Happy 90th Birthday To The Vista Theatre!

The Vista Theatre, then and now: 90 years from Baby Peggy to Sandra Bullock.

Today is the 90th birthday of everybody's favorite old-school theatre - The Vista Theatre, which opened on October 9, 1923 and showed the silent film (well, they were all silent back in the day), Tips (which was filmed locally at the Ambassador Hotel), starring child actress Baby Peggy (who is still alive today at 94). Back then, the theatre was called Bard's East Hollywood Playhouse, one of a chain of local theaters owned by Lou Bard, who also operated a number of theatres in Downtown Los Angeles (The College Theatre, the 8th Street Theatre and the Olympic Theatre). If you look above the marquee in the ornate center window, you can see the letter "B" monogrammed at the top. The "B" stands for "Bard's" (And speaking of "B," B-movie director Ed Wood once had his office behind that window).

Even before it opened, The Vista was literally sitting on Hollywood history: Just across the street was D.W. Griffith's Fine Arts Studio, which stood from 1914 to the early 1960s as a Columbia Pictures facility before being burned down in a fire (the lot is now the Vons Hollywood supermarket). The block where The Vista now stands was the ginormous Babylonian movie set for the 1916 film Intolerance. As you may or may not know, the Babylonian movie set was the architectural inspiration for the Hollywood and Highland shopping center, just 3 miles down the street. The set was torn down in 1919, the property sold and subivided and The Vista was built on the corner of Sunset and Hillhurst. And Hollywood. And Virgil. And Sunset Drive.

In the early 1920s, the discovery of King Tut's treasures in Egypt caused Egyptomania to flood American popular culture. Among them was the construction of Graumann's Egyptian Theatre (now the home of American Cinematheque). Yes, people Walked Like An Egyptian years before The Bangles were even born!

The Vista was no exception. Though the facade was Spanish Revival in design, the interior had a decidedly Egyptian theme. Word to your mummy.

The monogrammed "B" atop the center window above the marquee stands for "Bard" - the original name and owner of the Vista Theatre. 

Aside from silent films, the 838-seat capacity theatre also lived up to its Playhouse name by hosting Vaudeville performances (totally old school).

Over the years, cinema evolved into various forms from the single-screen, architecturally ornate style of cinema venue form the early days of movies. Sound was introduced, screens got bigger, theatres got larger, screens got even bigger, multiplexes emerged, sound GOT REALLY LOUDER, movies went digital, they went 3-D, and screens got even more ginormous.

But The Vista held on to its old-school, single screen flavor. After a period in the 1960s-1980s The Vista was more (in)famous for ghetto second- and third- run screenings (Though for a time it was popular in '80s-era hipsterness as the Friday night midnight screening venue for The Rocky Horror Picture Show). In 1993 it was purchased by Five Star Theatres (now Vintage Cinemas) who gave it a major restoration from 1997 to 2000. Today it shows first-run pictures (like Gravity starring Sandra Bullock), giving moviegoers an old-school option from the multiplexed-3D-THX-really nasty overpriced popcorn experience of modern cinema.

The theatre isn't doing any 90th-anniversary events, but do stop by to give this old classic a b-day greeting. Maybe in its big Centennial in 2023, we can be treated to a screening of Intolerance and Tips (hopefully Baby Peggy will still be around then) for old time's sake.

Screen & Green: Outdoor 'L.A.' Movies At Barnsdall Park

Yeah, the Militant has been blogging about public space quite a lot this week. But hey!

Looking for something to do tonight? Something that doesn't cost too much? Head over to the public space atop Olive Hill known as Barnsdall (Please don't pronounce it "Barnsdale" but "Barns-Doll") Art Park by Hollywood and Vermont before 7:30 p.m. for the third of their Outdoor 'L.A.' Movies series this month, where they screen four films from the past few decades that are set in, and feature the architecture and landscape of Los Angeles.

The Militant was there on the nocturnal outdoor cinema series' first night, coincidentally on Los Angeles' birthday on September 4, and saw 2009's 500 Days of Summer, a film that was shockingly similar to the Militant's life in unspecified ways...But he digresses. It was the perfect climate and vibe up there on the west lawn of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, attended by some 300-plus people. Yeah, there's a few hipsters there (It's just up the hill from Los Feliz Village after all), but the majority are more civilized, educated type folk. Best of all, the move starts right after the sun goes down, and the colorful glow of Hollywood Blvd can easily be seen to the west - the perfect backdrop.

Tonight, they're screening 1997's L.A. Confidential, the James Ellroy-penned crime drama set in the early 1950s starring a couple of Australian actors playing LAPD officers. Crikey!

The movie ain't free, but the $10 admission goes to the Barnsdall Art Park Foundation and their programs.

You're free to bring your own picnic a la Hollywood Bowl, or there's about three or four food trucks parked in the lot just north of the Hollyhock House. Parking is crazy since you know everyone else is gonna drive there, but take the (M) Red Line to the Vermont/Sunset station and walk up Barnsdall Avenue to the park entrance stairs, or just bike up there like the Militant did!

Missed tonight's film? Come check it next Saturday for the final screening of the series with 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Go Tell It On The Mountain: The Militant's Mt. Hollywood Christmas Hike

First off, the Militant wishes you all a very Militant Christmas! There's nothing like Christmas in Los Angeles; the sky is clear, the air is clean, traffic is flowing and most transplants are out of town! It's rare days like this when the true Angelenos can have the City all to themselves!

The Militant has a holiday tradition of climbing Mt. Hollywood (and by meaning "holiday," it's not just the multireligious/multicultural confluence of feast days around year's end; the Militant has done this on other legal holidays, such as the 4th of July and New Year's Day). The peak is the highest publicly-accessible point in Central Los Angeles, roughly 600 feet higher than our USBank Tower and about the same height as Shanghai's World Financial Center (the world's 3rd tallest building).

The Militant decided to take a Christmas Day sunset hike up Mt. Hollywood, taking the drive up, up, up and up Vermont, parking in the Griffith Observatory parking lot (since the domes were closed today, everyone was there for the view). Within a few yards, he entered the Charlie Turner Trailhead for the hike up the mountain.

