Way up in the air, where it seems like things have been scary, you get to see some nice moments. Although the camera just can't pick it all up, there sunset gave us just about everyone possible color.



From plane windows, you see just about the same things over and over. Maybe the country beneath, every kind of cloud, other planes, and the sky. The sunsets might be the best, especially when you get the crazy color wheel.

Lobster Rolls. Can you handle a lobster sandwich? It's an east coast thing especially in the northern regions. A good serving of lobster in something like a hot dog bun. But this bun was like a piece of bread but thicker. Yes, it looked like a bun, but if you turned it over, you can see what sort of looked like deformed regular bread crust. A lot of places might make their lobster rolls with more mayo, so it's more like a lobster salad sandwich, but Zak's gives you lobster chunks. Captain Zak's is a good place to try it out. It's off the beaten path, and it's basically a small shack with a walk up window.





These balls of battered food are clam cakes. Eat these and you'll have the faint taste of clams. There's tiny, I mean really tiny clam pieces in here. The rest is basically a doughnut. It's pretty good, and I imagine if you're a beer drinker, then these would be even better. I'm sure some places make this with the same vigor as takoyaki.

The original Greenlady creator and artist Vladimir Tretchikoff passes away at 92!



You might have known him through Greenlady the clothing brand who used the image of on of his pieces in GR many many years ago, or you've just seen it around but never knew his name. Now you know.

a short comic strip. click to make it bigger. I have no idea what i'm doing.

drink dietcoke and eat mentos.

This guy does it too.

No need to blog when the comments have been so fun, read those! The violence isn't necessary, but in the end, it's an interesting discussion, I think. Right or wrong, or neither, we'll still keep doing it our way.

Next round of art talks.

Anonymous said...
Well, I think that last comment pretty much sums up why some people don't want to take a number, and wait in line with a bunch of potentially really awful people that would take advantage of an online dialogue to say something that you would never dare to say in person. As an older working person, I find that I don't always enjoy being at an opening that is populated mainly by much younger people, and I can rarely make it to openings. I was not that "bitch" and I wasn't there, and I was trying to point out that if you are a gallery, you are there to make a profit, ultimately, if you want to survive. So you can be as high and mighty as you want about it, but in the end, you need the people with the money, not the people who are so busy being against the establishment that they'll never be able to buy anything other than a $20 Post-It. I don't excuse that woman being rude, but I'm willing to bet that she has been to many shows, and experienced many disappointments as a result of galleries that are not able or willing to accomodate the interested buyers. Am I wrong in thinking that this is art that hopes to survive, be taken seriously, and provide a living to its creators?

Of course, that's why I said we have a responsibility to our artists and customers. I mentioned many careers we have helped, and those are just a few. In the case of 1200 post its at $20, we can't cater to the wealthy or to just anyone who raises a stink. We've been in business for 12 years, more than 3 in the gallery business, and we are one of the early places for "low brow" art to show in a store setting. I think you're way off base, and don't know the history of what we do. That aside, I think you are condescending and I think maybe you need to think about yourself and less about my post.

Also, awful people could also include that woman. Our event was professional and orderly. It wasn't bad, the person who posted the "harsh" comment, probably didn't come to our show.

It is collected by and shown in museums, and no one is labeling it "low brow" to keep it out of the "real art" world. That reveals a complete lack of understanding of the art market, and what many museums and galleries are about. And many of those people that are collecting are not able to do it in person; we rely on the galleries to keep us informed of shows, and honor the system of a buyer's list. I don't like anyone getting skipped ahead of me, but I don't like thinking that any gallery would refuse to sell someone art because they simply don't like them.


We didn't do this. She left! I think you're not getting it. If she waited she could have bought what she wanted (there's an echo in here). We don't know if she's a collector or just a crackpot. It's possible she was a collector, but it's possible she wasn't. That's honestly of no consequence and it's not the point. However, thanks for acknowledging that you would have been unhappy with someone cutting in front of you. That's a big part of the point here. Those were simple rules.

No one should be able to buy every Post-It, and I think this show is a great way to get younger or less financially able buyers involved in and excited about art. But that doesn't mean you should say "No $20 art for you. This shows for all the kid that went without dinner to buy art. I'll call you next time I've got a really expensive Biskup available, though."

We didn't do this either, nor would we say this. (echo...) She just had to wait her turn in line.

I simply don't care for the name calling, and you sink to a level well below that woman's rudeness in doing so. You were right to not let her ahead of anyone, and she made the choice to leave. But I doubt that she will ever come back, if she has read any of this, and I don't know that it's worth it to lose a patron in order to enjoy saying some very nasty things. I think you rather destroyed any argument you had, claiming that you wanted the world to be all fair and considerate and gentlemanly, when you referred to this woman as a bitch, referenced the word several times, and then made comment about a "mother fuckin' Post-It." A gentleman would have said nothing, and been satisfied that this woman managed to purchase no art from his establishment.


