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chase the light

Tower Bridge

Chris Cunningham

Yep, hitting all the touristy sites.

After work this week I headed down to the Emirates Air Line. It’s basically like the old sky buckets at Disneyland. Or a ski gondola up Mammoth. You choose your childhood experience. Anyway, ran out of work at 6:30 since it closes at 8:00. Eventually got to the Jubilee line and over to Greenwich peninsula. Again by the O2 arena… Whoa look at all the people. Must be a show on… Walking, walking…. Beyoncé! Ha. Not my thing of course, but I briefly entertained the idea of getting a ticket. Oh so briefly. Would have been a big spectacle show, right?

I made my way over to the Air Line, stupid name, and paid for my ticket with my Oyster card and hopped on. I really don’t think this is going to be around very long as I was practically the only one on it. Views are okay, but mainly of the O2 and Canary Wharf. I rode it round trip and then walked along the river walk up to the Thames Clipper service. A boat taxi of sorts. The next boat would be an hour so I went to Nandos and had dinner and then walked back to the ramp and boarded. It was about the same cost as the Air Line, but waaaaay better views cruising up the Thames. So amazing at night. I even saw a group of kayakers. I suggested that as a lighting team activity some time after work. Everybody seemed into it. We went under the Tower Bridge, and at night it’s really spectacular. I got off the boat at Embankment and walked the rest of the way home. Was nice out, and really my only venture out this week. Although, on another night I did get over to Harrods for 15 minutes before they closed. Even London closes early. So frustrating sometimes. Everybody’s just at pubs, not really doing anything.

At lunch I sometimes go over to Denmark street where all the music shops are located. Guitars, guitars, guitars, galore. I didn’t bring any guitars over here so I sometimes go to the stores and play a little bit. On the way over to that street I pass Trident Studios which is where Bowie recorded Ziggy Stardust and Queen recorded their first albums. Then a little further along is MPL. McCartney Productions Ltd. Yes, Sir Paul’s office. Soho’s a bit crazy with music sights. Even the underground toilet right outside of work is an exclusive club where John Lennon use to “work”. [LINK]

Back on the train from Liverpool to London. I got in Friday night at about 11:15. Think that’s the earliest by a few minutes. Liza met me at the door but Xavier wasn’t awake. Chatted for a bit and we made plans for Saturday to have breakfast at The Carvery and then head into Liverpool. Went to bed and got up and did just that. Had a full English breakfast. It was me, Liza, Xavier, Soraya, and their mom. I wasn’t in the mood for it really but it ended up tasting better to me than all the other times we went. Go figure. After lunch we headed down to Liverpool 1 for some emergency shopping. Xavier’s pram broke this week and while usable it’s a bit wobbly. Also we needed and new car seat. Which is about 4 months over due. He outgrew his first one very fast. I knew we were getting the car seat this weekend but the new pram was going to be a few months because it is expensive. Well, I had to bite the bullet and get it before his stroller collapsed beneath him.

What did we get? Well… drumroll…. The Bugaboo Buffalo. Gulp. Had to be done really as it’s the biggest stroller made, and he’s off the charts for growth so we needed something industrial. Watch a group of hipsters, with their hipster beards, in their hipster video, be hipsters with their Bugaboo Buffaloes. [LINK] Oh man, I hope I don’t look like that. It’s like Mumford & Sons all had babies. We also got the Axxis car seat which turns towards the car door so you can sit him down and strap him in then rotate him into the car. So much easier. He also made out with a little car walker and a new bed thanks to grandma. Quite a day for him. The real relief was he actually fell asleep in the new car seat. He wasn’t doing that anymore in the old cramped seat.

I’m now back in London and checked in for the night across from St. Pancras station. It’s beautiful, so I might have breakfast in the station tomorrow. Because I can. Nope, didn’t happen.

