What Do Cute Kittens And the LA Times Story - Death on the Rails - Have in Common?

This weekend's Los Angeles Times story - Death on the Rails - begins with the statistics that have long proven how riding the Metrolink - and in particular driving near it - may be hazardous to your health. The story's main writer, Doug Smith, also re-explains the well known political reasons why the agency that runs the Metrolink has been unable to internally fix its problems.

But Smith - and his team of writer Nathan Olivares-Giles, researcher Maloy Moore and data analyst Sandra Poindexter - then go beyond what we already know to give a detailed proposal about how the Metrolink system can be made safer in several specific ways - and in relatively short periods of time compared to the major long term needed improvements. The article then tackles why this has not been done in the past - and then lists the external political obstacles that have to be cleared to fix the system.

And, in this city, the Los Angeles Times is increasingly only place where this kind of intensive research and reporting and solution finding is done on a consistent basis and on a wide range of issues.

Unfortunately, the LA Times and all other print media now face an increasingly on-line future in which the expensive content the public needs to be protected from harm is often not the content that drives the necessary number of page views to keep those institutions alive.

So the the next time local critics complain about the Los Angeles Times and its on-line photo albums of cute kittens - they should remember that one day some particularly cute kitten might pay for the story that will save their lives.

Click the lnk above for the full story or you can read below the story's opening:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/metrolink/la-me-buena-metrolink27-2009sep27,0,6617016,print.story

Death on the rails in L.A.
An analysis of crash data suggests that Metrolink could significantly reduce accidents by targeting a few particularly dangerous crossings.

By Doug Smith

September 27, 2009


Although Metrolink safety lapses drew national attention last year when 25 people were killed in a head-on collision with a freight train, many more have died from commuter trains hitting automobiles and pedestrians.

Over the 15 years leading up to the deadly crash in Chatsworth, accidents involving trains running on Metrolink's system killed 218 other people, according to a detailed examination of accident records by The Times. Through September 2008, the number killed on the Metrolink commuter rail system was 244. Hundreds more people sustained nonfatal injuries.

Critics say Metrolink leaders have not paid enough attention to safety and have done little to upgrade dangerous intersections where streets cross the tracks. In particular, the public railway has failed to adopt the sorts of safety systems and improvements developed and widely used by its sister agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Some of the clearest examples are in the San Fernando Valley, which includes two of Metrolink's most dangerous crossings -- at Buena Vista Street in Burbank and Sunland Boulevard in Sun Valley.

For the thousands of motorists who pass through it every day, the rail crossing at Buena Vista and San Fernando Boulevard can be a hair-raising passage. The intersection is a maze of sharp turns and confusing signals that require drivers to move with split-second timing.

Twice in recent years, that timing has gone fatally wrong just as a train was bearing down fast, leading to the deaths of motorists.

On Jan. 6, 2003, Jacek "Jack" Wysocki rolled his Ford truck into the path of a Metrolink train traveling 79 mph. The 63-year-old driver was killed along with one train passenger; two train cars derailed and flipped, injuring 20 other Metrolink riders.

Exactly three years later, 76-year-old Maureen Osborn was killed after turning in front of a Metrolink commuter going 75 mph. Osborn's car was dragged a third of a mile before the train could stop.

Both tragedies could have been predicted. Buena Vista and similar Metrolink intersections had all seen previous accidents and near-collisions.

Metrolink took no responsibility

They also could have been prevented. But if any Metrolink official saw trouble coming, records show no evidence of action. After each accident, leaders of the regional rail system took no responsibility, choosing instead to invoke a standard industry convention: They blamed the deaths on motorists who "tried to beat the train."

Even after a blistering 2003 critique of the crossing's design and signal system by the National Transportation Safety Board, nothing was done to correct Buena Vista's flaws. Facing no legal obligation to follow federal recommendations, Metrolink, Burbank authorities and the California Public Utilities Commission -- the state agency responsible for train safety -- made only minor refinements.

One expert says the history behind the Buena Vista-San Fernando crossing reveals a glaring flaw in the mind-set of Metrolink leaders: Because they have focused more on building ridership than on improving safety, even hazards that could have been eliminated or sharply reduced have been allowed to remain. Only after the horrific Chatsworth crash did Metrolink upgrade the status of its safety unit so that it reported directly to chief executive David R. Solow.

"I call it the culture of denial and deflection," said Najmedin Meshkati, a professor of engineering at USC whose studies of human factors in accidents have led him to become a vocal critic of Metrolink.

That culture also stands in stark contrast to what is practiced by the MTA, the largest of five rail agencies that contribute funds to Metrolink.

That agency, based only blocks from Metrolink's Los Angeles office, also had a record of numerous accidents and deaths after initiating its Blue Line light-rail service between downtown and Long Beach in 1990. Since then, the MTA's safety section has examined the causes and retrofitted many of the worst crossings with systems to prevent accidents. As a result, the Blue Line accident rate has dropped significantly.

And, again, the rest of the story is at this link:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/metrolink/la-me-buena-metrolink27-2009sep27,0,6617016,print.story

As The Neon Museum Leaves Downtown.... It's Time To Ask - Why?

latimes.com/news/local/la-me-neon-downtown25-2009sep25,0,973989.story

The story of why the Neon Museum - after 28 years - is leaving Downtown - for a second time (its current display at City Walk being its first defection) is long and complicated and it starts long before I was involved in the politics of Downtown.

I do recall, though, when its first small space in the Arts District in 1981 - around the corner from Joel Bloom's store, another lost landmark, much later opened in 1994.

I also remember when it was supposed to be the major public arts component of what later became LA Live – which instead became the Grammy Museum - but I don't recall how that came to be.

And by the time I started talking with the Museum of Neon Art – MONA - in the late 1990's, the clock was ticking on their then CRA subsidized space in South Park. It was clear then that with no new space to show potential donors or potential new board members - it would be impossible for MONA to raise the money needed to rent or buy a new space - or for them get further public grants to sustain themselves.

It also seemed clear, at least to me, that arts non-profits would soon need to consider developing earned income projects or joint ventures to guarantee their long term financial sustainability.

And this was before anyone realized local and regional governments will soon have the single largest part of their tax revenues going into the pensions and health benefits for retired workers who no longer work for the government, leaving less and less money for anything else.

So my idea was to find a large space, preferably underground or on the upper floors of an old building to keep the rents cheap - where there could be multiple food and beverage tenants sub-letting from the Neon Museum.

Those tenants would then each have their spaces displaying parts of the collection as their decor - and they would pay a higher than normal rent in exchange for those displays. The museum would then be able to exhibit those pieces at no cost to MONA and they would be viewable at night when they would normally not be seen – and there would a steady cash flow from those tenants.

But – best of all – the tenant’s build-outs would hopefully include all the seismic requirements, health and safety requirements and the entire HVAC infrastructure for the entire space.

Restaurants, lounges, bars, or music venues were the possible uses and their nighttime urban atmosphere would work perfectly with the neon.

Then, the museum itself, would have - besides its workshops and smaller display areas - one large and one or two smaller display rooms where - after the museum was closed – those spaces could be rented out as event spaces. This would bring in even more revenue and - again - allow the neon to be seen at night when the museum would normally be closed.

And even when I very conservatively ran the numbers - it seemed feasible that with the prices for underground spaces I was quoted - and how much the new venues - even after build-outs would pay - the museum should be at the very worst – totally rent-free – and that its net income would increase over the years as they amortized the costs.

I then found what I felt was the perfect space for the museum, introduced them to the owners and an agreement to agree was reached and MONA started to develop a business plan on how to do this project.

But soon after, the person who pushed the deal through at the company was hired away by another company, but the deal remained intact. Then the building was sold – and I was told the deal was, again, still on.

I then went on to other projects and assumed no news was good news. And it was only when I checked in about a year later to get a progress report did I discover - the deal had died, though I could never find out… why.

So I - and other people - tried again to find another Downtown home for MONA – as increasingly numbers of offers came from all over the country offering MONA free spaces. But there seemed to be a disconnect between what the Neon Museum was able to find - and afford - and what the City felt was the appropriate place for them to be. And with no new home in hand – MONA was unable to raise any funds themselves, so no deal could be made.

And the final place I proposed, I still feel can work for a museum of some kind in the longer term, but the amount of work it takes to make one of these deals happen.... makes doing them a full time job and I already have twenty other full time – and all 100% pro-bono - jobs.

So when the City displayed no interest in even looking at the space, I moved on.
And so now the Neon Museum appears to be all but gone from Downtown.

But that does not mean this has to be the end of the love story between MONA and Downtown. Unlike the lovers in the 500 Days of Summer, a happy ever after ending for us is still possible.

After all, the Neon Museum has once before abandoned us for City Walk - but still returned home – even while they faithfully retaining their presence at City Walk.

The good news/bad news for neon lovers is that as long as old buildings are torn down - there will be an endless supply of neon needing to be saved. So even if Glendale has the main museum - that does not stop MONA from having a branch in Downtown, once we finally get our act together.

And an auxiliary display only space Downtown would help the Glendale Neon Museum space as it would feed people from our much larger tourist base to the Glendale Museum.

But in order for us to do this – and other major cultural projects - we need to rethink how the City works with arts organizations - and how we are going to house our dozens of homeless museums of all kinds. Museums are important economic development engines and they are essential to our long term ability to attract tourists to Los Angeles.

The first step is for the CRA and other government agencies – and major foundations who are interested in helping non-profits become financially self-sustainable – to create a privately run non-profit corporation to do long term leases of potential future arts spaces.

Or - in today’s' depressed property market – give the corporation the ability buy large warehouses, or condo off the upper floors of buildings on Broadway - or condo off the basements of buildings – for use by arts organizations.

The non-profit corporation would then either do straight sub-leases to the arts groups or do some partial build outs first and then do the sub-leases. This will give the arts groups, museums and other cultural groups the benefit of the far lower rates of the master lease – plus lower combined infrastructure construction costs - as opposed to what it would cost an arts group to lease a smaller already subdivided and built out space.