For those of you on street level, Mt. Hollywood's peak looks like an easy climb. But lurking behind the Berlin Forest (named after Los Angeles' Sister City 5,795 miles to the east; pictured right), is a winding, 1.5-mile trail that takes from 40 to 90 minutes to traverse, depending on your pace.

The Militant wasn't alone, as dozens of other Angelenos of all ages decided to make this their own Holiday tradition, some accompanied by their own canine companions.

As the Militant ascended, the sun descended, offering a free show for many who paused to watch the dusk (pictured left). Too bad the marine layer in the horizon muted the sunset in the distance somewhat, marring what could have been a clean orange disc lowering itself over the Pacific. But still a decent sunset nonetheless.

Almost halfway through, the Militant found a dirt ravine, of which he could possibly circumvent the half-mile of path towards the west slope of the mountain. So he did a little rock climbing.

Okay, it was kind of embarrassing, the Militant forgot to wear his boots and was wearing his sneaks at the time - which is fine for the trail path, but lacked enough tread for his little climb. So he made the 100-foot ascent making careful steps, getting his hands dirty, grabbing onto bushes and roots, and improvising stakes out of tree branches. But he made it, without succumbing to gravity and taking a shameful tumble.

Halfway up his shortcut climb, the Militant was reminded of the 2007 conflagration that charred this very hillside. But the natural growth within the past two years made it not-so-obvious; a lone burnt tree trunk (pictured right) became one of the few visible monuments of the brushfire.

The final 1/3rd of the hike presents one with the proverbial fork-in-the road: take the eastern path and you get up to the peak faster, or take the more lengthy western route and you enjoy the simultaneous view of Hollywood, the Westside, Mt. Lee and the Hollywood Sign and the San Fernando Valley.

Since it was already past dusk, the Militant wanted to just get the heck up there.

Walking along the eastern flank of the mount, the Militant found a nice view of the San Gabriels in the distance, Glendale down below and the DWP Holiday Light Festival - appearing as a glowing purple line from hundreds of feet up (pictured left).

Finally, he sees it - a sloping plain of bare dirt, bearing recent erosion channels from the recent rainstorms, and a small promontory with a few picnic tables, wooden railing and an elevation marker, indicating its 1,619 feet height above sea level.

It was already night, with only the faint orange glowing remnant of daylight looming towards the west. Before the Militant lay some 26 miles urban expanse. It was a perfect view for Christmas. Why settle for a light display made up of mere hundreds of lights when you can gawk at millions? What else could a Militant Angeleno do up there but pause, reflect, enjoy...and snap some pictures?

Aside from the muffled rumble of the city below, it was a perfectly "Silent Night" up there, but for the sound of the crisp, cold wind roaring occasionally.

It's a unique place in Los Angeles - where else can you look down on the Downtown skyline? Where else can you see Hollywood and Ventura boulevards from the same view?

There were a few people up there: A Korean couple pointing down towards Koreatown, a young boy using his dad's iPhone letting his mom know they've made it up the peak, a young woman on a solo hike, taking her own time to reflect about life from above the din of the City.

Though this is perhaps the fourth or fifth time for the Militant to ascend Mt. Hollywood, the wonders of the view never cease. He could stay up there forever if he could (of course, his blog entries wouldn't be as interesting...)

Then it was time to leave.

Though it was dark, the gridded glow of city lights below and the half moon shining above were enough illumination for the Militant. And what a juxtaposition of man-made and the natural: The Militant was treated to the sounds of a solitary owl, coyotes howling in the distance and the constant chorus of crickets.

It was only about 6 p.m., but the shade of night kept most people away. On his way down, only one ascending hiker passed the Militant. After the Militant passed the location of his 100-foot shortcut climb, he opted to just stick to the path on the way down. In retrospect, he probably didn't really shave off that much time. But hey, it was all about the experience, the experience...

After crossing through the wooded corridor that was the Berlin Forest, the Militant made it back to the Observatory parking lot, and back to the creature comforts of his car.

Once he was back on Vermont near Hollywood, the Militant reflected on being "back up there" and realizing he was now "down here." It helps to see the bigger picture. Your world can only be so small.

Since Los Angeles doesn't have an observation deck on it's highest structure, this is probably the equivalent. And best of all, it's free. And maybe it's the perfect allegory for Los Angeles life: Where in other cities one can take a quick, but pricey elevator ride to the grand view, it takes a little time, patience and work to get up to our promontory. No one's entitled to an easy break.

But when you do get there, the reward is breathtakingly priceless.

The Real Dodgertown: Russell Martin

Moving along on the Militant's "The Real Dodgertown" series, this week he highlights Dodger catcher Russell Martin:
Our Afro-Franco-Canadian behind-the-plate-kinda guy was born in suburban Toronto and raised in Paris, France and suburban Montreal, having attended the same high school as some dude named Gagné (no, not that one).

Often pointed out for his resemblance to Turtle from the HBO series Entourage, Martin was instantly promoted to the big leagues after then-catcher Dioner Navarro suffered an owie early in the 2006 season. Since then, Martin became a two-time All-Star (2007, 2008) and also earned Golden Glove and Silver Slugger accolades in 2007.

This season, his uniform bears the name "J. MARTIN" which led fans to scratch their heads and either wonder "WTF?" or assume he changed his first name to "Jussell" or is trying to do some J. Crew kinda thang. But he was only trying to give props to the surname of his mother, Suzanne Jeanson (pronounced "Johnson" or "Jenson," depending on how you parlez-vous français).

The Militant traveled to Los Feliz (which is incorrectly referred to as "The Eastside") to snap the photo of "Russell Ave.," which was taken at its intersection with Vermont Avenue. Nearby is the infamous late-night chow stop House of Pies, which serves up Canadian maple syrup in its pancakes and waffles.

The "Martin St." sign was taken in El Sereno (which is actually in The Eastside), where it crosses Budau Ave. - a name which is French in origin.

East Is East: The 'East of Eden' Art Exhibition At Barnsdall Park

The Militant isn't an art scenester, but he does appreciate a good exhibit when he sees one. When one of his operatives told him to check out this weekend's exhibition at Barnsdall (don't pronounce it "Barnsdale") Art Park's Municipal Gallery, a multi-gallery show entitled East of Eden, he decided to do some Militant research. So off to the website he went.

