Lunch at Langer's Deli - MacArthur Park

photos courtesy of El Niño Angeleno’s iphone

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I had lunch today at the famous Langer's Deli in MacArthur Park. A Los Angeles institution established in 1947 by Mr. Al Langer, Langer's Deli serves up some of the best eats in the city and if you are from the East Coast you surely will not be disappointed. Located at 704 South Alvarado Street, Langer's came close to shutting its doors in the early 1990s when MacArthur Park was riddled with a drug and gang problem which caused many long time and new patrons to stay away from the historic neighborhood it so proudly served. This Los Angeles icon was soon saved by the Metro Red Line, which made it fast, safe and easy for downtown and Miracle Mile workers to satisfy an afternoon craving of pastrami, corned beef, rye bread and clam chowder. Al Langer passed away in 2007, but the tradition carries on with his family running the deli with all the enthusiasm, great food and excellent service that Al operated it with. Proceed with caution though, although I have seen more straw fedora hats appearing in this neighborhood and I hear the word "Loft" spoken here and there, this area is not super gentrified yet but the prices sure are. A pastrami sandwich is 15 bucks, but well worth it and better than Jerry’s Deli any day of the week. I think I used to pay about 6 bucks for the Pastrami there back in the 1980s. We used to grab a pastrami sandwich on Saturday afternoons and then return in the evening to go dancing at Vertigo, a nightclub which was located in the classic art deco building on Park View and 6th Street many years ago. Vertigo had a small cameo in the 1986 film Less Than Zero starring Robert Downey Jr, Andrew McCarthy and Jamie Gertz

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To get to Langer's, just jump on the Red Line and exit Westlake station and walk half a block east. Happy Eating !

http://www.langersdeli.com/about-langers-delicatessen-restaurant

Pacific Coast Highway 1920s

Will Rogers Lighthouse Tower, Pacific Coast Highway 1920s.

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The tower was erected in 1912 and torn town in 1972. It was to be relocated to nearby Pepperdine University but it did not survive the attempted removal. Somewhere amongst the bathers and the sun worshipers in this photograph, there is a guy wearing a “Prohibition Sucks’ T-shirt, a “Lets Hope For Hoover” political button, carrying a flask full of moonshine and a screenplay rolled up under his arms that he knows is absolutely perfect for Charlie Chaplin.

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Bottoms Up !

The Clash - Combat Rock at the Hollywood Palladium, June 14, 1982

A found snapshot from my collection, Five soldiers on leave at the Hollywood Palladium 1943

My ticket stub from the Palladium, June 14 1982

The Clash - Combat Rock 1982

The Clash - “The Only Band That Matters” as they were referred to by their fans, the media and eventually themselves for most of their legendary and influential career.

In June of 1982 Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon were touring in support of their platinum album Combat Rock which contained the radio hits Rock the Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go along with the politically fueled tune Know Your Rights . When it was announced that the boys would be playing at the world famous Hollywood Palladium that summer there could not have been any reason for me not to be there other than death itself. By this time in my life I had gone to see many punk bands at venues such as The Whiskey, the Roxy and The Music Machine but did not consider myself to be a punk, just a fan of the music. I stayed clear of the mosh pits that formed at every show and enjoyed the music, the events and the scene.

As The Clash took to the stage at The Palladium on that balmy Southern California night, the wave of young enthusiastic punks pushed me over to the left front of the stage where I found myself at arms length from Mick Jones’ combat boots, but uncomfortably close to the amp that was positioned right in front of me. The juice of the guitars, bass and drums hummed in my ear all night long but I would not have had it any other way as I was up front at a potent Clash concert. The band had a forceful opening set as I recall with fast numbers such as London Calling, Career Opportunities, White Riot and Clampdown setting the tempo for the show. By mid-show, Joe Strummer slowed it down a bit, took out an acoustic guitar, got on one knee and started to almost serenade the fueled and passionate crowd with what I recall was a ballad called Bank Robber. At this moment in almost slow motion, a punk from front center hocked out a loogie projected right a Joe. From my vantage point it looked to be about 8 inches long and twisted slowly in circles in mid flight while being backlit from one of the stage lights. The projectile landed directly on Joe’s face and dangled from his ear much like a slime scene out of the yet to be released film Ghostbusters. Joe, the consummate punk, barely missed a beat where he did nothing but laugh as he wiped it off with his hand and continued with the song. When the show ended with the punk encore of “I fought the Law”, I was loaded with adrenaline, drenched in sweat and had a horrible ringing in my left ear, a consequence which continues to this day.