And if for-profit entities are also given leases within the complex, their rents would help further lower the arts spaces rents – without any need for outside subsidies.

Additionally, each arts organization should be given an opportunity to develop their own earned income revenue streams – when possible – within their spaces. Lastly, all commercial tenants would also be chosen on the basis of their bringing synergistic audiences to the overall space.

However, if the corporation buys the buildings, then it can - over time -sell individual spaces to the arts groups. And if there are profit making businesses in the overall complex – the non-profits can collectively own those spaces and the rents from those spaces could help cover the costs of maintaining the entire building.

To give just one example of how this might work – say the Museum of California Design is given the opportunity to occupy such a complex – think of all the design-oriented retailers who would want to rent or own spaces next to that museum?

And then what better place would there be for a permanent home for the Architecture & Design Museum? Or LATDA - the Los Angeles Toy, Doll and Amusements Museum? Or a Fashion Museum? Or any other museum that is about… design?

So to do all this, the Corporation could buy a huge warehouse complex and give the spaces rent free to help these museums get started while at the same time leasing out other spaces synergistic uses who would want the proximity to both the museums and the other destination-type retailers. This would then cover the museum's rent.

And even before then, the Corporation can rent out the empty spaces for warehousing, if need be – and in their second phase, they can attract events and filming – which would become increasingly easier as the museums themselves start to install.

And this business plan has worked in the past.

During all this, business plans will be then developed and redeveloped on how each museum can either do a long term lease – or purchase of all or parts of the complex. And if one or more museums leave for another space – another new museum will have an already built out space ready to start the whole process all over again.

Additionally, parts of the project could even include future residential development to further help subsidize the overall project.

This way, these museums can get an initial space for very little money – while having a long term plan to increase their size and eventually buy the building – all of which will make it far easier for them to raise funds.

And by buying properties a bit off the beaten track to get affordable spaces, the design oriented retailers will also initially get very affordable rents themselves – while also still having the benefits of built-in audiences from the multiple synergistic retailers – and the growing complex of design museums.

But more on all this later.

Now it's time to get back to the story of the Neon Museum, and below is the latest news from the LA Times:

L.A.'s Museum of Neon Art is glowing, glowing, gone

The museum, which has been in downtown since 1981, is moving to larger quarters across from Americana at Brand in Glendale. The announcement has disappointed many downtown boosters.

By Cara Mia DiMassa

September 25, 2009


The Museum of Neon Art opened its doors in downtown Los Angeles in 1981 -- long before the city center was fashionable. For much of this time, the museum has moved around the area, looking for a spot large enough to show off its uniquely Southern California collection.

At its current location on 4th Street in the Old Bank district, visitors to the museum have a tendency to look befuddled after viewing the 20 pieces of neon and wonder where some of the more iconic pieces are located. The Grauman's Chinese Theatre dragon? The old Union 76 ball?

"People ask, 'Where's the Brown Derby?' " said Kim Koga, the museum's director, referring to the neon sign that once stood atop one of the city's most famous dining establishments and is now in the museum's permanent collection. "We couldn't get it in the door here."

Now, the museum has found the space it wants -- in Glendale. And many who live and work around the lofts and galleries that grew around the museum are sad to see it go.

The new space, on Brand Boulevard across from Americana at Brand, offers raw square footage as well as a chance to display some pieces on the building's exterior -- all in an area that has been experiencing its own sort of renaissance. No date has been set for the move.

The museum leaves a part of downtown that in the last decade has been transformed from an area of empty office buildings and sagging storefronts to one of L.A.'s most vibrant gallery districts, where thousands converge for the monthly art walk.

"We have this amazing relationship that won't end if they go to Glendale," said Bert Green, founder of the Downtown Art Walk and owner of a gallery at 5th and Main streets, "but I would prefer that they stay in downtown."

The announcement comes at a time when the downtown art scene is struggling, in some ways, with its own success. The Downtown Art Walk, which celebrated its fifth anniversary earlier this month, has grown to a point that some gallery owners and residents say has taken it away from its original purpose.

As many as 10,000 people now crowd downtown's streets one Thursday a month, according to some estimates. Many come to peruse the galleries, but others come to visit the area's bars, restaurants and many of the sidewalk vendors who also migrate to the area for the monthly event.

Green, who handed over the reins of the walk earlier this year, has moved his gallery's opening parties to the day before the event, and closes the gallery at 6 p.m. on art walk nights. He was getting 2,500 visitors to the small gallery at 5th and Main between 7 and 9 p.m.

"It was costing me hundreds of dollars to stay open," he said, mostly because of extra staff needed to manage the crowds, "and no one was buying anything."

Downtown boosters say the recession has hit downtown less than other artistic neighborhoods such as Culver City or Venice. While one gallery, the nonprofit Pharmaka, recently lost its space at 5th and Main, others are opening on upper floors, which lack walk-in foot traffic but sometimes offer more space and cheaper rent.

Brady Westwater, a longtime downtown activist, said that he was sad to see the neon museum leave, especially because it had hung on for so long when downtown's fortunes were on the decline. "We've now got Disney Hall, Gallery Row, Art Walk, SCI-Arc -- all of these things that have come in and are now institutions," Westwater said. "It's a tragedy that just as the theaters of Broadway are about to have their lights turned on again, the lights of the neon museum will be turned off downtown."

cara.dimassa@latimes.com

Another Reason Why The Downtown Street Car Will Be a Success!

This Sunday's New York Times evaluates the economic impact of Phoenix's new light rail system which is based upon the same economic development model as the system being built in Downtown Los Angeles.

Their rail line connects Phoenix's different downtown districts in the way ours will link South Park's Staples Arena, Grammy Museum, LA Live and Convention Center to the almost twenty theaters in the extended Broadway theater district - and to Historic Downtown's Gallery Row, Fashion Walk and bars and restaurants before it finally connects with Bunker Hill's Music Center, MOCA, Disney Hall and Grand Avenue Project and Park.

And to the surprise of many in Phoenix, their new light rail has created a local economic boom while the rest of the city continues in a serious economic decline. The good news for LA is that riders in Phoenix are flocking to a system that has a lot fewer attractions along it than we have and it does so in a Downtown with far less density, considerably fewer tourists, a fraction of the residents and comparatively fewer potential riders of ever kind compared to Downtown LA.

Phoenix also does not have our growing concentration of high rise offices and high rise residential buildings all along their line that will attract far more rush hour commuters to LA's system - nor does it have a connection to a growing regional rail sysem.

The Phoenix light rail design is also a little less user friendly than LA's streetcar model which allows you step right from the curb into the car. The far shorter construction method of our model also means local businesses will not have to suffer through an extended construction period as they did in Phoenix (and have done in past traditional light rail projects in LA) - to reap all the economic benefits.

And the success of the Phoenix system increasingly makes it even more certain Councilman Jose Huizar's decision to champion this project will be one of the few economic development projects in Los Angeles in years to create substantial numbers of jobs awhile also raising tax revenues, benefiting both the residents and tax payers of Los Angeles.

And at a time too many economic development projects in LA - and particularly in Downtown - are still largely designed to provide high paying jobs for politically connected consultants and contractors, hopefully the success of this project - and the hoped for success of the overall Bringing Back Broadway Project - will demonstrate that with the right leadership, our city can accomplish the types of genuine economic development projects every city but LA seems to be able to regularly initiate and complete.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/us/20rail.html?hpw

September 20, 2009
In Phoenix, Weekend Users Make Light Rail a Success

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER New York Times
PHOENIX — Among the many detractors — and they were multitudinous — who thought a light rail line in this sprawling city would be a riderless $1 billion failure was Starlee Rhoades, the spokeswoman for the Goldwater Institute, a vocal critic of the rail’s expense. “I’ve taken it,” Ms. Rhoades said, slightly sheepishly. “It’s useful.”

She and her colleagues still think the rail is oversubsidized, but in terms of predictions of failure, she said, “We don’t dwell.”

The light rail here, which opened in December, has been a greater success than its proponents thought it would be, but not quite the way they envisioned. Unlike the rest of the country’s public transportation systems, which are used principally by commuters, the 20 miles of light rail here stretching from central Phoenix to Mesa and Tempe is used largely by people going to restaurants, bars, ball games and cultural events downtown.

The rail was projected to attract 26,000 riders per day, but the number is closer to 33,000, boosted in large part by weekend riders. Only 27 percent use the train for work, according to its operator, compared with 60 percent of other public transit users on average nationwide.

In some part thanks to the new system, downtown Phoenix appears to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise economically pummeled city, which like the rest of Arizona has suffered under the crushing slide of the state’s economy. The state, for years almost totally dependent on growth, has one of the deepest budget deficits in the country.

In the first quarter of 2009, downtown Phoenix saw its revenues increase 13 percent, while the rest of the city saw a fall of 16 percent, according to Eric Johnson, a redevelopment program manager for the city’s Community and Economic Development Department. (Businesses along the line suffered greatly during the many years of construction, it should be noted.)

“It is bringing us new customers who didn’t have time to get in the car and drive out here before,” said Joel Miller, a co-owner of Maizies Cafe and Bistro, which sits right along the rail line.

The gaggle of light rail users — including Arizona State University students, who use a line that connects its Tempe campus with the downtown campus — have given a small part of the city a new, dense connectivity that was more or less unheard of in the city two years ago. Pub crawls along the light rail have become a weekend staple, and restaurants have seen new customers from outside the neighborhood popping in off the line for brunch on the weekends.

“I think the biggest impact of the light rail is less tangible,” said Matt Poolin, owner of Matt’s Big Breakfast, a busy spot along the line, “which is that it really improves the image and perception of Phoenix’s downtown, which, although experiencing a significant renaissance in recent years, still is undergoing many improvements and changes. The light rail, largely because it is so well run and nicely appointed, is something that I think most people are really proud of and feel positive about. It is rare to hear anyone complain, despite all of the controversy.”

