It's been well over ten years I've been down here - but sometimes it seems like just a few years.
Other times, it can feel like a lifetime.
I headed out to a New Year's party in the San Fernando Building - just a block away - which was the very first of the new loft buildings to open up. But before I got there, I got waylaid by a small party in my building, then was dragged to another party in a restaurant I passed on the way for a bit, then heard my name yelled from a third floor window of one of the Hellman Buildings (my black cowboy hat makes me instantly visible at any distance) and ended up there for a while and, just as I reached the San Fernando, I was pulled over the railing into the patio of Pete's Cafe and when I finally reached the exterior lobby, I ran into some more old friends there.
In less than one block, with the intent of only attending one brief party - I spent an hour and a half with five different groupings of friends and acquaintances.
At the party I had been trying to get to, I met a lot of the old timers in the 'hood, some of them dating almost back to the fall of 2000 when Tom Gilmore first opened the San Fernando. I also met people who knew about me and people whom I knew about - but whom had never met - and I also met some new people, including a grappler - who - alas! - lives too far away in Long Beach.
I also was asked for my help on three new civic/neighborhood projects before I left and found a person to work with me on one of my projects. Then on my way back, I ran into groups of friends walking at both Winston and Main and at 5th and Main and then dropped by at a party at INMO's Art Gallery on 5th before making my way back to Cowboy Central.
And when I tried to recall what that walk would have been like even last New Year's Eve - much less the year the San Fernando Building first opened - much less the year I first moved down here - it can all seem like a fantastic dream from which I will all too soon wake up.
Monday, December 31, 2007
And My Most Popular Post Of 2007 Was....
... Mr. Cowboy's Great Adventure!
And it was no contest.
Even though only one person was brave (foolish?) enough to post a response, I got hundreds - and yes, I mean hundreds of responses by phone, email, IM's, shouts out from passing cars, etc. - and you name it about Mr. Cowboy.
Even now, rarely does more than a day or two go by without someone mentioning the post - or inquiring about Mr. Cowboy and his health. Well, Mr. Cowboy is doing just fine, and he thanks all his many fans for their continued interest in his activities.
For awhile, though, the recent relocation of Cowboy Central from the 7th to the 10th floor of the Spring Arts Tower did leave the little cowpoke somewhat... crest fallen. He was unhappy to be deprived of all the lovely young production staff of the Magic Elves - particularly those involved with PROJECT RUNWAY.
But as we were setting up our new office, Mr. Cowboy discovered only twenty feet across the air shaft from us were two photographers who endlessly photograph beautiful young models wearing very little clothing
Mr. Cowboy is now very happy with his new office.
Our little cowhand has also been on a lot better behavior since the... quite unfortunate... incident at our gym mentioned in the above linked post. And the one recent... problem... of ours was not his fault, for once.
My old - and only - swim suit was getting a bit loose around my waist to the point it was starting to slip off, so I grabbed one of my wrestling trunks before heading to the gym. And they seemed a perfect fit. Alas, when I wore them in the shower before I hit the pool, there was a minor... glitch.
Checking the mirror before heading out to the pool area, I discovered when wet this particular fabric didn't just... cling... to Mr. Cowboy, but it completely shrink wrapped every single inch of him. Even worse, both of his two closest friends were each equally well wrapped in a rather unfortunate shade of Myer lemon yellow.
We skipped our swim that day.
And it was no contest.
Even though only one person was brave (foolish?) enough to post a response, I got hundreds - and yes, I mean hundreds of responses by phone, email, IM's, shouts out from passing cars, etc. - and you name it about Mr. Cowboy.
Even now, rarely does more than a day or two go by without someone mentioning the post - or inquiring about Mr. Cowboy and his health. Well, Mr. Cowboy is doing just fine, and he thanks all his many fans for their continued interest in his activities.
For awhile, though, the recent relocation of Cowboy Central from the 7th to the 10th floor of the Spring Arts Tower did leave the little cowpoke somewhat... crest fallen. He was unhappy to be deprived of all the lovely young production staff of the Magic Elves - particularly those involved with PROJECT RUNWAY.
But as we were setting up our new office, Mr. Cowboy discovered only twenty feet across the air shaft from us were two photographers who endlessly photograph beautiful young models wearing very little clothing
Mr. Cowboy is now very happy with his new office.
Our little cowhand has also been on a lot better behavior since the... quite unfortunate... incident at our gym mentioned in the above linked post. And the one recent... problem... of ours was not his fault, for once.
My old - and only - swim suit was getting a bit loose around my waist to the point it was starting to slip off, so I grabbed one of my wrestling trunks before heading to the gym. And they seemed a perfect fit. Alas, when I wore them in the shower before I hit the pool, there was a minor... glitch.
Checking the mirror before heading out to the pool area, I discovered when wet this particular fabric didn't just... cling... to Mr. Cowboy, but it completely shrink wrapped every single inch of him. Even worse, both of his two closest friends were each equally well wrapped in a rather unfortunate shade of Myer lemon yellow.
We skipped our swim that day.
Vote For Downtown! TODAY!
Even though they call it by the old name of - the Historic Core - Vote for Historic Downtown on the CURBEDLA poll for best nabe of the year. Deadline tonight!
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2007/12/curbed_cup_fina.php#reader_comments
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2007/12/curbed_cup_fina.php#reader_comments
You Know It's Really Time For A Year To Be Over When Joel Stein Writes a Funny, Witty Column!
Some highlights below. Seriously!
So here is my set of predictions for 2008. Clip it, laminate it, drop it in your time capsule and let it be some future generation's problem:
Housing market: Home prices drop an astounding 15%. Far more disheartening to Americans who bought homes in the last three years, stainless steel kitchen appliances go out of style.
Presidential election: Barack Obama wins the general election but does not carry the Northeast, due to New Englanders' increasingly implausible excuse, "It's not that we're racist; it's just that the South would never elect a black person."
Writers strike: The Directors Guild accepts a crappy deal from the studios, and a week later, the Writers Guild agrees to the same terms, calling it a "major victory for the proletariat." Studios are then flooded with 150 comedy scripts about an out-of-work dad who drives his wife and kids crazy. Michael Keaton once again commands $20 million.
White House: In late December, no longer intimidated by the power of the vice presidency, Dick Cheney's friend shoots him right back in the face.
Los Angeles Times Op-Ed page: Rosa Brooks, after a long coffee with Jonah Goldberg, decides that she is not only for the invasion of Iraq but also the invasion of Jonah's heart.
New York Times Op-Ed page: Thomas Friedman adopts a strident voice of urgency on topics ranging from carbon emissions, Middle East democracy and globalization to carbon emissions, Middle East democracy and globalization.
Music: A major rap star retires, and, two months later, unretires with a new hit album. Also, the big summer hit is Amy Winehouse's "Seriously, Dude, I'm Not Going Back to Rehab."
Food: Every new restaurant in America serves only small plates. Patrons remain blissfully unaware that four small $12 plates equal a $48 entree.
Sports: The Patriots win the Super Bowl again, and the Red Sox win the World Series again; the city of Boston is set two more steps back from realizing its utter irrelevance.
Environment: Al Gore agrees to head a beefed-up version of the Environmental Protection Agency. His first act: Condemning Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's front lawn.
Russia: In the final months of Vladimir Putin's term, Garry Kasparov is imprisoned and becomes the undefeated prison checkers champion.
Diplomacy: In December, President-elect Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad walk away from their first meeting with one significant agreement: No more neckties!
Online: In the space of three weeks in the late fall, Facebook loses almost all its traffic to some other social network site that seems exactly the same to anyone older than 15
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Staggeringly Beautiful Photos Of New Police Headquarters Building in LA Times!
Photojournalism has had a number of periods where one or more newspapers or magazines had a series of great photographers. Henry Luce's Fortune Magazine in the 1930's, starting when he first hired Margaret Bourke-White in 1929, is a guilty pleasure of mine. I never miss a chance to see the original photographs and have lusted after many of them.
But in a more low key, day by day way - the Los Angeles Times has today put together a team of photographers second to none in the world. Even though a daily newspaper needs instant responses as opposed to the months - and even years in the past - a magazine photographer can sometimes spend on a single project, the quality of work turned out on a daily basis at the Times is often astonishing.
Today's photograph essay - best seen on-line - of the new Police Headquarters Building by Mel Melcon is just the latest of many examples of the exemplary work at the Times.
In the past, I have been particularly struck by the memorable images done at events I helped produce. I can still close my eyes and visualize the - alas, an on-line only I believe image - shot of the ballroom at the Los Angeles Theatre (possibly by a fish eye lens) during our last March BOXeight Fashion Show, by a photographer whose name I can not recall.
I also have sitting on my desk the Calendar front page with the photo of a model at our October show at St. Vibiana by Lawrence K. Ho. What surprises me is how much they saw at the events I was at and helped put together, but did not see until I saw their photographs.
I wish I could recall all of their names, but several of the best do show at the de Soto Gallery at 2nd and Main in the Higgins Building. So stop by and ask to see their work if you are in the area.
But in a more low key, day by day way - the Los Angeles Times has today put together a team of photographers second to none in the world. Even though a daily newspaper needs instant responses as opposed to the months - and even years in the past - a magazine photographer can sometimes spend on a single project, the quality of work turned out on a daily basis at the Times is often astonishing.
Today's photograph essay - best seen on-line - of the new Police Headquarters Building by Mel Melcon is just the latest of many examples of the exemplary work at the Times.
In the past, I have been particularly struck by the memorable images done at events I helped produce. I can still close my eyes and visualize the - alas, an on-line only I believe image - shot of the ballroom at the Los Angeles Theatre (possibly by a fish eye lens) during our last March BOXeight Fashion Show, by a photographer whose name I can not recall.
I also have sitting on my desk the Calendar front page with the photo of a model at our October show at St. Vibiana by Lawrence K. Ho. What surprises me is how much they saw at the events I was at and helped put together, but did not see until I saw their photographs.
I wish I could recall all of their names, but several of the best do show at the de Soto Gallery at 2nd and Main in the Higgins Building. So stop by and ask to see their work if you are in the area.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Bizarre Fantasy Story About Pasadena's Ritz-Huntington Hotel!
In today's LA WEEKLY, the writer worries the new owners of Pasadena's Ritz-Huntington might be tempted to tear down or otherwise destroy the 'old' hotel's character.
Now this is shock because a previous owner DEMOLISHED the century old building! They then painstakingly built a brand new structure from the foundation up (in 1992) as an exact replica. They did save some of the architectural detail and much of two of the public rooms. But everything else is... new due to earthquake damage to the old structure.
The writer, though, is seems to be unaware of this when one reads paragraphs such as:
There he clearly states the building is an old building that is worn around the edges - and not a building built in the prior decade. Plus his claims that the style of the Ritz-Huntington is in danger due to our collective culture is contradicted by fact when the prior American owners rebuilt the hotel back at a time when developers were far less likely to restore, much less rebuild, an older building, they even then recreated the old hotel.
Equally odd are his observations about two of Downtown's older hotels:
The idea that either the Hotel Figueroa or the Biltmore - two hugely successful hotels because of their character - are in danger of being demolished demonstrates a lack of understanding of everything driving the downtown boom.
The existence of these historic treasures is one of the main reasons new development is happening in the area. In fact, one of the developers of LA Live - Tim Leiweke, bought and and restored a low rise single story historic building in the area for a restaurant rather than tear it down for high rise condos.
And AEG - the overall developer of LA Live - also bought a the historic theater building (the old Variety Arts Center) with limited commercial potential and, rather than tearing it down or making it into something it was not - instead held it until they could find another developer who would restore the building and reopen it as several live theaters and performance venues.
Yes, that's right, they bought and saved an old theater building - that will compete with them - because of how much they value the historic buildings of Downtown. They are going out of their way to buy and save historic buildings with architectural distinction in their area when they could make more money demolishing them. The LA Live developers also strongly support the re-opening of the historic Broadway theaters.
Additionally, multiple American based hotel chains are right now looking for historic buildings - with small rooms, I might add - to convert into hotels rather than build new hotels; this interest is, of course, the exact opposite of what the article is saying is happening.
So how could anyone so misread the situation? How can anyone manage to get every claim in their article so wrong? How could he totally miss the fact that almost any old building of any size or any kind of distinction - no matter how rundown - is being bought by developers and being restored? Well, perhaps the answer in in the last two paragraphs:
Ok. Now it all makes sense.
The fact the Ritz-Huntington is a new building that is only masquerading as an old building, the fact that when the Americans who owned it spent many more millions rebuilding the old hotel when they could have built something larger and splashier for less money, the fact that hundreds of millions of have been collectively put into refurbishing the Biltmore and Figueroa hotels he claims are on a deathwatch, the fact that American developers have bought and restored over a hundred Downtown area historic buildings for offices, stores, restaurants, and loft buildings, and the fact that overdone buildings are far more likely to be done by foreign and foreign born developers than American developers - is all meaningless.
The only thing that matters to the writer is how bad everything American is. Now there are plenty of things one can accurately say to try and make that case. But in this article, every single specific example cited Downtown is... dead wrong.
The century-old hotel has been sold by the Los Angeles County Retirement Association to Langham Hotels International, which operates a small chain of luxury hotels around the globe, but only one in the United States. Langham’s parent company, the Hong Kong–based Great Eagle Holdings, has announced that the venerable Ritz Huntington will be quickly put to a $25 million renovation..
In the abstract, this might be seen as a benign development or even good news for an old hotel that perhaps could use a new coat of paint or some reinvigorated landscaping
Now this is shock because a previous owner DEMOLISHED the century old building! They then painstakingly built a brand new structure from the foundation up (in 1992) as an exact replica. They did save some of the architectural detail and much of two of the public rooms. But everything else is... new due to earthquake damage to the old structure.
The writer, though, is seems to be unaware of this when one reads paragraphs such as:
Our era has seen the triumph of paper-thin wealth and the lemming like stampede it has triggered to constantly buy or build something “new and bigger.” Like a window to our past, the very essence of the Ritz Huntington hearkens back to a less-frenetic, more-deliberate time. A little worn around the edges, perhaps, but it’s a century down the road and the Ritz Huntington still offers an air of grace.
There he clearly states the building is an old building that is worn around the edges - and not a building built in the prior decade. Plus his claims that the style of the Ritz-Huntington is in danger due to our collective culture is contradicted by fact when the prior American owners rebuilt the hotel back at a time when developers were far less likely to restore, much less rebuild, an older building, they even then recreated the old hotel.
Equally odd are his observations about two of Downtown's older hotels:
WHAT FUTURE CAN A CIVIC HEIRLOOM like the Hotel Figueroa look forward to in downtown L.A. today? As the power players’ shining new cathedral of L.A. Live — yet more restaurants and concert venues — rises just across Olympic Boulevard, the subtle 1920s grandeur of the “Hotel Fig,” with its rustic Moroccan interior and breezy Veranda Bar, may as well be on a deathwatch.
Up the street at the Biltmore, where I once parked cars as a valet a generation ago, I suspect the same pressures will come to bear. An old-world hotel is attempting to survive an era that’s characterized by people driving vehicles bigger than its rooms.
The idea that either the Hotel Figueroa or the Biltmore - two hugely successful hotels because of their character - are in danger of being demolished demonstrates a lack of understanding of everything driving the downtown boom.
The existence of these historic treasures is one of the main reasons new development is happening in the area. In fact, one of the developers of LA Live - Tim Leiweke, bought and and restored a low rise single story historic building in the area for a restaurant rather than tear it down for high rise condos.
And AEG - the overall developer of LA Live - also bought a the historic theater building (the old Variety Arts Center) with limited commercial potential and, rather than tearing it down or making it into something it was not - instead held it until they could find another developer who would restore the building and reopen it as several live theaters and performance venues.
Yes, that's right, they bought and saved an old theater building - that will compete with them - because of how much they value the historic buildings of Downtown. They are going out of their way to buy and save historic buildings with architectural distinction in their area when they could make more money demolishing them. The LA Live developers also strongly support the re-opening of the historic Broadway theaters.
Additionally, multiple American based hotel chains are right now looking for historic buildings - with small rooms, I might add - to convert into hotels rather than build new hotels; this interest is, of course, the exact opposite of what the article is saying is happening.
So how could anyone so misread the situation? How can anyone manage to get every claim in their article so wrong? How could he totally miss the fact that almost any old building of any size or any kind of distinction - no matter how rundown - is being bought by developers and being restored? Well, perhaps the answer in in the last two paragraphs:
As we have a nightcap and I listen to Cheung reflect on his first reactions to the hotel, I flirt with the notion that perhaps the Ritz Huntington got lucky when it was bought by an overseas firm..
That remains to be seen, with its fate in the hands of outsiders. But considering the meteoric ascent of the ugly American and his fetish for the overbuilt, overdone and overaggressive throughout Southern California these days, perhaps it is for the best
Ok. Now it all makes sense.
The fact the Ritz-Huntington is a new building that is only masquerading as an old building, the fact that when the Americans who owned it spent many more millions rebuilding the old hotel when they could have built something larger and splashier for less money, the fact that hundreds of millions of have been collectively put into refurbishing the Biltmore and Figueroa hotels he claims are on a deathwatch, the fact that American developers have bought and restored over a hundred Downtown area historic buildings for offices, stores, restaurants, and loft buildings, and the fact that overdone buildings are far more likely to be done by foreign and foreign born developers than American developers - is all meaningless.
The only thing that matters to the writer is how bad everything American is. Now there are plenty of things one can accurately say to try and make that case. But in this article, every single specific example cited Downtown is... dead wrong.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Has Craby Joe's Gone To Davy Jones's Locker?
