Day 12 LA

Seems to be a problem uploading to blogger from the hotel last 2 nights though one of the drafts did get saved, so having to do these from home. Will update Day 11 as soon as poss.

Spent the day in Downtown LA, visiting the MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Wells Fargo museum nearby. How does a Scotsman get downtown ? Ans, get a free shuttle bus to the airport from the hotel, then get a blue minicoach downtown for only $15.
Got to the MOCA at 1030 only to discover it opens at 1100. No problem, time for an iced tea (i'm converted) at the adjacent water feature rest area. The photo shows some of the water jets, top left, which spout up in various combinations giving interesting shapes which dissolve in front of your eyes, leaving the water to cascade down the steps. There is a small semi-circular terraced stage area for performers to the right, with lights and loudspeakers suspended above so there must be some interesting concerts here. (click on pic to enlarge)

The MOCA has two areas, permanent collection and guest collection. Some interesting early modern stuff from 1947 and 50's, and an Andy Warhol painting. There were several school parties (looked like P7) getting guided tours so couldn't help earwigging in to the guides explanations of the exhibits, this filled in a few questions I had. One interesting piece was in a linking corridor. Looking up, there was green and red string zigzagging between the walls, mixing through itself. On the walls there was yellow, string.
What is it? Ans, a burgers view of the world.
There was an interesting set of black and white photo's from the 50's and 60's (sorry can't remember the photographer) probably about 30 of them, with unusual shots of famous people like Marylin Monroe, JFK and some musicians and singers. I liked them. The photo below shows one of the pyramid shaped roof lights for the MOCA (similar to the Louvre idea) contrasting with the adjacent high rise buildings. The brown one on the right is the Wells Frago building.

Guest stuff was thought provoking, can't say I got it all. One was a set of 3 different audio-visual items. The first used a single projector, while the second and third used 3 projectors onto 3 walls of a room. You had to pick your viewing location to see all at once. It was clever how the display 'filled the room', the sound helps here, and it felt like you were there. A kind of 3D I suppose.

Wells Fargo - excellent display and information. Pity the receptionist didn't tell me there was an audio tour guide. There was an audio-visual though which was good. An old Stage was there in all its glory, fascinating to think that it could take 9, yes 9 ata squeeze inside, and then another 9 on the roof, luggage permitting. They cost $625 to make, using only the best materials such as hickory, to provide a reliable machine. The carpenters had to do a 6 year apprenticeship which covered all aspects of the woodwork. Blacksmiths made the iron wheel rims and clamps and brackets for the suspension.
The first Express ran from St Louis in 1858, going to LA and San Francisco in 24 days. This was a huge improvement on the shipping routes for mail which took months. Some stats - approx 2300 miles, change the horse teams every 12miles, meal and comfort stops every 45 miles, average speed 5 miles an hour. The charge for a package was $25. The drivers were legends, some good stories of their bravery and endurance. There was even a woman driver who dressed as a man so she could get the job. One of the main jobs was taking the 49ers gold from the mining camps to the city banks. The miners couldn't leave their stake for fear of a someone taking it over. Quite a thought for a miner to entrust his hard earned dust to a Stage driver and guard. The strongbox was under the drivers seat and was not easy to force open.

Eight of us are returning home tomorrow so its the last meal tonight for the group. We went to a mexican restaurant next door to our Best Western Suites hotel in Inglewood,LA. The meal was excellent and very good value, huge portions as usual and we were given a room to ourselves so we could all sit at the one table. Andy Hamilton had got Candy's photo's loaded onto his new I-Pad so while we waited for coffee the photo's of our 2 weeks flicked over the screen and reminded us of the places and people we had met. I think Candy said she had taken over 2000 pics plus videos so that is going to take a bit a sorting.

I hadn't heard the news about the volcanic ash cloud until tonight so that was a shock to hear it had erupted again. Will we get back tomorrow or not, or possibly diverted, we'll have to wait and see.