http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez22feb22,0,6772038.column?coll=la-headlines-california
Nathaniel's gradual return to society has begun and both what is happening to him and to Ernest Adams and to dozens of others each week is that there comes a time when people living on the streets are ready to come in off the streets.
But no one can make them them do this, only they can make that decision themselves.
Sometimes, though, it takes a little help.
Below is the close:
I asked if maybe Nathaniel was one of the lucky ones who seem to rebound from schizophrenia in middle age. He might be in the long run, Ragins said, but that type of recovery occurs over a much longer stretch.
Instead, he said, he thought Nathaniel's new friendships — with me, Stuart Robinson at Lamp and others — have driven his recovery."Relationship is primary," Ragins said. It doesn't have to be more than once a week, and it doesn't have to be someone with an advanced degree in therapy.
"It is possible to cause seemingly biochemical changes through human emotional involvement. You literally have changed his chemicals by being his friend."I wasn't alone on this, but his point is an important one. Mentally ill people often wear out the patience of friends and family. Unless someone else comes along to take up the slack, they can become completely untethered.
Nathaniel has a long way to go, Ragins reminded me. Acknowledging your mental illness is frightening, he said, and so is coming to grips with the lost years. It takes tremendous courage to get through the day, let alone design a new world for yourself — a world of new possibilities also presents new risks.
Don't push him into therapy right away, Ragins suggested. He advised me to remind Nathaniel of the discrepancy between the life he envisions and the hurdles that stand in the way, and gently guide him toward therapy or whatever else might help.
Just before we left his apartment, Nathaniel said it was many months ago that he first considered coming in off the streets. "When you gave me the Beethoven sonatas," he said, "it gave me the idea of living in a house for the sole purpose of having a piano and learning something from the Beethoven statue" in Pershing Square. "The Beethoven statue encourages me to carry on with the most difficult challenges of my life.
"Professionalism, courtesy and respect. I read that on a police car door."
He never disappoints.As I began to leave, Nathaniel called me back and gave me a long, firm handshake. He held me in his glance and sealed something there, too.
My smile followed his, and neither of us needed to say a thing.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Los Angeles Times Publisher's Forum On Homelessness
What a difference a year makes!
Last night Los Angeles Times Publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson hosted the first of a series of forums on the critical issues facing Los Angeles. The problems of the homeless on Skid Row - and other parts of our community - was the lead-off topic.
Now most talking heads panels are a waste of time and deadly dull. So imagine my surprise when the each speaker and each panelist discussed real world solutions to this problem and also brought relevant facts and figures to the audience.
As for who they were and what they have to say, I will link to other people on that topic for the moment as this is a subject I will be going into in much greater detail future posts and articles published elsewhere.
What I do want to address now are the beginnings of major change at the culture of the LA Times, starting with the new publisher.
When I first him speak last year, I was surprised by the passion he seemed to have developed for his new home and I felt that could auger well of Los Angeles. And in the short period he has been here, the focus of the LA Times has once again - more and more - become... Los Angeles. And last night I was struck by the deep concern he has for his subject and it is clear this is an issue that is not going to be a seven day wonder or just a series of articles to get some prizes.
Now as for Johnson's butchering the Mayor's name in his opening remarks (for which I expect he will get a lot of blogger grief this morning), I myself never even attempt to pronounce his name in public - I just call him the Mayor or refer to him by his first name.
The next speaker with LA Times Editor Andres Martinez, who now heads the finest editorial page in the county about which I will talk more later, and he expertly questioned the panelists, starting with Steve Lopez who properly deflected much of the praise of the LAT's coverage to his colleagues at the paper, particularly Cara Mia Massa and Steve Winton.
Steve also graciously mention me - to considerable laughter as he mentioned that my writings about him have not always been completely favorable in the now distant past - as he recounted his own personal efforts at getting Nathaniel and now Ernest Adams off the street and how much each of these two gentleman have taught us both.
I might add that my name badge for the evening rather than my normal Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood affiliation - read - LA COWBOY - to the quite vocal amusement of everyone at the Times who read it.
Much more later, but right now I am late for a meeting on Project YIMBY at PATH and then have an appointment with a gentleman enrolling in a drug clinic...
http://blogging.la/archives/2006/02/live_on_tape_blogging_of_the_l_1.phtml
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/02/first_thing_wednesday_215.html
Last night Los Angeles Times Publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson hosted the first of a series of forums on the critical issues facing Los Angeles. The problems of the homeless on Skid Row - and other parts of our community - was the lead-off topic.
Now most talking heads panels are a waste of time and deadly dull. So imagine my surprise when the each speaker and each panelist discussed real world solutions to this problem and also brought relevant facts and figures to the audience.
As for who they were and what they have to say, I will link to other people on that topic for the moment as this is a subject I will be going into in much greater detail future posts and articles published elsewhere.
What I do want to address now are the beginnings of major change at the culture of the LA Times, starting with the new publisher.
When I first him speak last year, I was surprised by the passion he seemed to have developed for his new home and I felt that could auger well of Los Angeles. And in the short period he has been here, the focus of the LA Times has once again - more and more - become... Los Angeles. And last night I was struck by the deep concern he has for his subject and it is clear this is an issue that is not going to be a seven day wonder or just a series of articles to get some prizes.
Now as for Johnson's butchering the Mayor's name in his opening remarks (for which I expect he will get a lot of blogger grief this morning), I myself never even attempt to pronounce his name in public - I just call him the Mayor or refer to him by his first name.
The next speaker with LA Times Editor Andres Martinez, who now heads the finest editorial page in the county about which I will talk more later, and he expertly questioned the panelists, starting with Steve Lopez who properly deflected much of the praise of the LAT's coverage to his colleagues at the paper, particularly Cara Mia Massa and Steve Winton.
Steve also graciously mention me - to considerable laughter as he mentioned that my writings about him have not always been completely favorable in the now distant past - as he recounted his own personal efforts at getting Nathaniel and now Ernest Adams off the street and how much each of these two gentleman have taught us both.
I might add that my name badge for the evening rather than my normal Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood affiliation - read - LA COWBOY - to the quite vocal amusement of everyone at the Times who read it.
Much more later, but right now I am late for a meeting on Project YIMBY at PATH and then have an appointment with a gentleman enrolling in a drug clinic...
http://blogging.la/archives/2006/02/live_on_tape_blogging_of_the_l_1.phtml
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/02/first_thing_wednesday_215.html
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Correcting The Corrections Day At The Los Angeles Times!
If at first you don't succeed....
Solar subsidy plan — An article in the Jan. 13 Business section about California's new solar energy program cited past and new subsidy amounts "per megawatt" of production capacity; a correction Jan. 14 referred to subsidies "per kilowatt." The numbers cited should have been stated as the subsidies paid "per watt."
And...
Washington lobbying — A Monday correction dealing with a Feb. 8 Section A article on a lobbyist's ties to Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy) said the House had held hearings on a mining reform provision backed by Pombo but had not debated it on the House floor. A House member held hearings on mining reform in general, but not on the provision.
Plus under this is way too much information category....
Enron trial — An article in Friday's Business section about the trial of two former Enron Corp. executives said attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli wore Chocolat cologne, based on his own account. Petrocelli, who is representing former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling, said Monday that he was mistaken and that the cologne was Tabac.
Solar subsidy plan — An article in the Jan. 13 Business section about California's new solar energy program cited past and new subsidy amounts "per megawatt" of production capacity; a correction Jan. 14 referred to subsidies "per kilowatt." The numbers cited should have been stated as the subsidies paid "per watt."
And...
Washington lobbying — A Monday correction dealing with a Feb. 8 Section A article on a lobbyist's ties to Rep. Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy) said the House had held hearings on a mining reform provision backed by Pombo but had not debated it on the House floor. A House member held hearings on mining reform in general, but not on the provision.
Plus under this is way too much information category....
Enron trial — An article in Friday's Business section about the trial of two former Enron Corp. executives said attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli wore Chocolat cologne, based on his own account. Petrocelli, who is representing former Enron Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling, said Monday that he was mistaken and that the cologne was Tabac.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Job Number One At Tribune Company - Fixing The LA Times!
Courtesy of Romensko, is the below article in Crain's Chicago Business. It describes the Tribune's frustration with the rapidly declining circulation and advertising revenues of its biggest paper - the Los Angeles Times.
Ironically, just when the Times has begun to actually cover... Los Angeles... and fixing many of its weaknesses, those of us who have been critical and were prepared to start cheering on the Times are now confronted with the disastrous new LA Times Magazine - WEST; a publication that so totally misses the mark in every conceivable way- from design to content - that it seems to be specifically created to drive away any readers who might otherwise be tempted to re-subscribe to the Times.
More on that later, but here are some quotes from the article:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19508
Tribune Chairman and CEO Dennis J. FitzSimons faces no bigger task in reversing his company's long slide than repairing its flagship newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.Circulation and advertising at the Times, which account for nearly 20% of the Chicago-based media conglomerate's total revenue, have fallen sharply since Tribune acquired it in 2000.
Now, Mr. FitzSimons and his L.A. management team — the second Tribune has installed there since the $8-billion Times Mirror Co. merger — need to find a solution before Wall Street loses patience."They've been throwing anything they can think of at that paper and nothing seems to work," says media analyst Edward J. Atorino of New York-based Benchmark & Co. "Wall Street likes the company, and we love Dennis, but if results don't start improving . . . it's going to be merciless."
For Tribune executives, the Los Angeles problem is "critical, and it's the most troubling kink in the turnaround story," says Eric McKissack, CEO of Chicago-based Channing Capital Management LLC, which holds more than 600,000 Tribune shares. "It'll be very difficult to turn the company around without turning the Times around."While the Chicago Tribune has suffered circulation and ad declines, its losses have been smaller.
Total ad lineage at the Tribune was flat during 2005, and weekday circulation during the six months ended Sept. 30 dropped 2.5% compared to the year-earlier period.
And...
"Well, it's six years later, and I think they're beginning to understand why Times Mirror couldn't figure it out."In July, Tribune installed a new management team in L.A., headed by Publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson, a Tribune veteran. He has continued aggressive staff and cost cuts, reportedly lopping off 8% of editorial department jobs and replacing much of its ad sales staff. The paper also announced some key editorial changes, eliminating the critically acclaimed Outdoors section because of a lack of advertising and relaunching its Sunday magazine as an upscale title called West.
But those moves have yet to improve results — or even stem declines. On a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts, Tribune Publishing President Scott Smith said the pace of advertising revenue growth in L.A. slowed in the first nine months of 2005 and declined 3% during the fourth quarter, when total ad lineage dropped nearly 13%. (He didn't provide specific numbers.) Mr. Smith blamed the declines on a few troubling categories, particularly movie advertising, which analysts estimate accounts for between 10% and 15% of the Times' total, compared with 6% for Tribune's entire newspaper group.
And...
"Our ad revenues grew 8% last year and our movie category grew, too," says LA Weekly Publisher Beth Sestanovich, a former advertising director at the Times. "We've got a lot of advertisers defecting from (the Times) and sending a piece of what they were spending there to us."
Ms. Sestanovich attributes the Times' advertising problems to ad rates that have become more expensive relative to the Times' sinking circulation. Ad buyer Kathy Gardner of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Palisades Media Group shares those pricing concerns: "I don't think the circulation justifies what they charge.
The circulation story isn't much happier. The Times' declines have outpaced those seen at local rivals the Orange County Register and the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Weekday and Sunday circulation numbers at the Times have dropped about 9% since 2003, despite an industry-leading 10 Pulitzer Prizes during that time...
The good news is that despite all the cuts since last July - almost all the good news from the Times in its actually covering... Los Angeles... has come since Jeffrey M. Johnson came on board last July.
So I assume the train wreck called WEST Magazine was sent speeding down the tracks long before his tenure and - hopefully - he will either quickly pull the plug or take the drastic steps necessary to fix it.
Ironically, just when the Times has begun to actually cover... Los Angeles... and fixing many of its weaknesses, those of us who have been critical and were prepared to start cheering on the Times are now confronted with the disastrous new LA Times Magazine - WEST; a publication that so totally misses the mark in every conceivable way- from design to content - that it seems to be specifically created to drive away any readers who might otherwise be tempted to re-subscribe to the Times.
More on that later, but here are some quotes from the article:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=19508
Tribune Chairman and CEO Dennis J. FitzSimons faces no bigger task in reversing his company's long slide than repairing its flagship newspaper, the Los Angeles Times.Circulation and advertising at the Times, which account for nearly 20% of the Chicago-based media conglomerate's total revenue, have fallen sharply since Tribune acquired it in 2000.
Now, Mr. FitzSimons and his L.A. management team — the second Tribune has installed there since the $8-billion Times Mirror Co. merger — need to find a solution before Wall Street loses patience."They've been throwing anything they can think of at that paper and nothing seems to work," says media analyst Edward J. Atorino of New York-based Benchmark & Co. "Wall Street likes the company, and we love Dennis, but if results don't start improving . . . it's going to be merciless."
For Tribune executives, the Los Angeles problem is "critical, and it's the most troubling kink in the turnaround story," says Eric McKissack, CEO of Chicago-based Channing Capital Management LLC, which holds more than 600,000 Tribune shares. "It'll be very difficult to turn the company around without turning the Times around."While the Chicago Tribune has suffered circulation and ad declines, its losses have been smaller.
Total ad lineage at the Tribune was flat during 2005, and weekday circulation during the six months ended Sept. 30 dropped 2.5% compared to the year-earlier period.
And...
"Well, it's six years later, and I think they're beginning to understand why Times Mirror couldn't figure it out."In July, Tribune installed a new management team in L.A., headed by Publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson, a Tribune veteran. He has continued aggressive staff and cost cuts, reportedly lopping off 8% of editorial department jobs and replacing much of its ad sales staff. The paper also announced some key editorial changes, eliminating the critically acclaimed Outdoors section because of a lack of advertising and relaunching its Sunday magazine as an upscale title called West.
But those moves have yet to improve results — or even stem declines. On a recent conference call with Wall Street analysts, Tribune Publishing President Scott Smith said the pace of advertising revenue growth in L.A. slowed in the first nine months of 2005 and declined 3% during the fourth quarter, when total ad lineage dropped nearly 13%. (He didn't provide specific numbers.) Mr. Smith blamed the declines on a few troubling categories, particularly movie advertising, which analysts estimate accounts for between 10% and 15% of the Times' total, compared with 6% for Tribune's entire newspaper group.
And...
"Our ad revenues grew 8% last year and our movie category grew, too," says LA Weekly Publisher Beth Sestanovich, a former advertising director at the Times. "We've got a lot of advertisers defecting from (the Times) and sending a piece of what they were spending there to us."
Ms. Sestanovich attributes the Times' advertising problems to ad rates that have become more expensive relative to the Times' sinking circulation. Ad buyer Kathy Gardner of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Palisades Media Group shares those pricing concerns: "I don't think the circulation justifies what they charge.
The circulation story isn't much happier. The Times' declines have outpaced those seen at local rivals the Orange County Register and the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Weekday and Sunday circulation numbers at the Times have dropped about 9% since 2003, despite an industry-leading 10 Pulitzer Prizes during that time...
The good news is that despite all the cuts since last July - almost all the good news from the Times in its actually covering... Los Angeles... has come since Jeffrey M. Johnson came on board last July.
So I assume the train wreck called WEST Magazine was sent speeding down the tracks long before his tenure and - hopefully - he will either quickly pull the plug or take the drastic steps necessary to fix it.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Why I Live In Downtown Los Angeles....
At last night's Create-Fixate art opening/party in the Spring Arts Tower, I reminiscenced with one artist about the glory days of Buenos Aires and with another person about a particularly infamous/famous brothel in the Recoleta section of the same city. I also spoke with a collector about an equally famous infamous street (for other reasons) on the outskirts of Beirut in the early 1970's, with a lady from Slovenia about hanging with the artist collective IRWIN in the East Village in the late 1980's and the early 1990's, with another lady about theater in London in the 1990's and with all of them - and quite a few others - on why they are all now living or working - or both - in Downtown Los Angeles.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Speaking of Corrections --
When one considers that the Los Angeles Times has yet to correct Mike Davis' lie about the San Francisco housing market, the fabricated quotes in the LA Times Magazine article on Wyatt Earp and their getting every possible fact wrong in the Katrina/San Francisco earthquake editorial - plus the hundred other blatant but still uncorrected factual errors of just the past year - I am always amused at the minor details that the Times does see fit to correct...
Reiner novel — An item in the Words listings in Thursday's Calendar Weekend previewing a book reading by Carl Reiner at the Skirball Cultural Center on Feb. 16 misspelled the title of Reiner's latest novel. It is "NNNNN," not "NNNN."
Ganesha High — The two photographs that ran with the article on Pomona's Ganesha High School in Friday's California section were portraits of students taken after class, not during a class presentation as the captions stated.
Reiner novel — An item in the Words listings in Thursday's Calendar Weekend previewing a book reading by Carl Reiner at the Skirball Cultural Center on Feb. 16 misspelled the title of Reiner's latest novel. It is "NNNNN," not "NNNN."
Ganesha High — The two photographs that ran with the article on Pomona's Ganesha High School in Friday's California section were portraits of students taken after class, not during a class presentation as the captions stated.
Does At Anyone At The LA Times Corrections Page Ever Read the... Corrections Page?