It’s Thursday night and it was an uneventful week. I’ve now had a few good meals out in London, including a Lebanese place tonight. I leave for Liverpool after work tomorrow. Taking an earlier train which will be super busy, but then a later train Sunday evening to be able to put Xavier asleep before heading back to London. Now that I’ve been in London a bit I’m rereading a lot of events that make much more spacial sense to me now. Particularly the London bombings in 2005. I was reading the Wiki on the history of King’s Cross and St. Pancras stations. Of course the usual Harry Potter history comes up… Platform 9 3/4 and the outside locations of St. Pancras, but I came across the section about the starting point of the London bombings being King’s Cross. I’ve ridden both the tube lines from there and the bus route the bus bombing occurred on. So strange that it’s so close, but so far away. [LINK]

I was supposed to do some laundry tonight, but I’m still at work using the web access to write, and catch up with a few people. If I didn’t catch up with you, I might not have because I wrote the above.

Blighty’s Curiosities

Stitched Panorama

A few things that have humored me this week. Door knobs in the middle of the door. How Victorian, and useless. Also, if you put a pull handle on a door, make it for pulling, not pushing. On the shopping carts, all of the wheels rotate. Not just the front two like in the States. It’s weird, my cart always feels like it’s losing control as I go down the aisles sideways.

I’m now in the routine of work. I don’t know everything yet but that will come with time. Doing some Look Development. Not much to report this week, just glad to be checking out of the hotel for a few days this weekend.

On Wednesday I went to see the play Strangers on a Train. It’s based on the novel, but most people know the Hitchcock film. Hitchcock took quite a few liberties with the film version. The play had Imogen Stubbs in it from one of my favorite movies A Summer Story. It was pretty good but I’m uncomfortable with stage acting. I couldn’t help but think, “where’s the orchestra?” Probably why I prefer a big loud musical than a stage play. The whole cast was doing American accents that were hit and miss. You could hear some of them slip into their English accents quite often. The exception, the girl playing the southern belle type character laid the accent on thick and was very very good. But then she got strangled. Ha. I got the ticket at the TCKT booth at Leicester Square. 1/2 off day of tickets and I got 7th row. Amazing. I’m going to try and make that my weekly entertainment while I’m alone in London. I’m thinking The Book of Mormon for next week.

On Thursday night the lighting team went and played a Round Robin tournament of laser tag in North Greenwich. My code name was Quebec, on the Blue Team. First game I was “Most accurate”, but not a lot of points. Each round I played I kept scoring higher and higher but my accuracy went down. I realized spraying bullets in shotgun mode is pretty much the best way for a large body count. So I started out all Lee Harvey Oswald and then went all Bonnie and Clyde. Is that how I deal with situations though? At first I can be all focused, precise, and methodical, but then if the time comes I can basically shoot the place up. “Trigger Happy” honors went to the guy next to me at work. And you know what? That seems about right. So go play Laser Tag, and get your Kierkegarrd on.

After Laser Tag everybody went to a pub at the O2 Arena. I was too hungry at that point and looked around for something to eat but everything had just closed. I said my goodbyes, but had a walk around the O2. It’s really pretty at night. They have a thing where you can walk over the top of the dome so I’ll check into that some weekend I stay in London. I’m glad they’ve done something cool with the place. Really bummed to have missed the Zeppelin show there in 2007. I was in town and everything.

In other news, George is heading to Liverpool with me tonight to hang out before he heads back to New Zealand. He’ll be there for a few weeks to wrap up selling his house and then will come back to London with his partner Claire and their little dog. He’ll get to meet Xavier and see Liza again. Nice to be getting out of the city. The cable for internet was accidentally cut at the house so it might be a radio silence weekend. I’ll have a look…

From Soho Down to Soho

Chris Cunningham

Well well well, England is certainly living up to its reputation for crap weather. Every storm that is laying down snow on the US east coast basically picks up steam across the Atlantic and becomes biblical in proportion. 120 mile an hour winds in Liverpool this week. Zoiks’, hurricane force winds. The whole south west in Cornwall is a flooded disaster, and they’ve even closed the Thames barrier. London would be like Venice right now if they hadn’t put that in. They’ve now closed the Thames barrier more in the last few months than they have in the previous 20 years. 25% of the total amount of times they’ve ever closed it has happened in the last few months. Noahs’ Ark stock just hit an all time high. It’s nar nar as they say on ViceTV.

