Sneakeasy's Joint

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 9

The GETTY CENTER

7pm - 745pm: Stopping to smell the flowers.

If my Father & Uncle ( 2 Professional College Groundsmen ) were still alive they would have spent the day in the GETTY gardens. To hell with the artsy fartsy stuff! :-)

To reach the Central Garden you must follow a zigzagging path down to its level.

As you do so you are compelled to stop at each bridge and notice how every time you cross the stream, the water produces a slightly different sound.

Boulders from the Sierra foothills, placed along the stream bed create this effect.

Along this path you will see deer grass, thyme, lavender, geraniums, and other plants arranged by color and texture.

This tree walkway leads you through 2 rows of Sycamore Yarwoods, or London Plane trees.

At the bottom of the Central Garden the water cascades into a reflecting pool with a maze of 400 Azaleas.

No, I didn't count the little darlings! That's what the brochure said! :-)

Surrounding the pool is a series of of specialty gardens that exploit the interplay of light, color, and reflection.

One of the most amazing effects of the placement of the garden is that as you go from top to bottom you get a spectacular view of the LA skyline in one direction, and the GETTY buildings in the other.

Once down in the center, well, let's just say that the penultimate perspective is an eye opener. :-)

In another area, behind the SOUTH PAVILLION, is a Cactus Garden filled with Golden Barrel and Column Cacti, among other varieties.

750pm-820pm: EXHIBITION HALL-- SACRED SPACES

This is series of rooms devoted entirely to the works of Peter Saenredam ( 1565-1607 ). Pen and ink, chalk, and oil drawings of the interiors and exteriors of churches and cathedrals in the European city of Utrecht.

825pm- 9pm: THE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: GEOMETRY OF SEEING

Perspective and the dawn of virtual space:

The items here are unusual, and a must see.

Dr. Brook Taylor's Method of Perspective Made Easy (pre-1730), and other books of science, with sketches, engravings, and drawings.

Surveying devices of the 1500's.

Presentation of a Pleasant Garden Pavillion (1760): A Miniature Theatre composed of 7 individual cards placed consecutively at a certain distance from one another.
Usually situated in a Viewing Box with a viewing hole, with or without lens.
The resulting perspective shows a crowd of various people gathered in a garden area doing different things.

The intricate, painted, cutouts are awesome and beautiful.

Still Life With Peaches ( 1775 ): Watercolor on paper and a replica metal cylinder.

Sketched images of a glass of juice and 3 peaches on a bowl sitting on a table on a floor. There is also a butterfly.

One problem though: The images are elongated and distorted on paper.

You set the cylinder in a certain spot and you see the images correctly. :-)

This is what is known as "Anamorphic Drawing". The depiction of "Aberrant Perspectives".

It is a bizarre and wonderful use of imagery and perspective that was popular in the 17th and 18th century.

It goes back to the 16th when Da Vinci was the 1st to experiment with, invesitgate, the concepts of the nature of ocular images.

It is dark, & cool, as I descend back down to the street to catch the first of 4 busses home ( arrival 3pm )

My mind, however, is still  full of the many bright, colorful & astonishing images of this days journey.

It is my hope that this 9 chapter tour gives you the incentive to, if not visit the GETTY and it's ever changing exhibits, then to visit museums and art galleries closer to your home, where ever in the world that may be.

Thank you for tagging along, and feel free to send me your comments. :-)

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 8

The GETTY CENTER

A very long day results in my getting lost in 2, connecting, Pavillions and losing track of which ones hold what treasures!

It all started after I came up from the basement of the South Pavillion.

Must have been all those marble statues of naked Greek Gods and Goddess, I don't know. :-)

Anyway, here's a look in the basement of the South Pavillion:

This level was devoted to Ancient Art by the Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, and more obscure citizens from the really, really good , and very old days.

Ceramic, silver, glass, and rock crystal storage containers, mixing vessels, oil containers, pouring vessels, drinking vessels, wall paintings, flasks, drinking horns, goblets bottles, and bowls.

The artwork on these items is beautiful and depicts ordinary animals, ordinary people, warriors, officials, actors, Kings, Queens, and Gods.

There are plaster frescoes.

There are  lots of silver, gold, glass, and bronze jewelry such as stick-pins, necklaces, armlets, bracelets, hairnets, rings, wreaths, earrings, and coin belts with Roman coins.