Evidently, yes. I've been told that the depression era - and I recall hearing it opened right after prohibition ended - dive bar that everyone loved to hate - or hated to love - or... whatever.... closed for good on Christmas Eve. All the liquor was drunk up by and, supposedly, the sign was up for sale.
Now while this former Bukowski hangout was beloved by many of the regulars - others in the neighborhood lamented the drug dealers who too often infested the sidewalk in front of the bar, particularly after the main haunt... L & R Clothing(where Leroy sold 'clothes' out of a darkened store through a small sliding window all night long before he was arrested a second time) was shuttered by the police. But at least they still have their 'hamburger' stand....
Now I had heard from a police source that a sale was in the works - one step ahead of the DA's next action - and I also know Cedd Moses has long had designs on the place. So - hopefully - a good steward will soon reopen the place to keep some nighttime street life going(of the non-drug dealing type, for a change) at the corner of 7th and Main.
Now while this former Bukowski hangout was beloved by many of the regulars - others in the neighborhood lamented the drug dealers who too often infested the sidewalk in front of the bar, particularly after the main haunt... L & R Clothing(where Leroy sold 'clothes' out of a darkened store through a small sliding window all night long before he was arrested a second time) was shuttered by the police. But at least they still have their 'hamburger' stand....
Now I had heard from a police source that a sale was in the works - one step ahead of the DA's next action - and I also know Cedd Moses has long had designs on the place. So - hopefully - a good steward will soon reopen the place to keep some nighttime street life going(of the non-drug dealing type, for a change) at the corner of 7th and Main.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
We're Number 8! LA's The 8th Greatest City In The World!
Actually, according to the London Independent newspaper, Los Angeles is tied with Washington DC as being the 7th (though they mistakenly list us as 8th) most powerful city when it comes to all things economic and cultural. And - surprise! surprise! - their carefully crafted criteria makes London the world's capital of culture and business, rather than... New York.
I'll examine later how bogus the survey is but to give you an idea - does anyone alive think LA and Washington DC are equal in cultural and private economic (as opposed to government) development? Or that Chicago and Madrid rank higher than LA in world wide cultural and economic impact? Or that Mexico City out ranks every city in China and India in international impact by a wide margin?
Below is the main article that links to all the other coverage:
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article3276251.ece
(post updated in that the chart showed LA as number 9 which was my original headline, but I just noticed they mistakenly filled in the names of the topics of the columns witin the number 1 slot and so London is listed as number 2 on the chart even though it was... number 1)
I'll examine later how bogus the survey is but to give you an idea - does anyone alive think LA and Washington DC are equal in cultural and private economic (as opposed to government) development? Or that Chicago and Madrid rank higher than LA in world wide cultural and economic impact? Or that Mexico City out ranks every city in China and India in international impact by a wide margin?
Below is the main article that links to all the other coverage:
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article3276251.ece
(post updated in that the chart showed LA as number 9 which was my original headline, but I just noticed they mistakenly filled in the names of the topics of the columns witin the number 1 slot and so London is listed as number 2 on the chart even though it was... number 1)
The Cowboy Chistmas Colt
The first time Mr. D was bred was unexpected. Horny as hell and tired of waiting for me to arrange his loss of equine virginity (scheduled later that spring), D decided to mount a mare he had nickered after for some time the second she showed some interest in him.
Now since this was his first time (that we knew of), he appears to have skipped all the necessary steps of filly foreplay after she had initially presented him with her tentative interest. So there was some considerable conflict (the sound of which brought us running to the pasture) before she finally agreed to the consummation of the act. And the presence of two other more experienced stallions in the pasture likely contributed to his rushed sense of ‘carpe marum’.
Now this mare was in season in January only because a top stallion was in LA that month. That was because before his arrival, Tom's pard had kept her stall lit up like Dodger Stadium to trick her into thinking it was already the spring breeding season. But she still demonstrated no interest in the stallion when he was shown to her. The rejected suitor left and she was turned out to the pasture to graze upon the new winter grass (since this was the San Fernando and not the Owens Valley).
So whether it had just taken her a little more time for her hormones to kick in - or if she was really just waiting for Mr. D before she would present herself, we would never know. But we did realize, after doing some math – that we might have a proverbial Christmas foal later that year.
Eleven months later, on the morning of Christmas Eve, she was heavy with foal. A 'foal monitor' was in place so whomever was in the house - where Tom's pard and two of the others stayed when in LA - could hear her if she was in distress.
That morning I trailered over Mr. D from Lance's so D could join her and us as we all gathered together to exchange gifts and have an early dinner before retiring to our own families on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I departed before dusk, but left D in the stall next to her birthing pen to keep her company.
I got the call before eleven o’clock that night. Her increasing anxiety – which included snapping at Mr. D who then needed to be moved away from her – was a sign she was about to foal. Living on the far side of the Valley, I was among the last to arrive. Her water had broken, but no foal was appearing and she kept getting to her feet. Messages were left with the services of every vet we knew, but no one was calling back. It was clear she was about to drop a Christmas Eve foal, but that it wasn’t going to be coming out easily.
Now normally, as owner of the mare, Tom’s pard would have been attending to her, but as this was my first foal, I was to be the one assigned to assist her in the birth, this all arranged before we knew this it would be a complicated birth, this being her first foal.
D's vocal discomfit about not seeing what was going on made her more nervous so I let him out of his stall to stand and watch behind us. This calmed him down and he quietly nickered to her whenever she seemed in pain the most.
She finally appeared to try hard to deliver, but nothing came out. I had watched and helped in a number of deliveries to help prepare for this night so I stuck my hands into her to feel what was happening with the foal. But instead of the hooves or legs I should have felt, I felt only other parts of the body, including what felt distressingly like a nose.
As the others looked at each other, each knowing I was not remotely equipped to handle this my first time out the chute (so to speak), Lance and Tom exchanged glances and Lance gave a slight nod of assent to Tom. It made sense for Tom to be the one to intercede because were we still technically at odds with each other, so he being a ‘jerk’ and taking over for me would be expected where as Lance doing so would indicate a lack of faith by him in my non-existent abilities – plus while Tom had the biggest paws of any of us – he also had the skilled hands of a surgeon. He was easily the most qualified of us to handle a difficult birth.
Tom then made a point of shoving me aside and announced it was time for someone who knew what the hell he was doing to take over. Tom started by further opened her up with his hands to figure out what kind of mess she had gotten herself into while he muttered one of his more typical expletives.
He then got his arms almost shoulder deep into her when he uttered a convoluted seven or eight word expletive I had never heard him utter before. This indicated the seriousness of the situation. He then started to work the foal around into proper position as Lance explained to me that Tom had to first shove the foal back up the birth canal into her uterus – a couple times, it turned out - to try and reposition it while the others worked to keep her calm so that she would not move or kick Tom while he quietly (and melodically and soothingly) cursed her for making him do this, cursed Mr. D for knocking her up and cursed me for existing.
Finally, after several false starts, the first part of the foal began to appear to our quiet cheers as Tom was drenched with sweat. The rest of the foal’s body ever so slowly made itself out, not quite in the right order, until the rest of the foal suddenly popped out and Tom fell on his back, the foal partially on top of him.
The tension had been so great, we all broke out into laughter. Tom, as attending vet, then pronounced the foal a colt, even though he had been repeatedly predicting – due to its inability to decide if it wanted to leave the womb or not – that it had to be a filly.
The mare - by then totally exhausted - finally stood and began to lick her new colt while the rest of us stepped away to allow them to bond. Mr. D then tried to approach the colt to inspect him, but she firmly warned him away until he nuzzled and nickered at her enough to sneak in a couple of a couple quick licks of his new son – typical of the always totally unhorse like behavior of my totally unhorse like horse. D then walked over to my side to rest his head on my shoulder while we watched them bond until their son stood and took his first steps upon the hay of his early morning manger.
Oh, and one more thing.
After we had all laughed at Tom's pratfall, Tom's pard announced it was 12:05 Christmas day.
We had a Cowboy Christmas Colt.
Now since this was his first time (that we knew of), he appears to have skipped all the necessary steps of filly foreplay after she had initially presented him with her tentative interest. So there was some considerable conflict (the sound of which brought us running to the pasture) before she finally agreed to the consummation of the act. And the presence of two other more experienced stallions in the pasture likely contributed to his rushed sense of ‘carpe marum’.
Now this mare was in season in January only because a top stallion was in LA that month. That was because before his arrival, Tom's pard had kept her stall lit up like Dodger Stadium to trick her into thinking it was already the spring breeding season. But she still demonstrated no interest in the stallion when he was shown to her. The rejected suitor left and she was turned out to the pasture to graze upon the new winter grass (since this was the San Fernando and not the Owens Valley).
So whether it had just taken her a little more time for her hormones to kick in - or if she was really just waiting for Mr. D before she would present herself, we would never know. But we did realize, after doing some math – that we might have a proverbial Christmas foal later that year.
Eleven months later, on the morning of Christmas Eve, she was heavy with foal. A 'foal monitor' was in place so whomever was in the house - where Tom's pard and two of the others stayed when in LA - could hear her if she was in distress.
That morning I trailered over Mr. D from Lance's so D could join her and us as we all gathered together to exchange gifts and have an early dinner before retiring to our own families on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I departed before dusk, but left D in the stall next to her birthing pen to keep her company.
I got the call before eleven o’clock that night. Her increasing anxiety – which included snapping at Mr. D who then needed to be moved away from her – was a sign she was about to foal. Living on the far side of the Valley, I was among the last to arrive. Her water had broken, but no foal was appearing and she kept getting to her feet. Messages were left with the services of every vet we knew, but no one was calling back. It was clear she was about to drop a Christmas Eve foal, but that it wasn’t going to be coming out easily.
Now normally, as owner of the mare, Tom’s pard would have been attending to her, but as this was my first foal, I was to be the one assigned to assist her in the birth, this all arranged before we knew this it would be a complicated birth, this being her first foal.
D's vocal discomfit about not seeing what was going on made her more nervous so I let him out of his stall to stand and watch behind us. This calmed him down and he quietly nickered to her whenever she seemed in pain the most.
She finally appeared to try hard to deliver, but nothing came out. I had watched and helped in a number of deliveries to help prepare for this night so I stuck my hands into her to feel what was happening with the foal. But instead of the hooves or legs I should have felt, I felt only other parts of the body, including what felt distressingly like a nose.
As the others looked at each other, each knowing I was not remotely equipped to handle this my first time out the chute (so to speak), Lance and Tom exchanged glances and Lance gave a slight nod of assent to Tom. It made sense for Tom to be the one to intercede because were we still technically at odds with each other, so he being a ‘jerk’ and taking over for me would be expected where as Lance doing so would indicate a lack of faith by him in my non-existent abilities – plus while Tom had the biggest paws of any of us – he also had the skilled hands of a surgeon. He was easily the most qualified of us to handle a difficult birth.
Tom then made a point of shoving me aside and announced it was time for someone who knew what the hell he was doing to take over. Tom started by further opened her up with his hands to figure out what kind of mess she had gotten herself into while he muttered one of his more typical expletives.
He then got his arms almost shoulder deep into her when he uttered a convoluted seven or eight word expletive I had never heard him utter before. This indicated the seriousness of the situation. He then started to work the foal around into proper position as Lance explained to me that Tom had to first shove the foal back up the birth canal into her uterus – a couple times, it turned out - to try and reposition it while the others worked to keep her calm so that she would not move or kick Tom while he quietly (and melodically and soothingly) cursed her for making him do this, cursed Mr. D for knocking her up and cursed me for existing.
Finally, after several false starts, the first part of the foal began to appear to our quiet cheers as Tom was drenched with sweat. The rest of the foal’s body ever so slowly made itself out, not quite in the right order, until the rest of the foal suddenly popped out and Tom fell on his back, the foal partially on top of him.
The tension had been so great, we all broke out into laughter. Tom, as attending vet, then pronounced the foal a colt, even though he had been repeatedly predicting – due to its inability to decide if it wanted to leave the womb or not – that it had to be a filly.
The mare - by then totally exhausted - finally stood and began to lick her new colt while the rest of us stepped away to allow them to bond. Mr. D then tried to approach the colt to inspect him, but she firmly warned him away until he nuzzled and nickered at her enough to sneak in a couple of a couple quick licks of his new son – typical of the always totally unhorse like behavior of my totally unhorse like horse. D then walked over to my side to rest his head on my shoulder while we watched them bond until their son stood and took his first steps upon the hay of his early morning manger.
Oh, and one more thing.
After we had all laughed at Tom's pratfall, Tom's pard announced it was 12:05 Christmas day.
We had a Cowboy Christmas Colt.
Monday, December 24, 2007
A Cowboy Almost Christmas Wedding
Two things were clear from the start.
First, we would spend the rest of our lives together.
There was never a question about that.
Second, I was not remotely ready to get married.
There was even less disagreement on that.
My ever wayward – and continent hopping - cowhand career (which by then had little to do with cows other than eating them) at that time still took precedence over my nascent (and unremunerated) writing career.
So while our increasingly… adventuresome… adventures were becoming rather lucrative, I had - without realizing it - made a decision not to live off of - or save any of that money, but to instead only use my share to finance further cowboy adventures to fuel my dopamine-starved brain.
Despite this stubbornness and male pride, though, she still hung in there with me and patiently waited until I would feel financially capable of providing for her in ways other than liberating stolen airplanes from foreign governments or riding shotgun on diamond shipments along the Orinoco.
Finally, though, one day Lance, as head cowboy, decided to take matters into his own hands and decided he was going to make an honest cowhand of me whether I wanted to be one or not. So shortly before Christmas, he announced he would marry us himself in a cowboy wedding and gave us – and everyone else – 48 hours to make arrangements.
I tried to challenge his authority on this, but he reminded me if a captain of a ship was entitled to marry couples, then as the captain of our sea of horses he certainly could.
Two days later on Christmas eve, in all my finest cowhand finery, I marched down an aisle in the middle of a corral lined with all the others in their newly shined, polished, groomed, and tailored cowboy suits, boots, hats and spurs. Plus each of our personal horses was also in attendance, each of them tacked out within an inch of their lives. Said horses also shortly created considerable unintentional – or more likely – intentional – humor as our horses did all the usual things that horses are often wont to do when around other horses.
Then in a brilliant stroke that displayed his true evilness, Lance had dragooned my ever faithless horse - Mr. D - into being the ring bearer, and Mr. D trotted down the aisle after me with his teeth holding a box with the rings that would symbolize my loss of freedom though eternal bridledom. (And with all the attention given my bride and my horse, if I hadn't shown up – no one would have much noticed – or cared)
Fortunately, D did not mistake the five carats of the ring (and as we were being paid in diamonds, size was no object) for real carrots, otherwise we would have had a wedding delay while we waited for the ring to reappear.
And, speaking of dodged bullets, with Bach as my best man since Lance was performing the ceremony – (and if there was ever anyone born to host a bachelor party, it was Bach since his nickname was short for… bachelor) it was a miracle any of us had the energy left to make it to the wedding.
Then when it finally came time to close the ceremony, Lance nodded his head as he announced I could kiss my bride and exactly as those words came from his mouth – my horse gently nudged me towards my bride with his nose – to the collective vocal ... aww.... of approval of everyone in attendance.
And so I was totally upstaged not just once, but twice at my own wedding by my own horse.
Then, after kissing my bride (after which she gave my Benedict Arnold of a horse both a hug and a kiss), I had the seriously mitigated pleasure of watching all the others embrace and kiss my new wife under my watchful eye – when Lance came over and announced this ceremony was his early Christmas present to me.
But just before I could properly thank him, for a moment I saw that look of incredible sadness in his eyes, the look he had when his thoughts turned to his wife and his son.
And when he saw me reacting to his momentary mood, he turned on his easy grin and reached over and gave me a ‘friendly squeeze’ on my shoulder – which left black and blue finger imprints all over my shoulder for a full week. And between the knee weakening pain and his grin, he had changed the mood and the subject.
But now looking back, I wonder if Lance somehow, or in some way knew that in all too short a time, we would all gather together again, but this time to celebrate a life that had far too soon ended before laying her to rest on the ridge where Lance’s wife and son already lay in wait for him.
First, we would spend the rest of our lives together.
There was never a question about that.
Second, I was not remotely ready to get married.
There was even less disagreement on that.
My ever wayward – and continent hopping - cowhand career (which by then had little to do with cows other than eating them) at that time still took precedence over my nascent (and unremunerated) writing career.
So while our increasingly… adventuresome… adventures were becoming rather lucrative, I had - without realizing it - made a decision not to live off of - or save any of that money, but to instead only use my share to finance further cowboy adventures to fuel my dopamine-starved brain.
Despite this stubbornness and male pride, though, she still hung in there with me and patiently waited until I would feel financially capable of providing for her in ways other than liberating stolen airplanes from foreign governments or riding shotgun on diamond shipments along the Orinoco.
Finally, though, one day Lance, as head cowboy, decided to take matters into his own hands and decided he was going to make an honest cowhand of me whether I wanted to be one or not. So shortly before Christmas, he announced he would marry us himself in a cowboy wedding and gave us – and everyone else – 48 hours to make arrangements.
I tried to challenge his authority on this, but he reminded me if a captain of a ship was entitled to marry couples, then as the captain of our sea of horses he certainly could.
Two days later on Christmas eve, in all my finest cowhand finery, I marched down an aisle in the middle of a corral lined with all the others in their newly shined, polished, groomed, and tailored cowboy suits, boots, hats and spurs. Plus each of our personal horses was also in attendance, each of them tacked out within an inch of their lives. Said horses also shortly created considerable unintentional – or more likely – intentional – humor as our horses did all the usual things that horses are often wont to do when around other horses.
