A few more from the Perris Rail Museum

 And here are six more images from that roll of 12 that I took over the last weekend. 

The Perris Rail museum

 Here are some Minolta Autocord TLR images taken at the Perris Railway museum during the last weekend. First of all, I will say, I was using Neopan Acros film, and that limits my settings because it is a relatively lowspeed film (100 ISO). I was using a yellow filter and compensated by two stops, but my negatives came out very thick. I think I only need to compensate for one stop, the yellow is not very strong. Plus, I think the filter is not very clear, I just am not happy about the backgrounds and how they seem muddied. Blurry was to be expected, I know, but not muddied and with less intensity. 

Here are the first six shots:

A spin with the spinner

 Yesterday, August 19th, I returned to work after a summer of fitful rest. I didn't get much of anything done, I completed some additional training for teaching but did little in the way of writing or research. I just am not feeling well. 

When I returned yesterday for two classes, it was unreal. I arrived to an empty campus. I had never seen our campus this way on the first day of fall instruction. Usually the parking lot is crammed with cars, and there are plenty of students wandering the grounds. There are tables everywhere with people to provide information, and in general, there is a hubbub that is filled with excitement. This time, there were a few people, but only a few. It was almost empty as I made my way to my office.

Things are pretty much as I left them. I still have my 2020 calendar open to the month of March, when we were forced to go on leave and switch to virtual instruction. My posters are mostly there, one had fallen down. My things are much as I left them, although I think someone has been in there to use my (our) computer. 

I got there about 30 minutes before class and just fiddled with the computer before going off to begin. The class is very small, to all rights it should not have been allowed to continue. It has ten students, and I doubt I will be adding any more. It just felt unreal.

I did my best and blabbed and blabbed and blabbed, and soon, we were done. The annoying thing was, since I have to send a confirmation signal to my device before I can log into my computer, I was not able to get a signal on my cellphone to send the confirmation. It was a waste of time, and it let the others know that I had inferior cellphone service. So be it, I do not want to switch to an expensive plan.

Same for the next course, although that one had a slightly higher enrollment. I managed to get through that one, but I can tell, if I am forced to speak through a mask then I have to speak with more force, and my throat will be hurting if I keep it up. It is not as if I can remove my mask either and take a swig of water. Soon, everyone else would be doing that, then dispensing with masks. So, I made it through.

I cancelled my hours after and went back to the parking lot via the longer way. I had wanted to walk around but I just wasn't in the mood. I went to the central quad area and yes, almost no students, and the few that were there circulating seemed like lost ghosts. This is not a typical opening day. I just had to shake my head and move forward. 

I had taken my Holga camera with the intention of getting some photos and I forced myself to take them. I had to take four to finish off the roll I had in there. I took the usual photos of buildings and locations. I couldn't help thinking, even in an afternoon in deep winter, it is not as abandoned as it was today. And I am sure, sooner or later, we will start getting notices about possible Covid infections and will have to switch to virtual once again. With the bad news about Covid fatalities and the fact that the CDC has determined that the effectiveness of the vaccines wanes with time and we may need to take a booster shot in September, I do not want to risk myself either. I hate virtual mode but I also fear the alternative, so I will take the safety of virtual.

I got back to my car by about 5:45 p.m., and went and had a bad meal at a Mexican restaurant that I frequent. The food there doesn't taste the same either. Who knows? Maybe my taste buds have been affected, and that could be a bad sign too, because Covid is supposed to remove your sense of taste.

I got home at a little before 7 p.m. Traffic was not as bad as I thought it would be. The real challenge will be on Tuesday when I have to report by 8 a.m. I am not looking forward to that.

So, here are more Lomo Spinner 360 photos. I loaded some Arista 200 black and white film into the camera this morning and took it out on my morning walk. It was gloomy so I decided not to even try to go to Palm Springs. (I still want to go up the aerial tramway.) I just walked around the block. Since it was gloomy, I used the cloudy setting which supposedly opens up the aperture. How were my negatives? They were terrible. I think they are overexposed. Plus, I am not getting some light band that I didn't have with my first roll. I was hoping not to experience the problem that others complained about, but in this roll, it was evident.