Winter in London has certainly made me appreciate a few things. The sun. I was walking down the street this week and the sun broke through and shined right in my eyes. I actually stopped and just stood there. It paralyzed my brain.

It’s also nice to reflect on how good Mexican food is in L.A. Even a chain like Chipotle is slightly off here, so it’s disappointing. It’s like the worst day at Chipotle in U.S. is the best day at Chipotle in the U.K. I had a burrito at some place this week that tasted like they took a can of Dennison’s chili and put it in a tortilla. Sure, you could do that, but you probably shouldn’t.

An amazing thing about London though is the staggering amount of the things to look at. Look at that, ooh, look at that, whoa, look at that. It’s super intense. I went to Selfridges department store this week to have a look and spent 25 minutes just in the neon sign section. Not the “OPEN” neon sign type that you get at Costco, but full blown artistic neon signs. That’s an actual section in the store. What?! £6000 for a sign if you’re interested.

It’s weird how L.A. has lousy coverage when it comes to public transport, but it generally works and is efficient. That is, if it’s going to where you want to go. London has tons and tons of transport, and it is definitely going where you want to go. Which in turn seems to make it snarl and everything runs late, or runs really late. Oh how I appreciate you 720 express bus on Wilshire. There are no express buses in London. That just made me laugh by the way. An express bus in London would arrive at the same time as a, well, a bus.

Since I’m traveling back and forth to Liverpool on the weekends I haven’t done much sight seeing. I usually take a lunchtime walk around Soho, but I can’t really get very far and then also have lunch. Local areas are all very touristy so it’s not much fun. Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, etc.

I’m leaving the hotel behind this weekend and heading to a hostel that’s nearer to work. This will save some money on transport costs at the very least. George is also staying there so maybe we can share one of the shared rooms at some point. I need a few pay checks to be able to get a flat in London. It’s incredibly expensive and since Liza and Xavier are up north I can handle the hostel on my own. Work is busy enough and I’ve just been going straight to the hotel and watching some TV anyway. I skipped watching any of the Olympics in Sochi this year for lack of interest really. Most of time I fell asleep with the BBC on.

On Valentine’s Day I picked up some nice fairy cakes for Liza from Selfridges. Seen above all decked out in Valentine red. Of course by the time I arrived in Liverpool the cup cakes were smashed. Boo. They were made by the same people who made the wedding cake or something for William and Kate. Shrug. I dunno. I also picked up a Baby Bullet for making Xavier’s food. It’s quite cute and of course kitchen appliances always make a romantic Valentine’s Day gift. It wasn’t really for Valentine’s Day, that’s what smashed cakes are for.

I arrived into Liverpool fairly late Friday and a taxi was waiting for me. The last two weeks Mersey Rail has been doing improvements so it’s been shut down from Liverpool and Formby. All the roads are windy in that area so by the time I get to the house I’m really car sick. Every time. Xavier had woken up just before I arrived so I got to see him and he smiled big even in his sleepy state. Saturday we had a few errands to do but didn’t get to the main one which was to change some money before the banks closed. We did get Xavier’s passport pictures done, which are incredibly cute. Also got the paperwork for his British passport and will try to get that sorted this week. We also went and looked into the local Formby pool. It’s really nice and will be a great place to take Xavier to continue getting him used to water.

It’s Sunday and I took the train back to London. Liza packed a lunch for me and I ate most of it on the train. I had a first class seat today and got a little snack box. First class on a plane is radically different than a first class seat on a train but there is more room and less people than the plebes in the other coaches. See how quickly you become snobby? I’ll be back with my second class citizens on Friday. I shot some video out the window to get an idea of Liverpool.

I’m starting to miss home a little more now. I knew there would come a time where I felt like this. The “Okay, vacation is over let’s go home” feeling. But we aren’t on vacation and someone else lives in our house. So, to combat some of those feelings I have to keep making plans for fun things to do. This Thursday I’m playing laser tag with the lighting team at work. In North Greenwich somewhere. I’ve never played but I’m glad it doesn’t involve paint.