For at least the tenth time in the past year, an article about 'corrections' - i.e., the penal system - appears on the Corrections Page. Now granted this error is computer generating, but seeing as the Corrections Page is generally updated only ONCE a day - how hard would it be for someone - anyone - to bother to read the page after it is posted to see if the corrections are actually ... correct?
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/corrections/
UPDATE!
It's now almost 4 PM - and the corrections article is still on the Corrections Page since last night. Mistakes on one thing (hell - even I made one.... once), but for no one at the Times to bother even to even look at the website to proof read it is embarrassing.
NOW ALMOST MIDNIGHT --
And still not fixed...
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/corrections/
UPDATE!
It's now almost 4 PM - and the corrections article is still on the Corrections Page since last night. Mistakes on one thing (hell - even I made one.... once), but for no one at the Times to bother even to even look at the website to proof read it is embarrassing.
NOW ALMOST MIDNIGHT --
And still not fixed...
Thursday, February 09, 2006
MUNITZ RESIGNS FROM GETTY?????
That's what a tipster tells me!
To all Getty Staff: I wanted to let you know before we send out our news release that the Board of Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust will announce today that Dr. Barry Munitz, president and CEO for the past eight years, has decided to resign, effective immediately. He indicated that he made this decision after lengthy consideration so both the Getty and he can move forward. THANK GOD!!!!(I feel like singing a round of "Ding dong the witch is dead...")
--Posted by Anonymous to LA Cowboy at 2/09/2006 06:53:17 PM\n",0]
To all Getty Staff: I wanted to let you know before we send out our news release that the Board of Trustees of the J. Paul Getty Trust will announce today that Dr. Barry Munitz, president and CEO for the past eight years, has decided to resign, effective immediately. He indicated that he made this decision after lengthy consideration so both the Getty and he can move forward. THANK GOD!!!!(I feel like singing a round of "Ding dong the witch is dead...")
--Posted by Anonymous to LA Cowboy at 2/09/2006 06:53:17 PM\n",0]
Duplicating Dromedary Daguerreotype** Development!
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/2283051.html?showAll=y&c=y
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/02/first_thing_thursday_2906_1.html
As seen in my previous post...
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7182022&postID=113925729519263444
.... responding to a post a LAOBSERVED, the unique image of camel in Wilmington - as opposed to the mislabeled San Pedro - have all come from one original image which may - may - now be about to be in the hands of the Drum Barracks Museum in Wilmington:
A camel is returning to Wilmington museum
Director spends $4,569 on e-Bay for Civil War-era photograph showing the beast of burden outside the Drum Barracks.
Josh Grossberg Daily Breeze
Where it's been the past 143 years, nobody knows. But a rare Civil War picture that proves camels once served in the U.S. Army is finally heading home to the place it was first photographed: the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum in Wilmington.
"I found out about it the minute it went on eBay," Ogle said. "I got six phone calls the first day. 'Have you seen? Have you seen?' "
The picture didn't come cheap. Competition was stiff and late bidding pushed the selling price to $4,569.63. But Ogle said it was worth it.
The image itself is well known around town. A copy already resides in the Drum Barracks, and versions of it also exist at USC, the Los Angeles Public Library and the Huntington Library. But the one Ogle bought may be the one all the others were copied from, making it both historically and aesthetically important.
"If you've ever looked at these old pictures, they have a unique quality to them," Ogle said. "There is a depth and richness to the print. It's like looking at a print of the Mona Lisa and then at the original. It's two different things."
Ogle, who has a master's degree in art history with a concentration in photography, won't know for sure until she examines the photo. But she said the seller is reputable and she has three days to return the photograph if it turns out to be a copy.
"I won't know until I get my hands on it," she said. "But from what I've seen (all the others) look retouched. The eBay one doesn't look retouched. We have to compare the images and try to see what came from where. All these little strings will pull together."
The grainy, splotched, black-and-white image measures a scant 4 ¼ by 2½ inches. But when museum director Susan Ogle heard it was being sold on an Internet auction site, she knew she had to have it.
And...
After moving around a bit, three dozen wound up at the Drum Barracks in early 1862. They left a little more than a year later and were auctioned off to private parties.
The back of the photo incorrectly identifies the location as "quartermaster department, San Pedro." And it was once in a collection owned by photographer C.C. Pierce, who claimed to have taken it, but he didn't arrive in Southern California until years after the camels left.
"He would copy negatives and would publish them," said Jennifer Watts, curator of photographs at the Huntington Library.
Ogle believes the image was probably not taken by a professional.
"I'm thinking it's a good possibility it was taken by a military photographer, but we don't have any information anywhere that nails the photographer down."
As far as spending thousands of dollars for the image, Watts said it was money well spent.
"Given what it is and in terms of the unusual subject matter and the early date of the image, that's quite reasonable," she said. "You get to see if someone made alterations to the negative at the time or if things have been cropped out over the years."
Los Angeles historian Brady Westwater did his own research on the image. He said that even though he has books with the picture in it, he'd love to have the original.
"If it's the only Civil War camel photo around, you want to own that," he said. "If I had the money, I would have bought it."
The great news is that if the photo is THE original - it is now in a local museum. And this will give local historians a chance to compare all the various images - now that we all know who has all the various versions - to see which is the original and also how the image has been retouched over the years.
As for the article saying that Pierce claimed to have taken the photo, I suspect that came from a library saying it is from the Pierce collection as I doubt Pierce would have claimed to have taken a photo that was taken over twenty years before he arrived in Los Angeles.
Hopefully, though, now that too can be corrected when the photo arrives in Wilmington and it can be verified if it is the original and if all the other prints have been made from it
The article also clarifies that the photo might not have been taken in 1865 as was stated in Robinson's TICOR book - Panorama - that I quoted from as the camels were only in Wilmington from 1862 - 1863 unless of course - one camel remained behind. And I have read stories about what people who bought the camels later did with them so that would seem to preclude any of them being left behind in Wilmington. But as just one camel was in photo, that possibility can not be totally foreclosed upon.
** Read the comments section to find out what kind of photograph this really is....
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/02/first_thing_thursday_2906_1.html
As seen in my previous post...
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7182022&postID=113925729519263444
.... responding to a post a LAOBSERVED, the unique image of camel in Wilmington - as opposed to the mislabeled San Pedro - have all come from one original image which may - may - now be about to be in the hands of the Drum Barracks Museum in Wilmington:
A camel is returning to Wilmington museum
Director spends $4,569 on e-Bay for Civil War-era photograph showing the beast of burden outside the Drum Barracks.
Josh Grossberg Daily Breeze
Where it's been the past 143 years, nobody knows. But a rare Civil War picture that proves camels once served in the U.S. Army is finally heading home to the place it was first photographed: the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum in Wilmington.
"I found out about it the minute it went on eBay," Ogle said. "I got six phone calls the first day. 'Have you seen? Have you seen?' "
The picture didn't come cheap. Competition was stiff and late bidding pushed the selling price to $4,569.63. But Ogle said it was worth it.
The image itself is well known around town. A copy already resides in the Drum Barracks, and versions of it also exist at USC, the Los Angeles Public Library and the Huntington Library. But the one Ogle bought may be the one all the others were copied from, making it both historically and aesthetically important.
"If you've ever looked at these old pictures, they have a unique quality to them," Ogle said. "There is a depth and richness to the print. It's like looking at a print of the Mona Lisa and then at the original. It's two different things."
Ogle, who has a master's degree in art history with a concentration in photography, won't know for sure until she examines the photo. But she said the seller is reputable and she has three days to return the photograph if it turns out to be a copy.
"I won't know until I get my hands on it," she said. "But from what I've seen (all the others) look retouched. The eBay one doesn't look retouched. We have to compare the images and try to see what came from where. All these little strings will pull together."
The grainy, splotched, black-and-white image measures a scant 4 ¼ by 2½ inches. But when museum director Susan Ogle heard it was being sold on an Internet auction site, she knew she had to have it.
And...
After moving around a bit, three dozen wound up at the Drum Barracks in early 1862. They left a little more than a year later and were auctioned off to private parties.
The back of the photo incorrectly identifies the location as "quartermaster department, San Pedro." And it was once in a collection owned by photographer C.C. Pierce, who claimed to have taken it, but he didn't arrive in Southern California until years after the camels left.
"He would copy negatives and would publish them," said Jennifer Watts, curator of photographs at the Huntington Library.
Ogle believes the image was probably not taken by a professional.
"I'm thinking it's a good possibility it was taken by a military photographer, but we don't have any information anywhere that nails the photographer down."
As far as spending thousands of dollars for the image, Watts said it was money well spent.
"Given what it is and in terms of the unusual subject matter and the early date of the image, that's quite reasonable," she said. "You get to see if someone made alterations to the negative at the time or if things have been cropped out over the years."
Los Angeles historian Brady Westwater did his own research on the image. He said that even though he has books with the picture in it, he'd love to have the original.
"If it's the only Civil War camel photo around, you want to own that," he said. "If I had the money, I would have bought it."
The great news is that if the photo is THE original - it is now in a local museum. And this will give local historians a chance to compare all the various images - now that we all know who has all the various versions - to see which is the original and also how the image has been retouched over the years.
As for the article saying that Pierce claimed to have taken the photo, I suspect that came from a library saying it is from the Pierce collection as I doubt Pierce would have claimed to have taken a photo that was taken over twenty years before he arrived in Los Angeles.
Hopefully, though, now that too can be corrected when the photo arrives in Wilmington and it can be verified if it is the original and if all the other prints have been made from it
The article also clarifies that the photo might not have been taken in 1865 as was stated in Robinson's TICOR book - Panorama - that I quoted from as the camels were only in Wilmington from 1862 - 1863 unless of course - one camel remained behind. And I have read stories about what people who bought the camels later did with them so that would seem to preclude any of them being left behind in Wilmington. But as just one camel was in photo, that possibility can not be totally foreclosed upon.
** Read the comments section to find out what kind of photograph this really is....
Monday, February 06, 2006
Confounding Camel Confusion! EBAY Camel In 'San Pedro' Photos Multiplying Like... Rabbits!!
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/02/baca_has_a_problem.html
When LA OBSERVED linked to the 'unique' camel photo from c. 1863 - which was taken in Wilmington and not San Pedro - I thought it looked familiar. I quickly found it in W. W. Robinson's 1953 book - PANORAMA. And every detail down to the shadows is identical in each image, though the book's image appears to be a clearer print and it is dated 1865, and not c. 1863.
Then checking back with LAO, Kevin now links to that same photo at the LA Library collection, crediting it as C. C. Pierce image.
And it is from the pioneer photographer C. C. Pierce's Collection part of was sold to the Huntington Library but the bulk of it - including this image - was then later sold to the Title Insurance Company. The TI collection was still later donated to the USC Library. The image, though, was not taken by Pierce, though, as he arrived in LA in 1886, but he did buy many earlier collections.
UPDATE -
Finally followed Kevin's link to LA Public Library and it does credit the same photo as the one on the eBay site - which APPEARS - to be less clear of a print than the one in the Robinson book. But the TI collection is now at the USC library and not the LAPL collection. Are there THREE prints out there?
UPDATE -
While TI collection was never acquired by the LAPL - the LAPL did independently acquire 3,000 prints from the Pierce Collection. Now if they were originals, or copies made from the TI collection of negatives of photos taken by Pierce - which the camel was not - I do not know.
UPDATE -
Finally found image at California Historial Military Museum the eBAY seller referred to - and it appears to be same image once in the TI collection and it does appear to be possibly somewhat retouched to make the camel image (and the men standing by the camel) clearer, but equally as likely may not be retouched.
But this photo is credited to a private person, Herbert M. Hart, and not TI or any library. Is it a fourth image?
http://www.militarymuseum.org/DrumBks.html
http://www.lapl.org/catalog/photo_collectioninfo.html
When LA OBSERVED linked to the 'unique' camel photo from c. 1863 - which was taken in Wilmington and not San Pedro - I thought it looked familiar. I quickly found it in W. W. Robinson's 1953 book - PANORAMA. And every detail down to the shadows is identical in each image, though the book's image appears to be a clearer print and it is dated 1865, and not c. 1863.
Then checking back with LAO, Kevin now links to that same photo at the LA Library collection, crediting it as C. C. Pierce image.
And it is from the pioneer photographer C. C. Pierce's Collection part of was sold to the Huntington Library but the bulk of it - including this image - was then later sold to the Title Insurance Company. The TI collection was still later donated to the USC Library. The image, though, was not taken by Pierce, though, as he arrived in LA in 1886, but he did buy many earlier collections.
UPDATE -
Finally followed Kevin's link to LA Public Library and it does credit the same photo as the one on the eBay site - which APPEARS - to be less clear of a print than the one in the Robinson book. But the TI collection is now at the USC library and not the LAPL collection. Are there THREE prints out there?
UPDATE -
While TI collection was never acquired by the LAPL - the LAPL did independently acquire 3,000 prints from the Pierce Collection. Now if they were originals, or copies made from the TI collection of negatives of photos taken by Pierce - which the camel was not - I do not know.
UPDATE -
Finally found image at California Historial Military Museum the eBAY seller referred to - and it appears to be same image once in the TI collection and it does appear to be possibly somewhat retouched to make the camel image (and the men standing by the camel) clearer, but equally as likely may not be retouched.
But this photo is credited to a private person, Herbert M. Hart, and not TI or any library. Is it a fourth image?
http://www.militarymuseum.org/DrumBks.html
http://www.lapl.org/catalog/photo_collectioninfo.html
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Nathaniel Comes Home!
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-lopez5feb05,1,3496297,print.column?coll=la-story-footer
More on this later, other than to say that Lopez gives more me credit than I deserve and gives himself far less credit than he deserves.
More on this later, other than to say that Lopez gives more me credit than I deserve and gives himself far less credit than he deserves.
Senior Lead Officer Kathy McAnany Makes New York Times!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/arts/dance/05kine.html?pagewanted=all
All Units, We've Got Cops Dancing at the Academy
By ERIKA KINETZ
LOS ANGELES - In six years with the Los Angeles Police Department, Officer Mike Fernandez has seen many things. Modern dance, not surprisingly, is not among them. "I've seen guys' arms blown off with AK-47's," he said. "I've seen kids molested to where they can't walk."
He and his partner, Officer Kathy McAnany, were cruising past the dirty hotels with half-lighted neon signs at the heart of downtown here. They watched as sprightly men in wheelchairs (who were probably sitting on weapons or drugs, Officer McAnany said) and women with no front teeth watched them.
"I did see the original cast of 'A Chorus Line' a million years ago," Officer McAnany said.
Souls audacious enough to consider dance and the Los Angeles Police Department in the same breath are most likely to level a single, rough judgment: incompatible.
But Heidi Duckler, the artistic director of Collage Dance Theater, a multidisciplinary performance group based here, thought differently. Her newest work, "C'opera," is a piece for seven dancers, one singer, one actor, three musicians and a number of special guests from the Los Angeles Police Department. Performances run from Thursday through Feb. 19 at the Los Angeles Police Academy in Elysian Park, about 10 minutes from downtown.
The article is an amusing look at the intersection or, more properly, the almost complete lack of an intersection between two contrasting cultures. But the more interesting part of the article is the part that talks about what it is like to be a police officer down here on the Nickel...
Officer Fernandez said he would see "C'opera," schedule permitting. Officer McAnany said she would be out of town. Dance was really the last thing on her mind. She had been up since 4 ahoy and had a number of pressing issues to consider, first among them finding Lionel Johnson, 54, a place to sleep.
Mr. Johnson had just been ejected from the hotel where he had lived for eight years, and the sum of his earthly possessions spilled forth from five large garbage bags at his feet. "If we leave that guy on the street, he will get killed," said Officer McAnany, who managed to negotiate a bed for him before sundown.
The one overtly artistic moment of her day came at dinner. "I want to 'Be an Artist,' " she said, reading from a pizza menu. "I'll make my own pizza: mushrooms, olives, garlic, anchovies, pepperoni. And a Sprite."
The last time I saw Kathy was a little before 3 AM one morning a few days ago as I was dropped off the latest flier of a missing woman around Skid Row. Kathy had just signed off after an 18 hour shift and she was heading home and I was the very last person on this planet she wanted to see. But she still did look at the picture and said she had not seen her.
The point is that the above paragraph from the New York Times tells the truth what is is like to be a police officer or any other kind of worker down here on Skid Row. Half your job is doing your job you are paid to do - the other half is being a social worker.
And few do both those jobs better than the LAPD officers and the BID security forces whose job it is to keep the peace on the streets of Skid Row.
UPDATE!
LAOBSERVED also observed this article...
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/02/weekend_shorts_10.html
All Units, We've Got Cops Dancing at the Academy
By ERIKA KINETZ
LOS ANGELES - In six years with the Los Angeles Police Department, Officer Mike Fernandez has seen many things. Modern dance, not surprisingly, is not among them. "I've seen guys' arms blown off with AK-47's," he said. "I've seen kids molested to where they can't walk."
He and his partner, Officer Kathy McAnany, were cruising past the dirty hotels with half-lighted neon signs at the heart of downtown here. They watched as sprightly men in wheelchairs (who were probably sitting on weapons or drugs, Officer McAnany said) and women with no front teeth watched them.
"I did see the original cast of 'A Chorus Line' a million years ago," Officer McAnany said.
Souls audacious enough to consider dance and the Los Angeles Police Department in the same breath are most likely to level a single, rough judgment: incompatible.
