Author Archives: Blowhard, Esq.

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About Blowhard, Esq.

Amateur, dilettante, wannabe.

A Tour of the Long Beach Civic Center

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: The architectural degradation of our government buildings during the 60s and 70s is both fascinating and depressing. What mass hysteria gripped the Establishment of the time? Did no one object? What can and should we do with the legacy … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , , , , | 43 Comments

“Urbanized” (2011)

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: The third volume in Gary Hustwit’s super SWPLy design series for the TED crowd — following his previous HELVETICA and OBJECTIFIED — I found this documentary only intermittently engaging. I enjoyed HELVETICA, which looked at 20th century … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Movies | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

“End of Watch” (2012)

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: An alternate title for this could be LAPD: Awesomest Police Force on Earth. The cinematographer, Roman Vasyanov, is a Russian who studied at Moscow’s Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography where his mentor was Vadim Usov, Tarovsky’s cameraman on … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Linkage

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Are L.A. restaurants better than NYC ones? I’ve been to two of the places mentioned in the article, Baco Mercat and animal, and would highly recommend both. Sir Barken wrote about animal here. Not The Onion: North Korea … Continue reading →

Posted in Food and health, Linkathons, Movies, Politics and Economics | Leave a comment

Pasadena: Then and Now

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: In 1888, the city of Pasadena, CA built an opera house at a cost of $125,000 ($3.15 million in 2012 dollars). The design used the Moorish revival style, which was very popular at the time. The building was … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A Firecracker for Today

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Related Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations was published this week.

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Sex, Women men and fashion | Tagged | 8 Comments

Happy 4th of July

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Land of the free, home of the brave! Related Razib Khan on the neglected regionalism of the United States. (H/T Paleo Retiree)

Posted in Politics and Economics | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Eyesore of the Month: Carlos Slim’s Museo Soumaya

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Although it’s almost two years old (hey, gimme a break, I’m a little slow), I just discovered that billionaire crony capitalist Carlos Slim has built a museum in Mexico City to house his fine art collection. First, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Hey SSM Proponents, The Christian Wacko Paranoiacs Have A Point

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: The Facebook page Gaytheist described this as “The Christian Right’s paranoia complex in a single tweet:” I’ll admit this guy is indeed just a wee bit paranoid because pedophilia and bestiality are easily distinguishable from same-sex marriage … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Economics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

I Can’t Even Remember What It Was I Came Here To Get Away From: An Interview With Lloyd Fonvielle

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: If you’re a regular visitor here, you’ve probably seen one of us mention friend-of-the-blog Lloyd Fonvielle before. I met Lloyd about a year and a half ago on Facebook where he’s a lively and generous presence. We struck … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books Publishing and Writing, Interviews, Movies, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments