Sunrise Over Sunset

Dipping into the LA Public Library’s digital archives again I came upon this pretty amazing image snapped from atop Hill Street near the Fort Moore Memorial. In the foreground is the intersection of Sunset Boulevard (now Cesar E Chavez Boulevard) and Broadway. And through the haze in the distance you can also see General Hospital …

IX/XI

Nine years ago today… Here at the Holiday Inn parking lot in Woodland Hills, Calif., on this Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 11, 2001, I am surrounded by all sorts of people: fat, thin, black, white, men, women, young, old. Tattoos stand next to buttondowns who stand next to piercings who stand next to T-shirts who stand …

Missed It By Thaaaaaat Much

Being a native angeleno who cherishes connections to my city’s history (in part because so much of my personal historical landmarks have been destroyed), I take a special geekish pride not just in our 104-year-old house, but also that I live within the original city limits as it was incorporated in 1850. With that love …

Cookin’ With Gas

Above is our beloved mid-1950s O’Keefe & Merritt stove that I’ve gotten so enamored with in since the oven’s valve failed and we had the fine folks at Antique Stove Heaven come out to make repairs last week — which included fixing the range’s “Grillevator” broiler that has not functioned for at least the 10 …

Finding Home

An offshoot/evolution of my Watts Happening rides has been my discovery/inclusion of the location of Wrigley Field and the history of the city’s true native baseball team: The Los Angeles Angels. I’ve become so enchanted with the club from an historical perspective as one of the most successful Pacific Coast League (PCL) franchises (who also …

The Two Towers

• The towers on the left, visited this past weekend, put the spire in inspire. Whereas I’ve long put the dis in disdain whenever regarding the tower on the right, visited late Monday afternoon — in surprise at how almost beautiful it looked illuminated in the last rays of that day’s sun. Both are markedly …

Angel’s Night Flight

(click for the bigger picture) With the world’s shortest railway’s 33% grade and its twin cars Olivet and Sinai shaped accordingly, I’ve always thought of it more as an Angle’s Flight than an Angel’s, but that’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is that starting this past Monday the funicular returned to service after a 9-year absence, and …