But Heidi Duckler, the artistic director of Collage Dance Theater, a multidisciplinary performance group based here, thought differently. Her newest work, "C'opera," is a piece for seven dancers, one singer, one actor, three musicians and a number of special guests from the Los Angeles Police Department. Performances run from Thursday through Feb. 19 at the Los Angeles Police Academy in Elysian Park, about 10 minutes from downtown.
The article is an amusing look at the intersection or, more properly, the almost complete lack of an intersection between two contrasting cultures. But the more interesting part of the article is the part that talks about what it is like to be a police officer down here on the Nickel...
Officer Fernandez said he would see "C'opera," schedule permitting. Officer McAnany said she would be out of town. Dance was really the last thing on her mind. She had been up since 4 ahoy and had a number of pressing issues to consider, first among them finding Lionel Johnson, 54, a place to sleep.
Mr. Johnson had just been ejected from the hotel where he had lived for eight years, and the sum of his earthly possessions spilled forth from five large garbage bags at his feet. "If we leave that guy on the street, he will get killed," said Officer McAnany, who managed to negotiate a bed for him before sundown.
The one overtly artistic moment of her day came at dinner. "I want to 'Be an Artist,' " she said, reading from a pizza menu. "I'll make my own pizza: mushrooms, olives, garlic, anchovies, pepperoni. And a Sprite."
The last time I saw Kathy was a little before 3 AM one morning a few days ago as I was dropped off the latest flier of a missing woman around Skid Row. Kathy had just signed off after an 18 hour shift and she was heading home and I was the very last person on this planet she wanted to see. But she still did look at the picture and said she had not seen her.
The point is that the above paragraph from the New York Times tells the truth what is is like to be a police officer or any other kind of worker down here on Skid Row. Half your job is doing your job you are paid to do - the other half is being a social worker.
And few do both those jobs better than the LAPD officers and the BID security forces whose job it is to keep the peace on the streets of Skid Row.
UPDATE!
LAOBSERVED also observed this article...
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/02/weekend_shorts_10.html
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Brilliant Christopher Knight Article In LA Times On Getty Museum Future!
It's getting kind of scary. Almost daily the LA Times has articles about... Los Angeles. It's as if Martians have landed and taken over the LA Times.
OK - now for Knight's article. First read it. Then read my take on... his take.
http://www.calendarlive.com/galleriesandmuseums/cl-ca-getty5feb05,0,2335413.story?coll=cl-home-more-channels
To begin with, Knight says the Getty now has two secluded tourist attractions and that they are separated from the daily rhythm of the city's urban fabric.
However, I don't feel this is necessarily a bad thing. We may not daily visit these places, but we now have two magnificent groupings of buildings complete with bucolic gardens and spectacular views and art collections; two unique escapes and respites from urban LA that are within the city.
Now for the first of Knight's five ideas on reforming the Getty. He feels the photo collection needs to be in a more visitor friendly location for several excellent reasons. What he does not say is since the Getty Center's building permit's restrictions prevent even a single square foot being added to the main campus, any new building for that collection has to be built off-site.
He suggests two sites and Grand Avenue is by far the better of the two locations. The problem, though, is that with the existing plans for Grand Avenue and the price of the land, it might be hard to fit the Getty in. Plus there is the pesky problem of what to do with MOCA since despite its two buildings - it still has no room for a serious permanent collection and barely enough room for the traveling and MOCA originated shows. So if there is going to be room for only one museum - it needs to be MOCA.
Additionally, MOCA does wish to expand along the Grand corridor, but it does not have the money to buy the land - and, additionally, raising the necessary funds will not be easy with so many competing capital campaigns for cultural and educational institutions.
So we need to find (essentially) free land for both, to develop a businesses plan to help finance the new buildings - and to find a way to have both institutions to expand within easy walking distance of Grand Avenue.
Now those of you who have attended my walking tours of Grand Avenue over the years know that the DWP Building(across from the Music Center) is surrounded by acres and acres of parking lots, parking garages and hillsides - along with a lengthy access road. You also know that this property runs all the way down to Figueroa from Hope Street.
This is the unspoken for site in the areas that contains acres and acres of unused or highly underutilized land. Plus the topography of this land can easily allow for far over a million square feet of new buildings WITHOUT obstructing the view from the wrap around terraces of the DWP building which are now the second greatest public space in LA since the Getty Museum was built.
So now we have the land. And I can already see a Pei styled Louver entry directly across from Disney Hall as the entrance of a sprawling megastructure wrapped around the DWP - all the way down to Figueroa and then over to Temple on three sides of the existing DWP Building. I can also see a hotel, shops, restaurants, art galleries and condos that would help pay for two museum's construction costs - along with added office space to cover future DWP's office needs, some of which might even be developed by the project developers in payment for the land.
Knight's second idea - which I can only hope is a joke - is to use an increase in the art buying budget - which is really just a return to previous way too low levels - to buy Contemporary and Asian & Latin American art instead of expanding its current inadequate collections.
Now this is just so... wrong, wrong, wrong.
First, there countless collectors buying these types of art (and the newly developing collectors also tend to buy this kind of art) - and there is no shortage of art to buy in these categories. Additionally, virtually no one in LA is buying what the Getty currently - or I should say - used to collect and every few months the last major - or even only - example of a great master's work vanishes into a museum, never to again reappear on the open market.
For this really, seriously bad idea, let us tightly roll up a copy of The Art Newspaper and strongly apply it to a certain art writer's snout.
Bad Christopher! Bad Christopher!
Third CK idea; have the Getty publish an international arts journal.
Agreed and I have opined on this before. I have nothing further to add to Knight's ideas here.
We'll now skip CK's fourth idea for the close and instead address Knight's fifth idea - the Getty holding an international art fair in Los Angeles. I have three additional takes on this.
First, invite ART COLOGNE do what ART BASEL is doing in Miami - an American branch that is ready to go. Then enlist LA INC. and Eli and the others to help bring that fair to LA and the convention center.
Second, also develop our own version of a non-profit DOCUMENTA type of event independent of the Cologne art fair at scattered venues all over the city and then also have a quirkier commercial side fair during that event.
Third, develop some art spaces to show what is going on in the rest of the world 365 days a year; shows such as what is happening in all the top galleries and non-commercial spaces in one city - or works by the top graduates of all the art universities of China or whatever strikes the fancy of the curators.
Lastly, there is Knight's fourth idea - and this starts to get scary as this is the fourth of his five ideas that I have also been proposing for the past ten years for the Getty.
He wants the Getty to purchase, restore and rent out to students and teachers some of the great residential structures in LA.
Now this is a wonderful concept, but, unfortunately, it does lack anything resembling a business plan and it only addresses the most easily saved type of structures in Los Angeles, single family homes. This is particularly so since so many buyers are now willing to buy and carefully restore those homes. Plus it misses out on a superb opportunity for the Getty.
First let's considered threatened single family homes in single family neighborhoods areas; the Getty can still buy these endangered homes, restore then, and then covenant both their exteriors and any interior features worth preserving and then resell those homes with the proviso that the covenanted features can not be changed and that the house would be examined each time title closes and that once or twice a year, each home must be held open for the public.
Now this might reduce the price a little (or not), but by doing this, the Getty will not have hundreds of millions tied up in essentially non-revenue producing properties which are still not on public view plus it will also not have the responsibility for maintaining these homes or paying property taxes on them which alone would come to far more than the rents collected under Knight's proposal.
Now my primary proposal in this vein was for the Getty to either buy threatened historic buildings of all kinds in situ or to move them when they are going to be demolished (and there is almost nothing that can not be moved) and then develop mixed use projects around them (using the finest upcoming architects) and have the historic building's qualities add value to the overall project.
The Getty would then keep the more income producing parts of the project and sell off any elements - such as the historic buildings, possibly - that will not create as much income in the future - but only after landmarking the historic buildings, of course
This way the Getty can re-fi these properties with 15 year mortgages that will be low enough to ensure cash flow and within 15 years not only will the buildings have appreciated - but the properties will also be completely paid off.
So we get historic preservation and an increase in the quality of the built environment in Los Angeles - and Getty Trust makes a ton of money.
Plus the Getty can also develop examples of specific LA building types - the two story apartment house, the hillside canyon hanger, a gas station, a small retail strip and infill condos - and have the best architects in LA demonstrate how great architecture can be created on a budget - and thus help elevate the level of spec building in LA.
Then with the fifteen year mortgages, the equity will build up faster than in stocks since there will be a cash flow higher than mere stock dividends plus depreciation plus there is leverage since on real estate you only have to put part of the cash down and - as the final bonus - if you trade up to another, larger property - if you do an 1031 exchange - you never have to pay one cent in capital gains taxes. And if the Getty needs money beyond the cash flow to run the Trust, they just refinance to pull out the cash.
Better art through better financial planning.
Works for me!
OK - now for Knight's article. First read it. Then read my take on... his take.
http://www.calendarlive.com/galleriesandmuseums/cl-ca-getty5feb05,0,2335413.story?coll=cl-home-more-channels
To begin with, Knight says the Getty now has two secluded tourist attractions and that they are separated from the daily rhythm of the city's urban fabric.
However, I don't feel this is necessarily a bad thing. We may not daily visit these places, but we now have two magnificent groupings of buildings complete with bucolic gardens and spectacular views and art collections; two unique escapes and respites from urban LA that are within the city.
Now for the first of Knight's five ideas on reforming the Getty. He feels the photo collection needs to be in a more visitor friendly location for several excellent reasons. What he does not say is since the Getty Center's building permit's restrictions prevent even a single square foot being added to the main campus, any new building for that collection has to be built off-site.
He suggests two sites and Grand Avenue is by far the better of the two locations. The problem, though, is that with the existing plans for Grand Avenue and the price of the land, it might be hard to fit the Getty in. Plus there is the pesky problem of what to do with MOCA since despite its two buildings - it still has no room for a serious permanent collection and barely enough room for the traveling and MOCA originated shows. So if there is going to be room for only one museum - it needs to be MOCA.
Additionally, MOCA does wish to expand along the Grand corridor, but it does not have the money to buy the land - and, additionally, raising the necessary funds will not be easy with so many competing capital campaigns for cultural and educational institutions.
So we need to find (essentially) free land for both, to develop a businesses plan to help finance the new buildings - and to find a way to have both institutions to expand within easy walking distance of Grand Avenue.
Now those of you who have attended my walking tours of Grand Avenue over the years know that the DWP Building(across from the Music Center) is surrounded by acres and acres of parking lots, parking garages and hillsides - along with a lengthy access road. You also know that this property runs all the way down to Figueroa from Hope Street.
This is the unspoken for site in the areas that contains acres and acres of unused or highly underutilized land. Plus the topography of this land can easily allow for far over a million square feet of new buildings WITHOUT obstructing the view from the wrap around terraces of the DWP building which are now the second greatest public space in LA since the Getty Museum was built.
So now we have the land. And I can already see a Pei styled Louver entry directly across from Disney Hall as the entrance of a sprawling megastructure wrapped around the DWP - all the way down to Figueroa and then over to Temple on three sides of the existing DWP Building. I can also see a hotel, shops, restaurants, art galleries and condos that would help pay for two museum's construction costs - along with added office space to cover future DWP's office needs, some of which might even be developed by the project developers in payment for the land.
Knight's second idea - which I can only hope is a joke - is to use an increase in the art buying budget - which is really just a return to previous way too low levels - to buy Contemporary and Asian & Latin American art instead of expanding its current inadequate collections.
Now this is just so... wrong, wrong, wrong.
First, there countless collectors buying these types of art (and the newly developing collectors also tend to buy this kind of art) - and there is no shortage of art to buy in these categories. Additionally, virtually no one in LA is buying what the Getty currently - or I should say - used to collect and every few months the last major - or even only - example of a great master's work vanishes into a museum, never to again reappear on the open market.
For this really, seriously bad idea, let us tightly roll up a copy of The Art Newspaper and strongly apply it to a certain art writer's snout.
Bad Christopher! Bad Christopher!
Third CK idea; have the Getty publish an international arts journal.
Agreed and I have opined on this before. I have nothing further to add to Knight's ideas here.
We'll now skip CK's fourth idea for the close and instead address Knight's fifth idea - the Getty holding an international art fair in Los Angeles. I have three additional takes on this.
First, invite ART COLOGNE do what ART BASEL is doing in Miami - an American branch that is ready to go. Then enlist LA INC. and Eli and the others to help bring that fair to LA and the convention center.
Second, also develop our own version of a non-profit DOCUMENTA type of event independent of the Cologne art fair at scattered venues all over the city and then also have a quirkier commercial side fair during that event.
Third, develop some art spaces to show what is going on in the rest of the world 365 days a year; shows such as what is happening in all the top galleries and non-commercial spaces in one city - or works by the top graduates of all the art universities of China or whatever strikes the fancy of the curators.
Lastly, there is Knight's fourth idea - and this starts to get scary as this is the fourth of his five ideas that I have also been proposing for the past ten years for the Getty.
He wants the Getty to purchase, restore and rent out to students and teachers some of the great residential structures in LA.
Now this is a wonderful concept, but, unfortunately, it does lack anything resembling a business plan and it only addresses the most easily saved type of structures in Los Angeles, single family homes. This is particularly so since so many buyers are now willing to buy and carefully restore those homes. Plus it misses out on a superb opportunity for the Getty.
First let's considered threatened single family homes in single family neighborhoods areas; the Getty can still buy these endangered homes, restore then, and then covenant both their exteriors and any interior features worth preserving and then resell those homes with the proviso that the covenanted features can not be changed and that the house would be examined each time title closes and that once or twice a year, each home must be held open for the public.
Now this might reduce the price a little (or not), but by doing this, the Getty will not have hundreds of millions tied up in essentially non-revenue producing properties which are still not on public view plus it will also not have the responsibility for maintaining these homes or paying property taxes on them which alone would come to far more than the rents collected under Knight's proposal.
Now my primary proposal in this vein was for the Getty to either buy threatened historic buildings of all kinds in situ or to move them when they are going to be demolished (and there is almost nothing that can not be moved) and then develop mixed use projects around them (using the finest upcoming architects) and have the historic building's qualities add value to the overall project.
The Getty would then keep the more income producing parts of the project and sell off any elements - such as the historic buildings, possibly - that will not create as much income in the future - but only after landmarking the historic buildings, of course
This way the Getty can re-fi these properties with 15 year mortgages that will be low enough to ensure cash flow and within 15 years not only will the buildings have appreciated - but the properties will also be completely paid off.
So we get historic preservation and an increase in the quality of the built environment in Los Angeles - and Getty Trust makes a ton of money.
Plus the Getty can also develop examples of specific LA building types - the two story apartment house, the hillside canyon hanger, a gas station, a small retail strip and infill condos - and have the best architects in LA demonstrate how great architecture can be created on a budget - and thus help elevate the level of spec building in LA.
Then with the fifteen year mortgages, the equity will build up faster than in stocks since there will be a cash flow higher than mere stock dividends plus depreciation plus there is leverage since on real estate you only have to put part of the cash down and - as the final bonus - if you trade up to another, larger property - if you do an 1031 exchange - you never have to pay one cent in capital gains taxes. And if the Getty needs money beyond the cash flow to run the Trust, they just refinance to pull out the cash.
Better art through better financial planning.
Works for me!
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
A Good Day On Skid Row! The Cowboy And The Columnist!
Steve Lopez's column today describes one small step in getting one more person off the street. He also hints at another possible success and not long his column went to press, I got another phone call from a mother recounting yet another small miracle.
Three miracles in one day.
Now if I can only get Stevie to quote me properly...
When he asked me to describe myself - I called myself a 'pain in the ass', even though I expected that to get edited to being a 'pain in the butt'. Alas - he went for a totally different and far less accurate physical description.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez1feb01,0,6301786.column?coll=la-headlines-california
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WEST
A Homeless Man Needs Pushy Friends Steve Lopez Points West February 1, 2006
They camp at the western ends of two downtown Los Angeles tunnels. Nathaniel on 2nd, Ernest on 3rd, and occasionally their paths cross. This week, each man's story took a turn.
I'll start with Ernest Adams, who has been living at the spot where he was nearly beaten to death last August by two animals inspired by a bum-bashing video. Adams didn't want to go to a scheduled doctor appointment Monday morning, but his pal Brady Westwater was trying to talk him into it."
Feel free to step in here at any time," Westwater, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Council, said to me.
I might add that in describing that exchange, Mr. Lopez has (charitably) chosen not to reflect the extreme degree of sarcasm in my voice as after I had given him a second - if not third - cue to offer Ernest a ride to the doctor's - totally clueless Lopez was still standing there like a bump on a log.
Other than that, though, the rest of his story is pretty accurate.
Three miracles in one day.
Now if I can only get Stevie to quote me properly...
When he asked me to describe myself - I called myself a 'pain in the ass', even though I expected that to get edited to being a 'pain in the butt'. Alas - he went for a totally different and far less accurate physical description.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez1feb01,0,6301786.column?coll=la-headlines-california
STEVE LOPEZ / POINTS WEST
A Homeless Man Needs Pushy Friends Steve Lopez Points West February 1, 2006
They camp at the western ends of two downtown Los Angeles tunnels. Nathaniel on 2nd, Ernest on 3rd, and occasionally their paths cross. This week, each man's story took a turn.
I'll start with Ernest Adams, who has been living at the spot where he was nearly beaten to death last August by two animals inspired by a bum-bashing video. Adams didn't want to go to a scheduled doctor appointment Monday morning, but his pal Brady Westwater was trying to talk him into it."
