Still Room on Tomorrow's Sat. August 24th 2 Hour Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Los Angeles Starting at The Last Bookstore 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM

The Last Bookstore (and a  2nd floor with 50,000 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  including August 24th at 10:30 AM  (with the temperature predicted to be in the upper-70's - and  Saturdays, August 31th and September 7th  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.

Eric Garcetti's Proposed Four Year Agreement With the Largest DWP Union

First for background on how the City of Los Angeles lost control of its own water and power department, here is my article giving some of the back story.  And now some specifics from Catherine Saillant and David Zahniser of the LA Times on what has been agreed upon.

(photo by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times / July 1, 2013)

By Catherine Saillant and David Zahniser August 22, 2013, 1:31 p.m.

 A tentative Los Angeles Department of Water and Power labor deal that holds the line on raises for three years, reduces pensions for new hires and sets a path for changing outdated work rules signals a turning point in labor power at City Hall, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Thursday.

“Today the balance of power at the DWP shifts to the people," Garcetti told a packed news conference where he outlined the details of the pact. The mayor thanked voters for electing him and praised the City Council for standing “firm as a city family during these negotiations.”

 “We showed the power that we have. It’s the power of the people," Garcetti said, flanked by most of the City Council members, City Atty. Mike Feuer, Controller Ron Galperin and key city staff. “This department will now be managed by its owners, the people of Los Angeles.”

The city struck the four-year agreement with Local 18 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers late Wednesday. It includes three years of no raises followed by a 2% raise in the final year, lower pension benefits for new employees and the creation of a labor-management panel that would seek to revise work rules that drive up costs.

 It also sets aside 2% of DWP workers’ pay as a contribution toward active workers' healthcare. Total savings from the deal will be $456 million over four years and $6.1 billion over three decades, officials said.

 The accord was struck after weeks of push and pull among the mayor, council leaders and labor officials. At one point Garcetti threatened not to sign the agreement if more concessions weren't made by the union. 

The rest of the story can be found at the LA Times website.and here is the background on why this agreement is so critical to the city's future.

"Today, the Balance of Power With the DWP shifts to the People," Eric Garcetti, Mayor of the City of Los Angeles.

At this morning's press conference announcing the new labor agreement with the largest DWP union, Mayor Eric Garcetti's opening statements make it clear that the DWP was from now going to be run by and for the people of Los Angeles.  And that message was far more important than any of the reforms reached in this contract. 

It was both Garcetti's acknowledgement that the DWP had NOT been run by or for the citizens of Los Angeles for many years and his commitment that this situation will no longer be allowed to continue.

All this was made possible when Brian D'Arcy, the business manager of  Local 18, an affiliate of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW),  decided to spend millions of his union members dollars to not just select a city council that would do his bidding, but to also elect Wendy Greuel as Mayor. That decision not only doomed her bid, but guaranteed the election of Eric Garcetti.  

This gave Garcetti the clearest possible mandate to retake control of the DWP and return it to the city and to also - hopefully - end the ability of a single union to largely determine who can be elected to public office in this city.  

But Eric Garcetti couldn't have done this without a lot of support.  And among his many supporters, he has had the support of the city's neighborhood councils on this issue and the support our new city controller, Ron Galperin, the first neighborhood council board member ever to be elected to citywide office.  And Ron was not just a neighborhood cornily board member - he was also active with many of us on DWP issues and we served together as budget reps where he first began to get citywide notice for his innovative ways at looking how the city spends - and how it receives - money.  

And if any one action in the past few weeks changed how the public and the press felt on this issue (which then emboldened city council members to change their positions) - it was Ron Galperin's  brilliant review of how the DWP pay scales and job rules and financial/accounting tricks that had taken hundreds of mullions of dollars out of rate payer's pockets over the years.

Mayor Garcetti, DWP Union Head D’Arcy Reach Deal on Contract While Dining at the New City Hall North

The New City Hall North - Edendale

According to Dakota Smith of the Daily News, not  only is the deal done, but the final details were done in a meeting between Mayor Eric Garcetti and Brian D’Arcy which a LA Times reporter, David Zahniser witnessed at the Edendale Grill in Silverlake.  And for some background on this issue - here is a link to my Huffington Post story and below is the opening of Dakota Smith's story.