My argument is clear, you read my response and didn't understand a thing. And the mother fuckin' Post-It was a reference to Snakes on a Plane! - the post soon before... Even if it wasn't, who cares if I call it a mother fuckin' Post It? Do you not watch PG movies? I'm sure any gentleman you know has even a more colorful vocabulary whether it's on the streets on in the bedroom.

Yes, bitch was a tough word, but what do you call someone who insists on cutting in front of others repeatedly? A nice person? She can read this and maybe learn something. I think you'd have referred to a person who acted in that way as a "bitch" too.

And no, I won't sit quietly, since 1) I am a publisher and co-editor of a magazine 2) I am willing to stand up to anyone who's going to cause problems in my store and business. 3) This is unjust, and I do believe in being fair. 4) This is a blog, this is where I can talk about things like this. Thanks for responding. I'm sure we can agree to disagree.

Anonymous said...

This woman may have been rude, but many of us are serious about collecting art, not because we're rich, but because we love it, and we want to invest in something that has meaning in our lives. And it is very, very frustrating to deal with galleries that are simply unable or unwilling to accomodate serious collectors, who experience disappointment time and again with galleries that flake on a constant basis when it comes to dealing with buyers that can't be at a show. If you want to command high brow prices for low brow art, you have to respect your buyers. Ultimately, it's often the "bitch" who makes it possible for a Tim Biskup to command ten grand for a painting, and makes that twenty dollar Post-It that someone else bought worth much more in the future. It may be great to have just your buddies at an opening, and sell art only to whomever you've decided is deserving, but I, for one, will not patronize a gallery that decides it has the luxury to sell art based on its hasty judgement of a buyer. How very establishment to do so, and how very unappetizing.



All I wanted was a Post It... and she wouldn't give it to me... just one Post-It.

-----------------------

My response if I may...

Ah so it was you, mr or ms Anonymous?

I'm also very serious about collecting art. And running a gallery store situation in LA, SF and NY is a manifestation of that. I do understand that there are people paying a lot for "low brow" art. We accomodate serious collectors as best we can, but we don't accomodate rude people. This woman was the latter. We had a simple and democratic numbering system in place, it was to be fair to everyone (I'm repeating myself), she basically wanted to jump ahead of other folks who waiting much longer.

Is this person more important because they have dinner plans? What about the other folks who waited and cancelled their plans so they could buy art? Is this woman more important than the next person because she may pay $10,000 for a Biskup piece, over the kid who worked their ass to spend $20 on a Post It? You're coming at it from the opposite side. I see that side, but in the end, we're not a huge gallery, but we are a force that has helped the same artists you're talking about increase the value of their art. Do you think we helped Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara in America? I'd like to think so, and I know since they've told me so. Did we help kozyndan and Uglydolls? Sure did. We sell product by Tim Biskup, Ryden, and Baseman. Don't you think that also helps their value go up by creating a new demand for their products, and later, their art to new people who never go to galleries? We help in ways that people never think about. But let's get back to the point.

Look at it this way, just because I eat more, or have a restaurant which buys more food than the average consumer, which helps the markets and farmers, should I be able to cut in line at a supermarket? I collect art, therefore I should be able to cut in line at an art show? No.

Your jabs and insults are noted. I would say it's very "establishment" to accomodate someone who is "cutting" and who is rude. But then again, we are a California corporation, we pay taxes, and I guess that makes us an establishment. But we're not the oppressor.

We do have our buddies there, you have a point, but we also accomodate any art buyer. We have many folks who come in and say, "I went to xx gallery, and they wouldn't sell me art even when it was available for sale." Then they say, "I'm glad you're willing to sell art to me." Reason being, the gallery was "holding" art for their collector "buddies," whether they buy it or not is another story. We don't do this either.

For our 10th anniversary show, a woman wanted to buy the Mark Ryden piece. She told me similar stories about how she can never get the chance to buy one. Guess what? We sold it to her, and I didn't know her. Do you think she was happy?

Another buyer wanted to buy some pieces sight unseen. I'd rather not do this since what if they don't like it? Are they going to return it and prevent others from buying it at the opening? Because, we wouldn't accomodate this person, they cussed us out. That's rude right? Should we have sold them more art later on? This same person came back a few times to buy more art via the same sign unseen method. It's not going to happen. Being rude isn't a calling card in my world. Being polite works for us. Do you think the artists themselves would want troublesome people to buy their art? I guarantee you, a lot wouldn't.

