Flooding, Filming and The LA River

Flooding on the streets of Los Angeles 1930's

Flooding on the streets of Los Angeles 1930s

Los Angeles River 2009

Glendale Narrows 2009

Catastrophic flooding in Los Angeles in February of 1914 and in March of 1938 prompted the US Army Corps of Engineers to line the Los Angeles riverbed with concrete thus turning it into the flood control channel we see today. There are a few stretches of the river where natural wetlands and wildlife still exists and we are lucky enough to have one of these areas east of Griffith Park called the Glendale Narrows. If you have not yet done so check out the Glendale Narrows but please be respectful not only to the wildlife but to the residents of the Elysian Valley neighborhood, many of whom have a backyard facing the river.

Although many have labeled the “concrete river” as an eyesore, John Travolta would never have had that cool drag race in the movie Grease without that flat smooth gray surface and Edward Furlong and Governor Arnold would never have had their motorcycle chase in Terminator II without the concrete bed but the giant ants in the 1956 movie “Them” would have been indifferent about colonizing on concrete or on a natural riverbed, both paid union scale.

Help support the Friends of The Los Angeles River at http://www.folar.org/.

The Wiltern Theatre 1943 and The Nothing Maker

Three friends in front of the Wiltern Theatre, Wilshire Blvd - Feb 21, 1943

My Mom, El Nino and my siblings - Wilshire Blvd/Hobart Blvd 1966 (The Wiltern is right behind us in green)

As a photo collector nothing makes me happier than to see documentation with a vintage found snapshot. A person’s name, a date or a location description adds to the voyeuristic engagement of a stranger’s photo album. The first photograph on this post of three fashionable people in front of the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles is dated on the back “Feb 21, 1943“, 67 years ago this weekend. Although we were right in the middle of a war in 1943, jobs were plentiful and people sought out entertainment as a diversion from front page news. A day on Wilshire Blvd may have included a matinee at the Wiltern, lunch at the Ambassador Hotel‘s coffee shop, an afternoon at the La Brea Tar Pits or shopping at the May Company department store (now LACMA West). Everything you see in this photo from the cool period clothes to the automobiles were made and built right here in the USA with American sweat and pride.

A Los Angeles Art deco masterpiece, The Wiltern Theatre with its terrazzo façade and the adjacent Pellister building were originally built in 1931. The theater had its heyday, changed hands a few times and eventually was neglected and fell on hard times in the 1970’s. The building was saved from demolition by the Los Angeles Conservancy in one of their first victories to presevere the historic architecture in the City of Angels. In the 1960s and early 70’s my family lived in the Ambassador section of Wilshire Blvd (second snapshot) until we planted roots in The Sunset Junction Neighborhood of Los Angeles. The Wiltern has rapidly become one of my favorite places to see live music. The theatre has cozy unimpaired seating, a great sound system a nice warm and up close feeling and of course that great urban and historical experience that one gets there. In 2008 I went to see former Kink’s front man and legend Ray Davies put on an amazing show to support his new record, The Working Man’s Café. In March of 2009, I witnessed the incredible Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders rock the theatre with a set list that included the classics and several new songs from their then new record, Break Up The Concrete. In her knee high boots, Chrissie left no doubt that at age 57 she had not lost a step as she wailed away on lead vocals while mastering her Telecaster. As far as I was concerned it was 1979 all over again. Coincidentally Ray Davies and Chrissie Hynde have a daughter together from a long term realtionship they had years ago.

One of the songs absent from the set list that night was The Nothing Maker written by Chrissie about an ordinary man living in the backdrop of a not so ordinary industry. Touching and real, it is perhaps my favorite modern Pretenders song and it so much about the ordinary that it did not even make it to Los Angeles and the Wiltern Theatre show that night, but I did. Here are the lyrics:

The Nothing Maker

by Chrissie Hynde

________________

He doesn't Make Shoes
Or Design a New Shirt
Or Take Photographs
But no one gets hurts
And he doesn't look Trendy
Like guys in Magazines
You won't see him at parties
He's not the Face behind the scene.

He Makes Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker
He's the Maker of Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker

And he doesn't paint pictures
Or Write poetry
Or act on a stage
For others to see
and he don't expect much
Santa Claus knows
Cause he doesn't make list
Of toys and new clothes.

Everyone's Chasing

A reason to live
Mostly they take more than they give
The Succeeder Justifies
Why he's better than the rest
He believes his own lies
And thinks he's the best......
but my guy

Doesn't make Movies
To suit an audience's whim
He lives by a code
Known only to him
And he doesn't make money
to Buy watches and cars
Cause there's no time and no place to go
For a man who has nothing to show

He Makes Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker
He's the Maker of Nothing
He's the Nothing Maker

Doug Fieger of the Knack dies at age 57.

