It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Relay for Life

(ABOVE) Santa Monica Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom, places a survivor's medal on Nat Trives during the 6th Annual Relay for Life of Santa Monica on Saturday, July 26, 2008, at Crossroads Elementary School. (TOP) Left to Right: Santa Monica Police Chief Timothy J. Jackman, Santa Monica Fire Chief Jim Hone, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Board Member Nat Trives and Santa Monica Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom walk during the survivors lap on Saturday. Teams walked for 24 hours (with team members walking in shifts) around the Crossroads track to fight cancer, increase awareness of the disease and raise much-needed funds to support the services of the American Cancer Society. 

Bachata Roja Legends


Bachata Roja Legends perform Dominican sounds of the classic cabaret era at the Santa Monica Pier  during the  24th Annual  Twilight Dance Series on Thursday, July 10, 2008. Left to right: “El Chivo Sin Ley” (The Lawless Goat), Joan (El Duque) Soriano and  Ramón Cordero perform on the Santa Monica Pier. The Twilight Dance Series is presented by Amoeba Music.

Posted on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 12:01AM by Registered CommenterFabian Lewkowicz in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Fresh from the farm


Amelia Saltsman, author of the Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook, teaches how to prepare a Grilled Fig, Peach and Market Ham Salad on Wednesday, July 23, 2008, at the Santa Monica Farmers Market.. Saltsman demonstrates how to prepare a complete meal from the food purchased at your local farmers market. Saltsman is a writer, cooking teacher, and host and producer of the television program Fresh from the Farmers’ Market, which teaches viewers how to shop for both common and uncommon ingredients and how to use them in exciting, simple dishes full of bright flavors.

Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 11:53AM by Registered CommenterFabian Lewkowicz in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

One Man Band

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Jord "Jayrodin" Peck, 21, a one-man-band who hails from Wichita Kansas, performs, "Like a Rolling Stone," on the Santa Monica Pier on Wednesday, July 2, 2008. Peck plays several instruments simultaneously - two drums, each connected to the back of one foot via a cord, symbal sets from his arm and wrist, harmonica and a guitar.

Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 12:01AM by Registered CommenterFabian Lewkowicz in , , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

What a bird!

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A brown Pelican entertains pier goers on Monday, July 7, 2008, in Santa Monica. Pelicans are a large, gregarious aquatic bird of warm regions, allied to the cormorants and gannets. They are heavy-bodied, long-necked birds with large, flat bills. Pelicans are graceful swimmers and fliers, often seen flying in long lines or circling at great heights. The pelicans are indeed famous for their beaks, which they fill with huge gulps of water, strain out the liquid, and eat the remaining fish or squid. The California brown pelican is strictly an ocean bird.
"Oh, a wondrous bird is the pelican! 
His bill holds more than his belican. 
He can take in his beak 
Enough food for a week. 
But I'm darned if I know how the helican."
Dixon Lanier Merritt
(1879-1972)
Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 12:01AM by Registered CommenterFabian Lewkowicz in , | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

On One Leg


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A Seagull stands on one leg at the Santa Monica Pier on July 18, 2008. Gulls (often informally Seagulls) are birds in the family Laridae. They are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls. They have stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. The live food often includes crabs and small fish. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea.at the Santa Monica Pier on July 18, 2008. 

Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 08:43AM by Registered CommenterFabian Lewkowicz in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Primal Source

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Primal Source by Usman Haque lights up the sky north of the Santa Monica Pier as part of the GLOW art festival on Sunday, July 19, 2008. Primal Source invites the public to participate in the making of the art, creating at once a spectacle to watch and a spectacle to join. Primal Source is an all-night performance/installation brought to life through the active participation of festival-goers. Located on the beach near the Pier, and making use of a large-scale outdoor waterscreen projection system, Primal Source will appear like a mirage, glowing with colours and ebullient patterns generated by the competing or collaborative voices, music and screams of people nearby. 

Posted on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 12:17AM by Registered CommenterFabian Lewkowicz in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint

Psychedelic art




A guest checks-out the art installation EX-SE-08 (by Shih Chieh Huang) underneath the Santa Monica Pier during the GLOW Art Festival at on Sunday, July 20, 2008. An installation of common objects, such as water bottles and plastic bags, are transformed through light, air (directed by small fans), and fanciful constructions into an underwater grotto, at once enchanting and unnerving.

Posted on Monday, July 21, 2008 at 12:13AM by Registered CommenterFabian Lewkowicz in | CommentsPost a Comment | EmailEmail | PrintPrint