LUCAS MUSEUM OF NARRATIVE ART, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Our son came over this morning (Sunday, 9-13-26). He and our dear daughter-in-law were in California last week, so we had a nice catch up today. 

They went to the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art located in Exposition Park in South Los Angeles, California. Their website can be found here. This museum was entirely self-funded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson. 

George Lucas went to the University of Southern California (he attended the School of Cinematic Arts), which is immediately adjacent to the museum. 

Below is a photo of son looking outside at the park below. You can actually see some Star Wars characters...

like Princess Leia confronting Jabba the Hut...

and Yoda who is overlooking a waterfall, not seen in frame.

I asked him if I could share a few photos they took and he happily agreed, so thank you son. It truly is hard to believe that this building took the place of an asphalt parking lot.

He gave us a show transferring photos from his phone to our TV, and it was fun looking at those and hearing about their experiences of not only sights but the people they met. We enjoy listening to them very much and will look forward to getting together with our daughter-in-law next and hearing hers also. Below is a view of the Los Angeles skyline from the museum.

It is a 5-story, 300,000 square foot structure and not entirely all about Star Wars. It is, in fact, "the world's first major institution dedicated exclusively to the history of story and evolution of visual storytelling."

The building looks like a spaceship, as I thought and so many, many others apparently. But son explained that the renowned Chinese architect, Ma Yansong's inspiration, came from cloud formations, light and the local tree canopy. 

I read later, when the general public and the media compared this futuristic structure to a Star Wars spaceship, Ma Yansong clarified that his design philosophy focuses on organic nature. He envisioned the building as a formless, shapeless cloud that floats or hovers over the city, to evoke a sense of mystery and journey (those words, as you might have guessed, are what I read online and found them interesting enough to share here.) This building, as you can see from the outside, contains no straight lines, echoing Ma Yansong's vision of a natural cloud-like aesthetic. I have always been interested in an architect's vision of his work, and it is enlightening to know this one.

 I don't know if I will ever get to see it myself, but I have loved traveling virtually, and our son gave us a great guided tour through his story-telling and photos.

There are many artists works on display, and the Star Wars in Motion exhibit only occupies about 7 percent of the total gallery space. This room is dedicated to the first six films, including Luke Skywalker's land speeder, pod racers, speeder bikes and Darth Vader replicas. 

As for the other artists featured here? 20-century American illustrators included who have their own galleries are Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta, Jessie Willcox Smith, Maxfield Parish, Thomas Hart Benton and N. C. Wyeth.

Then we have fine art, modern and contemporary artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Vincent van Gogh, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Robert Cosescott, Banksy, Judith F. Baca, JR, Ernie Barnes, Beatrix Potter and Takashi Murakami. 

Then there are Comic, Manga and Graphic Story Artists, Jack Kirby, George Herriman, R. Crumb (Robert Crumb), Winsor McCay, Alison Bechdel, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Charles Schulz and Moebius.

Next comes documentary photographers and filmmakers, Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, Robert Capa and George Méliès.

Our son and daughter-in-law had two days but frankly, I would need two weeks to see everything I'm sure!

At the time of writing (9-14-26), admission is $25 for adults but entry is free for children and teenagers under 18. It is highly recommended you get advanced ticket reservations which you can find at their official website for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art website, link in my second paragraph.

Above is the original Cowardly Lion costume (not the face because it was a reproduction) from the Wizard of Oz.

It rained on one of the days they were at the museum. Fortunately, they purchased a couple of umbrellas when they looked at the weather. Also, when they were inside, an emergency fire drill took place where everyone had to get out of the museum. They didn't mind standing out in the rain and it sounded like everyone took it in good part. No one was getting upset at getting wet, so I heard. In the above photo our dear daughter-in-law was looking very happy. Son was happy too because they were in the first line to get back inside and he was able to take photos without too many people around for some of his photos. They had a real good time in this place.

Thank you both for letting me share your photos today. You are the best!