We do have a responsibility to try and sell art. We try the best we can to help the artist and the buyer as I have already mentioned above. When it's not $20 and with 1200 pieces, I will try and accomodate a collector. But when it's a free for all as in this case, we have to be fair. On the buyer, she could have waited 10-20 minutes, she was just a few places off from the current customer - and she knew this. We'll sell her art anytime, when it's her turn. Our judgement wasn't hasty and if she waited, she could have bought what she wanted.

I could get more rude since I think you're way off base, and likewise, you are getting rather unappetizing.

Let's beat this down now... Another fairness example pertaining to this show. (If I don't write about it now, when will I?) One fella called, maybe more than once, but it was much earlier than the show's opening, asking "I want to buy all of "so and so's Post-its. I collect his/her work." If we were all about the money, I'd sell that person all of them, sight unseen. It's easier to sell a lot to one person than individuals to many.


Mark Todd and Esther Pearl Watson curated the show

This all reminds me of the time when we sold neomu books. They're $1. I remember at Christmas time, a "designer" from another city called and wanted to buy 50 to give away for presents. First, this person is a shitty designer since shit, can't you afford a present that's more than $1? Also, don't you think that's unfair to have one person swoop in and buy the lot? Having $50 in my pocket in one shot is much better than selling 50 at $1 each to 50 different people. Think of the people power that it takes. We lose from being fair, but oh well.






Accident! I'm no longer an ambulance chaser, but there was an accident on Sawtelle Blvd across the street from GR2 during the Post It show. I'll cut to the chase, no one got hurt, so all was okay. It luckily didn't ruin the night for anyone. Be careful!

This reminds me of a time, when I went to see Jawbreaker years ago, and outside was a terrible accident. A man was hit by a car, and I think he died. I have no idea who he was, and what is legacy may be. Was he a fan of the band? Was he just some stranger? Some people came in anyway, and some left after the accident. Either way, the band played on and in some cosmic way, I hope saturday's accident (a guy getting hit by a car in front of an evening event) takes care of that type of "quota" for a while.

Post-it show was an obvious hit at GR2. So it's about 1200 pieces, most at $20, and 42 artists. Today GR2 was packed. With art so inexpensive, it was no wonder. We had to do a numbering system to be fair to those who've waited or were there first. With about 190 numbers passed out (of course a lot didn't actually stick around and use them), only one person got mad enough to leave.



This is Post-it by Sir Souther (see him on video)
video of the south wall

I want to dwell on this one person for a second. The person came in, saw some post its they wanted, and demanded that she get served right away. Her number was later (not much later too!), but she kept trying to ahead of others. I'm the type of person who'd expect that "things" would have an order (such as numbers), so people won't have to be savages, or bitches in this case, to cheat their way to the front of a line. I'd also hope that by being demanding, one doesn't get their way and screw the people who've been politely waiting. This person got fed up, and bailed out. Good riddance. In GR-land, I'm glad that I have enough control to make things as fair as I can make them. It may take longer to buy the art from us, but there's less of the "who you are" and "what can you do for us later" type of considerations being made as compared to other places.

A lot of the world is based on who's louder, more obnoxious, or has more money. But what about fairness, gentlemanly-ness (or womanlyness), or just being nice? In our world that's based on so much bad shit, can't people understand that mother fuckin' Post-its should be sold mother fuckin' fairly?

Aside from a great night, it was great to see a lot of old faces, tons of new ones, and maybe first time art buyers who didn't mind taking a chance on a $20 Post it. A note to them: it's a slippery slope! $20 becomes $40, which then goes to $100. For those who have the money. $100 then goes up further and further. It's like crack, and we're dealing.



Thank you to the great crowd who came out on saturday. Even with the large crowd, we also have tons of great ones left.

Snakes. I haven't seen it, but this Samuel Jackson one liner is just super funny. This can be looked at as a spoiler so beware if you care.

Here's another here

It seems like these are getting removed, so this link may not last long.

Sawtelle on myspace! Ok, there's like nothing there yet, but everything needs a start, right?

If you're in LA on saturday, you should be here. GR2 will have the post it show. Part 2. I can't explain how rad and epic this show's gonna be. The worry I have is the admin part. It's scary.



We estimate that there's 2000 post its. We also know, there's no early birds, we'll be sticking to the show times.

I'm addicted to Sculpey. Maybe it comes from the rehab time when I wrecked by finger. I had to buy a $10 ball of clay just so I could work it over all day long. It was supposed to give me a better chance at a full recovery. It failed big time, but the messing with the clay part was the added bonus. Sculpey is a simple pink chunk of clay. It can become almost whatever you want! They can be animals or even mock food! The way it works is you basically work with your hands, get your piece how you want, then what you're sure, you close to deal by firing it up in an oven. It's relatively simple. Like many things, the hard part is getting going.

