Sunday Afternoon- Griffith Park Drum Circle: Sketches of Los Angeles

Sunday Afternoon: Griffith Park Drum Circle

by Armando Ortiz

Two Sundays ago I hiked up to Mt Hollywood and then descended down the Northeast side to where the Merry-Go-Round and the weekend drum circle are located. I figured it would be a nice place to relax a bit, read a few pages of Joyce’s Ulysses of which I'm almost done, and listen to some live music. I went down the trail slowly making my way to the drum circle. I made my final approach and sat under a tree a few meters away from the circle. I sat on the grass and lounged for a bit under the shade of an oak tree.

I saw people and all kinds of hands slapping drums, congas, djembes, bongos and tambourines or holding sticks that were either striking something or rasping some kind of instrument. Kids were running around, and toddlers dancing to the groove, along with their parents who were enjoying the music. There were ladies who wore speckles on their hips that made shingly sounds. Their hips swayed, rocked, twisted and shot from side to side rhythmically making their speckles shiver under the sun’s heat. The beats that emanated from the circle reminded me that people have been coming here and doing this for decades. The spirit of those that started this circle years ago resonated with childhood memories of when my family would go come to this part of Griffith Park for weekend barbecues. My siblings and I would play in the jungle gyms, use the swings, and slide down the shimmering slides. Occasionally we’d go ride the Merry-Go-Round that would go round and round as the plaster cast horses that were painted in bright pastels moved up and down. Even as we got older and sandboxes were replaced with baseballs, soccer balls, and footballs, we could still hear the rhythmic beats that were being born from that corner of the park.

As I sat down to hear the beats, a whirlpool of memories were brought up in that instant, like a sudden cloud funnel that appears out of nowhere and then disappears in the present nothingness of the sky. At that moment I got the idea to write about this spot, which lies hidden to many people who call Los Angeles home.

It surprises me that this spot is always very intimate and the people that come here are relaxed and are either making percussion beats or enjoying the sounds being made with the hands of a group of people that come from various and differing backgrounds. Some folks instead of drums bring grills to cook meat so as to have some live music in the background. The shade that the old oaks and pine trees make is something special.  Griffith Park is in Los Angeles, and it is only a few minutes away from the I-5, and only ten to fifteen minutes from Downtown L.A.

In between the silhouette of the trees I could see weekend warriors riding their shinny two wheelers glide bye, SUVs filled to the brim with working class families trudging through, and late-model Hondas zooming by, and all of them, no matter who was in them slowed down a bit and momentarily enjoyed the sounds that emanated from the shade. Some made a U turn and parked their cars, while others clapped or cheered, and others just kept driving.  

I can remember many times looking out the window as I scanned the area and wondered who those people were. I usually thought they were hippies having a drum fest, but as time went on I came to realize that it’s a group of people committed to bringing music to the park, and what fortune do we have that it’s at Griffith Park and not some far away location. Not only are they bringing music, but through them one connects to that grander beat that pumps through all the people that call this place home. The sounds truly represent the varied experiences that all have in this city and around the world, and in a way connects us to that time when we first heard the simple, but complex beats of a drum.

Listening to all the performers I was reminded of a Grateful Dead song “Playing in the Band.” The song talks about people of all walks of life that have existed, exist, and will exist. Yet the message of the song is that all of us in some way add our bit of beat to this life, our soul merges with the souls of all others and we make a chaotic choir and harmonic big band that extends wide out and up to outer space. Of course I’m going overboard, but it’s nice to know that on a nice Sunday afternoon we can go to the park and enjoy some of the music that our long past ancestors enjoyed on beautiful days like this past Sunday.

James Joyce's Ulysses: Book Review

James Joyce's Ulysses, 100 Years Later: Book Review

by Armando Ortiz

A few days ago, I finished reading James Joyce’s Ulysses, and what better timing to put this up than today, Bloomsday. The date of when the story is set is June 16, 2012 and ever since its publication people have celebrated this day as the day that we get to experience one entire day in the life of Leopold Bloom.

Though it was a bit of a challenge at times, the overall experience of reading the novel was good. Prior to reading this I had read A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, and after some encouraging words from a close friend I decided to read it. Ulysses offered me a slice of what Dublin, Ireland was one hundred years ago. Joyce was no longer living in Dublin when Ulysses was written and published, but nevertheless memories of his life certainly must have been as vivid as the images in the book were. Through the eyes of L. Bloom and the voice of many other characters we are able to see what it was like to be in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Dublin. It also lets us understand the multiple realities that are ever present in our daily existence as we walk down a sidewalk or drive down the street.