And for a bit of fun I am sharing this photo when son was little. We were visiting my family in the UK and were in my sister's back yard having a party. It had been his birthday a few days earlier. When we arrived my sister invited a few people over, which included neighbors kids. He was too young to see the movie, but everyone gave him Star Wars figures. He loved them and was quite taken with the storm trooper, so for a bit of fun I made a very rudimentary mask out of white cardboard my sister had tucked away. I tied some string on it and he wore it all day. To him it was a work of art, lol! 

(above photo from pixabay.com)

Take good care of yourselves, thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is a great one.

NO RECIPE TODAY - SON'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

No new recipes made this week, just old standbys with lots of salads. That being the case, I thought I would share a little bit of our son's birthday celebration. We had a great time with him and our dear daughter-in-law. They are always fun to be with.

We went to the Longhorn Steakhouse. We all basically had steak of varying sizes, and salad. The appetizer and dessert were shared because by the time we finished the main meal, that was all we could manage. I didn't even try the dessert but they said it was delicious. The whole meal was first-class. That mushroom appetizer was the best, that I did try. Gregg and I said when we feel like coming here again, we would just order those white cheddar stuffed mushrooms - and a salad.  More than enough for the two of us. 

The photo above Gregg took while we were waiting for our daughter-in-law. (He is enjoying his black and white photos still.) Son arrived at our place a couple of hours earlier after his workday was finished, and our dear d-in-l arrived within minutes after that photo of the two of us was taken. We were inside by then, and we kept watch on the door to wave her over when she arrived soon after. I had my first cocktail in a long time. It was a Watermelon Margarita and was very good.  

The decor is southwestern as you can see. Not the best photo and I couldn't get a better one. The place was crowded, many of the tables were taken, and I took the photo higher up than usual. 

So, that's about it for our son's birthday celebration. We were very happy with the way the evening turned out. The young lady who took care of us, we could tell that she was very tired, but she couldn't have been nicer. All the dishes brought out were delicious and hot. We said goodnight to our son and d-in-law outside, after having a really enjoyable time together.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week.

A BIG THANK YOU...

 Firstly, I wanted to thank you my very dear blogging friends, for all your very sweet comments, and those from family and friends here and across the pond, on our 50th Anniversary. Gregg and I appreciated that more than we can put into words. It added to a very special day for us. Gregg was needed out of town for a few days and I didn't expect him home, but thanks to two very special people, they made sure we could spend most of the day together. Those very special people also sent us some beautiful flowers which I will share when they bloom. Heart is full at their kindness. 

 Above you can see part of a bouquet that Gregg had in hand when he walked through the door. I told him that Peruvian Lilies were in the first bouquet he ever bought home after we were married. I had never seen them before and have loved them ever since. He said, "Of course, I remembered that! Well, let's just say I remembered that." We had a chuckle of course. 50 years is a long time to remember such things, but I did and yes, another chuckle, as he often says where my emotions are concerned, I have a memory like a laser. True! I just read him this paragraph, "100 percent true!" he said with emphasis, and with yet another chuckle. Personally I believe it's a girl thing.

Our son and daughter-in-law were coming over to keep me company that evening, and when they found that Dad was coming home early and would be with us, we told them to go ahead with what we had originally planned. They treated us to a wonderful selection of Empanadas from one of their local eateries. I was asked if I would like to try them as it was a new food to me. I've heard of them and was not disappointed. The above photo he sent me to let me know they were on their way. The empanadas were wonderful, and we had such a fun time.

So that was our 50th Wedding Anniversary. The following photos are what we took on the 18th, when we were out and about. And here you go, my first doggy fix of the week!

As we were driving along, Gregg said to me, "Get your phone ready!" I wondered what was up. He had seen this little cutie a few cars ahead of us, changed lanes (no traffic coming up behind us) so that I would get a good view. As we went by, I was able to take a photo. We were just starting off on our journey heading out to run some errands and, lo and behold, when we were driving home, and as we turned left at the traffic light, who should pass us as they headed straight, was this little dog again, still with its head out the window. An hour had gone by since we had first seen cutie here. How about that for the strangest coincidence? I didn't get a photo that time but cropped the one from above for a closer look.