Mayor Garcetti, DWP union head D’Arcy reach deal on contract

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Dakota Smith

Mayor Eric Garcetti and Brian D’Arcy, business manager of the Department of Water and Power union, have reached an agreement over a new employee contract at the utility, a source close to the negotiations said late Wednesday night.A press conference to discuss the contract is scheduled for Thursday, according to a press release sent Wednesday night by the mayor’s office.

A spokesman for the mayor’s office declined to comment Wednesday night. D’Arcy could not be reached for comment.

An announcement of a deal was expected to come this week. Earlier in the day Wednesday, several city councilmembers were told Garcetti and D’Arcy were meeting to discuss the proposed four-year contract that night, sources told the Daily News. A Los Angeles Times reporter tweeted early Wednesday evening that he saw the pair at Edendale Grill, a popular Silver Lake restaurant.

The rest of the article is at the Daily News site.   and when I looked up the new power center of Los Angeles  - the Edendale Restaurant - on GOOGLE Maps - it turns out to be in an old 1924 firehouse only a couple blocks from where I was born.

THEN  

NOW                                                            

Mayor Garcetti to Hold Press Conference on IBEW (the main DWP union) Local 18 Contract 11:30 AM Thursday UPDATE - David Zahn

Since everyone involved has said how optimistic they were today about the progress that was being made - and since many of the key - and most complex issues -  such as work rules - will be punted into the near future, it is possible that a rough overall deal has been agreed upon.   And here is a link to my background story at the Huffington Post.

UPDATE  - 

David Zahniser ‏DavidZahniser

Source familiar with the talks says Garcetti and council have reached a deal with IBEW Local 18, the DWP union

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI
CITY OF LOS ANGELES

Media AdvisoryContact: 
Communications Office, 213-978-0741

EVENT:
Press Conference on IBEW Local 18 Contract

DATE: 
Thursday, August 22, 2013

TIME: 
11:30 AM

LOCATION:
Mayor's Press Conference Room

Los Angeles City Hall, 3rd Floor

200 N. Spring Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

###

My Huffington Post piece on the battle between our Mayor - Eric Garcetti - and the most powerful political force in Los Angeles - the main union of the DWP - just went up.  Read how the union took control of the DWP - and local politics - and why it is critical for the people of Los Angeles to support his battle to regain control of LA's water and power.

Four Ways the DWP Union Controls L.A. and Why We Need to Support Mayor Eric Garcetti

Posted: 08/21/2013 4:55 pm

Just when it appeared the Los Angeles City Council was about to rubber stamp the new DWP contract, Mayor Eric Garcetti has gone directly to the public for support.

And we need to support him on this if we are ever going to regain control of our city. So please read this message from the Mayor and sign the petition and get everyone you know who lives in the City of L.A. to sign it.

Now as for why I am taking such a particular interest in this issue, when the neighborhood council movement was still in its infancy, I attended the first city-wide meeting of NC representatives on a specific issue -- the DWP contract -- called by Jim Alger of a NC (neighborhood Council) in Northridge.

We quickly agreed this was an important issue for the NC's and formed a committee to negotiate a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the DWP to give us access to information we needed to make informed recommendations to the City about the policies of the DWP.

Eventually, I was on the panel that handled the last round of successful negotiations with just appointed DWP Manager, Ron Deaton, whom I had worked with on other projects and even before then, I had been appointed -- along with Jim Alger -- by Mayor Hahn on the recommendation of Doane Liu (now a Deputy Mayor for Garcetti) -- to serve as NC representatives on a committee overseeing the green policies of the DWP. And it was there that I first met Brian D'Arcy (the head of the DWP's main union,the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18) and realized that he was actually the person who ran the DWP -- and, to a certain extent, the City of Los Angeles.

During our first meeting, the DWP executive who ran the program brought up a specific project and was beginning to discuss it when D'Arcy -- without even bothering to look at him -- dismissed the project by saying -- "That's Not Gonna Happen." And once he said that -- that idea was dead. It took only one more meeting to make it clear that any idea which benefited the City -- or the rate payers -- or anything other than the union -- was an immediate non-starter. So any proposal needed to include what were essentially pay-offs to the union.

The rest of the story is at the Huffington Post. 

Best Ever Craiglist NYC Subway 'Missed Connections' Post Turns Out to be by a Los Angeles Writer

The VILLAGE VOICE has uncovered who wrote the Craigslist 'missed Connections' post set in a New York subway that had so quickly twittered its way into the hearts of New Yorkers.  So imagine their surprise when the poster turned out to be a writer living in... Los Angeles, of all places -  who may - or may not have - had a similar missed connection that inspired the story.  Here is the start of the story:

MYSTERY SOLVED: Who Is the Author Behind the Most Beautiful Craigslist Missed Connection of All Time? 

