The Best from the Worst

Bezold Photography hasn't gone anywhere.

After a month in hiatus without taking portraits of spoiled screaming kids and their soft parents, I got a call last week from my boss that he wants me to shoot over the weekend. We're not at the Topanga mall anymore, but I had to work at two different locations in the Valley over the weekend: the Lucky supermarket in Van Nuys Boulevard and Sherman Way and the Bezold Photography flagship studio in the Burbank Town Center.

Now why did I bring up the Lucky supermarket? Well, one of my co-workers that brings in the clients lives in Van Nuys not too far from the store and he talked the store manager into hooking us up with the wine supply room there as a small pop-up studio to set up for the portraits. That Saturday, my boss brought a background along with some old school strobes to set up and a old first generation Canon Rebel for me to photograph that delivers very good results in its images. I spent majority of the day there and it was totally slow. I had three clients come in and they were super mad chill. The first one was an lady in her early thirties with her toddler son, another was a regular typical Valley suburban family with a couple and their two kids, and the final client of the day were two elderly Hispanic women with twin girls who are about 15 months. They were my favorite to photograph of the whole day since they smiled alot. Somehow that Saturday went by so quick despite being there for 9 hours.

During the slow downtime at Lucky when there were no customers, I used that time to walk around and browse the supermarket for a bit and read a few magazines. I remember walking to this Lucky several times nine years ago when I lived in Van Nuys with my pops back then, but it was called Albertsons at the time. Now the store is about to be closing in a month cause Albertsons, who also own that Lucky store, is shutting down most of their stores in California. They already closed down the one behind my old high school a year ago. I talked with a bloke who works at that Lucky and he told me that they've been going through alot of shit from cutting staff to reducing hours. He also told me that he's been working there for 20 years and that he doesn't know where he might be transferred to, or if he's actually gonna be working. I would never thing that a store like Albertsons would be falling under since the economy collapsed and shifted since 2008 cause they sell necessary produce and other accessories that everybody needs. Right now they are starting their liquidation sales to rid of everything cause the store looked damn near empty that Saturday. 

Then on Sunday, I drove to the Burbank Town Center (or Media City Center for all the Valley OGs) for the first time in a year to cover at the Bezold Photography studio there. When I was at Topanga, my co-workers kept telling me about that place all the time, yet I don't remember seeing it everytime I go to that mall. The studio is decent and it has a good amount of space. Other than that, it was the same process when I was at Topanga. Families came in with their kids dressed up in vintage clothing, with some of them crying and running around. Again that day also went by quick, but we had 6 clients that day to get their photos taken. During downtime, I was watching some NFL football on a TV that was posted from a smoothie bar across my studio. They were showing the Eagles at Steelers game in which Pittsburgh won the game with the field goal literally at the last second to cut Philadelphia's lead and also some of the Broncos/Patriots game. That shit should've been a Sunday Night game cause of the hyped up rivarly between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady (which is already played out since Manning left Indianapolis) instead of San Diego and New Orleans hosting Sunday Night Football, but props to the Saints for winning their first game of the season without Coach Sean Payton and their key defensive players who are suspended for a while. Again, that day went by quick.

Yes, I'm aware of the fuel prices being spiked for the past week and some stations even breaking the 5 dollar a gallon mark. Hell, even Costco and the independent gasoline stations had to shut down their business cause they ran out of fuel and couldn't afford to buy more. I stopped by my sisters' house in North Hollywood after work and we discussed how times are tough now and nothing is soft and easy as it was in the past. Right now she's grinding by still working at 24 Hour Fitness and interning for this Physician in Beverly Hills. I also stopped by to give her the grey Primitive t-shirt with Rachel Metz's eyes printed on it that I promised her before she went to Nigeria over the Summer.

Its tough as hell now. Actually,  its been like that for the past four years, but I'm not bitching too much about it. Nowadays you have to know somebody that knows somebody in order to work at a decent job cause most lower-level companies and stores are scared and insecure to hire anybody who plans to quit after three months working there after all the money they paid for his uniform and training orientation among other things. I've brought this up many times like somebody's moms from the mid-twentieth century, so if your not doing anything, start doing whatever it is your good at and develop it  to the point where you not only receive some compensation in return, but also enjoyment out of it as well. That's how it was with myself and photography. Fuck, I can even imagine how Economics class is being taught in high school nowadays since the recession. Either the teacher is all like "All right class, your future is fucked and y'all will never find work" or the teacher is probably teaching his or her class the same stuff but with more emphasis so that the student will make smart, legitimate financial decisions after they graduate (or stop attending high school if that matters). All I can say is that just stay tough and manage yourself properly. Start from the basics again if you have to and shoutout to all the moms with minivans and SUVs that have to commute with their kids at least halfway across the Valley during the times of high fuel prices.