Joyce describes the countless perspectives that exist in the reality of Bloom’s life, and if one considers that then what was done in Ulysses was an attempt at something that can be a daunting challenge. Imagine trying to capture the multiplicity of what goes on in a moment with the people that are close to you, like your relatives or friends, with your neighbors, with the cat that lies on the floor sunbathing or the flowers and cactus that decorate a balcony. Let’s also consider the squirrel that comes to visit my cat or the crow that paid it a visit when it was barely a kitten.

Yes, the writing is complex at times, but as life and time continues unfolding within the narrative we begin to see a man who loves life, and who relishes and despises it at every moment. Though there are problems in his life, like every other person’s in this world, he goes about his business enjoying the sights that he perceives, which includes the waves by the shore, ladies walking bye, peddlers, cavalcades of soldiers, pub meetings, meals and buildings that house café, restaurant, lawyers, candy stores, and notaries. His mind absorbs only a slice of what it seems, which is a lot, and interprets it. Through him we come to understand that at times we too get caught up in our mind’s thoughts while going through our daily routines like using the toilet, walking to the market, visiting friends and going to work. Our material body is present, but so are many other bodies and individual minds, which are individual universes that think of the past, present, future. At this instant people are recalling the things learned and the things experienced. In Ulysses we experience the ever present moment of Bloom, and see the actions that he takes, and the places where he goes, and the people he meets. Towards the end of the novel  Bloom tries to bring Stephen into a kind of balance between intellectual thought and the spirit through a long and oftentimes disjointed discussion of one’s existence. The story is told in such a way that one cannot avoid assimilating the message of living in the moment, and taking on the responsibility that life demands.

A copy of Ulysses

There were moments where I wondered what I was doing reading the novel. I mean, there were instances where he used some really tough language, but more than that there were times when he would alternate with characters or describe certain settings causing me to put the book down and wonder what I was doing. Luckily, that only happened a few times, most of the time Joyce kept me amused and entertained with his puns and outlandish jokes. Many of the descriptions that he gives are funny and the word play that he uses at times dumbfounded me with amazement.

One of the features that I greatly appreciate from the book is how Joyce turns a “regular day” into an extraordinary experience. It offers us a day in the life of Bloom, a husband, father, friend, employee, foreigner, citizen, lover, a customer and an advisor who meets many other main characters who are imbued with the spirit of life, experience, and emotional voices. The people he meets and sees are the very same characters that one sees in a day, like the homeless man that sits on the bus stop, the window cleaner, works at the local coffee shop, sandwich makers, produce workers, pastry chefs, beautiful ladies that are beginning to bloom, in their prime or past their years of vigor. We see gardeners, firemen, cops, birds, clouds, soldiers, the sky, and in all that there are thoughts within all the millions of people that call the city home.

At times the book made me wonder how he came up with such a daunting task. In a sense I felt challenged thinking about how I could go about writing such a book with such ambition and manage to pull it off all in the scope of one day. How does one character in a book manage to go through so much in such very little time? Well, the answer lies in our own personal lives. Every breathing moment of our lives is an extraordinary event and it certainly is possible to fit in more than 700 pages of prose to describe one day of our lives. Just think for a moment of all the people that one meets in a day, and the stories that they have to share, now consider the inanimate things that come alive vis a vis our communal existence, cars, buildings, light poles, offices, and streets. Without people all these things would just be there, but no, it needs the presence of people to come alive. It needs the presence of multiple realities. It needs a multiplicity of perspectives and experiences and that is what the book gives to the reader.

Statue of J. Joyce in Dublin, Ireland

Life can be overwhelming at times and it can be easy to get stuck on one train of thought, nevertheless, life continues to go, like a river, just like Bloom has to go through all that he goes through, and despite all the routine he manages to reminisce on his dead son, think about his daughter that is in college in some other town and think about his wife and what she is doing at that very moment in the house alone. There is death and life in the book. There is passion, chance meetings, undesired encounters, there are starving dogs and satisfied cats. There are those that talk with a fine English accent and those that talk as Irish country bumpkins. In the end the yes that is repeated a couple of times at the end of the book is a yes to life, and an embrace to the unknown that will one day become known, to the fears that will become common routine and to the commitments that we will follow through to the end. In many ways Joyce successfully captures the continuation of life and all that that entails in the everyday life of a person.

