Part Time Punk

  So, I've been house sitting for my girls, Alex and Britt.  While they are hanging around in Seattle and Portland, I am here in the sunshine capital, manning their home and getting to spend some quality time with Teddy and Potato (their adorable cats).

  While looking for things to do, I came upon this book and decided to borrow it (thanks ladies!)  It is called Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk.  I was sold with that title alone.  Since high school, I've always had a little bit of lingering rebellion inside of me, but I was way too timid to fully commit to anything my parents wouldn't approve of. I had Goth friends and really wanted to be Goth.  I loved The Cure, and had wannabe Doc Martens, but that is as far as it went.  I didn't really think I would look good wearing black lipstick, witchcraft was never my forte, and hanging out in graveyards seemed too scary.  I never did drugs, never had the desire to, but knew some people who did.  The hardest thing I ever did in high school was take a few drags from my friend's clove cigarette.  How PUNK.

  In college, I got really obsessed with The Clash, and I only knew a few Ramones songs.  I've always loved the Talking Heads because my mom had Little Creatures on cassette tape, and would play this over and over.  If I were to label that band, it would be more "art rock" than "punk", I guess.  A teacher of mine, Michael Perkins, use to bring vinyl records to class, and that is when I first heard Funhouse.  You can literally feel the raw energy that Iggy projected onto that album.  It still gives me chills every time I play it.  And the saxophone, people!  That sax! 

  Right now, I am exploring the Velvet Underground chapters.  Unbelievable stuff!

  "IGGY POP:  The first time I heard the Velvet Underground and Nico record was at a party on the University of Michigan campus. I just hated the sound. You know, "HOW COULD ANYBODY MAKE A RECORD THAT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A PIECE OF SHIT? THIS IS DISGUSTING! ALL THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME FUCKING SICK! FUCKING DISGUSTING HIPPIE VERMIN! FUCKING BEATNIKS, I WANT TO KILL THEM ALL!  THIS JUST SOUNDS LIKE TRASH!"

  Then about six months later it hit me. "Oh my god! WOW! This is just a fucking great record!" That record became very key for me, not just for what it said, and for how great it was, but also because I heard other people who could make good music-without being any good at music. It gave me hope."

I G G Y    P O P
I love him because he is fucking nuts

your friend,

ava


  

Tim Burton

Jeaux and I have a funny thing in common that I found out a year ago when we first started dating. Both he and I were what we call, "Half Ass Goth".  Basically, we were both into Goth culture: All black clothing,  dark ruby or black lipstick, black as midnight nail polish, The Cure, but we were too chicken to go all the way with our looks. I had the imitation Doc Martin mid-calf boots, long black sweaters, fish nets and rubber bracelets, though I worried about my parent's reaction if I even thought about wearing dark eye liner and black lipstick. I hung around some people who were in those circles, but after my freshman year, I thought about going more Granny Chic. 

Jeaux was way cooler it seems. He managed to draw a wonderful sketch of Edward Scissorhands directly onto a tee-shirt of his, never smiled in photographs and listened to much better music (while I was still growing up in the 90s and trying to get out of my awkward faze, he was already past that so I had some catching up to do I suppose).

With all that said, imagine how excited we both were to find out that Tim Burton was going to showcase his art at the LACMA!  We had tickets in advance to take a CalArts tour. We finally went this past Saturday, and it was, well, overwhelming.  We ended up losing the group, which was fine with me because we were stuck behind a middle-aged CalArts alum who kept telling us how "so & so" stole his ideas and how bitter he was. He also mentioned numerous times how he shouldn't have even said anything. 

"I've said too much already."

Yeah, it was a little awkward. Besides this guy, we had the pleasure of meeting a woman in her 70s or 80s who went to CalArts later in life. I found that inspiring (its never too late after all). She was funny and loved to talk about her installations of plungers and penises. I could respect that.

There were so many people, and heavy breathers, some of them. It was tough to catch every single piece, but I'm glad we got to see his old sketches. The ones that were very interesting were the random sketches he did while bored at his job at Disney. Another favorite were his models and original pieces from "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories".

This was all good, but the most fun I had was when Jeaux and I got to mischievously touch the Angora Sweater from Ed Wood. That was our punk rock moment of the day and made me delightfully giggle. 

By the way, it IS super soft! Towards the end of the tour, it turned into the Hardrock Cafe, Universal Studios, in a way that was completely "Hollywood".

Copyright Ava Alamshah 2011

They wouldn't let us take pictures, so this is right outside the exit. They had these crazy balloon men dancing to Danny Elfman tunes. 

Later on in the evening I wanted to take Jeaux to Pizza Fusion on Sunset. I'm starting this gluten free diet and was excited to try their gluten free pizza, and pizza is Jeaux's favorite food. I have to be honest, the pizza was alright (this is coming from someone who has had the ultimate pizza from New York & Chicago). We got half pepperoni & cheese. Each slice only had a single pepperoni on it and overall the pizza was overpriced.  I'll have to come up with a good alternative or just create my own gluten free pizza one of these days. I'll keep you'll posted once I do. 

It wasn't all a loss though. I was, after all, in good company and we came up with this cute illustration while waiting. We took turns drawing each other. I'm happy with how it turned out. I can thank my boyfriend in encouraging me to draw again.

Copyright Ava Alamshah & Jeaux Janovsky 2011

your friend,

ava