Another thing coming up is in a few months. I have a very exciting once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios. I also get to meet the authors of Recording the Beatles, a massive box set book I bought a few years ago. All the Beatles albums, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, the Star Wars scores, Kate Bush were all recorded here. Amazing. Every trip to London I’ve always visited the outside of the studio. This time I will get to go in. That. Is. Amazing.

I got into London right at 4pm and went straight to the hotel to check in. I met up with George at the hotel! There’s no place to hang out in the room so we headed down to Costa Coffee and sat for a few hours and then went to a Thai restaurant for a meal and sat there for another few hours.

We usually put Xavier to sleep with the Eagles, so tonight it’s my turn. Take it Easy…

Goodbye

Chris Cunningham

Goodbye In-N-Out. Goodbye Tito’s Tacos. Goodbye Paco’s Tacos Cantina. Goodbye Benito’s. Goodbye Rickey’s Fish Tacos. Goodbye Olvera Street. Goodbye Spitz’s. Goodbye Kogi Truck. Goodbye Fatburger. Goodbye Griffith Observatory. Goodbye Gladstone’s. Goodbye Buddha’s Belly. Goodbye Langer’s. Goodbye Canter’s. Goodbye Paradise Cove. Goodbye Wacko/Soap Plant. Goodbye stuff in my storage unit. Goodbye LACMA Rock. Goodbye LACMA Lights. Goodbye Tar in the tar pits. Goodbye Grove. Goodbye Disneyland. Goodbye Hollywood Bowl. Goodbye Hollywood Sign. Goodbye my Honda s2000. Goodbye Yai Thai. Goodbye PCH. Goodbye 3rd Street Promenade. Goodbye Lincoln Ave. Goodbye Alcott Street. Good riddance 405. Goodbye Aeron chair. Goodbye Curson Ave. Goodbye Park La Brea. Goodbye Park La Brea pools and hot tub. Goodbye Miracle Mile. Goodbye Los Angeles. Goodbye California. Goodbye USA. Goodbye North America. Goodbye Americas. Hello England!

Goodbye family and friends, we’re off… See you soon.

The Year in Review

It’s been 7 months since Xavier burst onto the scene. The lack of updates to this website attests to the amount of time it takes to attend to a newborn child. I’ve mainly been updating his website for all his ‘fans’ around the world. From the typical jaundiced look of a newborn to the little man sitting in his fire truck, here’s a sampler platter from birth until Christmas. It’s been absolutely amazing to watch him see and do things for the first time. His personality started showing up at about 2 months. There hasn’t been anybody he hasn’t smiled and laughed at and in return he always gets a smile and laugh in return. Even my most jaded non-baby friends love him. He really is the perfect little boy. I can’t believe he’s ours. Way too many people have said they want to eat him up. Please don’t eat my baby.

Then there this…

While 2013 has been crazy, we’re about to embark on a new adventure that will change our lives yet again… So stay tuned, hopefully it will be getting more interesting ’round these parts in February. It will even include more picture taking and posts too! My New Years promise to you website.

Los Angeles Space Shuttle #3

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On a visit to Little Tokyo I spotted another Space Shuttle. I realized later that I kinda knew it was there but had forgotten about it. It was Labor Day so not a lot of people were downtown. So, to recap the Shuttles… Endeavour at the Science Center, Challenger/Columbia memorial in Burbank, another Challenger atop the memorial for Ellison S. Onizuka in Little Tokyo. Yay for Shuttles!

Ciclavia in 11 Minutes

Get your cheese songs ready to ride down Wilshire Blvd. for the summer Ciclavia event! Missing Persons, Randy Newman, and FOGHAT! Things to look out for in the time breakdown below.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Month

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As of today it’s been a month since he barreled into the world. Lot’s of milk, diapers, and spit ups going on, but it’s all amazing. Fascinating really. I’ve seen him go from a little bundle of squinty eyes in a swaddle to a strong little man kicking his feet out, grasping things, and the first signs of smiling. Seeing someone learn about the world is a strange thing. How do hands work? What is that? I’ll stare at it. What happens when I do this? Oh, I don’t like that. Everything is a first. A clean slate. Makes you realize how everything really is amazing.

