StudyingAmerica

Santa Monica Pier: Consumption of the environment

    The pier is an excellent example of enviornmentalism and consumption as a point of contention in American culture. It is a prominent 100-year land mark on the coast of California. While the Santa Monica Pier is a spectacle on the beach, it has essentially become an amusement park in the middle of the ocean and now includes an aquarium, restaurant, and ball room .  When the pier first opened September 9, 1909, its primarily purpose was to carry sewer pipes beyond the breakers, and had no amenities. 

    The desire to earn revenue from tourism driven by the beautiful southern Californian weather does not look like it belongs in the middle of the ocean. While visiting the Santa Monica Pier, there are many different attractions to survey. Between the rides and attractions and fishermen, there is something for everyone to do.  Families spend to day together, couples stroll along the boardwalk and joggers pass by, the Santa Monica Pier is truly a place where people come together. The competing American tensions of consumption and enviornmentalism become clear while taking a stroll along the pier. The view of the oceans and miles of coast show you the serenity the enviornment provides.  The activities occurring on the pier contradict the idea of preservation the enviornment directly. While the pier is a  family friendly place, it shows the willingness of Americans to expand anywhere we can find space, despite the repercussions. 

    The Pier is a staple of American  culture, and although it is driven by consumption it still represents American ideals today.  The beauty of the ocean drives tourists to visit this amazing beach town and it will remain an amazing place to visit.

 

Small Business learning to cope with Big Business in Oceanside Coast

The Oceanside beach is the frontier of a city struggling with the tension of big business against it weaker lower completion low business (mom, pop shop). While you drive by on the 5 Highway you can hear the crash of the waves, and the variety of places to stop and eat or shop.

Extending from the Oceanside harbor all the way to buccaneer Beach, you find a struggle for control all along the coast. From the beginning the Oceanside coast has been filled by small businesses, but since the city has expanded to over 150,000 citizens since the turn of the century the demand for bigger business has blossomed. As for that many parts of the city have made improvements to have people and business coexist in harmony. Take for example Mission Ave., The Street varies from block to block. One block in specific shows the economic disparity. On the 400 block of the avenue you see a big movie theater surrounded by many shops and restaurants. In these restaurants you can find things like Subway, Dairy Queen, and Cold stone. But what many people do not notice is that there are also smaller restaurant names that might not be known but sometimes offer a better meal value that the high competitors. Although some of these smaller restaurants are starting to disappear some have stayed and made a name for themselves like Longboarder café and Santinos Pizza who are right next door to some of the other big businesses.  In efforts to keep businesses going the coast as well as the beach hosts multiple cultural events to keep small business owners above water by inviting them to offer their items to the public. As the third biggest city in San Diego County Oceanside’s younger population push for bigger business especially restaurants while the elder try to keep small business alive, because when you think about it that is why Oceanside got to be where it is at.

So whether you are going to Oceanside to start a family or retire when you are that point, the Oceanside coast has all that you need to survive. It has you’re your traditional stores as well as your not so traditional ones to satisfy any persons taste for culture. 

 

The World Beat Center

The World Beat Center is a cultural place that emphasizes the balance between individualism and community.  The rounded building itself symbolizes the circle of life, that it takes all kinds to make a world. “From young to old, for persons on both sides of the border, and for person of every race, color and ethnicity, the World Beat Center represent a unique platform for coming together in a shared celebration of unity, diversity and community” (History Past- Present 1). This center creates a community based feel, while inviting different individuals from different ethnicities to help bring different people together.

            The World Beat Center contains different areas inside the building emphasizing the different cultural and beliefs. For example there will be a area inside the World Beat Center; labeled “Afrika”. Inside this little room in the wall contains all sorts of artifacts and cultural backgrounds on Africa. Also next to that there is an Egyptian area, next to that is a Buddha etc. In the inside of this building there is a stream of flags hung at the top showing individual countries and streaming them along side by side, that forms a community like feeling.

