FOGSHADOWS!

Click on picture to crumulently embiggen.

Being a city that faces a western sea, let's face it, Los Angeles has some pretty kick-ass sunsets, something those (L)East Coast people don't have a chance to see.

As for the morning, The Militant is not really an early morning person, so the dawn is a rare event for him. But Mr. Sun can put on an entrance show round These Here Parts. The Militant was in Downtown Los Angeles this morning, driving through the thick fog, when he couldn't help but notice the Sun making its presence in the eastern sky, apparently burning a hole through the fog and casting unique shadows in the DTLA skyline. Like WHOA!!! The Militant had to pull over and check it out for himself!


He parked on Wilshire (hey, it's Sunday, free parking...) and walked around to Beaudry Avenue to take a look at the skyline from across the 110. It turns out he wasn't the only one taking pictures (pictured left).

A rare and awesome sight indeed! If this thick fog keeps up, The Militant may or may not wake up earlier to catch this wonderful a.m. phenomenon!


Here's some more pics, since it did happen:

The 53-story Figueroa at Wilshire building in fogshadows! (Click to enlarge)

The 52-story City National Bank building looks kinda glorious this Sunday morning. TESTIFY, BROTHAH! (Click to  ginormify)

CNB's twin. the Paul Hastings (gotta be in italics!) building bathes in the light. (Click and make big)

The 45-story KPMG (no, not a TV or radio station) tower casts a fogshadow. (Click!)

Up on Bunker Hill, the Grand Avenue Quartet (Wells Fargo Plaza, One California Plaza, Two California Plaza and the KPMG Tower) play a symphony of shadows and light in the fog. (Click to supersize)

Long Beach Week: Seven LB Buildings You Should Know About

This week, the Militant Angeleno will be featuring the town 20 miles to the south, for no other reason than because he feels like it. Known for a big boat, an aquarium, Snoop Dogg and the harbor, it also has many other unique qualities to it and its own history. The Militant's Long Beach Week will by no means be comprehensive, and you probably won't be some Longbeachologist by next week, but living basically in the shadow of Los Angeles for its entire history, its time to at least give Long Beach some props. So to The 562, this one's for you.

The Militant has spent an unspecified number of days conducting Militant research in The LBC, and will also pay some additional visits this week, all for you, the reader, for the sole purpose of militant knowledge. So let's start with some landmark structures. Here's seven buildings you should be familiar with in Strong Beach:

1. World Trade Center (1989)

Long Beach's tallest building, located at the far west end of the city's financial district may not have the legendary status of its deceased New Yorker cousins, but it is part of the same family. Speaking of its famous relative, the 30-story building was designed to visually resemble twin towers when viewed from an angle, with the reflective vertical glass column acting as the space between.

True to its era, it more closely resembles its taller local relatives in Downtown Los Angeles and in Century City, with its glass skin elements and its 45-degree axis off the street grid.


2. International Tower (1967)
Downtown condos might be a relatively new phenomenon in Los Angeles, but Long Beach, perhaps the sole So Cal city to boast an oceanfront skyline, has been rocking condos for decades. Prior to the LBC WTC, this was the tallest building in town.

The tower's name, whether intentionally or coincidentally, coincides with Long Beach's official motto: "The International City."

The cylindrical structure, a familiar sight during the annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, was designed by the late prestressed concrete pioneer T.Y. Lin, who also designed SF's Moscone Convention Center.

3. Villa Riviera (1929)

LB's most visual historic structure has quite a history of its own. When built, the 17-story French/Tudor Gothic building was the second-tallest building in Southern California, after Los Angeles City Hall. It was the most well-known survivor of the 6.4-magnitude 1933 Long Beach Earthquake, the aftermath of which which created earthquake codes in Southern California.

Movie star Norma Talmadge once owned the building in the 1930s, and lived in its penthouse.

The apartment building also served as living quarters for visiting U.S. Navy officers during World War II, which used the tower at the top of the building as a lookout for enemy ships.

In 1952, Villa Riviera was the venue for the first-ever Miss Universe pageant.

In 1991 it joined its neighbors and went condo. At over 80 years old, it still holds residences today.

4. Farmers & Merchants Bank Building (1923)
This 10-story building is historically significant in Long Beach as the first skyscraper in the city. Built in an Italian Renaissance style with Greek and Roman elements, it represented its tenant institution well as a major catalyst in the economic growth of the city of Long Beach.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, famed "Pure Rock" station KNAC 105.5 broadcast from the top floor of the Farmers & Merchants building.

