book covers.

Hi there. It's good to be back again. I've been reading up on book cover designs, and I'd like to share some of it with you.

PBS has an interesting article on Peter Mendelsund, designer for Alfred A. Knopf, who just released two new books--Cover and What We See When We Read.

Covers by Peter Mendelsund via pbs.org.

Another great article on a new found site called It's Nice That featuring Richard Bravery, an art director at Penguin Books.

Illustration by Cleon Peterson

Illustration by Georgia Hill

It's Nice That is a lovely site dedicated to creativity, art and design. 

Let's take a moment to talk about The Casual Optimist. Er...The Accidental Optimist. I can't believe this is the first time I'm posting about it. I get The Casual Optimist mixed up with The Accidental Optimist, but I think they are the same people--one is the tumblr and one is a site, or...vice versa. They have a constant stream of amazing graphic design, book covers and art.

Design by Rodrigo Corral Design; Photo Demurez/Glasshouse 

(Henry Holt/September 2014) via The Casual Optimist

While we're on the subject of covers, let's turn our attention to records and the wonderful blog Symphonie Fantastique by the Seattle-based Jive Time Records. Focusing mostly on modern classical music and how it was interpreted by cover illustrations, the designs they post are stunning. You can experience these for real at Amoeba Records. Back in the classical nook, the still have rows and rows of vintage vinyl.

On another note (pun intended--I love puns), music is still making me happy. Specifically the new albums by Nashville-based singer Otis Gibbs...

 ...and hometown boys Hold Steady, who are back in the Twin Cities playing the Replacements reunion show. Sadly, I am not going, but my brother and his wife are. Plus my friend Sara nd my friend Doc, who flew out from L.A. for it. I had better get a T-shirt out of all this.

Last weekend, I was excited to attend one of the final productions of "Lear" at the Theatricum Botanicum nestled in Topanga Canyon.

I suppose you could file this under "I can't believe I never..." because I can't believe this was my first time attending a production at this legendary theater. My friend and date Vivian couldn't believe it either. She was excited because, while Shakespeare's comedies are widely performed around the city, his tragedies are not.

Melora Marshall as the Fool and Ellen Geer as "Queen" Lear

I hadn't read or seen King Lear before, so this was a first, too. Maybe it's a better strategy to go in with an understanding of the play before you're treated to the role-reversal version of it, but...whatever. I got it. Ellen Geer and Melora Marshall, the two actresses who lead the Botanicum company were phenomenal, as was Ellen's daughter Willow Geer.

It was just so cool to sit back in a wooded canyon and watch an A-list production of Shakespeare--complete with an awesome sword fight and someone's eyes getting ripped out. Note: there are still three performances of "Lear" left if you want to check it out.

But I would like to study up on the play a little and see it in its traditional form, so I'll be taking in Ian McKellan (love him, always) in the titular role. You can watch the full production of King Lear at pbs.org.

Mr. Hotness as Shakespeare's King Lear via pbs.org

OK, I hope you enjoyed this little post. I'll be back next week with something fun about Los Angeles and the movies. Love, Lexa.

love #6: the music edition.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

The blog is back after a lengthy summer vacay, but as always, I have an excuse. One month ago, I finished up chemotherapy (the last weeks are the toughest) and have been acclimating back to the real world. I'm not going to lie--it hasn't been easy, and I've been slowly picking up all the things I enjoy doing--writing, hiking, playing the violin and blogging.

So, let's get right to it. This is a Love List inspired by the music that's gotten me through this rough patch...with some movies and delicious food rounding it all out.

1. Love the song "Like I Need You" by the very photogenic, L.A.-based band Kan Wakan, off their album Moving On. If I ever direct my own wicked, neo-film noir, a game of cat and mouse (Who is the cat? Who is the mouse?) with a surprise ending, this is the song that will play when the credits roll.

Take a listen here. You will not be disappointed.

2. Also loving: "Drive-In Movies" off the new Ray LaMontaigne album, Supernova.

Photo via New York Times.

If I ever direct my own quirky, indie film about a bittersweet summer romance between two misunderstood twenty-somethings, this is the song that will play when they first get it on.

3. Love "Dead Flowers," a Rolling Stones tune (off Sticky Fingers) I had never heard before.

The Stones wrote it during a country phase (and don't we all have one?) while they were hanging out with Gram Parsons. It really struck me, because I could've sworn I was listening to early Uncle Tupelo (aka the Nirvana of alt-country).

4. Another song I've turned up when it plays in the car is "Silver Lining" by the Swedish duo, First Aid Kit, off their album Stay Gold.