Therre are examples of Bronze helmets, armor, shields, portrait busts and statues.

There are plenty of marble statues and sculptures, coffins, and grave stones.

There is a marble Hercules without his pecker, poor man....

There is a marble Apollo without, not only his pecker, but his hands! Oh, the embarrasment he must be feeling!

Poor Venus! Off with her head!

A sitting Jupiter without his hands.

Venus, toppless, and coyly holding a blankey below her waist.

There is an awesome statue of Marcus Aurelius that has been restored 3 times in its history.

The West and South Pavilions:

Paintings, paintings everywhere! from 17th to 19th century Europe.

Numerous family and individual portraits.

Numerous landscapes.

Numerous still lifes of food.

Portrait of a boy in a fancy dress. And he let the dog slobber on this get-up?

A Storm on a Mediterranean Coast-- There are people on the rocky shore, and a storm tossed ship at sea, and an eerily dark and majestic lighthouse.

The Laundress-- Improbably dressed in her best, she flirts with the viewer. "Ok, dearie, your place or mine?" :-)

A Hermit Praying in the Ruins of a Roman Temple.

Mars and Venus: An Allegory of Peace. (1770)

Peace my ass!! They are nude in bed!

She is asleep with a look of bliss on her face.

He is sitting up behind her, and the look on his face says it all: "God! What a lay! What a glorious piece of tail!!"

And ain't those 2 doves just the cutest? Making a nest in his abandoned armor on the floor. :-)

A Degas watercolor: Waiting

There is a bench. A tired old woman, in black, sitting up, and a nervous young ballerina bent over at the waist.

There are more Degas, and some Lautrec.

3 Lovers-- Alright! An orgy!! Lucky guy. :-)

1 happy lady, nude on the bed, watching lover boy, work his smoove, smootching with the other young damsel.

Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime.

Portrait of Nadine Dumas-- God! What a beauty!

A Young Girl Defending Herself Against Eros-- Though not enthusiastically. And there's nudity again!

Maternite: A Young Mother Cradling Her Baby-- The peasant mother is visibly tired, and the baby very still in her lap.

Man With A Hoe-- God, he looks tired and worn out leaning there. It's a brutal image of a man in a thorny, rocky landscape, barely scratching out a living, while in the backround is lovely, cultivated farmland suggesting his hope for a better life.

There are several Monet's., Van Gogh's, Cezanne's, and Pissaro's.

One Cezanne is of a young Italian woman at a table. it is very somber, thoughtful, and haunting.

There is a masterful example of Symbolist Art from the late 19th century by james Ensor>

It is called "Christ's Entry Into Brussells in 1889".

Oh this is brutal! Vicious!

What a political statement! :-)

Imagine the uproar! :-)

He is making a condemnation of his society and culture: The 2nd Coming  as a May Day Parade/ Rose Parade/ Marde Gras Spectacle! :-)

A marching band, Vive la Sociale banners, and Doctrinaires fanfares. Thousands of people , some in maskes, lining the streets and roof tops, and jamming the streets in a partying mob, waving flags and banners.

Vive Jesus! Roi de Brussells! and other slogans proliferate.

Even Progressives considered the work to be outrageous and it stayed in his home for most of his remaining life.

Definitely in the West Pavillion was an exhibition of U.S and World Railroad Images.

There were railroad photos from 1855-1900 showing trains, tracks, bridges, viaducts, trestles, passengers, laborers, builders, and stations.

There was a copy of the 1884 Bentley's handbook of the Pacific Coast.

There were samples of Stereographic Cards.

With the main Pavillions now out of the way, & evening in the offing, it was time to take a look outside for a while....... :-)

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 7

The GETTY CENTER

The South Pavillion:

This building has tons of French and German paintings from the 1600 and 1700's, and enough Porcelain and Furniture from the 1720's to 1800 to give Martha Stewart an, um, well let's just say she'd be made extremely happy by all these elegantly presented rooms :-)

A painting of an Interior With Soldiers and Women: Drinking, smoking, and flirting!!! Alright!!! :-)

A beautiful Mediteranean Harbor Scene.

A Planisphere Clock (1745): 8 ft. tall!