And there went the description:

"East of Eden will focus on contributions of Los Angeles galleries, the cultures from which they draw inspiration and the eastside of L.A. as an important source for contemporary art."

Uh-oh. The "E" word.

Then he did further research on the galleries represented: places like La Luz de Jesus in Los Feliz, Black Maria in Atwater Village, Ghetto Gloss in Silver Lake, Bert Green Fine Art (now why does that name sound awfully familiar? Hmmmm.... ) in Downtown...

Oh you know where this is heading!

But the Militant thought that raising a ruckus at this event over "The 'E' Word" would be self-defeating. Especially since ir would be that much easier to unmask the Militant. Bleah...

But the Militant went anyway, trying to apprehend the situation with an open mind...

...Disregarding the incessantly-annoying "'E' Word," the bigger question was...does this art represent contemporary Angeleno art? Or is it just a smattering of ironic hispter fodder?

The Militant is no art critic, nor does he claim to possess an art critic's vocabulary, but in short, the art was very representative of contemporary Los Angeles art. There were pieces that had obvious iconography or images like palm trees, coastal Malibu seascapes, or a painting of a trio of cholas hanging out, but even outside of that, on a more visceral level, there was an attitude that the Militant didn't have to find a challenge to identify with.

The biggest complaint was the duration of the exhibit. It opened on Friday and by the time most of you read this, it had already closed. Which is unusually for Barnsdall exhibits, which usually last a good three months.

The Militant hopes they do this again. He understands their intention is to promote the (cough, gag, ack) Not-Really-The-Eastside art scene as a reaction to the Westside arts "establishment." But Westsidecentrism is soooo late 20th century. Why not drop the "Eastside" thing, these artists can basically stake claim on the whole City now, Westsiders be damned.

Oh yeah, one more thing before this post closes. One of the pieces gave the Militant a "giant" smile:

Word.

Happy LAbor Day: A Few Suggestions

With MemDay the start of summer and July 4 as its midpoint, Labor Day ushers in the symbolic end of summer (boooo!), though the actual end of summer won't come for another three weeks (hoooray!!!). And for the Militant, who really wants the summer to last fo'evah, the absolute end of summer won't ccme until he sets his clock back an hour in the last week of October. Being Southern California, it might as well be summer, since we'd likely have a major heat wave that weekend.

So what to do on your Labor Day Monday? The Militant offers a few things to do:

6 a.m. - 2 p.m.: Pobladores History Walk, San Gabriel Mission - There are three kinds of people who do the annual 9-mile Pobladores History Walk, which reenacts the founding of Los Angeles: 1) Elected officials who like to show how hardcore they are, even though they don't have the cojones to even finish the damn thing; 2) Living descendants of the Pobladores and 3) Truly hardcore Angelenos/Southern Californians who wish to profess their unconditional love for this place. Since the Militant's name hasn't appeared on any ballots (at least none that you've heard of...), and his parents immigrated here in the 1960s, category 3 is the obvious answer (um, as if you weren't aware of that already).

There is nothing like retracing the steps of our City's founders by getting up early and walking west, in the heat, eventually getting blisters on your feet and cramps in your leg, but damnit, it's worth it. Plus you'll get to hobnob with categories 1 and 2, and meet others from category 3.

The Militant did the walk last year and had a blast. And not to worry, you get hooked up with free water and free food at the end when you reach El Pueblo State Historic Park, next to Olvera Street. He may or may not do it again this year. But you definitely may. San Gabriel Mission is located 428 S. Mission Drive, though the walk's start is at the intersection of Mission and Junipero Serra drives. The walk begins at 6:30 a.m.

11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.: Angel City Jazz Festival, Barnsdall Art Park - Down for some music in your Labor Day? The Angel City Jazz Festival, at Barnsdall Art Park, sponsored by local beermakers Angel City Brewing, features a day of music, art, food and brews, of course, in one of Los Angeles' most underrated (and underutilized) public spaces. Performances are both indoors in the Barnsdall Gallery Theater and in an outdoor stage.

Caveat: The festival ain't free (the Militant only found this out like right now). It's $25 presale, $35 at the door (yet there's no actual door there, it's outdoors after all). Tickets can be purchased online here.

The Militant may or may not be at one or both of these events. Or maybe he'll be spending time with a few operatives at an unspecified local beach with its own municipal pier, enjoying himself some seafood and sun on the sand.

Of Pigeons and Pedestrians

The Militant was riding his bike along The Boulevard on Saturday afternoon when he turned around, looked and exclaimed:

"OMG! PIGEON ISLAND!!!1"

Of course, if this were an average city blog entry, it would just be left at that, a mere curiosity meant to entertain, and perhaps to implicitly get people to comment, with the response by Anonymous #4 revealing what the real deal is.

But naw, the Militant likes to get to the bottom of the story, so here it is.

The "pigeon island" on the triangle-like median bordered by Hollywood Blvd and Vermont and Prospect avenues (surprise, surprise, it was a well-patronized Red Car stop back in the day) located on the mutual cusps of Los Feliz and East Hollywood is a long-neglected public space currently being renovated as part of a streetscape project of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, dubbed the Barnsdall Park Transit Oriented District.

After breaking ground this past Spring, the project (finished rendering pictured left) is designed to not only offer an enhanced public space for pedestrians in the area, but to improve existing bus and taxi amenities there, establish a local information center for nearby sights and attractions and visually tie the space to nearby Barnsdall Art Park, which, for those of you who don't know, lurks up on the hill...behind the Rite Aid.

The $800,000 project is expected to be complete by early 2009. Until then, those pigeons seem to be having a dandy of a time hanging out there.

Overlooked Los Angeles: The Franklin Hills Public Stairways

While doing hours upon hours of intense Militant research, the Militant stumbled on a page (well, a .pdf, really) about something called the Franklin Hills Public Stairways.

According to the page, the 14 publicly-accessible concrete stairways, nestled among the winding roads in the hills between Los Feliz and Silver Lake, were built in the mid-1920s "as a shortcut to get to the trolley lines."

