26.2 Points Of Light

If you squint, you can see some of the illumination columns from the Los Angeles Marathon lights (Taken from atop the La Cienega Metro Expo Line station parking garage).

So yeah, The Militant is a sucker for epic things in Los Angeles: Epic sunsets, epic space shuttle parades, epic CicLAvia tours, you know the deal. Naturally, when he found out earlier in the week that Asics America would be sponsoring a special by-the-mile illumination of the 2015 Los Angeles Marathon route on Friday night to celebrate its 30th Anniversary, he was down like James Brown for this, and even almost forgave Fr*nk McC**rt for running the Marathon (...almost).

We haven't seen anything quite like this. Not even for New Year's Eve, not even for the '84 Olympics. So this was pretty epic indeed.

The Militant instinctively knew that the usual vantage points -- Griffith Observatory, Runyon Canyon, the Getty Center, etc. would be crowded as hell, not to mention the usual parking snafus you'd expect from such a gathering. So being near the Crenshaw area at the time, he made a dash to the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook...where a Culver City police car was blocking the entrance.

Okay then. Plan B. Head to the Metro Expo Line's La Cienega park & ride station, and view the lights from the roof of the parking garage. So here goes:

Okay, that was subtle. It didn't quite look like this:

But we sure fell for it, huh? Actually, the rendering looks like each block was being illuminated, rather than each mile, and the actual time the lights went on was an hour or so after dusk.

But if he looked real hard, he could make out the lights, shooting up straight into the partly-cloudy nighttime summer winter sky. It just didn't turn out so well on his Militant Spyphone.

He wanted to see these lights up close so he headed east on the 10 towards Downtown, and made his way though Sunset Boulevard in Echo Park. The next light column was at Sunset and Silver Lake Boulevard, easily visible along the road ahead:

It wasn't a single Klieg light, but a quartet of Syncrolite SXL 7,000-watt Xenon skylight fixtures at each mile marker, plus the start and end of the Marathon route.

The Militant headed west along Sunset and then Hollywood Boulevard, but was shocked to find the nearest light turned off. He asked the attendant what was up, and he told The Militant, "They're doing something..."

Oookay.

But a few patient minutes later, four blue-white columns of light beamed up from atop the rented Enterprise flatbed truck, several thousand feet into the sky, where spots of light dotted the sky like an impromptu constellation above the City of Angels. The lights were so bright from the ground that dust and flying insects were automatically illuminated directly above the truck. The Militant was solo tempted to make shadow puppets.

It was incidental macro-sized public art (eat your heart out, Christo). Though it wasn't as impressive as the rendering -- admittedly more light into an already light-polluted environment isn't really going to be that outstanding -- it held a beauty on its own. You can trace the Marathon route in the sky, somewhat. From a distance, you can see what a mile looks like. For those who were attracted to the lights, it was a moment of community, of a shared experience, of beauty.

It might be cool to do this again. Maybe with brighter LEDs. Maybe with a more sustainable means of power than 27 diesel power generators. Maybe Metro can do this on the night of July 14 with light columns emanating from all 80 Metro Rail stations to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our modern rail transit system (no, maybe they should do this).

[Hey yo, Militant, not bad for your first blog post in three months...that didn't hurt, did it? Now let's try this again sometime soon, okay?]

Silver Lakers' Triangle Defense

As you may or may not know, CicLAvia is a totally awesome event that occurs on a handful of Sundays each year, closing streets to automobiles and opening them to bikes, pedestrians and any other human-powered transport.

After experiencing the awesomeness of CicLAvia for all three of its iterations so far, The Militant is inclined to say, "Shouldn't we have CicLAvia every Sunday?"

Do cyclists really lock their bikes up to a rack
that looks like a bike?

Well for a small section of Silver Lake (always remember -- Silver Lake is two words, not one) starting this past Sunday, you needn't wait six more weeks for the next dose of Los Angeles Street Awesomeness. In fact, you can has CicLAvia every day.

The Silver Lake Triangle (a.k.a. Sunset Triangle) is the junction of Sunset Boulevard, Griffith Park Boulevard and Edgecliffe Drive. Home to a tiny park with a fountain and the twice-weekly Silver Lake Farmers Market, this little area of public space is a popular one in the community.

Now the space got a little bigger with the Sunset Triangle Plaza, boasted as "Los Angeles' First Pedestrian Plaza" (Um, The Militiant disagrees with that little superlative...sounds like transplantspeak...didn't they ever hear of oh...Olvera Street or the Venice Boardwalk?) Anyway, Sunset Triangle Plaza takes about 300 feet of Griffith Park Boulevard and turns it into a big-ass lime green Twister board.

The space got its formal opening on this day,  and even afterward, adults, children, pets and even hipsters got to hang out on the space, sitting in umbrella cafe tables (pictured left) on this 85-degree Winter day. Large planters with non-native, but drought-tolerant flora serve as physical barricades to keep cars, trucks, buses and elderly drivers safely away.

The organization Streets For People (People on Streets! De-Da-De-Da-Day!) in cooperation with the Silver Lake Improvement Association were responsible for making it happen, a concept that had been in the planning for some six years.

This is apparently a pilot project, which means if successful, "Los Angeles' Second Pedestrian Plaza" may or may not be coming to a street near you.

In the meantime, come by to Silver Lake and enjoy this thing. The Sunset Boulevard bike lanes take you there, and Metro Local lines 2 and 4 stop nearby at Maltman. For the kids, it's a prime surface to go planking on, and the lime green paint scheme make it a perfect candidate for a St. Patrick's Day Flash Mob Street Party next weekend. Tell 'em The Militant sent ya!

