Alberta Clippers

Chicago was just hit by an Alberta Clipper. I know the proper name of this particular kind of snow storm because I obsessively check weather websites during the day (I mean, the Doppler Radar is on my browser toolbar). It was the first major snow for the season and it was really fun to romp around Wrightwood Park with the Hare and a half-dozen other pooches and their North Face-clad owners. There isn't much in the world that can kill the buzz of throwing a snowball at your dog and watching her search for it until she gets so frustrated that she bites the snow on the ground and explodes into a five-minute sprint in figure-8's. Nothing much, but there sadly there is something. Of the 1669 songs on my itunes, the song that came on randomly when I got back inside had to be "California" by Joni Mitchell. Watching snow fall to that song should be illegal. A proverbial Alberta Clipper herself, Mitchell was born in Alberta but quickly sailed on to become a folk icon. She moved all around, from the city to the country, but is constantly connected to Laurel Canyon where she lived from 1967 until the mid-70s. Some people are defined by place, but I think Joni Mitchell helped define this small area of the Hollywood Hills that connects L.A. to the Valley, its essence anyway.

Earlier this year her multimedia exhibition, Green Flag Song, which centered on war, revolution, and politics showed at Lev Moross Gallery in West Hollywood. I didn't get a chance to see it but her catalogs and posters are still available through the gallery. For signed ($400) and unsigned ($225) poster prints and standard edition catalogs ($175): click here. These items make fantastic gifts for any Joni-addict.