The 104-year old bank, not affiliated with the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Los Angeles, still operates today, with branches around Long Beach, South Bay and Orange County.

5. Walter Pyramid (1994)
On the more modern side, this 5,000-seat indoor sports venue, on the campus of California State University, Long Beach, is the home to the school's 49ers basketball and volleyball programs.

The Walter Pyramid, one of only three "mathematically true" pyramid buildings in the United States (The Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas and Memphis' Pyramid Arena being the other two).

Originally known as the Long Beach Pyramid, the building changed its name thanks to Dr. Mike and Arline Walter, who donated $2.1 million to the school.

6. Long Beach Cruise Terminal (a.k.a. The Dome Formerly Known To Have Housed The Spruce Goose) (1983)
Believe it or not, Long Beach is home of the world's largest existing geodesic dome. This structure, located next door to some famous boat in Long Beach Harbor, was built in 1983 to house Howard Hughes' ginormous Spruce Goose airplane, which was built here in Los Angeles and flew in LB harbor, albeit briefly, on November 2, 1947. The dome's designer, Don Richter, was an associate of R. Buckminster Fuller, the main jefe when it came to geodesic domes.

After a proposal to build a maritime-based Disney theme park on the site fell through, LB let loose the Spruce Goose in 1992, and it now resides in the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. The dome is currently used as an oversized Carnival cruise ship terminal.


7. Occidental Oil Islands (1964)

Aside from the harbor, oil was the primary economic generator in the Long Beach area in the 20th century, with many places in the LBC and neighboring Signal Hill still sporting oil pumps. Underneath the Long Beach and Los Angeles harbors lie the Wilmington Oil Field, and in the eastern portion of it, four man-made islands, decorated with palm trees and towers make it appear from a distance as some sort of resort (they were designed by the same Walt Disney Imagineers who designed Tomorrowland), but all of them actually house some pretty nasty-looking oil drilling infrastructure.

Built in 1964, the islands were named after late NASA astronauts: Grissom, White, Chafee and Freeman -- the first three dedicated to those who perished during the ill-fated Apollo 1 mission, the latter who died in a training flight.

The oil islands, originally established by Texaco, Humble, Union, Mobil and Shell oil companies are currently operated by Occidental Petroleum.

A 'Grand' Ol' View

A few weeks ago, the Militant bitched about a street in the Westlake district called "Grand View Avenue" and how it didn't really have much of a grand view, especially backinthaday.

Well, after exploring Downtown Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, he came upon one such view. Now, normally the Militant isn't fond of much things car culture-related, but after ascending the elevator to the roof of the 14-story Grand Avenue Garage on Venice and Grand, he found it (pictured above).

Now take a look at that - the Downtown Los Angeles skyline, flanked by its newest skyscraper on the left, the 54-story Ritz-Carlton Tower (completed last year), and one of its oldest skyscrapers on the right - the 32-story AT&T Center, built 1965. And in the background? The glorious San Gabriel Mountains, with Mt. Wilson's promontory looming above. And to the right (out of the view of the picture), the snowcapped Mt. Baldy.

The parking garage is easily accessible; there's an entrance off of Venice Blvd, and the escalator bank is right there towards the north end of the building. Just punch "RF" and you're there in a few seconds!

You also get a grand view of the Westside, the Eastside (the real one) and the South Bay. The Santa Monica Freeway runs right below you on the south side, and a couple blocks past it, the Metro Blue Line looks like a model train on Washington Blvd.

On this day there was nary a car parked on the rooftop. But right at the middle of the rooftop, there is a helicopter pad, built just two years ago, serving both bougie corporate execs (thought gotta love 'em for avoiding traffic, lol) and emergencies at the nearby California Hospital.

When The Militant was snapping pics of the skyline, another Angeleno - perhaps almost as militant - came up on the stairwell for the same purpose - to take photos of the skyline. He pointed his iPhone northward and also showed The Militant some of his other Los Angeles skyline photos - one taken from Boyle Heights, another from above the Hollywood Sign on Mt. Lee. The Militant pointed out to the other militantly-inclined Angeleno that a lot can be seen from up here, including the LAX control tower, just over the Baldwin Hills due south. The two Angelenos happily shot photos of the view from up there, at least until the parking structure's security guard politely told them to leave (No doubt set up by some of the Militant's enemies). There was no arrest, no inspection, no questions, no confiscation - the guard just escorted The Militant and the other skyline photo enthusiast to the ground floor. The other picture taker just set off back to his workplace at the California Hospital and the Militant returned to his Compound. Yes, being a Militant means living on the edge, but hey.