 By Tessa Stuart Thu., Aug. 8 2013 at 7:00 AM

Craigslist is menagerie of oddities both gorgeous and grotesque. You can find anything on there: fan fiction about your favorite band, arecord store, organs, a baby, certain death, even love.
This posting appeared Tuesday in the New York City Missed Connections section, sandwiched between R Train, bet 5:30-6:00 pm - m4w ("You're beautiful, and deserve better.") and to L.S. - m4w - 23 (go to fucking hell) ("you fucking whore, u lost out on the best thing that has ever happened to you.").
It's the most beautiful Missed Connection ever written.
On Twitter, where the posting has been making rounds, it's invoked comparisons to Kafka and Garcia Marquez--but so far, the author has remained anonymous.
We must know who wrote it--was it you? Email us.
UPDATE: Thursday, August 8, 9:46am MYSTERY SOLVED.
Well, that didn't take long. An anonymous tipster pointed us to a few tweets that suggest the author is one Raphael Bob-Waksberg

And here is his 'missed connection.' 

 I saw you on the Manhattan-bound Brooklyn Q train.

I was wearing a blue-striped t-shirt and a pair of maroon pants. You were wearing a vintage red skirt and a smart white blouse. We both wore glasses. I guess we still do.
You got on at DeKalb and sat across from me and we made eye contact, briefly. I fell in love with you a little bit, in that stupid way where you completely make up a fictional version of the person you're looking at and fall in love with that person. But still I think there was something there.
Several times we looked at each other and then looked away. I tried to think of something to say to you -- maybe pretend I didn't know where I was going and ask you for directions or say something nice about your boot-shaped earrings, or just say, "Hot day." It all seemed so stupid.
At one point, I caught you staring at me and you immediately averted your eyes. You pulled a book out of your bag and started reading it -- a biography of Lyndon Johnson -- but I noticed you never once turned a page.
My stop was Union Square, but at Union Square I decided to stay on, rationalizing that I could just as easily transfer to the 7 at 42nd Street, but then I didn't get off at 42nd Street either. You must have missed your stop as well, because when we got all the way to the end of the line at Ditmars, we both just sat there in the car, waiting.
I cocked my head at you inquisitively. You shrugged and held up your book as if that was the reason.
Still I said nothing.
We took the train all the way back down -- down through Astoria, across the East River, weaving through midtown, from Times Square to Herald Square to Union Square, under SoHo and Chinatown, up across the bridge back into Brooklyn, past Barclays and Prospect Park, past Flatbush and Midwood and Sheepshead Bay, all the way to Coney Island. And when we got to Coney Island, I knew I had to say something.
Still I said nothing.
And so we went back up.
Up and down the Q line, over and over. We caught the rush hour crowds and then saw them thin out again. We watched the sun set over Manhattan as we crossed the East River. I gave myself deadlines: I'll talk to her before Newkirk; I'll talk to her before Canal. Still I remained silent.
For months we sat on the train saying nothing to each other. We survived on bags of skittles sold to us by kids raising money for their basketball teams. We must have heard a million mariachi bands, had our faces nearly kicked in by a hundred thousand break dancers. I gave money to the beggars until I ran out of singles. When the train went above ground I'd get text messages and voicemails ("Where are you? What happened? Are you okay?") until my phone ran out of battery.
I'll talk to her before daybreak; I'll talk to her before Tuesday. The longer I waited, the harder it got. What could I possibly say to you now, now that we've passed this same station for the hundredth time? Maybe if I could go back to the first time the Q switched over to the local R line for the weekend, I could have said, "Well, this is inconvenient," but I couldn't very well say it now, could I? I would kick myself for days after every time you sneezed -- why hadn't I said "Bless You"? That tiny gesture could have been enough to pivot us into a conversation, but here in stupid silence still we sat.
There were nights when we were the only two souls in the car, perhaps even on the whole train, and even then I felt self-conscious about bothering you. She's reading her book, I thought, she doesn't want to talk to me. Still, there were moments when I felt a connection. Someone would shout something crazy about Jesus and we'd immediately look at each other to register our reactions. A couple of teenagers would exit, holding hands, and we'd both think: Young Love.
For sixty years, we sat in that car, just barely pretending not to notice each other. I got to know you so well, if only peripherally. I memorized the folds of your body, the contours of your face, the patterns of your breath. I saw you cry once after you'd glanced at a neighbor's newspaper. I wondered if you were crying about something specific, or just the general passage of time, so unnoticeable until suddenly noticeable. I wanted to comfort you, wrap my arms around you, assure you I knew everything would be fine, but it felt too familiar; I stayed glued to my seat.
One day, in the middle of the afternoon, you stood up as the train pulled into Queensboro Plaza. It was difficult for you, this simple task of standing up, you hadn't done it in sixty years. Holding onto the rails, you managed to get yourself to the door. You hesitated briefly there, perhaps waiting for me to say something, giving me one last chance to stop you, but rather than spit out a lifetime of suppressed almost-conversations I said nothing, and I watched you slip out between the closing sliding doors.
It took me a few more stops before I realized you were really gone. I kept waiting for you to reenter the subway car, sit down next to me, rest your head on my shoulder. Nothing would be said. Nothing would need to be said.
When the train returned to Queensboro Plaza, I craned my neck as we entered the station. Perhaps you were there, on the platform, still waiting. Perhaps I would see you, smiling and bright, your long gray hair waving in the wind from the oncoming train.
But no, you were gone. And I realized most likely I would never see you again. And I thought about how amazing it is that you can know somebody for sixty years and yet still not really know that person at all.
I stayed on the train until it got to Union Square, at which point I got off and transferred to the L.