Then in a brilliant stroke that displayed his true evilness, Lance had dragooned my ever faithless horse - Mr. D - into being the ring bearer, and Mr. D trotted down the aisle after me with his teeth holding a box with the rings that would symbolize my loss of freedom though eternal bridledom. (And with all the attention given my bride and my horse, if I hadn't shown up – no one would have much noticed – or cared)
Fortunately, D did not mistake the five carats of the ring (and as we were being paid in diamonds, size was no object) for real carrots, otherwise we would have had a wedding delay while we waited for the ring to reappear.
And, speaking of dodged bullets, with Bach as my best man since Lance was performing the ceremony – (and if there was ever anyone born to host a bachelor party, it was Bach since his nickname was short for… bachelor) it was a miracle any of us had the energy left to make it to the wedding.
Then when it finally came time to close the ceremony, Lance nodded his head as he announced I could kiss my bride and exactly as those words came from his mouth – my horse gently nudged me towards my bride with his nose – to the collective vocal ... aww.... of approval of everyone in attendance.
And so I was totally upstaged not just once, but twice at my own wedding by my own horse.
Then, after kissing my bride (after which she gave my Benedict Arnold of a horse both a hug and a kiss), I had the seriously mitigated pleasure of watching all the others embrace and kiss my new wife under my watchful eye – when Lance came over and announced this ceremony was his early Christmas present to me.
But just before I could properly thank him, for a moment I saw that look of incredible sadness in his eyes, the look he had when his thoughts turned to his wife and his son.
And when he saw me reacting to his momentary mood, he turned on his easy grin and reached over and gave me a ‘friendly squeeze’ on my shoulder – which left black and blue finger imprints all over my shoulder for a full week. And between the knee weakening pain and his grin, he had changed the mood and the subject.
But now looking back, I wonder if Lance somehow, or in some way knew that in all too short a time, we would all gather together again, but this time to celebrate a life that had far too soon ended before laying her to rest on the ridge where Lance’s wife and son already lay in wait for him.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Hollywood Bowl Opens New Winter Season!
Yes! The Hollywood Bowl. Not just for summer any more.
According to their new advertising campaign - you can now take the shuttle service and enjoy late December concerts! Or at least that is what the new posters promoting their shuttle serice posted yesterday on Red Line subway would seem to suggest.
According to their new advertising campaign - you can now take the shuttle service and enjoy late December concerts! Or at least that is what the new posters promoting their shuttle serice posted yesterday on Red Line subway would seem to suggest.
Headless Horsemen Haunt Happening!
Just when you thought the walk between Ralph's and the 7th and Flower subway stop cound't get any more forbidding - now every street light on the east side of Flower between 8th and 9th is out.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Vote For Downtown! NOW!!
Historic Core has made it to the CURBEDLA finals!
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2007/12/curbed_cup_roun_3.php
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2007/12/curbed_cup_roun_3.php
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Seen Any Headless Horsemen Downtown Lately? Well... Just Wait!
Downtown’s Haunted Walk of Horror!
If you missed the haunted house attractions of last Halloween, you can still get your thrills and chills by simply walking the single darkest and scariest place in all Downtown; the two terror filled blocks between the front door of Ralphs and the 7th and Hope subway stop.
Now this surprisingly deserted pathway should be well lit to encourage people to get to Ralphs by subway rather than getting in their cars and driving; but, instead, this corridor of darkness seems to have been lit for a night shoot of Icabod Crane’s immortal encounter with the headless horseman. If CIM had deliberately decided to create barrier between the subway and Ralphs to keep us subway-riding riffraff out of their stores, they could not have done a better job.
This free of charge thrill ride begins once you leave the front door of Ralph’s and start to head east; after you pass the glass walls of Ralphs, and once the corner coffee shop closes, darkness ensues and hope vanishes. There is no exterior lighting anywhere on that side of that building that directly lights the sidewall.
Then upon turning the corner onto the ironically called ‘Hope’ Street to head north – all hope becomes extinguished since there not one exterior light that shines directly on the side walk (and only a few pale lights barely illuminating the side of the building). Not a single light brightens your path until you approach the canopy over the front door. Then, even when you do reach those few lights, they are placed so high as to be almost useless; they dispense little light on the sidewalk – even on the rare occasion those lights aren’t burned out.
And that’s the good news!
It then gets darker and darker the rest of the block. From then on – on both sides of the street – the sidewalks are just barely illumined by the dimmest of dim lights in all Los Angeles – excepting possibly a few dim bulbs at City Hall. Even by the impossibly low standards of downtown street lights – these barely provide enough light to create even a pale shadow.
So while I used to see people walking the subway stop at night after Ralphs first opened, and even though there are more people in the store at night, it’s been weeks since I’ve seen even a single person make that walk from the subway in the evening. People simply do not feel safe walking along streets when it's too dark to recognize the faces of the people walking towards you.
So what needs to be done?
First, CIM needs to attach lights on all sides of ALL their buildings that are not just decorative – but lights that actually provide enough light on the sidewalks so pedestrians will feel comfortable. Then they need to realize how dark their sidewalks are once the light in the stores have been turned out and light the outsides of their buildings so that the sidewalks feel safe even when the stores are closed.
Lastly, CIM needs to get the city to put real light bulbs in the street lights (and fix the ones that are broken) so the rest of the block (and the next block before the subway stop) is bright enough at night for people to feel comfortable walking.
It’s either that – or keep a sharp eye out for the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
If you missed the haunted house attractions of last Halloween, you can still get your thrills and chills by simply walking the single darkest and scariest place in all Downtown; the two terror filled blocks between the front door of Ralphs and the 7th and Hope subway stop.
Now this surprisingly deserted pathway should be well lit to encourage people to get to Ralphs by subway rather than getting in their cars and driving; but, instead, this corridor of darkness seems to have been lit for a night shoot of Icabod Crane’s immortal encounter with the headless horseman. If CIM had deliberately decided to create barrier between the subway and Ralphs to keep us subway-riding riffraff out of their stores, they could not have done a better job.
This free of charge thrill ride begins once you leave the front door of Ralph’s and start to head east; after you pass the glass walls of Ralphs, and once the corner coffee shop closes, darkness ensues and hope vanishes. There is no exterior lighting anywhere on that side of that building that directly lights the sidewall.
Then upon turning the corner onto the ironically called ‘Hope’ Street to head north – all hope becomes extinguished since there not one exterior light that shines directly on the side walk (and only a few pale lights barely illuminating the side of the building). Not a single light brightens your path until you approach the canopy over the front door. Then, even when you do reach those few lights, they are placed so high as to be almost useless; they dispense little light on the sidewalk – even on the rare occasion those lights aren’t burned out.
And that’s the good news!
It then gets darker and darker the rest of the block. From then on – on both sides of the street – the sidewalks are just barely illumined by the dimmest of dim lights in all Los Angeles – excepting possibly a few dim bulbs at City Hall. Even by the impossibly low standards of downtown street lights – these barely provide enough light to create even a pale shadow.
So while I used to see people walking the subway stop at night after Ralphs first opened, and even though there are more people in the store at night, it’s been weeks since I’ve seen even a single person make that walk from the subway in the evening. People simply do not feel safe walking along streets when it's too dark to recognize the faces of the people walking towards you.
So what needs to be done?
First, CIM needs to attach lights on all sides of ALL their buildings that are not just decorative – but lights that actually provide enough light on the sidewalks so pedestrians will feel comfortable. Then they need to realize how dark their sidewalks are once the light in the stores have been turned out and light the outsides of their buildings so that the sidewalks feel safe even when the stores are closed.
Lastly, CIM needs to get the city to put real light bulbs in the street lights (and fix the ones that are broken) so the rest of the block (and the next block before the subway stop) is bright enough at night for people to feel comfortable walking.
It’s either that – or keep a sharp eye out for the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Did David Beckham Buy At LA Live's Ritz-Carlton?
That's what Page SIX reports today. And I had heard a five million dollar unit is in escrow - so if one did sell for eight million - it would be a new record:
Other units in the ten million range are also going to be available.
Looks like British import David Beckham has plans to stay in sunny California. The L.A. Galaxy star has plunked down $8 million for a luxurious loft space in the Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live, a testament to “ultramodern style living” that is currently being built downtown. Sounds just like Posh’s taste!
Their opulent 3000-square-foot pad on the 18th floor of the tower overlooks the adjacent Staples Center and the new Nokia Center, as well as the entire L.A. skyline. David, Victoria and their three boys will share the building (which features 224 extravagant condos and 52 stories of hotel rooms) with big names, including Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and basketball star Kobe Bryant. For a cost of $20,000 per month, high-rise dwellers will have access to five-star amenities and services.
This is the Beckhams second West Coast home. They already own a $9 million spread in Beverly Hills that Victoria selected before the family moved to the United States in July.
Other units in the ten million range are also going to be available.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Carol Baker Tharp, RIP
I had heard that Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (DONE) General Manager, Carol Baker Tharp, had passed over the weekend. Kevin at LAO now has the Mayor's press release confirming the sad news (see excerpt at bottom).
From the first day we all met Carol, those of us in the Neighborhood Council movement recognized her as one of us. A realistic, pragmatic leader, she encouraged each of us to find the best we have within ourselves to better the lives of all those in our communities. She will be missed both as a friend and as a leader.
From the first day we all met Carol, those of us in the Neighborhood Council movement recognized her as one of us. A realistic, pragmatic leader, she encouraged each of us to find the best we have within ourselves to better the lives of all those in our communities. She will be missed both as a friend and as a leader.
“Carol Baker Tharp loved the City of Los Angeles and spent the past year working to strengthen its neighborhoods as the General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.
“Through her entire professional career and decades of community involvement as leader of Coro, the acclaimed non-profit civic affairs leadership training institution, and during her service to USC, Carol maintained the belief that civic engagement is the cornerstone of democracy. She committed her life to expanding power of the people.
“Her integrity, intelligence, compassion and humor will be missed. Though we mourn her passing today, we take comfort in the fact that her work and ideas will continue to yield positive benefits for the people of Los Angeles.”
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Malibu Burns - But Everyone - Including LA - Will Continue To Ignore The Real Reasons!
Looking over the addresses posted of the homes that burned or were damaged in Malibu last night and this morning - I recognize a lot of familiar addresses. Addresses where friends of mine were living when I left Malibu over ten years ago. Addresses near homes I had sold in the past. And, under damaged, is the address of the home I sold Axl Rose in Latigo Canyon many years ago.
And each of these addresses has one thing in common. Massive forests of sumac bushes on the hillside either just below or above them. Sumac bushes that once ignited will create massive fire storms if they have not either been totally removed or trimmed to the ground during fire season. But no government agency requires the removal of this deceptively green but explosively combustible fuel - beyond a far too small setback area.
Additionally no governmental agency in the City of Los Angeles or the County or the City of Malibu (that I know of) has yet to require the removal of existing wood shake roofs in fire areas. Nor do fire codes go far enough in banning wood on the outsides of houses in high risk fire areas. Nor does anyone ever demand that these reforms be implemented in Los Angeles - even when the embers of the latest fire are still smouldering.
Now some people will say the only answer is to not build in fire areas, but that is ignoring that almost ALL of California is a fire area. And the edge of almost any community will usually be in a fire area. So unless the government buys all the hillsides around Los Angeles, people will have the right to build their own home on their own property.
But they should also be required to make their homes far more defensible against fire than the current codes call for - with the full clearance of sumac being mandatory.
But even if that happens, there would still be one problem. Some of the agencies that have been acquiring park lands, have refused to do safe brush clearance where their properties abut housing. They have also refused to do controlled burns and have allowed massive sumac forests to grow by people's homes, endangering everyone who lives in those homes.
And, unfortunately, one of the people who lost his home in this fire is Frank Angel - a lawyer who represents many of those agencies, even though he has chosen to live in one of the highest fire risk areas of Malibu. He and his wife, Meredith are long time residents and valued and highly engaged citizens of Malibu. Their loss of almost everything they own is a tragedy. But perhaps their loss can finally make the parks agencies understand they have a responsibility to be good neighbors with those who live next to them, many of whom built their homes there long before the park agencies acquired their land.
Lastly, this tragedy might also finally convince the parks agencies to do one more thing - install gates and keep their roads locked shut during high fire alerts. And below is the possibly tragic reason why:
http://origin.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7549106?nclick_check=1
And each of these addresses has one thing in common. Massive forests of sumac bushes on the hillside either just below or above them. Sumac bushes that once ignited will create massive fire storms if they have not either been totally removed or trimmed to the ground during fire season. But no government agency requires the removal of this deceptively green but explosively combustible fuel - beyond a far too small setback area.
Additionally no governmental agency in the City of Los Angeles or the County or the City of Malibu (that I know of) has yet to require the removal of existing wood shake roofs in fire areas. Nor do fire codes go far enough in banning wood on the outsides of houses in high risk fire areas. Nor does anyone ever demand that these reforms be implemented in Los Angeles - even when the embers of the latest fire are still smouldering.
Now some people will say the only answer is to not build in fire areas, but that is ignoring that almost ALL of California is a fire area. And the edge of almost any community will usually be in a fire area. So unless the government buys all the hillsides around Los Angeles, people will have the right to build their own home on their own property.
But they should also be required to make their homes far more defensible against fire than the current codes call for - with the full clearance of sumac being mandatory.
But even if that happens, there would still be one problem. Some of the agencies that have been acquiring park lands, have refused to do safe brush clearance where their properties abut housing. They have also refused to do controlled burns and have allowed massive sumac forests to grow by people's homes, endangering everyone who lives in those homes.
And, unfortunately, one of the people who lost his home in this fire is Frank Angel - a lawyer who represents many of those agencies, even though he has chosen to live in one of the highest fire risk areas of Malibu. He and his wife, Meredith are long time residents and valued and highly engaged citizens of Malibu. Their loss of almost everything they own is a tragedy. But perhaps their loss can finally make the parks agencies understand they have a responsibility to be good neighbors with those who live next to them, many of whom built their homes there long before the park agencies acquired their land.
Lastly, this tragedy might also finally convince the parks agencies to do one more thing - install gates and keep their roads locked shut during high fire alerts. And below is the possibly tragic reason why:
http://origin.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7549106?nclick_check=1
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but some reports said it may have broken out at a scenic overlook called Malibu Bowl. Some residents said they heard cars heading down Corral Canyon between 2:30 and 3 a.m. with people yelling and laughing. Several residents complained that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has not restricted access to the Malibu Bowl overlook in times of high fire danger.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Will The Autry Museum Cowboy Up And Buy Wyatt Earp's Gun?
With Los Angeles suffering from a major deficit in cultural tourism and the Autry Museum of the West being a well kept secret in its hidden away location, you'd think they'd be buying up the last remaining relics of the major figures of the Old West, particularly a record number of those items have sold at auction in the past weeks. But I've heard from a second hand source this weekend - the Autry has not been a major (if at all) buyer to the frustration of a lot of people both at the museum and among the supporters of the museum.
Now if this is true - I don't know; I only know what one seemingly well informed person has told me. But I do know it's been a long item since I've read a press release boasting of the Autry's acquisition of any iconic relics. So what will be Autry be doing at this Tuesday's action when many one of a kind items will be sold?
Will they be buying a rifle owned by Wyatt Earp who spent more of his life in Los Angeles than in any other city or town? Will they be bidding on anything? Well, if my admittedly second hand source is correct - below is a list of all items the Autry will not be bidding on:
The Wild West Rides Again at Bonhams & Butterfields
November 18, 2007
AuctionPublicity.com - Antique arms, armor and modern sporting guns come to auction at Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 featuring firearms from famous and infamous figures of the Wild West, including Geronimo, Calamity Jane, “Buffalo Bill” Cody, outlaws Cherokee Bill and Bill Doolin, and a saber attributed to George Armstrong Custer, among others.
According to Arms Dept. Director Paul Carella, the breadth of the November antique arms offering is unprecedented. “The number of historical figures represented in this sale has never before been seen. Several of the lots come to auction from a private collector who has decided to offer the material after a lifetime of collecting. We’re pleased to offer these notable firearms, expecting international interest – from both private and institutional collections,” said Carella.
The November auction comprises more than 800-lots and opens with Bronze Age daggers and swords displaying brilliant green patinas and dating as early as 1200BC. Bladed weapons include elaborately decorated presentation swords, officer’s swords, daggers and stilettos. An historic Model 1860 cavalry saber with brass hilt and leather grip is attributed to General George Custer and could bring as much as $30,000. The 35-inch blade is dated 1864, was made in Massachusetts and originally sold in the Butterfields’ salesrooms in 1997.
Revolvers on offer include highly collectible firearms from notable individuals as well as guns collected by those less well-known. A scarce factory-engraved Colt Woodsman target model semi-automatic pistol in its original box could bring $5,000 to $7,000. By 1943 more than 150,000 had been produced, but this pistol is one of only 115 engraved by the factory. This example is also engraved with the owner’s name and was likely a gift to San Francisco native Mary Heath, a competitive skeet shooter and a UC Berkeley grad. Mary Heath Keesling passed away in 2006 and had been a noted supporter of the Bay Area arts community.
Revolvers carried by familiar names from American history include a Remington New Model Army percussion revolver surrendered by Apache Chief Geronimo in August of 1886. Geronimo had great trust in a US Army Lieutenant he’d called “Big Nose, ” and the pistol is offered with documentation relating to Lt. Charles Gateway, an aide-de-camp to General Miles. The pistol maintains walnut grips adorned with brass tacks and could bring $20,000 to $30,000.