I found out, if I want to remove myself from the center of the negatives in each frame, I have to point the camera and the aperture at myself then spin. This way, I still come out in the negative, but I am on the edge, where I can crop myself out in the photos. It was a good confirmation of what I hoped to achieve. However, with light bands, that dissuades me from using the camera.

Here are some images:

(Above, the canonical river channel shot.)

(Above, the railway shot.)

(Above, the "phantom pool", a nice pool area for a condominium complex that is almost never in use, so I refer to "phantom" bathers and call it a "phantom pool". It annoys the heck out of me to see something so nice, with beautiful, clear blue water and a nice pool area, and to see it never in use.)

(Another view of the river channel)

(Above, something or other.)

(Above, could it be? Another image of the river channel?)

(Above, an open area with trees next to the river channel. It had no trespassing signs, but the homeless people who camp out there pay no heed to the signs. If you get just a little closer to the trees you will see cloths and makeshift housing everywhere, as well as little. It is a small homeless village.)

(Above, a factory on the last leg of my walk)

(Above, a main artery of the city where cars pass by at highway speeds while us poor folk who are walking on the sidewalks a few feet away cower in fear.)

(Above, that same street with speedfreaks, but you can see a big building in the middle that is an animal hospital, and by the side of that building, what has long been a homeless area. They have graphitteed it and marked it out, although the police don't allow them to stay for long.)

Onwards to DTLA!

*What does "DTLA" stand for, and why is it appearing all over the place in Los Angeles? It is acronym for "Downtown Los Angeles". I guess it was inevitable. If Mexico City can be "El DF" (The DF, which means, the Federal District), then the downtown area can be DTLA, although it sounds like an insect repellent. And on a side note, the "DF" is passé, officially they are no longer the Federal District, they are the City of Mexico in official terminology. 

So, I was walking south on Glendale and getting a little frustrated. I though, did I miss 1st street? I can see downtown Los Angeles, so I am not lost, I can make a beeline for them when I need to, but will I miss out on that other park? Well, luckily, I was not lost, and I saw 1st street approaching. I turned left and just one block away, under the street overpass, was this beautiful mural! So, have the murals of Echo Park been displaced half a mile away? It sure looked like it, although this was only one mural, not several that used to dot the former location. It was also, apparently, a fresh mural, and well-maintained too, with none of the graffiti that used to spoil the murals in Echo Park. I went ahead and took a few photos, which I will include here. These are cellphone photos, once again.

I got to Vista Hermosa Natural Park and entered it with high hopes. The name promises much, "Beautiful View Natural Park", and I climbed up even though I was tired. By then, I had been walking for almost two hours, and while the heat was less oppressive in Los Angeles than in Riverside, it was still very strong. I would look and no, I didn't see any clear views. The vegetation with the branches was quite abundant, and I walked gradually up, where I would encounter clearings with people who were sitting on the grass or on benches, eating food. No vendors once again, and yes, this area is very gentrified, there were so many Anglos where I didn't see them before in this area. I finally climbed up and found a little bit of an opening, but it was not really much, and I took a few photos. The views were not abundant, and they were hidden by branches. It may be that there are better views somewhere else, maybe I needed to explore the park more, but I was ready to leave. I walked up a hill, and next to the park there are these quiet apartment buildings, but they are very quiet, it just didn't seem like the place where you would see noisy humanity before. Who lives there? The apartments were old.

I stared walking east, towards the Disney Concert Hall, and I was really tired. I needed to eat something. Luckily I found a Subway sandwich place next to the hall, and had my tuna salad sub as a combo. It was a relief. Then, on to the Disney Concert Hall, a place I have seen many times before (and photographed).

This time,I did something different. I explored a little more. There are actually stairways that lead up, and while I have been on the upper level, I had never followed these stairways to other areas. Wow! The views open up, and I was glad to take photos with my Autocord, loaded with HP5+, using a makeshift red filter. (I dread the fact that when I develop this roll, my fingers will appear on the edges, so I had to hold the filter next to the lens since I didn't have a filter holder.) I really loved these new vantage points and, apparently, they will let you walk inside if you register at a table. That will be for next time. The heat is on, as the Glen Frey song goes from way, way back in the 1980s, when I was a young man. I needed to move on, and I did.