If I ever direct a film about powerful female lawyer who leaves the corporate boardroom to bail her ex-con, gambling dad out of a Las Vegas jail, and they road trip to the Mexican border to pay back the drug cartel he robbed where she falls in love with a DEA agent--this is the song that will play as they careen down the highway.

5. Love that Charlie Chaplin played the violin and composed music. I mean--I had no idea!

Here is Anne-Akiko Myers playing his composition "Smile," which appeared on the soundtrack to Modern Times.

 

6. Another discovery--the Nielsen Violin Concerto (again: who knew?) is pleasantly blowing my mind, performed by the amazing Norwegian violinist, Vilde Frang.

7. Love Cookie and Kate, a St. Louis-based, vegetarian blog. I've been trying to eat healthier since finishing chemotherapy. Here I tried out her recipe for Curried Coconut Quinoa and Greens with Roast Cauliflower--and added some roasted tomatoes to boot.

It was delicious. I just love food blogs.

8. Loved catching the film A Most-Wanted Man at the Arclight. Now this is my kind of summer flick. I love any movie based on a John Le Carré novel, and this was no exception.

But man, it was hard to watch Philip Seymour Hoffman in his last role. It was almost like he was inhabiting his character with his own personal pain. Very tragic, but I felt like it was quietly brilliant ending to his incredible career.

9. Love catching up on movies I missed in the theater, including Blue Ruin...

...and Under the Skin with Scarlett Johansson.

10. DO NOT love that I missed the Minnesota State Fair this year, but love knowing that there's an excellent chance that it--and every food on a stick known to man--will be there next year.

Thank you for reading...and I'll be back with something exciting very soon.

friday.

Hello! And happy Friday. I found a couple of events I would LOVE to attend tonight, but alas, I am spending the entire day being infused with all kinds of chemotherapy. However, that doesn't mean you can't check out these fabulous shows. 

REDCAT kicks off a new exhibition called Apotomē by artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla with an artist talk and performance. I can't possibly do this justice by trying to explain, so just click here to check it out. It amazes me where the human mind can go.

If something musical is more your speed, head on over to the Norton Simon Museum for their Summer Music Series. It's free with the price of museum admission, and the concerts are fantastic--listening to classical music surrounded by some of history's greatest works of art. Tomorrow night, cellist Maksim Velichkin plays pieces by Hans Werner Henze, Gaspar Cassadó and Los Angeles 21st composer George N. Gianopoulos.

Seriously, I have been to one of these before, and it is so so so so cool. Stroll the gardens, check out the Matisses and Van Goghs, chill with some music--and then head out to dinner.

Cellist Maksim Velichkin

See more the entire Summer Music Series here.

And here are a few more discoveries for you to enjoy:

The photography of Saul Leiter, who died just last year.

The whimsical print dresses of designer Peter Jensen.

Prints by Peter Jensen: Lodge, Diana Ross and Central Park, via Asos.

This tiny kitchen.

Pops of red all around Paris. I want to go back!

That's all for Friday. I will see you soon.

hot boys. cool music.

How does that title grab ya? I'll be talking about a couple of fine ladies, too. I also thought of calling this post "24-Hour Music Odyssey." Because as I was driving into work the other morning, I was listening to KUSC, as I often do--classical music soothes the road-raging beast. Unlike Uprising Radio, which I love and also listen to in the mornings, but predictably, gets me all riled up and I start laying on the horn.

Moving on.

 

They announced on KUSC that Daniel Harding, the handsome man in the above photo, was just named Conductor Emeritus of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for life. He's only 37 years old. And he's cute. And an amazing conductor. I was very excited about this.

I saw Harding conduct the L.A. Philharmonic this past fall in the Korngold Violin Concerto, featuring another cute, amazing musician--Renaud Capuçon, shown above, and --what else? Mahler's Fifth Symphony. It was an incredible concert. I know it's cheesy, but I love the Korngold Violin Concerto. It sounds like schmaltzy film music--because its themes were culled from Korngold's film scores.  But to a violinist, it's so breathtaking difficult and virtuosic. Like the Barber and the Tchaikovsky (maybe the Sibelius, too), it's only for the most technically adept players. And it's just exciting, over the top and a blast. Also--Korngold lived in Toluca Lake. Just like me.


Of course, the definitive interpretation of the Korngold is by Jascha Heifetz, for whom the piece was composed. But recently, I've been loving the the recording by the young Canadian violinist, James Ehnes. Capuçon's performance was fun, because he really drew out and took his time with the romantic themes, while amping up the tempo during the phrases of technical wizardry. I felt like the playing with tempos gave the concerto an avant-garde spin to one of this very crowd-pleasing piece of music.