A Geronimo rifle surrendered to the Lieutenant is a US Model 1870 Springfield, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 while a Winchester Model 1866 lever action musket is attributed to Chief Spotted Elk, a chief of the Sioux Nation, and expected to sell for $8,000 to $12,000.
A Colt Model 1860 Army Richards conversion revolver attributed to Bob Ford, the man who killed Jesse James, could bring as much as $7,000 while a Colt single action revolver carried by Bob Doolin could sell for as much as $25,000. Doolin rose to infamy after starting The Wild Bunch, his own bank-robbing gang, in the weeks that followed the shootout that killed the bank-robbing Dalton Brothers Gang– Doolin’s former cohorts. Doolin’s pistol is nickel-plated with black hard-rubber grips and became part of a museum collection after Doolin’s demise — he was killed on August 24, 1896 by a posse led by Heck Thomas. A Dalton firearm, carried by Bob Dalton, is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle offered with a handwritten letter dated 1895 attesting to its provenance. The Dalton Winchester could bring $10,000 to $15,000.
The gun used to kill John Dillinger is to be offered, this Smith & Wesson revolver presented with documentation relating the story of the “Lady in Red” and the FBI’s plans to lure Dillinger to Chicago’s Biograph Theater in 1934 (est. $15/25,000). Also offered in the sale is a rare signed John Dillinger letter, written from prison a decade before his death (est. $6/8,000).
A Case Brothers double action revolver carried by Martha Jane Canary AKA “Calamity Jane,” could sell for $2,000 to $3,000. The 32-caliber pistol was reportedly found in her possession at the time of her death. She had worked as a frontier scout for the US Army and her resume included time spent as a muleskinner for the railroads. She’d appeared on stage, in the Wild West shows promoted by Buffalo Bill and was a published author.
A rifle modified and used by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody is another Winchester, a Model 1873 lever action. This rifle features a brass inlay on the muzzle reading: Welcome to Hell, while brass inlaid to the right side of the action reads: Col. Buffalo Bill Cody. It was converted to a single shot percussion rifle and reportedly used by the marksman for shooting glass balls during his famous Wild West shows (est. $10/15,000).
Firearms from a pair of famous brothers should interest collectors, lawman Wyatt Earp’s Remington Model 1882 double-barreled shotgun is estimated at $20/30,000 and the same estimate has been placed on a rifle owned by Virgil Earp, a Model 1873 saddle ring carbine. Virgil Earp was injured at the shootout at the OK Corrall, both firearms have descended within his side of the family.
Another firearm carried by a notorious figure is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle owned by Texas outlaw Crawford Goldsby AKA “Cherokee Bill.” Goldsby, according to lore, killed his first man at the young age of 12 and continued to take the lives of both innocents and lawmen before he was hanged at the age of 20. The Winchester has an octagonal 26-inch barrel and a German silver Rocky Mountain style sight. The walnut stock features Cherokee Bill in white paint and could bring $40,000 to $60,000.
The auction also includes sporting guns, many with elaborate inlays and etching, as well as exotic weaponry and historical collectibles. Of note is a cased .470 Nitro sidelock ejector double rifle by the London firm J Rigby & Co, its firm name engraved in gold, expected to bring $80,000 to $100,000. Delightful for Western collectors is a Napa Valley CA collection of silver-inlaid and silver-mounted spurs, many examples signed. Previews open in San Francisco November 18th, continuing daily until the auction on November 20. The illustrated online catalog is available for review and purchase at www.bonhams.com/us.
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AuctionPublicity.com - Antique arms, armor and modern sporting guns come to auction at Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 featuring firearms from famous and infamous figures of the Wild West, including Geronimo, Calamity Jane, “Buffalo Bill” Cody, outlaws Cherokee Bill and Bill Doolin, and a saber attributed to George Armstrong Custer, among others.
According to Arms Dept. Director Paul Carella, the breadth of the November antique arms offering is unprecedented. “The number of historical figures represented in this sale has never before been seen. Several of the lots come to auction from a private collector who has decided to offer the material after a lifetime of collecting. We’re pleased to offer these notable firearms, expecting international interest – from both private and institutional collections,” said Carella.
The November auction comprises more than 800-lots and opens with Bronze Age daggers and swords displaying brilliant green patinas and dating as early as 1200BC. Bladed weapons include elaborately decorated presentation swords, officer’s swords, daggers and stilettos. An historic Model 1860 cavalry saber with brass hilt and leather grip is attributed to General George Custer and could bring as much as $30,000. The 35-inch blade is dated 1864, was made in Massachusetts and originally sold in the Butterfields’ salesrooms in 1997.
Revolvers on offer include highly collectible firearms from notable individuals as well as guns collected by those less well-known. A scarce factory-engraved Colt Woodsman target model semi-automatic pistol in its original box could bring $5,000 to $7,000. By 1943 more than 150,000 had been produced, but this pistol is one of only 115 engraved by the factory. This example is also engraved with the owner’s name and was likely a gift to San Francisco native Mary Heath, a competitive skeet shooter and a UC Berkeley grad. Mary Heath Keesling passed away in 2006 and had been a noted supporter of the Bay Area arts community.
Revolvers carried by familiar names from American history include a Remington New Model Army percussion revolver surrendered by Apache Chief Geronimo in August of 1886. Geronimo had great trust in a US Army Lieutenant he’d called “Big Nose, ” and the pistol is offered with documentation relating to Lt. Charles Gateway, an aide-de-camp to General Miles. The pistol maintains walnut grips adorned with brass tacks and could bring $20,000 to $30,000.
A Geronimo rifle surrendered to the Lieutenant is a US Model 1870 Springfield, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 while a Winchester Model 1866 lever action musket is attributed to Chief Spotted Elk, a chief of the Sioux Nation, and expected to sell for $8,000 to $12,000.
A Colt Model 1860 Army Richards conversion revolver attributed to Bob Ford, the man who killed Jesse James, could bring as much as $7,000 while a Colt single action revolver carried by Bob Doolin could sell for as much as $25,000. Doolin rose to infamy after starting The Wild Bunch, his own bank-robbing gang, in the weeks that followed the shootout that killed the bank-robbing Dalton Brothers Gang– Doolin’s former cohorts. Doolin’s pistol is nickel-plated with black hard-rubber grips and became part of a museum collection after Doolin’s demise — he was killed on August 24, 1896 by a posse led by Heck Thomas. A Dalton firearm, carried by Bob Dalton, is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle offered with a handwritten letter dated 1895 attesting to its provenance. The Dalton Winchester could bring $10,000 to $15,000.
The gun used to kill John Dillinger is to be offered, this Smith & Wesson revolver presented with documentation relating the story of the “Lady in Red” and the FBI’s plans to lure Dillinger to Chicago’s Biograph Theater in 1934 (est. $15/25,000). Also offered in the sale is a rare signed John Dillinger letter, written from prison a decade before his death (est. $6/8,000).
A Case Brothers double action revolver carried by Martha Jane Canary AKA “Calamity Jane,” could sell for $2,000 to $3,000. The 32-caliber pistol was reportedly found in her possession at the time of her death. She had worked as a frontier scout for the US Army and her resume included time spent as a muleskinner for the railroads. She’d appeared on stage, in the Wild West shows promoted by Buffalo Bill and was a published author.
A rifle modified and used by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody is another Winchester, a Model 1873 lever action. This rifle features a brass inlay on the muzzle reading: Welcome to Hell, while brass inlaid to the right side of the action reads: Col. Buffalo Bill Cody. It was converted to a single shot percussion rifle and reportedly used by the marksman for shooting glass balls during his famous Wild West shows (est. $10/15,000).
Firearms from a pair of famous brothers should interest collectors, lawman Wyatt Earp’s Remington Model 1882 double-barreled shotgun is estimated at $20/30,000 and the same estimate has been placed on a rifle owned by Virgil Earp, a Model 1873 saddle ring carbine. Virgil Earp was injured at the shootout at the OK Corrall, both firearms have descended within his side of the family.
Another firearm carried by a notorious figure is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle owned by Texas outlaw Crawford Goldsby AKA “Cherokee Bill.” Goldsby, according to lore, killed his first man at the young age of 12 and continued to take the lives of both innocents and lawmen before he was hanged at the age of 20. The Winchester has an octagonal 26-inch barrel and a German silver Rocky Mountain style sight. The walnut stock features Cherokee Bill in white paint and could bring $40,000 to $60,000.
The auction also includes sporting guns, many with elaborate inlays and etching, as well as exotic weaponry and historical collectibles. Of note is a cased .470 Nitro sidelock ejector double rifle by the London firm J Rigby & Co, its firm name engraved in gold, expected to bring $80,000 to $100,000. Delightful for Western collectors is a Napa Valley CA collection of silver-inlaid and silver-mounted spurs, many examples signed. Previews open in San Francisco November 18th, continuing daily until the auction on November 20. The illustrated online catalog is available for review and purchase at www.bonhams.com/us.
Now if this is true - I don't know; I only know what one seemingly well informed person has told me. But I do know it's been a long item since I've read a press release boasting of the Autry's acquisition of any iconic relics. So what will be Autry be doing at this Tuesday's action when many one of a kind items will be sold?
Will they be buying a rifle owned by Wyatt Earp who spent more of his life in Los Angeles than in any other city or town? Will they be bidding on anything? Well, if my admittedly second hand source is correct - below is a list of all items the Autry will not be bidding on:
The Wild West Rides Again at Bonhams & Butterfields
November 18, 2007
AuctionPublicity.com - Antique arms, armor and modern sporting guns come to auction at Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 featuring firearms from famous and infamous figures of the Wild West, including Geronimo, Calamity Jane, “Buffalo Bill” Cody, outlaws Cherokee Bill and Bill Doolin, and a saber attributed to George Armstrong Custer, among others.
According to Arms Dept. Director Paul Carella, the breadth of the November antique arms offering is unprecedented. “The number of historical figures represented in this sale has never before been seen. Several of the lots come to auction from a private collector who has decided to offer the material after a lifetime of collecting. We’re pleased to offer these notable firearms, expecting international interest – from both private and institutional collections,” said Carella.
The November auction comprises more than 800-lots and opens with Bronze Age daggers and swords displaying brilliant green patinas and dating as early as 1200BC. Bladed weapons include elaborately decorated presentation swords, officer’s swords, daggers and stilettos. An historic Model 1860 cavalry saber with brass hilt and leather grip is attributed to General George Custer and could bring as much as $30,000. The 35-inch blade is dated 1864, was made in Massachusetts and originally sold in the Butterfields’ salesrooms in 1997.
Revolvers on offer include highly collectible firearms from notable individuals as well as guns collected by those less well-known. A scarce factory-engraved Colt Woodsman target model semi-automatic pistol in its original box could bring $5,000 to $7,000. By 1943 more than 150,000 had been produced, but this pistol is one of only 115 engraved by the factory. This example is also engraved with the owner’s name and was likely a gift to San Francisco native Mary Heath, a competitive skeet shooter and a UC Berkeley grad. Mary Heath Keesling passed away in 2006 and had been a noted supporter of the Bay Area arts community.
Revolvers carried by familiar names from American history include a Remington New Model Army percussion revolver surrendered by Apache Chief Geronimo in August of 1886. Geronimo had great trust in a US Army Lieutenant he’d called “Big Nose, ” and the pistol is offered with documentation relating to Lt. Charles Gateway, an aide-de-camp to General Miles. The pistol maintains walnut grips adorned with brass tacks and could bring $20,000 to $30,000.
A Geronimo rifle surrendered to the Lieutenant is a US Model 1870 Springfield, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 while a Winchester Model 1866 lever action musket is attributed to Chief Spotted Elk, a chief of the Sioux Nation, and expected to sell for $8,000 to $12,000.
A Colt Model 1860 Army Richards conversion revolver attributed to Bob Ford, the man who killed Jesse James, could bring as much as $7,000 while a Colt single action revolver carried by Bob Doolin could sell for as much as $25,000. Doolin rose to infamy after starting The Wild Bunch, his own bank-robbing gang, in the weeks that followed the shootout that killed the bank-robbing Dalton Brothers Gang– Doolin’s former cohorts. Doolin’s pistol is nickel-plated with black hard-rubber grips and became part of a museum collection after Doolin’s demise — he was killed on August 24, 1896 by a posse led by Heck Thomas. A Dalton firearm, carried by Bob Dalton, is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle offered with a handwritten letter dated 1895 attesting to its provenance. The Dalton Winchester could bring $10,000 to $15,000.
The gun used to kill John Dillinger is to be offered, this Smith & Wesson revolver presented with documentation relating the story of the “Lady in Red” and the FBI’s plans to lure Dillinger to Chicago’s Biograph Theater in 1934 (est. $15/25,000). Also offered in the sale is a rare signed John Dillinger letter, written from prison a decade before his death (est. $6/8,000).
A Case Brothers double action revolver carried by Martha Jane Canary AKA “Calamity Jane,” could sell for $2,000 to $3,000. The 32-caliber pistol was reportedly found in her possession at the time of her death. She had worked as a frontier scout for the US Army and her resume included time spent as a muleskinner for the railroads. She’d appeared on stage, in the Wild West shows promoted by Buffalo Bill and was a published author.
A rifle modified and used by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody is another Winchester, a Model 1873 lever action. This rifle features a brass inlay on the muzzle reading: Welcome to Hell, while brass inlaid to the right side of the action reads: Col. Buffalo Bill Cody. It was converted to a single shot percussion rifle and reportedly used by the marksman for shooting glass balls during his famous Wild West shows (est. $10/15,000).
Firearms from a pair of famous brothers should interest collectors, lawman Wyatt Earp’s Remington Model 1882 double-barreled shotgun is estimated at $20/30,000 and the same estimate has been placed on a rifle owned by Virgil Earp, a Model 1873 saddle ring carbine. Virgil Earp was injured at the shootout at the OK Corrall, both firearms have descended within his side of the family.
Another firearm carried by a notorious figure is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle owned by Texas outlaw Crawford Goldsby AKA “Cherokee Bill.” Goldsby, according to lore, killed his first man at the young age of 12 and continued to take the lives of both innocents and lawmen before he was hanged at the age of 20. The Winchester has an octagonal 26-inch barrel and a German silver Rocky Mountain style sight. The walnut stock features Cherokee Bill in white paint and could bring $40,000 to $60,000.
The auction also includes sporting guns, many with elaborate inlays and etching, as well as exotic weaponry and historical collectibles. Of note is a cased .470 Nitro sidelock ejector double rifle by the London firm J Rigby & Co, its firm name engraved in gold, expected to bring $80,000 to $100,000. Delightful for Western collectors is a Napa Valley CA collection of silver-inlaid and silver-mounted spurs, many examples signed. Previews open in San Francisco November 18th, continuing daily until the auction on November 20. The illustrated online catalog is available for review and purchase at www.bonhams.com/us.
Share This Article by Email or Social Web
AuctionPublicity.com - Antique arms, armor and modern sporting guns come to auction at Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 featuring firearms from famous and infamous figures of the Wild West, including Geronimo, Calamity Jane, “Buffalo Bill” Cody, outlaws Cherokee Bill and Bill Doolin, and a saber attributed to George Armstrong Custer, among others.
According to Arms Dept. Director Paul Carella, the breadth of the November antique arms offering is unprecedented. “The number of historical figures represented in this sale has never before been seen. Several of the lots come to auction from a private collector who has decided to offer the material after a lifetime of collecting. We’re pleased to offer these notable firearms, expecting international interest – from both private and institutional collections,” said Carella.
The November auction comprises more than 800-lots and opens with Bronze Age daggers and swords displaying brilliant green patinas and dating as early as 1200BC. Bladed weapons include elaborately decorated presentation swords, officer’s swords, daggers and stilettos. An historic Model 1860 cavalry saber with brass hilt and leather grip is attributed to General George Custer and could bring as much as $30,000. The 35-inch blade is dated 1864, was made in Massachusetts and originally sold in the Butterfields’ salesrooms in 1997.
Revolvers on offer include highly collectible firearms from notable individuals as well as guns collected by those less well-known. A scarce factory-engraved Colt Woodsman target model semi-automatic pistol in its original box could bring $5,000 to $7,000. By 1943 more than 150,000 had been produced, but this pistol is one of only 115 engraved by the factory. This example is also engraved with the owner’s name and was likely a gift to San Francisco native Mary Heath, a competitive skeet shooter and a UC Berkeley grad. Mary Heath Keesling passed away in 2006 and had been a noted supporter of the Bay Area arts community.
Revolvers carried by familiar names from American history include a Remington New Model Army percussion revolver surrendered by Apache Chief Geronimo in August of 1886. Geronimo had great trust in a US Army Lieutenant he’d called “Big Nose, ” and the pistol is offered with documentation relating to Lt. Charles Gateway, an aide-de-camp to General Miles. The pistol maintains walnut grips adorned with brass tacks and could bring $20,000 to $30,000.
A Geronimo rifle surrendered to the Lieutenant is a US Model 1870 Springfield, estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 while a Winchester Model 1866 lever action musket is attributed to Chief Spotted Elk, a chief of the Sioux Nation, and expected to sell for $8,000 to $12,000.
A Colt Model 1860 Army Richards conversion revolver attributed to Bob Ford, the man who killed Jesse James, could bring as much as $7,000 while a Colt single action revolver carried by Bob Doolin could sell for as much as $25,000. Doolin rose to infamy after starting The Wild Bunch, his own bank-robbing gang, in the weeks that followed the shootout that killed the bank-robbing Dalton Brothers Gang– Doolin’s former cohorts. Doolin’s pistol is nickel-plated with black hard-rubber grips and became part of a museum collection after Doolin’s demise — he was killed on August 24, 1896 by a posse led by Heck Thomas. A Dalton firearm, carried by Bob Dalton, is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle offered with a handwritten letter dated 1895 attesting to its provenance. The Dalton Winchester could bring $10,000 to $15,000.