You know the Militant loves Los Angeles history, especially transportation history, but as far as his extensive Militant knowledge of the trolleys of old...there were no such lines running through or even adjacent to the Franklin Hills! None of the Red Car lines did, and neither did any of the Yellow Car routes, as those maps indicate. Just goes to show that Angelenos hold a special place in their hearts for the old trolleys, even if their minds don't really recall them all that well.

Regardless of mistaken, though well-intended, historical recollection, the Militant wanted to check them out for himself, so he rode his trusty two-wheeled chariot down Hyperion Avenue and up (okay, he walked, it was rather steep) a little backstreet called Udell Court. There, amidst quaint early 20th-century era two-story houses, he found one of the steps, in its longest continuous stretch (pictured above).

The rest of it was not so much a bike ride, but rather a bike haul, as the Militant had to carry the damn thing up the steps. But hey, the Militant will do anything for a Militant adventure!

As he ascended, he discovered that some of these 1920s-era steps get very little use in the early 21st century, as some of them were covered in fallen leaves and cast-off tree bark. And those that do use them probably only use them to walk their dogs, as random dog droppings can be found on the steps. But looking back, the Militant treated himself to an awe-inspiring view of the hils of western Silver Lake, accented by the sight of the moon and the swirling reddish-colored stratus clouds of the dusk hour.

Forging ahead, the Militant found that the stairway gave way to a flat paved path (pictured left), albeit covered by leaves, weeds and other overgrown flora. Welcome to the jungle. Aside from cautiously avoiding physical contact with some of the plants (ya never know if it's posionous or not...), the Militant was intensely fascinated with the fact that he's walking through a part of town that he'd passed by so many times, yet never actually set foot upon.

Up another incline, carrying the bike and getting a workout in itself, the Militant finally approached the top, at Mayview Drive, crossing paths with local joggers/walkers who preferred to stick to the streets and sidewalks. But hey, navigating the road less traveled is what the Militant is all about, right?

With the roads still steep, the Militant walked his bike up the winding, inclined street. But looking back, he discovered himself surrounded by red-roofed Mediterranean-style homes and killer views of Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire and Downtown Los Angeles! (pictured right) The only thing towering above was the sky, the moon, or the occasional palm tree.

The Militant, consulting his .pdf printout, was looking for the set of steps called "Prospect Walk," which leads one to the eponymous street. But as always, the journey's much more interesting than the destination: The roads started to level off, and even descend, and the Militant found himself a fun coast downhill which made schlepping the damn bike up all those steps totally worth it.

Looking at the nearest street sign, he found it to read, "Franklin Avenue" (no, not that one) , followed it and soon saw the familiar sight of the Shakespeare Bridge -- which, as you all know by now, was built to cross the old Sacatela Creek. After that, he rode off into the sunset, returning to his compound...

The Militant did learn a few things during his urban adventure...

• Franklin Hills - another hidden gem of Los Angeles.
• The Militant wouldn't mind relocating his compound there...if it weren't so damn transit unfriendly.
• Dusk is when lots of cute ladies (who may not necessarily be MILFs) walk their dogs round here.
• Next time he visits the area with his bike, being male, young(ish) and of a darker complexion than most of the locals in the neighborhood, he's gonna instantly feel like "the car break-in burglary suspect" (see below).
  

Morepicstime!

The Militant gives a massive shout-out to Mike, Maria and TKFKABT.

The "Radio Walk" section of the Franklin Hills Public Stairways. So spooky-looking after dark, you'd need to bring a radio with you to keep you company. Preferably a large boombox.

A notice taped to the mailbox at the top of Radio Walk warning residents about recent car break-ins...the cuprits? Young males on bikes. Though the only thing the Militant took up there was photos, he instantly felt like public enemy #1 up there after reading this (even if that "young" description is debatable). More proof that people in upscale, hilly areas simply do not like people on bicycles.

A River Ran Through It: In Search Of Sacatela Creek

A late 1920s-era photo from the LAPL Photo Database shows an aerial view of Sacatela Creek (upper-right corner) in what is now the Koreatown area. The tracks that cross it are part of the "H" Line of the Yellow Cars. The street running towards the top is 1st St; the street towards the left is Bimini Place and the street towards the bottom is 2nd St. The large building is the Bimini Baths.

It all started last week during the Wilshire Center Urf Day festival, when the Militant mentioned that the Los Angeles Eco-Village had a historical display of what their neighborhood looked like in years past. The Militant saw the same picture as above and was incredibly curious about this "Sacatale" [sic] Creek that was in the caption.

According to this 2006 LA Weekly article, Sacatela Creek ran from its source in Los Feliz's Franklin Hills south through to Koreatown. Like the Los Angeles River, it was tamed by being converted into a storm drain, and the creek bed filled in 1930. The Shakespeare Bridge on Franklin Avenue and the Myra Ave. Bridge on Sunset Blvd were originally built to cross the creek. The storm drain still carries water today.

The Militant plotted it out on da Gmapz Pudomiter here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1847852

Like Richard Dreyfus' Roy Neary character from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Militant was suddenly obsessed with finding out more on this lost part of our geology, even to the point of creating a model of the creek out of mashed potatoes (Okay, only kidding there, but that almost happened...)

But the Militant decided to do a little militant investigation and rode his bike to retrace the route of the old creek and to reveal any evidence of its existence. So here goes.

In Los Feliz, the creek began in the little valley under the Shakespeare Bridge (pictured left), built in 1926 when there was still a body of water running underneath. A storm drain opening lies right there at the end of Monon St. The creek continued south underneath where the Lycee International de Los Angeles and Prospect Studios (formerly KABC-TV's Studios) stand today. It then ran under where Myra Avenue runs, which is flanked between two inclines. The street is broken up by Thomas Starr King Middle School, which - surprise - has storm drain openings on the north and south ends of its campus.

The southern end of the school faces a continued Myra Ave., which, according to this 1929 photo, once ran uninterrupted before the school expanded. Look towards the bottom end of Myra and you'll see a little bit of the Sacatela Creek bed.

The creek then ran through today's Myra Avenue (now flanked by the Laguna and Sunset at Silver Lake condos) which runs underneath a bridge which carries Sunset Blvd. - a bridge constructed to cross over the creek (pictured right).