            An interesting thing that this center does is they teach lessons, ranging from dance, playing drums etc. This is held in the center directly in the middle of the room, the drummers and the dancers together, creates this flow of energy that takes every individual to create.

            There is this very unique sculpture inside the world beat center that establishes different people that contribute to the making of America. In this sculpture there is a religious man who looks Jewish, with his curly hair, hat, and suit. There is also seems to look like an educated man, he is also wearing a suite and carrying a book, alongside him is the business man. Together these men are holding up a man who is also well dressed in a suit but he looks more relaxed and his tie is undone, and this man is holding up America. This emphasizes how America even though these men are all contributing to the foundation creating a community in America, that there is always going to be that individualistic idea, that I’m an individual. The World Center devotes itself into creating a community of people. They do so many great events to bring people together.

For more information check out www.worldbeatcenter.org.

 

 

The Yellow Deli: Aesthetics/ natural beauty and Economic Growth/Opportunity

No area around can come close to eating and dining like the Yellow Deli located in heart of Vista exemplifying two strong American tensions of aesthetics/natural beauty and economic growth/opportunity. Both tensions are very direct and indirect with each other making life impossible for a person to live without. It demonstrates how the people that serve and make the food and most importantly the atmosphere of the yellow deli surrounds the area treasuring their American values. From the start as you walk through the gate, you can see the beautiful architecture of the deli; two stories high decorated with nature itself. It's as if the deli was an enormous treehouse from the beauty outside the environment. The entrance provides a comfort feeling like your out in nature with  campfires and plants all around. Its a beautiful patio entrance with plants all around with murals of motifs that express the Yellow Deli. The inside is remarkable because its structure is mostly all wood from the seats and tables to the building itself. It can resemble to a cottage house since nature is close to this deli. The reason being is the "fruit of the spirit" which is simply the ideals of love, joy and peace which people can be apart at the yellow deli. The fruit of the spirit can be found in a bible verse and is used for the American values for the Yellow Deli. It shows Gods existence and most importantly what the people of the yellow deli sees as being America which is staying close to nature and treasuring its beauty and divine. It helps escape any guest from the modernity of the city. Around the deli, their are paintings and quotes that show how the Yellow Deli is strongly connected to nature. They follow close to the knowledge of David Henry Thoreau 

and ideas on transcendentalism. The food they serve is all organic and treated with care to satisfy any customer that walks through the gate. The food is all natural and based on the beauty of food by taking care of their resources of livestocks and fruits and vegetables at their biggest ranch in Valley center, the morning star rancher which is one sandwich you can buy on the menu. They sell foods from sandwiches to soups and salads and drinks from healthy smoothies to all sorts of mates and teas. They keep close to having all organic non-processed foods and keeping a unpolluted environment. The men and women who work here all work together, live with each other and  practice a communal living. The earnings that each employee gets isn't really going into their pockets, but is going to the yellow deli instead. The money goes towards producing more resources of foods at the ranch. Their economic growth is simply all in a unity based on attractions towards comfort in the deli what it stands for.Their beliefs are what separates them apart from other groups and individuals living in the same society. The Yellow Deli is a symbol for peace in ones heart and is the opposite of flaws most people have today such as envy, selfishness, jealously and greed. Out in the wilderness, there is no flaws of man, but the creations of God's life in the trees, plants and organisms and its landscapes. What the Yellow Deli does is try to incorporate a bind between nature and its peace with its resources to a human inhabitant.     http://yellowdeli.com/home-vista