Here's To You, Mr. Silver Lake Walking Man

Like many Angelenos and the rest of the bloggerverse, the Militant pays his respects to Dr. Marc Abrams, the shirtless, sunburnt newspaper-reading pedestrian known by many for his 15-mile walks around the Silver Lake area, who died on Thursday.

The Militant, like many, was fortunate to see him roam Silver Lake, and has passed him many times on his bike, especially on the Griffith Park Blvd. bike lane. But he is most honored to see him walk outside of his element, where an early MA blog post (so early, the Militant still referred to himself the first person) mentions Dr. Abrams walking, of all places, in the Venice boardwalk one fine day in June 2007.

It's an understatement to say he'll be missed. He's a modern-day folk hero. Maybe his saga will live on in tall tales and join the likes of Paul Bunyan or Chuck Norris. At least we know he's walking in an even better place.

Now, most have been puzzled as to why a physically fit quinquagenarian physician met an early demise. The Militant is no doctor, nor does he play one on TV, but he may or may not have an reasonable explanation.

Walking has many health benefits, that cannot be denied. The Militant may not walk 15 miles a day but walks an awful lot compared to his more rotund, sedentary, suburban-based operatives.
Walking definitely lowers one's blood pressure. The Militant, who, on one of his parents' sides has a history of high blood pressure, received a "very normal" blood pressure reading in his last physical exam.

Dr. Abrams, who died while sitting in his backyard hot tub, might have spent too long in there, as hot water causes one's blood vessels to dilate and lowers blood pressure even more. Coupled with the fact that, according to a 2009 LA Weekly interview, he lived off of a junk food diet and three hours of sleep each night. He might have also been suffering from a congenital heart condition. The Militant's one-time freelance "boss," a man known for jogging every day, succumbed to heart failure himself in November 2007.

There will inevitably be tributes and memorials to Silver Lake's folk hero, such as Sunday's memorial walk at noon. The Militant may or may not be there!

There's even a move to rename the Silver Lake reservoir path after Dr. Abrams. Councilman Eric Garcetti was even approached on the renaming. Honestly, though the Militant strongly feels he is worthy of some sort of formal memorial or tribute, the move, though earnest, ignores recent history, and the reason why there's a path around the reservoir.

For those of you new to Silver Lake, prior to the last decade, there was no path around the Silver Lake reservoir. A simple painted line - and mostly faded at that - delineated the space between cars and pedestrians around the lake.

In June 1995, longtime Silver Lake residents Michael and Diane Manahan took a walk around the reservoir after dinner one evening when a car swerved out of control and struck them. Michael Manahan was injured; his wife Diane was killed.

The driver sped away.

The accident was later discovered to be caused by a drunk driver, whom upon learning about what happened, committed suicide.

Immediately after the tragedy, the office of then-councilwoman Jackie Goldberg looked into ways to increase safety for walkers and joggers around the reservoir. In 1996 the City approved the jogging path we see today, which was completed several years later.

The Militant would like to see Dr. Marc Abrams honored with possibly a statue, or even an annual walk-a-thon type event. But the path deserves to be named after Diane Manahan - the person whose tragic death brought on the creation of the reservoir path - to ensure no one (Dr. Abrams included) - meets a similar fate.

Emergency! Emergency! Cardiac Arrest? No, Just Cards

On Thursday night the Militant was hanging out in an unspecified location in Silver Lake with Militant Operative Blackbird when the two of them happened upon a a Los Angeles Fire Department paramedic ambulance nearby, lights flashing. The operative glanced through the side window and commented, "Is that Solitaire?" The Militant decide to take a closer look, and saw a screen with a green background, and rows of computer-generated images of playing cards moving around. So he snapped a pic with his Militant Cam and confirmed it: The EMTs play Microsoft Windows Solitaire on the ambulance's computer! (Pictured above, with inset)

The Militant wonders what the appeal is. Really, it's like the most boring computer game evar. Look, if you're gonna play a computer game on the job, why not go all the way and play Final Fantasy or World of Warcraft or something? Or why not a PS3 for the LAFD? Come on! Los Angeles just hosted the E3 convention, after all! Oh well. It may or may not be better than being on Facebook all day (as the popular social networking site is seemingly not blocked by the City's internet servers, where sites like YouTube and MySpace are).

The Militant didn't check to see if there was a person on a stretcher inside, nor did he want to know.

Talkin’ ‘Bout My Gentrification: Danny Hoch’s ‘Taking Over’ at the Kirk Douglas Theatre

Now the Militant, in his infinite Militant Angeleno-ness, usually does not lavish any sort of praise on a native New Yorker (Vin Scully and the Dodgers exempted, of course).

But when he was given a chance to see a preview performance of Danny Hoch’s one-man play Taking Over at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, the Militant was simply floored.

For those not familiar with Hoch, he’s a Gen-X-age writer, director and actor from Bwooklyn (his accent is expectedly blatant) known for his “Hip-Hop Theatre” productions, like 1998’s Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop, where he plays a myriad of diverse characters endemic to his native borough environs, while exploring issues of race, class and societal issues in the story.

His current play, which explores gentrification in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg (think of the east coast equivalent to Echo Park/Silver Lake) through the portrayal of several characters: A Puerto Rican graduate student, a 60-something African American woman, a middle-aged Jewish landlord, a Dominican immigrant taxi dispatcher and a 20-something white hipster chick, among others.