The controversy was largely attached to the rail line’s cost — $1.4 billion — and the relatively low ticket price — $1.75 each way, with all-day passes for $3.50 and discounted rates for longer-term passes. In a city with low density, miles of suburban sprawl to the east and west of downtown and a historical lack of passion for public transportation, the rail line, one of the nation’s 36 systems, seemed like a white elephant.

But its development over the last decade coincided with the city’s expansion of the downtown convention center, the rise of the new A.S.U. campus and the booming commercial and residential real estate market that helped fuel the growth of Phoenix, downtown and elsewhere, earlier in the decade. Since 2001, when the tax for the new rail line was approved, there has been about $5 billion in public and private investment — $3.5 billion of it private — around the site of the light rail, the city’s development agency spokesman said.

Valley Metro, the line’s operator, hopes to add 37 miles toward Glendale and northeast Phoenix, breaking ground in 2012 and completing the extensions by 2017.

“We would like to see a financial audit before they expand,” said Ms. Rhoades of the conservative Goldwater Institute, echoing those who have been critical of the expense. “We are also proponents of paying your own way, and we think the light rail remains too subsidized.”

The hooting of an oncoming sleek new train is a sound many in Phoenix are still becoming used to, but it has given the city a distinctly modern feel. “There has been this pent-up demand for downtown Phoenix to grow up,” said Nick Bastian, a real estate agent in the city who has developed a blog devoted to light rail news. “And the light rail has given people an excuse to say let’s go down there and check it out.”

MTA To Shut Down Subway Stations During Rush Hour!

Or at least that's what it seems like they are trying to do.

I can't believe the MTA is only putting in half the turnstyles in the Pershing Square & McArthur Park Stations commuters will need during the rush hour. But the worst of it is - many of those turnstyles are going to be tied up by people exiting - even though they don't need to pay fares. Yes, instead of having separate exits which do not have the ticket taking function - there will not only be too few turnstyles - but those too few turnstyles will be going in two different directions.

And even the Sheriff's officers are openly saying that whoever designed this system is (redacted) and... (redacted) - not to mention (redacted, redacted and redacted) - and that all of us who use the subway are totally (redacted) big time.

Support Iranian Street Artists! Free Event Downtown Tonight! 6 - 9 PM

Subject: TONIGHT!

http://www.crewest.com/

Join us tonight, Saturday, Sep. 19 from 6-9 pm
A very special Live event at Crewest:

Artists from L.A. will create work LIVE in the spirit of exchange with the artists in FROM THE STREETS OF IRAN.
Participating artists include:
Man One, ABCNT, John Carr, Contra, Karen Fiorito, Amitis Motevalli, O and Petal.

Come and watch some of the best local urban artists at work.

From The Streets Of Iran runs through September 26th @ Crewest

http://www.crewest.com/

110 Winston St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
213627-8272

Four New Boutiques Open Since Last Fashion Walk

www.downtownfashionwalk.com

Now while all four of these stores - which will be open on tonight's Fashion Walk from 5:30 - 10 PM - have opened in the past month - which comes to about one new store a week - all but one have participated in past Art and/or Fashion Walk events.

First - KAPSOUL - had a sneak preview at last month's first Fashion Walk - and had a line out the door of eager buyers, despite their then limited selection. Now, though, the store is fully stocked

KAPSOUL 6th Street between Main and Spring
Cell 818-693-4180 Contemporary & vintage clothes, sunglasses

Next, 1-Man's Trash has long been located in Downtown Los Angeles but only recently has been an exhibitor at past Art and Fashion Walks. This, then, will be the Fashion Walk debut of their new store which will feature Erik Dixon's one of a kind re-worked vintage pieces for men, women and children. Among those who have worn his line are Usher Raymond, Ellen Degeneres, and Carmen Elektra. Also featured in the store is a carefuly curated selction of vintage clothing.

1-Man's Trash 651 S. Main Street Vintage inspired, re-made vintage And vintage clothing 818-355-1130

Christina Wheeler has also shown at past Downtown Art Walks before taking the plunge and opening her own store. She has been primarily showing her handbags and hats - but has recently returned to her roots as a clothing designer.

Symbiotic Form
www.symbioticform.blogspot.com 651 Main Street
213-631-6971 Vintage inspired woman's hand bags, hats, clothes and jewelry

In contrast, the all vintage store - ZLB - just appeared a couple weeks ago at 7th and Main with a selection of unusual vintage designs culled from the owner's purchases all over the US - and Europe.

ZLB Main and 7th NW Corner on 7th Side of Building Vintage Clothing of every kind and every price

We will have more on each of these stores and their owners shortly - but besides the fact the are few - if any - retail districts where no clothing stores are closing - I suspect that only on Downtown's Fashion Walk are new stores opening on a regular basis.

What Do Vegas Show Girls And Women On Fashion Walk Have In Common?

www.downtownfashionwalk.com

They all have or have had an opportunity to wear a hat created by Jill Pfieffer. One of the many unique character you will meet on the Downtown Fashion Walk, Jill will be showing some of her one of a kind hats at the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring.

Below is a short bio of a long life:

Biography

Jill started her life as an artist early, with private fine art lessons at the age of 7 and started selling portraits at the age of 10. She has pursued her vocation all of her life and spent many years working as a Costume Designer, Milliner, Wardrobe Master and Stylist.

She has worked in Las Vegas for the Luxor Hotel, the Excalibur Hotel, the Sands, the Desert Inn, the Las Vegas Hilton, the Stardust, and Circus Circus, among others, in Reno for Bally’s, in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, creating costumes, headdresses, and other wardrobe for shows such as “Lido de Paris”, “King Arthur’s Tournaments”, “Starlight Express”, “Viva Las Vegas”, “Sid and Marty Kroft’s Comedy Kings”, “Beach Blanket Babylon”, “Splash”, and “Jesus Christ Superstar”.

After settling in Los Angeles, Jill started creating one-of-a-kind cigar box purses and custom hats and sold them in the LA Garment Dist. for 5 years, where people from all over the world bought both the purses & hats.

A life-long educator, as well as an artist, Jill has taught at UCLA, in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, is still teaching millinery and has just started teaching painting.

Alternative Couture In Alternative Art Space At Fashion Walk!

www.downtownfashionwalk.com

On tonight's Fashion Walk, Crewest - one of the world's leading graffiti galleries - will host Nicole Moan Ceramic Corsets(Ceramic Corsets) and ethercult couture (custom apparel.

Both lines of clothing that look equally at home in an art gallery as they do on the human body. Also on the display in the gallery are examples of Iranian street graffiti. You can see examples at the Crewest website:

http://www.crewest.com/

And below is an interview with Steve Sattler of the Ether Cult.

Weapons of the Ether Cult
Interview: Steven Sattler
by Nathan Cartwright


Steven Sattler is an Idaho grown, Anarchist prone artistic mega-beast. From dodging the draft by starving himself to challenging skinheads in small towns in his white washed state, he is a true warrior of visual persuasion. He stands for chaos, but has an innate ability to make it all look so good in his mixed media compositions. Recently, I had the privilege to visit his studio and chat about his amazing creations and ideas about a New World Order.

Nathan: Steven, I often say there are two types of artists who thrive in The Hive; the illustrators and the mad scientists. Your work is definitely in the latter category. What influences have led you to the Sattler I know?

Steven: An early realization of the horrific state of adult life led me to art as a means of creating alternate realities. In grade school, comic books and sci-fi led me to the study of the aryan mythos, the possibility of real supermen was intriguing. Then I was introduced to surrealism by a nun who gave me a holy card that was by Dali, (I’m sure that she knew not what poisons she had let loose), eventually the army tried to send me to my death, making me a permanent enemy of the state. Finally zen and Krishnamurti put me on a quest for absolute freedom, something that appealed to my inherent non-conformist bent. My ongoing influences would be surrealism and it’s offshoots, except the current drivel that is pop surrealism, (I’m sure Breton is spinning in his grave), and French academic art and teachings, particularly J.L. Gerome. 200

NC: What are some of the obstacles you faced growing up in (the inland northwest) as an artist?

Steven: In the northwest, if you call yourself an artist you had better be able to paint signs or do horse portraiture or will likely get shot. They don’t hold well to the con game that is modern art. Growing up in a hot rod environment, an artist was the guy who could pinstripe or do flames. My dad’s advice was “you have a good eye for detail, you should be a forger or a counterfeiter”.

NC: Tell me about the Ether Cult.

Steven: Ethercult is an attempt to subvert the capitalist spectacle by using its own means against it. It’s a design collective using art as a weapon to confront the public in unexpected places, through clothing, furniture, graphic design, sounds, etc, anywhere that we can produce unsettling, unsellable, original statements of revolt. A current example would be ethercult couture’s invisible red carpet ensemble, an outfit so offensive it would have to be pixelated from head to toe. Ethercult is attempting to be a community college of pataphysics. A training ground for sedition. Our motto is ” We don’t want your money, your time, or your beliefs. Everything’s perfect, stay as you are.”

NC: How does art and economy tie together with this idea?

Steven: The only way to be avant-garde today is to remove money entirely from the art equation.

NC: Any new secret projects lined up in your mad scientist laboratory?

Steven: The main things would be a chess set reflecting the modern human beast (each piece being life sized mixed media sculptures), a new line for ethercult couture, a piece for next months bee-rotica show at the Hive entitled ” The persecution of Dennis Hopper in the 11th dimension” another anti celebrity rant, and continuing to hone my art skills, the better to realize any inspiration that comes my way.

Downtown Fashion Walk Starts 5:30 Tonight!

Over thirty fashion stores, events and free music open from 5:30 PM - 10 PM tonight along Main, Spring and Broadway between 4th and 7th!

