This Weekend's TWO Walking Tours of THE SECRET LIVES OF HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES!

The Last Bookstore (and it's just opened 2nd floor with 100,000 books at only ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents

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

 I am continuing the  HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tours this Saturday February 2nd at 11 AM  and  Sunday February 3rd at 11 AM.  And there will also be tours next Saturday and Sunday, February 9th and 10th,  at 11 AM.

And  besides our regular schedule tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

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

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

Grand Avenue Authority Tells Developer Related - No More Extensions!

At today's meeting of the JPA that administers Bunker Hill's Grand Avenue Project, the board - as expected - approved a temporary 90 extension for the contract with the Related Companies (which was to expire on February 15th - making the new date May 15th) to give the developer time to develop a new plan for their approval.

Bill Witte of Related had earlier announced that rather than proceeding with the massive Frank Gehry project, that the site would be redesigned so that it could be built out in a series of phases which would be designed in concert with each other - but would also be designed be built incrementally to meet the changing needs of the market in Downtown.

What was not expected was how forcefully Chair and LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina made it exceptionally clear to Related there would be no more extensions of any kind from that board.  She - along with Co-Chair,  Los Angeles City Councilperson Jose Huizar - repeatedly stated they expected to have a new plan presented to them which had a buildable design with real world construction dates that would each have to be met  for each phase of the now multi-phased project to proceed or the remainder of their contract would be canceled.  They also asked  Related to provide proof of their ability to finance the project.

Molina additionally reminded them this was not the time for further architecture contests; that this was the time to commit to what was going to be built and commit to who was going to design it and who was going to finance it.

Related was also asked to report to a closed session of the JPA in 60 days to review the status of their plans to make certain that they were headed in the right direction to be able to get the their final extension.

Sat. JAN 26th 11 AM Tour of Historic DTLA SOLD OUT - so 1:30 2nd Tour added - and 11 AM Sunday Jan 27th Tour Still Open!

The Last Bookstore (and it's just opened 2nd floor with 100,000 books at only ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents

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

 I am continuing the  HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tours this Saturday - January 26th at 1:30 PM since the 11 AM tour has SOLD OUT and  Sunday January 27th at 11 AM.  And there will also be tours next Saturday and Sunday, February 2nd and 3rd,  at 11 AM

And  besides our regular schedule tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

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

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

In Beverly Hills Celebs 'Flip Houses'; In Malibu - Bloggers 'Flip Trailers'.

Veronique de Turenne offers on Malibu Fixer-Upper.

How City Hall Uses Downtown LA Drivers and Pedestrians To Balance The City's Budget Deficit!

KCET's blog has a story on how one man (Fred Prator) - after years of abuse - finally got the mysterious - and the only - 'no-right-hand-turn on a red light' sign in Downtown LA removed from the corner of 7th and Broadway.

But it took 15 years for this injustice to be righted and Prator calculates this may have illegally cost LA drivers around $15 million dollars.  And if that figure is even remotely correct- then all of the traffic scams the city has been running in Downtown may have cost people who live and work in Downtown hundreds of millions of dollars in the past 15 years.

Even today, we are probably the only neighborhood with our own personal transit cop who does nothing but ride a bike around a couple blocks of Main and Spring  to cite anyone whose parking meter is even a minute over.

We even used to have regular police officers on foot - hidden away on corners all day - when the area was still almost wall to wall drug dealers - to ticket anyone who stepped into a cross walk even a second after the don't walk signal started flashing.  And some of those signals were set to start flashing just seconds after the light had turned green - and long before they were needed to allow people to safely cross before the light turned red.  And there are still the mid-block signaled cross walks that are NOT synchronized with the signals at the major intersections so that when the street is clear of vehicles - even if you have pushed the button - the light will still not turn green.

And we still have police officers measuring how far a car is parked from the curb at 1 and 2 in the morning - and then giving them tickets - even though the cars are parked well within the white lines of where parking is allowed.  But it's not the LAPD's fault.  All the orders to do this come straight from City Hall to fill the City's ever growing structural deficit.

Another con game has been the removal of loading zones around busy office buildings - making it impossible for Fed-Ex and UPS to deliver packages without getting dozens of tickets every day  - while, of course, government post office truck don't get tickets.  And, of course, the people who work in those buildings also get tickets whenever they try to load anything into or out of their offices.