He really loves his orca plushy and stares at it the whole time he’s in the play pen. His newborn jaundice is almost completely gone, right on time with that too. If that isn’t enough he is getting his first movie credit next month! He’ll call you. We have a summer of aunties flying in to see him. Auntie TT in July, Auntie Mimi in August, Auntie Naddie in September, and then grandma’s back in October.

Hello World!

xavier@earth: 1 > perl -E “say ‘Hello World!'”
Hello World!

6 years

6 years ago this week I went to England and met Liza. Just before I left I was at the cafe across the street and the Jacaranda trees were in full bloom. I took a picture. I always kind of associate those trees blooming with that trip. Here we are 6 years later and about to go to the hospital. I walked over to that same cafe, took the same picture, and in a few hours welcomed our little one Xavier Bowe Cunningham into the world.

Xavier Bowe Cunningham was born at 12:48pm. Weighing in at 11lbs 10oz and 21.25 inches long.

Arrested Development Comes Home

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For years Arrested Development occasionally filmed outside the windows of my office. I would see the airline stair truck go by the windows with someone chasing it or a bike riding beside it. I didn’t watch the show at the time so I had no real interest in the goings on outside. I only really discovered it after it had gone off the air a few years and now kick myself for not paying more attention. Love it now of course.

For the new season’s promotion they set up a Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana stand right in the heart of the area they used to film. The line was around the block for the whole day.

Jerry’s Market

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Jerry’s Market
3969 Higuera St, Culver City, CA

“We don’t want to hire unlucky people!” said the interviewer and randomly discarded half of the applications.

Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial

Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial

Burbank fun facts. Did you know there are two Space Shuttles in L.A.? Read the rest of this entry »

Rain Rain Rain


The Seventh Veil & LACMA. Two places you can find nudes.

Art(uro)’s Not Dead Gallery Show

Liza and I participated in a gallery show with some other L.A. artists. Here’s our wall. It was a good excuse to get my Bridge photos framed, and also Liza’s Americana-inspired triptych.

The artists:
Arturo Aguilar: Los Angeles lifer, photographer and computer artist. He has spent the last decade in the film industry creating simulation art for DreamWorks and Sony Pictures. art-speaks.blogspot.com | instagram.com/art_werks

Asylm: Asylm is an L.A.-based graffiti artist, fine artist and muralist. Asylm.com

Chris Cunningham: Photographs, lights, composites, musics, and 3D enthusiasts. Chasethelight.com

Liza Lemsatef Cunningham: Artist, photographer, designer of fine web and print offerings, art history nerd. Not necessarily in that order. Ellelens.com | Jaunty Angles blog

Brendan Eddy: A director of both film and visual effects, and a musician currently working in Los Angeles. brendaneddy.com | Invisiblehero.net

Eyeone is an artist and graphic designer based in Los Angeles. His work is rooted in graffiti, printmaking, photography, and punk rock. Eyelost.com

Sofia Gonzalez has been professionally designing and screen printing in LA since the 90s, yo! Sofialeegonzalez.com

Michael Hackett: “Michael Hackett explores the space where an information system becomes so complex, that it’s orderliness diminishes and begins to take on organic characteristics.”

Mad Guru: Adnan was raised in both the U.S. and Pakistan on a childhood of writing stories. Besides visual effects and animation on feature films for the likes of Disney and Sony, he works under his company Mad Guru, to create animated films and projects designed to provoke thought and bring diverse people together. Madguru.com

Photos by Liza Lemsatef Cunningham

First Congregational Church of Los Angeles


Caught a midweek church organ concert at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles.

Kon-Tiki

Kon-Tiki Screening Q&A with directors Joachim Rønning & Espen Sandberg, visual effects supervisor Arne Kaupang, and actor Jakob Oftebro. Fantastic film up for the Oscar for Foreign Language Film.

The Life Aquatic

The Park La Brea pools.

The King Theater

Rainy night in Los Angeles as seen through double paned windows. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue are playing tonight at El Rey Theater.

American Pies – The Day the Twinkie Died

6325 San Fernando Rd Glendale, CA 91201