It has a large main dial that's composed of overlapping circular plates, and 3 hands that indicate the time with a 24 hr. chapter ring, the months and their zodiacs, the days of the lunar month, and local times in various cities and parts of the world, including California. 45 smaller dials, grouped above, show the phases of the moon, a tidal calendar for parts of Northern France, the days of the week, and the times of the eclipses of Io, one of Jupiters moons.

There are lots of Secretaries, carved Tea Services, cups, plates, bowls, vases, tables, wall clocks, candelaberas, inkstands, carved cabinets and drawers, chandeliers, commodes, mirrors, porcelain kitchen utensils and dishes, a reading and writing desk with a bunch of secret drawers, desks, trunks, sofas, couches, chairs, beds, globes on stands, 4-panel screens, wall lights, jewel coffers on stands, roll-top desks, and a 265 yr. old barometer in a brass, glass, and oak case.

There is a Compound Microscope and Leather Case With Drawers from 1749. All the slides, and little tools and extra lenses needed are included and displayed, and it includes an Ocular Micrometer .

Most amazingly the scope is STILL functional!

The Offering to Bacchus Tapestry, made of wool and silk.

Pan and Syrinx painting: Nude and horny on the river bank! :-)

Diana and Her Nymphs, Bathing: A painting.

Nude and horny, and NO, not THAT Diana. This was 1722. :-)

6 huge  wall tapestry: The Story of the Emperor of Chura series. All made of wool and silk.

1. The Emperor's Tea.
2. The Return from the Hunt.
3. The Harvesting of Pineapples.
4. The Astronomers.
5. The Collation.
6. The Emperor On A Journey.

4 huge wall tapestry: The Story of Don Quixote. All made of wool and silk.

1. Don Quixote Is Cured Of His Folly By The Sages.
2. The Feast Of Sancho On The Island Of Barataria.
3. The Cowardice Of Sancho At The Hunt.
4. The Arrival Of Sancho On The Island Of Barataria.

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 6

The GETTY CENTER

Making a Lady blush in the East Pavillion:

As I was about finished with the first floor, I came across a BRONZE of a JUGGLING MAN from 1615.

His pecker is MISSING!! :-)

A lady walks up and takes a brief look.

The, um, Art Critic in me pipes up ( LOUDLY ) with an intelligent, thoughtful observation:

"That's what ya get for sticking around for 385 years!"

She takes a 2nd, longer, look and suddenly BLUSHES a shade of red that I didn't realize could be found in the color spectrum before distancing herself from my vicinity. :-)

Security and lots of it!

There are security personnel stationed at every entrance to a room, & one in each room as well.

If you stick your nose too close to something they are right there looking over your shoulder, it seems. It doesn't matter if you are just trying to read something. :-)

God knows what would happen if someone SNEEZED! :-)

Oops! Sorry Officer, but I just left a massive amount of SNOT on the Rembrandt over there.....

Paintings in the East Pavilion:

The Entry of the Animals into Noah's Ark-- 50 different animals and birds. The painting is vibrant, beautiful, and alive.

A room full of stuff by Rembrandt and his circle.

The Angel Leaving the Family of Tobit-- The fear and piety in the faces of the family is vivid and real as the visitor reveals himself an Angel.

A room full of Dutch and Flemish oil paintings (1625-1725).

David with the Sword-- Um, Davey looks alot like Bill or Ted from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. :-)

The Drawing Lesson-- The Clutter of the art studio around the teacher and 2 students stands out in detail.

Bathsheba after the Bath-- There she is sitting with her legs crossed, and with 2 Ladies-in-waiting. 1 is cutting her toe nails and the other (older) is gazing at her exposed breast.
Bathsheba looks brazenly at the viewer with a tilted head and a twinkle in her eye.:-)

A Horse Stable-- The horse is happily munching away while wifey gazes adoringly from a door, and hubby brushes him down.

Question: Is Wifey gazing rapturously at hubby or the horse? :-)

A Maid Milking a Cow in a Barn

Questions: What is she pulling, really? And is the bucket 1/2 full or 1/2 empty? :-)

Fruit Piece-- I can smell and taste them it's so real. :-)

The Piebald Horse-- A spotted horse in foreground of a field and house.

The power and grace of the horse are vividly captured.

The Musicians Brawl-- A brawling musician lifts his arm, squeezing lemon juice into the eyes of his supposedly blind opponent, while the imposters guide gasps in dismay and 2 witnesses laugh at the revelation of the deception.

