UPDATE on Sunday Tour! If there are 4 or more advance reservations there will also be a 2 hour walking tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles at 11 AM Sunday August 11th!

If anyone was unable to make today's 2 hour walking tour of Historic Downtown LA tour - there will tours next three Saturdays from 10:30 to 12:30 from The Last Bookstore.

And, again, all the details about the tour are here.

Don't Forget It's Art Walk Tonight! See Ed Fuente's Calendar & Check Out the 10,000's of Just Arrived $1 Books Upstairs at THE LAST BOOKSTORE

First, here's the link to Ed Fuentes's monthly calendar of everything worth doing or going to on Art Walk tonight - plus his opening paragraph:

16 Gallery Shows to See at the August 2013 Downtown L.A. Art Walk Ed Fuenteson August 7, 2013 11:00 AMKAREN CARSON Untitled (Red Tractor)  CB1 Gallery 

With vacations and summer getaways, the pace of the city slows down a notch. Ever present is the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk, the self-guided tour of galleries from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. It's back this Thursday, August 8. If you want to make it about the art, and not the party, you can start earlier by going in the afternoon, even taking the Downtown DASH around town until the official starting time. Galleries are free, but expect entrance fees at the major venues like MOCA, where hours may vary.For the complete rundown on what to see tonight - go to Ed's column at KCET.

And be sure sure and check out the second floor one dollar room at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 5th & Spring in the Spring Arts Tower. We now have over 2,000 great books on American history and culture - for only one dollar each - that have recently come in, but they won't last long.

These are just two small parts of the new expanded American history section - with every book of the over 2,000 books being only one dollar.

Terry Adamson Awake After Crash That Killed Her Husband Grant - And Asks Professor to Cover Her Classes At Pepperdine Until She Returns

photo courtesy of The Malibu Times
According to the latest story at the Malibu Times.....

Terry Adamson able to communicate, law school colleague confirms

 By Melissa Caskey /melissa@malibutimes.com |

Terry Adamson is apparently awake and able to communicate, as she asked a close friend to call Pepperdine School of Law and make sure another professor would cover her classes this fall, Professor Harry Caldwell toldThe Malibu Times on Thursday.

Adamson was seriously injured in a hot air balloon crash in Switzerland on Tuesday. Her husband Grant Adamson was killed in the crash and their daughters, Lauren and Megan, were also injured. 

That she is awake, talking and already concerned about the welfare of her students is clearly an excellent sign even though she will still require surgery as is later explained in the Malibu Times article.

Versatile Downtown LA Musician, Artwork Jamal, Passes at 47

Photograph by Gary Leonard courtesy of Downtown News
While known best for his playing of electric blues in the style of Muddy Waters, according to the Downtown News, local musician Artwork Jamal had a background that ranged from classical - as a teenager he was a member of the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic - to rock, funk and rap.  He was also well known for his appearance at events all over Downtown (particularly on Art Walk) and his recent monthly sessions at Seven Grand where a memorial event for him will be held on August 22nd.

Artwork Jamal, Neighborhood Bluesman, Dies

Downtown Musician Was Regular at Seven Grand, Other Venues

by Ryan Vaillancourt 
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – Downtown resident and musician Artwork Jamal, who played his trademark blues at venues including Seven Grand for the past seven years, has died. He was 47.

Jamal died on Tuesday, Aug. 6, from complications related to diabetes and congestive heart disease, said his widow, Lida Parent. 

 And...

As a young man, he was a recording engineer on albums by rap artists such as Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur and Coolio and R&B singer Montell Jordan. He ran his own studio in Glendale, Graphic Sound Arts, from 1995 until 2000. He folded the shop to take care of his ailing mother and grandmother, both of whom later passed away.

The rest of the article can be read here and a  2010 interview in the Downtown News can be found here. 

Malibu's Grant Adamson Dies in Accident; His Wife and Daughters Seriously Injured. Plus Updates at Bottom of Page

photo courtsey of Malibu Times
The Los Angeles Times is now also reporting the Malibu Times story about the tragic ballooning accident that claimed the life of Malibu's Grant Adamson and critically injured his wife and his two daughters.

The one bright spot right now is that both daughters have been operated on and are expected to make full recoveries while Grant's wife is going to be operated on within the next 48 hours.

It's been 15 years since I've lived in Malibu and while I have not seen Grant during that time, we have talked a few times about the good old days out in the 'Bu.  And of all the people I have know over the years in my many lives, I can not think think of anyone who was more respected - or more loved - than Grant.