The gun used to kill John Dillinger is to be offered, this Smith & Wesson revolver presented with documentation relating the story of the “Lady in Red” and the FBI’s plans to lure Dillinger to Chicago’s Biograph Theater in 1934 (est. $15/25,000). Also offered in the sale is a rare signed John Dillinger letter, written from prison a decade before his death (est. $6/8,000).
A Case Brothers double action revolver carried by Martha Jane Canary AKA “Calamity Jane,” could sell for $2,000 to $3,000. The 32-caliber pistol was reportedly found in her possession at the time of her death. She had worked as a frontier scout for the US Army and her resume included time spent as a muleskinner for the railroads. She’d appeared on stage, in the Wild West shows promoted by Buffalo Bill and was a published author.
A rifle modified and used by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody is another Winchester, a Model 1873 lever action. This rifle features a brass inlay on the muzzle reading: Welcome to Hell, while brass inlaid to the right side of the action reads: Col. Buffalo Bill Cody. It was converted to a single shot percussion rifle and reportedly used by the marksman for shooting glass balls during his famous Wild West shows (est. $10/15,000).
Firearms from a pair of famous brothers should interest collectors, lawman Wyatt Earp’s Remington Model 1882 double-barreled shotgun is estimated at $20/30,000 and the same estimate has been placed on a rifle owned by Virgil Earp, a Model 1873 saddle ring carbine. Virgil Earp was injured at the shootout at the OK Corrall, both firearms have descended within his side of the family.
Another firearm carried by a notorious figure is a Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle owned by Texas outlaw Crawford Goldsby AKA “Cherokee Bill.” Goldsby, according to lore, killed his first man at the young age of 12 and continued to take the lives of both innocents and lawmen before he was hanged at the age of 20. The Winchester has an octagonal 26-inch barrel and a German silver Rocky Mountain style sight. The walnut stock features Cherokee Bill in white paint and could bring $40,000 to $60,000.
The auction also includes sporting guns, many with elaborate inlays and etching, as well as exotic weaponry and historical collectibles. Of note is a cased .470 Nitro sidelock ejector double rifle by the London firm J Rigby & Co, its firm name engraved in gold, expected to bring $80,000 to $100,000. Delightful for Western collectors is a Napa Valley CA collection of silver-inlaid and silver-mounted spurs, many examples signed. Previews open in San Francisco November 18th, continuing daily until the auction on November 20. The illustrated online catalog is available for review and purchase at www.bonhams.com/us.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
I'd Like One Job Application - Please!
I don't know if I can forgive Kate over at the FishbowlLA for posting this help wanted ad instead of just forwarding it to.... me:
Any writers who can ride? Playboy TV has a job for you:
Playboy TV is looking for a skilled Male professional Horse Instructor that can teach 4 Playboy Models how to handle, groom and ride a horse for our HIT show "Hot Babes Doing Stuff Naked". We provide the Horses and the location. NO NUDITY required for the male instructor, however, must be comfortable around nude models.
Any writers who can ride? Playboy TV has a job for you:
Playboy TV is looking for a skilled Male professional Horse Instructor that can teach 4 Playboy Models how to handle, groom and ride a horse for our HIT show "Hot Babes Doing Stuff Naked". We provide the Horses and the location. NO NUDITY required for the male instructor, however, must be comfortable around nude models.
LA's Broadway Makes Wall Street Journal!
Two years ago I posted about a conversation in the lobby of the Orpheum Theater during the Ovations Awards (LA's Tony Awards) that could change the future of Broadway. Then, two Monday's ago, after a lot of track laying, another conversation at City Hall marked a major step in creating that future. Then this last Monday night many of us who will be involved in this project met in that same lobby before and after this year's Ovation Awards and further planned that future.
And now, in today's Wall Street Journal, even New York has taken notice that there soon may be more than one 'Broadway' in the future of the American theater.
Broadway West?
Tinseltown Eyes Theatrical Revival
By JONATHAN KARP
November 14, 2007; Page B1
Los Angeles
Along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, the Tower Theater helped usher in the era of "talking pictures" in 1927, and the Los Angeles Theatre hosted the 1931 premiere of Charlie Chaplin's classic film "City Lights." Albert Einstein accompanied the star to the gala, while Great Depression victims stood in line for bread across the street.
The Los Angeles Theatre's owners have slowly restored its glory.
But unlike the Broadway of New York City, where -- when stagehands aren't on strike -- throngs arrive in tour buses to see "Mamma Mia" or "A Chorus Line," the 12 theaters in L.A.'s version of the Great White Way have long been neglected and sit mostly unused.
The baroque and gothic venues, built between 1910 and 1931 for vaudeville acts and movies, line a six-block stretch that today is a mélange of retail marts, check-cashing outlets and bridal shops. Two theaters serve as churches, and another has become a flea market. This street teems with activity by day but largely empties at dusk.
For the first time in decades, though, there is hope that the city's faded theater district can be revived -- as a broader renaissance of downtown Los Angeles takes hold.
After previous failed attempts to restore Broadway's nightlife, a new initiative by developers, preservationists and policy makers is gaining impetus because of two multibillion-dollar projects at both ends of the business district: the L.A. Live sports and entertainment complex in the south and the Grand Ave. residential, hotel and shopping plan in the north. Broadway is envisioned as a thriving theater corridor, with bistros, bars and new stores, linking the two megadevelopments.
"The timing is finally right for revitalizing Broadway," says Michael Delijani, who owns the Tower, Los Angeles, State and Palace theaters. The nearly 2,000-seat Orpheum Theatre has been renovated, and the Million Dollar Theater -- built in 1918 by impresario Sid Grauman, whose later Hollywood cinemas accelerated Broadway's decline -- is due to reopen in the coming months after a makeover.
Los Angeles city council member José Huizar has been shuttling between the theater owners and the city's planning department to build consensus for a revival plan. In a small but concrete step, he secured city council support late last month to fund a study on how to make more parking available, a major bottleneck for the large theaters. This month, Mr. Huizar says he will present a comprehensive vision for the theater district to deal with everything from better street lighting to increased access for loading stage equipment at the theaters.
Like other downtown Los Angeles projects, Broadway faces a host of challenges, including its proximity to thousands of homeless people living in the Skid Row neighborhood a few blocks away and the question of how to balance future theater fare among live stage performances, films and Spanish-language entertainment. Skeptics say downtown already has a glut of event venues.
Even proponents say gentrification could create tension with the street's business owners, most of whom are Hispanic, who eventually will be expected to upgrade their restaurants and shops, or move. Mr. Huizar, whose connection to the street dates from a childhood of watching Spanish-dubbed martial-arts movies in Broadway theaters, believes all interests can be accommodated. Community activists say efforts already are under way to help commercial tenants relocate to available properties within blocks of Broadway.
"Downtown is big enough for everybody," says Brady Westwater, an entrepreneur and civic activist. New condominium, loft and apartment complexes downtown have begun luring professionals to move to pockets near Broadway and create demand for higher-end supermarkets and stores.
Advocates believe that revamping Broadway is important to creating a more cohesive downtown for the growing number of residents and tourists alike. It could also accelerate real-estate investment downtown, which hasn't been as desirable a property play as Beverly Hills or Santa Monica.
Broadway's success could hinge on investing millions of dollars in public transportation, including reviving the Red Car trolley that operated until 1961, to make downtown -- an area of several square miles -- easier to get around. In the short-term, though, the focus is on scrubbing off graffiti, adding parking and renovating and reopening the theaters.
Unlike New York, where the city and state governments invested directly in venues, "in L.A., all the theaters are private, and the owners will have to lead the process," says Tara Jones, a consultant and president of National Preservation Partners, a nonprofit group. Ms. Jones has prepared studies on the theaters' market feasibility.
Entertainment conglomerates haven't yet embraced Broadway west, but it's still early in the process.
Only four of Broadway's theaters are available for events, and only one, the Orpheum, has truly been renovated. The Broadway Bar, adjoining the Orpheum, offers a rare watering hole for before or after a performance.
Orpheum owner Steve Needleman invested $3.5 million to overhaul the 1,970-seat venue, which has hosted episodes of the television show "American Idol" and was one of several Broadway theaters used to film the movie "Dreamgirls." In recent weeks, Mr. Needleman has rented out the Orpheum for Los Angeles Fashion Week events and to Siemens AG for the launch of a new magnetic-resonance imaging machine. "I do a wide variety," he says. "I know how hard it is to fill 2,000 seats."
Mr. Needleman's parents bought the building in 1964, not for the theater itself, but for the 11 floors of garment-factory space above it. In 2001, Mr. Needleman began restoring the theater. He has since invested some $4 million separately to convert the upper floors into apartments.
The street's biggest theater landlord, Michael Delijani, is aiming to position his four venues for a range of offerings. His newest acquisition, the 300-seat Tower theater, was earning its keep one recent afternoon as the set for a "CSI" episode, replete with a New York City taxi and police car at its curb.
The jewel of Mr. Delijani's theater portfolio, the Los Angeles Theatre, has been in the family since the 1970s, but only gradually have the owners sought to restore the ornate, French-inspired interior. Reminders of past glory abound, from the chandeliers and gilded lobby decor to the auditorium's ceiling mural to the ladies restroom, where each of 16 stalls is decorated in a different color of marble.
Another Delijani property, the State Theater, once featured performances by Judy Garland. Now it is leased by an evangelical church. In addition to restoring the venue, there is "some discussion" about developing the upper floors as a boutique hotel," says Ms. Jones, the consultant.
Despite the comparisons to New York, Los Angeles's Broadway is likely to lean toward film events and concerts. Mr. Huizar, the city councilman, says, "The ultimate would be to book a [New York] Broadway show."
Mr. Westwater, a civic activist who has helped lure art galleries downtown, agrees. He is busily trying to recruit theater professionals, musical productions and live drama to Los Angeles.
Extended runs here would give tourists a reason to visit downtown and would "create a West Coast outlet to amortize the cost of putting on productions," he says.
He is confident the plan to attract New York productions will succeed, adding, "The only question is: Who is going to be the first to cut a deal and get the best terms?"
Write to Jonathan Karp at jonathan.karp@wsj.com1
And now, in today's Wall Street Journal, even New York has taken notice that there soon may be more than one 'Broadway' in the future of the American theater.
Broadway West?
Tinseltown Eyes Theatrical Revival
By JONATHAN KARP
November 14, 2007; Page B1
Los Angeles
Along Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, the Tower Theater helped usher in the era of "talking pictures" in 1927, and the Los Angeles Theatre hosted the 1931 premiere of Charlie Chaplin's classic film "City Lights." Albert Einstein accompanied the star to the gala, while Great Depression victims stood in line for bread across the street.
The Los Angeles Theatre's owners have slowly restored its glory.
But unlike the Broadway of New York City, where -- when stagehands aren't on strike -- throngs arrive in tour buses to see "Mamma Mia" or "A Chorus Line," the 12 theaters in L.A.'s version of the Great White Way have long been neglected and sit mostly unused.
The baroque and gothic venues, built between 1910 and 1931 for vaudeville acts and movies, line a six-block stretch that today is a mélange of retail marts, check-cashing outlets and bridal shops. Two theaters serve as churches, and another has become a flea market. This street teems with activity by day but largely empties at dusk.
For the first time in decades, though, there is hope that the city's faded theater district can be revived -- as a broader renaissance of downtown Los Angeles takes hold.
After previous failed attempts to restore Broadway's nightlife, a new initiative by developers, preservationists and policy makers is gaining impetus because of two multibillion-dollar projects at both ends of the business district: the L.A. Live sports and entertainment complex in the south and the Grand Ave. residential, hotel and shopping plan in the north. Broadway is envisioned as a thriving theater corridor, with bistros, bars and new stores, linking the two megadevelopments.
"The timing is finally right for revitalizing Broadway," says Michael Delijani, who owns the Tower, Los Angeles, State and Palace theaters. The nearly 2,000-seat Orpheum Theatre has been renovated, and the Million Dollar Theater -- built in 1918 by impresario Sid Grauman, whose later Hollywood cinemas accelerated Broadway's decline -- is due to reopen in the coming months after a makeover.
Los Angeles city council member José Huizar has been shuttling between the theater owners and the city's planning department to build consensus for a revival plan. In a small but concrete step, he secured city council support late last month to fund a study on how to make more parking available, a major bottleneck for the large theaters. This month, Mr. Huizar says he will present a comprehensive vision for the theater district to deal with everything from better street lighting to increased access for loading stage equipment at the theaters.
Like other downtown Los Angeles projects, Broadway faces a host of challenges, including its proximity to thousands of homeless people living in the Skid Row neighborhood a few blocks away and the question of how to balance future theater fare among live stage performances, films and Spanish-language entertainment. Skeptics say downtown already has a glut of event venues.
Even proponents say gentrification could create tension with the street's business owners, most of whom are Hispanic, who eventually will be expected to upgrade their restaurants and shops, or move. Mr. Huizar, whose connection to the street dates from a childhood of watching Spanish-dubbed martial-arts movies in Broadway theaters, believes all interests can be accommodated. Community activists say efforts already are under way to help commercial tenants relocate to available properties within blocks of Broadway.
"Downtown is big enough for everybody," says Brady Westwater, an entrepreneur and civic activist. New condominium, loft and apartment complexes downtown have begun luring professionals to move to pockets near Broadway and create demand for higher-end supermarkets and stores.
Advocates believe that revamping Broadway is important to creating a more cohesive downtown for the growing number of residents and tourists alike. It could also accelerate real-estate investment downtown, which hasn't been as desirable a property play as Beverly Hills or Santa Monica.
Broadway's success could hinge on investing millions of dollars in public transportation, including reviving the Red Car trolley that operated until 1961, to make downtown -- an area of several square miles -- easier to get around. In the short-term, though, the focus is on scrubbing off graffiti, adding parking and renovating and reopening the theaters.
Unlike New York, where the city and state governments invested directly in venues, "in L.A., all the theaters are private, and the owners will have to lead the process," says Tara Jones, a consultant and president of National Preservation Partners, a nonprofit group. Ms. Jones has prepared studies on the theaters' market feasibility.
Entertainment conglomerates haven't yet embraced Broadway west, but it's still early in the process.
Only four of Broadway's theaters are available for events, and only one, the Orpheum, has truly been renovated. The Broadway Bar, adjoining the Orpheum, offers a rare watering hole for before or after a performance.
Orpheum owner Steve Needleman invested $3.5 million to overhaul the 1,970-seat venue, which has hosted episodes of the television show "American Idol" and was one of several Broadway theaters used to film the movie "Dreamgirls." In recent weeks, Mr. Needleman has rented out the Orpheum for Los Angeles Fashion Week events and to Siemens AG for the launch of a new magnetic-resonance imaging machine. "I do a wide variety," he says. "I know how hard it is to fill 2,000 seats."
Mr. Needleman's parents bought the building in 1964, not for the theater itself, but for the 11 floors of garment-factory space above it. In 2001, Mr. Needleman began restoring the theater. He has since invested some $4 million separately to convert the upper floors into apartments.
The street's biggest theater landlord, Michael Delijani, is aiming to position his four venues for a range of offerings. His newest acquisition, the 300-seat Tower theater, was earning its keep one recent afternoon as the set for a "CSI" episode, replete with a New York City taxi and police car at its curb.
The jewel of Mr. Delijani's theater portfolio, the Los Angeles Theatre, has been in the family since the 1970s, but only gradually have the owners sought to restore the ornate, French-inspired interior. Reminders of past glory abound, from the chandeliers and gilded lobby decor to the auditorium's ceiling mural to the ladies restroom, where each of 16 stalls is decorated in a different color of marble.
Another Delijani property, the State Theater, once featured performances by Judy Garland. Now it is leased by an evangelical church. In addition to restoring the venue, there is "some discussion" about developing the upper floors as a boutique hotel," says Ms. Jones, the consultant.
Despite the comparisons to New York, Los Angeles's Broadway is likely to lean toward film events and concerts. Mr. Huizar, the city councilman, says, "The ultimate would be to book a [New York] Broadway show."
Mr. Westwater, a civic activist who has helped lure art galleries downtown, agrees. He is busily trying to recruit theater professionals, musical productions and live drama to Los Angeles.
Extended runs here would give tourists a reason to visit downtown and would "create a West Coast outlet to amortize the cost of putting on productions," he says.
He is confident the plan to attract New York productions will succeed, adding, "The only question is: Who is going to be the first to cut a deal and get the best terms?"
Write to Jonathan Karp at jonathan.karp@wsj.com1
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Is Today's Really Bad Economic Bad News Really... Really Good News?
The always thought provoking David Leonhardt has one of his better columns in tomorrow's New York Times. Below is his opening... and his closing... on why too much economic good news can turn out to be ... bad news... just as some bad news can end up being... good news.
Better yet, though - just click on the above link and read the whole article.
November 14, 2007
Economic Scene
A Close Look Reveals Silver Linings in the Economy
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Until yesterday’s rally on Wall Street, the news on the business pages has sounded pretty grim lately. Stocks are still down 6 percent from their peak this year, and oil is near a record high. The dollar, incredibly, is worth only 96 Canadian cents. And house prices will be falling for a long time to come.
So in an effort to cheer everyone up before Thanksgiving, this column is going to focus today on some good news. Here it is:
Stocks are still down 6 percent from their peak, and oil is near a record high. The dollar, incredibly, is worth only 96 Canadian cents. And house prices will be falling for a long time to come.
Seriously.