I had the good fortune to see The Clash two more times; in October of 1982 at the Los Angeles Coliseum as they opened up for The Who and then again in the summer of 1983 at the US Festival in San Bernardino, but neither matched the up front raw energy of the Hollywood Palladium show. The Clash broke up soon afterwards with Mick forming Big Audio Dynamite and Joe holding on to remains of The Clash for another year, before going solo and later fronting his own band called The Mescaleros. We lost Joe Strummer suddenly in December 2002 and the world has not been the same since. I still have the ticket stub from that night which is a bit odd since I was not nearly as nostalgic back in 1982 as I am today. Perhaps I knew someday 28 years later, I would still be talking about The Only Band That Mattered.

former LAPD Top Cop Daryl F. Gates

photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times

Love him or hate him, former LAPD Police Chief and Franklin High School alumni, Daryl F. Gates who rose from the ranks as the driver for legendary LAPD Chief William Parker to Top Cop himself in 1978 has passed away. A police "Cinderella" story starting at the absolute bottom and rising to the absolute top in his chosen profession, Chief Gates' passion for law enforcement is well noted in the annals Los Angeles history, despite the controversy that surrounded his 14 years as LAPD Police Chief. Spending 43 years with the LAPD, Chief Gates, who came up with the idea for SWAT which is now an instrumental section of any large metropolitan police force, was brash, effective, refused to be intimated but eventually "lost touch with a changing city". The Rodney King beating in March of 1991 and the subsequent riots a year later eventually led to his ultimate demise as police chief in June 1992. In today’s Los Angeles Times print edition, Chief Gates' obituary made it “above the fold” which is saying something about the legacy of Chief Gates.

So Long Norms Coffee Shop - SG Valley

Norms, San Gabriel Valley - November 2009

Paradox of "We Never Close" is now closed

War of the Worlds in the parking lot.

Parking for Norms patrons and Aliens only

NO, it can not be

Norm Roybark, a Los Angeles native with a vision of great food, great service and great value, opened the first Norms Coffee Shop in 1949 on the corner of Sunset and Vine. More importantly, Mr. Roybark operated his coffee shops by the slogan of “We Never Close”, very comforting for Angelenos who would crave steak and eggs at 2am after all the bars would shut down. Operating 24/7 also pacified the East Coast transplants who consistently complained that they could never find a place to eat after midnight in the city of Los Angeles. There are trains, planes and buses that leave Los Angeles every day and don’t let the door hit you is what I would say to them.

Today the Roybark family still owns and operates 17 Norms Coffee Shops in Southern California . So Long Norms Coffee Shop in the SGV and thanks for 38 years of late night dining, even though I only patronized this location once or twice in my life.

Road Trip: Seattle, Washington

Blind Date Meeting, Seattle Washington 1962

A man waits in frustration for his blind date from “Seattle Singles” to arrive. “Meet me in front of that tall space age looking structure” are his instructions to her. They never find each other that day and soul mates are forever lost. Years later this same man would create a place where singles could casually meet, drink coffee, and determine if they actually like each other enough for a second date….and Starbucks was born. In the 1990s Starbucks reproduced like rabbits here in Southern California, until the recession of 2007 forced them to use birth control and put up some stores for adoption.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone from El Niño Angeleno.