Downtown LA's Fashion Keeps Getting More Fashionable.

I can still remember when the very first storefront 'high fashion' shops opened around 4th and Main, with SKINGRAFT being one of last of them that is still there at 117 W. 4th Street.

And indicative of the change since then is that SKINGRAFT now has a branch store in New York's NOLITA District at 7 Prince Street, directly across from the New Museum.

I bring this up because now it seems as if there is a new fashion store opening every week somewhere in DTLA with former pop-up Guerrilla Atelier in the Arts District now confirming  it is now a permanent store. And you can read all the details at Brigham Yen's blog, DTLA RISING.

But one of the more interesting details is the story of how this store happened to end up in Downtown.

Guerilla Atelier has proven that there is a demand for luxury products in Downtown LA. The store has done so well that after just 30 days of operating as a pop-up shop, starting in the middle of May 2013, Louisville decided to make it into a permanent store. According to Louisville, shoppers come from all parts of the world, but most surprisingly, many who buy live right here in Downtown LA.

Louisville is no stranger to the world of high fashion. As the Director of Epicenter for Prada in Beverly Hills for 15 years, many considered him the unofficial mayor of Rodeo Drive. It was through his connection at Prada and his love for downtown that he first conceived the idea of opening his own store.

“I was giving the President of Prada a tour of Downtown LA one night during the monthly Art Walk event,” Louisville explains. “We were sitting outside at Banquette Cafe [near 4th and Main] and he said to me that the energy of downtown was one of the most exciting he’s ever felt — anywhere! It just made me realize I wanted to open my own ‘perfect’ lifestyle environment.”

The other - even more interesting point is that this store is only the first of several to open in this part of Downtown.

Carl Louisville, who is the owner of Guerilla Atelier, gave me a tour recently of his store located in the Arts District near 3rd and Hewitt Street. The 4,000 square foot store occupies a cavernous space within a much larger industrial warehouse building owned by a specialty retail company called PAH (Parallel Acquisitions and Holdings), which plans to eventually add more high-end retailers and eateries to the large former warehouse space. 

And the rest of the story is at DTLA RISING.

Malibu Times Reports Grant Adamson's Wife, Terry, and Daughters,Megan and Lauren, Expected to Have Full Physical Recoveries.

 photo of Lauren Adamson courtesy of the Malibu Times

After being critically  injured in the freak hot aid balloon crash that killed Grant Adamson of Malibu,  the Malibu Times reports his wife and both of his daughters are now expected to have no long term physical injuries and that they will make full recoveries.  All three are still in the hospital in Bern Switzerland and no funeral plans have yet been announced for Grant.

 photo of Megan Adamson courtesy of the Malibu Times

Balloon crash survivors expected to make full recoveries

Terry, Lauren and Megan Adamson are recovering at a hospital in Bern, Switzerland.