All the details and the full map are at:

www.downtownfashionwalk.com

With updates at:

www.downtownfashionwalk.blogspot.com

Downtown Fashion Walk Final Map and Schedule Now on Website! Thursday Sept. 17th!

Every you want to know about Fashion Walk is either on the website www.downtownfashionwalk.com - or on the new Downtown Fashion Walk blog - www.downtownfashionwalk.blogspot.com

Join us between 5:30 PM - 10 PM this Thursday September 17th, 2009

Downtown Fashion Walk Now Has Its Own Blog!

From now on most of the posts about the Downtown Fashion Walk be be appearing on... the Downtown Fashion Walk blog.

www.downtownfashionwalk.blogspot.com

LOOKING FOR CREATIVE RETAIL AND RETAIL CONCEPTS!

Downtown LA needs creative retailers! We need visionaries who want to reinvent the future of retail in the 21st Century. So – do you know how brick and mortar can compete with cyber-stores? Do you know how department stores can reinvent themselves?

Do you have the next great concept for a fashion, book, art, furniture, speciality, collectibles or - whatever - store?

Well - if you have the right ideas - very soon, we will have a place where you can make them happen in Downtown Los Angeles.

Brady Westwater

bradywestwater@gmail.com or 213-804-8396

Downtown Fashion Walk Map Now Up!

A very slightly updated version will be posted tomorrow morning! Just hit were to go!

http://downtownfashionwalk.com/main.html

www.downtownfashionwalk.com

Downtown Fashion Walk Store and Event List!

Until we finish getting the events up on Downtown Fashion Walk the website, here are about 90% of the stores, pop-ups and special events that will be held Thursday August 20th. SO - UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE - THIS WILL BE THE MOST UPDATED LIST OF EVENTS. But final list and map will be on website Wednesday night.

And last few additions will be added to this this site by afternoon Wednesday - and they will be listed as an UPDATE - and a map to everything will be posted on the website on Wednesday night. Copies of the map will also be available up at most of the stores listed on Main and Spring Streets starting at 11 AM on Thursday morning.

Entertainment and Special events are listed letters.

Downtown Fashion Walk – Where To Go

Thursday August 20th, 2009

5:30Pm – 10 PM (thought most stores will be open by noon)

Stores & Events Listed By Street

MAIN STREET & SIDE STREETS

1. M'ouments (Store)
125 W. 4th St. #106 (Enter Off Alley)
213 626 6606
www.mouments.tumblr.com
Former Comme des Garcon Guerrilla Store now
M'ouments, carrying brands like Comme des Garcon,
Unholy Matrimony and Sonia Boyjian

2. Blends (Store)
125 W 4th St
213 626 6606
www.Blendsus.Com
Limited Edition sneakers &
Urban Clothing

3. Elmer Ave. (Store)
125 W. 4th St.
888 356 3728
www.Elmerave.Com
Rock and Roll Rebels Designing
High-End Formal Wear

4. Skin.Graft (Store)
125 W. 4th St. #102
213 626 2662 www.skingraftdesigns.Com
Raw underground Style combined with
Sleek high-end couture

5. Fremont (Store)
120 W. 4th St.
213 626 1756
www.Fremontapparelco.Com
Classic Cool Couture

6. 621 Main Street
Pop-up store TBA

7. Crewest (Store)
110 E. Winston St.
Los Angeles
213 627 8272
www.Crewest.Com
Stellar graffiti artist art & clothing

8. The Gallery@118 Winston
118 E. Winston Street
Second floor
Vintage, N.OM by Natalia Benson earrings,
& clothing designed by Flock.

9. Stelladottir (Store)
430 S. Main St.
213 623 8464
www.stelladottir.com
Hand made, vintage inspired clothes and hats.
Last year’s Downtown store of the year.

10. Main Street Tattoo
438 Main Street
213-622-0387
www.mainsttats.com

A. 7 & 10 PM screening of Project Runway
Patio of Café Bermuda
464 S. Main Street
213-622-6644

11. Pussy & Pooch (store)
564 S. Main St
213 438 0900
www.pussyandpooch.com
Pet Couture & Grooming

12. Upper Playground (Store)
125 E 6th Street
213 623 4300
www.Upperplayground.Com
Fusion of fashion with fine art
with locally and nationally known artists

13. Mr. Cartoon's Tattoo Shop (Store)
129 E 6th St
213 488 0313
www.Mistercartoon.Com
Urban clothes & classic tattoos

14. Soulful Commandoe Flagship Store (Store)
121 E 6th Street, #131
213 291 9601
www.Soulfulcommandoe.Com
Ultra Exclusive Street Apparel & Accessories

15. Pacific Electric Ground Floor
Corner 6th & Main
Sample & Clearance Sales
Multiple Fashion District name Brands

16. PE Annex (pop-up)
618 Main Street
Pop-up store TBA

17. 630 Main (pop-up store)
Rhys Dwfen
www.rhysdwfen.com
A women’s contemporary collection of luxurious knit

18. 632 Main (pop-up store)
Jenny Han
www.jennyhan.com
A contemporary-chic collection of sweet and sexy pieces

19. Known Gallery (store)
651 Main Street
http://www.knowngallery.com/
Urban Art & Urban clothes

20. 1-Man’s Trash (store)
651 S. Main Street
Vintage inspired couture, designer vintage.

21.TSL Armor Jewelry (store)
651 Main Street
Urban Jewelry
http://www.knowngallery.com/blog/post/tsl-armor-releases-their-new-line-for-agenda

22. Symbiotic Form (store)
651 Main Street
213.631.6971
vintage inspired woman's hand bags, hats, clothes and jewelry.
www.symbioticform.blogspot.com


SPRING STREET & SIDE STREETS

22. Ed Hardy (Store)
433 S Spring St
213 627 3932
www.edhardyshop.com
Vintage-styled Tattoo Wear
Only Ed Hardy Outlet Store!

23. Phyllis Stein Art (store)
207 W. 5th Street
213-622-6012
323-896-7465 cell
http://www.phyllissteinart.com/
Todd Goldman clothes, Molly Schiot clothes
and paintings by David Thomas.

24. Polyester Books (Store)
(Todd/Browning Gallery)
211 West 5th Street
213 623 1176
www.Polyesterbooks.Com
Fashion, Style, Art & Design Books
Vintage/Contemporary Photographs

B. You’re The Top
Spring Arts Tower Main Space. One Night Event!
Multiple hat dealers & designers, vintage hats, book signing
by Project Runway’s Kate Hahn and Andrae Gonzalo.
201 W. 5th Street - 5th & Spring
http://www.deepglamour.net/deep_glamour/2009/08/party-with-deepglamour-on-august-20.html

25. TBA (pop-up)
109 W. 6th
TBA

26. Takashi Masuda (store)
110 W. 6th Street
Cell 818-693-4180
Contemporary & vintage clothes, sunglasses

27. Flea (store)
112 W. 6th
213-626-2122
Vintage clothes, furniture
(needs to close by 5 PM today)

28. Salon on 6 (store)
111 W. 6th
TBA Music, Fashion & Make-up
213-623-5033

29. Apliiq (Store)
114 W 6th Street
323 300 6492
www.apliiq.com
Apliiq applies unique rare textiles to
your everyday garments.

30 New York Hats (Store)
217 W 6th St
213 228 1915
New And Old School Hats
Located in historic chocolate store
filled with Bachelder tiles!

31. Crack Gallery (Store)
204 W 6th St
213 622 3493
www.crackgallery.com
Crack Gallery wants to get the city hooked on a new drug:
their own blend of fashion and art.

32. Shoes & Hand Bags (store)
204-½ W. 4th Street
213 622 3493
www.crackgallery.com
Handbags, Shoes & Accessories

BROADWAY & SIDE STREETS
(some of these stores may close early)

33. Goodwill (Store – Fashion Walk)
235 S Broadway
(213) 628-1748
www.Goodwillsocal.Org
Vintage/Used/Huge Selection!

34. Uniforms (Store – Fashion Walk)
217 W 4th St
213 617 8495
http://www.broadwayarmystore.net/ArmyStore/Default.htm
Military & Civilian Uniforms, Shirts

35. El Fino (Braodway Walk)
412 – 416 Broadway
Boot & Denim & Western Shirt Sale (Broadway/Fashion Walk store)
Going Out Of Business Sale!

36. Judson Building (Broadway Walk)
436 S. Broadway
Shoes/Men’s Clothes

C. American Mart (Store - Fashion Walk)
437 S. Broadway
OVER TWENTY CREATIVE VENDORS!
Fashion, Art, Collectibles, Jewelry!

37. Shoe Hut (Store – Fashion Walk)
529 S Broadway
213 688 8310
www.shoehutusa.com
Huge Selection Of Baseball Caps
& Shoes

38. Blue Jeans (store – Broadway Walk)
553 S. Broadway
Men’s Clothing, Boots, Hats
Large selection

D. Comedy Walk!
Three Hours of Free Comedy!
Entrance to Broadway Spring Arcade
542 S. Broadway
www.comedywalk.com

30 New York Hats (Store)
217 W 6th St
213 228 1915
New And Old School Hats
Located in historic chocolate store
filled with Batchler tiles!

39. Chanelli Outlet
625 S. Broadway
Rarely Seen European Brand
Bags. Clearance Sale! Ask to see
the bags in the rear.

40. Red Zone Footwear (Store – Fashion Walk)
629 S Broadway
213 622 8649
http://local.yahoo.com/info-20366907-red-zone-footwear-los-angeles?tab=reviews#reviews
Excellent selection of creepers, heels and punk and rock shirts

41. Pop-Up Store – TBA
624 S. Broadway

E. Palace Theater - Lobby
630 S. Broadway
Steve Henao fronts the fast rising band –
Katerpillar! Starting at 7 PM.
Act Right Gear will also have shirts

Los Angeles Times Website Redesign A Home Run!