Visit to Little Tokyo? No go, I was much too tired to make that trek. Visit to Olvera Street? No, I ditched that plan, I was tired. It was now about 2 p.m., and I had been walking for three and a half hours. I wanted to go, go, go home and sit in air conditioning. So I walked back to Chinatown and found my car and drove home. Traffic was light except for the last bit on the 71 freeway, but that was fine. I made it home safely, and I was thankful. 

How many photos did I expose? One roll of 120 Lomochrome Purple, one roll of 120 HP5+, another roll of 120 HP5+ started, and about 15 frames of Arista 200 black and white in 35mm. Plus a few cellphone photos. And I felt tired. I got home and had to take a one hour and thirty minute nap. 

Here are the cellphone photos of the mural on 1st street and Toluca street. 

Something different on this first day of August

 Well, I thought I would try something different. Initially, I thought I was going to go to San Diego, but the thought of another 4+ hours of driving round-trip dissuaded me. I am so tired of driving, and there is no need for me to go so far. San Diego will be an occasional trip for me, not monthly. So, I knew I had to go out today, but also, I could not go east. The mountains would be packed (I am thinking Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead), and I don't want to be driving with aggressive tailgaters behind me up those winding roads that are frightening. So, it was one of the beaches here, to the west. Where to? Today was the last day of volleyball at Manhattan Beach, but I had no desire to go. Also, I didn't want to go to the other places,which are Redondo Beach and Santa Monica. Instead, I opted for Los Angeles. It wasn't the beach, but there was a little relief from the almost 100 degree temperatures where I live. It was about ten to fifteen degrees cooler, and I was in need of a good walk. I planned an itinerary.

This time, I would park in Chinatown, as I usually do. I wanted to go to Echo Park Lake, so I would either take the bus from Chinatown to that location, or walk it. The distance guide shows it is about a 45 minute walk of two miles. Then from there, walk down Glendale Blvd (not the one in "The valley"), and go to another park I had never seen. It is called Vista Hermosa Natural Park, which supposedly gives astounding views of downtown Los Angeles. Then, I would continue to walk on 1st street and go back to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Then, continue on 1st street, hopefully by bus, to Little Tokyo, then walk back to Olvera Street and end my excursion. I thought that would be different.

Well, I left at 9:30 a.m. today and encountered very little traffic. That was very nice. I got to my spot where I park and paid the usual $4 for all-day parking, then walked through Chinatown. The place is deserted. Such a difference from 30 years ago when it was bustling and there were so many people on the sidewalks. And to think, the popular conception was that the Asian tide would wash over us and make us either Japanese or Chinese in our cultural habits. I remember the 80s and 90s, and people here in the USA were avidly studying Japanese and teaching themselves to eat Sushi and to enjoy the fetish culture of geishas and samurai. In a way, Asian culture did wash over us, but it ended up being a matter of economics. The Chinese do all our manufacturing, and the Japanese provide us with some industrial products but also continue to feed our popular culture imagination with Cosplay and Animé. So, it did happen, but in a way we didn't expect.

I didn't end up taking the bus, I tried but never hit the stops when the bus was arriving, and I didn't want to wait. So I walked, and it was almost like a death march. I was much longer than it should have been, but I persisted, thinking, well if I didn't exercise, it would be worse for me. Finally I arrived after about an hour to Echo Park.

What a change! Now they have this fencing all along the park, and only a few select points of entry. Why would they do that? And I though, of course, look around you. There are homeless people everywhere. If they didn't put fencing in and boot everyone out at the end of the day when they close the park, the homeless population would move in and destroy the park. I know, it sounds uncharitable to write this, but the park was clean this time, and there were so many families there, it looked very wholesome. 

