Not sure how long it’ll last or how compelling the posts will be, but I’m in the mood for the time being to do a variation on the “It Caught My Eye” theme and showcase some aspect of the city I see or find in the form of a photo. It could be anything: roadkill, a tree, a classic car, a metaphor. Or it could be today’s inaugural image:
(click pic to go big)
Today was one of those rare days opting to drive to work rather than bike and as such I decided to detour and make the much-easier four-wheeled, gas-powered climb up the winding steep road to the top of the brand-new Baldwin Hills State Park and its scenic overlook. Owing to the day’s haze, the ultra-panoramic vista — while still breath-taking — wasn’t at its jaw-dropping crystal-clearest so I won’t waste any bandwidth with posting those pixels. But while walking the short trail to the hill’s top from the park’s visitor center, I found two tots walking the ridgeline in the distance, the duo made even more diminutive backdropped by a big piece of clouded sky.
You should definitely go check this place out for yourself. Preferably on a weekend, the only time the visitor center is open to the public. But when the place is closed you can hear its doors whistle — or just check out the eerie surrealness I captured after the jump, along with a little 360-video pan around the top.
Will Campbell arrived in Los Angeles via the maternity ward at Good Sam Hospital way back in the sixty-fourth year of the previous century and has never lived anywhere else, which makes him two things: middle-aged and a native. He can count 16 residences over the course of his nomadic existence as a latchkey kid and deadbolt adult and presently he resides in Silver Lake with his wife Susan, their four cats, three treefrogs, two dogs, and a Russian tortoise named Buster. Blogging since 2001, Will's web endeavors extend back to 1995 with laonstage.com, a comprehensive theater site that was well received but ever-short on capital (or a business model). For better or worse, the pinnacle of his online success arrived in 1997, when much to his surprise, a hobby site he'd built called VisuaL.A. was chosen "Best Website" in Los Angeles magazine's annual "Best of L.A." issue (in large part no doubt because he shrewdly avoided using blinking text which was all the Web 1.0 rage back then). He enjoys experiencing (and writing about) pretty much anything creative, explorational and/or adventurous; is an alternate transportation proponent, a horrible golf player and an OK tennis player. His prefered mode of civic travel is a bike, and he loves all creatures great and small -- especially the ones people can't stand like coyotes, and opossums and spiders and potato bugs. As a rule he carries a camera with him pretty much everywhere he goes.
Oh yeah -- And when he was a leeeetle boy he thought he was related to his idol, Dodgers pitching legend Sandy Koufax because they were both southpaws. Secretly he still wishes it were true. He can be found on Twitter via: @wildbell. His email addy is wildbellatgmaildotcom.
I feel like the doors are about to boil or something.
What a great picture!
Burns!
Posted July 10, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Fantastic photo. I’ve gotta go see this place for myself.
You’d think they’d do something about those doors, though. When the visitor center is open it’s gotta drive the people inside insane.
This is gorgeous. Little Guy did NOT like the sound of that door! I wonder how they are opening a new state park and threatening to close so many others?
rollerzz
Posted July 11, 2009 at 1:33 PM
I suspect the air conditioning system may be improperly set up – too much supply and not enough return air. But that’s just a wild guess.
(click pic to go big)
Will Campbell arrived in Los Angeles via the maternity ward at Good Sam Hospital way back in the sixty-fourth year of the previous century and has never lived anywhere else, which makes him two things: middle-aged and a native. He can count 16 residences over the course of his nomadic existence as a latchkey kid and deadbolt adult and presently he resides in Silver Lake with his wife 
I feel like the doors are about to boil or something.
What a great picture!
Fantastic photo. I’ve gotta go see this place for myself.
You’d think they’d do something about those doors, though. When the visitor center is open it’s gotta drive the people inside insane.
This is gorgeous. Little Guy did NOT like the sound of that door! I wonder how they are opening a new state park and threatening to close so many others?
I suspect the air conditioning system may be improperly set up – too much supply and not enough return air. But that’s just a wild guess.