As long as the financial system doesn’t have a major meltdown, none of these developments will turn out to be as bad as you think. Some of them are downright welcome.
Too often, we think about the economy without nuance. We treat it as a local sports team that is either winning or losing, up or down. We’re always supposed to be rooting for stocks and homes to become more valuable and for oil and overseas vacations to become more affordable.
But that’s not quite right. There are real downsides to an economy full of expensive assets and inexpensive resources. There are also a lot of people who are better off because of the recent turmoil. You may well be one of them.
And in his closing paragraphs...
The other ostensible pieces of bad news have their own silver linings. As the cost of gas has soared to $3 a gallon, from an inflation-adjusted low of about $1.20 in 1999, Americans have finally started buying more efficient cars and trucks. For the first time since the mid-1980s, the fuel economy of new vehicles has increased for two straight years, the Environment Protection Agency recently reported. This will slow global warming and make life a little less comfortable for oil-rich autocrats (though not nearly as much as a carbon tax would).
The fall of the dollar, meanwhile, may be precisely what the world economy needs right now, as James Paulsen of Wells Capital Management points out. It provides a lift to the sagging American economy, by allowing companies in the United States to export more, while encouraging consumers to spend less on imports and save more.
It’s not even clear that falling house prices are such a bad thing. They don’t really matter for families who aren’t planning to move. They don’t even matter much for families moving to a similar house in a similar market. The house they are buying will have gotten cheaper, too.
Families hoping to buy their first house, on the other hand, clearly benefit. (Easy for me to say, though. As my boss pointed out when he heard about this column, I’m a renter and still decades from retirement.)
There is no question that people have gotten hurt this year. Many families have struggled to pay their bills. Others have had to delay retirement, and thousands have lost their homes to foreclosure. In an ideal world, the imbalances in the economy would never have become so extreme.
But once they did, what, really, was the alternative to the recent turmoil? An ever-higher stock market, ever-cheaper oil or an ever more insane mortgage market wouldn’t have solved the problems of the American economy. It would have made then worse.
E-mail: leonhardt@nytimes.com
Better yet, though - just click on the above link and read the whole article.
November 14, 2007
Economic Scene
A Close Look Reveals Silver Linings in the Economy
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Until yesterday’s rally on Wall Street, the news on the business pages has sounded pretty grim lately. Stocks are still down 6 percent from their peak this year, and oil is near a record high. The dollar, incredibly, is worth only 96 Canadian cents. And house prices will be falling for a long time to come.
So in an effort to cheer everyone up before Thanksgiving, this column is going to focus today on some good news. Here it is:
Stocks are still down 6 percent from their peak, and oil is near a record high. The dollar, incredibly, is worth only 96 Canadian cents. And house prices will be falling for a long time to come.
Seriously.
As long as the financial system doesn’t have a major meltdown, none of these developments will turn out to be as bad as you think. Some of them are downright welcome.
Too often, we think about the economy without nuance. We treat it as a local sports team that is either winning or losing, up or down. We’re always supposed to be rooting for stocks and homes to become more valuable and for oil and overseas vacations to become more affordable.
But that’s not quite right. There are real downsides to an economy full of expensive assets and inexpensive resources. There are also a lot of people who are better off because of the recent turmoil. You may well be one of them.
And in his closing paragraphs...
The other ostensible pieces of bad news have their own silver linings. As the cost of gas has soared to $3 a gallon, from an inflation-adjusted low of about $1.20 in 1999, Americans have finally started buying more efficient cars and trucks. For the first time since the mid-1980s, the fuel economy of new vehicles has increased for two straight years, the Environment Protection Agency recently reported. This will slow global warming and make life a little less comfortable for oil-rich autocrats (though not nearly as much as a carbon tax would).
The fall of the dollar, meanwhile, may be precisely what the world economy needs right now, as James Paulsen of Wells Capital Management points out. It provides a lift to the sagging American economy, by allowing companies in the United States to export more, while encouraging consumers to spend less on imports and save more.
It’s not even clear that falling house prices are such a bad thing. They don’t really matter for families who aren’t planning to move. They don’t even matter much for families moving to a similar house in a similar market. The house they are buying will have gotten cheaper, too.
Families hoping to buy their first house, on the other hand, clearly benefit. (Easy for me to say, though. As my boss pointed out when he heard about this column, I’m a renter and still decades from retirement.)
There is no question that people have gotten hurt this year. Many families have struggled to pay their bills. Others have had to delay retirement, and thousands have lost their homes to foreclosure. In an ideal world, the imbalances in the economy would never have become so extreme.
But once they did, what, really, was the alternative to the recent turmoil? An ever-higher stock market, ever-cheaper oil or an ever more insane mortgage market wouldn’t have solved the problems of the American economy. It would have made then worse.
E-mail: leonhardt@nytimes.com
Correction Of The Century! Paris Hilton - And Binge Drinking Elephants!
I'd comment on the below correction - but... what could I possibly add??
CORRECTIVE: Paris Hilton Story
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
(11-13) 15:44 PST GAUHATI, India (AP) --
In a Nov. 13 story, The Associated Press incorrectly reported that Paris Hilton was praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. Lori Berk, a publicist for Hilton, said she never made any comments about helping drunken elephants in India.
The AP
CORRECTIVE: Paris Hilton Story
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
(11-13) 15:44 PST GAUHATI, India (AP) --
In a Nov. 13 story, The Associated Press incorrectly reported that Paris Hilton was praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. Lori Berk, a publicist for Hilton, said she never made any comments about helping drunken elephants in India.
The AP
Monday, November 05, 2007
Los Angeles Times Posts Daily Circulation - INCREASE!
Read all the bad, bad news for major newspapers today in Editor & Publisher - but at the bottom of the below excerpt is the surprise that the LA Time's daily circulation has gone UP by .5%! Now Sunday did drop by 5.1%, but that is also the period when the TV guide was dropped, so that maybe a one time loss. As for what this all means - more in a later post.
First FAS-FAX Numbers: Many Top Papers Take Big Hits
By Jennifer Saba
Published: November 05, 2007 8:10 AM ET
NEW YORK The Audit Bureau of Circulations released circulation numbers for more than 700 daily newspapers this morning for the six-month period ending September 2007. Of the top 25 papers in daily circulation (see chart, separate story), only four showed gains.
According to an analysis of ABC figures, for 538 daily U.S. newspapers, circulation declined 2.5% to 40,689,617. For 609 papers that filed on Sunday, overall circulation dropped 3.5% to 46,771,486. The percentages are based on comparisons from the same period a year ago.
For The New York Times, daily circulation fell 4.51% to 1,037,828 and Sunday plunged 7.59% to 1,500,394, at least partly due to a price increase.
Daily circulation at The Washington Post was down 3.2% to 635,087 and Sunday was down 3.9% to 894,428.
Daily circulation at The Boston Globe tumbled 6.6% to 360,695 and Sunday fell about the same, 6.5% to 548,906.
The Wall Street Journal was down 1.53% to 2,011,882 daily but USA Today posted a gain of 1% to 2,293,137.
The New York Post slipped this period with daily circ down 5.2% to 667,119 and Sunday fell 5% to 405,486. New York's Daily News also showed declines in daily circ down 1.7% to 681,415 while Sunday decreased 6.8% to 726,305.
At the Chicago Tribune, daily circulation slipped 2.9% to 559,404 and Sunday fell 2% to 917,868.
Its sister publication, the Los Angeles Times, grew slightly up 0.5% to 779,682, while Sunday fell 5.1% to 1,112,165.
First FAS-FAX Numbers: Many Top Papers Take Big Hits
By Jennifer Saba
Published: November 05, 2007 8:10 AM ET
NEW YORK The Audit Bureau of Circulations released circulation numbers for more than 700 daily newspapers this morning for the six-month period ending September 2007. Of the top 25 papers in daily circulation (see chart, separate story), only four showed gains.
According to an analysis of ABC figures, for 538 daily U.S. newspapers, circulation declined 2.5% to 40,689,617. For 609 papers that filed on Sunday, overall circulation dropped 3.5% to 46,771,486. The percentages are based on comparisons from the same period a year ago.
For The New York Times, daily circulation fell 4.51% to 1,037,828 and Sunday plunged 7.59% to 1,500,394, at least partly due to a price increase.
Daily circulation at The Washington Post was down 3.2% to 635,087 and Sunday was down 3.9% to 894,428.
Daily circulation at The Boston Globe tumbled 6.6% to 360,695 and Sunday fell about the same, 6.5% to 548,906.
The Wall Street Journal was down 1.53% to 2,011,882 daily but USA Today posted a gain of 1% to 2,293,137.
The New York Post slipped this period with daily circ down 5.2% to 667,119 and Sunday fell 5% to 405,486. New York's Daily News also showed declines in daily circ down 1.7% to 681,415 while Sunday decreased 6.8% to 726,305.
At the Chicago Tribune, daily circulation slipped 2.9% to 559,404 and Sunday fell 2% to 917,868.
Its sister publication, the Los Angeles Times, grew slightly up 0.5% to 779,682, while Sunday fell 5.1% to 1,112,165.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
DLANC City West Special Election For Resident Board Seat! Tuesday Nov. 6th!
Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Special Election for City West
Residential Representative
On Tuesday November 6th between 7 PM and 7:30 PM within the SEIU 347 office at
1015 Wilshire Blvd. 90017, a town hall meeting will be held where the
vacated DLANC City West Residential seat will be filled by a show of hands. Free parking is available on the roof of the building off of St. Paul.
The City West District is west of Harbor Freeway starting at Bixel and 8th and then north along Bixel to 7 th, then west to Witmer until 6th, then east on 6th to Bixel until Bixel hits Emerald on the other side of the new high school and then North to 1st, then east to Beaudry and then north to the Hollywood Freeway.
Registration will start at 7:00 PM and all potential voters and candidates will be required to bring proof they live within the boundaries of the City West Residential District. At 7:30 PM, each candidate will be given 3 minutes to speak after which a vote will be held. If no one has a majority of the votes, then an immediate run-off will be held between the two highest vote getters. Candidates are also asked to have an alternate (who will attend board meetings when they are not available) with them, but that is not required.
For the exact location of boundaries go to www.dlanc.com and in our bylaws section – linked at the bottom of the page – you can check out the map that is in Appendix
'A'. Additional information about DLANC can also be found on the website. If you do
not have web access or if you have any questions about DLANC or this election, you can call Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396.
Residential Representative
On Tuesday November 6th between 7 PM and 7:30 PM within the SEIU 347 office at
1015 Wilshire Blvd. 90017, a town hall meeting will be held where the
vacated DLANC City West Residential seat will be filled by a show of hands. Free parking is available on the roof of the building off of St. Paul.
The City West District is west of Harbor Freeway starting at Bixel and 8th and then north along Bixel to 7 th, then west to Witmer until 6th, then east on 6th to Bixel until Bixel hits Emerald on the other side of the new high school and then North to 1st, then east to Beaudry and then north to the Hollywood Freeway.
Registration will start at 7:00 PM and all potential voters and candidates will be required to bring proof they live within the boundaries of the City West Residential District. At 7:30 PM, each candidate will be given 3 minutes to speak after which a vote will be held. If no one has a majority of the votes, then an immediate run-off will be held between the two highest vote getters. Candidates are also asked to have an alternate (who will attend board meetings when they are not available) with them, but that is not required.
For the exact location of boundaries go to www.dlanc.com and in our bylaws section – linked at the bottom of the page – you can check out the map that is in Appendix
'A'. Additional information about DLANC can also be found on the website. If you do
not have web access or if you have any questions about DLANC or this election, you can call Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
My CityWatch Article On Ron Deaton
Westwater Downtown - Getting Personal with Ron Deaton
By Brady Westwater
Days after retiring from being arguably the most powerful man Los Angeles, Ron Deaton called me for an interview while he drove a young Marine – his nephew – back to Camp Pendleton. As always, Ron was taking care of family.
Except, instead of his city family, this time it was his other family. That showed me nothing had changed during his recovery from the coma that almost killed him.
Our talk quickly turned to his life of service to his city and he remarked he had started during the Johnston administration. I then said– Andrew – or Lyndon? His laughter also told me he was still the same old Ron. He then re-told my joke to his wife – and made it a lot funnier, I might add. If anything, his wit was quicker than ever.
To prepare for the interview, I called some of his oldest colleagues – particularly those who had been his more than occasional adversary, as I had sometimes been, in the past. I told them anything they said would be held in confidence; that I would not repeat any of their stories, much less attach their names to them. I then asked them for their real opinion of Ron Deaton.
They then each detailed their battles with Ron over various issues where he had represented the city's viewpoint against their viewpoints– and they all then described all the times since they had worked together. They also all agreed the city's comparative well being is due in large part to Ron's ability to bring people together to get the necessary jobs done – and to get the city to live within its means. And, was due to his ability to get people to trust him – and trust each other. None of this surprised me.
What did surprise me was that during all the praise given him for all the projects he had helped make happened – was that no one mentioned what he had helped prevent from happening. During a fiscal era when a far richer city, San Diego, almost went under during its pension crisis and wealthy Orange County had to file for bankruptcy – and during a time when cities all over the country suffered crippling deficits, Los Angeles escaped relatively unscathed.
Also unmentioned were all the battles he lost, at least temporarily, to get the city to develop its infrastructure – such as the city passing up not one but two chances to buy the twin towers of Figueroa it rented for city workers – until the city – finally – paid a far higher price for those buildings the third time around. And since the deal closed, office rents have started moving up even faster in downtown, again proving how right he had been.
My own relationship with Ron began years before I met him. Even when I lived in Malibu, I was still very involved in Downtown and whenever anything needed to get done, all roads led to Ron's door. When I moved Downtown fulltime, ten years ago, our involvement gradually increased. The first time was over the proposed relocation of Parker Center to Little Tokyo.
I disagreed with his support of the city's position. I thought there might be a way of rebuilding Parker Center at its then site, I mentioned to Ron that there might be a way for everyone to get everything they wanted (and dozen different groups were now involved from MOCA's Art Park to the Children's Museum to the Go For Broke Monument to the Little Tokyo Gym to mention just a few) – but just to see if this was feasible – there was a lot I needed to know. Water tables, locations of water and gas mains geology and soils reports, surveys, plans for existing and proposed buildings, the light rail line's specs, etc. He asked for my address and in a few hours, everything I needed to analyze those sites appeared on my desk and led to a meeting with the LAPD and city staff about the possible compromise.
That year-long-plus battle – I counted over 50 meetings in my date book - is also what brought Ron to public attention. So when the Times decided recently to profile him, I was assumed to be the go-to person for the 'Ron Deaton is Satan' quote
Even though that was NOT what I said, such was Ron's presumed power, that not once, not twice, but three times during the months of prepping the Deaton story, I was asked by the Times if I wanted to stand by my statement. I always said yes, as long as they did not lead with it. And sure enough, Zev Yaroslavsky was the lead quote with the standard government line. Then there was my - slightly mangled by the Times quote – "I'd call him God, but I don't think he'd accept the demotion".
And Ron, of course, loved the joke and understood the respect with which I meant with it.
Ron ultimately became key in the negotiations between neighborhood councils and the DWP in the quest for a Memorandum of Understanding. After months of meetings and discussions between NCs and DWP Water manager Gerry Gewe, Gewe retired and Ron became general manager of the entire agency.
Ron didn’t want to sign off on an agreement negotiated by someone else. In fact, he didn’t want an MOU. He wanted a policy letter from the manager.
He then told us what he could not agree to in the existing document - and why, but he also told us the places where we had screwed up – and what we should have asked for. It was clear he wanted an agreement that would work for both parties. But he also made it clear – he was not going to sign an MOU.
He told city council members that. He told a deputy mayor that. And, he told each member of our final negotiating committee that. It seemed his only real objection was that he did not want a binding MOU in case it turned out to be an unworkable document the city could not then get out of.
So, I just asked him: how do we change the MOU to solve his problem. He then smiled at me and said ... well … followed by a very long silence. “If we made the MOU,” he said, “ for only two years and then did a new one after seeing what worked,” that would solve his problem. I then shook his hand and we had an MOU. And all it took was asking him how he would negotiate the deal if he were on our side of the table to make the MOU work for his side.
The two years have come and gone. Now a permanent long term MOU exists – which is still the only MOU between NCs citywide and a city agency.
As the the most recent rate hike under the MOU ramped up, Ron became ill and now is now retired.
Or has he?
Might there be a second act?
Stay tuned
(Brady Westwater is a writer and Downtown activist. He is also a regular contributor to CityWatch.)
By Brady Westwater
Days after retiring from being arguably the most powerful man Los Angeles, Ron Deaton called me for an interview while he drove a young Marine – his nephew – back to Camp Pendleton. As always, Ron was taking care of family.
Except, instead of his city family, this time it was his other family. That showed me nothing had changed during his recovery from the coma that almost killed him.
Our talk quickly turned to his life of service to his city and he remarked he had started during the Johnston administration. I then said– Andrew – or Lyndon? His laughter also told me he was still the same old Ron. He then re-told my joke to his wife – and made it a lot funnier, I might add. If anything, his wit was quicker than ever.
To prepare for the interview, I called some of his oldest colleagues – particularly those who had been his more than occasional adversary, as I had sometimes been, in the past. I told them anything they said would be held in confidence; that I would not repeat any of their stories, much less attach their names to them. I then asked them for their real opinion of Ron Deaton.
They then each detailed their battles with Ron over various issues where he had represented the city's viewpoint against their viewpoints– and they all then described all the times since they had worked together. They also all agreed the city's comparative well being is due in large part to Ron's ability to bring people together to get the necessary jobs done – and to get the city to live within its means. And, was due to his ability to get people to trust him – and trust each other. None of this surprised me.