That last paragraph seemed predictable and always repeated, but hey, I have friends and acquaintances who lost their jobs the past few weeks and shit hasn't been smooth for them. By the way, I'm thinking of checking out this singer Ellie Goulding doing an appearance at Amoeba Records next week since I heard "Lights" and some of her other songs at the clubs and stores I've been to this past year, and I need to cop some more Vinyls there. If you're down to go, let me know. Anyways, thanks for your time reading this.

Acting Crazy in Los Angeles

Weekend was quick. Went to church and missed out on Week 4 of the NFL.

I watched the movie Falling Down starring Michael Douglas last night. I fucking loved that film. I discovered it from an article I read about last weekend's closure of the 405 Freeway, one of the most overhyped waste of journalism I've ever seen. because in Falling Down, it relates to the traffic that was featured in the beginning of the film. Michael Douglas' character is very similar to Kevin Spacey's character in American Beauty (one of the BEST films ever made) in which the subject is fed up of dealing with all the uninteresting bullshit and life's recurring display of uncomfortable negativity from other people, so he does something about it. I don't want to recap the entire film, but my suggestion is just watch Falling Down, and the best part is that it took place in Downtown Los Angeles and Venice Beach in the early 90's.

Speaking of Michael Douglas, I want to check out his biography he just released, as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography that is always on the news everyday I wake up. He doing a book signing at The Grove this Friday evening but I won't be able to make it cause I might have to take some photos that day. Last time I saw Arnold was 4 years ago in Beverly Hills after he got his haircut, and at that time he was the Governor of this state, which is something I honestly thought would never happen from watching The Terminator, Twins, and Jingle All the Way among other things before 2003.

Before I finish, quick birthday shoutouts this month to friends and acquaintances:  Ning Young, Quintin Barry, Corina Andujo, Phillip Gonzalez, Randy Mendoza, Elvis Galvez, Justin and Nesi Napod, Lucy Hakverdian, Desiree Elyda Villalobos, Mando De La Torre, Paul Zavala, Cecilia Navaratte, Alberto Mujica, Robin Kanouse, Jon Stetter, and Cassandra Cootz. Anyways, thanks for your time reading this.

Thanksgiving came early....again.

It was just another weekend for me. Mostly with friends and some excellent pro-football.

Saturday was just mostly spent at the DLT's for my friend Marlene's daughter, Yvonne, for her baby shower that was taking place. I went there for two purposes: to take photos of the event and to show support as well. As I was heading my way over there, I needed to stop someplace to eat since I didn't consume anything after waking up late as usual. I could've gone to my church for their weekly potluck, but instead, I went to this pizza parlor just up a block on Glenoaks and Roxford. The Subway there was my original choice, but since I've passed by that place a hundred thousand times for the past nine years, I decided to try out their pizza for the first time.

It was very decent. I like it, probably the best 5 bucks I spent for two slices. It was run by this Hispanic lady in her late 20's and another girl, who I assume might be her sister or cousin in high school, that's probably doing a weekend gig for some cash. Place was small with a 4 arcade machines and a regular size flat screen TV hovering on the ceiling. They were showing a bullshit episode of True Life profiling this teenage girl who has to deal with their embarrassing mom's that has very large fake breasts and some crying shit. I didn't want to watch that while I was eating in risking regurgitation, so I made the owner of the restaurant change it to the Stanford/Oregon Pac-12 college football game. This Andrew Luck kid is gonna be the talk on the sports world for the next couple of months. I won't be surprised if he gets drafted by Indianapolis next year, if he decides to not play his senior year with Stanford. After consuming those two slices and a cup of water, I then dipped out to the DLT's. Shoutout to Bella's Pizza for the quick, delicious lunch.

The baby shower for Yvonne was pretty much handled like another regular kickback at her place like before. Only difference was that it was mostly women that was in attendance, and obviously, I didn't have a problem with that. I brought a black tarp as a background for a "prom night portrait" style photoshoot that I did for everyone there, the first time I ever did that for any event I did. The stock photos actually came out well, but I might tweak them up a bit. I didn't have any strobes or studio lighting to use, just some of the light that's occupied in the house and the built in flash on the camera. My uncle is getting his SB-600 flashgun repaired. Aside from that, everything else was absolutely chill. Spent the night there and watched a bit of football as soon as I woke up from a two hour sleep, cause I drank some Pepsi the night before that kept me awake the whole night.

