Thursday, November 29, 2012

Los Angeles Times Article on Demographic Changes On Broadway Gets Story Right at the End


While the the start of the story says the owners of the Broadway/Spring Arcade Building going after 'young, hip' residents', the real story about why Broadway is changing is buried at the end of the Los Angeles Times article.

Arcade veterans like Balbuena and Azimi wonder about what all the changes will mean to them.

On this Sunday afternoon, they go through their familiar routines, checking through the week's receipts hoping for a big day of sales. But things are quiet once again.

Shopper Jackelin Panuco, 17, walks past with her younger brother Raul. Years before, she says, her mother would bring her to the arcade to buy toys and dresses.

But this afternoon nothing catches her eye. Balbuena's electronics store doesn't have the iPod she wants.

"There's not really much to find here anymore, and it's not busy," she says as she walks out to Spring Street. "I think we're going to look somewhere else."

The non-resident teenage Latina whose mother used to bring her and her brother there to shop now says she longer finds what she needs in the stores she used to patronize.  The generation that supported the existing stores is being replaced by a younger American born generation; a generation that is looking for a shopping experience that meets their needs.

The lack of customers in the older stores is not an example of an existing demographic being pushed aside for the younger and cooler residents.  It instead demonstrates how a new generation of Latino shoppers now expects a shopping and dining experience that meets their needs - and not the needs of their parents and grand-parents.

One trend which might have been added to the story is how increasing numbers of existing store owners are now revamping what they are offering so they can bring back the generation that has been leaving Broadway as well as service the new resident population.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Hosting Visiting Family? Give Them a Historic Downtown LA Walking Tour This Weekend Or Next. Or - If You're Not Traveling for the Holiday - Travel Back to 19th & Early 20th Century Downtown Los Angeles for Your Trip!


After a two month hiatus - due to my volunteering to organize and shelve the... 100,000 one dollar books...... on the second floor LABYRINTH of The Last Bookstore....

12 hours a day 7 days a week - I am now taking 2 hours off from work Saturday and Sunday mornings to resume my original walking tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles or as it is better known...

... The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles...

Each 2 hour tour will start at 11 AM from The Last Bookstore at the Spring Arts Tower - 453 S. Spring Street at 5th and Spring - Saturday and Sunday starting this November 24th and 25th and next weekend on October 1st and 2nd and the cost is still only $15 per person.

There will also free tours of the LABYRINTH for anyone 30 minutes before and after each walking tour and then on Sundays - you will also be able to attend the Historic Downtown LA's Farmer's Market where you can have breakfast, brunch or lunch.

Plus on these tours you will not only see the historic buildings of the area...

... but also hear the long forgotten stories of those who built them and lived and worked in them.

You will learn how Los Angeles changed baseball history forever at 5th and Main and find out what Wyatt Earp was doing in Downtown La in the 1860's - and the 1920'S - and all the decades in between. You will also see the places where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles theatrical debut in 1910) - and where he shot his first film.  And if you have particular interests - let us know and we'll add some new features onto the tour.

Also on the tour will be where the first new lofts were opened, where Gallery Row and the Art Walk were started along with many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

So for reservations - either email Brady Westwater at bradywestwater@gmail.com - or call me at 213-804-8396.

Friday, November 16, 2012

What's New at The Last Bookstore in Downtown LA

Among the recent arrivals on the dollar only second floor at The Last Bookstore at 5th and Spring in Downtown Los Angeles...

... are hundreds  more book on history, dozens more on philosophy and poetry, some beautiful books on birds and birding, more basketball books to bring our inventory up to over 30, a few Eastern religion books which a lot of people have been waiting for, six hard cover novels by Robin Maugham, another 100 books on all things Jewish, another 50 books on psychology (with both sections still having well over 1,000 books each, lots more books on pets of all kinds, more books on decorating and celebrating Christmas, another 80 cook  books and thousands more since last weekend.

And remember the store - which is located in the Spring Arts Tower at 453 S. Spring - is open until 11 PM Friday and Saturday and it is also now open 9 AM to 9 PM on Sunday,.  And it is also the starting place for the two hour walking tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles every Saturday and Sunday at 11 AM..

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Two Walking Tours of Historic Downtown LA this Weekend - and Next

Discover the hidden stories of the past 200 years in Historic Downtown Los Angeles from padres and pirates to mountain men and merchants - and stage robbers and silent film stars  - and also see the 100,000 one dollar books...... in the LABYRINTH of The Last Bookstore when you go on this weekend's walking tours of Historic Downtown LA to discover...

.

... The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles...

Each of this weekend's 2 hour tour will start at 11 AM from The Last Bookstore at the Spring Arts Tower - 453 S. Spring Street at 5th and Spring - Saturday and Sunday starting this November 17th and 18th and next weekend on November 24th and 125h and the cost is still only $15 per person.

I'll also give free tours of the LABYRINTH  30 minutes before and a half-hour after each tour and on Sundays - you can enjoy the Historic Downtown LA's Farmer's Market and have breakfast, brunch or lunch.

And you will not only see the historic buildings of the area...

... but also hear the stories of those who built them and lived and worked in them.

You will also see where the Yankees became the most powerful team in baseball and visit places many of the West's wildest characters lived, worked and played.  You will also see the places that made Downtown the first Hollywood - long before the film industry existed Hollywood.

Also on the tour will be  where the first new lofts were opened, where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began..  You will see many of the new businesses  that have recently opened along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

For reservations - either email Brady Westwater at bradywestwater@gmail.com - or call me at 213-804-8396.

New GOOGLE book scanner could revolutionize access to historic research materials.