He was one of those few, rare people no one ever had even an unkind word to say about.  And now that his daughters are safe, let's hope the same will be true for his wife, Terry Adamson.

Below is the latest from the Malibu Times.

Grant Adamson killed in Switzerland hot air balloon crash, family seriously injured

Balloon collides with power lines, drops 165 feet to ground; Terry Adamson, 55, daughters, 24 and 20, reportedly in hospital with life-threatening injuries.

By Knowles Adkisson / Associate Editor |20 comments

[Update, 5:20 p.m.] Lauren and Megan Adamson each underwent successful surgeries for unspecified injuries, according to Kristen London, a niece of Grant Adamson. They are both expected to make full recoveries. Terry Adamson was expected to undergo surgery for unspecified injuries “within the next 48 hours,” London told The Malibu Times on Tuesday afternoon. She could not elaborate further on Terry’s condition.

---

Grant Adamson, descendant of Malibu’s first family, was killed early Tuesday morning when a hot air balloon carrying him and his family crashed near the western Swiss town of Montbovon, according to multiple news reports. Adamson’s wife Terry, 55, and his daughters, 24 and 20, reportedly sustained life-threatening injuries.

Police in the state of Fribourg say Adamson, 55, died at the scene when the balloon fell 165 feet after crashing into an electric power line while attempting to land at 8:35 a.m., after a two-hour flight from the town of Chateau-d’Oex, according to the Associated Press.

Terry Adamson and the two daughters were evacuated to the hospital by helicopter.

The 65-year-old pilot was also seriously injured and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Grant Adamson was a member of Pepperdine University's Crest Board, among other community involvements. Heidi Bernard, executive director of Pepperdine University's Crest Associates, wrote in an email to the board Tuesday, "With a very sad heart, I regret to inform that you that we learned this morning of the death of Grant Adamson and the severe injury to his wife and daughters in a hot air balloon crash in Switzerland while on vacation. We will keep you apprised to the status of his family as we know more. Please keep the Adamson, London and Gee families in your prayers."


UPDATES -

The Malibu Times link has more on his life and his wife's life, but no medical updates and the LA Times has updated its story this morning.

Wednesday Update - Malibu Times has an article about how Grant's passing has affected the small town that Malibu is.  Here is a brief portion of it:

Malibu community stunned by Adamson death

Friends recall a benevolent, soft-spoken man with deep roots in Malibu.

By Melissa Caskey /melissa@malibutimes.com | 2 comments

A great sense of shock and sadness reverberated throughout Malibu as news spread Tuesday of the death of Grant Adamson. Adamson, 55, was a descendant of the Rindge-Adamson family, known as Malibu’s founding family.
Through dozens of emails, Facebook comments and story comments, community members testified Tuesday to the lasting impact Adamson had in his hometown.
For many, Grant Adamson was synonymous with the Malibu name. 

“He never changed—always the nicest, most laid-back person I’ve ever known. He had his own special inflection for saying the word Malibu, and I loved hearing him say it,” friend Ray Karno wrote on The Malibu Timeswebsite.  

And...

“The whole of Serra Retreat is bereft at the loss of Grant and we’re very vigilantly communicating with one another in hopes and prayers that Terry, Lauren and Megan get full recovery from their injuries and are back with us soon,” Payne said Tuesday. “They’re such an important family [here].”
“A nicer person and family is not to be found in Malibu,” Gwen Lucoff wrote on The Malibu Times website.
Realtor Paul Grisanti commented, “Grant was a truly wonderful intelligent human being without an angry or uncivil bone in his body. He was a loyal friend, loving husband and father, and always concerned about Malibu.”
Malibu Times publisher Karen York chimed in as well, having been familiar with Grant Adamson, his wife Terry, and his daughters Lauren and Megan since they were little, 

“We are devastated — Arnold [York] and I have known the family for years and watched the girls grow up.” 

Explore the Secret Histories of Historic Downtown Los Angeles The Next 4 Saturdays from 10:30 - 12:30 PM

The Last Bookstore (and a  2nd floor with 100,000 books at ONE DOLLAR each!)  Presents  10:30 Summer START TIME FOR 2 hour walking tours of the The Secret Lives of Historic Downtown Los Angeles - Just Endorsed By - LOS ANGELES MAGAZINE!