Declan Kiberd is right in his overall take on the book, in Ulysses “people are educated by their sins, and they must learn first how to go wrong, in order, later to go right, only in that way could the everyday be re-enchanted.” Through reading Ulysses we “learn how to watch and look at things.” In addition to morals and instances of humanity, Bloom’s mode of transportation aside from carriage and trolley are his two feet. Most of the places that he visits are done walking. There is an excessive amount of walking that reminded me of the times I’ve walked. It reminded me of when I was a student in South Korea and I would go for long evening walks around Sinchon, where every other person was a college student, and was out drinking with their friends. It brought back memories of when my friends and I would go have dinner together and talk about all kinds of things, and how we’d all get drunk and end up having another meal to sober up a bit. It reminded me of all the times when I was traveling through unknown cities and I would go out for walks and look around visiting ancient temples or museums. It reminded me of when as a kid I was in Chinatown and I saw the Lion dance being performed by 5 guys that were hiding under the giant lion costume. It reminded me of when I’d go to the alleys of Downtown L.A.’s garment district and buy discounted clothes with my parents. It reminded me of how when I was starting college I’d ride the bus and all the weird characters, including me, rode inside, every day, and how I eventually started riding my bike and how that brought new experiences. It also reminded me of the walk I take to the post office at the end of every month to drop off the paperwork that goes to the tutoring office. Life might seem to get boring at times, but there is always life and an abundance of possibilities, and it’s through reflection and our merging with life that we get to live life to the fullest.

Aaron Coleman:Tattooer/Artist

Aaron Coleman: Tattooer/Artist

by Armando Ortiz

                I met Aaron a few years back while I was going around selling art books. It was in Phoenix, Arizona where I began to hear from other tattooers in that city that I needed to go to Immaculate Tattoo and meet Aaron. In my mind I figured that it must have been the place to go if you wanted to get some really good custom work done, I mean, if other shops were referring me to that shop then there must have been something there in the first place worthy of other’s respect and referral. I got to meet Aaron on my last day in Phoenix, and he did buy some books. After that I got to see his work on other people and after a couple of years of traveling and meeting many tattooers I became aware of the respect that he has garnered all across the country. When you meet Aaron, he does not seem like a guy that is highly respected in the industry that he is a part of. He comes across as a nondescript guy that really likes drawing and enjoys rock music. He's been tattooing for almost two decades and has been drawing and painting all his life. When you talk to him you really don’t know that you are talking to one of the more accomplished artists in the tattooing community.

                His work is prolific and his output is outstanding. He has self-published numerous art books, or what tattooers call flashbooks, and seems to have a never ending flow of ideas and drawings. He’s been an inspiration to many people, and a challenge to many others. His work speaks for itself and with his modesty it seems that he will only keep on getting better and more work will be coming out from him in the near future.

                The idea of the interview came about a few months back. I wanted to interview some of the people that I met during my travels and time as an art book seller. There are only a few artists out there that have the work ethic that he does, and even fewer people that have the modesty that he has, so why not show case his work and get to know more about him via a different avenue that isn’t tattoo related. Here is the interview. I hope you guys find it informative and insightful.

-Me: Are you willing to do a mini interview? Mostly about your art and paintings.

-Aaron: Sure, hope yer well. Good to hear from you. If you wanna send me money and books that works. I’m going to Rome in 4 weeks.

-Me: Rome, wow…..cool. When in Rome do as Romans. Let’s start this interview on line. It’s better, clear and to the point. Do you recall your first time drawing or painting?

Pushead

-Aaron: Me and my brother would sit around and draw bicycles and this guy riding a skateboard with his butt hangin out. They all said “ba on em” it stood for bare ass. I think it was t-shirts just a little head sticking out from a guy riding a skateboard. We were maybe 7 or 8.

                When I got into my early teens, around 13, I remember drawing skateboard graphics a lot and re-drawing a lot of the images of the first Suicidal Tendencies album cover.

-Me: Were there any particular artist in that field that got your attention, in terms of their designs? When did you start doing watercolor work?

-Aaron: Early on, I really liked Mad Magazines, skateboard art, Pushead is a stand out and Punk Rock art. Shawn Kerri and of course I always was into comics on some level. Kind of dorky kid, music and art always interested me.

Ralph Snart

-Me: Are there any comics in particular that stand out? In school did you take any art classes or get the attention of other classmates or teachers with your art?

-Aaron: There was a comic called Ralph Snart that I really liked. I was always a huge fan of Mad and Cracked, then when I was 17 years old or so I got heavily into Zap comics and discovered R. Crumb, Robert Williams, S. Clay Wilson, and all the underground stuff which led to guys like R.K. Sloane and Greg Irons and tattoo stuff. It’s all connected.

-Me: Did you ever take any art classes? I have an S. Clay Wilson book and inside there is a nun getting tattooed and above that image it says, “Immaculate Tattoo,” was her referring to your shop? If so, how did you manage to get him to draw that?