I just got back from the gym to find a IM from Dakota over at Curbed LA telling me to look at the LA Times website. And... my verdict is - the new design is a four bagger.

The design is far easier to read and far better organized. I'd go into my detail except.... I'm too busy writing my own website for next weeks' Downtown Fashion Walk....

Chief Bratton To Resign From LAPD!

Chief Bratton is about to leave Los Angeles after reforming and revitalising the Los Angeles Police Department and dropping crime and murder levels to far below what they were when he took over the department.

The first question is - what happens next?

The good news is that after Bratton left New York - the team he had built continued to reduce crimes levels - every year (except for a spike in murders last year) and this year - in a decline economy and with fewer cops, not only is overall crime still dropping, but even murders have resumed their decline in New York.

The second question is - will the Mayor and the City Council select the best person for the job - or will they allow politics to interfere - as has happened in the past with disastrous results.

Here is part of the LA Times story linked to above:

Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to step down
8:59 AM | August 5, 2009
William J. Bratton is expected to announce plans to resign as chief of the Los Angeles Police Department today to take over as head of a private security firm, sources have told The Times.

Bratton is expected to announce his decision at a noon press conference today. He did not return several calls seeking comment.

The decision by Bratton, who has dramatically reshaped the LAPD and pushed down crime rates since taking over in 2002, took the city’s political and police leadership by surprise.

As Bratton flew back to Los Angeles from a personal trip to New York Tuesday night, aides to his boss, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, said Villaraigosa knew nothing of the planned departure.

Likewise, members of the civilian panel that oversees the LAPD, as well as the deputy and assistant chiefs whom Bratton entrusts with the day-to-day operations of the department, were caught off-guard when asked about Bratton’s imminent resignation.

Bratton, 61, leaves with more than three years remaining in his second term. In Los Angeles, he cemented his reputation as one of the country’s leading law enforcement minds.

As he did during a short stint as head of the New York City Police Department, Bratton implemented a crime-fighting strategy in L.A. built around an obsessive focus on crime data and a computer mapping system that is used to identify specific areas of the city that require more policing.

That approach, along with a management style that placed considerable authority in the hands of his field commanders, has produced results: Crime rates have fallen steadily each year since Bratton’s takeover.
In a Los Angeles Times poll earlier this year, respondents expressed strong support for both the department and its chief. Almost eight in 10 registered voters said they either "strongly approve" or "somewhat approve" of police performance today.

It remains to be seen whether the changes made over the last 6 1/2 years have taken deep enough root to outlast the man who oversaw them. In recent interviews with The Times, Bratton has said that he believed the department was prepared for his departure. "If I left tomorrow," he said in December, "this would continue after I'm gone."

Bratton has long brushed aside frequent rumors about him leaving the LAPD for other jobs. British tabloids have often breathlessly announced he was a front-runner to take over Scotland Yard. And during the recent presidential campaign, he was seen as a strong candidate for a top federal law enforcement job, such as at the Department of Homeland Security. When asked by The Times last month whether his decision to place his Los Feliz home on the market was a portent of some brewing decision to leave, he said he had no such plans.

Regardless, the termination of the consent decree last month seemed to signal a major turning point for Bratton and his outlook on his tenure at the LAPD. With the department now free of what he believed was the heavy stigma of federal oversight, there appeared to be little new for Bratton to focus his energies on.

"I never want to go and just maintain something," he said in an interview late last year. "I want to be able to fix something."

--Joel Rubin

Update On Fashion Walk And Broadway Walk!

Less than two weeks ago, I posted a call for cultural organizations and fashion businesses to join us in launching a beta version of a Fashion Walk and a Broadway Walk on the third Thursday of each month - starting August 20th.

And we now have... over 110... individuals, businesses and organizations joining us for our first effort - and we haven't even sent out a press release - or put up a website.

So - what happened?

Well, first, Erin Magner of RACKED LA linked to the story...

http://la.racked.com/archives/2009/07/21/downtown_designers_get_a_walk_of_their_very_own.php

... and 24 hours later - the story made the front page of the Los Angeles Times website. Adam Tschorn, of the LAT's Fashion blog ALL THE RAGE, posted his story on the event - and linked to each of the other blog posts and his post ended up on the front page of the LAT site for much of the day.

The rest - as they say - is history.

So we now have a very long list of press and media (longer than for any event for which I had actually solicited press) waiting to get our formal announcement.

But first we need to hear from everyone who has wants to appear or show in the two new Walks. We want to get everyone we can in that first release.

So try and get us all your final proposals by this weekend, if possible, or at least tell us what you already know you can do so far.

We can still take additions after that - but this weekend is the deadline for anyone who wants to be on the first version of the website and in our first full press release.

Thanks!

Brady Westwater
bradywestwater@gmail.com
213-804-8396

Downtown Fashion Walk Wants Some Steampunk!

After the success of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk the second Thursday of the month - we are now starting Fashion Walk the third Thursday of each month along Main, Spring and Broadway. That same night, we are also launching an entertainment and other all other arts Broadway Walk along Broadway from 2nd to 9th Streets.

Both events will be on the third Thursday of each month. And both events would like the extend an invitation to the steampunk movement to join us. We want to build upon the excitement - and wonder - of the recent Edwardian Ball at the Tower Theater and success of Los Angeles based circus - Cirque Berzerk - currently playing to rave reviews in Downtown's Cornfield Park.

And if you have not yet seen Cirque Berzerk and the one a kind... spectacle... it produces - their shows have just been extended - yet again - until August 9th. (see above link for ticket details).

These two new monthly Downtown walks will debut - side by side - Thursday night August 20th and they will run from 5:30 PM - 10 PM. And since many of the area's buildings (and interiors) date from the steam punk era, the Historic Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood will provide an excellent environment to display and photograph all things steampunk.

Ad we will soon post more information about these events later. But, first, we are looking for any steampunk - or any other alternative clothing life-style - designers and dealers who would like to showcase their goods during Fashion Walk. We are also looking for unique entertainers to participate in our Broadway Walk.

So if you are interested, contact Brady Westwater at.... bradywestwater@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Economic Development Committee Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council July 28th Meeting 7 PM

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
Economic Development Committee Agenda
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DLANC_ED/
Committee Board Co-Chair David Hurtado @ davidhurtado@gmail.com
Committee Co-Chair Brady Westwater • 213-804-8396 •
BradyWestwater@gmail.com

Tuesday • July 28th, 2009 • 7:00 p.m.
1100 Wilshire Blvd. Community Room – Los Angeles, CA 90015

Park on the street, nearest subway stop is at 7th and Figueroa. When
you enter the building, let the security guard know you are there
for the Economic Development Committee and the security guard will
direct you to the room we are meeting in. If you need help, contact
Committee Co-Chair Brady Westwater bradywestwater@gmail.com
213-804-8396 (cell)
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
Mailing office DLANC POB 13096 LA CA 90013-096
TELEPHONE: (213) 473-6451
www.dlanc.com MAIL STOP: 968-01
DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD EMPOWERMENTwww.lacityneighborhoods.com

CITY OF LOS ANGELES
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OFFICERS:
J. RUSSELL BROWN, PRESIDENT
BRADY WESTWATER, VICE-PRESIDENT OF ADMINISTRATION
PATTI BERMAN VICE-PRESIDENT OF OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION
ALEX CHA, TREASURER
ANNA DANIELLE DURAN, SECRETARY

MEETING AGENDA
1. Call to order.

2. Public comment on non-agenda items.

3. Approval of minutes of prior meeting.

4. Discussion of plans for future mixers.

5. Discussion on Fashion Walk and Broadway Walk publicity.

6. Discussion and action on DLANC participation on Fashion Walk, Angel's Flight Walk, Broadway Walk and promoting local businesses to hotel guests and new residents and $1,000 towards website and marketing materials.

7. Discussion and action on outreach for two proposed City West boundary expansions.

8. Discussion and possible action on Downtown residential housing market.

9. Discussion on Downtown workers survey on what changes people need before they would move Downtown.

10. Update, if any, on CEDS program and possible partnerships to get grant money for the community.

11. Discussion and action on promoting Downtown ED activities on DLANC website and other on-line forums.

12. DIscussion and action on helping create economic development incubators.

13. Discussion and action on what ED activities could support SDAT project focusing
upon financially sustainable housing and walkable neighborhoods.

14. Discussion and vote on committee budget priorities for next fiscal year.

15. New/old business/future agenda items.

16. Board member comment.

17. Public comment.

18. Adjournment.

The public is requested to fill out a "Speaker Card" to address the
DLANC Planning & Land Use Committee (Committee) on any item of the
agenda prior to the Committee taking action on an item. Comments
from the public on agenda items will be heard only when the
respective item is being considered. Comments from the public on
other matters not appearing on the agenda that is within the
Committee's subject matter jurisdiction will be heard during the
public comment period. Public comment is limited to 2 minutes per
speaker, unless waived by the presiding officer of the Committee.
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on
the basis of disability and upon request, will provide reasonable
accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and
activities. Sign language interpreters, assistive listening devices,
or other auxiliary aids and/or services may be provided upon
request. To ensure availability of services, please make your
request at least 3 business days (72 hours) prior to the meeting you
wish to attend by contacting Committee Co-Chair Brady Westwater at
213-804-8396 or bradywestwater@gmail.com.

SI REQUIERE SERVICIOS DE TRADUCCION, FAVOR DE NOTIFICAR A LA OFICINA
3 dias de trabajo (72 horas) ANTES DEL EVENTO. SI NECESITA
ASISTENCIA CON ESTA NOTIFICACION, POR FAVOR LLAME A NUESTRA OFICINA
AL 323-224-2316

--

It's the National Day of the Cowboy!

But this cowboy is along ways from his cowboy homes and even further away from this cowboy roots. So all you guys out there living the cowboy way - cowboy up while you can.

It doesn't last forever.