By Melissa Caskey /melissa@malibutimes.com 
A week after suffering serious injuries in a fatalhot air balloon crash in Switzerland, Malibu residents Terry, Megan and Lauren Adamson are on the road to full recoveries, family members said. 

Terry Adamson, 55, underwent successful back surgery late last week and was recovering Tuesday from jaw surgery, according to her brother-in-law, Peter London. Her daughter Lauren Adamson, 24, is also recovering from two back surgeries.

Megan Adamson, 20, underwent surgery for unspecified injuries following the accident, and was moved out of an intensive care unit on Thursday last week. 

 55-year-old Grant Adamson, husband to Terry and father to Lauren and Megan, died in the crash. The three survivors are staying at Inselspital, a hospital run by the University of Bern in Bern, Switzerland, London said. 

“My daughter Kristen [London] … received a call from Megan. She was also able to talk with Lauren. She said they both sounded very good. They are now sharing a room at the hospital,” Peter London wrote this week in an email to The Malibu Times.  

The rest of the story is at the Malibu Times. 

Downtown News Reports Veteran CRA CEO David Riccitello to Fill Dan Rosenfeld's Post for 2nd District County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas

Photo by Gary Leonard. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas (left) and Senior Deputy Dan Rosenfeld in 2009.
 One of the problems created by the sudden dissolution of the LA CRA has been the loss of institutional memory; the loss of key players who understood how major projects have worked - or not worked - over the past decades in Los Angeles City and County.  But according to the Downtown News, one of the most effective leaders at the CRA has a new position where he can continue the work started by his predecessor in his new position, Dan Rosenfeld. 

One Downtown Veteran Leaves Ridley-Thomas’ Office, Another Arrives

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Longtime Downtown developer Dan Rosenfeld recently left a position as senior deputy for economic development for Second District County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Though Rosenfeld has returned to the private sector (his previous work included being a founder of Urban Partners), his slot has been filled by someone who also boasts extensive Downtown real estate experience: former Community Redevelopment Agency Chief Executive David Riccitiello.

The full story is at the Downtown News. 

Post-Production Continues to Leave Los Angeles For New York Due to Tax Credits

One of the myths local LA business writers and California politicians like to repeat is that it doesn't matter if film and TV production leave because everything will still come back here for post-production.  

Well, that is just another lie as Brent Lang explains in today's TheWrap.

y Brent Lang

New York has increased post-production hiring by 25 percent since the Empire State tripled the tax incentives it hands out for doing film editing, visual effects and other film work within its borders.

Data released by the pro-production credits group, the Post New York Alliance, found that 173 new people have been hired to work in post-production since the same time last year when the changes went into effect.

It anticipates that post-production business will generate nearly $70 million in spending in the state and claims that post-production companies reported spending nearly $18 million on equipment to meet the demand for their services.

In return for that investment, companies participating in the incentive program say their revenues have increased an average of 31 percent.

New York has been very aggressive when it comes to luring film work away from Hollywood and other states. Last year its post-production credit was increased from 10 percent to 30 percent in the New York City area when lawmakers decided that earlier credits were not sufficiently enticing. New York also offers up to 35 percent for post-production work done in other parts of the state.

Also read: Salvation for VFX?: U.S. Could Tax Foreign Film Subsidies, Study Finds

Sixty-one productions have applying for post-production credit, which is three times the number of  applications the state received during a two-year period under the previous tax credit. In addition, seven post-production companies have established offices in New York in the past year.

Read the rest of the story at TheWrap.

YouTube Shows and Networks Continue to Flourish in LA - Tastemade Builds New Food Network in Santa Monica

While film and TV shoots continue to leave California, one bright spot for local employment has been the proliferation of new on-line shows for YouTube.  Lucas Show of The Wrap has one recent success story.

Tastemade Raises $10M To Build The Next Food Network

By Lucas Shaw

Tastemade, a top online video network for food 

Tastemade, a top online video network for food lovers, has raised $10 million in a Series B round led by Raine Ventures, the company announced on Wednesday. Red Point Ventures, which led Tastemade’s first round of $5.3 million, participated in this round as well.

“It shows a great amount of faith in what we’re doing if they are coming back in,” co-founder Steven Kydd told TheWrap on Wednesday.

Tastemade used some of the new money to launch an app that lets customers create their own episodes about restaurants or dishes they love. Like Instagram or the newly launched MixBit, the app lets users record video and offers a suite of tools to edit them including a built-in template, music and, yes, filters.