Feel free to step in here at any time," Westwater, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Council, said to me.
I might add that in describing that exchange, Mr. Lopez has (charitably) chosen not to reflect the extreme degree of sarcasm in my voice as after I had given him a second - if not third - cue to offer Ernest a ride to the doctor's - totally clueless Lopez was still standing there like a bump on a log.
Other than that, though, the rest of his story is pretty accurate.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
101 Year Old Actor Suffers Age Discrimination!
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/01/face_of_an_actor.html
Kevin over at LA OBSERVED blows the top off the latest Hollywood scandal.
Ageism!
To being with, Kevin starts with the news that 101 year old Charles Lane - one of the greatest Hollywood character actors of all time - whom I had assumed has been dead for 20 years at least - is still alive!
To give you an idea how old this man is, I was born in 1948 and even BEFORE I was born - he was already playing old men type parts.
He not only lived through the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, but also the sinking of the Titanic, the Lusitania and John Gilbert's career.
So go to Kevin's post, hit his links and then read more about this remarkable gentleman. And then Hollywood casting agents - for God's sake - give this man a job!
He hasn't worked for more years than some of TV's current stars have been alive! It's a sign of clear age discrimination when Hollywood hires 90 year old youngsters to play 100 year old men when there are clearly more age appropriate actors capable of playing those same roles.
Kevin over at LA OBSERVED blows the top off the latest Hollywood scandal.
Ageism!
To being with, Kevin starts with the news that 101 year old Charles Lane - one of the greatest Hollywood character actors of all time - whom I had assumed has been dead for 20 years at least - is still alive!
To give you an idea how old this man is, I was born in 1948 and even BEFORE I was born - he was already playing old men type parts.
He not only lived through the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, but also the sinking of the Titanic, the Lusitania and John Gilbert's career.
So go to Kevin's post, hit his links and then read more about this remarkable gentleman. And then Hollywood casting agents - for God's sake - give this man a job!
He hasn't worked for more years than some of TV's current stars have been alive! It's a sign of clear age discrimination when Hollywood hires 90 year old youngsters to play 100 year old men when there are clearly more age appropriate actors capable of playing those same roles.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Glendale Now A Working Class Suburb According to New York Times!
Anyone who has recently tried to rent an apartment or buy a house in Glendale will be surprised to discover that the community is not only not an upper-middle income city, it is not a middle-class or even a lower middle class suburb. It is now a... working class suburb - right along with Pico Rivera, Maywood and El Monte.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/books/30sher.html
Memoir Becomes Novel, Secret Remains Secret
By EDWARD WYATT
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28 - Martha Sherrill was ready to write a memoir. She had the subject: her father, Peter, a well-known polling expert and software company founder; she had the book contract, with Random House, which paid her a healthy advance.
Then, the truth intervened.
"Within four or five months of getting the money and beginning to spend it, a massive skeleton popped right out of the closet," Ms. Sherrill said in an interview here. "It was not anything that reflected really badly on my father," she said of the secret, which she has steadfastly refused to reveal. "Actually it reflected really well on him. But it was something that just couldn't ever be put in a book. It colored everything. It just changed the way I saw him."
Ms. Sherrill has written a book about her father, "The Ruins of California," published this month by the Penguin Press. But it is not a memoir. It is a novel, a heavily researched but fictional portrait that has left many of her father's ex-girlfriends - eight of whom posed for a group portrait at his memorial service - as well as friends and family members wondering what exactly is true and what is fiction.
And...
Ms. Sherrill is a daughter of Southern California. She grew up in Glendale, a working-class suburb here, and often visited her grandmother in San Marino. Those places appear in fictional form in "The Ruins of California," as Van Dale and San Benito.
The wonderful irony here, of course, is that in an article about the 'truth' - the New York Times ... can't get its facts correct. Now while there are a number of ways to separate the working class from the middle and lower middle class, no matter which one you choose - Glendale is at the very least - very solidly... middle class.
Which reminds me - did the New York Times even gets its facts right in that now infamous Watts article in which they got practically every 'fact' wrong?
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7182022&postID=113071343793963090
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/books/30sher.html
Memoir Becomes Novel, Secret Remains Secret
By EDWARD WYATT
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28 - Martha Sherrill was ready to write a memoir. She had the subject: her father, Peter, a well-known polling expert and software company founder; she had the book contract, with Random House, which paid her a healthy advance.
Then, the truth intervened.
"Within four or five months of getting the money and beginning to spend it, a massive skeleton popped right out of the closet," Ms. Sherrill said in an interview here. "It was not anything that reflected really badly on my father," she said of the secret, which she has steadfastly refused to reveal. "Actually it reflected really well on him. But it was something that just couldn't ever be put in a book. It colored everything. It just changed the way I saw him."
Ms. Sherrill has written a book about her father, "The Ruins of California," published this month by the Penguin Press. But it is not a memoir. It is a novel, a heavily researched but fictional portrait that has left many of her father's ex-girlfriends - eight of whom posed for a group portrait at his memorial service - as well as friends and family members wondering what exactly is true and what is fiction.
And...
Ms. Sherrill is a daughter of Southern California. She grew up in Glendale, a working-class suburb here, and often visited her grandmother in San Marino. Those places appear in fictional form in "The Ruins of California," as Van Dale and San Benito.
The wonderful irony here, of course, is that in an article about the 'truth' - the New York Times ... can't get its facts correct. Now while there are a number of ways to separate the working class from the middle and lower middle class, no matter which one you choose - Glendale is at the very least - very solidly... middle class.
Which reminds me - did the New York Times even gets its facts right in that now infamous Watts article in which they got practically every 'fact' wrong?
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7182022&postID=113071343793963090
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Fifth & Main Secret Service Raid Explained?
Not long ago, a posse of black vehicles from the Secret Service showed up at 5th and Main. No one was talking, but the obvious reason for the raid seemed to be counterfeiting. That possibility now seems more likely after today's LA Times article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bogus29jan29,0,4609366.story?coll=la-home-headlines
$400 Lap Dance Trips Up Counterfeiting Ring
By H.G. Reza Times Staff Writer 10:12 PM PST, January 28, 2006
It was a three-hour lap dance and a stripper with a nose for money that finally led to the counterfeiters' undoing. Fifteen people have been indicted in the ongoing investigation. And Secret Service agents have discovered that Southern California street gangs teamed with a Mexican counterfeit ring and a drug cartel to bring phony $100 bills into the United States - $7.5 million worth since last January alone...
While the ring was headquartered in Santa Ana, Mexican street gangs throughout Southern California were passing the counterfeit bills... and may have been doing this at one or more of the businesses and organizations located on or near the NE corner 5th and Main that are operated by gang members or who by those protect gang members.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bogus29jan29,0,4609366.story?coll=la-home-headlines
$400 Lap Dance Trips Up Counterfeiting Ring
By H.G. Reza Times Staff Writer 10:12 PM PST, January 28, 2006
It was a three-hour lap dance and a stripper with a nose for money that finally led to the counterfeiters' undoing. Fifteen people have been indicted in the ongoing investigation. And Secret Service agents have discovered that Southern California street gangs teamed with a Mexican counterfeit ring and a drug cartel to bring phony $100 bills into the United States - $7.5 million worth since last January alone...
While the ring was headquartered in Santa Ana, Mexican street gangs throughout Southern California were passing the counterfeit bills... and may have been doing this at one or more of the businesses and organizations located on or near the NE corner 5th and Main that are operated by gang members or who by those protect gang members.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Relative Related Company of Related Grand Avenue Developer Cancels Las Vegas Project!
I suspect the cancellation of two major condo towers in Las Vegas by a partnership of two branches of the Related Empire (a combination different than the make-up of the Related building our local projects) will become big news in LA.
Both tea leaves and entrails will likely be carefully read by local pundits.
But - first, our good news - then... other people's... bad news.
The good news is that the Las Vegas condo boom was... insane - just as the Miami condo boom is - still - insane. Both markets thrived on the selling and reselling of unbuilt units by speculators and far, far more units were built per capita than in Los Angeles (and also New York).
In LA we are still seriously under built compared to demand and sales downtown are still strong even with the comparative lack of nightlife - or even day life. However, as all the new amenities start to appear in the next few months, and once the hundreds - yes - hundreds - of new shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, art galleries, museums and many other amenities being built open, the demand for downtown will become far stronger than it is now.
Downtown is about to become a unique environment unlike any that has ever existed in this city.
Secondary good news is that with first the China, then Vegas - and soon Miami markets start to slow - materials and labor costs should - hopefully - peak and then start to decline, making it cheaper - again, hopefully - to build in the future than now.
Now as for the bad news... if you are a Las Vegas condo owner or builder....
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/realestate/29nati.html?pagewanted=2
The Disappearing Las Vegas Condos
By FRED A. BERNSTEIN
THREE weeks ago, Eli Verdnikov, an engineer in Los Gatos, Calif., received a letter saying that the apartment building he planned to retire to — Icon Las Vegas — would not be built. In the envelope was a check for $73,672.81, the 10 percent deposit Mr. Verdnikov had paid, plus interest.
The developer of the building, Related Las Vegas, a partnership between two large and well-known companies, expected Mr. Verdnikov to accept the refund as payment in full. (Its letter explained that, by depositing the check, Mr. Verdnikov would be waiving any further rights.)
But Mr. Verdnikov wants more than the $73,672.81. Since he agreed in May 2005 to buy the 1,400-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment near the Las Vegas Strip for $728,900, its value, he says, has increased. "To purchase something similar, we would need to pay $200,000 more," said Mr. Verdnikov, who has been looking for a new apartment with his girlfriend, Gitty Stone.
So Mr. Verdnikov is suing for the gain he would have realized if the apartment had been built. "He deserves to get the benefit of the bargain," said Will Kemp, a lawyer with Harrison, Kemp & Jones in Las Vegas, who is representing Mr. Verdnikov and a dozen other Icon buyers.
As the market for high-end condos levels off, more and more people may find themselves in Mr. Verdnikov's position: with contracts to buy condos that will never be built. And some hope to recover the profits they believe they would have made.
In Las Vegas alone, developers have canceled at least four other buildings in the last year, including one called Aqua Blue that was to contain a Michael Jordan health club. Dozens of other buildings, in which units have been sold, may never break ground, said Brian Gordon, a principal at Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas consulting firm. Mr. Gordon said there are 97 condo projects in the works in greater Las Vegas, representing more than 52,000 units.
"I don't think anyone would expect that all these projects will move forward," Mr. Gordon said. He predicted that fewer than half of them would be built in the next five years. Of course, if the market cools enough, some buyers may be happy to get their deposits back.
The pitfalls for condo buyers may be particularly deep in and around Las Vegas, where construction prices have been skyrocketing. Mr. Gordon says some of his clients who are developers have reported a 30 percent increase in the cost of labor and materials in the last year alone. That means that developers who pre-sell apartments may find construction costs wiping out profits even before they break ground.
In the letter to Mr. Variationsov and the other buyers, Related Las Vegas said that the rise in labor and material costs had affected the viability of the project.
Still, the Icon cancellation came as a surprise, in part because its developer is a partnership of two giants: the Related Group of Florida, which calls itself the nation's leading condo developer, headed by Jorge Perez, and the Related Companies, headed by Stephen M. Ross, the developer of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. Icon's two 48-story towers were expected to be completed in 2007 and 2008.
Mr. Perez was out of the country and could not be reached for comment, a company spokesman said. Reached on his cellphone, Martin Burger, the president of Related Las Vegas, hung up.
In contrast to its current silence, "the company relied heavily on its own reputation in marketing the building," said David Ezra, owner of Ezra International Realty, which sold some 60 units in the building. He added that he thought the excuse of higher construction costs "might work for a first-time developer, but it doesn't work for Related."
Mr. Variationsov, who is 62 and plans to retire just around the time Icon would have been finished, said he walked away from another project to buy from Related. "We switched it because of their very heavy advertising," he said. "They convinced us they were better."
But whether Mr. Variationsov — or any buyer — can receive more than a refund of his deposit depends on a number of factors. Some contracts for unbuilt condos allow the seller to back out if it cannot obtain proper financing (a phrase sometimes so vague as to constitute a get-out-of-deal-free card, lawyers say).
The contracts for Icon Las Vegas contained no such financing contingency. Related did claim the right to back out if it failed to sell at least half of the units in the project. But observers say the company far exceeded the 50 percent goal, and statements made last year by Mr. Burger support that view.
After that... things go downhill... fast.
The rest of article should only be viewed by adults as it qualifies as litigation lawyer porn - of the Triple XXX variety.
Both tea leaves and entrails will likely be carefully read by local pundits.
But - first, our good news - then... other people's... bad news.
The good news is that the Las Vegas condo boom was... insane - just as the Miami condo boom is - still - insane. Both markets thrived on the selling and reselling of unbuilt units by speculators and far, far more units were built per capita than in Los Angeles (and also New York).
In LA we are still seriously under built compared to demand and sales downtown are still strong even with the comparative lack of nightlife - or even day life. However, as all the new amenities start to appear in the next few months, and once the hundreds - yes - hundreds - of new shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, art galleries, museums and many other amenities being built open, the demand for downtown will become far stronger than it is now.
Downtown is about to become a unique environment unlike any that has ever existed in this city.
Secondary good news is that with first the China, then Vegas - and soon Miami markets start to slow - materials and labor costs should - hopefully - peak and then start to decline, making it cheaper - again, hopefully - to build in the future than now.
Now as for the bad news... if you are a Las Vegas condo owner or builder....
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/realestate/29nati.html?pagewanted=2
The Disappearing Las Vegas Condos
By FRED A. BERNSTEIN
THREE weeks ago, Eli Verdnikov, an engineer in Los Gatos, Calif., received a letter saying that the apartment building he planned to retire to — Icon Las Vegas — would not be built. In the envelope was a check for $73,672.81, the 10 percent deposit Mr. Verdnikov had paid, plus interest.
The developer of the building, Related Las Vegas, a partnership between two large and well-known companies, expected Mr. Verdnikov to accept the refund as payment in full. (Its letter explained that, by depositing the check, Mr. Verdnikov would be waiving any further rights.)
But Mr. Verdnikov wants more than the $73,672.81. Since he agreed in May 2005 to buy the 1,400-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment near the Las Vegas Strip for $728,900, its value, he says, has increased. "To purchase something similar, we would need to pay $200,000 more," said Mr. Verdnikov, who has been looking for a new apartment with his girlfriend, Gitty Stone.
So Mr. Verdnikov is suing for the gain he would have realized if the apartment had been built. "He deserves to get the benefit of the bargain," said Will Kemp, a lawyer with Harrison, Kemp & Jones in Las Vegas, who is representing Mr. Verdnikov and a dozen other Icon buyers.
As the market for high-end condos levels off, more and more people may find themselves in Mr. Verdnikov's position: with contracts to buy condos that will never be built. And some hope to recover the profits they believe they would have made.
In Las Vegas alone, developers have canceled at least four other buildings in the last year, including one called Aqua Blue that was to contain a Michael Jordan health club. Dozens of other buildings, in which units have been sold, may never break ground, said Brian Gordon, a principal at Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas consulting firm. Mr. Gordon said there are 97 condo projects in the works in greater Las Vegas, representing more than 52,000 units.
"I don't think anyone would expect that all these projects will move forward," Mr. Gordon said. He predicted that fewer than half of them would be built in the next five years. Of course, if the market cools enough, some buyers may be happy to get their deposits back.
The pitfalls for condo buyers may be particularly deep in and around Las Vegas, where construction prices have been skyrocketing. Mr. Gordon says some of his clients who are developers have reported a 30 percent increase in the cost of labor and materials in the last year alone. That means that developers who pre-sell apartments may find construction costs wiping out profits even before they break ground.
In the letter to Mr. Variationsov and the other buyers, Related Las Vegas said that the rise in labor and material costs had affected the viability of the project.
Still, the Icon cancellation came as a surprise, in part because its developer is a partnership of two giants: the Related Group of Florida, which calls itself the nation's leading condo developer, headed by Jorge Perez, and the Related Companies, headed by Stephen M. Ross, the developer of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. Icon's two 48-story towers were expected to be completed in 2007 and 2008.
Mr. Perez was out of the country and could not be reached for comment, a company spokesman said. Reached on his cellphone, Martin Burger, the president of Related Las Vegas, hung up.
In contrast to its current silence, "the company relied heavily on its own reputation in marketing the building," said David Ezra, owner of Ezra International Realty, which sold some 60 units in the building. He added that he thought the excuse of higher construction costs "might work for a first-time developer, but it doesn't work for Related."
Mr. Variationsov, who is 62 and plans to retire just around the time Icon would have been finished, said he walked away from another project to buy from Related. "We switched it because of their very heavy advertising," he said. "They convinced us they were better."
But whether Mr. Variationsov — or any buyer — can receive more than a refund of his deposit depends on a number of factors. Some contracts for unbuilt condos allow the seller to back out if it cannot obtain proper financing (a phrase sometimes so vague as to constitute a get-out-of-deal-free card, lawyers say).
The contracts for Icon Las Vegas contained no such financing contingency. Related did claim the right to back out if it failed to sell at least half of the units in the project. But observers say the company far exceeded the 50 percent goal, and statements made last year by Mr. Burger support that view.
After that... things go downhill... fast.
The rest of article should only be viewed by adults as it qualifies as litigation lawyer porn - of the Triple XXX variety.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Chris Penn Dead At Age Forty.