This is very funny! :-)

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 5

The GETTY CENTER

EAST PAVILLION

Early afternoon--Onward to the next building! :-)

This one has drawings and etchings from Italy in the age of the Grand Tour, and European Sculpture from1600-1750 and more paintings by the dozen!

1. Pencils, pens, brushes, chalk, all used to make exquisite works, including lots of landscapes.

Fishing boats in a storm.

The Campo San Polo-- Showing the beauty of a Venician Square, buildings and all.

Landscape with travellers-- The minor details include a dog about to be run over by a carriage, a boyon the side of the road, leaning on a stick, and his companionlaying on the ground, head on hand, with a dreamy look on his face.

An ancient port-- A vision of archealogical splendour in chalk and brush.

Prisoners on a projecting platform-- An etching of mystery and imagination depicting a nightmarish prison interior.

Punchinello is helped to a chair-- At once touching and funny.

Shepherd and the muses by the waterfall-- Wow! What a waterfall!

2.  Sculptures and such.

A Plaque with the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception-- Made out of silver, gilt bronze, and lapis lazuli.

The Penitent St. Peter-- Made out of limewood. The emotions in his face are finely detailed.

CRUCIFIX-- There is a boxwood Body of Christ, on a cross of oak w/ebony veneer and inlaid brass, with gilt brass mounts. A finely detailed body, right down to the abs.

Saint Gines de la Jara-- An Amazing, life like, and life size, sculpture made of polychromed wood (pine and cedar) with glass eyes and prominent veins. the figure is bearded and wearing a gold painted robe. This was done by a famous 17th century woman of the Spanish Royal Court.

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 4

The GETTY CENTER

North Pavillion:

1130am-- The Plaza Level Focuses on ROME ON THE GRAND TOUR, and a treasury of 15th century Manuscript Illuminations. And then there are paintings on the upper floor. Ok. let's see what they got! :-)

A fascinating display on the making of a bronze statue.

A bronze pair of andirons in the form of a nymph and a satyr.

Bronzes of venus, Mercury, and Neptune.

The Grand Tour artwork includes chalk and penicil drawings, watercolors, & sketches.

There are plenty of Tourist Pocket-sized Guide books with intricately drawn maps of Rome, ancient and modern, with drawings.

A beautiful watercolor of Rome on the Tiber with St. Peters in the backround.

There is one painting of great detail that is of the Arch of Constantine with the Colosseum in the backround. In the FOREGROUND are a man on a bench, 2 men talking a woman leaning against a wall while sitting on the ground, and a mother leading a child by the hand.

There are examples of Artist Sketch and Illustration Books of people, places, and roman Monuments including the Piazza and Basillica of St.Pete's.

I laugh at a Male Nude sketch: An athlete is sitting under a tree, with one leg over the other, picking his toes! :-)

There are books of Cameos and Engravings: Cameos are bicolored hardstones carved to raise the image in relief in the backround on the page.

Get a load of the CASABAS ( tits, tits, ok? ) on that VENUS reclining on a sea monster SCULPTURE! :-)
Poor Cupid. All he's doing is sitting at her feet with an arrow in his quiver. :-)

I can already tell that I don't have enough paper to describe everything even one ROOM on a floor has to offer on display. More reason to consider this series as just a teaser to get readers to visit the place on their own. :-)

Book Heaven!! Awesome doesn't even begin to describe the European Illuminated Manuscripts from 1300-1500 that are on display.

The oil paintings in these books, large and small, are amazingly detailed with STILL vibrant colors.

Prayer books, bibles, and other religious texts with lots of images of God, Christ, Moses, the Disciples, Angels, and the Virgin Mary.

The caligraphy is splendidly rendered in black and red inks.

The quality of the paper is amazing.

There are books of various sizes: 5x7 to 15x20.

There is one image that really caught my attention. it is called CRUCIFIXION & was done in 1475: Christ on the cross with 3 Angels, with chalices to catch his blood dripping from hands and feet. Mary and John at the base, with a skull on the ground between. In the backround, on a hillside, is a 15th century German town, with castles and blue skies.

In another room, covering 1450-1700, are Ivory, Amber, Silver, and Gold, and Glass goblets, figurines, bottles, jars, bowls, beakers, and flasks.