The Yellow Deli: Nature as a Resource and Beautiful Divine

Visiting the Yellow Deli in downtown Vista opened my eyes to see how Nature can be both beautiful and resourceful. The restaurant gives East Broadway more attention and a more alive look to the downtown area. The rustic feel of the atmosphere of the Yellow Deli makes it a more interesting place to dine. The structure of the building has a very “Old American” feel to it with its stone and wood accents throughout the entire restaurant.  Every part of the building and the decorations are handmade, even down to the twisted iron handles on the doors. The Yellow Deli has an option to sit either inside or out with great accommodations for both. Outside is where the stoned fire pits filled with wood are located.They provide plenty of heat during the cool evenings and nights.  Next to the fire pits are smooth wooden tables with the flower indented chairs surrounded by the beautiful greenery.The outdoor experience is gardenlike.  Sitting inside one might think that they were sitting in a log cabin.The rich wood tones and architectural designs lure your eyes to every detail of the room.The indoor experience was very cozy.The lights were dim and everything in sight was natural looking. It's obvious that they take the time to make their craft by the way everything is designed.

 

The Yellow Deli was built from the ground up. From the time they purchased the property to the time the doors opened, seven years had passed. The dream of having a place where locals could meet friends and enjoy a good meal had been realized. Whether you are inside or outside of the Yellow Deli, you become aware of the beauty and resourcefulness of this restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Here's just a quick video of the many amazing things about the Yello Deli! 

   

San Antonio Mission de Pala

The San Antonio Mission de Pala shows the American Tension of the pioneer, the Indians native to the reservation, and the settlers who have tried transforming the Indians. The San Antonio Mission was established in 1816 as a sub-mission to the San Luis Rey Mission by Padre Antonio Peyrei. Before Peyrei and any other Catholic settler arrived, the Indians had already settled on the area now known as the Pala Reservation.

One of the first things that I noticed when walking out to the garden was the artwork on all of the walls. There were huge religious paintings and paintings of Indian Chiefs. One piece of artwork showed a group of Native Indians living off the land, picking food and watching over the animals that roamed through. This was a painting of what life used to be before the settlers had changed everything. The Mission and other buildings were built on Idian land to force them to live more like settlers.

Even though there is not too much out in Pala, I noticed on my drive up there that everything was close to each other. The Mission and the Pala Casino couldn't have been more than five minutes from each other. Small shops and other buildings were all part of the plan to civilize the Indians. Once the mission was built, the Indians were forced to learn about religion. In the settlers view, the Indians were seen as savages and they needed to be civilized. The settlers forced Catholicism on the Indians so that they could be proper civilians, which showed another way Indians were transformed by the settlers.

The Mission today includes a chapel, gift shop, museum, garden, cemetery, and a historical bell tower. There was so much to look at, it was almost overwhelming. Even so, it was a great place to visit. In most ways the settlers have changed the Indians, but in some ways the Indians are still the same.

Centro Cultural De La Raza

 

    San Diego's most important moments are shared all throughout the community in remembrance of its most historic events that embodies the American balance of tension between equality and freedom. These memorable events lay in a highly tourist spot at Balboa Park. One location is the Centro Cultural De La Raza Center. During its 100 year Anniversary of San Diego's Free Speech fight, its center help promote the struggles and fights that occurred throughout the movement of San Diego particularly through public speaking and labor movements.

    Its center filled with many art murals beautifully drawn across its circular structure. The inside of the building showed historical photos and paintings. The historian who is a volunteer that helps run the center opened me up to the history behind the center and the stories and pictures that surround it. This center is a volunteer based business. Originally, the first Chicana center was the Aerospace but since Balboa was getting a lot of tourists the people who ran the building thought that they would probably lose business because there was to many "brown people". So they tried to get them out of the Aerospace building but the people protested which resulted in moving the building to where it lays now because there are not a lot of people who walk by their center because of trams. This interestingly was a water tank during WW11.