I am continuing the  HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES 101  2 hour walking tour EVERY Saturday this August  starting August 10th at 10:30 AM  (with the temperature predicted to be in the mid-70's - and the following Saturdays, August 17th, August 24th & August 31th also with the NEW start time of 10:30 AM and an ending time of 12:30 PM; one-half earlier in both cases.   And there will also be tours on other upcoming weekends.  And all tours start at THE LAST BOOKSTORE in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th and Spring and they are still only $15 per person.

And  besides our regular scheduled 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.

KCET Blows Away LA Times Wind Energy Editorial

Wind turbines in Desert Hot Springs | Photo: Rons Log/Flickr/Creative Commons License
When someone I don't know sent me a copy of a recent Los Angeles Times editorial supporting destroying more of our desert's fragile environment to benefit the heavily subsidized and often environmentally destructive wind energy industry, I thought it was a cut and paste job - and not precisely what the LA Times really said.

Well, I was wrong.

So if you are not up to speed on how wrong the LA Times is on wind energy in the Mohave Desert - this article  at KCET by environmental journalist Chris Clarke explains why wind energy generally does not work in the California desert - even before factoring in all the environmental costs.

The essential problem is  there is not enough consistently strong wind in our deserts for wind generation to be financially feasible - even with the massive - and unsustainable in the long run - subsidies that wind generation requires in less than peak area. And those subsidies are necessary - due to, among other factors,  the costs of new transmission systems and the costs of having to also build back-up generation for when the wind is not blowing.

Then when you factor in the hundreds of thousands of birds that will be killed each year in California if all the proposed new wind farms get built - as well as the blanketing of the desert with power lines - the environment cost of wind farms in the Mohave, is simply too high.

Here are some of the over 1,000 $1 Psychology Books at The Last Bookstore.

Some of our over 1,000 Psychology Books at The Last Bookstore, for one dollar each

How THE LAST BOOKSTORE Brought Together the New York Times Book Review Section, Writer/Journalist/UCLA Professor Amy Wilnetz and - Very Briefly - The Cemetery of Lost Books. And Why You Can Not Buy a Copy of Valerie Martin's Novel 'Property" in Our African-American Section Today.

Drawing by Valero Dovak courtesey of New York Times

First, if you do not regularly read Amy Wilnetz, her essay in this Sunday's New York Times Book Review will demonstrate why this mistake should be corrected.

She opens with...

ESSAY

. . . One Book Out

I’ve decided that books are my enemy, though they used to be my great love. They are taking over. They crowd my dining room, they double up in the bedroom, they make the attic floor sag. We even have a library in the bathroom: shelves and shelves of books where a normal person might have a vanity table or piles of towels.

Later on... 

My husband came to me the other day with another bunch of books to be given to the ominously named Last Bookstore, a used-book store in downtown Los Angeles. I O.K.’d the pile, although it contained some of my items. Then he went on a business trip.

I looked at the books again.

I felt guilty about relinquishing them to their fate. Who knew what treasures they might hold?

For anything more - you need to go to the article. 

THE LAST BOOKSTORE Flooded With Newly Acquired $1 Books!

Yes, after taking a hiatus of book deliveries from the warehouse while upstairs at The Last Bookstore (at 5th and Spring in the heart of Downtown LA) was being rearranged due to some major new departments bring added downstairs, tens of thousands of great $1 books are now coming to the second floor LABYRINTH.

And here are just some of the recently arriving  highlights:

Psychology - We're back to over 1,000 books in it again and more are arriving daily.

Also on the up swing are our science collections - and our math section is growing ever faster - as is our Judaic collection.

American History - Right now we have more and many hard to find books than ever before and more are arriving - every day - forcing us expand the section for a third time.

Russian and Soviet history is also stronger than ever (along with some select novels) - and our extensive English history and culture section is once again at an all time high.

But it's our several thousand book literary section that is really exploding. We have hundreds of short story collections, anthologies, memoir, literary journals, biographies and endless reference books. Plus every  imaginable book about how to what, what to write, and how to sell what you write.

And we have several shelves on semiotics, structuralism, phonetics, phonology, etymology, semantics, and linguistics in that section

Also flourishing are all the social sciences - particularly sociology,  political theory, anthropology and woman's issues.  And education  has just had a really big recent growth spurt - along with our huge cook book section - and our  growing VHS tape collection.  Plus our sports, exercise and medical sections are also still growing.