2 gold Stags on gold stands stand out.

The intricate detail on each item, the enameled glass decorations, the brilliant colors are amazing.

1 huge beaker has 15 detailed, tiny, German Coats of Arms on it.

There was a room full of European Ceramics from 1400-1600.

A basin with the casts from real snakes, lizards, fish, shells, and leaves attached to the ceramic and painted over with lead based glazes of green, gray, and yellow.

Lots of decorated floor tile, basins, plates, bowls, and jugs.

A ceramic bust of Christ, with a crown of thorns.

And an amazing plate with St.Peter flanked by his initials of S and P.

As I prepare to tackle the upper floor I am still thinking about everything that I've seen already.

Once you have gone through just the first room of painting you are struck with the wonderful realism and depiction of detail and color of the works, and you realize that, as you continue to go from room to room, building to building it just won't stop, and might become overwhelming if you let it.

There are European paintings from 1400-1500.

Christ crowning his mother.
Madona and child with musical angels.
The nativity.
The Story of Joseph wall mural with inscriptions identifying the characters in the left to right drawn story.

There are italian paintings from 1500-1600.

The Miraculous Communion of St. Catherine of Sienna.
Head of Christ: The crown of thorns and the detailed look of pain and sorrow on his face and in his eyes makes you feel his pain & sorrow.

A portrait of Pope Clement VII showing him with a powerful and self-confident demeanor.
A portrait of a woman with a book of music. She is dressed in the height of fashion for 1540, ans has a look of discomfort on her face.

There are oil paintings from Northern Europe  of 1400-1600.

The Deposition: Christ taken off the cross by followers and taken to his tomb.
The Crucifixion.
The dream of Pope Sergius (1440): Castles, castles everywhere!!
An awesome Portrait of Isabella of Portugal.

There are Italian paintings from 1300-1400.

They are more like murals, I should say. :-)

Of particular nore are 2 Altar Pieces.

One of St.Catherine of Alexandia and 12 scenes from her life (1330).
One of the Coronation of the Virgin and the Saints, from the 1390's.

To enter these rooms crammed with priceless works is to lose yourself in times and places, activities, and beliefs of peoples and cultures from long bygone eras.

If this is a taste of what I have to look forward to in the rest of the buildings, my God!!!

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 3

The GETTY CENTER

920AM-- 1st on my agenda, now that I'm actually faced with deciding where to start, is 1 of the 2 free tours: Gardens and Architecture.

I decided on the Architecture tour, leaving every 15 min. starting at 10. The tour lasts aproximately 45 min.

At the Kiosk in the courtyard I pick up brochures on the tours and a map/guide of the GETTY CENTER.

945am-- Oh, ain't that sweet! Look at all the high schoolers coming to get their mushy brains expanded with cultural knowledge.

It just warms the cockles of my heart... :-)

10-1110am-- Well, the Architecture Tour took a bit more than 45 minutes, but it was well worth it.

This dude named Richard Meier, who designed the place, was  a genius.

The thing you notice about all the buildings, the windows, and walls, and the surface beneath your feet in the courtyard is the use of squares and circles.

16,000 tons of Italian Travertine Stone was used .

To give you an idea of the value of this stone and it's appropriateness for use here, take a moment to ponder on this amazing fact:

Romans used Travertine from the exact same quarry to build the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, and the colonnade of St. Peter's Basilica.

And to top that, the SAME family is still running the Quarry.

There is also an amazing effect accomplished with trees that is explained and demonstrated, and is worth taking the tour for alone.

The guides impart alot of information in the time alloted, but you don't feel overwhelmed. I'd recommend the tour as the first thing to do to anyone visiting the GETTY CENTER.

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center 2

The GETTY CENTER

815am-9am-- As I get off the bus I notice an African-American man with a Getty Badge, and I ask him about something that's been nagging me all morning:

My apples and oranges! They ain't gonna confiscate my apples and oranges are they?

You see, being broke, I brought my own munchies for the day. :-)

"Well, no," Ron, from Operations, assured me, "just leave your bag at the check-in area and you will be given a tag so you can come and go as you please."

They have concessions, and a picnic area, but don't allow munchies anywhere near the priceless works of art. :-)

With an hour to kill until the Tram up to the museum I decide to see what my 2yr. old  copies of Fodor's L.A., and Timeout's Guide To L.A have to say about the Getty.