The diagonally-running street ends at the intersection of Hoover St. and Santa Monica Blvd. in East Hollywood. Here, a recently-constructed apartment complex stands at the corner.

Further Militant research reveals that this apartment (pictured left) is an affordable family housing complex run by a local Filipino non-profit agency that opened in 2004 and that the design of its corner structure is inspired by a typical rural Philippine bamboo hut. The name of the complex? Sacatela Village Apartments.

Yessssss!

The rest of the creek's path was difficult to discern at this point, so the Militant only had topographical clues to work from. Obviously gravitational forces make it difficult for water to travel up in elevation, so the lowest point in the area was the assumed path of the creek. With nearby Hoover St. to the east being of a higher elevation, the creek could only flow slightly west of here.

To the southwest lies Dayton Heights Elementary School, just south of Melrose Ave. The Militant doesn't know what the big deal is with all these schools along the creek's path, though perhaps it was an attractive place to put an institute of learning. The lowest point in this area is Madison Ave., which dead-ends at the 101 Freeway. And what do we see here at the end of the cul-de-sac?

Yo, it's not just a storm drain, but A BIG MUTHA OF A STORM DRAIN! And here's the best part...
The big mutha of an opening allowed the Militant to reach his Militant Cam inside and take a snap. Here, the sound of trickling water accompanied by the cool, musty scent of algae greets the curious observer.

Behold, for we have found it...Sacatela Creek.

At the other side of the freeway is a similar storm drain facility and Madison Avenue continues again, past the PATH homeless shelter and crossing Beverly Blvd. Speaking of which, the LA Weekly article also mentioned the intersection of Beverly, Silver Lake, Virgil and Temple as a former body of water. Silver Lake Blvd. was once a creek itself, and the Temple St. bridge which crosses over it is yet another reminder of a street's riparian origins.

Across Beverly, the Militant spots an orange DWP truck parked on the street and a couple crewmen climbing in and out of a manhole cover.

Going south, the creek crosses yet another school - Virgil Middle School - and at the lowpoint of 1st St. we see yet another storm drain grille. Madison Ave. dead-ends (here, pictured right, water seems to percolate out of nowhere...hmmm....) at a berm upon which stands an apartment complex, which is exactly where the visible creek is situated in the 1920s photo at the top of this post - which means the land its built on is just fill, and might not be a good place to be during a big earthquake. Just sayin'.

The water spot is most likely a remnant of Bimini Springs, upon which a large early 20th-century bath house was built and was a famous local resort spot, attracting Hollywood celebrities and the like and was served directly by a Yellow Car line. Eco-Village residents described the history of the baths, which were segregated until after World War II, but then closed down in 1950 when whites stopped coming because they didn't want to swim with teh c010r3d. Hmph.

Today, Bimini Slough Ecology Park, located next door to the Bresee Foundation's offices on Bimini Place recreates the feel of Sacatela via a man-made creek, adorned with native flora.

The creek ran south-southwest, behind the Ralphs Supermarket, the Shatto 39 Lanes bowling alley and the Islamic Center of Southern California, then running west between Wilshire and 6th St.

The constant flooding of 6th and Mariposa (pictured left, circa 1920s) was one of the reasons for turning the creek into a storm drain. Sound familiar?

Today, the 6th and Mariposa intersection is home to "DWP Distribution Station 61" and, until recently, an establishment called "Creekside Cafe."

There's been talk, from Eco-Village resident activists and even Cal Poly Pomona planning students, of digging up (known as "daylighting") Sacatela Creek as part of the the process of taking our region's topography back to da old school. Interesting concept, though the LAUSD will probably be the first to cry foul, with four school properties (to date at least...you know the land-grabbin' LAUSD!) built right through the creek's path. Maybe after the Big One, we'll talk about it. Maybe the Big One will cause the creek to daylight itself.

Nevertheless, this is an example of not only man-made history, but natural history, being torn down (in this case, encased in concrete and filled in). But knowledge and awareness of history nevertheless enriches the Angeleno and puts both memories of the past and visions for the future into perspective. For what once was is sometimes better than what never was, and what could be will always be better than what is.

Things To Do During Limbo Week - Wednesday

Greetings, Angelenos! Hope you had a great Christmas. This is the time of the year where we're faces with two holidays within a week of each other, and we're either on a short vacation/break or forced to go to work with very little activity, much less productivity. The Militant calls it...Limbo Week!

For the rest of the week, the Militant will offer suggestions on how to bide your time, whether you have the whole week off, or whether you're forced to hold down the fort at the office. True to Militant style, the following suggestions are either free or come at very little cost (you need it since you've probably accrued additional credit card debt the past few weeks anyway).

Wednesday's Vacation Option: humor us Exhibit at Barnsdall Park's Art Gallery

Whether you got some free time on your hands, or want to entertain out-of-town guests (remember, people might have left town, but others have come back home for the Holidays), go check out an exhibition called humor us at Barnsdall Art Park. It's a multi- and mixed- media exhibit of over 100 works by twenty Asian American artists with ties to Southern California, which explore the all facets and interpretations of humor, while exploring issues of cultural identity, race and representation. According to the exhibit's literature, "Often the butt of jokes or the comic relief within mainstream media - from Fu Manchu to William Hung of American Idol notoriety - Asians and Asian Americans are often stereotyped as eternal foreigners, model minorities, inscrutable, nerdy and yes, humorless."

The works consist of everything from paintings, photographs, sculpture, industrial art, videos, audio and even a large snail rollercoaster and a rock that thinks via an LED thought bubble. Interesting stuff that's very scant on the usual cliches of this kind of art, and most of all the Militant doesn't know any of the artists personally, which means that it the exhibit won't suck.

humor us is free and runs until December 30.

humor us
Municipal Art Gallery
Barnsdall Art Park
4800 Hollywood Blvd
Los Feliz/East Hollywood DMZ
Open daily, 12 noon-5 p.m.


