Dominique Moody: Nomad

THE woman in the picture is the artist in residence in the house across from the Watts Towers. Her name is Dominique Moody and she has been legally blind for the majority of her life. Pictured here is the creation of her life long dream. The idea of the "Nomad" has inspired her to travel California and spread her art. She creates things out of recycled objects found in the environment and plans to do the same with objects she finds on the road.

--J.Garcia

Southeast of West L.A.

I was really excited when I saw this while walking in Hollywood. Just the night before I had seen it for the first time in class among Kevin McCollister's photo's. It was difficult for me to picture him walking around L.A. taking pictures of random things until I was walking around L.A. the very next day taking pictures of random things.

--J.Garcia

Electric Los Angeles

In A Bronx Tale the young protagonist Cologono, or 'C' as the Mafia kingpin Sunny dubs him, says he reaps the benefit of getting two educations - one in the classroom and with his parents, the other with Sunny and his crew. While I can't quite compare to C in his, well, Italian-ness, I dig what he says about the dual education. Arguably everyone leads a 'double life' - it's healthy to have multiple interests.

I split time between my life in school, and my life in the music industry/business/scene. Since arriving in LA mid-2007 I've been to every electronic show, party, club and event possible. The business aspect of the music industry became a passion my sophomore year, and since then I've tried to engage every internship, collaboration, project and endeavor with ultimate zeal.

The following are, in my mind, the most influential record labels in the LA electronic music scene at the moment: Mad Decent, SMOG LA, Dim Mak and Proximal Records.

-- Ryan Cavalier
image via headzwillrollnyc.com

When Devoid of Direction, Observe

I have been observing elementary school teachers for the past few weeks, a part of the curriculum for my Education 401 class - Elementary/Adolescent Psychology in Education. I had a bit of an experience when I first departed my home not far from Loyola's campus. I was headed for Kentwood Elementary, a school I had passed many times before en route to a friend's house, along a drunken stroll, - point being I had an image of what the school looked like in my head. Kentwood Koalas was painted on the schoolyard wall - how could I forget the image of a koala?

I was walking along West 77th, headed toward the Vons at Kentwood and 80th, and ran into what I thought was Kentwood - but turned out to be Cowan Elementary. They were the Tigers; I began feeling foolish. I kept walking and came across another elementary school. As I was shielded by the elderly crossing guard I caught a glance of a girl's sweatshirt - Orville Wright it read. At this point I was walking along Emerson wishing I had taken my bicycle or had enough back pocket to own a car. I began thinking about how many families must live in Westchester. There are at least four Elementary schools in the Kentwood/Westchester area - counting Loyola Village, plus nearby Paseo Del dey Rey and Grand View Boulevard Elementary. It's no wonder LAUSD scores so low on the charts; there are too many kids!

-- Ryan Cavalier
(image: kentwood logo via facebook)

Read L.A.: L.A. on the Page

I OFTEN SHRUG out of being pinned-down on what L.A. books are my favorite. So this list merely represnts books that, to me, nail some aspect of Los Angeles that I find resonant. A few of them I have returned to time and again ("Day of the Locust" "Hope of Heaven.") The titles are nonfiction and fiction. Photography, poetry etc.



Here they are, in no particular order:
Hope of Heaven -- John O'Hara
The White Album -- Joan Didion
What Makes Sammy Run? -- Budd Schulberg
Mildred Pierce -- James M. Cain
Day of the Locust -- Nathaniel West



Devil in a Blue Dress -- Walter Mosley
Dreams from Bunker Hill -- John Fante
Playback -- Raymond Chandler
Chavez Ravine 1949 -- Don Normark
Days Without Weather -- Cecil Brown
The Other Side -- Ruben Martinez
A Single Man -- Christopher Isherwood
Low Down -- A.J. Albany

Out With the Stars -- Jim Heimann
Tapping the Source -- Kem Nunn
The History of Forgetting -- Norman Klein
The Nowhere City -- Alison Lurie
Imagoes -- Wanda Coleman
Days Between Stations -- Steve Erickson
In a Lonely Place -- Dorothy B. Hughes



-- L.G.