What did surprise me was that during all the praise given him for all the projects he had helped make happened – was that no one mentioned what he had helped prevent from happening. During a fiscal era when a far richer city, San Diego, almost went under during its pension crisis and wealthy Orange County had to file for bankruptcy – and during a time when cities all over the country suffered crippling deficits, Los Angeles escaped relatively unscathed.
Also unmentioned were all the battles he lost, at least temporarily, to get the city to develop its infrastructure – such as the city passing up not one but two chances to buy the twin towers of Figueroa it rented for city workers – until the city – finally – paid a far higher price for those buildings the third time around. And since the deal closed, office rents have started moving up even faster in downtown, again proving how right he had been.
My own relationship with Ron began years before I met him. Even when I lived in Malibu, I was still very involved in Downtown and whenever anything needed to get done, all roads led to Ron's door. When I moved Downtown fulltime, ten years ago, our involvement gradually increased. The first time was over the proposed relocation of Parker Center to Little Tokyo.
I disagreed with his support of the city's position. I thought there might be a way of rebuilding Parker Center at its then site, I mentioned to Ron that there might be a way for everyone to get everything they wanted (and dozen different groups were now involved from MOCA's Art Park to the Children's Museum to the Go For Broke Monument to the Little Tokyo Gym to mention just a few) – but just to see if this was feasible – there was a lot I needed to know. Water tables, locations of water and gas mains geology and soils reports, surveys, plans for existing and proposed buildings, the light rail line's specs, etc. He asked for my address and in a few hours, everything I needed to analyze those sites appeared on my desk and led to a meeting with the LAPD and city staff about the possible compromise.
That year-long-plus battle – I counted over 50 meetings in my date book - is also what brought Ron to public attention. So when the Times decided recently to profile him, I was assumed to be the go-to person for the 'Ron Deaton is Satan' quote
Even though that was NOT what I said, such was Ron's presumed power, that not once, not twice, but three times during the months of prepping the Deaton story, I was asked by the Times if I wanted to stand by my statement. I always said yes, as long as they did not lead with it. And sure enough, Zev Yaroslavsky was the lead quote with the standard government line. Then there was my - slightly mangled by the Times quote – "I'd call him God, but I don't think he'd accept the demotion".
And Ron, of course, loved the joke and understood the respect with which I meant with it.
Ron ultimately became key in the negotiations between neighborhood councils and the DWP in the quest for a Memorandum of Understanding. After months of meetings and discussions between NCs and DWP Water manager Gerry Gewe, Gewe retired and Ron became general manager of the entire agency.
Ron didn’t want to sign off on an agreement negotiated by someone else. In fact, he didn’t want an MOU. He wanted a policy letter from the manager.
He then told us what he could not agree to in the existing document - and why, but he also told us the places where we had screwed up – and what we should have asked for. It was clear he wanted an agreement that would work for both parties. But he also made it clear – he was not going to sign an MOU.
He told city council members that. He told a deputy mayor that. And, he told each member of our final negotiating committee that. It seemed his only real objection was that he did not want a binding MOU in case it turned out to be an unworkable document the city could not then get out of.
So, I just asked him: how do we change the MOU to solve his problem. He then smiled at me and said ... well … followed by a very long silence. “If we made the MOU,” he said, “ for only two years and then did a new one after seeing what worked,” that would solve his problem. I then shook his hand and we had an MOU. And all it took was asking him how he would negotiate the deal if he were on our side of the table to make the MOU work for his side.
The two years have come and gone. Now a permanent long term MOU exists – which is still the only MOU between NCs citywide and a city agency.
As the the most recent rate hike under the MOU ramped up, Ron became ill and now is now retired.
Or has he?
Might there be a second act?
Stay tuned
(Brady Westwater is a writer and Downtown activist. He is also a regular contributor to CityWatch.)
Second CityWatch Article On NC's And Economic Development
Westwater Downtown - Here’s Proof: NCs can Improve the Economy
By Brady Westwater
Now that LA Neighborhood Councils Congress has an Economic Development Committee, it's been suggested that if the City of Los Angeles can't create community sensitive economic development, how can the NC's succeed?
The answer is City Hall does not have the local knowledge or the staff or the resources to create a healthy economy in our neighborhoods - which is why we have to work with the city on its programs that we agree with. But if we can also provide the leadership as well as the workers, then the city and other government agencies – and businesses and business organizations – will join with us to implement our programs.
One example is the experience of DLANC, the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. After the DLANC arts committee proposed a Gallery Row in a neighborhood with just two galleries, Councilwoman Jan Perry immediately passed a council resolution and ordered the signs before we even got past the initial planning stages.
But with her support and the resultant press – some of it skeptical, of course, we developed a momentum we would not have otherwise had. By the time we unveiled those signs, we had a real Gallery Row. Another lesson here is that we took one of our neighborhood's existing strengths - artists – and built upon that existing foundation.
At the same time, our economic development committee held two events to bring creative businesses downtown. DLANC sponsored and financed one event, spending about… 60 bucks…. in a city donated space. The second event was paid for and run by the city.
Both events were well attended, but the city's event did not result in a single business moving downtown – while our community-run event not only generated activity immediately, but another business from the event recently opened and another one will open in two months - almost four years later. But it took both us and the city working together to make our event happen.
In another instance of the superiority of the grass roots approach, the city has given around a million dollars (over several years) to an out of area group to recruit new business. They have done a good job working with businesses once they are here. But while over 30 businesses have been recruited by our volunteer, unpaid DLANC members, not a single business has been recruited with the million dollars spent by the city. Now imagine if those million of dollars of resources had been shared with DLANC - how much more could have been achieved?
Our most striking success was probably the cleaning up of the most crime ridden intersection in the city – 5 th and Main. A group of us decided – even before Gallery Row – to tackle the heart of the drug trade in Los Angeles – the place where even Hollywood stars came to buy their drugs. And through the very efforts of our very informal 5th and Main group, the DLANC economic development committee, the Gallery Row Project, the Downtown Art Walk – which was founded by Bert Green, a member of the arts committee – and working in collaboration with the police and the local BID, that corner was just featured in the Washington Post as a sign of how far our community has come.
More recently, after the city had failed in its attempts to host Fashion Week in Los Angeles, several neighborhood council members – and city officials – just bought back Fashion week to the Downtown Fashion District.
It began when former neighborhood council board member Cynthia Ruiz, now President of the Board of Public Works, encouraged me, and DLANC board members, developer Gary Warfel and BOXeight founder Peter Gurnz, to tackle bringing Fashion Week back to Los Angeles. DLANC board member Michael Delijani then donated the Los Angeles Theatre and Lynn Myers and Kent Smith (also DLANC board members) of the Fashion BID, offered us their support and advice.
Six weeks later, BOXeight fashion shows premiered to critical acclaim. And, just last week, a second fashion season debuted to standing room only audiences – including the Mayor - all because of the existence of… neighborhood councils.
Now the question is how do we find way to do this in all parts of our city? How can we find the strengths in our communities and use them to collectively work with the city to improve our neighborhoods? And how do we work together collectively to improve the economic health of our overall city?
That's where you all come in. We're still looking a few good people to help us find the answers. Healthy neighborhood economies are critical to all of us. Become a part of the solution. Join the LANCC Economic Development Committee today at: Bradywestwater@gmail.
(Brady Westwater is a writer and a community activist. Westwater is a CityWatch contributor.) _
By Brady Westwater
Now that LA Neighborhood Councils Congress has an Economic Development Committee, it's been suggested that if the City of Los Angeles can't create community sensitive economic development, how can the NC's succeed?
The answer is City Hall does not have the local knowledge or the staff or the resources to create a healthy economy in our neighborhoods - which is why we have to work with the city on its programs that we agree with. But if we can also provide the leadership as well as the workers, then the city and other government agencies – and businesses and business organizations – will join with us to implement our programs.
One example is the experience of DLANC, the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. After the DLANC arts committee proposed a Gallery Row in a neighborhood with just two galleries, Councilwoman Jan Perry immediately passed a council resolution and ordered the signs before we even got past the initial planning stages.
But with her support and the resultant press – some of it skeptical, of course, we developed a momentum we would not have otherwise had. By the time we unveiled those signs, we had a real Gallery Row. Another lesson here is that we took one of our neighborhood's existing strengths - artists – and built upon that existing foundation.
At the same time, our economic development committee held two events to bring creative businesses downtown. DLANC sponsored and financed one event, spending about… 60 bucks…. in a city donated space. The second event was paid for and run by the city.
Both events were well attended, but the city's event did not result in a single business moving downtown – while our community-run event not only generated activity immediately, but another business from the event recently opened and another one will open in two months - almost four years later. But it took both us and the city working together to make our event happen.
In another instance of the superiority of the grass roots approach, the city has given around a million dollars (over several years) to an out of area group to recruit new business. They have done a good job working with businesses once they are here. But while over 30 businesses have been recruited by our volunteer, unpaid DLANC members, not a single business has been recruited with the million dollars spent by the city. Now imagine if those million of dollars of resources had been shared with DLANC - how much more could have been achieved?
Our most striking success was probably the cleaning up of the most crime ridden intersection in the city – 5 th and Main. A group of us decided – even before Gallery Row – to tackle the heart of the drug trade in Los Angeles – the place where even Hollywood stars came to buy their drugs. And through the very efforts of our very informal 5th and Main group, the DLANC economic development committee, the Gallery Row Project, the Downtown Art Walk – which was founded by Bert Green, a member of the arts committee – and working in collaboration with the police and the local BID, that corner was just featured in the Washington Post as a sign of how far our community has come.
More recently, after the city had failed in its attempts to host Fashion Week in Los Angeles, several neighborhood council members – and city officials – just bought back Fashion week to the Downtown Fashion District.
It began when former neighborhood council board member Cynthia Ruiz, now President of the Board of Public Works, encouraged me, and DLANC board members, developer Gary Warfel and BOXeight founder Peter Gurnz, to tackle bringing Fashion Week back to Los Angeles. DLANC board member Michael Delijani then donated the Los Angeles Theatre and Lynn Myers and Kent Smith (also DLANC board members) of the Fashion BID, offered us their support and advice.
Six weeks later, BOXeight fashion shows premiered to critical acclaim. And, just last week, a second fashion season debuted to standing room only audiences – including the Mayor - all because of the existence of… neighborhood councils.
Now the question is how do we find way to do this in all parts of our city? How can we find the strengths in our communities and use them to collectively work with the city to improve our neighborhoods? And how do we work together collectively to improve the economic health of our overall city?
That's where you all come in. We're still looking a few good people to help us find the answers. Healthy neighborhood economies are critical to all of us. Become a part of the solution. Join the LANCC Economic Development Committee today at: Bradywestwater@gmail.
(Brady Westwater is a writer and a community activist. Westwater is a CityWatch contributor.) _
Recent CityWatch Article On NC's and Economic Development
The Economy - LA: Whose Business is It?
By Brady Westwater
When it comes to business friendly practices and economic development (other than housing) – the City of Los Angeles ranks near dead last when compared to other major cities.
We also have fewer jobs per resident than most major cities, far less per capita sales tax revenues than our neighbors, and we no longer have even a single major bank or savings or loan or any kind of financial headquarters.
Is it any wonder college graduates are flocking to New York and Atlanta, but ignoring LA? Or, that we have fewer Fortune 500 Corporations than does… Charlotte or St. Louis? Or, that we recently lost a TV network headquarters to New York – right after it was bought by a friend of the Mayor?
We also have higher housing costs than most major cites – but our household incomes are at the bottom end of all major cities. And every year, we fall further behind.
Our collective problem is that the funding necessary to solve LA's problem is dependent upon the overall economic health of businesses located in the City of Los Angeles. So there is no more critical - or less addressed - issue citywide, then making LA more business-friendly so that the residents of the city have jobs and can pay their bills and their taxes. Unfortunately, what the city does to try and make incomes artificially rise – is also what is currently driving business out of Los Angeles.
For that reason, nothing should be more important to the neighborhood councils than to make Los Angeles a city that business wants to come to. Unless we do - there's not going to be anyone left to pay the bills.
There is also no issue that is of more local in importance than the loss of a major provider of jobs or the building of a box store that would ruin the quality of life in a residential neighborhood. And, ironically - there are also neighborhoods that would welcome such stores both for the jobs they will provide and the convenience of having such a store. And, who better than regional coalitions of neighborhood councils to help find solutions to these problems?
For those reasons, the LA Neighborhood Councils Congress (LANCC) last Saturday voted unanimously to form a citywide community based economic development committee with the understanding that much of the work will be done on a regional basis, with local NCs deciding how best to work with each other.
Now the next question should be – does the city want out help on this matter? Well – the answer is a loud – yes! City Council president, Eric Garcetti – who just formed the first city council committee on economic development – the Job, Business Growth and Tax Reform Committee, chaired by Councilmembers Greig Smith with Wendy Greuel & Herb Wesson, practically demanded of me that he speak at our first meeting. And at the recent Mayor's Business Access at City Hall, Deputy Mayor of Housing and Economic Development, Helmi Hisserich, stated that the city needs the NCs involved with her office on this issue and announced her willingness to work with our new committee.
On the other hand, Gary Toebben, president of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce said the Chamber too often sees neighborhood councils as a source of reaction – only hearing from them when there were opposed to a business moving into their neighborhood. And there is some truth to that. But communication, I reminded him, is a two way street and we both need to start that communication.
The first step is to figure out how the NCs can work together - regionally and citywide - on economic development and what scope this committee might address and then, finally – address how we might help solve those problems .
But before we have a first meeting, I would like to hear from those of you most interested in not just being involved in such a committee – but who want to help form this committee. We also need to decide who in the business community we should ask to join us in establishing this committee; particularly those who are not part of the NC movement.
So if you want to be kept informed about this Economic Development Committee, let me know – but, more importantly - let me know if you want to help build its structure. We need to get started on this first thing next week.
(Brady Westwater will chair the LANCC Economic Development Committee. Westwater is a downtown neighborhood activist and a contributor to CityWatch. He can be reached at: bradywestwater@gmail.com
By Brady Westwater
When it comes to business friendly practices and economic development (other than housing) – the City of Los Angeles ranks near dead last when compared to other major cities.
We also have fewer jobs per resident than most major cities, far less per capita sales tax revenues than our neighbors, and we no longer have even a single major bank or savings or loan or any kind of financial headquarters.
Is it any wonder college graduates are flocking to New York and Atlanta, but ignoring LA? Or, that we have fewer Fortune 500 Corporations than does… Charlotte or St. Louis? Or, that we recently lost a TV network headquarters to New York – right after it was bought by a friend of the Mayor?
We also have higher housing costs than most major cites – but our household incomes are at the bottom end of all major cities. And every year, we fall further behind.
Our collective problem is that the funding necessary to solve LA's problem is dependent upon the overall economic health of businesses located in the City of Los Angeles. So there is no more critical - or less addressed - issue citywide, then making LA more business-friendly so that the residents of the city have jobs and can pay their bills and their taxes. Unfortunately, what the city does to try and make incomes artificially rise – is also what is currently driving business out of Los Angeles.
For that reason, nothing should be more important to the neighborhood councils than to make Los Angeles a city that business wants to come to. Unless we do - there's not going to be anyone left to pay the bills.
There is also no issue that is of more local in importance than the loss of a major provider of jobs or the building of a box store that would ruin the quality of life in a residential neighborhood. And, ironically - there are also neighborhoods that would welcome such stores both for the jobs they will provide and the convenience of having such a store. And, who better than regional coalitions of neighborhood councils to help find solutions to these problems?
For those reasons, the LA Neighborhood Councils Congress (LANCC) last Saturday voted unanimously to form a citywide community based economic development committee with the understanding that much of the work will be done on a regional basis, with local NCs deciding how best to work with each other.
Now the next question should be – does the city want out help on this matter? Well – the answer is a loud – yes! City Council president, Eric Garcetti – who just formed the first city council committee on economic development – the Job, Business Growth and Tax Reform Committee, chaired by Councilmembers Greig Smith with Wendy Greuel & Herb Wesson, practically demanded of me that he speak at our first meeting. And at the recent Mayor's Business Access at City Hall, Deputy Mayor of Housing and Economic Development, Helmi Hisserich, stated that the city needs the NCs involved with her office on this issue and announced her willingness to work with our new committee.
On the other hand, Gary Toebben, president of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce said the Chamber too often sees neighborhood councils as a source of reaction – only hearing from them when there were opposed to a business moving into their neighborhood. And there is some truth to that. But communication, I reminded him, is a two way street and we both need to start that communication.
The first step is to figure out how the NCs can work together - regionally and citywide - on economic development and what scope this committee might address and then, finally – address how we might help solve those problems .
But before we have a first meeting, I would like to hear from those of you most interested in not just being involved in such a committee – but who want to help form this committee. We also need to decide who in the business community we should ask to join us in establishing this committee; particularly those who are not part of the NC movement.
So if you want to be kept informed about this Economic Development Committee, let me know – but, more importantly - let me know if you want to help build its structure. We need to get started on this first thing next week.
(Brady Westwater will chair the LANCC Economic Development Committee. Westwater is a downtown neighborhood activist and a contributor to CityWatch. He can be reached at: bradywestwater@gmail.com
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
A Hotel Rises On Spring Street!
Since Ed Fuentes over at BlogDowntown attended out our DLANC (Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Planning Committee meeting last Wednesday, I decided to wait until he posted his story before mentioning the hotel since he would have the photo (see above link). And Anna Scott of the Downtown News was also there, so her story should be on-line by Friday night also.