Although the Militant has been to NYC a handful of times before, he’s never set foot in that particular part of Brooklyn, yet he totally identified with the subject matter.

For others, not so much. One performance earlier in the week had someone, visually offended, walking out of the theatre. In one scene the actor plays himself in an epilogic scene where he reads aloud some of his “hate mail.” Hey, art, after all, is supposed to elicit a reaction.

Though the Williamsburg situation seems more hyperbolic and extreme (million-dollar condos have not come to Echo Park – yet), and one of the characters’ indignant provincialism, though obviously well-intentioned, seemed a bit off-putting to even this Militant (or maybe us Californians are just more accommodating creatures, dunno…), in spirit, it was not a totally alien place for the Militant. Issues of how the locals enjoy things like safer streets and the availability of soy milk, only to discover that those trappings were not designed to be meant for them, or how one character is totally ignored by the hipster newcomers, are all too familiar themes for this Militant.

All is not heavy and brooding at all – a great deal of the play is presented as clever humor and well-executed comedic monologues (the reading of a coffeehouse’s weekly Calendar of Events is true comedy gold in its accurate portrayal of hipster entertainment). But some may find out that they are the ones being talked about here.

The Militant had a brief chat with Hoch after the show - one hardcore native New Yorker and one hardcore native Angeleno – and though they may not agree on sports or food, they both came to the accord that hipsters are a universal problem, and that it’s not just enclaves in New York and Los Angeles getting gentrified. One scene even confirmed the Militant’s belief that rampant gentrification can leave even the hipsters as victims of neighborhood change, as they get replaced by more upscale types.

Another aspect the Militant believes is praiseworthy is not just Hoch’s performance, but his endurance. The 90-minute play runs without any intermissions, and the actor has but seconds to transform from one character to the next. His voice was so thrashed after the show that when the Militant had his conversation with him, it was kinda like chatting with a mime.

Anyway, despite its NY origins, this play turns gentrification into a more universal issue. So with that, Danny Hoch’s Taking Over is 100% MILITANT APPROVED!

The show’s official premiere night is tonight, January 23. So run, don’t walk, to the Kirk Douglas Theatre by February 22. YOU. NEED. TO. SEE. THIS. And aside from spreading the word through this here blog and on his Facebook profile, he will also drop some flyers for this play at Intelligentsia Coffee in Silver Lake and at the American Apparel store in Echo Park. Heh heh heh...

The Militant's Non-Coverage of Sunset Junction

You may or may not know by now that the Militant Angeleno loves to cover his local events.

And there was one major local event this weekend that more than a few of you went to.

But the Militant wasn't there.

Actually he was there, kinda. But just on the outside looking in, to snap an intentionally symbolic photo (pictured right) of the chain-link fence that cordoned off the festival grounds.

Now, the Militant knows what you're thinking: "The Sunset Junction Festival was just crawling with hipsters, so the Militant decided to avoid it at all costs."

But that's actually not an accurate statement.

The Militant isn't afraid of hipsters, just intensely annoyed by them. But they do no harm to the Militant. If anything, the Militant doesn't even exist to them, as when he tries to engage in conversation with them, they produce no replies. So that must mean that in their eyes, the Militant is pretty much invisible. Which...is just fine with the Militant.

So no, the "H" factor has nothing to do with it, at all.

It's just that (sit tight folks, especially you SoCal n00bs, historical perspective coming up) when it began in the 1980s, Sunset Junction was - a community festival (pictured left). It celebrated the community, in involved the community, it featured the community. Back then, there was a Silver Lake, but not really a "Silverlake." Actually, Silver Lake was really that hilly area around the reservoir, and maybe the parts north and south of it adjacent to the eponymous boulevard. Sunset Junction wasn't really Silver Lake, nor was it Hollywood (despite the fact a "Hollywood" community sign stands there (and until a couple years ago the sign had been there so long, it was colored black and not blue) on Sunset between Sanborn and Hyperion) - it was pretty much its own community.

But nearly 30 years later Sunset Junction is all of a sudden the "Downtown of Silverlake [sic]" or at least its proper central business district.

Okay, get to the point Militant. It used to be a free festival. It used to actually be a boost to all the local businesses, institutions and residents. Used to. This is not the Sunset Junction the Militant knew from his youth. No, the Militant isn't being a change-resistant reactionary here, it's just that the festival totally abandoned its roots.

Now it's (trying really hard to be) a freaking Coachella on asphalt (once upon a time, the music acts were all local bands who rehearsed at the now-defunct Hully Gully rehearsal studio on Fletcher in the AWV). It costs $20 (?!?) to get in now, which is more than the real people of the community can afford, it only benefits a certain number of businesses that are on the organizers' good side, it actually blocks off many businesses, keeping them from benefiting from the festival, has become a logistical headache (though okay, the recent arrangement allows people to come in from the Red Line, the Militant gives credit where it's due) and the music stages are racially segregated.

The last time the Militant was at Sunset Junction, he happened to go late enough that he got in at a discount. There was still some music going on, though he discovered all the white indie rock acts played at the Bates Stage and all the "colored people" acts played on the extreme opposite end of the festival grounds. The festival has been somewhat reconfigured, but the musical and racial segregation still continues. Why not stages that bring people together? Most of the other festivals in town seem to be able to work it. And oh yeah, they seemed to capitalize on the recent death of a certain soul music legend (originally booked to perform there) rather well (Shut your mouth!) But the Militant's talking about Sunset Junction!

