybe also noting the gutted airplanes you can crawl through, the ferris wheel and giant preying mantis on the roof, the historical architectural salvage repurposed to form unique environments, and the numerous slides, including spiral ones that descend 5 and 10 stories. What they fail to convey is that this place stands as an enduring testament to the ways that life can be enriched by bringing a sense of purpose and intensity to one’s work and play, a sprawling monument to how the whimsical can tip over into the awe-inspiring, and a shining example of what “freedom” in America can look like. For a country that obsessively prides itself on the latter ideal, there are vanishingly few public spaces where liability concerns haven’t systematically eliminated any possibility for authentic exploration and adventure to push the limits of personal safety in a way that is both thrilling and empowering.
I would have loved to have met the visionary founder and lead creator, Bob Cassilly, but the fact that his legacy remains intact even under corporate ownership is nothing short of a miracle. I’m grateful for the opportunity to take it all in, and will just plan to bring kneepads next time.
Over the last 5 weeks I’ve visited all 106 fire stations within the city of Los Angeles, a journey filled with amazing art that blends humor with pride, fascinating history and facilities, unique apparatus made to handle incidents across every neighborhood as well as two of the nation’s busiest airports and one massive harbor, and, most importantly, hundreds of firefighters and paramedics and others who were so generous to welcome me into their homes and who selflessly endure sometimes unspeakable challenges and hardship and danger to serve the people of the city any and every time they get a call.
This all started when I noticed an amazing decal (fire-breathing skull) on the side of an engine from Station 9 in Skid Row, and then another (mariachi skeleton) on an engine from Station 2 in Boyle Heights. We live right by LAFD’s central machine and repair shops (as well as Station 1, the oldest station building in the city that’s still in use), so lots of apparatus are regularly coming and going. I randomly rang the doorbell at Station 2 to say that I love their logo, and was immediately welcomed in and asked if I wanted to buy a t-shirt (don’t ask me how many I have now).
It’s amazing to me the extent to which I took this incredible force for granted, especially after spending the last decade as a fire lookout in the mountains not far from the city, communicating regularly with the forest service and listening to radio traffic between dispatch and the operators of engines, helicopters, water tenders, etc. The generosity and dedication of every single person I’ve met has left me profoundly inspired, endlessly intrigued, and deeply grateful for all that they do. 🔥💫
¡Viva México! From the 79th annual East LA Mexican Independence Day Parade, the oldest and largest celebration of its kind in the country. This is Los Angeles and it is America: any attempt to forcibly erase this beautiful culture from our landscape or violently remove its practitioners from our community will face powerful resistance and will ultimately fail. 🇲🇽🇺🇸💫
Quite a scene at the annual Muscle Beach Championship, which Joe Wheatley has been producing for the last 25 years. Couldn’t stick around for the whole thing, but did get to see that the awards for the vintage swimsuit contest were presented by 94-year-old Sara Clark, who was the original Miss Muscle Beach way back in 1948! 🏋️♂️💪💫
NEW EVENT! Join us on Sunday, October 5th for “The Stories & Secrets of Rubel Castle,” in Glendora. For this special event we will take a deep dive into Rubel Castle, a monumental folk architecture site, led by @rubelcastle . We will get exclusive access to their secret bar and printing on an old printing press in their print shop. Everyone will go home with a limited print. With an introduction by @toddlerew , author of Also On View: Unique and Unexpected Museums of Greater Los Angeles. You don’t wanna miss this one!! All photos by @ryanschude or @arbitrary_aperture . #rubelcastle, #curioclubla, #toddlerew, #ryanschude, #castle, #glendora, #la, #losangeles, #printingpress, #secretbar, #architecture, #event, #tour, #alsoonview
🚨New Museum Alert — Congratulations to Al Guerrero, proprietor of the Elmer McCurdy Museum & Gallery of Sideshow Attractions, set to open in October inside his beautiful West Adams home. Al is a former Imagineer who has long been intrigued by the story of McCurdy, the famed outlaw whose mummified body spent more time as a sideshow attraction and traveled farther than he ever did alive, until finally being rediscovered in 1976 by a film crew as a prop inside the Long Beach Pike funhouse ride, Laff in the Dark. Al’s new museum pays tribute to this and other stories of the odd and offbeat. It’s a labor of love with many creative details, including the only full body effigy of Elmer in existence. Many thanks to Al for his generosity of spirit and his work to keep LA weird! 🎪🎟️💫
At Butler Peak Lookout, we sometimes challenge visitors (especially younger ones) to try to find the one and only palm tree visible from this perch. Come visit if you want to look for yourself, or swipe for the spoiler. 🌴💫
Slàinte to the Celtic Arts Center, and what a joy it was to sit in on their weekly traditional Seisiún (jam session) at the time capsule clubhouse owned by the British-American Mayflower Club! There is a community out there for absolutely everyone. ☘️💫