The main points I want to add are to answer some of the questions posed by the commenters, comments that mainly concerned the urban planning aspects of the mixed use condo/hotel project and how it affects the views of the adjacent El Dorado and Rowan properties, also owned by partnerships in which developer Tom Gilmore is invovled.
First, the Spring Street views of the Rowan will be largely protected. A greenbelt for the Rowan will follow the jogged exterior of the building and the majority of the new tower will be directly behind the Gilmore owned parking structure on Main Strew which will house the majority of the parking for Gilmore's other Old Bank District properties. A large landscaped entrance to that garage will be between the El Dorado and the new condo/hotel project which will give views and light and air to the El Dorado and the hotel's entrance will be along that driveway.
Additionally, the portion of the new project between the rear portion of the Rowan Building and Spring will be facing a U-shaped single story addition to the tower that will have two restaurants opening out onto a landscaped sitting area that will face Spring Street. So all the units in the Rowan will have their direct Spring Street views preserved except for a small number of ground floor units in the rear wing which will open onto the outdoor space reserved for the Rowan.
A third restaurant will be at the base of the tower - which will have its parking partially underground, but mostly in the base of the tower which will only rise from a portion of the base. There will also be a small store and possibly a cafe facing the alley (which will also be a landscaped pedestrian walkway) that runs between 4th and 5th Streets, perpendicular to the driveway entrance off Spring to the parking garage on Main.
The main points I want to add are to answer some of the questions posed by the commenters, comments that mainly concerned the urban planning aspects of the mixed use condo/hotel project and how it affects the views of the adjacent El Dorado and Rowan properties, also owned by partnerships in which developer Tom Gilmore is invovled.
First, the Spring Street views of the Rowan will be largely protected. A greenbelt for the Rowan will follow the jogged exterior of the building and the majority of the new tower will be directly behind the Gilmore owned parking structure on Main Strew which will house the majority of the parking for Gilmore's other Old Bank District properties. A large landscaped entrance to that garage will be between the El Dorado and the new condo/hotel project which will give views and light and air to the El Dorado and the hotel's entrance will be along that driveway.
Additionally, the portion of the new project between the rear portion of the Rowan Building and Spring will be facing a U-shaped single story addition to the tower that will have two restaurants opening out onto a landscaped sitting area that will face Spring Street. So all the units in the Rowan will have their direct Spring Street views preserved except for a small number of ground floor units in the rear wing which will open onto the outdoor space reserved for the Rowan.
A third restaurant will be at the base of the tower - which will have its parking partially underground, but mostly in the base of the tower which will only rise from a portion of the base. There will also be a small store and possibly a cafe facing the alley (which will also be a landscaped pedestrian walkway) that runs between 4th and 5th Streets, perpendicular to the driveway entrance off Spring to the parking garage on Main.
Why Is Everyone Talking About Nokia When Last Night's Opening Of The LATC Is The Real Story?
Last night - the unveiling of the new Los Angeles Theater Center - aka the New LATC - was straight out of the 1980's. A particular night in 1985 when a number of people who were also there tonight, including myself, gathered to celebrate the opening of a new theater complex that was joined on Spring Street by a restaurant, a nightclub and a condo project; an old office building turned into apartment style condos. The beginning of the rebirth of a new Downtown Los Angeles.
But a few years later - it was all over.
Of course, this time is different. First the artists came back (not that they ever really left, of course), then real loft conversions and bootstrap art galleries and then... everyone else. Thousands and thousands of everyones.
This time the boom is real. It's different than the last one. But then, of course, every boom is always different than the last one.
The biggest difference, though, this time is how broad based this boom is and how - unlike the last one - this one is almost totally financed by private investors and market forces rather than by government grants and subsidies. That's also why this boom is so much more successful.
Which is what brings us to Nokia - a market driven, for profit venue that is a great attraction for Downtown, but which is also just one of many places where groups such as the Eagles and the Dixie Chicks can play in Los Angeles.
By contrast, the Los Angeles Theater Center has, up until now, been financed almost 100% by public funds but it will be a place local theater groups can perform, a place where national and international theater companies that Angelinos would not otherwise see will perform. It also has numerous resident companies and partners such as the Latino Theater Company, Playwright's Arena, the Robey Theater Company, Cedar Grove OnStage, UCLA, the American Indian Dance Theater and Culture Clash - and it will also nurture local playwrights and provide a strong educational program starting next summer.
In the long run, the success of Downtown Los Angeles will depend far more on the success of institutions such as the Los Angeles Theater Center, than Nokia, which is why I am so surprised how this far more important re-opening has been so comparatively ignored.
But history has also taught us that the cost of supporting the LATC, will be a substantial one - and the city has said that no further subsidies will be provided. So if the people of this city want to have a future that includes the Los Angeles Theater Center, they are going to have to support it.
This time, it has to be different.
But a few years later - it was all over.
Of course, this time is different. First the artists came back (not that they ever really left, of course), then real loft conversions and bootstrap art galleries and then... everyone else. Thousands and thousands of everyones.
This time the boom is real. It's different than the last one. But then, of course, every boom is always different than the last one.
The biggest difference, though, this time is how broad based this boom is and how - unlike the last one - this one is almost totally financed by private investors and market forces rather than by government grants and subsidies. That's also why this boom is so much more successful.
Which is what brings us to Nokia - a market driven, for profit venue that is a great attraction for Downtown, but which is also just one of many places where groups such as the Eagles and the Dixie Chicks can play in Los Angeles.
By contrast, the Los Angeles Theater Center has, up until now, been financed almost 100% by public funds but it will be a place local theater groups can perform, a place where national and international theater companies that Angelinos would not otherwise see will perform. It also has numerous resident companies and partners such as the Latino Theater Company, Playwright's Arena, the Robey Theater Company, Cedar Grove OnStage, UCLA, the American Indian Dance Theater and Culture Clash - and it will also nurture local playwrights and provide a strong educational program starting next summer.
In the long run, the success of Downtown Los Angeles will depend far more on the success of institutions such as the Los Angeles Theater Center, than Nokia, which is why I am so surprised how this far more important re-opening has been so comparatively ignored.
But history has also taught us that the cost of supporting the LATC, will be a substantial one - and the city has said that no further subsidies will be provided. So if the people of this city want to have a future that includes the Los Angeles Theater Center, they are going to have to support it.
This time, it has to be different.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Are Burning Homes Good For the Economy?
That's the question Mark Lacter poses over at LA OBSERVED (Business). But even with all the many options he presents - there are several critical points he and the people he quotes do not address. First, read all he does address and then I'll add a few more points to ruminate over....
Economists starting to assess the impact of this week's fires are pointing out that this kind of event can actually stimulate growth, perverse as that may seem. Keep in mind that the Malibu fire in 1993 destroyed 268 homes and almost all of them have been rebuilt (or the owners have rebuilt nearby). They all had to hire a contractor and buy furniture and maybe even use an interior decorator or landscape architect. All those businesses got extra revenue that they otherwise wouldn’t have gotten, which explains why you often see a jump in economic activity in the months after a fire. That's not some crazy theory - it's just the way things work.
So MarketWatch's Tom Bemis takes that prospect and suggests how the stimulus "could at least act as a brake on the housing crash." That’s probably pushing things, but it's not an altogether crazy idea - rebuilding after the 1994 earthquake provided a crucial jumpstart for an area had been mired in recession. Anyway, Dealbreaker's Joe Weisenthal calls this "one of the more ludicrous things we've ever read in our entire lives" (a ludicrous comment unto itself). He then suggests that reading about the broken window fallacy "would spare anyone from writing articles such as this." Ouch.
The broken window fallacy was the work of a guy named Frédéric Bastiat in the 1800s, and it basically refers to an action that has unintended costs attached to it. (It's used in the first chapter of Henry Hazlitt's 1946 classic, "Economics in One Lesson.") To illustrate his point, Bastiat tells the story of a shopkeeper whose window is broken by a little boy. The window has to be replaced, of course, which means there will be work for the glazier, who in turn will be able to buy bread that will benefit the baker and so on. To make a long story short (I know, too late), the fallacy is that these supposedly positive benefits are offset by the costs faced by the shopkeeper - not only for the price of the window but for lost business.
It's an interesting theory but not everyone agrees with it. And it certainly has questionable relevance in determining the economic impact from the fires. The "shopkeeper" - in this case a homeowner - isn't out the cost of a new house because much, if not all, of the rebuilding is covered by insurance. (I know, I know, he has to pay for that insurance, but he would have had to pay for that even if his house was not damaged.) Homes that were damaged but not destroyed will get a new coat of paint, new flooring or whatever, and be worth more money than before the disaster. All this economic activity won't necessarily shake up the real estate market, but it will provide for more opportunities once the market opens up, as it surely will.
First, Tom Bemis's claim that taking 1500 homes off the market in an area where one million people were evacuated will at all change the market - clearly makes little or no sense; particularly when only a comparatively few of those homes would have been on the market for sale. The point he completely misses is that there are now 1500 families suddenly in the rental or purchase market for a home who were not in the market the week before - and that will actually have some impact.
Not huge - but very real as the number of buyers will dramatically increase in each area particularly hard hit. And when a lot of homes are lost in a single school district, as was the case in Malibu in 1993, in my experience, the only way we were able to meet the demand was when many people agreed to rent out their weekend beach houses to families who needed homes.
In addition, other buyers will come into the area since it will be years before the area will have a major fire again (assuming the area is not in danger of flood, of course) and other buyers will come to the area to buy 'bargains' in the now distressed neighborhoods. And I know this because every time a fire or a flood hit Malibu - my business selling houses would boom.
Joe Weisenthal's even bigger blunder, though, is that while the broken window theory would propose a decrease in national wealth - the hundreds of millions of dollars that will flow into the pockets of Southern Californians to rebuild their houses are not coming from their neighborhoods.
That money comes from insurance policy holders all over the country just as the federal aid will come from tax payers all over the county. So not only will most people get a newer and more valuable home in the end (which may in itself partially contradict the broken window theory, since an old window and a new window would have the same value) - but all the contractors and all the other people paid to rebuild and refurnish those houses will still have their money, too.
It is a perfect example of having your cake and eating it too. So while there may be a national financial hit - there will be a local financial boom, contradicting Weisenthal, but doing so for different reasons than given by Bemis.
Economists starting to assess the impact of this week's fires are pointing out that this kind of event can actually stimulate growth, perverse as that may seem. Keep in mind that the Malibu fire in 1993 destroyed 268 homes and almost all of them have been rebuilt (or the owners have rebuilt nearby). They all had to hire a contractor and buy furniture and maybe even use an interior decorator or landscape architect. All those businesses got extra revenue that they otherwise wouldn’t have gotten, which explains why you often see a jump in economic activity in the months after a fire. That's not some crazy theory - it's just the way things work.
So MarketWatch's Tom Bemis takes that prospect and suggests how the stimulus "could at least act as a brake on the housing crash." That’s probably pushing things, but it's not an altogether crazy idea - rebuilding after the 1994 earthquake provided a crucial jumpstart for an area had been mired in recession. Anyway, Dealbreaker's Joe Weisenthal calls this "one of the more ludicrous things we've ever read in our entire lives" (a ludicrous comment unto itself). He then suggests that reading about the broken window fallacy "would spare anyone from writing articles such as this." Ouch.
The broken window fallacy was the work of a guy named Frédéric Bastiat in the 1800s, and it basically refers to an action that has unintended costs attached to it. (It's used in the first chapter of Henry Hazlitt's 1946 classic, "Economics in One Lesson.") To illustrate his point, Bastiat tells the story of a shopkeeper whose window is broken by a little boy. The window has to be replaced, of course, which means there will be work for the glazier, who in turn will be able to buy bread that will benefit the baker and so on. To make a long story short (I know, too late), the fallacy is that these supposedly positive benefits are offset by the costs faced by the shopkeeper - not only for the price of the window but for lost business.
It's an interesting theory but not everyone agrees with it. And it certainly has questionable relevance in determining the economic impact from the fires. The "shopkeeper" - in this case a homeowner - isn't out the cost of a new house because much, if not all, of the rebuilding is covered by insurance. (I know, I know, he has to pay for that insurance, but he would have had to pay for that even if his house was not damaged.) Homes that were damaged but not destroyed will get a new coat of paint, new flooring or whatever, and be worth more money than before the disaster. All this economic activity won't necessarily shake up the real estate market, but it will provide for more opportunities once the market opens up, as it surely will.
First, Tom Bemis's claim that taking 1500 homes off the market in an area where one million people were evacuated will at all change the market - clearly makes little or no sense; particularly when only a comparatively few of those homes would have been on the market for sale. The point he completely misses is that there are now 1500 families suddenly in the rental or purchase market for a home who were not in the market the week before - and that will actually have some impact.
Not huge - but very real as the number of buyers will dramatically increase in each area particularly hard hit. And when a lot of homes are lost in a single school district, as was the case in Malibu in 1993, in my experience, the only way we were able to meet the demand was when many people agreed to rent out their weekend beach houses to families who needed homes.
In addition, other buyers will come into the area since it will be years before the area will have a major fire again (assuming the area is not in danger of flood, of course) and other buyers will come to the area to buy 'bargains' in the now distressed neighborhoods. And I know this because every time a fire or a flood hit Malibu - my business selling houses would boom.
Joe Weisenthal's even bigger blunder, though, is that while the broken window theory would propose a decrease in national wealth - the hundreds of millions of dollars that will flow into the pockets of Southern Californians to rebuild their houses are not coming from their neighborhoods.
That money comes from insurance policy holders all over the country just as the federal aid will come from tax payers all over the county. So not only will most people get a newer and more valuable home in the end (which may in itself partially contradict the broken window theory, since an old window and a new window would have the same value) - but all the contractors and all the other people paid to rebuild and refurnish those houses will still have their money, too.
It is a perfect example of having your cake and eating it too. So while there may be a national financial hit - there will be a local financial boom, contradicting Weisenthal, but doing so for different reasons than given by Bemis.
A Historic Day For Broadway And All Of Los Angeles!
Yesterday, after months of hearings in committees, the City of Los Angeles finally made a commitment to help restore Broadway as a center for live entertainment and – most importantly – live theater.
And that should be important to everyone in an increasingly financially precarious city. Few people in Los Angeles know that Broadway theaters alone – and not counting Off-Broadway or Off-Off-Broadway theaters – or the major Lincoln Center non-profit theaters, bring 5 billion dollars every year into the economy of New York City.
Yes, five billion dollars.
What passed was simple enough. To start a master plan to develop the infrastructure that will make Broadway once again a cultural and entertainment center for the entire city; an entertainment center that will bring major conventions to the city and fill the hotel rooms throughout the city of Los Angeles.
And bring lots of dollars into the city's treasury.
And that should be important to everyone in an increasingly financially precarious city. Few people in Los Angeles know that Broadway theaters alone – and not counting Off-Broadway or Off-Off-Broadway theaters – or the major Lincoln Center non-profit theaters, bring 5 billion dollars every year into the economy of New York City.
Yes, five billion dollars.
What passed was simple enough. To start a master plan to develop the infrastructure that will make Broadway once again a cultural and entertainment center for the entire city; an entertainment center that will bring major conventions to the city and fill the hotel rooms throughout the city of Los Angeles.
And bring lots of dollars into the city's treasury.
Reason Number 4373 Why A USC Diploma Isn't Worth The Recyled Paper Its Printed On!
It's a short post. Just go over to Kevin and read it. For a second generation Bruin, it was a wonderful belated birthday present. Even Mr. Cowboy was thoroughly amused.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Another Day - Another Demonstration! UPDATE! Demonstration now - RIOT?
UPDATE! Demonstration appears to have turned into a riot. Hit above link.
Walking down Broadway today, I saw an all too familiar sight. Two people with red-tipped canes waiting for a bus that will never come. People in wheel chairs and walkers trying to find where the buses they were waiting for have been rerouted.
And bumper to bumper cars on all the streets around Broadway as dozens of buses try to make left hand turns, making them late, and making every one on those buses miss their connections.
What I did not see - was any demonstrators. But - eventually - a handful of people will come prancing down the street.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people will have their lives disrupted as once again all bus service in the Central City area comes to a halt every time a handful of protesters decide to shut down what is possibly the single busiest bus (in number of bus lines) street in the city.
Now none of this would happened if they applied for a permit on a street that did not have dozens of bus lines that are either on that street or cross that street - but that would miss the point of the demonstration - which is to inflict as much pain as possible on the city to get the maximum amount of attention for themselves.
Private greed - versus the greater public good, and greed always wins out.
Ironically, the people who pay the price are the very people these demonstrators claim to be marching for; the poor and the working class who reply on public transit to get to work, to school and to a hospital.
Walking down Broadway today, I saw an all too familiar sight. Two people with red-tipped canes waiting for a bus that will never come. People in wheel chairs and walkers trying to find where the buses they were waiting for have been rerouted.
And bumper to bumper cars on all the streets around Broadway as dozens of buses try to make left hand turns, making them late, and making every one on those buses miss their connections.
What I did not see - was any demonstrators. But - eventually - a handful of people will come prancing down the street.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people will have their lives disrupted as once again all bus service in the Central City area comes to a halt every time a handful of protesters decide to shut down what is possibly the single busiest bus (in number of bus lines) street in the city.
Now none of this would happened if they applied for a permit on a street that did not have dozens of bus lines that are either on that street or cross that street - but that would miss the point of the demonstration - which is to inflict as much pain as possible on the city to get the maximum amount of attention for themselves.
Private greed - versus the greater public good, and greed always wins out.
Ironically, the people who pay the price are the very people these demonstrators claim to be marching for; the poor and the working class who reply on public transit to get to work, to school and to a hospital.
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