S. Clay Wilson's  Checkered Demon

-Aaron: I took some life drawing classes, nothing major. I always loved cartoons and illustration work. I met S. Clay Wilson through Ed Hardy when I was sitting in at Tattoo City. I got to hang with him a couple times at his house. He was really friendly and always tried to get me to smoke pot with him. He was a really nice guy and unfortunately had an accident a few years back and was in a coma for a while. Thankfully he came out of it but I don’t know if his drawing skills have completely returned or if they’ll ever be the same (referring to Wilson’s drawings). I really hope so, because he was hands down my favorite cartoonist.

                He told me some cool stories about him hanging with William S. Burroughs and shooting guns and drinking with Shane Macgowan. Interesting guy, interesting life, interesting style.

-Me: You got to work at Tattoo City? That must have been a great time for you as a tattoo artist. Interesting that you mention S. Macgowan. A few weeks back a local band here in L.A. covered some of their songs. I am not that familiar with Punk Rock or their scenes. I know that in some cities the scene was quite big, how about in Arizona? Was there a big Punk scene while growing up?

Back piece.

-Aaron: Punk Rock was one of the biggest influences while growing up. It shaped a lot of my views at the time, and exposed me to a lot of art, artists, and even to tattooing. I think in a lot of ways it was the last meaningful music movement as far as the first late-70s early-80s wave of it. Punk Rock now isn’t really Punk Rock. I was really fortunate to catch the very tail end of it in the early and mid-80s. I definitively think its part of what influenced me to take the path I did. It definitively introduced me to a lot of the things that I still visually enjoy as well as listen to.

                I’ve always been fortunate enough to work with really talented tattooers. It’s been a really great ride so far and I hope this is just the beginning.

-Me: Tell me a bit more about some of the things about Punk Rock that influenced you besides the art. Can you give some other examples?

-Aaron: I always liked the do it yourself, fuck you, part of it all. Back in the 80s if you saw some other kid wearing a Black Flag shirt you kinda just knew that they were into the same shit. You had a weird connection, shit was a lot rarer and it was kind of like you were superior, like you knew about something that was cool and other people were oblivious to! And most people that were tattooing were like that in the beginning too.  There was a connection and you were aware of something that was great and everybody else was oblivious to. Tattooing was like that in the beginning as well.

-Me: I once saw a poster that you had done at some shop. I am not sure if it was for a show or what but it was pretty cool. How long do pieces that size take to do? Tell me about your comic/cartoon that you once mentioned.

Robert Crumb's Mr. Natural

-Aaron: Not sure what poster. I did a lot of poster art for a little while for a local promoter who was a customer/friend of mine. He paid me well and I got to do some fun stuff, usually he’d ask when I was I was into the bands I did art for, like The Dwarves, TSOL, Hank 3, UK Subs, Jesus I don’t remember, but it was a good thing. Then these other tattooers would see em’ and hit the dude up to do em’ and they’d do em’ just to go to shows for free, and that was the end of that. I got to meet some good people though and I still got a few of em’.

                I always loved comics. Got into the Zap Comics stuff when I was in my teens, and it blew my mind. I wanted to be an adult comic artist, writer, illustrator like Greg Irons or R. Crumb and I loved S. Clay Wilson. Those things blew my mind. I did a comic with a friend of mine, Dave Leamon, who’s a great illustrator out in L.A., he has a website, check it out, but tattooin’ is my true love, once I went down that road everything else got set to the side. I’ve talked with my friend Tim Lehi about doin’ some stuff. Him and Jeff Rassier were doing a comic called Bucks Nort U Want to Do. That kind of thing is just hard for me to allocate the time these days.

-Me: Just for clarification, you wrote that the comic is called “bucks nort u want to do.” I once saw a painting that you made, I think it was yours, where Bush, Osama and Hitler are sorta emerging from the same source. How did you come up with that?

-Aaron: It was a last supper painting that kinda just came about around the time of the whole Osama Bin Laden/Bush was. Same shit different dictators. I guess it’s kinda out dated now.

-Me: How has the economy affected you as an artist? What does art mean to you?

-Aaron: The economy hadn’t really affected me too much, thankfully. Art is how I make my living and hopefully will for a long time.

We have come to the end of the interview. If you are interesting in knowing more about Aaron visit his website at www.immaculatetattoo.com. There you will find shirts, books and some more photos of his work. You can contact him directly at:

1454 W. Main Street, Suite #1,

Mesa Arizona 85201

(480) 668-4940

Huitzil: Zine

I started working on this Zine in late-January. I had to finish it despite the roughness of the art. Nonetheless, here is the finished product. I chose to make hummingbirds the main subject of the Zine for many reasons. All the different instances that people talked about them and conversations I had throughout my travels in the U.S. have culminated in this piece of art. Good day.