But the Mahler was definitely the showcase of the evening. The Phil was on fire, and granted, they usually are. I heard someone complain that because most of the musicians have been in the orchestra for so long, their performances can come across as tired and routine. But I never feel that way.  They're one of the most passionate symphonies playing today. But it's interesting to see which conductors really get them going, and Harding most certainly did. As did my absolute favorite hottie-conductor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, when he was in town for the Lutoslawski centennial.

Daniel Harding first came to my attention when he conducted Janine Jansen in her recording of the Tchaikovsky and Beethoven Violin Concertos. I love this recording and many others by her, and I was fortunate enough to see her play the Tchaikovsky at the Phil (with another non-hottie, non-Harding conductor). It was amaze-balls. I had tears.

Tears, I tell you.

So then, I was listening to my Beatles Pandora station, and this old song by the band Traffic came on. It really took me back--I loved this band when I was a kid.

Anyone who knows me knows that I cannot stomach the Grateful Dead. The music is dull and the whole phenomenon surrounding them--these bands of acid-dropping sheep that follow them around--utterly ridiculous.

But Traffic performed that kind of music, only in a much more compelling way. Kind of an improvisation of psychedelic rock, jazz and folk--without all the druggie nonsense and the stupid bootleg cassettes. Although I'm sure they consumed their rightful share of substances. It was the sixties, after all.

And, because I'm a complete dork, I have to admit that I just love Steve Winwood's voice, even after all these years. Look how cute he is. Not a care in the world.

Then this song came on that really caught my attention. Have Love, Will Travel. I checked it out, and it was by a band I've never heard of: The Sonics. The song was very 70's garage band/punk-ish, and it kind of reminded me of The Stooges. I was really surprised to discover it was recorded in 1964. Actually, the band it reminded me the most of was the Black Keys. And here they are singing HLWT. How do you like that?

I'd also like to note that The Sonics were out of Tacoma, WA, much like my favorite singer: good ol' Neko Case. But she lives in Vermont now.

When's your next album coming out, lady?

It looks like the Sonics has a short-lived career in the 60's and ended up performing a lot of covers, like Mustang Sally and Louie, Louie. Sad. But it's interesting how the Pacific Northwest has such a rich history of rock music. Seattle-Tacoma is the Manchester-Liverpool of the States.

 

My 24-Hour Music Odyssey wrapped up with a little something I heard on KUSC the next morning: Michelangelo 70 by Astor Piazzolla, an Argentinian tango composer and bandoneón player. I had never heard of Piazzolla and I didn't know what a bandoneón was. But tango music played by a string chamber group (with bandoneón) is absolutely electric. This recording can be found here.

rip george.

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of George Harrison's death.

So, I went up to his star on Vine in front of the Capitol Records building. There was candlelight vigil planned for that evening. There was already one guy at 1 p.m., in a Beatles tee shirt, reading a magazine article about "The Last Days" of Harrison's life.

I recently watched Martin Scorsese's HBO documentary based on Olivia Harrison's book Living in the Material World. I loved it, and I wanted to know more. What really amazed me and what I never realized before was that George was only 27 when the group disbanded. All of their albums were recorded in a mere span of seven years--and well before three of the members turned 30. Like my friend Tori said, "They were a God machine."

Since then, not only have I become obsessed with the Beatles, but with Beatles conspiracy theories. There are A LOT, and they are FASCINATING. I've never been a big conspiracy buff, but I am now. Holy God. From government mind control to the CIA and the MI6 to a Faustian pact with the devil and the occult to the idea that all of their songs were actually written by someone else, these guys were at the center of some crazy shit.

The best controversy is, of course, that Paul is Dead. And has been since 1966. Go ahead and roll your eyes, but spend the day Googling all the forensic evidence to support this theory, and then tell me the guy who goes around singing "Spies Like Us" and the doggone "Girl is Mine" looks a damn thing like the guy who wrote "Help!" and "Eight Days a Week." Because he doesn't, and it's freaking weird.

I have to say that after yesterday, I'm a believer in the Paul is Dead theory. Why? Because George, Ringo and John all have stars on the Walk of Fame right next to each other in front of the Capitol building. And guess who is missing?

I rest my case. I had some really good sushi for lunch, too.

P.S. In light of the recent decade, the theory I find most plausible--and unbearably tragic--is this one.

sunday.

Last Sunday, I went to the UCLA campus with my friend Martha.

We watched a drum circle.

And saw this exhibit.

Then a concert by the Colburn Conservatory Orchestra, featuring Nigel Armstrong playing the Korngold Violin Concerto and Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. It was the first time I had ever seen Sir Neville Mariner conduct. Standing ovations for all.

We ended the day back in Highland Park in a pho coma.