But the single biggest rip-off is all the phony no parking lanes during rush hour.  Many of them have tow-away lanes TWO HOURS before they are needed during rush hour and some of the tow away lanes in Historic Downtown - don't even to be cleared during rush hour.

Those signs are also often hidden - or even removed -  so you can't see them and then the city changes the times on some of them so that it's 4 PM on one block and then 3 PM on another block - to confuse drivers. And there is never any warning or notice when they make those changes, since that would defeat the whole purpose of those changes.

And then there are the ever expanding number of hours the parking meters are - again without any notice to the public that this has happened - and lack of notice on when the meters are NOT working - to further confuse people into paying for parking when no payment is required.  And - of course - if you park at a broken meter that can not accept money - you will also get a ticket.

And that's just some of the worst of the many scams City Hall has used - and continues to use -  to extract money from Downtown drivers and pedestrians.

75 Degrees Forecast For This Weekend's Walking Tours of THE SECRET LIVES OF HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES!

The Last Bookstore (and it's just opened 2nd floor with 100,000 books at only ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents

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

 I am continuing the  HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tours this Saturday - January 26th at 1:30 PM since the 11 AM tour has SOLD OUT and  Sunday January 27th at 11 AM.  And there will also be tours next Saturday and Sunday, February 2nd and 3rd,  at 11 AM

And  besides our regular schedule tours, we will be offering customized tours on different days and different times and from one to three hours including weekdays - depending on your schedule.  With a minimum of four reservations, we will design a tour of any part of Downtown focusing on any subject matter you choose.  These tours can be after work, during lunch breaks - or??

FOR MORE INFORMATION  - contact Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 - or bradywestwater@gmail.com

BRADBURY BUILDING

All tours begin at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower and will be led by long time Downtown resident Brady Westwater who, besides being involved with the Downtown LA Neighborhood Council, the Historic Downtown BID, Gallery Row, Art Walk, and the BOXeight and the CONCEPT Fashion Weeks, has brought over 150 businesses, artists and non-profit institutions to Downtown.  All tours are only $15 per person.  

Wyatt Earp

If you are a participant in 'Historic Downtown Los Angeles 101' Tour, you will see the first motion picture theater built,  the place where Babe Ruth signed his contract with the Yankees, the hotel where Charlie Chaplin lived when he made his early films (and the place where he made his Los Angeles vaudeville debut in 1910) - plus the homes and haunts of everyone from actor Nicholas Cage, the Black Dahlia, Rudolph Valentino, LA’s version of Jack the Ripper, President Teddy Roosevelt, the Night Stalker, western outlaw Emmet Dalton,  actor Ryan Gosling and more.  And you will also visit where O. J. Simpson bought his knife.

You’ll explore an intersection where all four buildings were often visited by gunfighter/sheriff Wyatt Earp since they were all built or occupied by friends of his from Tombstone during the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  At this intersection you will also discover what John Wayne, a prime minister of Italy, Houdini, Winston Churchill, boxer Jack Dempsey, Greta Garbo, President Woodrow Wilson and multiple Mexican boxing champions all had in common here.

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

Tickets for either tour are only $15 per person - free for children under 8 - and reservations can be made by calling Brady Westwater at 213-804-8396 or emailing bradywestwater@gmail.com.  All credit card orders will be processed  at Last Bookstore and cash payments may be made at the start of the tour.   All proceeds will go towards the revitalization and the study of the history of the neighborhood.  

Lastly, future tours will feature specialized areas of interest such as architecture, art of all kinds, shopping and food, single streets, sports (from steer wrestling to luchador wrestlers to a Sumo wrestler), transportation, specific periods of history, the hidden Wild West history of Los Angeles, movie locations, Downtown after hours and many other aspects of the neighborhood. And custom designed can be developed by request  for groups of four or more.

We will also be soon starting weekday and evening tours on what it's like to live in Downtown Los Angeles. You will be introduced to the many of stores, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues (and often their owners, too) - along with being given previews of one of a kind special events - so you can get a feel for what it is like to live in Downtown Los Angeles.

We expect this tour to be popular with not only people considering moving to Downtown and people who work in Downtown and who would like to know what to do after hours in Downtown - but also to recent and even long established Downtown residents who want to know more about their neighborhood.

For future updates and more information go to www.historicdowntownlosangeles.blogspot.com

Are London's Blue Plaques Celebrating London's Literary History - About to Become History?