I wish I made all of this.

Yesterday was my birthday. Aside for the best wishes that came from many directions including the robot lounge, store employees, friends, and family, I got some gifts. I got some acrylic paint, brushes, spray stuff, paint pan, vellum, 2 boxes of Sculpey, clay tools, 2 tickets to see Mastodon, 2 bottles of Vitamin water, 3 lb bag of Haribo Gummy bears, Izod clothes, food, cake, and more best wishes.

Sculpey is pink. Get this kind. The white kind seems to get more grainy. If you don't have a tall enough toaster, be careful, parts can burn and get brittle. Look at the dude's ears in the photo! (sorry i found out that the dark parts are nails - but really, they can burn if they're too close to the heat source.)

In the instant when the candles come, I automatically think about a wish. I'm sure a lot of you do this too. But is a wish something like a New Year's resolution? I think it can be, but it depends on what you're looking for. Are you supposed to tell people? Is it a deep secret? Will they not come true if you tell? I've made wishes and resolutions, and they're interesting because, I know a lot of people forget them a week or a month later, I tend to try and stick to them.

I won't get into telling you about what I wished for or what resolution I made, but the New Year's one is rolling along fine, the birthday one, we'll see.

The best part about making resolutions and wishes is that, there's no real rules to them. If your resolution isn't working out, or you change you mind on your wish, there's no one saying you have to keep them going. Some things work out and some don't, that's why it's called a wish, and a resolution, it's similar. Like a pink ball of clay, you can work on something for a while and fire it up, but if you don't like it, you can always smash it up and start over.

From Gabe Ritter-san a friend and frequent GR contributor on Sawtelle.

Eric, do you remember O-Sho's, the old-style Japanese restaurant that used to be where Tofu House is now? Might have been the same lot as "Sawtelle Fish Market" once was. That's the first place I ever had Japanese food...probably a bowl of Miso soup at age 4 or 5. My Dad always used to love that place (till it started going down-hill) and we'd always stop by Yamaguchi's for those four packs of round gum-balls and rice candy. Later on that's where I got my notepads for practicing hiragana and katakana. Sorry to see them go. I always liked the fact that they carried Dickies and underwear. Yamaguchi's was totally Sawtelle's general store.

Death Cab For Cutie's bass axeman Nick "The Cub" Harmer rolled through LA and hooked me up with great seats at the Greek Theater. Anne Ishii who you might see if you're lucky at GRNY, did too. It was nice to see them both for just that little bit. The food at Doughboys which is on 3rd in LA, is supposed to be good, but I've had little luck with it lately. The last few trips have been busts.






Death Cab Clip

Death Cab Clip 2

Things come in threes. This is a huge painting by Souther that was just too big to do anything with. I thought it was a nice work as a whole, but the size was killing the deal. So on Saelee's request, the piece had to get cut down. They wanted the cat, and the rest was ours as long as we cut it. So carefully picking a spot that made two pieces come out of the remainder, here's what we got.





The girl's pants hang low and her underwear shows a little. What was Souther thinking?




Then in another weird division of art... at the Rosebowl flea market, we ran into a great set of illustrations. Done probably in the 50s with gouache, these looked amazing. They're unsigned, and were somehow associated with an advertising agency. They were asking $150, and we got em for $125. Each piece was something like a bit over $10! Cheap!





We had to discuss how these were going to be divided. We picked numbers and went at it.





This is the filmmaking/filmmaker set. These went well together in a weird way. I wonder where these illustrations went? A space-age filmmakers book?




This was the pick of the litter. It's an office room with men working and women in the background doing nothing. There's a solar system on the back wall and the green plants in the background make this piece perfect. Souther got this one.



This is the ad agency where this came from. Anyone have any info on this agency, and who may have worked on these illustrations?



This is the set I ended up with. My first pick was the top piece. Pick number 2 overall. With my 2nd pick, 5th overall, I picked the bottom image. The two looking at a meter. The colors went well with my first pick and makes a great compliment to the franchise player. The third pick, 9th overall may have been a sleeper. Instead of picking a piece with people in it, I went with a sort of Jacob Magraw looking piece with a rocket flying. I thought about picking this with my second pick, but figured it would still be around at the end. I guess this is how sports drafts work.

Souther and Saelee sitting in a tree... I'll say no more, since it's going to end up as a juvenile nursery rhyme that'll just mess me and maybe some of you up for the day. This is what I've been working on. Is it art? No way. I can't do art.



It's actually a sculpy (not sculpty) item, that I collabed with Diana K on. I made the tree, she made the figures, I made the owl, she made the cat, she painted, I painted, and wallah. It's them and their grey cat. They don't have an owl yet, but if they did, it would be a light blue one.