But whatever. If you went to SJ, the Militant won't give you crap for it (besides, you already got crap to begin with, so the Militant won't add anymore). And when a recently-transplanted near-operative (you gotta earn these things...) brought up going to SJ in a conversation before the weekend, after the Militant dissed it, he still encouraged him to go "just for the experience." If you wanna go back next year, fine.

But it's just that Sunset Junction ain't the Militant's cup of tea.

Playing Catch-Up: I Get Around

Sometimes life just goes way too fast for the Militant to log in and post. He needs to sign up for that Militant training course where one can blog faster than the speed of sound. Until then, here's a few glimpses from the past few days:

Sunday, May 18:

Hundreds of Angelenos got their salsa on at the Cuban Music Festival in Echo Park, dance floor and all. Like wow! The music was great, the food was kickin' (the long wait for a plate from the Sabor y Son Express booth was well worth it) and he even spotted a few operatives, both expected and unexpected, at the fest.

Looks like the Militant also got himself a new desktop background in the process as well.

The weather was hot that day, and so are bikes it seems. While riding back to the compound along the Sunset Blvd. Bike Lane, he noticed this van parked on Sunset Blvd. right on the Silver_Lake - Echo Park border which sells used bikes and does bicycle repair.

Later that evening, the Militant decided to follow the example of these folks and ride his bike down the 405 in the Sepulveda Pass into the Valley. No, no, no, just kidding. He was in his car. He does dig the view of the Valley from the Pass though.

While traveling westbound on Victory Blvd. at Woodley Ave. in Van Nuys/Lake Balboa, something was up by the Woodley Orange Line station and the Sepulveda Dam recreation area with lane cones, LAPD squad cars, Parking Enforcement vehicles and whatnot.


Monday, May 19:

Holy Jacarandas, Batman! The Militant saw this biking up Westmoreland Ave. north of Pico. They say Pico-Union is one of Los Angeles' ugliest-looking communities. O RLY?


Tuesday, May 20:

In Hollywood, Capitol Records unveils its latest wrap act. Actually the banner on the iconic building's crown reads, "Welcome Home Brian Wilson!" celebrating the former Beach Boy's upcoming album to be released on his old label in September. Proving once and for all, that what comes around, gets around round round I get around.

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.

The Tannenbaum In Tinseltown - A Militant's Christmas Story

Gather around, kids, the Militant has a Christmas story!

Once upon a time, one mid-December day in the City of the Angels, the Militant Angeleno walked out onto his rain-dampened driveway and fretted, "Five days until Christmas, and there is still no tree in the compound. What ever shall a Militant do?"

So the Militant set out on that Thursday evening looking for a nice local Christmas tree lot, as he wanted to save on carriage fuel, not contribute to carriage traffic and support his neighborhood's economy in his tree-shopping trek.

But alas, all of the lots he was accustomed to in years past were no more! They had all been developed and there was no more space for seasonal tree lots. So the Militant, though wanting to buy local, was forced to drive a little farther.

He eventually hit the town of Glen Dale and saw a Christmas tree lot in front of Ye Home Despot on St. Ferdinand's road, but. to his dismay, the fence was closed - there were no more trees!

Chagrined, he drove back on St. Ferdinand's Road and headed the opposite direction, eventually finding himself in the Park of Glassell, still with no tree lots in sight. Then he arrived in the land of Silver's Lake, where he found a string of yuletide beacons announcing the presence of a tree lot!

This one was run by the Delancey Street Foundation, and the proceeds of the tree sales would go to helping out those in need, what a great gesture for the Season. The Militant found a stately Douglas Fir, standing about six and a half feet high. He looked at the price tag: "$71."

"Seventy-One silver coins?!?!?" the Militant thought, stunned. "Only the wealthy can afford to support such a cause! The Militant does not hesitate to help the needy, but the Militant is needy himself!"

He left the land of Silver's Lake and headed west, arriving at The Marketplace of Jonathan, located at the foot of Olive Hill upon which stood the House of Hollyhock. The Marketplace of Jonathan also had a small lot of trees, which the Militant perused. But the selection was rather paltry, and many a tree stood at an awkward angle. "Not good enough!" said the Militant.

So he once again hopped into his horseless carriage and headed west along the Boulevard of the Setting Sun, where he knew of another location of Ye Home Despot which might yield some yuletide arbor.

When what do his wondering eyes did appear, right on the corner of Boulevard of the Setting Sun and St. Andrew's Place, across the street from Ye Home Despot, in a plaza bearing a Ranch marketplace, the Three Latin Brothers' haberdashery and the Consumer Value Stores apothecary - was a considerably-sized tree lot! (pictured right) And one with an abundant selection, of various varieties and heights, all of seemingly good quality!

The Militant turned and saw a beautiful bright-green Noble Fir, standing stately in the lot. The Militant fell in tree love, he almost wanted to hug it. She was perfect! The Militant asked the lot's merchant how much silver coins the tree would cost him.

"Fifty silver coins...and these are forty-five..."

But the Militant asked the merchant what warranted the five-silver-coin difference between the trees, as they were of equivalent height. The merchant consulted one of his superiors, who explained that all of them in that row cost forty-five silver coins each.

"The Militant will take it!" he told the merchant, pointing to the love-at-first-sight Noble Fir beauty he first laid his eyes upon.

The Militant laid a tarpaulin atop his carriage and the merchant hoisted and secured the tree to the vehicle. After the monetary transaction, the Militant carefully drove his new acquisition home, to be festooned with ornaments in time for the Holidays.

Yes, the Militant bought his tannenbaum in the town of tinsel, which was but a short distance from his compound. But when all was said and done, he had traversed some 20 miles in his quest for this one tree.