Out African American section is also at record strength with history, culture, fiction, romance novels, guy novels and I have two more boxes of history that I am getting ready to shelve. Plus our Africa section is beginning to grow,

Also expanding is our gay an lesbian section (both fiction and non-fiction), pets, natural history, gardening, Latin America and Asia - and our business section is overflowing with new books.

And that is just a small handful of over 30 growing sections you will find in the one dollar room at The Last Bookstore this weekend.

Laura Bon is a God-Damned Genuine Genius!

While I have admired Laura's Bond's past efforts - such as the Corn Fields - a project that harks back to the earlier days of Los Angeles when our city - and our entire state were filled with not just dreamers - but dreamers who knew how to make those dreams a reality.  And her water wheel project by the LA River that entails building a replica of the 1860's water wheel that brought water to much of our city, is her most inspired artistic - and civic - project, yet.

But all that has changed.  With her new addition of a water filled contemporary zanja to parallel the river, she has transformed her concept into a civic project that has the possibility of far transcending her current vision. But there is one problem.

For once, Laura Bon is not thinking big enough. 

Not remotely big enough.  

She has come up with a sapling of a concept.  But that project now needs to become a Sequoia.  

Now as far as how she might be able to do that - look at my recent post here - and then - say tuned..

Latest Community Meeting on the Union Station Master Plan is TONIGHT at the Cathedral

The Union Station Master Plan team is holding a community workshop tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Our Cathedral of the Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles to discuss their latest work on the plan to improve the 74-year-old station. If you can’t make it, no reason to fret — the meeting will be live-streamed and also available for later viewing.

First, a bit of history for those new to the project. Metro purchased Union Station and about 40 acres of land from a private firm for about $70 million in 2011. The acquisition was important to Metro because it gives the agency control over the busiest transit hub in Southern California.

In May, the Union Station Master Plan team released released diagrams of four alternatives for the Master Plan that seek to improve transit access and relieve crowding, better connect the station to surrounding neighborhoods and accommodate high-speed rail and future development on the site. Here’s a Source post that explains the alternatives.

We’ll have the full PowerPoint presentation that will be shown at Thursday’s meeting online tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d like to share a few nuggets that will likely be of interest to the many of you closely following this project:

•There are actually three ongoing projects involving Union Station.

In addition to the Master Plan, there is a study underway to improve signage and wayfinding at Union Station. All non-electronic signs are scheduled to be replaced by May 2014. New signs will share a more consistent design style, use more pictograms and be accessible across more languages.

The second study involves working with the city of Los Angeles to improve linkages between Union Station to downtown L.A. and surrounding neighborhoods. That’s important because Union Station is located on the far northern side of sprawling downtown and on the other side of the 101 freeway.

•In addition to those studies, Metro is also pursuing some other short-term improvements for Union Station such as upgrading and adding restrooms, leasing restaurant space and possibly turning the old ticket room at the front of the station into a marketplace with different vendors.

•While the Union Station Master Plan mostly involves what happens on the 40 acres including the station, a couple of the more interesting slides in the new presentation shows a concept to improve pedestrian access and provide more open space at the front of the station:

Illustrations credit: Metro.

Of course, this is just a concept at this time and would involve working with other agencies and the city of Los Angeles. But it’s certainly intriguing!

•There is also some new graphics showing what an expanded passenger concourse providing more room for passengers may look like in the station, as well as maps showing sites that may be best-suited for any future development on the Union Station property.

Enjoy the meeting and we’ll post the new presentation on Thursday. And, of course, please feel free to post comments and questions on the blog.

Keep reading for the full press release from Metro:

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) today released refined concepts for the Union Station master plan that reflect public input to date and continued technical analysis for the evolution of the station as a transportation hub and an iconic destination.  A public meeting will be held tonight at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in downtown Los Angeles to discuss the current concepts and continue the public dialogue.   

The master plan team consisting of Metro, and Los Angeles-based Gruen Associates and Grimshaw Architects of New York and London, have refined the concepts with particular emphasis on earlier public input that dealt largely with proposed improvements to transit connections.  Key proposals being evaluated include the possibility of a new passenger concourse, a new terminal for all buses that serve Union Station, as well as improved accessibility through the station and connectivity to the surrounding neighborhoods.

Ongoing public review and fine-tuning of the alternative concepts is part of a multi-phase process to create a master plan for the historic Union Station and its surrounding 47 acres in downtown Los Angeles.  The effort began with the selection of a Master Plan team in June 2012.  Since then, the team has been involved in data collection and technical studies, has solicited feedback from the community and other stakeholders and created four draft alternative plans.

