Alexander Stuart

One of a series of photographs by our friend Dwayne Moser from behind the Hollywood Sign.  Photograph copyright ©  Dwayne Moser. I've lived in many cities in my life, and visited many more. I love the memory of Marrakech, Havana, Hanoi, London, Brighton, Rome, Sydney, Miami Beach (as it was in the 1990s) and, above all, the city that has occupied my imagination , sleeping and waking dreams and heart for most of my life, and my actuality for about 15 years of it, Los Angeles.   I love living in Santa Cruz  now, because it feels like how I imagined Malibu might have been in the 1960s, when it was loose and groovy and surf-crazy and just easy going.  My daughter and me boogieboarding on the beach in Santa Cruz. Photograph  copyright © 2016 Alexander Chow-Stuart. Now I find myself facing the possibility of San Francisco , and with all apologies and respect to those of our friends who live there, I just don't get it as a city.  A couple of days back,

Ana Fouster.  Photograph  copyright © 2016 Alexander Chow-Stuart. Happiness is a short film c onceived and directed by my wife Charong Chow, which I photographed and edited.  The film features Ana Fouster and Greg Sanders as a blissfully newlywed couple. Many thanks to Ana and Greg for their wonderful participation, and also to Captain Chris Reuter of High Seas Yacht Deliveries and the Perspective Yacht, on which we shot the film. Chris was remarkable in terms of piloting the yacht precisely where we wanted it - and getting the sun in just the right place for every shot. He also let Hudson steer the yacht back into harbor, which was a huge thrill for our son. Thanks, too, to Marc Kraft of Pacific Yachting and Sailing at Santa Cruz Harbor for enormous help in organizing the cruise and the shoot. The entire experience was  a blast! Greg Sanders and Ana Fouster.  Photograph  copyright © 2016 Alexander Chow-Stuart. The beautiful music is one of my all-time f

One of the most essential books of my life. Always on my desk 🔍

The world's most beautiful address.  Photograph  copyright © 2016 Alexander Chow-Stuart. Very surprised and chuffed to learn from a friend, Kent Rosen, that  our visit to Apple for Hudson's seventh birthday to meet with Jony Ive  is mentioned in a new book about the company, Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky. Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky. Our trip to Apple was thanks to the kind and ever glorious Stephen Fry, a wonderful friend of ours for many years. Jony was extremely kind to Hudson and to all of us. We really had no idea just how vital he was and is to Apple's success when we met him.  Thanks to Adam Lashinsky. Good luck with your book. Here is the link to my account of Hudson's seventh birthday visit to Apple . If you enjoyed this post, please follow me on Twitter  @alexanderchow .   And please  subscribe to this blog via email by clicking here.

Photograph  copyright © 2016 Alexander Chow-Stuart. The waves, and the light, on the beach in Santa Cruz for these moments in my brief YouTube video were awesome.  The wooden posts only appear in winter - remnants of an ancient jetty, although there were also old railroad tracks that ran literally at the water's edge, all the way up to San Francisco, I believe.  The posts are only visible in winter. In summer, they are buried by the sand, which the ocean tears away in winter months, completely reshaping the beach and filling the harbor mouth (if it weren't dredged). If you enjoyed this post, please follow me on Twitter  @alexanderchow .   And please  subscribe to this blog via email by clicking here.

My review of David Bowie's legendary Ziggy Stardust Rainbow Theatre show in 1972. ( These are fragmentary thoughts, first started around 4am on Sunday night/Monday morning, when I learned about David Bowie's death. ) A post I wrote about David Bowie's legendary Ziggy Stardust concert at London's Rainbow Theatre. I was seventeen at the time!  I somehow never quite imagined David Bowie's death, listening to Rock'n'Roll Suicide all those years ago. He went with grace. Peace. Commander Chris Hadfield performs David Bowie's Space Oddity on the International Space Station. See the extraordinary video at the bottom of this post. Beautiful thought from Tumblr: the accumulation of Bowie being played all over the world right now must be enough to hear from space. I hope he can hear it. One of the most beautiful renditions of David Bowie's music (YouTube video below): Seu Jorge - Rock n' roll Suicide , from Wes Anderso

I did not expect to wake to this: #DavidBowie: legendary rock star dies aged 69 – latest updates from The Guardian: http://gu.com/p/4fy2e?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other