My memories of Chris Penn are of a big-hearted goofy teenage kid running around Point Dume, annoying my kid sister on the school bus and, later, starring in Footloose. Yet, I couldn't even recognize the face on tonight's news. Even now, it seems impossible he had somehow reached forty years of age, much less that he has passed away at such an early age.
My condolences to the entire Penn family.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-penn25jan25,0,1859092.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews
UPDATE
Now ALL reports say Chris Penn was 40 when he passed away. Last night many articles said he was 43 as opposed to the 40 I originally quoted and the LAT still had both ages at the same time at different places on its website.
My condolences to the entire Penn family.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-penn25jan25,0,1859092.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews
UPDATE
Now ALL reports say Chris Penn was 40 when he passed away. Last night many articles said he was 43 as opposed to the 40 I originally quoted and the LAT still had both ages at the same time at different places on its website.
Matt Welch Made Assistant Editorial Page Editor Of LA Times Despite Shocking Hidden Past!
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/01/more_hires_at_times_edito_1.html#more
Below is the copy of the internal LAT memor about the hiring of Matt Welch, courtesy of Kevin over at LAOBSERVED:
Matt Welch today joined the editorial board as the assistant editorial page editor. Matt, a native of Long Beach, comes to us from Reason magazine, where he was an associate editor, and from his own 4-year-old blog.
Prior to that, Matt was a U.S.-based correspondent for Toronto's National Post, and he has also been a prolific freelance contributor to other publications, including our newspaper. Matt worked with former Mayor Richard Riordan on the prototype issue of the still-born L.A. Examiner.
In the early 1990s, Matt was the founder and editor of Prognosis, the first independent English-language newspaper in Prague. He then moved to Budapest, where he was the managing editor of the Budapest Business Journal.
What the memo does not address is that dark secret that Matt Welch has - until now - been able for so long to hide....
And that damning secret can be found in the very first line of the very first post clear back in 2004 on... LA COWBOY:
http://lacowboy.blogspot.com/2004/06/la-cowboy-politics-culture-and-art-in.html
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
LA Cowboy - Politics, Culture and Art in LA
Accepting a dare from Matt Welch of the late, lamented (other than by the LA Times, of course), LA Examiner - I am going to take a stab (which may prove to be an all too relevant verb) at starting a debate about politics in in Los Angeles, along with all the other aspects of life in LA that make life here both exciting and despairing.
Yes!
LA COWBOY exists only because of Matt Welch....
Below is the copy of the internal LAT memor about the hiring of Matt Welch, courtesy of Kevin over at LAOBSERVED:
Matt Welch today joined the editorial board as the assistant editorial page editor. Matt, a native of Long Beach, comes to us from Reason magazine, where he was an associate editor, and from his own 4-year-old blog.
Prior to that, Matt was a U.S.-based correspondent for Toronto's National Post, and he has also been a prolific freelance contributor to other publications, including our newspaper. Matt worked with former Mayor Richard Riordan on the prototype issue of the still-born L.A. Examiner.
In the early 1990s, Matt was the founder and editor of Prognosis, the first independent English-language newspaper in Prague. He then moved to Budapest, where he was the managing editor of the Budapest Business Journal.
What the memo does not address is that dark secret that Matt Welch has - until now - been able for so long to hide....
And that damning secret can be found in the very first line of the very first post clear back in 2004 on... LA COWBOY:
http://lacowboy.blogspot.com/2004/06/la-cowboy-politics-culture-and-art-in.html
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
LA Cowboy - Politics, Culture and Art in LA
Accepting a dare from Matt Welch of the late, lamented (other than by the LA Times, of course), LA Examiner - I am going to take a stab (which may prove to be an all too relevant verb) at starting a debate about politics in in Los Angeles, along with all the other aspects of life in LA that make life here both exciting and despairing.
Yes!
LA COWBOY exists only because of Matt Welch....
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Steve Lopez Public Pension/Health Benefit Story Too Hot To Handle?
Surfing the web this AM to read the blogger response to Steve Lopez's (hopefully) first salvo in the necessary battle to have to a fully informed public debate about the impending bankruptcy of government agencies due to out of control pension and health care benefits packages, I found... nothing.
Worse yet, on the LA Times website, there is not even a mention of his story on the opening page, despite this being the single most important story the paper could cover this year. And even when when you click on the California section, Lopez's story is buried as item number six and both the title and the lead do not give even the slightest hint about the true content of the story.
So I guess my misguided hopes that the Los Angeles Times might grow some balls and finally address this urgent issue in depth were... as usual... misguided.
See my previous post for my prior comments on the below story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez22jan22,0,1393497.column?coll=la-headlines-california
Worse yet, on the LA Times website, there is not even a mention of his story on the opening page, despite this being the single most important story the paper could cover this year. And even when when you click on the California section, Lopez's story is buried as item number six and both the title and the lead do not give even the slightest hint about the true content of the story.
So I guess my misguided hopes that the Los Angeles Times might grow some balls and finally address this urgent issue in depth were... as usual... misguided.
See my previous post for my prior comments on the below story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez22jan22,0,1393497.column?coll=la-headlines-california
Nixon Goes To China! Steve Lopez Tackles (Kinda) Public Pensions!
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez22jan22,0,1393497.column?coll=la-headlines-california
In today's Sunday Times, LA Times investigative reporter Steve Lopez takes a break from his regular column and tackles the two biggest issues facing California.
Runaway public pensions and health care costs.
Now there are those who may disagree about these being the biggest issues facing us. Some may claim that education or police or fire or.... whatever.... is more important.
The problem is that in a surprisingly few number of years we are going to be paying more money to people who are no longer working for government than we are paying those who are actually working for us. And in time - 100% of the budget of every level of government will be required to pay for just the pensions and health care costs of former public employees unless there is a drastic change in the rules.
The only other option is wait until the day comes we have to close all the schools, lay off all the police and the fire fighters and fire every government worker- other than those who collect the taxes to pay for those pensions, of course.
Now today's column raises this problem - but offers no solutions and not near enough raw data - or enough real world projections to see where will will be in 20 or 50 or 100 years from now so the public can have the information it needs to understand how serious the situation is.
So after spending a week on Skid Row - maybe Steve Lopez should spend much of the next month talking to and reporting on all sides of this issue.
It's about the only thing he can report on that's even more frightening that what he saw on Skid Row.
Below are only a handful of the horror stories Steve recounts:
In other words, a firefighter who averages $80,000 a year on active duty can retire at $100,000 or more by basing it on a year in which his salary was inflated by overtime, accrued vacation, shift differentials and other factors."
And then he gets cost-of-living adjustments on top of that," said Richman. "We are currently paying for two police departments or two fire departments" in many cities, Richman added, meaning that the total payout to retired public safety employees is as much as the pay for active employees."
And it's going to get worse, because the retirement age has been lowered to 50 over the past few years, and at the same time people are living longer."
Another problem is that it's the most experienced employees who leave. Why continue working if you can sit on a beach at 90% of your salary, or get a job somewhere else and double your money, as hundreds of cops have done?
John Welter was assistant police chief in San Diego when, at 55, he became chief of police in Anaheim. Now 56, he's got a $100,000 pension from San Diego and $175,000 salary in Anaheim.
There are a lot of hard questions that need to be asked - and a lot of far harder answers that need to be produced.
So let the debate begin. No politician with any future plans to run for office will ever dare tackle this subject - so it's all up to you Steve....
In today's Sunday Times, LA Times investigative reporter Steve Lopez takes a break from his regular column and tackles the two biggest issues facing California.
Runaway public pensions and health care costs.
Now there are those who may disagree about these being the biggest issues facing us. Some may claim that education or police or fire or.... whatever.... is more important.
The problem is that in a surprisingly few number of years we are going to be paying more money to people who are no longer working for government than we are paying those who are actually working for us. And in time - 100% of the budget of every level of government will be required to pay for just the pensions and health care costs of former public employees unless there is a drastic change in the rules.
The only other option is wait until the day comes we have to close all the schools, lay off all the police and the fire fighters and fire every government worker- other than those who collect the taxes to pay for those pensions, of course.
Now today's column raises this problem - but offers no solutions and not near enough raw data - or enough real world projections to see where will will be in 20 or 50 or 100 years from now so the public can have the information it needs to understand how serious the situation is.
So after spending a week on Skid Row - maybe Steve Lopez should spend much of the next month talking to and reporting on all sides of this issue.
It's about the only thing he can report on that's even more frightening that what he saw on Skid Row.
Below are only a handful of the horror stories Steve recounts:
In other words, a firefighter who averages $80,000 a year on active duty can retire at $100,000 or more by basing it on a year in which his salary was inflated by overtime, accrued vacation, shift differentials and other factors."
And then he gets cost-of-living adjustments on top of that," said Richman. "We are currently paying for two police departments or two fire departments" in many cities, Richman added, meaning that the total payout to retired public safety employees is as much as the pay for active employees."
And it's going to get worse, because the retirement age has been lowered to 50 over the past few years, and at the same time people are living longer."
Another problem is that it's the most experienced employees who leave. Why continue working if you can sit on a beach at 90% of your salary, or get a job somewhere else and double your money, as hundreds of cops have done?
John Welter was assistant police chief in San Diego when, at 55, he became chief of police in Anaheim. Now 56, he's got a $100,000 pension from San Diego and $175,000 salary in Anaheim.
There are a lot of hard questions that need to be asked - and a lot of far harder answers that need to be produced.
So let the debate begin. No politician with any future plans to run for office will ever dare tackle this subject - so it's all up to you Steve....
Friday, January 20, 2006
LA Times Decline Continues!
The Los Angeles Times is a marginally better paper than it was a year ago; yet its advertising revenues continue to not just decline, but plummet.
The problem is that the improvements - other than the occasional blockbuster expose - are too subtle for the average reader will observe and there are so many physical and structural barriers to reading the printed paper, that the paper's physical design drives away readers.
Unless dramatic change starts now, it is hard to imagine anything resembling the present paper being published five years from now.
From the Los Angeles Business Journal:
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/article.asp?aID=22578363.7181713.1250782.3129355.7888358.805&aID2=96205
L.A. Times Drags on Tribune Revenue
Tribune Company's December newspaper ad revenue fell 4.5 percent to $333.2 million, the company reported Thursday, reflecting a 9.6 percent slump from national advertising that was blamed on weak ad sales at the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago-based company's largest paper.
And...
The problem is that the improvements - other than the occasional blockbuster expose - are too subtle for the average reader will observe and there are so many physical and structural barriers to reading the printed paper, that the paper's physical design drives away readers.
Unless dramatic change starts now, it is hard to imagine anything resembling the present paper being published five years from now.
From the Los Angeles Business Journal:
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/article.asp?aID=22578363.7181713.1250782.3129355.7888358.805&aID2=96205
L.A. Times Drags on Tribune Revenue
Tribune Company's December newspaper ad revenue fell 4.5 percent to $333.2 million, the company reported Thursday, reflecting a 9.6 percent slump from national advertising that was blamed on weak ad sales at the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago-based company's largest paper.
And...
Full-run ad volume at the Times plunged 13.9 percent from December of last year. In addition to the Times and Newsday, Tribune owns its namesake paper in Chicago.
More details are in the Tribune's press release:http://www.tribune.com/pressroom/releases/2006/01192006.html
National advertising revenues declined 9.6 percent, due largely to declines at the Los Angeles Times. Movie, technology and wireless categories were down, partially offset by gains in the health care and package goods categories.
Classified advertising revenues rose 2.5 percent due to gains in help wanted and real estate, which rose 13 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Automotive classified advertising fell 16 percent. Interactive revenues, which are primarily included in classified, were $15 million, up 33 percent, due to strength in all categories.
Circulation revenues were down 3.5 percent primarily due to volume declines at most of the company’s newspapers and selectively higher discounting.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Lecture On History Of LA Railroads Tonight!
http://www.preservela.com/archives/000780.html
Below is from PreserveLA:
Los Angeles Railway Lecture
Interested in the history of Los Angeles' early railways and passenger stations? Josef Lesser will present a forty-minute powerpoint presentation tracing the history of Los Angeles passenger stations on January 19th, beginning with the city's first railroad station built in 1869 by the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad Company through the construction of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Depot in 1939.
Using original graphics and some extraordinary pictures from the Donald Duke Collection and the Archives of the State of California, Mr. Lesser will illustrate the progress of the mainline railroads' passenger service, including the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company, Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and Union Pacific leading up to the construction and occupancy of Union Station in 1939.
What: Gateway to Los Angeles: Early Passenger Terminals, 1869-1939
When: Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: MTA Headquarters, 3rd FloorBoard RoomOne Gateway PlazaLos Angeles, CA
Cost: Admission is $5.00. No advance reservations or advance tickets are necessary.
The presentation is being sponsored by the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation. The Foundation maintains a world-class railroad archive in its offices in Alhambra and has changing satellite displays in Los Angeles and Fullerton restaurants. It is presently creating a series of permanent displays to be located in the South Arcade of the Los Angeles Union Station.
Mr. Lesser is a native of Los Angeles and president of the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation.
The event will take place in the MTA Board Room in downtown Los Angeles with free parking in the MTA Headquarters garage on Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 7:00 PM sharp. Admission is $5.00. No advance reservations or advance tickets are necessary. For additional information call (626) 458-4449 or (323) 931-6757.
Below is from PreserveLA:
Los Angeles Railway Lecture
Interested in the history of Los Angeles' early railways and passenger stations? Josef Lesser will present a forty-minute powerpoint presentation tracing the history of Los Angeles passenger stations on January 19th, beginning with the city's first railroad station built in 1869 by the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad Company through the construction of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Depot in 1939.
Using original graphics and some extraordinary pictures from the Donald Duke Collection and the Archives of the State of California, Mr. Lesser will illustrate the progress of the mainline railroads' passenger service, including the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company, Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and Union Pacific leading up to the construction and occupancy of Union Station in 1939.
What: Gateway to Los Angeles: Early Passenger Terminals, 1869-1939
When: Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: MTA Headquarters, 3rd FloorBoard RoomOne Gateway PlazaLos Angeles, CA
Cost: Admission is $5.00. No advance reservations or advance tickets are necessary.
The presentation is being sponsored by the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation. The Foundation maintains a world-class railroad archive in its offices in Alhambra and has changing satellite displays in Los Angeles and Fullerton restaurants. It is presently creating a series of permanent displays to be located in the South Arcade of the Los Angeles Union Station.
Mr. Lesser is a native of Los Angeles and president of the Los Angeles Railroad Heritage Foundation.
The event will take place in the MTA Board Room in downtown Los Angeles with free parking in the MTA Headquarters garage on Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 7:00 PM sharp. Admission is $5.00. No advance reservations or advance tickets are necessary. For additional information call (626) 458-4449 or (323) 931-6757.
If At First You Don't Succeed... Today's Correcting The Correction At The LA Times....
Albert Brooks movie — A Week Ahead item in Monday's Calendar section said the plot of "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" involved Albert Brooks' character being assigned to find out what made 300 Muslims laugh. It should have said 300 million Muslims. The error was repeated Tuesday in a correction of another mistake in the item.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
CityBeat Lands Former LAT Theater Critic Don Shirley!
This is great news both for the rapidly improving CITYBEAT - and for all LA theater lovers. Below is Don's email:
I recently accepted a buyout offered by the Tribune company to its L.A. Times editorial staff. Yesterday was my last day at the Times.
Beginning next week, I’ll write a weekly theater column for Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat, the alternative newspaper and web site now in its third year, with a circulation of 100,000 throughout the L.A. area and in some adjacent counties. CityBeat currently has no regular theater coverage, so I’m excited to open a new weekly arena for discussion of Southern California theater. Besides the column, I’ll also contribute brief capsule reviews to the theater listings.
I recently accepted a buyout offered by the Tribune company to its L.A. Times editorial staff. Yesterday was my last day at the Times.
Beginning next week, I’ll write a weekly theater column for Los Angeles CityBeat/ValleyBeat, the alternative newspaper and web site now in its third year, with a circulation of 100,000 throughout the L.A. area and in some adjacent counties. CityBeat currently has no regular theater coverage, so I’m excited to open a new weekly arena for discussion of Southern California theater. Besides the column, I’ll also contribute brief capsule reviews to the theater listings.
Another Celebrity Skid Row Heroin Arrest! Update!
UPDATE!
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-011806garrett_lat,0,1737278.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was charged this morning with possession of heroin after his arrest in the Pershing Square subway station over the weekend.
Original story before Garrett's arraignment:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-leif18jan18,0,618496.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Forget Rodeo Drive if you want to watch the current - and former stars - of Hollywood spend their money. Instead, come to the 'Nickel' - Fifth Street East of Hill Street. Luckily, though, with all new police cameras being installed - soon we will all watch them as they make their drug purchases just by turning on the Eleven o'clock News.
Leif Garrett Is Jailed on Drug Charge
The 1970s teen idol is arrested after allegedly having no train ticket in an L.A. subway station.
Richard Winton Times Staff Writer January 18, 2006
Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was being held in Men's Central Jail on Tuesday after being arrested on suspicion of possessing narcotics and failing to have a ticket in the Pershing Square subway station over the weekend. Garrett, 44, was being held without bail because he was also detained on a bench warrant for allegedly violating the terms of his probation for a previous offense, Los Angeles County sheriff's and district attorney's officials said.