Wednesday's At-Work Option: Check Out the UnHipLA Blog

Stuck at work? Workload is close to nil? Wondering why you're even there in the first place? Open your browser and check out a new blog! Thanks to a tip from one of his most trusted operatives, the Militant adds another approved guerrilla faction to his blogroll in UnHipLA, written by a SGV-based Un-Hipster who has actually been blogging for a little over a year and covers largely food, shops and events in The Other Valley. Recent entries: 90-cent pumpkin empanadas, the new Whole Foods Market in Pasadena and a little-known, but mega-affordable Taiwanese street food eatery in San Gabe. The blogger also makes a lot of allusions to biggestmenu.com, which is also the reason for the abundance of food-related topics (though it's UnHipLA is not strictly a foodie blog). It's also not strictly an SGV blog either, as some of the posts also cover events and places in Little Tokyo, Historic Filipinotown, Miracle Mile and even Hong Kong.

In some ways, it's kind of like the Militant's blog, minus the activism and militancy and plus more food and 626-related subject matter. Drop on by and tell UnHip the Militant sent ya!

UnHipLA (www.unhipla.com)

Scenes From The First Day Of Winter

The first day of Winter, 2007, Los Angeles. A day after the rain, which was swept away briskly by high winds the night before. This is the kind of day that postcard photographers live for.

The San Gabriel Mountains are in the background (with Mt. Lowe and the antenna-topped Mt. Wilson to the left and the snow-capped Mt. San Antonio (stage name: Mt. Baldy) to the right. Los Feliz and the Franklin Hills sits in the foreground. Taken from Barnsdall Art Park.

Proud of Our Routes: The Vermont Bypass Bicycle Corridor

The Militant can just hear it now: The thunderous sound of non-bicyclists (velo-disadvantaged people?) clicking to another site since the Militant wrote yet another entry about bike rides again, ho hum. Meanwhile the choir of bike rider readers read on attentively with a chorus of "Amen!"s as Rev. Militant preaches to them the (already-familiar) two-wheeled gospel.

But hey, the Militant needed to get his bike on late Wednesday night as some inclement weather the next few days is gonna make it difficult, if not messy (note to self: riding one's bike during the first day of a rainstorm is not fun, especially since road gunk splatters all over oneself and leaves a skunk-stripe trail of gunk all over one's back when the journey's done).

So enjoying the cold night air while the sky was relatively cloudless, the Militant decided to discover a new bike-friendly route through town. Though he blogged about such a thing before, he realized that it's best to spotlight one corridor at a time, and perhaps share part of his Militant observations with the readers.

This route (full detail map at: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1486983) is a 4+ mile, bike-friendly, traffic-light residential route which takes a cyclist from Los Feliz Blvd in the eponymously-named community down along Edgemont Street through East Hollywood via Heliotrope Drive and into Koreatown along New Hampshire Avenue with stoplights and 4-way stop intersections all the way until one is forced to stop for all them cars at Olympic Blvd.

So what to call this route? The Edgemont-Heliotrope-New Hampshire Bike Boulevard? Too long. The EHNH? Hunh? Well, since those three north-south streets are parallel to and not too far away from Vermont Avenue, the Militant dubs thee The Vermont Bypass Bicycle Corridor (VBBC).

Like many north-south routes, it takes you up and down the socioeconomic ladder, runs through several ethnic neighborhoods, various commercial corridors, an art park, a community college, a bike-friendly corner, an elementary school, houses of worship, theatres and art galleries, bars and nightspots, is close to four (M) subway stations and most importantly is a nice pathway to some of the best grub in town.

Feliz Navi-gable

Starting at the north end in Los Feliz, along the cedar and pine tree-lined Los Feliz boulevard, Edgemont Street snakes slightly downhill through the well-manicured lawns and Mediterranean-style houses of the nearly- rich and almost-famous. Franklin Avenue (no, not that one) crosses your path and Los Feliz Village is just four short blocks to the east, so you can get your pie on, read a book, or have some mediocre Indian or diner food, among other things in this neighborhood. Look out for those hipsters though, you might run over one, lol.

E-Ho Le!

Further down is Hollywood Blvd. and one can pedal up the hill to Barnsdall Art Park and catch a gallery exhibit or just enjoy the view of Hollywood and the Westside. Hungry? You're in the right place. This is East Hollywood after all, so some great Armenian and Thai restaurants can be found just to the west along The Boulevard.

Next is Sunset Blvd. Though the Militant promotes bike safety at all times, if, heaven forbid, you do get into an accident here, you're in the best place. Three major medical centers are nearby. The Vermont/Sunset Red Line station is just blocks away as well.

Heading down Edgemont, you're only a couple blocks from the expensive-but-tasty Square One Dining. Next is a quiet street named Lexington Avenue. Don't tell anyone, but if you head east on this road and make a left on Bates Avenue, you'll find a nice, quiet, bike-friendly path that leads you directly into the Sunset Blvd Bike Lane which takes you to Silver_Lake, Echo Park and Downtown.

At Santa Monica Blvd, you're in the heart of Little Armenia. The Zagat-rated Marouch restaurant is here, as well as some great Armenian markets and bakeries. There's also some central American restaurants and bakeries nearby as well, and the Vermont/Santa Monica (M) station, along with the legendary 24-hour El Gran Burrito are just a few blocks to the east. And if you gotta go, there's a Metro Toilet right on the corner (it might be operational now...)

Heading down Edgemont, one can head west one block and get onto Heliotrope Drive at any of the cross streets. Los Angeles City College is here, and down at the corner by Melrose Ave. is the hip and hot corner of Hel-Mel, where one can get the latest Scoop, drink a pint or eat some vegan chow, buy a bike or get one fixed. And there's tons of bike parking horseshoes on the sidewalk as well. There's also an art gallery and a live theatre nearby. And if you got invited to a quinceañera in the area, chances are it's right here...in a Ukrainian Cultural Center.

Gettin' Down in Koreatown

Past the 101, as the houses give way to denser apartment complexes and multi-family dwellings, right at Rosewood is the community garden where the Militant once wrote about his professed crack addition. Head left on Oakwood where you'll encounter a slight hill and jog right on New Hampshire. At Beverly is another subway station, plus a certain eatery that's abuzz with Filipino fast food. Biking down this corridor at around midnight, he discovered that not every business is closed this time of night (pictured left) as a towing company takes care of scofflaw automobiles for the night (and maybe not coincidentally, just minutes after taking this picture, a white Parking Enforcement car rolls by - of no concern to the Militant at the moment, of course).

