Duck Amok

While at the Huntington Gardens today, we ventured into the Japanese Garden.  A beautiful waterfall was at the entrance.  We spotted a duck who seemed to be caught in the swirling waters.  He tumbled down the stream and was dunking his head looking for tasty algae.  A rough way to get lunch but he seemed determined to get a good meal.

Huntington Gardens

We spent the afternoon at the Huntington Gardens with friend Allison.  Got a lot of ideas for our gardens and had lunch in the Chinese garden.

Fidel's Is Back!

It's been an excruciating 3 weeks while Fidel's Pizza closed for summer vacations.  Started dreaming of a pie a few days ago and was there on Monday to get their signature sausage/chorizo pizza.  Banco has been missing the crusts.......

Banco By The Sea

 A few more pics from our excursion to Long Beach last week

2X Briese

We mounted both our Briese lights in a lift last week for a crane shot.  Perhaps not quite what they were designed for but our talent looked good.

Mantis Molting

A mantis using the oregano patch as a place to discard unwanted bits of old exoskeleton

Afternoon Kitchen Light

Waiting for the Light

We had some down time while waiting for sun to be in the perfect spot.

Poolside Conference

Ellen and underwater camera operator Mateo discuss an upcoming shot

Godzilla is Dead

The first actor to don the Godzilla suit has passed on.   Haruo Nakajima
played the monster 12 times over 20 years.  A cute video of his anonymous stardom is here

Figs

Fig season is upon us.  And there's a lot this year.  We've already made a really good spiced fig jam..... today, I will be grilling pork chops on my sister's salt block while WL whips up a balsamic fig sauce.
Gaffer63: Salt Lick Taste Test
Gaffer63: Of Figs and Wasps

Los Altos Apartments

 

 

 

I recently was part of a location scout to the Los Altos apartments in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles.  Inside amongst the circa 1926 flats is a spectacular 2 story one that was William Randolph Hearst's love nest for Marion Davies. Designed by Julia Morgan, the gilt work and plaster ceilings are amazing. A video tour is here

Banco in Situ

Banco's first trip to the beach

The News

His Mexican fiasco here

Grip Stand In

Our key grip's son donned a wetsuit to stand in for our talent during last week's pool shoot.

Balloons

Great reflections off the wood floor of an old party hall in Highland Park

Summer Rain

A few rain towers and we were able to make a convincing summer rain.  Ellen got soaked, deciding not to wear a rain jacket because of the heat.

The next day was back to normal with the hothead controls underneath a beautiful pergola.

Trump told golf club members that the White House is 'a real dump'

If you want, read on here