Join The Broadway Walk! And Fashion Walk, Too!

Broadway Walk Call for Projects!


If you are interested in Downtown – or Broadway – or both - or if you are involved in the performing or visual arts - you don’t need to read the article linked to above (and below) to know how the Art Walk has totally changed Main and Spring (but read it any way).

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2009/07/la_observed_on_kcrw_downt.php

What you do NOT know, though – is that it’s now Broadway’s turn to have its own walk. But rather than just visual arts – beginning on August 20th – on the THIRD Thursday of the money – the week after second Thursday Art Walk – Broadway will showcase ALL of the arts each third Thursday of the month.

And just like Art Walk started with only a handful of pioneers – we are looking a dozen cultural organizations and about that many individuals willing to perform or exhibit in vacant storefronts, in restaurants, on vacant upper floors of buildings, on sidewalks - – or … possibly… maybe even in a theater – or its lobby.

That same night we will also be holding our first Fashion Walk, on Main and Spring - and on Broadway, too - with over twenty boutiques being open - plus special events. So feel free to come to both events dressed as your real, your fantasy or your forbidden selves.

So – if there is anything you'd like to do on Broadway – or anyone you think we should be talking to – let us know.

August 20th, 2009 will go down as the date Broadway nightlife – finally - first came back to life.

And how often are you given a chance to create history?

Brady Westwater
bradywestwater@gmail.com
213-804-8396

Julius Shulman, Dies at 98

To say an era has passed with the death of architectural photographer Julius Shulman is inadequate. It is the end of several eras.

At 98, Shulman was the last person living who knew or worked with every member of the generation of modern architects who came to prominence in the Los Angeles of 1920's and 1930's. He then worked with each new generation of architects who came after them during the 70 years after his first job with Richard Neutra in 1936.

He was also the last of that early generation of architectural photographers remaining just as he was one of the first to specialize in that field. He was also one the few Angelinos left with memories of what it was like to live in the Los Angeles of the late post WWI era and the boom times of the 1920's. He was also - possibly - the last of his generation to be an active participant in civic life well into the 21st Century, right up until his death.

The time I first met him - in a class at UCLA back in the 1960's - I remember how impressed I was by the energy of such an 'old' man - particularly one from such a distant era. I was also impressed by how surprisingly candid he was in all his answers to our questions. And when we met last a few years ago - forty years after our first meeting - I was just as impressed.

Below is the opening of the LA Times article; but, better yet, just hit the link above for the whole piece.

Julius Shulman dies at 98; celebrated photographer of Modernist architecture
Shulman died Wednesday at his L.A. home. One observer says he had 'a profound effect on the writing and teaching of architectural history ... especially Southern California modernism.'
By Claudia Luther

12:03 PM PDT, July 16, 2009

Julius Shulman, whose luminous photographs of homes and buildings brought fame to a number of mid-20th century Modernist architects and made him a household name in the architectural world, died Wednesday night. He was 98.

Shulman, who had been in declining health, died at his home in Los Angeles, according to gallery owner Craig Krull, who represented him.

Starting with Richard Neutra in 1936, Shulman's roster of clients read like a who's who of pioneering contemporary architecture: Rudolf M. Schindler, Gregory Ain, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Eames, Raphael S. Soriano, John Lautner, Eero Saarinen, Albert Frey, Pierre Koenig, Harwell Harris and many others. His work was contained in virtually every book published on Modernist architects.

"He has a sense of visual bravura of composition," wrote the late Robert Sobieszek, photography curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, "so that he can take a rather mundane house and make it look exciting, and take a spectacular house and make it look triply spectacular."

Shulman had "a profound effect on the writing and teaching of architectural history and understanding architecture, especially Southern California modernism," said Thomas Hines, UCLA professor emeritus of architecture and urban design. And Newsweek magazine's Cathleen McGuigan wrote that some of Shulman's photographs of modern glass houses in Palm Springs and Los Angeles "are so redolent of the era in which they were built you can practically hear the Sinatra tunes wafting in the air and the ice clinking in the cocktail glasses."

After the Depression, Shulman's studio was one of three in the U.S. to which Arts & Architecture, Architectural Forum and other magazines turned to document the exciting new work being done in architecture. The others were Ezra Stoller's firm in New York and the Hedrich Blessing firm in Chicago.

Shulman's 1960 photograph of Koenig's Case Study House #22 -- a glass-walled, cantilevered structure hovering above the lights of Los Angeles, became one of the most famous architectural pictures ever taken in the U.S. It was, as architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote in the New York Times, "one of those singular images that sum up an entire city at a moment in time."

But Shulman's work went well beyond merely taking beautiful pictures of houses and buildings. His mission was to use his photography to build the reputation of the architects who were bringing innovative design to the West. Indeed, his photographs were, by and large, all that most people would ever see of noted architects' works, many of which were later destroyed.

Neutra, whose association with Shulman lasted 34 years until the architect's death in 1970, acknowledged this.

"Film [is] stronger and good glossy prints are easier [to] ship than brute concrete, stainless steel or even ideas," Neutra said.

Shulman was born Oct. 10, 1910, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Soon after his birth, the family moved to a farm in Connecticut, where they raised cows, grew corn and had a small fur business.

It was on the farm that Shulman first developed a love of nature that, he said, awakened him to light and shadow and influenced his life's course.

When Julius was 10, his father moved the family to the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, which at that time was predominantly Jewish, and opened the New York Dry Goods Store on Temple Street. His father died of tuberculosis in 1923, leaving Julius' mother to run the business and raise five children.

After graduating from Roosevelt High School -- where he took what would be his only course in photography -- Shulman spent seven years as what he called an "academic drifter," auditing geology, philosophy and other courses at UCLA and UC Berkeley. He returned to Los Angeles -- without a degree and still unsure what he wanted to do.

He was, by then, however, earning rent money from pictures he took at Berkeley with an Eastman box camera. And one photograph of the 6th Street Bridge over the L.A. River had won first prize in a national magazine competition.

It was a chance meeting with Neutra in March 1936 -- two weeks after Shulman left Berkeley -- that would open up the possibility of becoming an architectural photographer. A man who was renting a room from Shulman's sister, and who was working as a draftsman for Neutra, invited Shulman along one day to see Neutra's Kun house, which was under construction near Fairfax Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard.

As was his habit by then, Shulman took along a vest-pocket camera that was equipped with a bellows that unfolded.

"I had never seen a modern house before," Shulman said. It "intrigued me with its strange forms -- beyond any previous identity of a house in my experience."

Shulman developed a few of the pictures and sent them to the draftsman, who showed them to Neutra. The architect, then in his mid-40s, sent for young Shulman and ordered up more prints.

With Neutra's invitation to photograph other projects, Shulman was suddenly a professional architecture photographer....

(REST OF ARTICLE AT ABOVE LINK)

Weird - Even Scary - G-Mail Experience.

I just sent an email and mentioned I have been hit by a bad case of my mold fungus allergy. Then when I sent it - rather than the screen going back to g-mail - it came back to a company that removed... mold fungus.

Scary, huh? Anyone else ever have that experience?

http://www.amoldspecialist.com/

National Archives of the Pacific Region To Be Hidden Away In Warehouse

Below is a warning from the Huntington Library's Carolyn Powell:

Notice to all researchers:

The current acting Archivist of the United States has proposed to close the Laguna Niguel branch of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and move the materials to the Federal Record's Center in Perris (Riverside County). The Perris facility is a warehouse with no reading room. This proposal is part of a larger plan to reduce the number of National Archives branch facilities by closing some and turning others into "storefronts" with reading rooms only and off-site records storage.

Considerations:

NARA's Pacific Region (Laguna Niguel) has more than 35,000 cubic feet of archival holdings dating from about l850 to the l980s. In addition to textual records there are architectural drawings, maps, and photographs. These holdings were created or received by the Federal courts and over 50 Federal agencies in Arizona, southern California, and Clark County, Nevada. Federal law requires that agencies transfer permanently valuable, noncurrent records to NARA.

The National Archives facility in Laguna Niguel has been in its current location for over thirty years, since the early 1970s. From this location, researchers have easy access to National Archives records and can also conduct research at the many other archival facilities and libraries in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties.

There is no public transportation available to the facility in Perris. The current facility in Laguna Niguel is freeway-close and is serviced by the Orange County Transit Authority with connections to area Metrolink and Amtrak stations. It is 15 miles from John Wayne Airport (SNA).

The National Archives has a potential opportunity to move its Laguna Niguel facility to the proposed Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California, where it will be part of a museum district / cultural terrace. This location will be approximately 10 miles to the northwest of the current facility and will increase traffic and visibility for NARA (rather than the warehouse in Perris, which will likely do the opposite).

How You Can Help:

Write a letter of concern to: Adrienne Thomas, Acting Archivist of the United States, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001 (Fax: 301-837-0483).

If you live in Orange County, California, write a letter of concern to your Congressional representative as well.

Spread the news to others in the archival, historical, genealogical, and library fields to help garner support and generate more letters of concern to help keep the NARA facility in Laguna Niguel.

Contact Information:

National Archives - Laguna Niguel (Pacific Region), 24000 Avila Road, 1st Floor , Laguna Niguel, CA, 92677-3497

(949) 360-2640; laguna.archives@nara.gov; www.archives.gov/pacific/laguna/

Have Any Of You Cowboys Ever Tried 'Hiving' Calves From A Herd? Well - That's What The New York Times Says We Do!

According to the New York Times, whenever it's branding time - and time to turn little bulls into little steers, all us cowboys take our best cutting horses to perform:

"...a timeless ritual, hiving off calves from the herd..."

Well, I've been on ranches in most of the Western states, though its been quite a few years since I have been accused of 'hiving' any calves - but I have never once heard that 'timeless' expression used before from any cattleman or woman.

So I looked up the phrase "hiving off calves" in GOOGLE and I got exactly - one... hit.

And that was from this article.