I didn't go to test drive some Cadillacs at The Grove on like I said in the last post, but whatever, I drove several of them in Glendale last month. They also had the annual Glamourcon event at the Long Beach Convention Center, which is a meet and greet of former Playboy bunnies from the 1970's, 80's and 90's. I could've gone, but I rather take photos of those models from the way the looked 20 or 30 years ago. Sunday was just mostly spent at the DLT's just checking out the Niners/Redskins game, which ended up with San Francisco becoming 7-1 since Steve Young was the starting Quarterback there in that ball club in the 90's. The rest of the early games were blowouts. I thought FOX was gonna air the Packers/Chargers game in the afternoon, but they showed the Giants/Patriots game that had the shittiest scoreless first half I've ever seen. I left when halftime started (thanks to Katie Galvez for the lift back to my place).

When I got back home, I wanted to rest to make up for the loss of hours that I didn't sleep, but one of my housemates was going off with his karaoke system in the living room, and to be honest, I FUCKING DON'T LIKE BEING IN KARAOKE SCENES. I can't sing for shit, and I'm glad I've never tried it in my life, ever. To avoid hearing him from my room singing every catalog more than twice for the remainder of the time (no joke, EVERY SONG MORE THAN TWICE) I shook over to my friend Frank's house just not too far from where I live. got a chance to see the final seconds of the Giants/Patriots game and damn, that shit felt ALOT like their duel in Super Bowl XLII. Brady losing at home for the first time is like him breaking his team perfect season record in the 2007 season. That feeling was just... damn, with a different New York Giants team. Hopefully, Eli Manning earned a lot of confidence from that game. I also got a chance to see the end of the Packers/Chargers game thanks to Frank's DirecTV Game Mix feature, where its every game in one screen. Resulted with Green Bay still proving why they're the World Champions by defeating San Diego in a crazy 45-38 win. The Sunday Night game between Pittsburgh and Baltimore was brilliant. A lot of defense was displayed and it was worth watching. I still think that Ray Lewis has several years left in the league, but it was a great game nonetheless with the Ravens embarrassing the Steelers fans at their stadium.

That was my weekend. Its pretty much the usual that I do every week, friends and football. Thanks as always to the De La Torre's and the Galvez's for inviting me to Yvonne's baby shower and shoutout to the young female cashier at the Burger King in San Fernando for complementing my red St. John's Bay shirt on Sunday Night. The rest of this week was emotional news so far for some African American notable figures in the news. Dr. Conrad Murrary is finally going to jail, boxing legend Joe Frazier died from liver cancer last night and now this afternoon, hip hop legend Heavy D passed away. I wasn't alive to see Joe Frazier duke it out in the ring, but I was jumping from different nursery schools in North Hollywood every six months with my little sister in the 90's when Heavy D was getting exposure then. I remember glancing on some of his videos back when BET did a top 20 video countdown every Saturday afternoon with a different guest host paying their favorite music videos back in 2005, and a few of them chose Heavy D and the Boyz. I also remember seeing him making special guest appearances in a few repeat episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and A Different World.

Damn, his passing got me by surprise. I was coming back from taking photos of Shakira's Walk of Fame ceremony at Hollywood and Vine today (she is VERY fine and I've fucked with her music since Laundry Service back in 8th grade), and found out about Heav's death as soon as got on the internet. I actually could've spent this last paragraph blabbering about witnessing Shakira in person for the first time and how it was the CRAZIEST Walk Of Fame that I've ever been to in 5 years, but two deaths withing 24 hours is just as bizarre as the passings I've seen vanished back in 2009. Just be blessed and thankful for your life, and give back to those who helped you got to where you're at right now. Enjoy the rest of the week.

I'M MAD LATE ON THE WEEKEND RECAP

Because it was THAT good. Took a charter bus to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia with my house-mates on Saturday. Didn't want to, but I had to. They went for the rides, I went to go pick up my free season pass. As I went inside just to get some change, some lady was hitting on me. She look a few years older and not really my type, but I wasn't in the mood to score on her and plus she was here with her husband and kids. I was supposed to work for my uncle that night, but I couldn't reach him. So instead, I went with my friend Nicole Stetter and her friends to go watch and take photos her band Darger De Milo and Aftergloam along with some other bands perform at Space 2710 in Eagle Rock. The show was really great, even though it was at a very small venue. Met some nice people there, including this photographer who works for himself and ran into this girl that I haven't seen since 8th grade graduation back in 2002. Major props to Elvis Galvez and Tianna Edmonson for pulling a double duty by performin with two different bands.

Then on Sunday I rode my bike to one of my friends house to watch Super Bowl XLV with them. It felt like watching a regular NFL game for some weird reason. The only great things about the day was the Trailer for Super 8 that aired durin the break, which was made and based on Steven Spilberg's upstart as a filmmaker from a Sci-Fi approach, the spicy Doritos that were served during the game, and Aaron Rodgers winning the big dance and finally getting a ring.