“Union Station is the centerpiece for this planning process.  We will ensure that it is a world-class destination for Los Angeles now and into the future that can accommodate the growth of our transportation network and be an efficient and convenient hub for our passengers,” said Art Leahy, Metro Chief Executive Officer. 

Community input is being incorporated into the four alternative concepts which were first presented at the May 2, 2013 community workshop.  These alternatives focus on transit operations, options for expanded bus operations, and a larger passenger concourse while leaving open the potential for additional heavy and light rail service in the future.

The alternatives satisfy near, medium and long-term goals and allow for the seamless integration of high speed rail at Union Station at some time in the future.  All of these concepts protect and enhance the historic station.  Development opportunities that take advantage of transit access and support a world-class transit facility will be explored more fully in the final Master Plan, which will be completed by Summer 2014.

“The Master Plan will be a guide that illustrates how the Union Station property should be used for transportation purposes, future development, and community activities.  The refined alternatives show optional approaches for a range of land uses.  From these options, one approach will be recommended and developed more fully. Community input will help us determine which approach should be recommended,” added Martha Welborne, Executive Director, Metro Countywide Planning.

Pedestrian and bicyclist circulation and connections to neighboring communities are a priority for the master plan but require study beyond the master plan’s boundaries.  To that end, Metro is conducting a study of pedestrian and bicycle linkages to and from Union Station, funded in part by a Caltrans grant and in collaboration with the Southern California Association of Governments and a number of Los Angeles City departments.  This “linkages” study will create a prioritized public improvement plan that will be closely coordinated with the final Union Station Master Plan and will completed at the same time as the Master Plan.

The public will next be invited to comment on the refined alternatives, as well as comment on a recommendation for a preferred alternative, at a workshop with the Metro Board of Directors on September 18 at 3:30 p.m.  Following this workshop, the Metro Board will be asked to adopt a preferred alternative for further development at its regular meeting in October.

For additional project information, visit www.metro.net/projects/LA-union-station/  or visit Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/launionstationmasterplan. Follow the project on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lausmp.

Note:  Tonight’s meeting will be held from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Ballroom A/C, 555 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.  It will also be streamed live and can be accessed at  ustream.tv/channel/lausmp and will be recorded for later viewing.

More Free Music In Downtown on Thursday Afternoons and Nights

• FREE / GRATIS Thursday is the new Friday in Grand Park. Chillax after a hard day’s work, meet new people and count down to the weekend with live music, food trucks, lawn games and a beer garden. THURSDAYS / Jun 20 thru Sept 12 5:30 PM to 8 PM August 1: The Rebel Light / Holly Conlan / The Young Romans - indie August 8: Subsuelo - global bass collective, live percussion & flamenco dance August 15: Hobart W. Fink / Blackfeet Braves / Jeffertitti’s Nile - indie August 22: Colburn Summer Concert Band - Hollywood hits August 29: Spirit Vine / Halfbluud / Infantree - indie Sept 5: Bullet & Snowfox / Silver Hands / Monster Paws - indie Sept 12: Conganas - latin jazz Prepared food picnics encouraged. Grilling and cooking prohibited. Visitors may not bring alcoholic beverages into the park. METRO RED & PURPLE LINES TO CIVIC CENTER / GRAND PARK STATION: GO METRO and get a free pair of Grand Park sunglasses! Bring your TAP Card, Metro/LA County employee ID to the info table at this event. More info:http://www.metro.net/service/discounts/family-friendly/grand-park-sumer-2013/ FOR MORE INFO / PARA MÁS INFORMACIÓN grandparkla.org

Grand Park

200 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90012

View Map · Get Directions

It Sounds As If Jersey City Has Elected Its Own Version of Eric Garcetti as Mayor

New Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is Jewish, served in the armed forces, is a social media junkie, supports economic development & liberal social issues and he is now Mayor of a city that desperately needs a tip to bottom makeover.  Sounds just like....Eric and you can read all about him in the Observer. And here are the opening paragraphs:

Down to the River: Newly Minted Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop Plans Big

From Goldman Sachs to the Marine Corps to mayor of New York’s sixth borough

By Meredith Mandell 7/30 8:49pm

On the day of his inauguration earlier this month, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop was interviewed about his plans to transform his city.

With bravado, the smooth-talking new Democratic mayor declared on WNYC’s airwaves that he wanted to make Jersey City the best midsized city in the country. The city is in the midst of an impressive and ongoing renaissance, and Mr. Fulop said his vision was to entice young urban professionals priced out of Manhattan to cross the Hudson in lieu of settling in Brooklyn and Queens.