The moral of the story: Get to know one's vicinity - even if you already think you do. It may just save you the inconvenience.

The End.

Here Come The Biters!

Yes, making three posts in one day is an excuse to make up for lost time.

But after the Militant returned from his Eastside (Happy now, El Chavo!?) adventure, while passing though the uber-hip(ster) Sunset Junction in Silver_Lake, after craning his neck to see the artificially-verdant hills of Griffith Park, hanging on overhead wires above Sunset Blvd, the Militant spotted the worst incident of bird-biting since Ozzy Osbourne's 1983 world tour (pictured right).

W...T...F...is that? Some stupid logo that looks like a backwards "k," an "l" and a forward "k." The Militant means, come ON! The original wire-hanging Berd was cool and all - the Militant took it as some sort of natural/pleasant contrast/commentary on those sneakers hanging on overhead wires (and the public perception of such phenomena). So little painted plywood Berds hanging on wires, secured by padlocks (perhaps representing some sort of confinement or imprisonment) were a cool thing. But this...no really, this has got to stop. Whoever you are "klk"...really, give it up before you embarrass yourself further. Seriously.

A Silver Lake Kind of Day

The Militant ventured out on two wheels on a warm early Fall Saturday to nearby Silver Lake (remember, two words, not one...) where he discovered he had landed in the middle of a bevy of events for the community. A one-day only trial DASH shuttle bus service ran, free of charge, to test out a proposed Silver Lake DASH route and to provide intra-community transit to various events on a day the community dubbed, "Silver Lake Day." The circular bus route took riders to the groundbreaking ceremony of LAPL's new Silver Lake Branch Library on Glendale and Silver Lake boulevards, the Silver Lake Farmer's Market on Sunset and Griffith Park and two polling places for an election of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council - at Micheltorena St. Elementary School and Bellevue Recreation Center (of course, the fact that the actual vehicles used in the service were those vapid faux-"trolleys" irked the Militant, who staunchly believes that buses should look like buses and not made to "cross-dress" into cutesy wannbe trolleys -- which lack steel wheels that run on actual tracks and an electrical pickup trolley pole (which is what an actual "trolley" is named after), but since it was just for a day only, the Militant will let it slide).

The Militant, being a community-minded kinda dude, was curious as to this election and decided to drop by and check it out at the Bellevue site. A side room of the rec center was converted into a polling place (pictured right). From the looks of things, it was primarily longtime community folk who participated in the voting process and not the everyday Silverlake [sic] gentrohipster types usually seen roaming Sunset Junction and getting their Intelligentsia Coffee on. Of course, the hipsters probably think they're "too cool" to care about the neighborhood in anything beyond a superficial manner anyway, so no big loss there. The Militant cannot divulge whether or not he was a qualified stakeholder of the neighborhood council and participated in the election, but hypothetically speaking, if he indeed was, he would have no doubt casted his vote. Of course, like one of his trusted Silver Lake-based militant operatives, the Militant would only vote for candidates that would spell the community's name properly.

When the Hero Takes a Fall

Bicycle Safety Lesson #313: When a large insect lands on your arm, pull over and stop before attempting to flick it off.

Being a Militant Angeleno has its advantages -- you get to see the city the way other's don't (or can't). A Militant hardly gets stuck in traffic, since a militant uses alternate methods of transportation, and even when a militant is driving, a militant knows all the shortcuts.

But being a Militant definitely has its risks. Last night while the Militant was riding solo along Sunset Blvd in Silver_Lake on the well-marked bike lane, the Militant suddenly noticed that a large insect landed on his left forearm. Having been exposed to jungle combat, the Militant is usually not squeamish about bugs, but this one was HUGE - it was either a moth, a large cricket or some yet-unknown species of insect which employs biting/blood sucking/stinging as a defense mechanism. The Militant instantly though of the latter.

So he shaked off his left arm, but to no avail. The insect was still there, perhaps feeling the resistance, was ready to bite or insert its sharp proboscis or stinging mechanism into the Militant's epidermis. Imagining that for a split second, the Militant, in a most knee-jerk reaction, took his right hand off of the handlebar and slapped his left forearm and...

[Cue Matrix-like "bullet time" slo-mo visual effect and droning breakbeat music score]

The handlebars of the Militant's bicycle turned off-course, then the forces of the Earth's gravity sent the Militant towards the ground, as his bicycle parted ways with his body, temporarily becoming airborne from the kinetic energy imparted by the separating motion. The Militant's bicycle landed on the hard Sunset Blvd asphalt, as did the Militant, who used his palms to break his fall as he landed face down onto the street.

Ouch.

Fortunately, there was no crunching sound, nor thud, nor screaming in excruciating pain, but he did feel the breaking and swelling of his blood vessels in his right leg, which bared a raw round scrape, and in his top lip, which was both bleeding slightly and at the same time was swollen from the inside due to the force of the Militant's front teeth being forced against it. And yes, the Militant was wearing his helmet.

He always does.

Even in the shower and when he goes to sleep.

Just kidding.

[End Matrix-like "bullet time" slo-mo visual effect and fade droning breakbeat music score]

The Militant dabbed his bleeding lip with a tissue and doused it with his water bottle, while passing by the Silverlake [sic] hipsters spooning their powdered-flavor base Pazzo Gelato on the sidewalk, too cool to care about another human being's welfare to even utter a default, "Dude, you alright?" (but what else does the Militant expect). This militant warrior was wounded, but still strong enough to make it back to the compound to rest and prepare himself for the onset of even more aches which would come his way come morning.