New GOOGLE designed book scanner makes scanning far easier - and quicker - according to the New York Daily News book blog - Page Views,

Google Books engineer creates the world's only cool book scanner

Want to see a really cool scanner? Wait, come back! This thing really is awesome. Created by Dany Qumsiyeh, an engineer at Google Books, this book scanning machine can scan a 1000 page novel in 90 minutes. If you don't find that impressive, then clearly you haven't spent enough time hunched over the faulty machine at the office, praying for swift deliverance. Whether admiring its practicality or ogling the ingenious design of the thing, it's well worth checking out in the video below
One great use for this device is to scan non-fiction books that are not indexed - or which have minimal or inaccurate indexes.  With the hundreds of diaries and privately printed non-indexed books on subjects I have been researching - which are mostly in difficult to access research libraries, this could allow that information
to be available on-line.

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Los Angeles Return This (and Next) Saturday and Sunday! November 10th and 11th Plus November 17th and 18th

After a two month hiatus - due to my volunteering to organize and shelve the... 100,000 one dollar books...... on the second floor LABYRINTH of The Last Bookstore....

12 hours a day 7 days a week - I am now taking 2 hours off from work Saturday and Sunday mornings to resume my original walking tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles or as it is better known...

... The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles...

Each 2 hour tour will start at 11 AM from The Last Bookstore at the Spring Arts Tower - 453 S. Spring Street at 5th and Spring - Saturday and Sunday starting this November 10th and 11th and next weekend on November 17th and 18th and the cost is still only $15 per person.

I will also be giving free tours of the LABYRINTH  a half-hour before and a half-hour after each walking tour and then on Sundays - you will also be able to attend the Historic Downtown LA's Farmer's Market where you can have breakfast, brunch or lunch.

Plus on these tours you will not only see the historic buildings of the area...

... but also hear the long forgotten stories of those who built them and lived and worked in them.

You will learn how Babe Ruth made baseball history at 5th and Main and find out why Wyatt Earp spent so much time at 5th and Spring.  You will also see the places where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910).  And you will see where O. J. bought his knife and many, many other things.

Also on the tour will be  where the first new lofts were opened, where Gallery Row and the Art Walk began and where Fashion Week returned to Downtown.  You will see many of the new boutiques, designer showrooms and stores that have recently opened in the area along with getting a sneak preview of what will soon be happening in the area.

So for reservations - either email Brady Westwater at bradywestwater@gmail.com - or call me at 213-804-8396.

Monday, November 05, 2012

Great New Design for South Part Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles


Great renderings over at Curbed LA for the new design for the new DTLA South Park Hotel that will be built next to a restored 1909 old brick hotel.  And I predict the ground level courtyard and the roof-top pool area will become two of the coolest outdoor rooms in Downtown.

First there's the unique mix of the materials in the old and the new buildings down below and then there's the pool -  built right into its own grotto - with a view of the Downtown skyline; a perfect spot for a swim on a drizzly winter night while the steam rises off of the warm water.

Sunday, November 04, 2012

The Last Bookstore Open Until 9 PM Today Sunday - and 11 PM Monday!

And among the new additions to the 100,000 books at only one dollar each on the second floor are new sections for  Los Angeles and California writers, education, books for and about gays & lesbians (fiction and non-fiction), travel writing and humor.  And THE LAST BOOKSTORE will be open at 453 S. Spring Street in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles until 9 PM this Sunday night and until 11 PM this Monday night.
 
And we also have over 1,000 books on each of the following topics: British history and literature, American history and literature, cooking, psychology, theology & religion, military history, film & theater. literature & writing in general and substantial collections of poetry, philosophy, sociology, all things African-American, gambling, sports, folklore. anthropology, biology, mathematics of all kinds, chemistry, physics, archaeology, natural history, gardening, interior decoration, pets of all kinds, science fiction, wood working, sewing & needlepoint, and Christmas (to name just a few) plus Asia, Latin America, Europe, Australia and Africa.

Saturday, November 03, 2012

Over 1,500 Books on Theology and Religion - for Only One Dollar Each!

Over 500 theology books are being shelved - right this very minute - in the One Dollar section of the second floor of the Last Bookstore in DTLA. Dating from the late 19th Century to the late 20th Century - from both British and American p
ublishers - books from three separate collections have just joined the over 1,000 books on religion and theology already in the that section. We will be open until 11 PM tonight and from 9 AM to 9 PM this Sunday.  453 S. Spring Strteet in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring.



Support Local Los Angeles Writers and Local Publishers at THE LAST BOOKSTORE Today Saturday November 3rd at 3 PM


THE INDIE SHELVES INITIATIVE LAUNCH + READINGS

When:Back to Calendar »November 3, 2012 @ 3:00 pm
We’re pleased to be announcing the launch of the Indie Shelves Initiative, a project which creates dedicated shelf space in the store for the purpose promoting the work of L.A.’s authors and independent publishing houses.  We’ve asked L.A. publishers A Barnacle BookGorsky Press, and What Books/Glass Table Collective to select works from their catalog, and we’ve enlisted movers and shakers from the literary community–Roz HelfandSuzanne LummisMike The PoeT Sonksen, and the Los Angeles Poverty Department–to pick some of their favorite reads. We hope that this project increases the visibility of independently published literature, and encourages new readers to explore the catalogs of local presses.
The project will kick off with readings from Bruce Boston (Poetry Co-editor, Poetry International), Brendan ConstantineSesshu Foster (2010 American Book Award Winner), Bernard Radfar (Rare Bird Books/A Barnacle Book),  Todd Ratcliff (Honorable Mention, 2010 Association of American Publishers PROSE Award, Cosmology and Astronomy Category), Chuck Rosenthal (What Books Press/Glass Table Collective), and Jim Ruland (Gorsky Press).
Let us know you’re coming on Facebook.