South of Beverly, the street, along with others parallel to it in this section of town, is lined with towering Mexican fan palm trees. This corridor is a quiet, welcome hush just a block away from the bright lights and heavy multi-vehicular traffic of Vermont. At 1st Street is a bright yellow schoolhouse where the Militant had coffee with his congressman a few months ago. After 1st street is 2nd and 3rd street (duh), and after that is the popular 4th Street Bicycle Boulevard
(but how can a "street" be a "boulevard," the Militant asks?) which takes cyclists all the way west in a similar uninterrupted fashion to Park La Brea.

At 6th Street, lots of Korean cafes, soju bars and even an iced dessert quest stop can be found within just a few blocks. And yes, you can has frozen yogurt near here as well.

Bustling Wilshire Blvd, even at this time of night, shines bright, with the former Bullocks Wilshire building looming like a proud beacon just a few blocks east. There's a Red/Purple Line station to the next block as well as a well-publicized big-ass transit oriented development right above it. Not far is a couple of pirate-themed bars like the Viking and the Crazy Hook, and there's even a movie theater at New Hampshire and Vermont showing both mainstream American as well as Korean flicks (pictured right). Even one of the 2008 presidential hopefuls has set up his Los Angeles campaign office just a couple blocks away.

Past Wilshire, New Hampshire becomes somewhat dark and spooky, with a brief jog at San Marino Street. But the lights return once Olympic is in view and a stop sign at the intersection signals the end of the party, where cyclists are forced to stop here and either wait for traffic to pass or venture east or west along Olympic. But at least here one can try the best Dol Sot Bibimbap in town or get their 24-hour Korean food on just around the corner or find the electronics parts that Radio Shack lacks these days without going to the Valley.

Damn, this is one long post. According to the maps, this stretch of New Hampshire goes all the way down to Washington Blvd, but that'll have to wait for another Militant adventure. Must...click on..."Publish Post"...now...

Dog Day Afternoon in December

It's December now?

How time flies. Of course, this is a Southern California December and Monday's high was in the low 80s, so the Militant decided to walk his K-9 unit around the area on Monday afternoon and having been in a park-advocating mood in the past week, decided to visit one of the few parks within a 2-mile radius of his compound - Barnsdall Art Park.

Not only was this the first time he took his K-9 unit to the park, but this was the first time in a long-ass time the Militant visited the park for the specific purpose of enjoying it as a park. Sure he went there over the past few months to cover a Thai cultural festival, to try to understand the purpose and theme of the Swerve Festival and may or may nor have voted for his operatives at a recent neighborhood council election which took place there several weeks ago. But this time he just went there for no particular reason other than enjoying the park.

He took his K-9 unit on a long climb up the stairs in the park's southern entrance and even further up to the top of Olive Hill, where they went to the park's west-facing Great Lawn which afforded a killer view of the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory to the north (pictured above -- pic is a file photo taken in September - lest you notice the absence of the currently-yellow hydromulched areas in thar hills - as the Militant neglected to take along the Militant Cam this time around).

The Great Lawn, whose renovation was completed this past Summer, furnished the neighborhood-jewel and Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Hollyhock House with a drought-resistant native plants (the Militant doesn't just give the native homo sapiens a voice, but the native flora as well) and a water-saving smart irrigation system for the green grassy area.

On the lawn, the Militant's K-9 unit ended up trying to socialize with another person's bulldog mix (of the opposite sex), with the two human leash-handlers exchanging humorous and sometimes apologetic comments regarding canine behavior as their respective pawed ones growled and barked at each other. The Militant's K-9 unit isn't the most sociable dawg, so the Militant tries his best to acclimate it to (dog) society. It doesn't always work though.

The Militant even tried to calm the K-9 unit down as it continued to bark and pull on the leash as the Militant looked west, covering the almost-setting sun with his hand, and enjoying the unobstructed view of the Baldwin Hills and the silhouetted Century City-Westwood skyline. He could even see the whitish glow of the marine layer looming in the distance where the ocean would be. And the first thing going on in the Militant's mind was, "This is going in the blog."

The Militant took the K-9 unit elsewhere in the park, especially to the art park's main gallery which was sporting an exhibit which runs until the end of the month. Naturally, the Militant's first inclination would be to cover it, but not only would he worry about where to park the K-9 unit, or remind himself that he forgot to bring the Militant cam again, but the gallery was closed for the day. But the Militant shall return.

In today's 21st century urbia, our lives get too busy with responsibilities and purpose, sometimes it's worth it to take a "stop and smell the roses" kind of moment with even a familiar area institution, to see it from another perspective. Maybe that's why this city never gets dull or boring for the Militant.

CAN I HAS SUM MOR PARKZ????

The Militant is back to his community-oriented bizzizzle again, this time having attended the City of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks Citywide Community Needs Assessment workshop on Wednesday night at the City-owned Friendship Auditorium, situated at the extreme southeast corner of Griffith Park.

The purpose of the workshop, which was the first in a series of 15 currently being conducted in each of Los Angeles' city council districts, is to gauge the community's feedback regarding the current quality of facilities and programs at its system of 390 recreational sites around Los Angeles, as well as any issues regarding expansion of the park system. You just know the Militant, as well as two of his community-activist operatives, were there to make their voices heard regarding the last part.

The gathering had an attendance of at most 50 and the attendees were predominantly white and at least 50. Years old, that is (So either way, the typical reader of this blog, or any blog, for that matter, was most likely not represented there - though the one cool thing about attending meetings with a bunch of old-timers there is that the Militant's identity is in no danger of being revealed). A classic moment also happened when one of the presenters asked - in English - if anyone needed any Spanish translation. Heh heh. He did use the words "Español" and "necesita" eventually, but even by then it was fairly evident that no one there was in need of translation headsets. Later on the consultants did admit they didn't do enough outreach (the Militant only heard about this second-hand) and to their credit, it's awfully hard to get people to any sort of community meeting between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

The meeting was formatted just like nearly all community workshops the Militant has attended: A droll, monotone introduction by a city official you've never heard of, the introduction of the consulting team, the introduction of an elected city official many people have heard of (in this case, a dude the Militant has not only heard of, but even biked with - Mr. "Los Anga-les" himself, Tom LaBonge), followed by a set of PowerPoint slides (to this meeting's credit, they were kept to a necessary minimum) and finally the "Look at your nametags, there's a colored dot on it, it's time to split up into groups!" section.

