Pomona cactus patch

Erinn carefully frolicking in the cactus patch

SoCal contrast

Last week I had an assignment to photograph some activity at Cal State Polytechnic, way out east in Pomona. It happened that Erinn was free, so she came along so we could go out to dinner on the way back home. The job had me arriving in Pomona, about 50 miles east of Venice, at 6 p.m., which meant that if we left at 4 we might get there by 6:30. So rather than sit in traffic all day, we decided to take off at 1 and find something to do there before my start time. Leaving that early, we were actually able to make it there in the hour that it should take to drive 50 miles, which meant we had plenty of time to kill. Turns out there’s not a ton to do in Pomona. But we took the attitude that we were happy just driving around and finding places to get out and walk, and before we knew it the time had passed. First we found our way downtown, which turned out to be pretty nice. There’s an antique’s row and a main street area with several restaurants and bars. I didn’t realize until driving through downtown that I’d actually been there before, having visited the Fox Theater to see the Meat Puppets and Built to Spill with friends when I was out here visiting prior to moving here. Met Mike Watt that night too! Just after he’d been inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame with the Stooges. Anyway, after we walked around the town for awhile, we made our way over to the Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park where we found a hillside covered in patches of cacti. So we got out of the car to check them out and take some photos. The photos turned out well, but they cost me a few stab wounds. Two in the shins and one in the butt. It’ll teach you to be aware of your surroundings. Somewhere along the way I also hopped out and took the last photo here, which struck me as something you’d only see in Southern California. After the assignment, we made our way downtown for some grub. We ended up deciding on an amazing Japanese restaurant called Daikokuya in Little Tokyo. If you’re ever in the mood for really good ramen noodles check this place out!

Just some more stormy weather photos taken on Venice Beach over the past week. I was hoping to find someone out there surfing, but the surf was too rough. I don’t know what it’s called, but the shot of the crashing wave after the jump is something that happens when a wave coming in from the ocean collides with a wave that’s coming back out to sea from the coast. I think it’s caused by a steep incline near the shore that forces the water back out. On a smaller scale I found myself in that spot in El Porto, a beach a couple miles south, while surfing a couple weeks back and was pretty close to getting hit in the head by my own board by the force of it. On the scale seen in this photo I’m not surprised no one was out in the water! The fire spinner is Ricky Otterstrom, who was out practicing atop one of the winter dunes on the beach. A few days ago I complained on Facebook about getting sand in everything. This was when that occurred. Despite the wet sand from days of rain the wind was strong enough to dry off the top layer and send it whipping across the dunes. I shot him for a couple minutes until I couldn’t take the beating anymore and called it quits.