         Around 5th and E Street during the 1900s pubic speaking was banned by the city. Causing such tension of public speaking, many people faught for their rights. A photo in the center called "The notorious soapbox" helped interpret the battle of their freedom of rights and equality. This photo shows a man on a soapbox speaking in front of many other people which resulted in many killed beaten or thrown in jail. A song from the I.W.W (Industrial workers of the World) states "Out there in San Diego where the Western breakers beat they're jailing men and women for speaking on the street". This son evidently captures the consequences of men and women who spoke out on the streets in Downtown San Diego. In 1915, such effect was established as a basic right. "The 100-year anniversary of San Diego Free Speech Fight is a celebration of the legacy of local labor and civil rights activism and a reminder that if we are not vigilant in the protection of our rights, we can certainly lose them".    The battle between being equal amongst everyone of  having the desire need and want to fight for their rights and to make sure they dont lose them.This celebration helped many people understand the struggle and fight made for our San Diegans that they are the basis of why we have our rights we do to this day in San Diego.

Visit this link to learn more about the Chicana Cultural De la Raza center and its history of the Free Speech fight: ( www.aftguild.org/free_speech)

A National Tribute to Bob Hope and the Military

In the sunny city of San Diego, a serene water front tribute, to a continued supporter of the US Military, Bob Hope, symbolizes a tension between American art as a personal or aesthetic expression and art as a form of social or political expression. In particular, this tribute emphasizes a personal and aesthetic connection between the art and the men who created this meaningful tribute. Adjacent to the USS Midway, and a beautiful view of the San Diego bay, the Tribute to Bob Hope expresses the lasting impression that he left in the hearts and minds of the thousands of men and women in the US military, that he not only entertained, but supported in times of war, struggle, and peace.

Four men, with the idea to create a masterpiece, that would allow them to share everything that they admired about Bob Hope, were in a task force in World War II known as Taffy 3 at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. The veterans of Taffy 3, that survived the war, made it their mission to honor the men and women who served, and lost their lives. As a result, they formulated the plans for this very personal piece of art that consists of 16 life-size figures, including Bob Hope himself, entertaining his favorite audience, the men and women serving their country. Some of the military figures, in the tribute, include a World War II Fighter Pilot, a Vietnam War Navy Medic, a World War II Army Nurse, and my favorite a Gulf War Air Force female Staff Sergeant. Some of these soldiers have physical ailments such as casts, crutches, missing limbs, and even a wheelchair, which all emphasize their combat roles and war, especially a cast on the Gulf war female solider. This was also the veterans of Taffy 3’s way of honoring the military as well as Bob.

Bob Hope meant a lot to every single serviceman that he had the chance to entertain, and for this reason, the veterans wanted to show their appreciation to a man who continuously showed his support for the troops. Bob Hope’s reputation has been “ingrained in the American conscience.” He was not only an actor, entertainer, and comedian, but a hero to many of the service men and women who had a chance to be touched by his generosity. For about 50 years Hope dedicated himself to entertaining soldiers, sailors and airmen of the armed forces in many battle fronts throughout the world. Some of these battle fronts include World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Lebanon Civil War, the Iran-Iraq War, and the Persian Gulf War. When overseas he almost always performed in Army fatigues as a show of support for his audience. As an honorary veteran, Bob Hope, was an obvious hero to all of the men and women that he captivated.

For the public, this tribute is interactive and personal. Bob Hope can be heard speaking to the service people that he entertained which allows the observers to not only hear the comedy of Bob Hope but to also experience, first hand, the bond between the soldiers and Bob. There was a bond created that was so strong Bob Hope was named an Honorary Veteran of the United States Armed Forces. Details added to the statues emulate the love that they had for Bob Hope, including a
notebook that the army nurse is holding which has a picture she drew of Bob hope with a heart around it. Also, a Marine, who served in the Korean war is holding up a sign that says, “Thanks for the Memories.” These are both clear examples of how much all of these men and women admired Bob Hope. Everything about this tribute is pleasurable to the senses. The tranquil location, the heart touching impact that Bob Hope had on everyone he entertained, and the many wars our military have fought to keep our country free and safe, make this work of art personal and aesthetic.