And does it ache. The Militant's right arm doesn't seem to straighten out normally due to the inflamation of his joints. He might have to sit out this Friday night's Midnight Ridazz ride to the Santa Monica Pier as he's placed on the 15-day DL. Typing is definitely not as comfortable.

Lest one of you readers read this and go, "ZOMG! Biking is so dangerous! I better not bike and stick to driving!" (Shyeah, right, like no one has ever been in a car accident...). But the Militant has been able to avoid a bike accident in 20 years (when he had a similar stupid accident (didn't involve a bug though) but back then he did not wear a helmet, which resulted in a minor brain hemorrhage and a week's stay in the hospital).

The Militant is keenly safe and aware and unlike some Midnight Ridazz kooks, he prefers not to ride inebriated (oh they'll love that in Beverly Hills). So the only reason why this happened?

It's them again.

The bug of unknown origin was most likely a mechanical man-made device or holograph designed specifically to distract me from the road, resulting in this accident, thus keeping the Militant off his bicycle to perform his militant activities. Yes, they would rather see the Miitant living in the monotonous suburban sprawl of The Far East, driving 25 minutes from his cookie-cutter Lennar-manufactured home just to visit the nearest Chick-Fil-A drivethru.

And because of the Militant's reputation, his enemies, no doubt connected to clandestine organizations run by the hegemonic East Coast media plotted their "Operation Militant Spill" on the streets of Silver_Lake, in front of an audience of hipsters, who were paid by these powers that be to partake in some free entertainment for their pleasure (because premeditated bicycle accidents are the new performance art). But the Militant is flattered that he is enough of a threat to his enemies that he was worth their time to try to stop. But they can't stop this Militant, oh no.

The Militant will ride again. And don't you damn forget it.

The Militant's Street Art Debut

Then

Now

Inspiration hits the Militant.

It all started when the Militant wanted to do a simple "Now and Then" comparison shot of Sanborn Junction (a.k.a. Sunset Junction; the former was what the Pacific Electric Railway actually called it). Unfortunately, after the Militant checked the "Now" picture taken on Monday, it didn't capture the same sort of perspective as the original. Perhaps, because he didn't have the original on him to compare it to. Duh.

So the next day, the Militant was ready, printout of the original pic in hand, the slightly crumpled paper folded in half, complete with web URL printed at the top of the page, flapping gently from the wind. But when it was time to take the picture, the little digital cam screen read: "NO CARD."

The Militant hates when that happens.

But suddenly he had an idea. So he returned to the compound, downloaded the original late 1940s-era picture and did some art magic. Some cardboard, some gluestick, some stapled yarn.

Later in the day, he makes the third attempt - proverbially, "the charm," correct? He snaps his "Now" picture, but notices an increased police car presence on the street. You know what the date is (The Militant is not a ter'rist). So he rides for a bit and ends up a little further down Sunset to make his return. Coast is clea...oops wait...okay, coast is clear now so he hangs the yarn on a protruding rusty nail that has probably been on the telephone pole when the wee Militant rode past the area on the RTD.

And there it is. A photo of the original, late 1940s junction with a Red Car in it. And a message inscribed, reading:

"Silver_Lake History Indicates the Presence of Streetcars" - complete with a quasi-subliminal message illustrated by the choice highlighting of certain letters in that sentence.

So there it is, on the northwest corner of Sunset and Sanborn, where Santa Monica boulevard ends its 14-mile journey from the sea:


Stop by for a look, hopefully if it's still there.

Militant Update: 9/12/07 - Okay, which one of you grabbed it?

Nothing to Show For It a.k.a. The "Notenkyu" Ride a.k.a. Try Again Later

Militant keeping it short this time...Took obligatory local area bike ride Tuesday...Northern edge of K-Town to visit a certain Angelena who worked there, not there today. Took a nice little pic (pictured left, wanna guess where?)...Rode into Historic Filipinotown, took some neighborhood pics, require further Militant research, did some additional research for The Quest, not completely satisfied with the specimen...Rode into Silver_Lake, through Sunset and into The Junction (hipster shield engaged), was looking for some camo threads. $30 for a pair of camo pants? Notenkyu. Walked past that coffee place everyone's talking about - notenkyu. Tried to take a "today" pic of this place, wasn't completely satisfied with the results (will make another attempt soon), rode past ridiculously expensive condos, notenkyu. Went back home. Attended to some business at the Militant's satellite post. Had some sort of meeting of a classified nature. Later accompanied militia member and drove to a celebrated quasi-Westside mess hall to discuss strategies of said classified operation and partake in the consumption of wedge-shaped rations of Apennine origin (TENKYU!).

Fin.

Tenkyu for clicking.

The Militant's Home Run: Dodger Stadium on Bike

Though the Militant is an unabashed Dodger fan, due to his Militant schedule, he hasn't had the chance to attend a game at The Stadium since Nomar Garciaparra Bobblehead Night in late April (where they not only lost, but to the hated Frisco Gints, and the bobblehead's namesake made the final strikeout...but hey, free bobblehead, right?). In fact, the last time the Militant was at The Stadium, it was for some rock concert.

So when a member of the Militia gave away an extra free single Top Deck ticket to the Militant for Tuesday's game, the Militant was so there. Besides, so far the Militant's home game record has been 0-2, devoid of the experience of seeing a Takashi Saito fist-pump and hearing Randy Newman blaring in the stadium speakers. It was time.