“You make a one-minute-show,” Kydd said. “Our goal was how to use software to scale globally and find not just one celebrity but hundreds or thousands.”When Kydd and co-founders Larry Fitzgibbon and Joe Perez first conceived Tastemade a year ago, they turned to creators like Sorted, a quartet of British friends with a channel more popular than those of celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay.

The rest of the story could be found here at TheWrap.

If You Saw My Post on the Supposed 1850 Aerial Photo of the Plaza - Here is the Actual First Aerial Photo of Los Angeles in 1887

Here is my post on the 1850 photo which now appears to be a photo of a model that - possibly has been enhanced at the top a a real aerial photo take at a later date.  And here, from Kevin at LA OBSERVED  is the photo that was taken in 1887.

This may be the first aerial photo of LA

By Kevin Roderick | August 14, 2013 11:21 AM

This photograph of the fledgling town of Los Angeles apparently was taken from a hot-air balloon in 1887, part of a stunt by William Randolph Hearst and his San Francisco Examiner. Nathan Masters explains at Los Angeles Magazine's website:

Floating 9,000 feet above the city in a hot-air balloon, photographer Edwin H. Husher tilted his camera over the basket’s edge and captured thirteen views of Los Angeles.

Husher’s voyage was part of an elaborate publicity stunt orchestrated by the San Francisco Examiner and its new owner, William Randolph Hearst. Though designed to sell advertising—and to top a similar hot-air balloon stunt by Hearst’s archrival Joseph Pulitzer—the event injected extra excitement into a booming city teeming with real-estate boosters and instant millionaires. On the afternoon of June 26, 1887, residents clambered up hills and onto rooftops for a glimpse of the air balloon, and a special excursion train brought onlookers from as far as San Bernardino. To entertain crowds gathered around the takeoff site, a team of local ballplayers hosted the San Luis Obispo nine at the Sixth-Street Baseball Park....

 The rest of the story is over at Nathan's LA Magazine column.  The question then is - could one of the 13 views have been used to enhance the 1850 model below?

And here is the other view again.  Does anyone see any resemblance between the top parts of the two photos?

Explore the Secret Histories of Historic Downtown Los Angeles on a Walking Tour The Next 3 Saturdays August 17th, 24th and 31st from 10:30 - 12:30 PM starting at THE LAST BOOKSTORE at 5th & Spring

The Last Bookstore (and a  2nd floor with 50,000 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  including August 17th at 10:30 AM  (with the temperature predicted to be in the upper-70's - and  Saturdays, August 24th and August 31st 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.

How Long Will It Take for Jerry Brown and Eric Garcetti to Ask for a Meeting with Elon Musk on His Reboot for High-Speed Rail?

And here are the reasons why they need to start talking to Elon Musk about his Hyperloop system.

How to Get From Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 Minutes at... 6%... of the Cost of Not So High Speed - High Speed Rail!

Fist, Mark Lacter at LA OBSERVED explains the how this could save us from the disaster that is called High-Speed Rail.  Second, Business Week has the first interview with Elon Musk on his proposal he laid out in his blogpost Monday.

And - assuming he's right - how do we rewrite the bond issue for High-Speed Rail to reboot that disaster as this project?

60,000 square Foot Rooftop - Farm - Proposed in Downtown Los Angeles!

photo of Courtney Guerra and Ari Taymore courtesy of Alma's website
While urban rooftop gardens are old news - there is now a proposal to build an entire farm - and we're talking acreage here - 60,000 feet which close to an acre and a half of farm.  LAIST has a story up on the project.

Chef And Farmer Form Delicious Duo In DTLA By Krista Simmons 

Some of you may get all squishy when looking at pics of adorably awkward baby animals, but what gets us gushing is a cute chef/farmer relationship. So naturally we went "squeeee!" when we recently heard about chef Ari Taymor and farmer Courtney Guerra's relationship.

The two work hand in hand to create the makings for Taymor's unique dishes at Alma restaurant in Downtown L.A., which recently celebrated its one year anniversary.

 And later....

 The two plan to open a they're working on a 60,000 square-foot rooftop garden above Alma soon, a step that only a handful of area restaurants have executed, and none on that grand of a scale, making for yet another notch in DTLA's dining belt.

The rest of that story is at LAIST which then links to a longer story at Bon Ap.