1st off, it cost a Billion to build.

For all you laymen in the audience, that comes to approximately a s***load of pennies. :-)

It opened in 1997 and this is MY very first visit.

Unless you want to reserve parking, far in advance, you are best advised to come on Saturday and Sunday or to take the bus and therefore visit at YOUR convenience.

The tram takes you to the Pavillions at the top of the hill. The Museum itself is a series of 6 Pavillions built around a central courtyard and bridged by walkways. There are North, South, East, and West Pavillions, an Auditorium, and a Research Institute.
On the outside the edifices are clad in something apparently called cleft-cut-Italian traverteen stone and white aluminum panelling for contrast and texture.

Hey, I'm NOT making this up! That's what the books say. :-)

There are supposedly great views of the surrounding countryside from the various plazas, courtyards, and walkways.

Okaaayyy, for now I'll take their word for it. Afterall it IS a clear day today. :-)

My parents would have loved to see what else is apparantly here: A central garden! With a maze, even! Woo hoo!! :-)

For those of you, unlike me at the moment, awash in moolah, there is a restuarant (reservations only), 2 cafes, and an outdoor coffee bar.

9am-- Okay, a 1/2 hr. until the tram. What to do? What to do?

I guess I could start reading my free copies of the LA WEEKLY and NEW TIMES that I picked up in Westwood.

905am-- Well, so much for settling in to wait. A guide tells me I can go to the tram waiting and loading area.

Oh, JOY! I get a choice of an elevator or 2 flights of stairs to take me to the tramway. I take the stairs.

White trams on rails. Very cool.
14 passengers per 3 car tram. 2 tracks, 2 trams.
The view of the hills, and south through Sepulveda Pass is great on this 5 minute ride.

We arrive, and disembark.

I'm quite impressed with my first look at the place, to say the least.

Sneakeasy's Guide to the Getty Center

The GETTY CENTER

On April 19th I took the day off from my exhausting, and at times demoralizing, job search, and spent the day at the J PAUL GETTY CENTER MUSEUM COMPLEX north of Westwood, in the Sepulveda Pass West of LA, Ca.

This is the first in a series of entries about my day.

Notes that I originally wrote as I went along on my journey making observations about all I saw and experienced:

4am 4/19/2001-- What the hell am I doing up at this ungodly hour?

Feeding the cats?

Oh, wait, they usually try to wake me as early as 5am.

THIS was MY idea...

Feeling tired, frustrated, angry, and just a little afraid after 6 months of unemployment and the almost non-stop fruitless job search, I, last evening decided to go to the GETTY.

430am-- The cats got an early breakfast, I've got my canvas bag stuffed with bus schedules, a book, some apples and oranges, and it's away we go!

445am-- It's dark and lonely on the streets of my home town... And it just dawned on me that I forgot to shave...

Well, if I finally DO actually meet the Girl of My Dreams, she'll just have to forgive my ruggedly handsome 2 day old stubble, and that's that!

5am-7am-- In the world of Los Angeles County Mass Transit a Bus Pass is a must, as is, sometimes, the Patience of Job.

By that I mean that a Basic Pass will get me a 2 hour, 2 bus trip to Downtown LA as opposed to a 1 hour freeway one-shot.

7am-8am-- God, I love the metro Red Line Subway Train, and the Rapid # 720 Bus!

Downtown to Western and Wilshire in 5 min., and then to Westwood on a Bus designed with an electronic trip-wire that insists all traffic lights turn green at our approach. [ I bet car owners wish they could have that device :-) ]

In the mornings, as in the evenings, the Busses and Trains are crammed to the gills with the great, multi-cultural sea of undocumented immigrants, and the citizen poor, middle-class, and upper class working people that make up LA County's workforce.

I LOVE LA! :-)

Well, the system is generally crowded all day, but THAT'S another story altogether. :-)

8-815am-- There are 2 Busses that go from Westwood thru the Sepulveda Pass, and it's right nice of them to stop at the Getty.

The # 561 gets me to the Museum by 815am as west, up, up Sunset Blvd. we climb past more rich folks homes and secluded estates than you can shake a stick at, to Sepulveda Blvd. and beyond.

To be continued...