The musician-actor, who has a history of drug issues dating from the 1970s, pleaded guilty in March to attempted possession of cocaine-based narcotics and was placed on probation, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney's office. At a Dec. 20 hearing in that case, a judge issued a bench warrant for Garrett's arrest for an unspecified reason, Gibbons said.
Garrett was detained about 6 p.m. Saturday on the platform of Pershing Square's Red Line station by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies assigned to the transit unit.According to deputies, Garrett was detained after he was found to be without a ticket to ride the rail system. A subsequent check turned up suspected narcotics and the warrant for his arrest, officials said...
..... Los Angeles police in 1999 arrested the bandanna-wearing musician in the MacArthur Park area after he allegedly tried to buy narcotics from undercover officers..... Pershing Square is just a few blocks west of where actor Brad Renfro was arrested last month in a drug sting by the LAPD. Renfro was charged with felony attempting to possess heroin.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-011806garrett_lat,0,1737278.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was charged this morning with possession of heroin after his arrest in the Pershing Square subway station over the weekend.
Original story before Garrett's arraignment:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-leif18jan18,0,618496.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Forget Rodeo Drive if you want to watch the current - and former stars - of Hollywood spend their money. Instead, come to the 'Nickel' - Fifth Street East of Hill Street. Luckily, though, with all new police cameras being installed - soon we will all watch them as they make their drug purchases just by turning on the Eleven o'clock News.
Leif Garrett Is Jailed on Drug Charge
The 1970s teen idol is arrested after allegedly having no train ticket in an L.A. subway station.
Richard Winton Times Staff Writer January 18, 2006
Seventies teen idol Leif Garrett was being held in Men's Central Jail on Tuesday after being arrested on suspicion of possessing narcotics and failing to have a ticket in the Pershing Square subway station over the weekend. Garrett, 44, was being held without bail because he was also detained on a bench warrant for allegedly violating the terms of his probation for a previous offense, Los Angeles County sheriff's and district attorney's officials said.
The musician-actor, who has a history of drug issues dating from the 1970s, pleaded guilty in March to attempted possession of cocaine-based narcotics and was placed on probation, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney's office. At a Dec. 20 hearing in that case, a judge issued a bench warrant for Garrett's arrest for an unspecified reason, Gibbons said.
Garrett was detained about 6 p.m. Saturday on the platform of Pershing Square's Red Line station by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies assigned to the transit unit.According to deputies, Garrett was detained after he was found to be without a ticket to ride the rail system. A subsequent check turned up suspected narcotics and the warrant for his arrest, officials said...
..... Los Angeles police in 1999 arrested the bandanna-wearing musician in the MacArthur Park area after he allegedly tried to buy narcotics from undercover officers..... Pershing Square is just a few blocks west of where actor Brad Renfro was arrested last month in a drug sting by the LAPD. Renfro was charged with felony attempting to possess heroin.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Cakeatastrophic Typos Continue At LA Times!
In the proverbial 'icing on the cake' for the error prone LA Times - another frosting fiasco was filed today by LAOBSERVED:
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/01/more_cake_typos.html
More cake typos *
A Times staffer emails that at yesterday's goodbye affair for features-floor editor John Scheibe, the golf-themed message on his cake referred to tea time instead of "tee time." Three's a trend:
Tour de France instead of "Tour de Force" for Kevin Thomas
Faithfull instead of "faithful" for Eric Malnic and other Metroids
Now even though LAT Editor Dean Baquet has not yet released any official word on this latest blunder - inside sources say this latest tier of events has left him pretty... frosted.
And below is my post on the first Frostingate story:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7182022&postID=113593814381373385
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2006/01/more_cake_typos.html
More cake typos *
A Times staffer emails that at yesterday's goodbye affair for features-floor editor John Scheibe, the golf-themed message on his cake referred to tea time instead of "tee time." Three's a trend:
Tour de France instead of "Tour de Force" for Kevin Thomas
Faithfull instead of "faithful" for Eric Malnic and other Metroids
Now even though LAT Editor Dean Baquet has not yet released any official word on this latest blunder - inside sources say this latest tier of events has left him pretty... frosted.
And below is my post on the first Frostingate story:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7182022&postID=113593814381373385
Monday, January 16, 2006
Los Angles Times - FINALLY - Covers Famed LA Cartoonist's Death!
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings16.1jan16,0,2597682,print.story?coll=la-home-obituaries
Jacques Faizant, 87; Editorial Cartoonist's Work Ran in Le Figaro January 16, 2006
Jacques Faizant, 87, a French editorial cartoonist whose work was a fixture in the newspaper Le Figaro for more than four decades, died Saturday in a Paris hospital....
Oops! Sorry! False Alarm!
Still no LA Times story (at least on-line) on famed Los Angeles cartoonist, Eldon Dedini, who died two days before this dead French guy and whose death the New York Times covered two days before this...
Jacques Faizant, 87; Editorial Cartoonist's Work Ran in Le Figaro January 16, 2006
Jacques Faizant, 87, a French editorial cartoonist whose work was a fixture in the newspaper Le Figaro for more than four decades, died Saturday in a Paris hospital....
Oops! Sorry! False Alarm!
Still no LA Times story (at least on-line) on famed Los Angeles cartoonist, Eldon Dedini, who died two days before this dead French guy and whose death the New York Times covered two days before this...
Sunday, January 15, 2006
New Art Gallery Opening TODAY Sunday Afternoon In Downtown!
Andreas Angelidakis "Hotel Blue Wave" 15 January 2006 - 14 February 2006
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 15th, 2 - 5 PM
Regular Hours: Saturday - Tuesday, 11 AM - 5 PM
INMO Gallery presents Hotel Blue Wave, an animation by Andreas Angelidakis that incorporates the notions of beach and squat into the concept and structure of a hotel. Also included in the exhibition are drawings and paper models from recent projects, Cloud House and Superneen.
Angelidakis is one of the first to treat the internet as a real place, a site where he designed and built online communities such as the Chelsea Project and Neen World. His involvement with the internet expanded to offline projects, such as Teleport Diner, where he used an online library of free objects to furnish a real space in Stockholm, in a process that could be described as a conceptual 3D print.
He also designed and built spaces that were intended to appear as computer renderings, sparking a discussion as to whether they were ever built (Pause pavilion, Stockholm 2002) and spaces that included a garden of mummified plants used as a virtual horizon for a laser beauty clinic (Forever Laser, Geneva 1998 and 2003).
Born in Athens, Greece, Angelidakis studied architecture at Sci-ARC and Columbia, where he began exploring the relationship of clandestine haphazard construction and ad-hoc computer network, drawing a parallel between hardware and life.I
NMO Gallery 114 West Fifth Street Los Angeles, CA 90013
213.626.5225
info@inmogallery.net
Seriously cool art in a soon to be hot gallery at the former now long defunct Billy's Grill in the heart of the ever expanding Gallery Row at 5th and Main.
Be there!
Opening Reception: Sunday, January 15th, 2 - 5 PM
Regular Hours: Saturday - Tuesday, 11 AM - 5 PM
INMO Gallery presents Hotel Blue Wave, an animation by Andreas Angelidakis that incorporates the notions of beach and squat into the concept and structure of a hotel. Also included in the exhibition are drawings and paper models from recent projects, Cloud House and Superneen.
Angelidakis is one of the first to treat the internet as a real place, a site where he designed and built online communities such as the Chelsea Project and Neen World. His involvement with the internet expanded to offline projects, such as Teleport Diner, where he used an online library of free objects to furnish a real space in Stockholm, in a process that could be described as a conceptual 3D print.
He also designed and built spaces that were intended to appear as computer renderings, sparking a discussion as to whether they were ever built (Pause pavilion, Stockholm 2002) and spaces that included a garden of mummified plants used as a virtual horizon for a laser beauty clinic (Forever Laser, Geneva 1998 and 2003).
Born in Athens, Greece, Angelidakis studied architecture at Sci-ARC and Columbia, where he began exploring the relationship of clandestine haphazard construction and ad-hoc computer network, drawing a parallel between hardware and life.I
NMO Gallery 114 West Fifth Street Los Angeles, CA 90013
213.626.5225
info@inmogallery.net
Seriously cool art in a soon to be hot gallery at the former now long defunct Billy's Grill in the heart of the ever expanding Gallery Row at 5th and Main.
Be there!
Breaking News In LA Times! Proposed Pluto Perceived Perturbations Plainly Problematic!
Since my detailed study of all things astronomical ended back in the day - and which day I will not reveal, other than to say it is many decades past - I was previously unaware that the long debated orbital osculations of Uranus and Neptune have been proven to be as error-filled as a typical copy of the... LA Times....
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-pluto15jan15,0,7818381.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews
After the discovery of Neptune in 1846, astronomers believed that odd perturbations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune could not be entirely explained except by the presence of yet another massive planet somewhere beyond Neptune. They named that body Planet X. The astronomical mystery became a cause celebre.
"I believe in the new planet," Mark Twain wrote. "I hope it is going to be named after me; I should just love it if I can't have a constellation."Twain was long dead by the time the answer came.
As it turned out, much of what astronomers thought they knew about Planet X was wrong. It wasn't big. In fact, there are seven moons in the solar system that would be larger than the planet.
And it didn't cause the perturbations in Uranus' and Neptune's orbits that were the primary reason for believing there was a ninth planet. Scientists eventually determined the perturbations were the result of inaccurate observations.
Among other interesting observations by John Johnson, Jr. in his article about an impending NASA Pluto probe, is that after taking until at least 2015 to get there, the piano-sized craft (an superb visual imental mage supplied by him) the craft will then have but one earth day to take close-up photos of the planet.
After traveling billions of miles, New Horizons must thread a needle 186 miles wide to approach Pluto. Swinging over the small planet at a distance of 6,200 miles, it would have just one Earth day to get the best pictures. The onboard cameras should be able to resolve features as small as 80 feet across.
One challenge facing NASA controllers is the time it would take to communicate with the spacecraft once it reaches Pluto — about four hours and 25 minutes, one way. At those distances, New Horizons would be well into its observations before controllers find out whether they are getting good data.
And yet it still takes two weeks for the US Post Office in LA to transfer a letter exactly twelve miles - and to then still deliver it to the wrong address...
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-pluto15jan15,0,7818381.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews
After the discovery of Neptune in 1846, astronomers believed that odd perturbations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune could not be entirely explained except by the presence of yet another massive planet somewhere beyond Neptune. They named that body Planet X. The astronomical mystery became a cause celebre.
"I believe in the new planet," Mark Twain wrote. "I hope it is going to be named after me; I should just love it if I can't have a constellation."Twain was long dead by the time the answer came.
As it turned out, much of what astronomers thought they knew about Planet X was wrong. It wasn't big. In fact, there are seven moons in the solar system that would be larger than the planet.
And it didn't cause the perturbations in Uranus' and Neptune's orbits that were the primary reason for believing there was a ninth planet. Scientists eventually determined the perturbations were the result of inaccurate observations.
Among other interesting observations by John Johnson, Jr. in his article about an impending NASA Pluto probe, is that after taking until at least 2015 to get there, the piano-sized craft (an superb visual imental mage supplied by him) the craft will then have but one earth day to take close-up photos of the planet.
After traveling billions of miles, New Horizons must thread a needle 186 miles wide to approach Pluto. Swinging over the small planet at a distance of 6,200 miles, it would have just one Earth day to get the best pictures. The onboard cameras should be able to resolve features as small as 80 feet across.
One challenge facing NASA controllers is the time it would take to communicate with the spacecraft once it reaches Pluto — about four hours and 25 minutes, one way. At those distances, New Horizons would be well into its observations before controllers find out whether they are getting good data.
And yet it still takes two weeks for the US Post Office in LA to transfer a letter exactly twelve miles - and to then still deliver it to the wrong address...
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Legendary New Yorker/Playboy Cartoonist Eldon Dedini Dead At 84. UPDATE! LA Times Obit Of Dedini!
(Oops! Sorry. No obit of Dedini in today's LA Times! So we return you to our regularly scheduled New York Times coverage of all things Los Angeles....)
Any male who came of age in the 1960's will have fond memories of Dedini's nymph and satyr Playboy cartoons and many will likely remember when they first realized he was also doing cartoons for the New Yorker.
What I did not know was that he was essentially a local boy born and raised in California and that he was schooled and worked in Los Angeles for many years:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/arts/14dedini.html
Eldon Dedini, 84, Magazine Gag Cartoonist, Dies
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Eldon Dedini, a cartoonist who concocted a mythical world of satyrs and nymphs for Playboy and another of quirky, sophisticated wit for The New Yorker, died Thursday at his home in Carmel, Calif. He was 84....
....Mr. Dedini did around 1,200 cartoons for Playboy and 630 for The New Yorker in a career that also included Disney cartoons...
.....Mr. Dedini's Playboy cartoons helped establish the magazine's image in the 1960's, from takeoffs on classic Japanese erotica to urban hipsters. His sexually brash satyrs in joyful pursuit of astoundingly proportioned, equally lusty nymphs became as much a Playboy trademark as lascivious advice columns.
Eldon Lawrence Dedini was born in King City, Calif., on June 29, 1921. His son said that at 5 he drew a strikingly realistic picture of a train from memory. He did cartoons for two local newspapers without pay to gain experience.
While at Salinas Junior College, now Hartnell College, he sold his first cartoon to Esquire. He graduated from the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, where he meet Virginia Conroy, whom he married in 1944.
Eldon Dedini's first job was as an artist at Universal Studios. He moved to Disney, where he worked with writers on films that included "Mickey and the Beanstalk."
He joined Esquire in 1946 and stayed with the magazine until 1950, when he moved to The New Yorker. He added Playboy to the New Yorker job in 1960...
....His distinctively wry approach was suggested in one of his hundreds of New Yorker cartoons: two mice are conversing as they enter a crowded room. "Oh, Lord, not another wine-and-cheese party," one groans.
Hopefully he left behind a cartoon of himself entering the pearly gates... in full pursuit of a angel winged full bodied nymph.
Any male who came of age in the 1960's will have fond memories of Dedini's nymph and satyr Playboy cartoons and many will likely remember when they first realized he was also doing cartoons for the New Yorker.
What I did not know was that he was essentially a local boy born and raised in California and that he was schooled and worked in Los Angeles for many years:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/14/arts/14dedini.html
Eldon Dedini, 84, Magazine Gag Cartoonist, Dies
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Eldon Dedini, a cartoonist who concocted a mythical world of satyrs and nymphs for Playboy and another of quirky, sophisticated wit for The New Yorker, died Thursday at his home in Carmel, Calif. He was 84....
....Mr. Dedini did around 1,200 cartoons for Playboy and 630 for The New Yorker in a career that also included Disney cartoons...
.....Mr. Dedini's Playboy cartoons helped establish the magazine's image in the 1960's, from takeoffs on classic Japanese erotica to urban hipsters. His sexually brash satyrs in joyful pursuit of astoundingly proportioned, equally lusty nymphs became as much a Playboy trademark as lascivious advice columns.
Eldon Lawrence Dedini was born in King City, Calif., on June 29, 1921. His son said that at 5 he drew a strikingly realistic picture of a train from memory. He did cartoons for two local newspapers without pay to gain experience.
While at Salinas Junior College, now Hartnell College, he sold his first cartoon to Esquire. He graduated from the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, where he meet Virginia Conroy, whom he married in 1944.
Eldon Dedini's first job was as an artist at Universal Studios. He moved to Disney, where he worked with writers on films that included "Mickey and the Beanstalk."
He joined Esquire in 1946 and stayed with the magazine until 1950, when he moved to The New Yorker. He added Playboy to the New Yorker job in 1960...
....His distinctively wry approach was suggested in one of his hundreds of New Yorker cartoons: two mice are conversing as they enter a crowded room. "Oh, Lord, not another wine-and-cheese party," one groans.
Hopefully he left behind a cartoon of himself entering the pearly gates... in full pursuit of a angel winged full bodied nymph.
New York Times Editorial Page Leaves LA Cowboy - GOBSMACKED!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/opinion/15sun3.html
January 15, 2006
Editorial Notebook
Gaming Belfast's Patriot Game
By FRANCIS X. CLINES - New York Times
The Irish have a word for it - gobsmacked - that properly describes the astonishment of Representative Peter King and other Irish-Americans at the news that Denis Donaldson, long a trusted leader in Ireland's rebel movement, has been spying for Britain for decades.
The IRISH have a word for it?
Well - hell no!
The English have that word. Yup. It's a True Brit word.
Gobsmacked gestated either in Scotland or the North Of England, was popularized in Liverpool, hit the big time in London and then - later - crossed over to Northern Ireland.
It is not and was not, however, ever an 'Irish' word....
Tsk.... tsk... and the New York Times was doing so well today with the LA Phil article....
January 15, 2006
Editorial Notebook
Gaming Belfast's Patriot Game
By FRANCIS X. CLINES - New York Times
The Irish have a word for it - gobsmacked - that properly describes the astonishment of Representative Peter King and other Irish-Americans at the news that Denis Donaldson, long a trusted leader in Ireland's rebel movement, has been spying for Britain for decades.
The IRISH have a word for it?
Well - hell no!
The English have that word. Yup. It's a True Brit word.
Gobsmacked gestated either in Scotland or the North Of England, was popularized in Liverpool, hit the big time in London and then - later - crossed over to Northern Ireland.
It is not and was not, however, ever an 'Irish' word....
Tsk.... tsk... and the New York Times was doing so well today with the LA Phil article....
It's Official! New York Times Declares Los Angeles National Center of Symphonic Excitement!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/arts/music/15kozi.html
File this one in the... too good to be true file....