The painting is the tough part. I'm into the fine detail I guess, and as their "student," I'm trying to learn the finer aspects of how they do art.

These aren't secret... right? Here's lesson 1.

1) Materials are important.

a) Know what they are, how they act and can act. For example, acrylic paint. It's plastic like, acrylic... get it? Wo what happens when plastic gets mixed with water? It gets thin, and therefore more see through... Does plastic mix with water? It's weird, you can, but maybe you shouldn't... Want to see what's on your painting surface? Then water it down. If not, it'll take multiple coats to get things opaque. But there's so much to talk about here.

b) There's different levels of acrylic paint. You can get some more opaque stuff, but it depends on levels. The higher the level the more money! Also there's mixing mediums. Want to thin it down, you can use that stuff...





c) What's Gesso? It's an undercoat. You have to establish a base before you can go out and explore and paint. No base, crappy exploration, although I guess it might work out sometimes. That's my quick interpretation of materials.

d) Use a paint pan that's metal. Use damp vellum in it to keep your paint moist! It'll last longer!

e) Wash your damn brush and dry it out before you use it. You can also dry brush paint onto an item. I thought I was making a discovery, but in the end, it's a technique that started at least in the 50s, since I saw it on some original art from that time. You have a dry brush and you basically paint on something, until the paint seems totally dry as pasty. I was doing this under the fine tree bark to make different shades of brown.

f) Don't mix with too much white, it gets chalky.

g) The thinnest brush doesn't always give you the finest point to work with. A thicker one might give you the best tip. (this was from Seonna Hong and Jacob Magraw)

h) After you're done painting, spray with some coating. Spray Shellac might look yellow, but Souther seems to like that look. Otherwise, try some other clear stuff. It'll protect your work. When you spray, this is key. Don't just point it at your item and start spraying. I guess the spray paint people don't make their tips and stuff perfect and big drops might fly out of it and mess up your piece. So point away, spray, and glide across your item. You can spray twice or three times, but you can't really take off spray.

I'm not expert, but these are the first lessons I learned over two intensive days of training.

Giant Robot on You Tube. We just started a You Tube page, which sort of goes with our myspace page. We'll put some of our videos that we make up here. Maybe we'll even put some of yours! It's fun making short films. Maybe we'll eventually do a GR video contest on different topics.

Fearless. You won't see too many film reviews from me here, since the last one I think I saw in a theater was Syriana in December. I missed every film fest and film screening, but at my local video store, they had Ronny Yu's Fearless. We interviewed him in GR42, and I never did get to see this film. The typical videos don't have English subtitles, but leave it to the Koreans, when it doubt, Korean versions often have them. This one did.



I've seen my share of martial arts flicks. They're roughly the same. From way back, it's the (in fast nasal man subtitle voice), "You killed my brother... prepare to die" genres. Then it's the "you shamed my family" genres. Bruce Lee did his share of good films that stand alone from that time period. But then somewhere in the later 90s it became the flying shit. Like The Greatest American Hero or even The Monkeys, people started to fly.

Jet Li brings everything together, but takes things one step further in Fearless. This isn't a film just about fighting, although those scenes are fun. It's basically about a family of kung fu fighters in a town in Shanghai, battling in each other in a public forum - a center stage. Jet look like he's at his peak in these scenes even though he's probably in his 40s! After misunderstandings, pompous times as a champ, then misguided decisions based on fists and not heart, Jet Li starts back on the bottom.

Mixing martial arts with weapons, acrobatics, and choreography by Yuen Woo Ping, and with a heavy dose of philosophy, this film is more than a fairy tale. Remember when kung fu films included thought? Although it's overt it fits Jet Li's character and his own personal legend as well. Jet didn't write the shit, but he delivered the lines as if they were from his heart. Martial arts isn't about fighting or defending honor, it's more than that, right? Even though you could have easily learned it from Miyagi in the Karate Kid, or Kane from Kung Fu, those are long gone. Fearless brings the thought and mind back to martial arts.

Forget the dog collars to hide his bad English, stupid Asian mystical massage potions disguised as kisses of dragons, or long rat tail hair cuts, he's best as an old school martial artist. If Jet Li decided to retire from film today, then this is a way to go out.

Closure on softball season. So we met, ate burritos, nachos, pizza, chicken, softdrinks, and watched the game. At times, we slowed down the funny parts, close calls, and greedy moments. What went wrong, what went right, what can we do better, what's happening next season, and so on. There's not too much more to add, except, there'll be more softball meetings. Some will come in the form of fishing expeditions between some members of the team, others might be at concerts, through emails, and maybe at softball practice. Each smaller faction will talk their side, if at all and then we'll take the field.