One of the great pedestrian pleasures of London - which I have also long advocated for Downtown Los Angeles - are the blue plaques placed on buildings where famous writers - or other prominent historical figures - lived or worked. But, according to the Daily Mail -  even London may soon be unable to afford this program.

According to the LA Times website feed, at 7:30 AM farmers were hit hard by the freeze. but five hours later....

• .... their crops were doing just dandy....
• 
  

• Crops fare well despite cold, windy weather 01/13/2013, 1:09 p.m.

• Man pulled out gun inside theater, shot by police, authorities say 01/13/2013, 8:35 a.m.

• 1 dead, 1 wounded in shooting outside of Hollywood nightclub 01/13/2013, 7:44 a.m.

• California deep freeze continues; farmers hard hit01/13/2013, 7:35 a.m.

UP DATE!!! VAULT OPENED!!! World's Most Powerful Safe Cracking Drill Flown in to Break Into THE LAST BOOKSTORE's Mystery Vault For Tonight's Downtown Art Walk!

Discover what is in the MYSTERY VAULT at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at the Spring Arts Tower - 453 S. Spring Street on Tonight's Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk!

Inside the vault is a complete, 100% intact workshop for the maintenance of the building - complete with a small but discriminating stack of high quality porn!    Our photographic staff is now recording -  for posterity - this historic find of in situ blue collar life in the latter part of the 20th Century.

Is the Los Angeles Weekly on the Auction Block?

According to FishbowlLA, the parent owner of the Los Angeles Weekly, the Voice Media Group, has just sold both the San Francisco and the Seattle Weekly newspapers.  This brings them down to 11 from 13 newspapers.

Now,  are they just narrowing the focus of their newspaper empire?  Or are they cashing out on their investment?  If they are just narrowing their focus, it would seem odd to dump newspapers in two of the major tech/media cities  in the country.

UPDATE!! MYSTERY SAFE at THE LAST BOOKSTORE Breaks Every Drill Used! Bigger & Better Drills to be Tried Tomorrow!

UPDATE!  After foiling the finest locksmiths money could rent for two years - the infamous locked safe at THE LAST BOOKSTORE was finally drilled by an expert  two man team.  But they  failed
 when every single drill they tried instantly broke.

So everyone will have to wait until tomorrow to find out - what is in the only safe on the four floors of the Spring Arts Tower that was left locked - with no combination - when the bank vacated the premises so many decades ago.

(below is the original post)

Yes - the most famous locked safe since Al Capone's personal safe - will be drilled open  at THE LAST BOOK STORE this afternoon!  And the long locked vault in the one dollar mezzanine will - finally - reveal its long hidden secrets!  And below is one of the many previous unsuccessful attempts by some of the world's finest safe crackers to discover.... the secrets of the mystery vault.

Have Your Own Personal Shopper in the $1 Rooms at THE LAST BOOK STORE until 6 PM Christmas Eve!

On a budget and looking for last minute presents?  The one dollar per book second floor at THE LAST BOOK STORE is open until just before 6 PM tonight and I will be t ac as a person shopper.  Tell me what you’re looking for or what your recipient is interested in – and I will do my best to find it for you.  Located at 5th and Spring in the heart of Downtown LA – 453 S. Spring in the Spring Arts Tower.  And if you can't find me - just call 213-804-83976.

LA Times Exposes Boy Scouts Long Term Refusal to Screen For Sexual Predators

The Los Angeles Times - and particularly reporters Marc Duvoisin and Kim Christensen (along with Ashley Powers and their editors) -  is to be congratulated for exposing this long buried story about child abuse within the Boy Scouts.

Every day I am reminded more and more of just how much evil exists among us.  Evil that is unknowing aided by those who fail to see the true motives of those who claim to be helping those among us who are unable to protect themselves.  Too often, as we have seen in Downtown and on Skid Row - it is the young, the poor and the mentally ill who are being exploited by their would be benefactors.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's New at The Last Bookstore in Downtown LA

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

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

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

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

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

.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BY CHRISTOPHER YOUNG

Want to see a really cool scanner? Wait, come back! This thing really is awesome. Created by Dany Qumsiyeh, an engineer at Google Books, this book scanning machine can scan a 1000 page novel in 90 minutes. If you don't find that impressive, then clearly you haven't spent enough time hunched over the faulty machine at the office, praying for swift deliverance. Whether admiring its practicality or ogling the ingenious design of the thing, it's well worth checking out in the video below

One great use for this device is to scan non-fiction books that are not indexed - or which have minimal or inaccurate indexes.  With the hundreds of diaries and privately printed non-indexed books on subjects I have been researching - which are mostly in difficult to access research libraries, this could allow that information
to be available on-line.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great New Design for South Part Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles

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

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

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

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

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

Over 500 theology books are being shelved - right this very minute - in the One Dollar section of the second floor of the Last Bookstore in DTLA. Dating from the late 19th Century to the late 20th Century - from both British and American p

ublishers - books from three separate collections have just joined the over 1,000 books on religion and theology already in the that section. We will be open until 11 PM tonight and from 9 AM to 9 PM this Sunday.  453 S. Spring Strteet in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring.