But the pitch almost seemed to fall on deaf ears as host Brian Lehrer supplied his Big Apple listeners with a geography lesson.

“By the way, for those of you New Yorkers who think riding the PATH train would be an exotic adventure, Jersey City is right across the Hudson River, below the Holland Tunnel,” he declared.

A couple weeks later, Mayor Fulop sat in a bare second-floor office at City Hall, shaking his head in disappointment and calling the notion that New Yorkers have never visited Jersey City—New Jersey’s second-largest city, after Newark—“insulting.”

“Part of our challenge is a ‘branding’ issue. People across the river view us in a way that it’s like another country,” Mr. Fulop said. “It’s a mental barrier, but really we are no different geographically than Brooklyn or Queens.”

Likewise, he disdains the cliché that Jersey City is New York’s “sixth borough,” preferring that his 21-square-mile city—stretching across the peninsula between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers and home to more than 250,000 residents—be regarded as having its own identity.

Beyond the city’s marketing strategies, Mr. Fulop faces formidable challenges. He now runs a city government that is facing a $21 million revenue shortfall and is still reeling from the effects of a 2009 FBI corruption sting that netted several officials, including the deputy mayor and the Council president, for taking bribes from developers.

But the 36-year-old has big ideas for the future and a strategy that’s exciting the hopes of an entire city.

FROM DELI WORKER TO WALL STREET

Steve Fulop’s biography reads likes Horatio Alger: he grew up in middle-class Edison, N.J., the second of three sons of Israeli and Hungarian immigrants. His parents owned a deli in Newark, where Steve worked as a teenager. His grandparents were Holocaust survivors who the Fulop family says came to America penniless.

For the rest of the story - go to the Observer.

Four Music & Theater Events This Week in Downtown LA

photo by Drew Ressler/RUKES.com
With all that is going on in Downtown LA these days, it's become impossible to know everything that is happening and I am continuously finding out something that happened - the day or night after it happened. Not that I would have likely been able to find the time to have gone - but it would have been nice to have had that option.  So I am going to start posting some of the calendars and lists other people are putting out on things to do it DTLA

For a start, in the Downtown News, Dan Johnson weekly lists arts and entertainment events and four of the five events he lists have yet to happen.   And two of them are -  free.  So if you are interested in free music ( Los Angeles fusion septet Ozomatli, La Santa Cecilia, I See Hawks in L.A. and the Petrojvic Blasting Company) or electronic music ( Knife Party, Duck Sauce, Dog Blood, Flying Lotus, Justice, Bassnectar and many, many, many more) or theater (REDCAT's  New Original Works Festival) or drumming Drum Downtown at the Grand Avenue Park)  - check out his column this week.

Second to Last Art Gallery Moves from Original Gallery Row Hot Spot at 5th & Main Where Art Walk Started

Photo of LACDA's second DTLA home in the former Bert Green Gallery space
LACDA - Rex Bruce's Los Angeles Center for the Digital Arts - is the second to last of the original/early Gallery Row art galleries to move from 5th Street on the half-block between Main and Spring - and the the second to last to move from one of the two Rosslyn Hotels at 5th & Main where Art Walk started. And I bet hardly anyone can recall the names of all six galleries that were on that half-block stretch and the one gallery that still remains there.

The gallery's new home (it's third home in Downtown LA since it first moved from its original home in Hollywood to the Rosslyn Lofts and then expanded to Bert Green's larger space across the street in the Rosslyn Hotel after Bert Green relocated to Chicago) will be in the Old Bank District's first loft building - the San Fernando Building - which one time housed BANK - the first commercial art gallery in the neighborhood to open after adaptive reuse.   

And Bert Green (for those of you keeping score at home) replaced New York Hats which moved first to 6th Street between Spring & Broadway in the only Chocolate store building and which is now located on the west side of Broadway (where it originally started) in a mid-block arcade between 5th & 6th.

LACDA will be opening on August 8th in what was the second space occupied by the Old Bank District DVD store in the San Fernando behind Pete's Cafe at the same time the Old Bank District DVD store reopens in its third space on the ground floor of The Last Bookstore (which started in the space once occupied by the Old Bank Art Gallery (which later moved to the Hellman/Banco Popular Building) & the DVD store in the San Fernando Building) in the Spring Arts Tower at 5th & Spring.