TauCan62's 12th House

This was a mid-term I did back in school.

1. John Berger: A British art historian, published a book called Ways of Seeing. In the book he discusses how we are affected by what we know or believe. In a moment of seeming ambivalence, Berger bemoans that reproduced art loses its ‘aura’, even while conceding that the reproduced works can be used for many different things. He speaks in a positive way about this fact. Take for example Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. “Since 1980, there has been, on average, one new use found for the Mona Lisa every week: air travel (to Paris), rum, oranges, wigs, blood-testing kits, air-conditioning equipment, a dental prosthesis, the Renault Twingo, the cosmetic face mask Mudd, Marriott’s Renaissance hotels, computer equipment and the intrauterine device Mona Lisa-CU375.” ( http://www.newstatesman.com/200109240032). A reproduced work can “lend itself to them all.”
Berger’s philosophies and assertions are much more detailed and complex than what is presented here. Reading Ways of Seeing, or accessing archives of his old BBC program will reveal more of the mind of John Berger. Read more »

It seems about time to think about finding another place to call home. Los Angeles is very crowded, very expensive, and the quality of life has declined markedly since I moved back here 25 years ago. I’ve checked several websites that take your desired criteria and formulate the place that you would most like to live. I got answers from Salem, Oregon to Virginia Beach.
I’m looking for a place where my Latina girl feels welcome, but at the same time…not like Los Angeles. Where the living is cheap, the people are friendly, the weather is at least, relatively mild, jobs are plentiful-so on and so on.

I know it will be a culture shock for both of us to live somewhere else after so many years. The question still remains: Where? How do you “visit” potential places without spending your life savings?

If there’s a will, there’s a way. Stay tuned. I may be coming to a town near you…

Hal Fishman was the news anchor for KTLA news in Los Angeles. His career spanned 47 years, probably some kind of record.

Hal passed away today (Tue, 08/07/2007), and the grief I feel was surprising at first, but slowly it’s making sense. Read more »

I normally don’t do restaurant reviews, probably because I dine at Mexican restaurants most of the time , and one review would start to sound like another. Tonight was a little different. My girl and I went to a Japanese restaurant called Gyu-Kaku. Past experiences with Japanese food made me hesitate, but it was her treat, her surprise for me, so I took the plunge. Read more »