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

THE INDIE SHELVES INITIATIVE LAUNCH + READINGS

When:	Back to Calendar »November 3, 2012 @ 3:00 pm

We’re pleased to be announcing the launch of the Indie Shelves Initiative, a project which creates dedicated shelf space in the store for the purpose promoting the work of L.A.’s authors and independent publishing houses.  We’ve asked L.A. publishers A Barnacle Book, Gorsky Press, and What Books/Glass Table Collective to select works from their catalog, and we’ve enlisted movers and shakers from the literary community–Roz Helfand, Suzanne Lummis, Mike The PoeT Sonksen, and the Los Angeles Poverty Department–to pick some of their favorite reads. We hope that this project increases the visibility of independently published literature, and encourages new readers to explore the catalogs of local presses.

The project will kick off with readings from Bruce Boston (Poetry Co-editor, Poetry International), Brendan Constantine, Sesshu Foster (2010 American Book Award Winner), Bernard Radfar (Rare Bird Books/A Barnacle Book),  Todd Ratcliff (Honorable Mention, 2010 Association of American Publishers PROSE Award, Cosmology and Astronomy Category), Chuck Rosenthal (What Books Press/Glass Table Collective), and Jim Ruland (Gorsky Press).

Let us know you’re coming on Facebook.

Both the HAUNTED VAULT and the SCI-FI VAULTS will be open until 10 PM Halloween Night at Downtown LA's THE LAST BOOKSTORE

And so will be children's books 'ghost and goblin and dinosaur display' by the haunted book tunnel in the upstairs dollar book section - the LABYRINTH with its over 100,000 books at only a buck apiece- at the LAST BOOKSTORE at 5th & Spring - 453 S. Spring at the Spring Arts Tower.

Make Halloween a learning/reading experience for your kids at THE LAST BOOKSTORE

Besides all the great books for kids if all ages from pre-readers to young adults in the main first floor part of the store - the LAST BOOKSTORE's  one dollar only second floor LABYRINTH has just installed - for one week only - a display of books about ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night for all ages. 

It is loca

ted in the book cases attached to the... haunted book tunnel .... just past the Haunted Vault (filled with books that will keep adults wide awake on Halloween night) and the Sci-Fi Vault.

The store at 5th & Spring - 453 S. Spring Street in the Spring Arts Tower -  in Downtown LA is open from 10 - 10 this Tuesday to Thursday - and until 11 on Friday & Saturday.

Disney Buys Lucas - Making Disney One of the Few Local Companies to Continue to Buy Out of Area Competitors

One of the few bright spots in Los Angeles film future (with the loss of so many films to New York, other states and other countries due to tax credits and other programs), is the just announced acquisition of Lucas Films by Disney.  This is one of the increasingly rare cases where a Los Angeles firm is doing the acquiring rather than a New York or overseas company being the surviving entity..

While Lucas Films' production schedule has declined in recent years, its four campuses - all in Northern California except for one in Singapore) for its eight divisions - with Industrial Light & Magic being only one of the major divisions - are still one of the largest concentration of film & entertainment talent outside of Hollywood.

So even while the plan is for all the divisions and employees to remain in their present facilities, it is logical future expansions will likely take place in the LA area.  This move continues to make Disney one of the very few local companies in any field to aggressively buy out of area  and local competitors (starting with their purchase of ABC, Pixar and then Marvel) as opposed to being acquired by an out of area corporation, a fate shared most of the other major film studios.

Over 100,000 Books at Only One Dollar Each at THE LAST BOOKSTORE!