January 15, 2006
Continental Shift New York Times By ALLAN KOZINN
LOS ANGELES — Predicting which American city might overtake New York as the center for the arts - any of the arts - has long been a parlor game in certain circles. If, 15 years ago, you had asked an informed fan where the excitement was in the symphonic world, you would have heard about the St. Louis Symphony, thriving under Leonard Slatkin's baton, or about the Cleveland Orchestra, which, under Christoph von Dohnanyi, was regaining the sheen it had lost since the 1960's height of George Szell's fabled tenure.
Surely no one would have mentioned this city, where the Philharmonic was respectable but on the downside of its up-and-down history. Yet in 2006, the Los Angeles Philharmonic tops the list of America's premier orchestras and serves as a lesson in how to update an august cultural institution without cheapening its work.
It has everything. Its new home, the $275 million Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, became a national cultural landmark the instant it opened in 2003 and is as satisfying acoustically as it is visually. The orchestra's programming - modernist-leaning and often inventively theatrical - has won the envy of music lovers across the country and is playing to near-capacity houses.
The ensemble has burnished its reputation for energetic, streamlined playing, and this weekend it is making a recording for Deutsche Grammophon, ending a four-year recording drought. It has also leapt into 21st-century musical commerce, striking a deal to make some of its concerts available on iTunes.
At the center of this grand renovation is Esa-Pekka Salonen, the 47-year-old Finnish conductor who has been the Philharmonic's music director since 1992...
My God - I can't imagine what photos of Kozinn the LA Phil could have of him (a threesome with an underaged gerbil and an immature baby seal?) that could force him to write all that wonderfully purple prose in the New York Times - so he must actually believe what he wrote!
Now for Esa's big, big plans for our future....
.... he has explored the music of the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, and he started a "Filmharmonic" project to foster new collaborations between composers and filmmakers. Mr. Salonen envisioned a series of new 60-minute works with film components, which the orchestra could perform and release on DVD. But he was unable to raise the funds.
"I haven't given up hope that someday some executive at Disney comes and says, 'Well, look, do you want to do it?' " Mr. Salonen said. As for the criticism he has received for not championing enough Los Angeles composers, "It has been on my mind a lot," he said. "The problem is that L.A. is quite a transitory place.
There are young composers who come to study here, and then they're gone." But he has hopes on that front, too.
Yay! Now for more good stuff....
The orchestra is offering a Beethoven cycle this season, but also installments of a Shostakovich cycle, a festival built around the English composer Thomas Adès, and "Minimalist Jukebox," an expansive exploration of Minimalism overseen by Mr. Adams.
"Almost daily," he said, "I run into people who would come to a Kurtag concert" - Gyorgy Kurtag, a contemporary Hungarian composer - "and who would also go to hear U2 or a world-music presentation. And they will enjoy a symphony here and there. It's an iPod landscape."
All told, the orchestra's current season offers works by 42 composers from the 20th or 21st centuries, 9 from the 19th and 8 from the Baroque and Classical eras - a configuration unimaginable among the East Coast establishment.
Critics' pleas for more adventurous programming at the New York Philharmonic are usually dismissed with the assertion that new music doesn't sell tickets. But the Los Angeles Philharmonic expects to sell 93 percent of its tickets this year. The New York Philharmonic projects sales of 81 percent.
And now for the big close...
Rock stars, star architects, Finnish diffidence and intellectual experimentation: Can other cities learn from this strange amalgam? Mr. Salonen regards it as site-specific, and he isn't much interested in testing the theory.
He is happily ensconced in Los Angeles with his wife and three children, and if he gives up his Los Angeles directorship, it will most likely be to spend more time composing.
So New Yorkers with fantasies of Mr. Salonen moving east and breathing life into the New York Philharmonic when Lorin Maazel steps down in 2009 might as well give them up. But Mr. Salonen's success here provides a foolproof recipe for any orchestra.
All it needs is a charismatic conductor with fresh ideas and an openness to new musical currents; a concert hall that people want to go to and that musicians like to play in; programs that treat music not as a museum culture but as a lively continuum; and a management and board willing to support experimental urges.
It's pretty simple, really.
Ahhhh.... pig... wallow.... mud.....
File this one in the... too good to be true file....
January 15, 2006
Continental Shift New York Times By ALLAN KOZINN
LOS ANGELES — Predicting which American city might overtake New York as the center for the arts - any of the arts - has long been a parlor game in certain circles. If, 15 years ago, you had asked an informed fan where the excitement was in the symphonic world, you would have heard about the St. Louis Symphony, thriving under Leonard Slatkin's baton, or about the Cleveland Orchestra, which, under Christoph von Dohnanyi, was regaining the sheen it had lost since the 1960's height of George Szell's fabled tenure.
Surely no one would have mentioned this city, where the Philharmonic was respectable but on the downside of its up-and-down history. Yet in 2006, the Los Angeles Philharmonic tops the list of America's premier orchestras and serves as a lesson in how to update an august cultural institution without cheapening its work.
It has everything. Its new home, the $275 million Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry, became a national cultural landmark the instant it opened in 2003 and is as satisfying acoustically as it is visually. The orchestra's programming - modernist-leaning and often inventively theatrical - has won the envy of music lovers across the country and is playing to near-capacity houses.
The ensemble has burnished its reputation for energetic, streamlined playing, and this weekend it is making a recording for Deutsche Grammophon, ending a four-year recording drought. It has also leapt into 21st-century musical commerce, striking a deal to make some of its concerts available on iTunes.
At the center of this grand renovation is Esa-Pekka Salonen, the 47-year-old Finnish conductor who has been the Philharmonic's music director since 1992...
My God - I can't imagine what photos of Kozinn the LA Phil could have of him (a threesome with an underaged gerbil and an immature baby seal?) that could force him to write all that wonderfully purple prose in the New York Times - so he must actually believe what he wrote!
Now for Esa's big, big plans for our future....
.... he has explored the music of the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, and he started a "Filmharmonic" project to foster new collaborations between composers and filmmakers. Mr. Salonen envisioned a series of new 60-minute works with film components, which the orchestra could perform and release on DVD. But he was unable to raise the funds.
"I haven't given up hope that someday some executive at Disney comes and says, 'Well, look, do you want to do it?' " Mr. Salonen said. As for the criticism he has received for not championing enough Los Angeles composers, "It has been on my mind a lot," he said. "The problem is that L.A. is quite a transitory place.
There are young composers who come to study here, and then they're gone." But he has hopes on that front, too.
Yay! Now for more good stuff....
The orchestra is offering a Beethoven cycle this season, but also installments of a Shostakovich cycle, a festival built around the English composer Thomas Adès, and "Minimalist Jukebox," an expansive exploration of Minimalism overseen by Mr. Adams.
"Almost daily," he said, "I run into people who would come to a Kurtag concert" - Gyorgy Kurtag, a contemporary Hungarian composer - "and who would also go to hear U2 or a world-music presentation. And they will enjoy a symphony here and there. It's an iPod landscape."
All told, the orchestra's current season offers works by 42 composers from the 20th or 21st centuries, 9 from the 19th and 8 from the Baroque and Classical eras - a configuration unimaginable among the East Coast establishment.
Critics' pleas for more adventurous programming at the New York Philharmonic are usually dismissed with the assertion that new music doesn't sell tickets. But the Los Angeles Philharmonic expects to sell 93 percent of its tickets this year. The New York Philharmonic projects sales of 81 percent.
And now for the big close...
Rock stars, star architects, Finnish diffidence and intellectual experimentation: Can other cities learn from this strange amalgam? Mr. Salonen regards it as site-specific, and he isn't much interested in testing the theory.
He is happily ensconced in Los Angeles with his wife and three children, and if he gives up his Los Angeles directorship, it will most likely be to spend more time composing.
So New Yorkers with fantasies of Mr. Salonen moving east and breathing life into the New York Philharmonic when Lorin Maazel steps down in 2009 might as well give them up. But Mr. Salonen's success here provides a foolproof recipe for any orchestra.
All it needs is a charismatic conductor with fresh ideas and an openness to new musical currents; a concert hall that people want to go to and that musicians like to play in; programs that treat music not as a museum culture but as a lively continuum; and a management and board willing to support experimental urges.
It's pretty simple, really.
Ahhhh.... pig... wallow.... mud.....
Our Councilwoman Jan Perry Honored by Metropolis Magazine As Top Urban Visionary!
This article is not on the Janurary/February website of Metropolis Magazine so I had to copy the highlights of a corrupted PDF I was emailed, so a couple of the smaller words might be wrong and some of the syntax is... suspect.
CITY GOVERNMENT / URBAN PLANNING
By Jade Chang
Sometimes you need a politician
who is willing to look at the small
pic - instead of the big one.
'This city is a collection of little
neighborhoods, a blanket of network.
It's better to do things in
little steps.' says Los Angeles Councilwoman
Jan Percy, whose
district ranges from the rapidly gentrifying
historic downtown core.... to South Los Angeles.
..... The Councilwoman's Ninth
District contains two of the city's
most high-profile projects, both
with the potential to alter the way
downtown LA. is perceived: Grand
Avenue, a $1.8 billion mixed-use
retail, entertainment, residential,
and hotel development dominated
by Frank Gehry's Disney Concert
Hall: and the entertainment oriented 1.2 billion dollar LA Live project,
built around the Staples Center. And as Grand Avenue begins to consider
retailers, Perry insists on including
some independent local merchants
And...
After graduating from the University of Southern
California, where she took urban-planning
classes and had to "identify social problems and
solve them with design," Perry took a job as
admissions officer at the Southern California
Institute of Architecture in 1979. There she got
to know the school's first director Ray Kappe,
and architects Michael Rotondi, Thom Mayne whose
Caltrans building went up in her district
in 2005 and current director Eric Owen Moss.
Blunt and plainspoken, Perry is at ease around
design in a way few politicians are; she doesn't
see it as a trophy or a lure-or just another iconic
building to put on a stamp. To her design is an
essential building block of a city.
When the Midnight Mission, one of L.A.'s oldest
housing shelters, was planning its renovation,
Perry advocated the creation of a courtyard with
toilets and safe sleeping areas for individuals
who couldn't or wouldn't sleep in shelters. Homeless
housing is one of downtown's biggest issues. Rather
than battle with developers and new residents
who didn't want SROs and shelters in their
adopted neighborhoods, Perry pushed for housing
that, at least on the outside, could pass for
market-rate condos. Good design became a way
to keep a community economically integrated something
that's becoming harder and harder to
do as loft prices soar.
On the opposite end of the Ninth District, in
an area recently renamed South Los Angeles
after "South Central" became too heavy a burden,
Perry's small changes move in an unexpected
direction.
Besides adding welcome elements like
a farmers market to the community, the councilwoman
has developed a half-acre of wetlands at
the intersection of Slauson and Compton in a
new park that was once a Department of Water
& Power pipe yard; now it contains a freshwater
marsh and surrounding riparian habitat with a
variety of trees that will attract everything from
egrets to herons. It's a tiny urban oasis - and a
very big step.
METROPOLIS
CITY GOVERNMENT / URBAN PLANNING
By Jade Chang
Sometimes you need a politician
who is willing to look at the small
pic - instead of the big one.
'This city is a collection of little
neighborhoods, a blanket of network.
It's better to do things in
little steps.' says Los Angeles Councilwoman
Jan Percy, whose
district ranges from the rapidly gentrifying
historic downtown core.... to South Los Angeles.
..... The Councilwoman's Ninth
District contains two of the city's
most high-profile projects, both
with the potential to alter the way
downtown LA. is perceived: Grand
Avenue, a $1.8 billion mixed-use
retail, entertainment, residential,
and hotel development dominated
by Frank Gehry's Disney Concert
Hall: and the entertainment oriented 1.2 billion dollar LA Live project,
built around the Staples Center. And as Grand Avenue begins to consider
retailers, Perry insists on including
some independent local merchants
And...
After graduating from the University of Southern
California, where she took urban-planning
classes and had to "identify social problems and
solve them with design," Perry took a job as
admissions officer at the Southern California
Institute of Architecture in 1979. There she got
to know the school's first director Ray Kappe,
and architects Michael Rotondi, Thom Mayne whose
Caltrans building went up in her district
in 2005 and current director Eric Owen Moss.
Blunt and plainspoken, Perry is at ease around
design in a way few politicians are; she doesn't
see it as a trophy or a lure-or just another iconic
building to put on a stamp. To her design is an
essential building block of a city.
When the Midnight Mission, one of L.A.'s oldest
housing shelters, was planning its renovation,
Perry advocated the creation of a courtyard with
toilets and safe sleeping areas for individuals
who couldn't or wouldn't sleep in shelters. Homeless
housing is one of downtown's biggest issues. Rather
than battle with developers and new residents
who didn't want SROs and shelters in their
adopted neighborhoods, Perry pushed for housing
that, at least on the outside, could pass for
market-rate condos. Good design became a way
to keep a community economically integrated something
that's becoming harder and harder to
do as loft prices soar.
On the opposite end of the Ninth District, in
an area recently renamed South Los Angeles
after "South Central" became too heavy a burden,
Perry's small changes move in an unexpected
direction.
Besides adding welcome elements like
a farmers market to the community, the councilwoman
has developed a half-acre of wetlands at
the intersection of Slauson and Compton in a
new park that was once a Department of Water
& Power pipe yard; now it contains a freshwater
marsh and surrounding riparian habitat with a
variety of trees that will attract everything from
egrets to herons. It's a tiny urban oasis - and a
very big step.
METROPOLIS
LA Times Sends City To Dog House For Dog Pound Shift - Yet LA Times SUPPORTED the Switch! Rabid Hypocrisy Runs Rampant On Spring Street!!
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deal14jan14,0,7443424.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The complications of the condemnation process of a furniture factory for a police station that would later become a proposed site for a proposed dog pound that now appears to be turning into the expansion of a furniture design studio (not to mention the way police bond money was used to buy the furniture factory/police station/dog kennel/furniture design studio and how the eviction of the previous owner was handled) - hardly shows our city at its best. But at least there is a logic as to how it has all come down.
Still, no one at City Hall (prior to Parks becoming councilman) looks very good in this as Patrick McGreevy correctly points out.
But regarding the inference that anyone who accepted donations from the owners of the design studio has been swayed by those donations is clearly unfounded when one looks at that history of the transaction.
When former Chief soon to be Councilman Bernard Parks ran for office, he promised to bring better paying jobs to his district and to improve the quality of development in his district, both of which will happen with this new project.
He is only doing what he had promised to do. And encouraging him at the time was one other major political force that seemingly supported transferring this land to the design center; a political force that put Parks on the spot back in 2003 by all but asking that he stop the pound and allow the design center to expand.
And that major - albeit, fully unmentioned in the article - political force was... the LA Times!
Yes!
City Putting a Pound in the Way of Progress
By Michael Hiltzik
Los Angeles Times Monday December 01, 2003
The question raised by Francisco Pinedo's plans to turn a few square
blocks of South-Central L.A. into the leading furniture design mart
on the West Coast is this: Can the city of Los Angeles get out of its
own way?
The very LA Times now condemning politicians for supporting this, clear back in 2003 practically DEMANDED that these same politicians support this! For more on this, go to the below link and scroll a very, very long way down to get the the story.
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:IkWzPVM8s84J:www.anderson.ucla.edu/documents/areas/adm/loeb/04e50goldenstate.pdf+dog+pound+design+%22los+angeles+times%22&hl=en
And now - two years later - the Times is attacking the politicians for doing what the Times had asked them to do! Now of course to actually know all this, there would have to be at least one editor at the LA Times would actually reads the LA Times... but well... you know.... just cause you make the sausages doesn't mean you really want to eat them.
Much more on this later....
The complications of the condemnation process of a furniture factory for a police station that would later become a proposed site for a proposed dog pound that now appears to be turning into the expansion of a furniture design studio (not to mention the way police bond money was used to buy the furniture factory/police station/dog kennel/furniture design studio and how the eviction of the previous owner was handled) - hardly shows our city at its best. But at least there is a logic as to how it has all come down.
Still, no one at City Hall (prior to Parks becoming councilman) looks very good in this as Patrick McGreevy correctly points out.
But regarding the inference that anyone who accepted donations from the owners of the design studio has been swayed by those donations is clearly unfounded when one looks at that history of the transaction.
When former Chief soon to be Councilman Bernard Parks ran for office, he promised to bring better paying jobs to his district and to improve the quality of development in his district, both of which will happen with this new project.
He is only doing what he had promised to do. And encouraging him at the time was one other major political force that seemingly supported transferring this land to the design center; a political force that put Parks on the spot back in 2003 by all but asking that he stop the pound and allow the design center to expand.
And that major - albeit, fully unmentioned in the article - political force was... the LA Times!
Yes!
City Putting a Pound in the Way of Progress
By Michael Hiltzik
Los Angeles Times Monday December 01, 2003
The question raised by Francisco Pinedo's plans to turn a few square
blocks of South-Central L.A. into the leading furniture design mart
on the West Coast is this: Can the city of Los Angeles get out of its
own way?
The very LA Times now condemning politicians for supporting this, clear back in 2003 practically DEMANDED that these same politicians support this! For more on this, go to the below link and scroll a very, very long way down to get the the story.