You can visit the Grand Avenue Garage yourself; maybe they won't hassle you if you actually parked there. But even if you just walked in, just be discreet! Will The Militant return? Of course he will! He's waiting for the next Clear-Day-After-A-Big-Winter-Rainstorm for summa dat snowcapped mountain background action!

Until then, Happy Militant Skyline Picturetaking!

A look towards Hollywood.

P,M. rush hour traffic and The Westside (synonymous?).

Towards The Eastside.

What a Metro Rapid Bus looks like from above.

The other militant Angeleno takes a pic on his iPhone while The Militant gets a view towards the southeast.

Puttin' On The Ritz

The Militant once heard in a song the line, "A skyscraper hasn't reached maturity until it has the ability to shine at night."

That line couldn't have been more true driving back to the Compound on Tuesday night via the eastbound 10 when it beckoned him to come closer.

The sight was of the awesome glowing outlines of the 54-story Ritz-Carlton Hotel building (heretofore referred to by the Militant as "The Ritz" (no not that one, nor that one either), now the 10th tallest building in Los Angeles, and the tallest non-office building in town.

As the Militant swept through the curving interchange from the 10 east to the 110 north, the glowing white LED outlines of each of the building's four curving corners seemed to vary in luminosity depending on the viewer's position, and at times, one corner would "vanish" from a certain angle. Furthermore, because of an optical illusion from the building's glass skin, when three lighted corners are visible, the "hidden" fourth corner seems to appear faintly in its expected position, as if the building were a transparent figure.

Like whoa (The Militant learned, upon closer inspection that the lighting effect is achieved through strategically-angled LED lights and a parallel column outfitted with reflectors).

The Militant, admittedly a building and wannabe architecture geek of sorts, hasn't been this excited over the first lighting of a building in Downtown Los Angeles since the 73-story Library Tower (now the USBank Tower) made its debut nocturnal illumination on the night of July 3, 1989 (yes, the Militant remembers these sorts of things).

It's no wonder since The Ritz is the first skyscraper to be built in Los Angeles in nearly two decades, also representing not just a continuing southward shift of the Downtown skyline along the Figueroa Corridor, but signifying the shift from highrise commercial office space to residential (the upper half of the tower are residential condos) and hotel use. In fact, it's not just one hotel but two: From the fourth floor to the 21st, the building houses 879 rooms of the newly-opened J.W. Marriott Los Angeles LA LIVE (a.k.a. the expensive hotel). From floors 22 to 26, it's 123 rooms of The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles (a.k.a. the really expensive hotel), with a combined 1,001 hotel rooms.

For those of you who have been following the nearby area for the past 20 years, the hotel is a really big deal with regard to the nearby Los Angeles Convention Center. Unlike its nearby competitors in Anaheim (popular with music geeks) and San Diego (popular with comic book geeks), the Convention Center, last undergone a major expansion in 1993, has long lacked adequate hotel facilities to not only host convention guests but to provide supplementary convention space. The new Ritz/Marriott tag team changes the game at long last.

For us locals, the hotels may or may not mean much to you, unless you plan to have your wedding reception/high school reunion/overtly lavish quinceañera booked there. But it sure looks purty. Designed by the architectural firm Gensler, The Ritz effectively widens the skyline and adds an extra 21st-century flair to our late-'80s/early '90s style-dominated Downtown towers. And even during the day, the building's glass skin panels form a complex pattern corresponding to the various uses of the building's parts (Gensler even employed a computer-generated design to achieve this).

Most of all (and the Militant has heard all the different sorts of criticisms lobbied at LA LIVE), you can't deny that the synergy of the hotel, the new Regal Cinemas LA Live Stadium 14, the Nokia Theatre, The Staples Center and the amenities of LA LIVE itself, sort of signal the fact that Something Big Is Happening Downtown, even if it's not exactly the organic street-fronting facades us new urbanism types salivate over. But who's to say that the surrounding streets can't be that, and they already are. Getting off at the 9th Street exit from the 110 north already almost feels like exiting the 80 or the 101 in Downtown S.F. It's part of the energy that Downtown needs. It's not everything of course, but it's all interconnected. It's starting to happen folks.