Today THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 5th & Spring in Downtown Los Angeles opens at 9 AM for the Sunday Historic Downtown LA Farmer’s Market also at 5th & Spring and stays open until 9 PM on all Sunday nights.  It opens at 10 AM on all other days and stays open until 11 PM on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights and 10 PM on all other nights. And besides the low priced books on the 10,000 foot ground floor - be sure and visit the upstairs… LABYRINTH - with it’s 100,000 books at only $1 each.    And besides the Sci-Fi Vault and the Haunted Vault in the first room - along with an aisle filled with one dollar cook books - the second room now has over 30 sections of carefully curated books.

In just the past week, over 100 books have arrived on Asia  - with many on India,  Judaic, all things English, early 20th Century European novels, business and economics (with over 1,000 books, psychology ( with over 1,000 books), literature & writing (over 1,000 books), and substantial additions have been made to the poetry, philosophy, sociology, Latin America/Mexico, (now over 300 books), folklore, gambling, France, Russia, Italy, Germany, woman’s sports, football, Socialism & Communism,  wood working, gardening, short story collections (over 300), ancient Greece & Rome, American history, biology, how-to-books, children’s books, young adult books, military history (over 700 books), chemistry, self-help, popular Russian novels, interior decorating, pets, physics, philosophy, natural history of all kinds, computers, knitting & needlepoint, law, medicine, Australia, theater, film, Africa, African American history & literature & popular novels, the Middle East, theology & religion  (also over 1,000 books), education, baseball, the history of sports,  and women in sports sections.

We have also added to our smaller but selective sections on  doll houses, chess, Christmas, snow sports, 19th Century books, anthropology, archeology, pre-Raphaelite artists, foreign languages, Scandinavian, Asian, Portuguese & Italian writers, plumbing, gay & lesbian novels & non-fiction, medieval history, Egypt, astrology, psychics, Central America & the Caribbean, and many, other subjects.

Clifton's Cafeteria is Becoming Downtown LA's Own 'Museum of Jurassic Technology' - With 7 Bars & Restaurants

First, for those of you who are not familiar with  'The Museum of Jurassic Technology' - on of LA's great cultural treasures - here are several links about it:  California Through My Eyes, ArtInfo, and the New York Times.

Second, as Hayley Fox explains in her blogdowntown column yesterday, the present owner/savior of Downtown's historic Clifton's Cafeteria on Broadway - Andrew Meieran, has always seen Clifton's 'as its own natural history museum'.  That is why he will be preserving - and restoring many of the unique historic features of the building - and the cafeteria - and establishing a museum dedicated to Clifton's history within the building..

But what makes the Museum of Jurassic Technology  allusion so apt is Meieran's plan to - after restoring Clifton's, to then open six other venues withing the historic building - each of which will reference a different time and a different sub-culture of  Los Angeles history - including a 1950's Tiki Bar and a 1920's Speakeasy.


And here are the opening paragraphs of the article:

'I've always seen Clifton's as its own little natural history museum,' says owner
By HAYLEY FOX
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2012, at 10:59AM
Hayley FoxThe first phase of the renovated Clifton's is scheduled to open in five to six months.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — As crews peel back layers of Downtown’s historic Clifton’s cafeteria during the 50,000-sqaure-foot building's retrofit and renovation, owner Andrew Meieran says the space is a gold mine of treasures.

"The wonderful things about Clifton's is that it has the most incredible history and there's artifacts from every era of its history," said Meieran.
In addition to the world's oldest neon discovered in one of the walls, crews have found old playbills from the Orpheum, advertisements for cabarets, medicine bottles, candy wrappers and silverware -- all from the building's many reincarnations over the past seven decades.

"I've always seen Clifton's as its own little natural history museum," said Meieran, and he plans on highlighting these items in an actual museum that's being built inside the renovated space. This "history room" will join the seven bars and restaurants slated for the multi-level Broadway building.

“The space is going to be very, very modular and flexible,” said Meieran, and will include everything from a soda shoppe to a tiki bar. All the locations will be loosely tied together by Clifton's theme which Meieran describes as, “where science meets nature.”
“The idea is to go and not have it be themey but …its going to be stylistically interesting and unique.”

Meieran, who also designed and owns the Edison, said crews are knee-deep in construction at Clifton's, updating the building to current code and opening up a few of the floors to create an internal atrium space. The new space is scheduled to open in phases; phase one will open in about five months and include a 24-hour-cafeteria and a basement bar. The other floors will follow, opening in three month intervals with the top-floor tiki bar slated to open last.

And click here for the rest of the article - and to discover the long hidden ...secret plans .... founder Clifford Clifton had for the building - plans that even members of his own family were unaware of....