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:IkWzPVM8s84J:www.anderson.ucla.edu/documents/areas/adm/loeb/04e50goldenstate.pdf+dog+pound+design+%22los+angeles+times%22&hl=en
And now - two years later - the Times is attacking the politicians for doing what the Times had asked them to do! Now of course to actually know all this, there would have to be at least one editor at the LA Times would actually reads the LA Times... but well... you know.... just cause you make the sausages doesn't mean you really want to eat them.
Much more on this later....
LA Times Goes To The Dogs In Dog Pound Story!
Below is the headline - and byline - on the LA Times website's front page:
Political Connections Mar Land Swap
By Paul Richter
Critics say selling land set aside for an animal shelter to a developer-donor is an 'abuse of eminent domain'.
Below is the headline and byline that story links to in the California section:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deal14jan14,0,7443424.story?coll=la-home-headlines
THE STATE
Land Seized for Animal Shelter May Be Sold to Developer-Donor
By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Write
A year after Los Angeles seized three acres from a private company to construct a public building, a city councilman wants to sell the land to another private firm for a commercial development.
And it's been like this since last night..
UPDATE!
Almost 3 PM and link to 'Richter' story (if one even exists - and he is not credited on Patrick's story) still links to Patrick's story.
UPDATE!
Saturday 3:15 PM - Patrick replaces Richter on front page of website....
Political Connections Mar Land Swap
By Paul Richter
Critics say selling land set aside for an animal shelter to a developer-donor is an 'abuse of eminent domain'.
Below is the headline and byline that story links to in the California section:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-deal14jan14,0,7443424.story?coll=la-home-headlines
THE STATE
Land Seized for Animal Shelter May Be Sold to Developer-Donor
By Patrick McGreevy, Times Staff Write
A year after Los Angeles seized three acres from a private company to construct a public building, a city councilman wants to sell the land to another private firm for a commercial development.
And it's been like this since last night..
UPDATE!
Almost 3 PM and link to 'Richter' story (if one even exists - and he is not credited on Patrick's story) still links to Patrick's story.
UPDATE!
Saturday 3:15 PM - Patrick replaces Richter on front page of website....
Friday, January 13, 2006
More Details On Convention Center Hotel!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hotel13jan13,1,70050.story
Lots more details in today's LA Times story.
KB Home, Anschutz to Take Over Planned Hotel, Condo Project Near Staples Center
Annette HaddadTimes Staff Writer January 13, 2006
KB Home and billionaire Philip Anschutz have agreed to take over development and ownership of a planned $600-million hotel and condominium project across from Staples Center, officials announced Thursday. The partnership all but ensures completion of what is seen as the linchpin in downtown Los Angeles' transformation into a viable entertainment and residential district.
The project's proximity to the Los Angeles Convention Center also could spark a rebound in the city's convention and tourism business, which has suffered because of a dearth of hotel rooms and attractions compared with Las Vegas and Anaheim.
The project, however, attracted controversy because nearly half its cost — $290 million — will be financed by city subsidies and loans. Anschutz's AEG Group and KB Home's newly formed KB Urban division replace developers Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Wolff Urban Management Inc., who were bought out of the project. "Our decision not to continue with the creation of this hotel will allow the project's development to go on in the most expeditious manner," said Richard Ackerman, an Apollo principal.
The 50-story structure will include two separate hotels with a combined 1,100 rooms, plus 250 luxury condo residences. It will be part of a $2.5-billion "sports-entertainment" hub, called L.A. Live, already under construction by Anschutz's AEG Group that also will feature restaurants, nightclubs and movie and performance theaters in addition to Staples Center.
The area also features new or proposed high-rise office and condo towers, as well as retail establishments. Demand for space seems healthy, as rents for downtown housing and commercial space have risen faster than in many other parts of the city in recent months.
"We will have a massive impact on the rest of the downtown hotels as we become one of the great points of destinations for conventions and events," said Tim Lieweke, president and chief executive of Los Angeles-based AEG.
At 50 stories, the new structure also would become one of the tallest buildings downtown. The tallest, at 73 stories, is the US Bank Tower, formerly called the Library Tower. Lieweke said Anschutz, a longtime Denver resident who made his fortune in oil and gas, railroads, telecommunications and real estate, put up $100 million in capital to ensure that the hotel project got built.
"We have to get this built so we can get the convention business turned around," Lieweke said, adding that AEG has no plans for other hotel projects. Lew Wolff, a nationally recognized expert in urban development and head of Wolff Urban Management, will be an advisor to the hotel project. The previous developers had been working with Hilton Hotels Corp. to operate the hotel.
AEG and KB Home said they were re-evaluating the Hilton deal and were also talking with other hotel operators to carry out their plan to have two hotel brands — offering mid-priced and luxury accommodations — within the same building.
Atop the structure will be 250 high-end condos with sweeping city views, to be built by Los Angeles-based KB Home. The nation's fifth-largest home builder, known for entry-level housing, has been slowly moving into the luxury market by building million-dollar single-family houses and townhomes. The condos will be the company's first high-end condo project and its first hotel-related venture.
KB Home and AEG "have the attitude of moving forward well and competently," said Bruce Karatz, chairman and chief executive of KB Home. "We've got all the elements to make this an extremely successful development — for us, for our partners, for the city and for all members of our city."
To form its partnership with AEG, KB Home withdrew from a previously announced proposal to build a twin-tower, 700-unit condo project two blocks away with rival Lennar Corp., said Jeffrey Gault, president of KB Urban. Miami-based Lennar declined to comment on Thursday's announcement. LNR Property Corp., a Lennar spinoff, has agreed to buy the parcel on which the project was to be built in a deal expected to close next month. But it was unclear whether the Lennar condo project would go forward in its originally proposed form.
Building a 1,000-plus-room hotel within walking distance of the convention center has been on the minds of city planners and developers for at least three decades. It was only after the development of Staples Center in 1999 that plans for a hotel started to crystallize. "This is another symbol of what the downtown renaissance is providing the city — millions in tax revenues and thousands of jobs," said Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Assn., a nonprofit business advocacy organization. . .
Lots more details in today's LA Times story.
KB Home, Anschutz to Take Over Planned Hotel, Condo Project Near Staples Center
Annette HaddadTimes Staff Writer January 13, 2006
KB Home and billionaire Philip Anschutz have agreed to take over development and ownership of a planned $600-million hotel and condominium project across from Staples Center, officials announced Thursday. The partnership all but ensures completion of what is seen as the linchpin in downtown Los Angeles' transformation into a viable entertainment and residential district.
The project's proximity to the Los Angeles Convention Center also could spark a rebound in the city's convention and tourism business, which has suffered because of a dearth of hotel rooms and attractions compared with Las Vegas and Anaheim.
The project, however, attracted controversy because nearly half its cost — $290 million — will be financed by city subsidies and loans. Anschutz's AEG Group and KB Home's newly formed KB Urban division replace developers Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Wolff Urban Management Inc., who were bought out of the project. "Our decision not to continue with the creation of this hotel will allow the project's development to go on in the most expeditious manner," said Richard Ackerman, an Apollo principal.
The 50-story structure will include two separate hotels with a combined 1,100 rooms, plus 250 luxury condo residences. It will be part of a $2.5-billion "sports-entertainment" hub, called L.A. Live, already under construction by Anschutz's AEG Group that also will feature restaurants, nightclubs and movie and performance theaters in addition to Staples Center.
The area also features new or proposed high-rise office and condo towers, as well as retail establishments. Demand for space seems healthy, as rents for downtown housing and commercial space have risen faster than in many other parts of the city in recent months.
"We will have a massive impact on the rest of the downtown hotels as we become one of the great points of destinations for conventions and events," said Tim Lieweke, president and chief executive of Los Angeles-based AEG.
At 50 stories, the new structure also would become one of the tallest buildings downtown. The tallest, at 73 stories, is the US Bank Tower, formerly called the Library Tower. Lieweke said Anschutz, a longtime Denver resident who made his fortune in oil and gas, railroads, telecommunications and real estate, put up $100 million in capital to ensure that the hotel project got built.
"We have to get this built so we can get the convention business turned around," Lieweke said, adding that AEG has no plans for other hotel projects. Lew Wolff, a nationally recognized expert in urban development and head of Wolff Urban Management, will be an advisor to the hotel project. The previous developers had been working with Hilton Hotels Corp. to operate the hotel.
AEG and KB Home said they were re-evaluating the Hilton deal and were also talking with other hotel operators to carry out their plan to have two hotel brands — offering mid-priced and luxury accommodations — within the same building.
Atop the structure will be 250 high-end condos with sweeping city views, to be built by Los Angeles-based KB Home. The nation's fifth-largest home builder, known for entry-level housing, has been slowly moving into the luxury market by building million-dollar single-family houses and townhomes. The condos will be the company's first high-end condo project and its first hotel-related venture.
KB Home and AEG "have the attitude of moving forward well and competently," said Bruce Karatz, chairman and chief executive of KB Home. "We've got all the elements to make this an extremely successful development — for us, for our partners, for the city and for all members of our city."
To form its partnership with AEG, KB Home withdrew from a previously announced proposal to build a twin-tower, 700-unit condo project two blocks away with rival Lennar Corp., said Jeffrey Gault, president of KB Urban. Miami-based Lennar declined to comment on Thursday's announcement. LNR Property Corp., a Lennar spinoff, has agreed to buy the parcel on which the project was to be built in a deal expected to close next month. But it was unclear whether the Lennar condo project would go forward in its originally proposed form.
Building a 1,000-plus-room hotel within walking distance of the convention center has been on the minds of city planners and developers for at least three decades. It was only after the development of Staples Center in 1999 that plans for a hotel started to crystallize. "This is another symbol of what the downtown renaissance is providing the city — millions in tax revenues and thousands of jobs," said Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Assn., a nonprofit business advocacy organization. . .
Thursday, January 12, 2006
LA Times Magazine Put To Death! But...West Magazine To Rise In Its Place!
http://www.latimes.com/services/newspaper/mediacenter/releases/la-mediacenter-2006-0112,0,5263531.story?coll=la-mediacenter-releases
While I liked a lot of the writing in the Old LA Times Magazine - with the exception of the still shamelessly uncorrected fabricated quotes in the spurious Wyatt Earp article, of course - the latest LA Times Magazine - called - West - comes with some great names attached to it:
Los Angeles Times to Launch 'West' Magazine Feb. 5
Amy Tan Joins West Magazine as Literary Editor
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12, 2006 The Los Angeles Times on Feb. 5 will launch West, a new Sunday magazine offering readers an eclectic, insightful and entertaining view of the many faces of California. West magazine, which will replace the weekly Los Angeles Times Magazine, resurrects the title used by The Times for its Sunday magazine from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s.
The Times is one of the few U.S. newspapers continuing to publish a unique Sunday color magazine."We've found that Times readers clearly value a quality Sunday magazine," said Rick Wartzman, editor of West. "With compelling editorial content and innovative graphic design, West magazine fits that bill.""We're aiming to capture California in the grandest sense imaginable," said Wartzman.
And...
Amy Tan Named Literary EditorAcclaimed author Amy Tan has joined West magazine as literary editor. She will be responsible for helping to solicit and select pieces for "California Story," an original work of short fiction set in the Golden State. Tan, a native Californian, is the author of the best-selling "Saving Fish from Drowning" and "The Joy Luck Club."
She also is the author of "The Hundred Secret Senses," "The Kitchen God's Wife," "The Bonesetter's Daughter," "The Opposite of Fate" and two children's books, one of which, "Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat," was developed into a popular PBS children's television series. Tan is a member of the literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders.
(Cowboy note - they aren't half-bad! At least as literary garage bands go)
The full-color weekly will feature a new typography created exclusively for West and a bold, crisp and clean look - designed by Los Angeles Times Creative Director Joseph Hutchinson - that will significantly improve content flow and pacing. The magazine's distinctive page layout will dramatically showcase eye-catching photography by Los Angeles Times and freelance photographers and illustrations by some of the best artists in the industry.
For the cover of West magazine, artist Jim Parkinson, who designed the nameplates for Esquire and Rolling Stone magazines, has created a new, modern nameplate similar to one of the versions used for the original West magazine.
West will introduce six new weekly departments in the front of the book:
Fault Lines - The magazine's letters page will feature a one-panel cartoon by Los Angeles artist Donna Barstow, whose work has appeared in numerous magazines including Reader's Digest and the New Yorker.
From First & Spring: An Editor's Note Wartzman sets the tone for West with an informal piece, riffing off one of the features in that week's issue.
Rearview Mirror An elegant and intelligent spin on the old newspaper standby "Twenty-five years ago this week," this feature will play off a particular event to showcase classic California fiction and nonfiction writing.
Sunday Punches A fun page of lists, caricatures, two-word fiction, doggerel and an assortment of other light-hearted items.
Photo Synthesis Contributing writer Colin Westerbeck showcases California's rich photographic history and focuses on some of the state's leading and cutting-edge photographers.
The Rules of Hollywood Industry insiders - screenwriters, agents, actors, actresses lawyers, maybe even a key grip or two - will share their tales from the trenches.
The magazine will retain two of its most popular features in the back of the book:
Crossword - Merl Reagle's crossword puzzle will remain part of the weekly mix.
800 Words - The final words in the magazine will now belong to Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. This feature on the arts and culture connects the dots as only Neil can: high and low, avant-garde and old guard, ancient and modern.
And much more at the above link.... and my only complaint would be that virtually every one of the staff writers listed elsewhere in the release ranges from left to far left. I doubt if even one of them could be described as having the beliefs of the average voter in LA, much less the state, and I seriously doubt that - even when one considers the contributing writers - that even a single one of them will be voting for Arnold next year.
They may be covering all of California, but it will only be from one exceptionally limited point of view and that - very clearly - is no accident.
True diversity - something to be avoided at all costs at the LA Times.
While I liked a lot of the writing in the Old LA Times Magazine - with the exception of the still shamelessly uncorrected fabricated quotes in the spurious Wyatt Earp article, of course - the latest LA Times Magazine - called - West - comes with some great names attached to it:
Los Angeles Times to Launch 'West' Magazine Feb. 5
Amy Tan Joins West Magazine as Literary Editor
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12, 2006 The Los Angeles Times on Feb. 5 will launch West, a new Sunday magazine offering readers an eclectic, insightful and entertaining view of the many faces of California. West magazine, which will replace the weekly Los Angeles Times Magazine, resurrects the title used by The Times for its Sunday magazine from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s.
The Times is one of the few U.S. newspapers continuing to publish a unique Sunday color magazine."We've found that Times readers clearly value a quality Sunday magazine," said Rick Wartzman, editor of West. "With compelling editorial content and innovative graphic design, West magazine fits that bill.""We're aiming to capture California in the grandest sense imaginable," said Wartzman.
And...
Amy Tan Named Literary EditorAcclaimed author Amy Tan has joined West magazine as literary editor. She will be responsible for helping to solicit and select pieces for "California Story," an original work of short fiction set in the Golden State. Tan, a native Californian, is the author of the best-selling "Saving Fish from Drowning" and "The Joy Luck Club."
She also is the author of "The Hundred Secret Senses," "The Kitchen God's Wife," "The Bonesetter's Daughter," "The Opposite of Fate" and two children's books, one of which, "Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat," was developed into a popular PBS children's television series. Tan is a member of the literary garage band, the Rock Bottom Remainders.
(Cowboy note - they aren't half-bad! At least as literary garage bands go)
The full-color weekly will feature a new typography created exclusively for West and a bold, crisp and clean look - designed by Los Angeles Times Creative Director Joseph Hutchinson - that will significantly improve content flow and pacing. The magazine's distinctive page layout will dramatically showcase eye-catching photography by Los Angeles Times and freelance photographers and illustrations by some of the best artists in the industry.
For the cover of West magazine, artist Jim Parkinson, who designed the nameplates for Esquire and Rolling Stone magazines, has created a new, modern nameplate similar to one of the versions used for the original West magazine.
West will introduce six new weekly departments in the front of the book:
Fault Lines - The magazine's letters page will feature a one-panel cartoon by Los Angeles artist Donna Barstow, whose work has appeared in numerous magazines including Reader's Digest and the New Yorker.
From First & Spring: An Editor's Note Wartzman sets the tone for West with an informal piece, riffing off one of the features in that week's issue.
Rearview Mirror An elegant and intelligent spin on the old newspaper standby "Twenty-five years ago this week," this feature will play off a particular event to showcase classic California fiction and nonfiction writing.
Sunday Punches A fun page of lists, caricatures, two-word fiction, doggerel and an assortment of other light-hearted items.
Photo Synthesis Contributing writer Colin Westerbeck showcases California's rich photographic history and focuses on some of the state's leading and cutting-edge photographers.
The Rules of Hollywood Industry insiders - screenwriters, agents, actors, actresses lawyers, maybe even a key grip or two - will share their tales from the trenches.
The magazine will retain two of its most popular features in the back of the book:
Crossword - Merl Reagle's crossword puzzle will remain part of the weekly mix.
800 Words - The final words in the magazine will now belong to Dan Neil, Los Angeles Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. This feature on the arts and culture connects the dots as only Neil can: high and low, avant-garde and old guard, ancient and modern.
And much more at the above link.... and my only complaint would be that virtually every one of the staff writers listed elsewhere in the release ranges from left to far left. I doubt if even one of them could be described as having the beliefs of the average voter in LA, much less the state, and I seriously doubt that - even when one considers the contributing writers - that even a single one of them will be voting for Arnold next year.
They may be covering all of California, but it will only be from one exceptionally limited point of view and that - very clearly - is no accident.
True diversity - something to be avoided at all costs at the LA Times.
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