Then on Monday, I went with my pops to take him to his Physical Therapy appointment. I got a chance to drive the 2010 Honda Civic that he rented that morning, which I thought he would never drive. Then later we went to pick up his Lexus LS400 which has been in the body shop for three months. That full size sedan looks brand new, like nothing happened and it drives well. After he picked up his whip, we went to go return the Civic to Enterprise out of all places. I thought that they only give out Chevy Malibu's and other cheap American sedans. Now there starting to rent out dosmestic vehicles.

Anyway, that was my weekend. Now time for me to get back to work as usual.

Thanksgiving Came a Weekend Early

The title LITERALLY speaks for itself this past weekend.

I spent majority of the past 3 days with my family, my friends and their families. It was great attending my pops' and my brother's church for the first time since.... I-really-do-not-know-when. It felt like a year, but I remember visiting the place sometime around this year, or was it because I keep seeing the Pastor and the members at my uncle's house for my cousin's wedding this past summer?

Anyway, my other cousin and the youth of his church were taking over the service for the day. I really wanted to stay and hear my cousin deliver his sermonette that he conducted, but I had to leave to drive to the A.V. to go return the Nikon Speedlight SB-600 flash unit to my uncle in Lancaster, cause he had a gig to go take photos at around that time. So after I dreaded the 14 freeway North and chilled at his place for a bit, I then took the beautiful-ass flawless Sierra Highway back to my pop's house in Granada Hills. When I got home, I read that one of the Aftergloam members was throwing a last minute potluck kickback at her place, and I just bought 2 Double Cheeseburgers and a Side Salad from McDonald's before I got home, which I haven't eaten yet. So then I took my untouched $3.61 plus tax lunch to Tianna Edmonson's place, who happens to be the excellent, talented drummer for the band Aftergloam.

Usually whenever I go to her place, which is not too far from where I'm staying at, there would always be a grip of twenty somethings that would fill up her pad, but when I got there around 4pm, there was about like 6 or 7 people that attended. I think I shut down the entire potluck with the McDonald's in my hand but I just gave one of my sandwiches to one of the dudes there that was starving. During that time I mingled, took photos, watched some decent amount of television at their living room such as a portion of the USC-Arizona Wildcats game, the movie Biker Boyz which I haven't seen since my trip from Nigeria on the airplane as an in-flight movie back in 2003, and I got a chance to check out Inside the NFL on Showtime, which I thought was a damn good show unlike NFL Live and alot of other pro football related highlight programs. Man, Phil Simms even cussed during the discussion about the situation with the Dallas Cowboys after the first five minutes at the start of the program. No wonder this shit used to be aired on HBO. Big shoutout to the De La Torre family for for getting to know y'all more, making me feel at home, and for the excellent, delicious Pupusas you guys served me.

The next day I was supposed to cover a wedding on that Sunday, which I happened to found out at the last second when I turned my phone on after I woke up. I tried calling my uncle back, but he didn't pick up. I could've made at least $200 that day. Instead, I did some laundry, helped my pops around the house by doing yard maintenance, and just kept it low key for a while. For some reason, I didn't feel like watching some NFL games that day, but I followed up some of the games online during the score updates.

Later on that day, I drove to Chatsworth to go pick up my friend Natasha to go hiking at Stoney Point next to Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the Santa Susana Pass intersection. I always drive by that place over the years and I never got a chance to check it out. It was a very great spot, especially for doing photoshoots. Took a good amount of photos there, mostly landscape pictures of Porter Ranch, and we just talked and had good discussions as we were hiking. Natasha and I went to the same high school and I started talking to her back in 2005, but only for a short while. I ran into her again this past summer when I started going to Nicole's house, since they're both young mothers and good close friends. Small ass world, isn't it. She's a very cool person to be around with. Hell, she even introduced me to the film American Psycho on Friday, which I heard of but never saw. For some reason, I always think of Kourtney Kardashian's son's father Scott Disick instead of the Patrick Bateman character the film. They look and dress TOTALLY alike.

After I dropped Natasha off at her place, I then drove to one of my friend's crib Burbank to watch the Los Angeles Lakers go against the Phoenix Suns, which was a disappointing loss thanks to Hedo Turkoglu crazy ass 3 pointers, which was almost a record that night, more like a Ray-Allen-in-the-2010-NBA-Finals type performance. Thanks to the Galvez family for inviting me over and thanks to Ginger for the slice of Pumpkin Pie, which was my first time trying it.

I'll just end this post here. Seriously, I really can't ask for more. I'm pretty much already full and stuffed with all the blessings I counted this weekend, as well as this past year so far. To me, there's really no need for Turkeys (not Hedo Turkoglu's country by the way). I rather give them to those unfortunate people who really need it more than I do. That's the type of person I am, especially during the upcoming holidays.