I then tried cows, cattle etc - and still failed to get a single hit. So I next tried every possible variation of the verb 'hiving' or 'to hive' with every possible variation of noun describing anything bovine in nature - and I still could not get a single hit.

Now the verb 'hiving' usually means when part of one bee hive swarms off and sets up its own hive. The verb 'hiving' can also mean to move any part of a group from the larger group, though mainly (though not always) it means to set up another residence and not just a temporary separation. It can also be used as a medical term.

But those are still very rare uses of the word - and even then it is mainly used in the UK - and not the US, much less the American West.

Now as far as the rest of the article - it is excellent as one would expect from one of the New York Times finest and most respected writers, Erik Eckholm. I can recall many articles of his over the years and I have read a number of his books.

This article is also a detailed and highly sympathetic look at one of the latest challenges facing independent ranchers - and I highly recommend anyone who is cattle minded reading it.

But, still... I would like to suggest to Mr. Eckholm - that in any of his future forays into our cowhand culture - whenever he is describing a "timeless ritual" of us cowboys - that he might try for a slightly more... timeless... way of describing what it is we are doing.

MOCA Starts Its Comeback

First, the above link is to the LA Times post on the MOCA financial story and below is the full press release on the current financial status at MOCA and the announcement of its new trustees and officers for 2010. MOCA has managed to raise over fifty-seven million in just six months (with over eighteen million from the trustees and three million from other patrons) in difficult financial times and when the museum's continued existence was questioned by even many board members.

Significantly, the amount raised by trustees and patrons almost equals the thirty-million Eli Broad has pledged to MOCA over a period of five years - in just one half of one year.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 26, 2009

MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT
ASSETS; NAMES THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Los Angeles, CA—The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), has raised nearly $57 million in the
last six months, and the museum’s Board of Trustees voted June 25 to contribute $4.25 million to MOCA’s
endowment assets, which will be matched by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, for a total $8.5 million
contribution. Additionally, the Board elected three new trustees and its officers for 2010.

Since December 2008, MOCA has undertaken an aggressive fundraising campaign, raising $56.9 million, including
$15 million from The Broad Foundation for exhibition support over five years and $15 million from The Broad
Foundation to match contributions that replenish the endowment. Other notable gifts include $16.4 million from
trustees, in addition to their $1.9 million in annual giving, and $3 million in individual gifts from patrons.

“This is the biggest turnaround of any cultural institution in recent history,” said Eli Broad, a life trustee and
founding member of MOCA, who serves on numerous arts boards around the country. “MOCA has attracted nearly
$57 million in just six months, clearly demonstrating this institution’s importance to the local, national, and
worldwide arts community.”

In addition to MOCA’s dramatic turnaround, the Board elected three new members: Carolyn Clark Powers, Darren
Star, and Marc I. Stern. The board also elected its leadership for the upcoming year: David G. Johnson was re-elected
as co-chair for a second term; Maria Arena Bell was elected as co-chair; Jeffrey Soros was re-elected as president for a
second term, and Fred Sands was elected as vice chair.

“I am pleased that we have enabled a successful turnaround in such a short amount of time,” said MOCA Chief
Executive Officer Dr. Charles E. Young. “The process of right-sizing the institution has not been easy, but these
changes were necessary to ensure the museum’s solid future. This could not have been achieved without the
continuing generosity of The Broad Foundation, the Board of Trustees, major donors and members, as well as the
dedication of the many artists and friends in both the Los Angeles community and around the world.”

“MOCA has achieved an unprecedented level of fundraising during the past six months, while at the same time
reducing expenditures to a sustainable level,” said David G. Johnson. “We are making a substantial contribution to
the endowment assets at this critical time and welcome new trustees, who bring exceptional experience and
commitment to MOCA. Building a dynamic board of trustees is essential in enabling the museum to move forward
with a clear vision for the future and to continue presenting outstanding exhibitions, providing vital education
programs, and expanding one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the world.”
- more -

MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT ASSETS; NAMES THREE
NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Page 2 of 4

The three new Trustees bring diverse perspectives to MOCA’s Board.

Carolyn Clark Powers has a strong history of involvement at numerous arts, cultural, and educational institutions
around the country. In Aspen, Colorado, Powers serves on the boards of directors of the Aspen Art Museum, the
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass. She also serves on the National Council for the Aspen Center for
Integrative Health, as a President Society Fellow at the Aspen Institute, and on the National Council of the Aspen
Youth Center. In Los Angeles, Powers currently serves on several groups that support the Music Center, including
the board of directors for Blue Ribbon, the Center Dance Association, and the board of overseers for the Los Angeles
Philharmonic. She also serves on the Collectors Committee and is a member of the Presidents Circle at The Los
Angeles County Museum of Art. In addition, Powers has served on the board of directors of P.S. Arts since 2006.
At the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Powers served on the executive committee of the National Committee
for the Performing Arts from 2004–08.

Powers has a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree
in clinical psychology from Antioch University. Powers and her husband, William C. Powers, reside in Manhattan
Beach, California, and in Aspen, Colorado, with their three children.

Darren Star has been a member of MOCA’s Acquisition and Collection Committee since October 2008 and a
MOCA Partner since February 2008. He has also been a major supporter of MOCA’s annual auction.

Star is the creator and executive producer of three of the last decade’s most popular television phenomenons:
“Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Melrose Place,” and the three-time Golden Globe®-and Emmy® Award-winning HBO
comedy series “Sex and the City.” In each series, Star’s multi-dimensional characters, captivating settings, and
layered plot lines hooked viewers, and became significant elements of contemporary pop culture. Star recently
released the “Sex and the City” film, based on his award-winning work on the series. The movie grossed more than
$415 million worldwide, and a sequel is in development. In addition, Star served as executive producer of the series
“Cashmere Mafia,” starring the award-winning actresses Lucy Liu, Frances O’Connor, and Miranda Otto. Star has
also revisited the widely popular “90210” project, serving as a writer for the updated series for the CW network. He
is currently working on a project for HBO.

Star’s dedication to his projects speaks to his commitment to engaging, and thought-provoking material. Star
attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he majored in creative writing. Star currently lives in
Beverly Hills, California.



- more -



MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT ASSETS; NAMES THREE
NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Page 3 of 4

Marc I. Stern has vast experience in business and as a major supporter of cultural institutions in California and
around the country. Stern is vice chairman and at the end of June will become CEO of The TCW Group, Inc., an asset
management firm based in Los Angeles. Prior to his appointment as vice chairman, Stern served for almost 15 years as
president of the company. Stern is also chairman of Société Générale’s Global Investment Management and Services
in North America (GIMS) and a member of the management committee of Société Générale Group, the parent company
of GIMS and TCW. Stern currently serves as a director of Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ), and of Rockefeller & Co., Inc.
and is a member of the advisory board and an owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. Stern has a strong commitment to the
arts and to education. He serves as chairman and CEO of the Los Angeles Opera, leading the drive to bring
Wagner’s Ring Cycle to Los Angeles. He also sits on the boards of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles
County, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the
Humanities, the California Science Center, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the California Institute of
Technology, and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

A native of Vineland, New Jersey, Stern received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Dickinson
College and a master’s degree in government and a law degree from Columbia University. Stern and his wife, Eva,
reside in Malibu, California. They have two children and five grandchildren.

MOCA’s new board leadership for 2009–10 includes two previous officers and two first-time officers.

David G. Johnson has served as co-chair of MOCA’s Board of Trustees since June 2008, and he will continue
serving in this role through June 2010. He was first elected to serve as a MOCA Trustee in December 2005 and has
served as a member of the Acquisition and Collection Committee since 2004.

Johnson is a partner of the Johnson-Roessler Company, LLC., a film entertainment company. He also serves on the
boards of Children Now, the Dream Foundation, KCET, and Reach Out and Read. Johnson is former chairman and a
current board member of Public Counsel Law Center and is a member of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Economy and Jobs
Committee and the California Council for the Humanities. He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School.
Johnson and his wife, Suzanne Nora Johnson, reside in Los Angeles, California.

Maria Arena Bell has been elected co-chair of MOCA. Bell and her husband, William J. Bell, Jr., have been involved
with MOCA for many years and have made significant financial and art contributions to the museum. Bell is chair of
MOCA’s Acquisition and Collection Committee. She also served as the chair of the Opening Gala for ©
MURAKAMI. Maria Bell became a Trustee in 2008 after her husband served from 1997–2008.

Bell is a television executive producer and writer. She is currently the co-creative producer and writer for “The
Young and the Restless.” She is a frequent essayist and contributor to publications including T The New York Times
Style Magazine, C Magazine, Aspen Magazine, and Women’s Wear Daily. Bell serves on the boards of numerous
arts-related non-profit organizations, including Center Dance Arts, Americans for the Arts, Dicapo Opera Theater
and as president of PS Arts. She also serves on the Education Committee of the Guggenheim Museum, the Blue
Ribbon, the National Council of the Aspen Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the
advisory board of Phillips de Pury & Company. Bell was appointed by Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger as a state
commissioner on the California Commission on the Status of Women.
- more -
MOCA RAISES $57 MILLION, CONTRIBUTES $8.5 MILLION TO ENDOWMENT ASSETS; NAMES THREE
NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND OFFICERS FOR 2010

Page 4 of 4

In addition to being prominent supporters of the arts, the Bells are active collectors of contemporary art. They reside
in Bel Air, California with their two children.

Jeffrey Soros has served as president of MOCA’s Board of Trustees since June 2008 and will continue in this role
through June 2010. Soros has served on MOCA’s Board and on its Acquisition and Collection Committee since
2003. Soros is also an avid supporter of arts education and served as chair of MOCA’s Education Committee from
September 2006 through June 2008 and as vice chair from September 2005 through September 2006. Soros and his
wife, Catherine, have been avid supporters of MOCA, through the donation of funds, artworks, and major support for
the museum’s fundraising events, most notably the annual auction and gala.