 

The La Jolla Children's Pool

   The La Jolla Children's Pool demonstrates that a balance can be reached between enviromentalism and consmuption. This local spot shows just how extreme both sides can be, but also the balance that most people are finding. The Children’s Pool is a small section of the beach where a sea wall was constructed in 1930. The purpose of the sea wall was to create a cove where people could swim safely, particularly children. In the mid 1990’s harbors seals started to populate the beach. Since then there has been much debate over whether the seals should stay or if it’s the community’s beach and the seals should be driven away. Those on the side of consumption argue that the Children’s Pool was man made and meant for children. Their reasoning is that the beach belongs to humans and that the seals can go someplace else. The environmentalists argue that it’s the people that should leave. 

    The Children’s Pool was absolutely beautiful on Sunday and I could see why environmentalists want to protect the andscape as well as the wild life. There were many families having fun on the beach, as well as those who went to watch the seals at the Children’s Pool. Aside from the rope blocking off humans from getting too close to the seals, there were no signs of controversy. Everyone was enjoying their day at the beach and no one seemed to mind the seals. In fact, many were enjoying watching the harbor seals and their pups. 

    Supporting the side of the environmentalists are the luxury apartments and condos that line the coast. In one direction is the open sea and the other is built up right to the very edge. One could argue that humans have the whole coast line and could easily drive to another beach. The seals just have that one spot. Not only that, but the seals attract tourists which helps the economy. The consumerists have the viewpoint that humans are superior to animals and that they should be able to go where they want. One poster on a news article discussing the controversy said, “If I want to take a swim or use the beach wherever I damn well please, that is my right.” This quote embodies the American attitude of taking what we want.  However, the people I observed on Sunday had a more balanced view of the situation.

    There was enough space for both the humans and seals to benefit from the beach. I saw no reason why either would have to leave, when all I observed was cooperation and harmony. The La Jolla Children’s Pool shows that most American’s can compromise and that the extremists are the exception.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Source for first picture

 

Peet's Coffee & Tea: an Anti-Hero?

    The competitor to the predominantly monopolistic coffee market, Peet's Coffee & Tea may appear to an idealistic, striving small business, but it is merely a big business disguising itself as a small, customer oriented, business. Founded in Berkley, California in 1966, Peet's coffee houses can predominately be found in Northern California, with Southern Californian stores few and far between. But, on a Saturday afternoon I found myself at the only Peet's around, in a newly built, ritzy shopping center in inland Carlsbad. Surrounded by posy baby and pet boutiques, and directly across from a Trader Joe's, Peet's clearly wasn't trying to attract humble locals or, the presumably low in cash, "Peetnik's".

    Peet's boasts as being a "gathering place for coffee devotees," and yet few people actually bought coffee during the two hours spent there. Since coffee stores today are generally less of a place for conversation and more a hub of laptop junkies, one would think Peet's would offer unlimited free wifi access, yet there is an hour maximum usage. Just enough time to get your drink, enjoy it, and get out. It had a very similar atmosphere to Starbucks, which is arguably the most corporate coffee shop. Peet's tries to appear like a small, local, "non-corporate" gathering place, but is just as restrictive and generic as any other big business coffee shop.

    In Peet's Mission Statement they claim to provide, "Distinctive, superior products, superior coffee and tea knowledge, and superior service to every customer, every day." I'm no coffee expert, but Peet's may boast about their quality, just as Starbucks does, but their coffee is not extremely exceptional and their service no better, either. They have lost any small business originality and have conformed to the big business standards that may seem unique to Starbucks. Generic staff, overpriced drinks, and an emphasis on selling fancy drinks and not actual coffee. If the "Peetnik's" were around today, I don't think they would be gathering at Peet's to spend their afternoons.

    Although some customers may feel better about supporting Peet's instead Starbucks, people truly interested in enjoying coffee and not supporting big businesses, even those businesses that may try and present themselves as small, grassroots coffee shops, are forced to search for alternative places. 

The Original Peet's Coffee & Tea (above)