We have no idea where the next season will take place. We don't know who's playing exactly, but things will be different. I might actually play. With me on the field with gimpy finger, is GR ready for a .500 season? Are we expecting to go undefeated? There's a lot of pieces that need to fit for a great season, it's like any other team. Some things just click and some need to be worked at.




Look at Greg laughing on the left side!

Business idea: One way to profit on terrorism. I thought of this, told some folks, but I'm not doing it. Fire away, it's a good idea.

Because there's a terror alert, start a company, who's services are to ship back or forward the liquid that they're confiscating at security. (are security guards just stealing the good stuff?) What if you have a limited edition Shu Uemura set? Or a bottle of Kheils? Cosmetics can run hundreds of dollars, and instead of throwing them out, I'd station one person at each of the detectors who will grab your stuff, package it, and send it on it's way. I suggest $15 or $20 per package including shipping.



So that means, $10 a head profit per person (this is conservative). Imagine at least 10-15 people an hour, maybe 20? Maybe even 30. Imagine how many people walk through these things in an hour. So this means, $200 an hour. How many hours a day? 10? 12? 15? So one person might take in $2000 a day. How many security gates are there at LAX alone? 50? So that means $100,000. How many airports are there? 100? $10,000,000 a day?

I hope you get on your planes safely and leave the liquids at home or in your bladder.

There's another meeting of the team. Dinner after the game at Johnnie's pastrami wasn't enough, so now, it's a meeting at Cinehous to watch game tape. Is it about watching tape, or is it about hanging out one last time? Yes, it's been talked about that some members of the team are leaving, and no one really wants to go "home". So, maybe one more last meeting will happen with the team tonight. Then hopefully there's one after that and then after that.



I ate one of these, and I was in pain last night. The first half was amazing. The pastrami is great, but the second half was a major burning feeling all the way down. I don't eat meat all too often, but pastrami is a killer. I stayed up until super late, to help digest it!

Let's talk about Johnnie's for a bit. This spot in LA and I go far back in time. First off, it's not on Sawtelle, but it's on Sawtelle Blvd's big brother Sepulveda, which at least in West LA, they run parallel on each side of the 405 freeway.

When my mother was busy working at her restaurant (which was daily), and dinner came, my dad either cooked or we went out. Sometimes it was Norm's, (they actually did decent meals back then) or it was Johnnie's! My father used to take me here maybe once every two weeks! Why? I have no idea. I guess safety in terms of healthy food and what not wasn't a big thing in the 70's and early 80's. It was close by, and maybe it was just tasty and he enjoyed it. The tables inside have table top juke boxes like you see in old movies (Happy Day's didn't have these). The pickles are still the same and who knows, they probably have some of the same brine from 50 years ago, and the pastrami is still great.

Today, it's funny how both of us can't eat pastrami sandwiches. I pushed my luck last night in a moment of being one with the meat eaters on the team. If my dad ate it, he'd have a heart attack.

Sawtelle week story. GR lost in the first round of the playoff tournament. 17-15. Tough times all around here. We'll be back for winter ball. There wasn't much we could do but let the game take us. We started down a few runs, then went up a few runs, then it see sawed until they went ahead on last time. We had a chance for a last at bat, but went down 1-2-3. Not the best way to end a 9-3 season, but it could have been worse. There's nothing to celebrate, even though we still get a trophy for a second place finish. I think this will be our 5th GR trophy for 2nd place.

I guess it's Sawtelle week here. Instead of just responding to each comment consecutively, which I don't think I can do in Blogger, I figure why not, these comments are nice. I'll post them up as a regular blog entry. Thanks for reading and commenting. Today, the shop really is closed. Although they're in there cleaning, I saw people walk by and peer through the windows to see what was going on. One day too late... Meanwhile, look for something to come out in the Rafu Shimpo paper written by Japanese school friend and writer there, Audrey Shiomi.



That's Henry and Jack helping someone take something away. My camera adjusted for the background light, so it's a bit dark, but on the other hand, you can almost see through the woman's skirt. Bad camera...

eric wang said...
that's sad - yamaguchi was certainly a fixture for me everytime i walked down sawtelle. i had no idea it was closing, but that is as it's meant to be, i guess. it'll be missed.

i've got to find my "year of the cock" t-shirt.

eric - keep up the observations about sawtelle. it's interesting to see the wikipedia entry on sawtelle as well. also, what the hell happened to the invader that was hanging outside of GR?