Soros is president of Considered Entertainment, an independent film production and finance company. He also
serves on the boards of Creative Capital, The Screenwriters Colony, and The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for
New Americans. Soros and his wife have been members of the MOCA Director’s Forum since 1997. They reside in
West Hollywood, California with their two children.

Fred Sands has been appointed to serve as vice chair of MOCA’s Board. Sands was first elected as a trustee in 2002
and currently serves as chair of the museum’s Investment Committee. Sands is involved with several cultural
institutions in Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Opera, where he serves on the board. He was also
appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts and liaison to the
Kennedy Center, and by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Arts Council.

Sands is chairman of Vintage Real Estate, which develops regional malls, and of Vintage Fund Management, LLC, a
private equity fund. He is the former chairman and sole shareholder of the second largest real estate and financial
services companies in California and the seventh largest in the United States, which merged into Coldwell Banker in
December 2000. Sands’s background also includes acquisition and turn around of distressed companies, including
radio stations, insurance companies, and commercial real estate projects. He was honored as the recipient of the
American Academy of Achievement Award, was named one of the “Top 25 CEOs of the Decade” by California
Business magazine, and named one of the industry’s top 13 “Movers and Shakers” in the country by the National
Association of Realtors. Sands and his wife, Carla, reside in West Los Angeles, California.



MOCA—Celebrating 30 Years as the Nation’s Leading Contemporary Art Museum
Founded in 1979, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), has achieved astonishing growth in its brief history—with three
Los Angeles locations of architectural renown; more than 17,000 members; a permanent collection of nearly 6,000 works international in
scope and among the finest in the nation; hallmark education programs that are widely emulated; award-winning publications that present
original scholarship; and groundbreaking monographic, touring, and thematic exhibitions of international repute that survey the art of our time.
MOCA’s mission is to be the defining museum of contemporary art. MOCA is a private not-for-profit institution supported by its members,
corporate and foundation support, government grants, and admission revenues. MOCA Grand Avenue is open 11am to 5pm on Monday and
Friday; 11am to 8pm on Thursday; 11am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday; and closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. General admission is $10
for adults; $5 for students with I.D. and seniors (65+); and free for MOCA members, children under 12, and everyone on Thursdays from 5pm
to 8pm, courtesy of Wells Fargo. MOCA Pacific Design Center is open 11am to 5pm Tuesday through Friday; 11am to 6pm on Saturday and
Sunday; and closed on Monday. Admission to MOCA Pacific Design Center is always free. The Geffen Contemporary is open whenever there
are appropriate exhibitions for that space. For 24-hour information on current exhibitions, education programs, and special events, call
213/626-6222 or access MOCA online at moca.org.

National Home Sales In May Rise - And Fall - With Five Different Figures - In Morning LA Times

Below are two of the top three headlines on the LA Times website's Business section:

BUSINESS »
•
U.S. home sales fall in May despite low prices and tax incentives

•
Home resales in U.S. rise 2.4% in May to 4.77 million rate

Now the 3.6% fall in the Peter Hong LAT article is from May of last year to May of this year - while the increase of 2.4% in the Bloomberg wire report is from the prior month of April of this year to May of this year.

Even more confusing is that the Bloomberg prices are going up article has a typo when it mentioned the 3.6% fall:

"Sales were 3.6 percent compared with a year earlier."

Yes, according to Bloomberg - sales this May were only 3.6% of May of last year - a staggering over 95% decline in sales!

Also in Bloomberg's LAT wire piece are details of the yearly 2.4% increase:

"Purchases increased 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.77 million, lower than forecast, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington"

Then in Peter Hong's LAT piece, he leads with the 3.6% year to year decline and he explains how that figure is arrived at:

"May home sales were down 3.6% from the same month last year, the National Assn. of Realtors reported. The industry group based that figure on the seasonally adjusted annual rate of home sales, which is the number of homes that would sell for the entire year based on May's sales rate."

Hong then addresses the April to May increase - but he now uses a different set of figures - the absolute number of sales that month as opposed to the adjusting the stats on an annual basis, which he does explain :

"The total number of homes sold in May was 451,000, or 6.6% below the year-earlier number, but it was up 9.2% from the 413,000 homes sold in April."

So now instead of the 3.6% decline - and the 2.4% increase - we now have 6.6% and 9.2%! And the scary point is - other than the typo - all of these figures are correct!

They are just using different metrics.

Now as for how all this confusion could have been prevented - Peter Hong's piece had more details and a better explanation to a lay person of what was really going on and how the various figures compared with each other. There was really no need to run the Bloomberg piece which just confused the issue. At most, the additional figures also in the Bloomberg article could have been added to the Hong piece - which would have left everyone a lot less confused then the present dueling headlines.

Why Isn't The US - And World Press - Headling The London Times Story Proving the Election In Iran Was Stolen?

And why did the London Times bury this is the middle of their story - and give so few details of the poll?

"Private polling of 5,000 voters conducted for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and seen by The Sunday Times, suggested the reformist candidate would win at least 58% of votes across Iran. However, the official result gave him just under 34%."

This proves who has fixed this election. This story needs to be gotten to the people of Iran. But even the paper that has the story - has dropped it from the new stories

They also don't break down the figures for the other candidates. The US and world press needs to keep the facts of how this election was stolen on their front pages and and give support to the people of Iran in their efforts to overturn this election.

LA Times Covers Rebirth Of Downtown's Main Street

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-main-street11-2009jun11,0,4047200.story
From the Los Angeles Times
Ordinance brings new life into downtown L.A.'s Main Street
The stretch between 4th and 6th was once the scene of homeless encampments. Today, boutiques and cafes cater to new residents. The catalyst was the adaptive reuse ordinance, launched 10 years ago.
By Cara Mia DiMassa

9:54 PM PDT, June 10, 2009

A decade ago, the stretch of downtown L.A.'s Main Street between 4th and 6th streets was a desolate collection of empty buildings and homeless encampments, an area where drug dealing was conducted in the open, and the only longtime residents lived in residential hotels. These days, that stretch resembles a bustling small-town main street.

There's the neighborhood bookstore, where an attentive shopkeeper knows her customers by name. A DVD store that stocks the kind of films that appeal to the hip residents who live in the building upstairs. And shop owners and customers who live side by side above the stores.

While much of downtown is struggling to attract the kind of ground-floor retail that many urbanists say is essential to turning a cluster of residential units into something more like a neighborhood, downtown's historic core has been seeing a surge forward lately.

Some downtown boosters who track such developments say that the vast majority of retail space along Main Street, from 4th to 7th Street, is now leased -- an accomplishment that they are touting as a sign of the neighborhood's successful reinvention.

The changes along Main Street -- and in downtown's historic core in general -- were launched 10 years ago this month, when a new city ordinance went into effect that made it easier to convert former bank, office and industrial buildings into residential and small retail spaces.

The ordinance was little noticed at the time. But the adaptive reuse ordinance, as it is known, has profoundly changed the way the city thinks about its long-neglected urban center. It streamlined the city's permitting process for those seeking to re-purpose the old buildings and allowed for flexibility in the city's zoning and code requirements.

"After decades of beating a dead horse, they realized that commercial was not going to come back to this neighborhood the way it was," said Bert Green, owner of an art gallery at 5th and Main. "It made sense to change the use of the buildings."

In 1999, downtown Los Angeles was an area very much in transition. The Staples Center had just opened. Walt Disney Concert Hall, L.A. Live and other downtown attractions were still years away from opening. Only 18,000 people lived in the city center.

"We had offices, we had some cultural attractions," said Carol Schatz, president and chief executive of the Central City Assn., a business advocacy group that pushed for the change. "But the one thing that we knew we needed to make downtown survive and thrive was residents."

While bigger, more extravagant projects for downtown were announced, and some even got underway, Historic Downtown kept plugging away.

"It may have been constructed," said developer Tom Gilmore, who many credit as the architect of the historic core's reinvention, "but it's not contrived."

Apartments and lofts in buildings were rented; some condos sold and retail spaces slowly began to fill along both Main and Spring streets. An art walk highlighted the assortment of galleries in the area. Restaurants began to draw people from beyond downtown.

"The community was organically grown by seeing what was needed and what could survive as destination retail," said Brady Westwater, a local activist and the former president of the Downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council, who has been instrumental in bringing businesses to the area.

Still, life in Historic Downtown is not for everyone. The area, just a few blocks away from Skid Row, continues to be a magnet for the homeless. It is still gritty and lacks the sort of luxurious high rises as other parts of the city center.

But even as other parts of downtown have seen some large-scale projects canceled and other condo developments switch to rentals as a way to ride out the economic storm, Historic Downtown has continued to collect new businesses: clothing stores, restaurants, bars and other amenities. Two new affordable housing projects are being developed.

Residents and shop owners in the area say that the relatively low cost of space in the area, combined with a certain amount of flexibility, has allowed them to take a chance in the area.

Jose Caballer, who lives in Gilmore's San Fernando building and runs a digital design firm out of an old bank building a few doors to the west, said that part of the appeal of the area is that it's like a sort of undiscovered country. "You can go and look at buildings and say, I want to do events here. If you are creative and resourceful enough . . . you can do it."

Brittany Hoa Pham, owner of Fremont clothing, said that her location along 4th Street has meant that, "We get an interesting group of people." But she admits that "once in a while, a homeless man or woman comes in and frightens me."

The challenge now for Historic Downtown, said Gilmore, is "how we end up a sustainable neighborhood, not a flash in the pan."

That's something that has been taking up a lot of Westwater's time recently.

After seeing success along Main and Spring streets, he has turned his attention to Broadway, where recent community efforts have focused on finding new uses for a collection of old movie houses and retail and office space along the street.

"We showed we could fix Main Street," he said. "Now, the challenge of developing a Broadway that works for everyone is the next step."

cara.dimassa@latimes.com