Get The Knack, 1979

Who can forget My Sharona blasting out of FM radio in the Summer of 1979. Rest in Peace Doug.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVdnqEyToqg

Bohemian Rhapsody, Los Angeles style

"A Little Party, Los Angeles, Cal." 1919

I enjoy small cozy gatherings with old friends, good food, good wine, good conversation and good live music amongst that gathering. The gentleman on the right in this old photo probably belted out a few songs on his guitar before posing with a swarm of groupies to capture this wonderful moment in time. He has not one, not two but a choice of six beautiful women who are competing for his attention. Later on, he and the lucky lady he chooses will probably walk on over to a nice speak-easy bar on the dusty unpaved Sunset Strip for a little face time. I know a couple of girls well into their forties, old neighborhood friends of mine whom I have known for decades now. If they are not dating a musician then their world will simply implode upon them. Dating a banker, an aerospace engineer or that guy with a mega successful plumbing business will simply just not do it for them. Maybe it’s that “what will my friends think” thought process, I honestly don’t know. It’s all quite silly, but they are my friends and I really hope they find their own personal John Mayer, Tommy Lee or Meat Loaf (the singer not the food) to make them happy. Here’s to the beauty and the power of three chords on the guitar and everything that comes with it. Personally, I can belt out a rough version of “Smoke on the Water” on my Fender but my neighbors are quite sick of it. Happy Valentine's Day.

Disclaimer: (In all fairness, it could have been the woman in the front row with the ukulele who was the musical star of the party.)

Inventor of the Frisbee dies at age 90

photo from the Los Angeles Times

Fredrick Morrison inventor of the flying disc known as the "Frisbee" passes away at age 90. Next time you throw your dog, your kids, or your best friend that flying disc give a little love to ol' Fredrick from the Wham-O Corporation for making your day at the beach a little more interesting. I once visited the Wham-O headquarters in the San Gabriel Valley and saw all the greats....the SuperBall, the Hula-Hoop, the Slip N' Slide and the first prototype Frisbee. Mr Morrison was also an alumni of John Marshall HS.

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-fred-morrison13-2010feb13,0,7076853.story

February 9, 1964 – a really big “shoe”.

46 years ago today, The Beatles invaded America and played the Ed Sullivan Show in NYC thus inspiring scores of American youths like Tom Petty, Chrissie Hynde, Steve Tyler, Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Chris Carter and The Ramones to pick up a guitar, a bass, a drum kit and a microphone and compose the soundtrack of our lives. The world has not been the same since. Thank You John, George, Paul and Ringo and of course Ed for a really great “shoe” as he would say.

Super Bowl blowout at the Sunset Junction

Football in the front yard, Pasadena, CA 1916

The most memorable Super Bowl I can recall was the 1979 version with the Los Angeles Rams playing the Pittsburg Steelers at the Rose Bowl. The game was not only memorable for me because it was the first time the Los Angeles Rams went to the Super Bowl, but while we were watching the game at our Silver Lake/Sunet Junction home on the big console Zenith TV, someone pulled up to our next door neighbor’s house in a van and cleaned them out. Both of our homes were packed tightly together with our patio adjacent to the driveway but we did not see or hear a thing. We recall a van being backed up into their driveway during the game but that was about it. They took furniture, the TV, all of their clothes, musical instruments, jewelry and even their pet parakeet, cage and all. The next day we found out that there was a string of break-ins that afternoon in our neighborhood in what would be known as the Not So Super Sunday in the 90027 zip code.
The Final Score that day:

Thieves and Raiders: 56
The Sunset Junction Neighborhood: 0

Help support Greyhound Rescue

The Greyhound Rescue group I volunteer with is brining up 12 ex-Racing Greyhounds today from Caliente Mexico, rain or shine. These dogs will wake up this morning in a crowded racing pen in Mexico and go to bed tonight officially “retired” in a loving warm foster home in SoCal. A truly long and incredible journey for these dogs. Probably the same feeling you might go through when you hit 65 years of age and walk out of your office for the last time with a box of office trinkets, a gold plated company wrist watch and a card signed by everyone in the office saying “Have a Neat Summer”, except these dogs never got a gold watch, a generous pension plan, a 401k, sick time, 3 weeks vacation, a dental plan, a 20% discount from the company store or an ergonomic keyboard when their paws started to hurt.