Yes, the Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 4-3. It might have been because of Chad Billingsley's inconsistent, yet still decent start. It might have been because of Jeff Kent's solo homer. It might have been because of Shane Hillenbrand's two RBIs and awesome line drive catch. It might have been Andre Ethier's sac fly in the 7th, or it might have been because the Militant decided to wear his grey "Los Angeles" road jersey rather than the white Dodger home jersey he happens to wear during games where the Boys in Blue add another in the "L" column.

There was a victory tonight, but not just a Dodger victory. A Militant victory.

This being the first Dodger game attended since the Militant Angeleno went to press, er, web, the Militant wanted to do something, well...Militant.

So he rode to The Stadium...yep, Militant style.

It took him about 30 minutes to travel the 3.5 miles from his compound to The Stadium. Yes, he rode down Sunset. Yes, he biked up the hill on Elysian Park Ave. Yes, he rode through the parking gates.

Once inside, one of those Standard Parking folks tolk him to walk his bike. (Damnit...) But the Militant politely complied. After locking his bike against a light pole near the Top Deck turnstiles, a fellow Dodger fan asked the Militant, "Did you have to pay to get in?"

"Nope," the Militant grinned. "This isn't a car."

"Because my daughter lives real close to here, maybe I can ride my bike up here myself!"

"Go for it," the Militant replied.

The Militant then told him about his plan to one day have at least 30 two-wheeled Dodger fans take to the stadium on bicycle and purchase game tickets at the group rate (30 or more). Also, in a polite, but still no less Militant gesture, the bicyclists would chip in about 50 cents each so all bicycles would park in a single $15 automobile parking space.

The Dodger fan told him that he would definitely want to be a part of that.

Since the "parking" was free, and the ticket was free, the only cost on the Militant's behalf was on a large drink and a Saag's Louisiana Hot Sausage (the Militant loves Dodger Dogs (grilled only), but the Louisiana dogs are just, well, as they say in that state, lagniappe) - together, $12.50.

The game itself was a pleasurable experience, the view from the extreme third-base-side of Top Deck wasn't that bad, the moderate attendance of 49,698 left a lot of room for the Militant, who was surrounded by a family of three, a group of mostly Latino and black friends enjoying a game together (the racial tension-seeking mainstream media might wanna take a look at this for a change...), a quartet of hipsters who only stayed for about three innings before leaving and one real (quiet) drunk guy who spent most of the game slumped over on his seat, asleep. Yes, there was the ubiquitous 99 Cents Only Store beach ball thrown around our section, but no wave tonight (not even a slow-motion one).

After treating himself to the Saito mound walk (and accompanying graphics), the Saito strikeout, the Saito fist-pump and the Randy Newman tune, it was time to ride...

As the Militant unlocked his bike, he overheard the comments:

"...take your bike?!?!?"

"Jeesus!!!"

"...ride a bike in here?"

The comments mattered to the Militant like Eric Gagne still matters to the Dodger bullpen. He set his cellphone stopwatch feature on...

...and rode.

Zooming past the long, slow queue of cars, the Militant zipped down the hill like ice cream down a cone on a 110-degree summer day. After he cleared the Sunset Gate, he checked the stopwatch. The time it took to leave the parking lot:

2:48.

Now it was time to head down Sunset. By the time the Militant crossed Echo Park Ave., he had already left any stadium-related traffic behind. He zipped through Silver_Lake with ease.

By the time the Miltant arrived back at his compound, he checked the stopwatch counter:

20:35.

If he were in a car, the Militant would still be in the Stadium parking lot, listening to the first callers on KFWB's Dodger Talk. So yes, people, it can be done. Walter O'Malley's automobile-accessible cathedral of baseball became little more than a mild uphill challenge on a bike, not to mention a good way to work off those hot dogs.

If you were at the Ravine, waiting to slowly funnel out of the parking lot, and saw some lone, daring bicyclist zipping past you...well, that may or may not have been the Militant. But more likely the former.

Vinny, please do the honors:

"Home run Militant Angeleno! In a parking lot of the improbable, the impossible has happened!"

Don't Believe Da Hype(rion)

The Militant has often said that driving in Los Angeles is like watching a movie, while walking or biking in the city is like seeing a play. The Militant might have lived in the same city all his life, but he has seen the chronological changes over the years. The people of the city are the actors in the play and the streets set the scenes. Over time, these scenes have even changed their roles, or at the very least have framed different scenes using the same props.

One such street is Hyperion Avenue, straddling the line between Silver Lake and Los Feliz. Both places today are known as hipster heaven (or hell, depending on your perspective), but in the Militant's younger years, they were known as places where older folks lived (Los Feliz was jokingly known back in the '80s as "Menopauseville"). Starting at the end of Fountain Avenue and ending where Glendale Blvd. crosses the river, at 1.5 miles, Hyperion is one of those streets that didn't have to be individually named, but since someone thought up the idea, they might as well have chosen a 19th Century poem by John Keats.

Today the Militant enjoyed his two-wheeled play for today by passing the newly-installed stoplights on the jammed and risky 3-way intersection of Hyperion and Monon St. (pictured above). Though still fresh out of the box and still fragrant with that new stoplight smell, the lights were yet to be put in operation, possibly waiting a large dedication ceremony by area councilman Tom LaBonge, who would no doubt proclaim that such a day would be "A great day for Los-Anga-les."