Yes, it's definitely a fixture! Yes, for some, everyday is "year of the cock." But really, they did have the old school "year of the boar" shirts and stuff in there until the last day. The Space Invader placed Invader as part of his Invasion outside of GR was taken down by the same someone who's been removing them around LA. This person has gone around and basically broken them off. I doubt he/she is able to remove them without breaking them into pieces! -en

10:56 PM
Pirikara said...
I have to admit, very few Yamaguchi items remain at home. But that's only cause I ate 'em all. =P

As you move onto the adult world you tend to forget those childhood institutions that made life fun. It's only when it disappears when you realize how much it affects you. *sniff*


True. Which candy did you like best? I got into the jolly rancher sticks they always stocked. They also had flavored candy canes. But not canes... they were sticks with that old school swirl design. What were those called? -en

11:17 AM
lej said...
Oh My God! I could cry too.I've been there a couple of times to buy a rice cooker and Japanese gifts.
I hope it is replaced some a nice and Japanesey! Quick survey .. what do you think Sawtelle could use? Me..hmm Japanese style arcade with lots of puri club machines!!!!


I'm not sure what's going in there, but I've heard that it might be already sold to some non Japanese person. I've heard Persian, but that's only a rumor. I have no idea. Sawtelle? I have a lot ideas. How about a movie theater although the Nuart is up the street, they could use a much smaller theater. More bars for those who want to drink. Arcade? Maybe, although it seems like the home gaming is bigger. Print Club? Sure! I can come up with tons more type places. A small community park? There's a the Saudi Arabian consulate, if that were gone a lot could happen there. There's the Psychiatric place across from GR1. That place may be important, but that can easily be someplace else, freeing up more space... I have ideas, but they're just that!

fb said...
I really enjoyed this piece.

Growing up in England but away from the areas where most Japanese people were it was a bit of a trek to get me to language school on a Saturday and it just petered out as did my Japanese.

I don't think I ever went in the store but do remember being amazed at discovering Sawtelle when I was in Los Angeles and returning every now and then to have a meal of somesorts with my L.A buddies.


Awesome, thanks for the comment. Keep coming back. I went to day school then saturday class. I did go all the way until I got my high school credit in Japanese. -en

trailerhick said...
This is my favorite thing you've ever written.
*tips 40*
:)


Aww thanks. -en

See what old Sawtelle looked like. Well, not really, it's just a hand drawn out map of what was there before. I wonder what the block south looked like. We also got a few comments on the site too. Naramura Realty is where GR1 is at now, Ben Jewelers is where GR2 is at, gr/eats must be an Ikkanda auto service.



I remember Ben Jewelers from way back and Naramura Realty was always something else, before we took it over it was Tim's printing and was a huge mess. The sign remained the same until we took it over. I wanted to keep the old Naramura Realty up there, but oh well. It just wasn't cool enough. People do say we made it look like we built the whole thing, so at least we retained the original look and didn't ruin it.

Yamaguchi is a general store that practically made Sawtelle Blvd. Growing up in the area, I have distinct memories of being in the store and strolling through the aisles. My mom would buy me fragrant erasers which I'd take to school to amaze the non-Japanese American kids. On top of that, I'd get cool Japanese pencils, Japanese super hero pencil cases which even had pencil sharpeners and secret compartments built in, Japanese ruled notebooks for hiragana, katakana, and kanji practice, my "Year of the Cock" t-shirt, and Mazinga and Raideen robot toys.

This is Deluxe Raideen purchased from Yamaguchi. If it were in mint condition in the original box, it'd be worth over $500. But know this: "There are many like it, but this one is mine."

As I got "older," in later elementary school, Yamaguchi was the destination to buy candy and a soda either before or after Japanese school which was conveniently around the corner. The shortened name was "Yama's" as in, "Do you want to go to Yama's?" It was almost a writ of passage to leave the campus which is really just a small lot with a few classrooms. We'd walk either before or after class that one block to make a purchase without ours parents scrutiny. Picking out candies or erasers, we'd then get a handful of change, which at least for me, would make me feel good about buying something. It became almost a daily trip, and was an important part of the day.

A lot of us might say that going to Japanese school was a waste, "I wish we studied more" in retrospect, but part of my memory of the school, is it's indelible and unbreakable link it had with Yamaguchi's. Going to school wasn't a waste of time, as long as I got to visit my favorite shop. It was definitely part of "growing up" which to me meant joining the economic force of the real world and perhaps spending my first bits of saved money.

In the middle years, my 20's. I'll admit, I visited very little. I thought I outgrew the shop. My memories of the store still remained from my juvenile days. Erasers, toys, construction paper, candy, ice-cream, and soda. But maybe five years ago, I discovered Yamaguchi's carried Dickies pants for the gardners! I went in maybe twice and bought years worth of unpleated and denim Dickies. If I bought 8 pairs, I got the 9th free, which explains why a lot of you might think I'm wearing the same pants over and over.

