David James and son Seven, atop the Los Feliz Club Apartments with Vermont Ave in the background. The Onyx Cafe was located on the spot (bright-strobe) in the photo behind them. This 'spot' now is occupied by Figaro Cafe.
Monday, March 07, 2005
graduating on to bigger things.
i notice that 'lil stefani being that she is only 2 and a half, does wonders with crayons. sometime ago, she's done some crayon work on my personal hamper. what amazes me, is that she hasn't touched on the walls yet (knock on wood), or maybe she would eventually?
i honestly don't think i'll have much time to spend on this killer PS2 racing sim, but since 'lil stefani has displayed interest in anything pertaining to "automobiles", i just thought she should spend some time playing with it instead. so far, she's got a knack of popping the game discs in and out of the PS2 cleanly, and there are times she uses the unit as a step ladder.
me and 'lil stefani dropped by tribal cafe to meet up with darrell monday evening. he was bringing food for the gang at tribal. btw, tribal cafe isn't open yet but by the way it looks, it shouldn't be a long wait. martha (martha allie packard) and dave were busy with the finishing-up stuff but got interrupted because they had guests -- darrell, stefani and myself. man, it has been close to 8 years that i've since seen martha. it just seems like yesterday. she hasn't aged a bit. we were reminiscing of the time circa 1993, when we drove out to the "cock and bull" in sta. monica to see eben eldridge of the "hungarian music lessons" play. eben at the time was my next door neighbor. the first set on stage was peter tork of the "monkees" and eben and his band played next. seeing martha again brought fun memories back like watching "ace ventura pet detective" at the beverly center together, sometime after the northridge earthquake and "forrest gump" with kyung chi, that same year. btw, my photostudio/apt. got "red tagged" that i together with the other tenants, had to evacuate. as i recall, i wasn't in a very good state of being (wreck) at the time that while everyone were busy moving their stuff out, i procrastinated. the only thing that i took were my negatives. a week prior the quake, i had just been a "carjack" victim, and 5 months prior the carjacking incident, i snapped my right wrist from a "night swim" accident on zuma beach and the fracture took months to heal (the vicodin addiction i kicked overnight). man, i've never seen so much shit happen in a 6 month period, not to mention also, someone walking out of my life. yada yada yada. [violins are playing]. well, i just happened to have my workhorse camera- "holga 120 cfn" with me that monday evening and exposed the last shot on dave rockello.
"I don't care about making photography an art," said Mr. Steichen. "I want to make good photographs. I'd like to know who first got it in his head that dreaminess and mist is art.
Take things as they are; take good photographs and the ART WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF."
the PHOTO GALLERY containing photographs taken at the Onyx Café is work in progress, most of these scanned negatives were recently unearthed. since i've benefitted a great deal from the onyx cafe(free coffee, etc.), it's now payback time to mr. john leech and to every soul i hung out with, with my photographs. enjoy!!!
the Onyx Café was more than just an institutional cafe to most of the regulars and myself. it was a "state of mind" without the aid of any mind altering pill. it was a place where you can actually feel how "timeless" the place was. it was a conglomerated convergence of people from all walks of life. from hollywood celebs to suitcase-geared travelling bohemians introducing themselves, and being welcomed (and not interrupting any intellectual arguments). it was the crossroads to every major city on this planet. it was happening! day and night, into day again. amidst the aroma of the coffee lingering in the air, there was also, all kinds of drama. but we will not go there. you can never complain about the taste of espressos and cappuccinos served here, nor how the architectural facade of the place appeared, nor even how people looked or dressed. people come here for the same one thing that everyone else is seeking --- and it's not just the java. it is.. NIRVANA. yep. and the whole crowd was experiencing it collectively.