We stopped at the drive-thru coffee shop and this mysteriously made its way into my hand. He may be making another appearance in a day or so.

Next a photo taken while driving home through the neighborhood.

I am finishing off with two photos Gregg just found while on his iPad. These popped up and I asked him to send them to me so that I could share them again. This blog is getting so old that I seem to keep doing that, don't I? The photo was taken about 10 years ago (just guessing but it seems a long time ago). We were on vacation, and I had it put on an ornament.

The last one is of an old-fashioned Santa that I cut out of wood with my bandsaw (a birthday gift from husband I kid you not, and actually asked for). We used to joke that other people were asking their husbands for jewelry and there I was, asking for a bandsaw and a sander, and other things that I needed. In my craft show days, I used to buy several sheets of balsa wood and have the wood company cut them into 1-foot squares, so that I could more easily trace designs on them and cut them out. 

As I got older Gregg asked me to get rid of it, and the sander, which was on a stand. My hands and especially my fingers were not as steady as they used to be and cramped easily, and he feared for my fingers, lol! (I was also having difficulty holding a paintbrush.) In all those years I had never had any mishaps but he saw the writing on the wall. 

I had quite a cottage industry going for about 15 years. To add to the fun I took painting lessons and met lots of good people. It was a fun time selling all my ornaments at the many craft shows I participated in, not just ornaments but things like four-foot Santas and Angels on stands. The painting was my favorite part, seeing them come together, but I didn't mind cutting and sanding either. 

I had grown up with my Dad who was a hobbyist carpenter. His full-time job could be very stressful at times, and this was a great way for him to destress. I think wood dust was in my veins from an early age as I used to help Dad a lot, and I have always loved things made out of wood. His were things like tables and chairs, and when they bought a caravan for visits up to the Midlands to visit with relatives, he built bunk beds for it. 

One of his favorite things he made for family and friends were bird houses on a stand. He used to give those away as gifts. We knew a lot of people who were birders before we knew what the term meant. Us too as we were always checking to see which feathered friend landed in our garden. Living near the ocean as we did, we would get a lot of gulls by the dozens flying in.

These, as you can see, are great memories for me. Something I think more and more about these days. I can almost see my Dad smiling as I joined him in the garage. He was always grateful for the interest and help with his projects, and I used to get him things he needed, plus a very important cup of tea when Mum shouted she had put the kettle on and yelled that it was ready through the window. To this day, I still enjoy watching YouTube videos of how things are made out of wood, from log cabins to the smallest of projects. Dad started it all and I believe his father was the same.

This has turned into another ramble. I will end by saying I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for dropping by and sticking with me through to the end of my waffling.

THIS MADE ME SMILE

I can relate and often tell myself this exact same thing. How about you? 

We had a lovely day and a busy one as we were out for several hours. There were errands to run in the morning, and for lunch we shared a pasty from our favorite pasty shop in Vienna, and we picked up a few goodies to take home. 

The afternoon was the best part as we picked up our son and daughter-in-law from the airport. They have been in San Diego, part business/part pleasure. They were also celebrating an anniversary. They wanted to do something special, so they drove across country, spending a week at their destination and then flew home. I have a lot of photos from their trip. They have said I can share on here, so I will be doing that off and on for a while.

We were early so my dear other half suggested we drive to the spot where we can watch the planes fly low coming in to land. He has an app on his phone that shows where they are coming from. Today, one was arriving from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and the other was flying in from Frankfurt, Germany. 

It was a gorgeous day for landing as you can see. 

Those skies made me feeling good looking at them...

but the best part of the day was greeting our son and daughter-in-law at the airport. 

The jeep and its stickers entertained me as they were on their way from the baggage claim.

I see Dolly there. I love this lady, she has the biggest heart, loves everyone and does so much good for people!

It didn't take them long and it was a fun drive to their place. We will be meeting up again soon and will find out more about their trip.

Enjoy your day everyone and 

thanks for stopping by.

(I found the Happy Thursday graphic in Pinterest. The signature airplane was from pixabay.com and I always add my name using Paint Shop Pro.)