So we were split up into three groups (pictured above) where we were asked about our impressions of the City's Recreation and Parks system, which parks we use, issues regarding accessibility, the possibility and need for expansion and short-term and long-term goals and priorities.

Profiles In Taxpayer Spending: This dude was just doing his job at the parks workshop, but for a community meeting attended by some 50 people where they only used one microphone to hear just a couple people speak for half of the meeting, did they really need an audio tech with enough equipment to run sound for a Rolling Stones concert?

At the Militant's group, there was much talk about Griffith Park. In fact, most of the conversation dealt with the park, though strangely enough hardly anything was mentioned regarding last May's char-broiling. The park itself encompasses more than a quarter of the City's 15,600 acres of parkland and is located right in the 4th council district where this meeting was intended.

One of the other people in the group, a Silver_Lake resident, actually said he lived in a park-rich area, being in close proximity to the Silver Lake rec center, Griffith Park, Elysian Park, Echo Park and Bellevue Rec Center, as each of those places were a quick drive for him. But one lady, an accent-intact NY transplant (though one who has probably lived in Los Angeles much longer than the Militant has been alive) who reminisced about going to Central Park as a girl, did call for the need for more parks within walking distance of families, as well as better access by transit.

The Militant agreed with her, told the group he lives in a park-deficient hood and even was the first to declare "More parks in park-poor areas!" as the City's #1 short-term priority for the Rec and Parks system. He even talked about the proposed Hollywood Freeway Central Park (which he raved about here back in his first-person days).

Even after the workshop concluded, the Militant had a conversation about methods to attain more park space, including land-swapping, especially with Caltrans, and partnerships with the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, which helped to build one of the new parks that has been featured in this here blog.

So you want more parks in Los Angeles? One Militant and his operatives can only do so much. Get your voices heard! Go to some of these workshops and demand that more parks and open space be a priority for the department and the City's budget. The workshops continue until February of next year. And if you can't make it, THE MILITANT WILL KILL YOU!

Okay, just kidding. But you can still participate by downloading this Petey Yeff file, completing it and faxing or postaling it in.

Either way, help make the decisions before others make them for you.

Swerving Away From The Action

It was a sunny, warm early autumnal Sunday, which was just fine for the Militant as he still wishes it were Summer and not Fall. Close enough.

So there was some event called the Swerve Festival going on this weekend at various locales, including Barnsdall Park, where the Militant had to attend to some covert Militant activities, totally unrelated to the festival. The Militant was never really clear what this festival was all about, but according to the website, it's described as, " a new annual festival dedicated to celebrating West Coast creative culture and its community inspired by art, film, music and action sports." Which is odd, as the Militant - a Southern California native - considers himself interested in an unspecified number of those activities, yet never found much in this festival that really interested him. He did see some sort of environmentally-oriented exhibit (pictured above), which included an ethanol-powered grill that cooked popcorn which was for sale, a long row of decorated recycling bins and a set of stationary bicycles that recharged car batteries. The Militant thinks eco-stuff, as long as it's not too paleskinned hippy-dippy-flower- power in nature, is totally cool, as there's a purpose behind it, but nothing else looked that interesting, really. And there was hardly anyone in the park, which had much more vibrant atmosphere the previous weekend when it hosted Thai Cultural Day in the exact same space, so perhaps this festival didn't gain much local interest after all.

To be fair to the Swerve folks, though, there were a whole lot of other events happening this weekend, so maybe it was hard to get that captive audience. Hey, timing is everything. And perhaps this being the n00b phase for this particular festival, it takes time, and a reputation, to grow. But maybe next time they could be a little more focused on their theme or purpose. Over the past few months, the Militant attended the Feast of San Gennaro, Thai Cultural Day, FPAC , an arts festival in Little Armenia and the Lotus Festival to sample and learn more about the Italian, Thai, Filipino, Armenian and Asian/Pacific Islander cultures, respectively. The Militant still wasn't clear what kind of culture, theme or focus was being represented at Swerve.

Bussin' It West

The Militant hung out with an out-of-state operative visiting town for the weekend, who wanted to try out the (M) Orange Line busway for the first time (the operative quite enjoyed it) and rode the (M) Red Line subway towards the general vicinity of the Militant's compound. The Militant wanted the operative, a pizza connoisseur, to try out his favorite pizzeria, and since the operative already was in possession of a Metro Day Pass, the Militant recommended they ride Metro Rapid 704 to La Cienega Ave. The westbound bus was rather packed on a Sunday early afternoon, much to the surprise of both the Militant and the operative, who flew into town from a nearby state. After alighting at their destination and walking three blocks south, they sampled some slices of pie. which is normally quite good and currently subjected to various online accolades. Unfortunately, the re-heated slices were left in the oven a bit too long that they were slightly charred and worst of all, the namesake owner was not on the premises, which, according to various foodie types, partaking in a conversation with is part of the experience. The pizza was "good, but not amazing," according to the operative. But the operative was open to trying out the place again.

On the 704 ride back, after the operative showed the Militant some digital camera pics taken in the Central California coast over the weekend, the name "Atascadero" was a key word for another rider, a somewhat raggedy man in his 60s, to join in the conversation. He went on to mention that he spent time at the state hospital in that Central Coast town and once met serial killer John Wayne Gacy there. The operative continued the conversation with awkward fascination while the Militant politely nodded, but while writing this entry the Militant discovered that Gacy was never institutionalized there and in fact lived (and was subsequently imprisoned) in Illinois. Guess people can be so broken, so isolated, that they'd say anything for a conversation. Though the other rider wasn't threatening in any way, it's telling to see how mental illness might just become this country's downfall, affecting people from the very poor to the very rich.

But at least for today, the sun still shone for everyone who wanted to be under it.