Pedaling north towards the AWV, the Militant approached the famous Hyperion Bridge, or so he once thought it was named so. The Militant recalled, in his high school years, the day the bridge was blocked off for some on-location filming shoot, only to see it a year later in this film which he saw at the Cinerama Dome. But before reaching the actual bridge, there stood a copper plaque on a retaining wall (pictured right). It lists the various politicos and city officials of the day when the bridge opened in 1927. The first three lines of the plaque read:

WAVERLY APPROACH
GLENDALE-HYPERION VIADUCT
GEO. E. CRYER, MAYOR

Of course no one speeding by at 40 miles per hour in their car could read the text on the plaque, much less know it even exists (the two-foot wide pedestrian-hostile excuse for a sidewalk that straddles the retaining wall isn't much help either). Mayor Cryer was best known (at least to the five of us who care about Los Angeles history - Mr. Howser, Ms. Rasmussen, Will Campbell, The City Nerd and yours truly) as the mayor who brought us today's City Hall. But other sources have linked him to an organized crime mob that ran gambling and prostitution rings in the Roaring '20s. Which got this Militant wondering, if Angelenos don't even recall a mayoral administration of 80 years ago, would the Los Angeles of 2087 even know that the mayor of 80 years past banged a television news reporter if they saw "MAYOR ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA" on some heavily-oxidized and graffiti-tagged (the taggers of the future will use lasers (laser-tagged?) -- you heard it here first...) copper plaque? Would they even know what a "television" was? Or perhaps the people whose names are emblazoned on dedicational plaques are keenly aware of such things, and that the plaques are the only objective indicators of their legacy?

Perhaps, this Militant believes, that the common-knowledge ignorance and disregard of Los Angeles history is intentional.

Chow Meets Chow

The Militant showed his face on Tuesday night at a live meetup of foodies from the Chowhound Los Angeles Area message boards. It was the first time the Militant did one of these "meets" in a long time. The Militant is old enough to have engaged in a now-archaic form of online communication called a Bulletin Board System during his college days (think of it as a dialup local text-only version of the net...okay, you probably can't even fathom such a thing, but they existed) where they would have regular "meets" off-line where people would meet each other in person. The fact that Chowhound also employed the term "handle" instead of "username" or "screenname" was an added nostalgic bonus.

The Chowhounders met up at the chic taqueria Malo in Silver_Lake where we got to dig into the restaurant's trademark ground beef and pickle fried tacos, in addition to some other modernized Mexican fare. Pretty good (despite the consensus of the online Chowhounders), and not just because the food and drinks were on the house. The Chow.com organizers (who work for CNET) even gave away free Chowhound swag in the form of t-shirts (from that silky American Apparel stock) and some canvas bags.

But far surpassing the food was that the Militant got to meet some really cool Chowhounders there (for the sake of fairness and privacy, the Militant will not identify in this blog who he met - and he expects any other Chowhounder reading this to observe the mutual hush-hush, if you know what I'm sayin'), which was totally contrary to what he initially thought they would be, having closed down the browser window in disgust after reading one too many overtly snobbish reviews, especially from NY immigrants who somehow believe Chinese food was invented in Manhattan.

Most of the Chowhounders there appeared to be in their mid-30s and older and of upper-middle income and higher. More than half were white, with a considerable number of Asians, and a small number of Latinos. Only one person there appeared to be of African American heritage.
A couple people were retired and that being a foodie was their "hobby" while a few actually worked in the culinary/restaurant industry. Surprisingly, very few 20-somethings and and even fewer hipster-types (Oh, they're easy to spot, trust me) were there.

But overall everyone seemed to be pleased to be in each other's company. The easy icebreaker was the revelation of people's handles through nametags (i.e. "Oh, you're Chowzilla? I thought you were a dude! Nice to finally meet you!") and though most of the talk gravitated towards eateries (the event became a live, in-person iteration of the message board), people inevitably wanted to get to know about the lives of each other.

The Anonymous Militant can feel the pangs of irony when he says that the Internet really needs that frequent "personal feel" where people of like minds or at least similar interests can meet face-to-face as actual human beings. And in this era of flame.wars and the like, events where internet users can see each other as not only as real living personalities, but any sort of negative objectification on the part of certain people beforehand would likely be greatly diminished.

So will there be a Militant Angeleno meetup anytime soon?

The answer is LOL.

The Roof, The Roof, The Roof Is On Fire...
After the Militant's foodie meetup, he happened to see a towering column of thick smoke near his next destination, looming above the 10 Freeway. It was a warehouse fire on Adams and La Brea in the Mid-City area just below The 10. No homes were in danger, but no fewer than five Los Angeles Fire Department ladder companies were at the scene as Adams Blvd. was shut down at La Brea. The building on fire was a business called P.C. Sets, which according to one local, builds props and sets for film and TV studios. Another neighborhood local told the Militant that several nondescript buildings in the neighborhood without even so much as a sign outside are companies that build props or supply equipment to the studios in Hollywood, The Valley or Culver City. They are located in the Mid-City area for their lower lease rates. The cause of the fire was not yet known, but arson investigators were on the scene. No occupant was known to have been killed or injured but an LAFD firefighter who was on the roof fell through and suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns as well as broken bones after an intense rescue operation by his fellow firefighters. He is recovering at Cedars-Sinai.

For those of you who have never witnessed a firefighting scene, the LAFD operates like clockwork and the amount of diligent and spontaneous teamwork demonstrated is something that just has to be seen to be believed.

That entire stretch of the north side of Adams Blvd. from La Brea Ave. to Redondo Ave. is slated to be redeveloped into a large retail development with a public open space element. It is part of the City of Los Angeles' Community Redevelopment Agency Mid-City Recovery Redevelopment Project.