Before I was born, I'm sure this shop was already a community fixture. Yet today the sign reads, "After over 60 years in business, we'll be soon closing our doors. It has been our pleasure to serve 4 generations of loyal customers and friends. We thank you for your loyalty and patronage these many years. Henry and Jack Yamaguchi." I can only guess that in later 40s and 50s, this was the place where post war / internment families did their household shopping, including mine who lived somewhere in the neighboring blocks. How many items in people's homes in the area are from Yamaguchi's? A tea pot, tea cup, lamp, or a greeting card?

The two Yamaguchi brothers, Jack and Henry have run Yamaguchi from at least when I was a little kid. I don't remember anyone else ever behind the counters. Today, they're retiring after a huge and successful run at retail. Stores come and go but 60 years marks them as an establishment. A store is special when it goes beyond serving the folks who run it. Sure pocket money, a new car, a house, and materialistic crap's important, but when you cross the line into being a part of neighborhood, then that's another story. It takes years and years to become an important part of history. They made it a long time ago.

I've been visiting, and checking things out, and seeing the last days of this store. Today is monday August 7th, and it's supposedly the last day of Yamaguchi. I walked in today and grabbed a few weird leftover things, which I'm sure they dug up from "the back." I asked Henry, "how does it feel?" In the Japanese American manner of not saying too much, but saying just enough, he said, "oh it's good, but kind of sad." I congratulated him and took a photo of the brothers, and Henry relayed, "People have come in crying." If I were gangster and drank Old English 800, I'd definitely pour some out.








Jack and Henry Yamaguchi

Remember the umbrella stand by the door? It's friggin' mine. Henry handed it to me today and said, "this has been around so long..., it's good to know where it's going." It doesn't rain much in Southern California, but I'm putting it by my door.

LASTLY: If you have any Yamaguchi stories, or pics, post em here, or email them to me at eric@giantrobot.com

I'll post 'em here.

A good point was brought up. Is the mobile video store cool for the actual neighbors?

The mobile video store does park outside of an office building's parking lot, but I did see it outside of someone's house earlier. The area is fairly dense, and I guess the area is used to foot traffic as it is, since people come and go from parking spots to Sawtelle. I find this guy wanting to stay low key, so I think he's cool. But like everything else, it's ok somewhere else, just not at, or, or near your house. Here's some examples of shit you don't mind far away, graffiti, dude selling fruit on the street, homeless dude taking shits, name it, almost everything fits. Doesn't it?



The new issue is out, GR43. Hope you like it.

Part 18 - Guerilla business person case study.

On Sawtelle, there was this video store. It had a crappy sign, looked messy, but was packed with tapes. His clients didn't give a shit how or where they parked, as long as they could get in and out with returns and new flicks. He must have had the hard to find Japanese shows.

Black Market store who's next door (loves to talk shit about GR we always hear) took over his spot and opened a sneaker store. With his spot gone, I figured he was over.



I was wrong. Instead of hunting around for an overpriced shop, the owner went guerilla and opened on the streets. See the camper in the photo? From a lot of angles, it looks like someone's in there chillin, but actually, it's the video store! Walking by, I saw some tapes from the front window. I was wondering who the heck was living among tapes, but the backdoor was open, and I saw dvd's hanging on the walls and a person inside shuffling through titles. The dvd shop owner was standing in the doorway of his ride.

Keeping his clientele, moving just a block or two down, keeping on the d.l., and paying no rent (he had this camper already), I'm impressed by this dude. He's using the basic money making pricinples of making people happy by providing a service, making a buck, and doing it DIY. Too Short supposedly got his start by selling his tapes and singles from his car trunk, tons of people make cash from recycling people's junk, and this dude, we'll see where he goes and how long he lasts. It's obvious to me, that he's got his game down. I saw people driving up, parking, renting, and taking off while I sat and took the photo.

My questions are:

How did he spread the word that he'd be parked in a certain area? Did he call his client list and tell them? Is there an email network going on? When did he start this neighborhood thing? (My guess is right away). Is it working for him? (Obviously does). Trouble? (He's renting tapes from his car. I'm sure it's not legal, but in the end, this is totally cool and innocuous). It's not much different than "those" people who do weekly garage sale, right?

I wish there was more of this guerilla stuff going on in our area. I remember this shop when it was on Sawtelle, and thinking it was old school, a great service, but maybe not fitting in the area as a store front. Now, he's my hero for the minute. File this guy under punk rock.

Charles Chocolates are awesome. The chocolate covered almonds are kicking my ass right now. Huge sized almonds, good crunch, and the chocolate around it works. Made in San Francisco, I feel good about the future of chocolates.