Gentrification is well underway, and it is only a matter of time, say, 10 years before the Latino character is lost. I already saw it in the way so many murals have disappeared. Gentrification has really changed the look of Echo Park, and I guess I have to admit it, it is a "done-deal". But it is a natural process, and there is no point in fighting it. The Latinos took over neighborhoods and transformed them too, so new communities and groups are always moving in and claiming new spaces. We have no "birth-right" to a place, no claim of ownership, so Latinos should not be complaining in Echo Park nor in Boyle Heights where it is also happening. And when I think about it, the place has really become better. Back thirty years ago, Echo Park and Boyle Heights (especially) were notorious gang territory where shootings and killings were always being reported. There were cholos and cholas in Echo Park,and ugly graffiti everywhere. It was also very run-down. 

Yes, you can say, but it was "ours", there were good parts, but I like the way it is changing. It doesn't seem so dangerous, and I suspect the same will continue to happen in Boyle Heights too, even though the people who grew up there and obtained degrees and moved away to nice places in Whittier and West Covina (where they are changing those neighborhoods) object to "gentrification". I love the fact that I did not see the graffiti that marred the place 30 years ago, although yes, it is also poignant to reflect on the changes and the shops that have been lost. I miss the old bookstore that used to be on Cesar Chavez Blvd back then. I used to buy all kinds of Mexican comic books (called "historietas"), and now, the corner book and magazine sellers are gone throughout the city.

So, I found the entrance point and started walking around the city. There were so many Anglos there that I didn't use to see, and they were happy there! I saw them throughout the park, and yes, the Latino presence is still there, the Central Americans frying hot dogs wrapped in bacon on makeshift stores next to the sidewalk, but not as many as I remember years and years ago. There were brown-skinned women selling tamales out of baskets and coolers, but not as many as before. Inside the park? No street vendors. I like that, others may not and may call me a "malinchista", but I like to have cleaner spaces. No, in Mexico (and Latin America) the street vendors are not controlled the way they are here, but I just like it better this way, it feels more comfortable, and people take care of the place and don't leave wrappers or bottles all over the place. 

The lotus plants are in bloom, and the water is so clean! And there are paddle boats that are rented, and many families were out in the lake in those boats, something I didn't remember twenty years ago. My first time here was in 1990, for the Lotus Festival, and I always loved those festivals, but we could see that the plants were dying in the lake, it was so full of trash, and the upkeep was faulty. It was not being protected, but now, the plants were abundant, so full, so beautiful, so many flowers! And I loved the general environment. I know, I know, it is gentrified, and I should be screaming about that, but I am not. It is less affordable to members of my Latino community, not as many will be moving in, but by the same token, it is more livable now. I took photos with my Minolta Autocord using Lomochrome Purple film. I had to capture these lakeside vistas, and I would have liked to capture more photos of the people as well, but I didn't take covert snapshots of them. That would have been invasive.

I walked around the lake and enjoyed it. By then, it was time to go to another part. I wanted to buy some pupusas at a Salvadoran restaurant, but as I walked south on Glendale, I just felt more and more tired. It would have been a longer walk than I wanted, and I needed to find that other park, the one with the astounding views of downtown Los Angeles. So I made a beeline for that park. Here are a few images of Echo Park with my cellphone. I also took a few images with my Canon T90 with Arista 200 black and white film, but didn't finish that roll. I can't get over my surprise when I see the photos. Echo Park was not nearly this luxuriant back in 1990! 

Last batch from "Son of the beach"!

 And a few more cellphone photos from my trip to Manhattan Beach. Using a cellphone to take photos is doing absolutely nothing in dissuading me from taking bad shots. It is antithetical to learning to become a better photographer, which involves, more than anything else, stopping and learning how to compose. 

More from the "Son of the Beach"!

 Here are a few cellphone photos from my trip to Manhattan Beach, CA, to see their volleyball tournament. I went on Friday, June 30th, and spent three hours there. I remember having doubts as to whether I would be able to last that long, but time went quickly. By the time I left, at about 1:30 p.m., I did not want to stay longer. It was time to go home, and the drive back was another nightmare rush-hour drive, bumper to bumper, start and stop, that made me almost regret my trip. But here are some cell photos.