Take It

The Runaways never got the studio production they deserved. That’s one thing that’s made evident by Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise: The Runaways. Hearing such artists as Peaches, David Johansen, and Care Bears on Fire interpret the Runaways songs made me hear these familiar tunes in whole new ways. Glad the album came out, despite the threatened lawsuit. Here’s my LA Times review.

The Bright Side of Life

July 13: If one of the goals of parenting is to provide a continuation of the past, then watching Cole watch Monty Python in the bunk bed of a trailer on Lake Superior, I feel like I’ve succeeded. We’re in the same spot that I spent many summers of my life, looking through the same break in the trees out on the sunset. My parents gifted me these pastoral vacations, and now I pass the tradition on.

I also have renewed respect for the difficulties of trailer life that my folks managed. I’m engaged in a never-ending battle against sand in the beds and on the floor. I struggle to conserve our limited water resources and not fill the septic tank — how do you control that?!

Cole has inherited my blissful unawareness. Eager to have no break in the fishing, swimming, kayaking, fireworks, BB gun shooting, etc., he thinks Bud and I are party poopers for needing to go to town for supplies. I well remember that feeling of freedom, of hazardless beach and friendly woods, of days that didn’t begin to end until the sun set at 9:30.

Snow in July

July 11, 2011:    The rivers were rushing in Yellowstone too, the falls magnificent roaring cascades. I loved this park as a child, and haven’t been back in more than 20 years. Its scale and diversity loom even vaster than I remember: canyons, lakes, rivers, mountains, hot springs, geysers, volcanic rocks, vast green valleys, pine forests — the park truly has it all. And the animals: In our too short 24 hours there, we saw grizzlies, a black bear, scores of buffalo, elk wandering through Mammoth Hot Springs resort, a baby and mama deer, and a healthy coyote trotting across a field of yellow flowers. We were sobered and made cautious by the news that a man from Torrance had been mauled by a grizzly just a few miles from where we were staying. But we loved our sweet Western cabin at Canyon Lodge. I wish we could have stayed longer.

Lautner Land

I’m up in John Lautner’s homeland, hoping I can catch a fraction of the inspiration the great architect got from the UP. Sadly, I’m going to miss the birthday celebrations in LA. Go in my stead, and check out my LA Weekly article.

Wet and Wild

July 9, 2011:    America’s all wet. Water fills the West this summer. One man’s flood is another man’s whitewater. In South Dakota, rivers overflow their banks into living rooms, but in Wyoming, they are swollen playgrounds for rafters. The foothills of the Tetons are soft and green, the fields verdant gardens. The wildflowers kiss the dewy sky. In Park City, Utah, the ample humidity has attracted the rare mosquito.

Mermaid and Runaway

Tuacahn Scenery

Like its ancient Greek forbears, southern Utah’s Tuacahn Amphitheatre lies nestled in a rock bowl shaped by nature. No set designer could compete with the spectacular backdrop of massive red cliffs topped by a crescent moon. But they could certainly be inspired.