I have been one of the official dog washers for this group for three years now, have handled hundreds of Greyhounds, look forward to this monthly event and come home feeling good about the future of these dogs. Because of the rain today it will be a challenge but we will get it done. . Help support Greyhound rescue and help save these beautiful and gentle creatures. http://www.greysave.org/

Have A Nice Grey,

Gianpiero

Leif and The Nocturnal Giant

Time passes by. Every girl in my eighth grade class of 1977 in Hollywood California was in love with Leif Garrett while all of us prepubescent catholic school boys wanted to be like him, have his cool feathered hair and that Rock N Roll lifestyle that he had at age 14. Other than his role in the Coppola film, The Outsiders and that legendary VH1 Behind The Music special which chronicled his downfall, the next time I saw a reference of Leif was his mug shot in 2006 after his arrest on the subway for drug possession. Sadly on February 3rd, 2010, Leif was arrested yet again on the Pershing Square subway platform for possession of black tar heroin. Leif is almost unrecognizable these days and like many child stars, his star faded and he has ridden a rollercoaster of drug abuse and problems for most of his adult life. I hope that Leif can recover from this setback and get back on the road to recovery. One does not have to be a former child star to have battled the demons of drug abuse. I have known too many people that have been in the dungeons of drug and gambling addiction.

One friend who comes to mind was a guy from a well-to-do and socialite Los Feliz, California family. The first time I meet him was in 12th grade in front of Marshall High School as he was smoking a cigarette as cool and naturally as Don Drapper does on the Mad Men TV series . He was a surfer type, wore pucca shells, and drove a muscle car. We immediately became friends and started a friendship among a tightly knit crew in Los Feliz. I remember him telling me once in 1980 that “computers one day would take over everything we do” and they have certainly done that. We overindulged a bit in that stereotypical style of the 1980's and none of us came out of the decade with much more than a scratch or a large credit card balance. However that lifestyle for him bled into the 1990's and well into the 2000's. Even though our lifestyles were going in opposite directions we still remained great friends. We went to Big Bear, shared each other's 30th birthday parties, went to the movies and social gatherings, spent many Christmas holidays together among that group of friends that bonded in the 1980's and even went to midnight mass together on Christmas Eve once. He was truly a unique and intelligent person filled with ideas for a prosperous life but was bitten with streaks of addictions. I had a nickname for him, The Nocturnal Giant, as he always called me at 11pm to go out to dinner, just as I was getting ready to go to bed. I never asked him about his lifestyle during these years, I just assumed he was in control of it.

He just disappeared one day in 2002. His church was across the street from where I lived at the time and he would come over afterwards for lunch or a car ride. Then one day I never saw him again. Over those years I started to hear rumors that he was living in a dilapidated RV parked on Riverside Drive on that bad stretch from Atwater to Elysian Valley. Almost every weekend on my way home from the west side, I would exit at Stadium Way and drive up and down Riverside looking for him. I did not know what I would do or say if I indeed would find him. Perhaps he did not want to be found, perhaps he was well and happy and sober and enjoyed living in an RV, or maybe he was nowhere near Riverside Drive and living happily in Oregon, New Mexico or Alaska with a wife and children. I never found him on Riverside Drive and I was thankful for that.

Early in 2009 I was elated when I spotted him at Union Station making the run from the Cesar Chavez bus line to the Subway. He looked well groomed and was wearing clean but ruffled black pants and a white long sleeve shirt, clothes that seemed out of character for him. When he turned to acknowledge my shout, he look bewildered and confused but did recognized me. I walked over and started a conversation and said it was good to see him and had wondered where he had been all these years. He was polite but clearly aloof and did not want to talk. He asked for my phone number and jotted it down on one of his famous pocket notepads that I always remembered him carrying. At the same time the very next day I saw him again and I approached him but this time more respectfully. Without missing a step, he immediately waved me off and said he could not talk as he disappeared down the tunnel. Last summer I saw him again in Chinatown and this time we spoke a bit. He did not really divulge anything personal, but he struck me as a bit slow and confused. He asked for my phone number again and I was happy to give it to him. I waited for his call for months but he never called me. I finally realized he just wanted his privacy but also wanted to acknowledged our 30 year friendship. He looks well but seems to have been through a rough patch of life. He looks and sounds different but then again I look and sound different. I have seen him from a distance a few times, but I respect his wishes and leave him alone and hope that my good friend from many years ago is on a good road.

The Woody and the Surf Culture

This man is the proud owner of a 1940 Pontiac Woody, a very cool Wagon whose entire back and sides were made of wood. In the 1960s and 1970s, the California Surf Culture adopted these wagons for their ability to transport large surfboards and bikini clad surfer girls to the beach. Jan and Dean mention Getting a Woody in their 1967 hit - Surf City. Head on over to Surf City. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYY2I_YUyYc