Random.

This past week I really haven't experienced anything too exiting, therefore this post will be dedicated to random pictures from the past couple of days. Well, it's actually mainly pictures of different food because that's what I like to taste, to smell, to look at, to photograph..!

Regards,
Red Zora

Amour

The majority of America will be watching TV tomorrow evening - myself included. It is Academy Awards season and for someone like me, who does not simply love film, but tends to be obsessed with film at times, the awards season is basically the icing on the cake. I spend all year long reading reviews of films, watching films, talking about films etc., it is nice to see who will get rewarded for they work. Even though there were often times, where I did not agree with the academy's decision, but that is another story.

The French-German-Austrian co-production "Amour" is up for five of those awards this year, including Best Actress for Emmanuelle Riva.  And knowing that director Michael Haneke does not make "light films", I had been wanting to see the film ever since I first read about it. Haneke is known for films such as: "Funny Games", "Caché", "The Piano Teacher", or his German entry for  Best Foreign Language Film three years ago: "The White Ribbon". 

"Amour" is the story of an eighty-plus-year old married couple who live a quiet, cultivated life. They are both retired piano teachers and enjoy the simplicity of being together. Anne, played by the phenomenal Emmanuelle Riva, suffers a stroke one day and her husband Georges, played by the equally talented Jean-Louis Trintignant, dedicates his entire life to being her caretaker. Anne's condition  digresses from bad to worse, when she suffers a second stroke. And the viewer can at this point only imagine how the story will end. The film is about saying goodbye, about the loss of a beloved person, but mainly it is about love. The love between two people that is so strong, yet so vulnerable that it will almost break their dignity. And there are actually times when it does just that. Isabelle Huppert plays the couple's daughter, who has been absent for many years but now, that her mother is dying, is trying to  reconnect with her. 

"Amour" is an incredibly sad film, I happen to be a quite sensitive person anyway, therefore I was shedding tears throughout almost the entire film. Nevertheless it is a sweet love story which I can highly recommend. I will keep my fingers crossed tomorrow night for 86-year old Emmanuelle Riva to win her first Academy Award.

Red Zora

Stanley Kubrick at LACMA and more.

Sunday was one of those beautiful, almost cliché-like, sunny days in Southern California. 25 degrees Celsius and not a single cloud in the sky. And it's February after all! I think, even after four years of living here I am still getting used to the warm winters!
Brian and I took the opportunity to take advantage of the $10 metro and bus deal, which runs throughout all of Los Angeles County on the weekends.
First stop was LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), where a retrospective on the late film director Stanley Kubrick is the main attraction for visitors from all over the world. And we were not disappointed: The exhibition - which runs until June of this year - is quite large, ranging from pictures of his very early work as a newspaper photographer for "Look" magazine, to his famous films, mainly shot between the 1960's and the late 1990's. It was quite fascinating to see the original props, from films like "2001 - a space odyssey", or "The Clockwork Orange", as well as costumes from "The Shining" and "Spartacus".

After browsing through the exhibition for about 2 hours we were quite hungry and walked the one mile  over to "The Grove", where we had lunch at Nancy Silverton's "Short order", which describes itself as, "traditional American comfort food with fresh organic ingredients from the local farmer's market". I ordered a turkey burger and a mixed green salad with celery and cucumbers. Brian ordered the tuna-melt and fried pickle chips. (??!) I was a little disappointed by the whole experience: Nancy Silverton is known for excellent, farm-fresh food but the burger, as well as the salad, were very mediocre. My hubby's tuna-melt was pretty decent but the service was slow overall and we never received the hot sauce for the fried pickle chips which we asked for twice. "Umami Burger" is a way more satisfying experience if you're looking for a decent burger!

After a not so satisfying meal we headed over to "Sammy's Camera", which consists of three levels full of camera equipment. We purchased a couple of accessories for our cameras and then headed back to LACMA to enjoy the last rays of sunshine and look at the installations.


It was so lovely to enjoy an outing in Los Angeles without having to stress out about finding parking or  dealing with the 24/7 traffic in and around the city. I will take advantage of the weekend metro deal any time again!

Red-Zora

Santa Monica

On Friday it was my day off and we were able to drive down to Santa Monica to meet up with our lovely friends Lisa and Michael, who are still in town, visiting from Berlin. It was 80 degrees Fahrenheit at the beach and an almost clear day! I was able to snap some pictures before my battery died unfortunately...

                           
                                       

                                       
                                     

         

Sachajuan and co.

Sachajuan is a swedish hair care line, which was introduced to the United States only a couple of years ago. To my hair it has been doing sheer wonders - especially one of their more recent products: the hair oil. It kind of works like a Moroccan oil, it simply leaves the hair feeling soft and shiny, after applying a few drops. Anyhow, Ilo Hair had the pleasure of welcoming the great editorial stylist Erin Anderson - again -  to the salon. It is always such a pleasure to see her, and I am glad she was able to fit it in in between NYC fashion week and other gigs. She is one of the most humble and nicest people I know. Now, I am not a hair expert at all, I know a little bit due to my husband being in the industry, but I do like learning about new products and playing around with them. Therefore I thought Erin's visit would be a good occasion to take some pictures of different products that are offered in the salon.

Red Zora

                                                       Sachajuan Body Care

                                         Sachajuan Hair products and Davines Hair products

                                         RGB Nail polish

                                        More Sachajuan display

                                        

                                          Mason Pearson and Ibiza handmade brushes

                                   
                                         Lunch provided by "Simple Simon's"

Erin and moi