Los Angeles Is...Defined By Its Street Signs

The streets of Los Angeles are not just mere infrastructure, but they create geographical identities, local cultures, microcultures and sub-cultures, and become the live stage of the urban theatre of daily life in The City of Angels. And the most significant identifier of those streets are the City's street signs.

Since The Militant is celebrating his 10th anniversary online this year (#StayMili10), he'd like to revisit one of his most legendary, epic posts.

On March 24, 2011, The Militant wrote a post on the history of street sign styles in Los Angeles.  It gave Angelenos the ability to distinguish between Blue Blades and Black Blades, Shotguns and Trapezoids.

It got such a reaction that it became the second-most read post ever on This Here Blog, and it also prompted a sequel later that month, going back farther into the history of Los Angeles street signs.
 
In fall of last year (meaning 2016, we can say that already), Filmmaker and Mar Vista resident Ian Rutherford completed a clever short film, $500 and four months in the making, called "LA.Is" that describes, though images of Los Angeles (and some neighboring city) street signs and set to a spoken-word poem (voiced by Tania Hunt) some of what Los Angeles represents.

Observe, and enjoy:



"The idea sort of came about just by driving around L.A.," Rutherford explained to The Militant via email, on the origins of his short film. "I'm a location scout and I kept seeing signs that were fun and unusual. Future street was the one that sort of convinced me to pursue the short. Also, I knew about Rutherford street several years ago and that was always in the back of my mind pushing me to do something."

Rutherford filmed the signs starting in June, 2016 and spent his weekends filming them, guided by a working Google map.

He also wrote the poem himself.

"Some verses came to me beforehand (sunset/sunrise). Some verses were written in the car (detour/chase/marathon). It was a slow writing process until I found the cadence in my head. Once I had that, it wrote itself...Every verse references something I love about L.A., even though it may seem abstract to others (future/vintage/future i was thinking about architecture, like Googie and Mid-Century). The only topic I didn't cover in verse is food. Never found the right way to express myself there."

Great work, Ian! The Militant was smiling under his camouflage bandana mask. No pictures of course, but take him at his word. Militant Approved! 

The Last Super: Remembering Super Bowl XXVII

Twenty years ago, Los Angeles not only opened a subway (Don't forget to enter The Militant's Red Line 20th Anniversary Contest by 11:59 p.m. tonight!), but last hosted a Super Bowl.

The venue was Pasadena's Rose  Bowl, seasonal home of the UCLA Bruins football team and annual home of the, well, Rose Bowl game (duuh).

Not only did Super Bowl XXVII have the Dallas Cowboys rout the Buffalo Bills 52-17, but it was the first time The Big Game replaced its usual halftime entertainment of marching bands with the biggest pop/rock stars of the day (or even yesterday). Leave it to the Entertainment Capital of The World to inaugurate a tradition like that.

Gracing the field at halftime back in '93 was the late, great Michael Jackson, who arrived via an unforgettable intro in triplicate, and proceeded to do a lip-synched (Beyonce fans can relax, televised logistics and wayward stadium acoustics are the primary reason for this) medley of some of his biggest hits at the time:


Although Los Angeles has not hosted a Super Bowl since then (nor have we hosted an MLB All-Star Game since 1980 either, hmmph...), we are still the 2nd-most frequent Super Bowl host (Miami and current host New Orleans are tied for #1), having also staged the NFL's championship match in 1987, 1983, 1980, 1977, 1973 and most importantly, the inaugural Super Bowl in 1967.

Considering the big 50th iteration of the Super Bowl is coming up in the not-so-distant future, we may or may not get a chance to host it once again. Maybe by then we'll get an as-yet unspecified team...

As for Superb Owl XLVII, The Militant doesn't really give a crap about the NFL. He just wants to watch commercials, pig out on hot wings and nachos and watch Beyonce bounce around.

Honestly, under any other circumstances, he'd go with the 49ers...BUT, considering the fact that The City By The Frisco Bay won teh World Sereez (grumble grumble...) just four months ago, The Militant does not want to witness any more San Franciscan Gloating, so he's gonna root for the Ravens. Besides, The Militant being a writer, he's gotta give it up to the only NFL team named after literature.

Another SF championship parade? Nevermore!

'Gangnam' Bangin'

It seems like the totally random viral hit song "Gangnam Style" by South Korean rapper PSY has taken the entire world by storm. Of course, in the city with the largest number of Koreans outside of Korea, we're representin' this meme in full force!

The artist made a surprise Dance-Cam cameo at a recent Dodgers game, with Dodger fans doing the video's trademark horse-riding dance in the stands while PSY himself did his thang, and the crowd made more noise than a Matt Kemp solo homer.

The infectious dance hit about a 30-something dude diggin' on younger, materialistic, coffee-sippin' sexy ladies in Seoul has spawned a bevy of parody videos, but this one made The Militant proud. It's called "K-Town Style"(done as a promo for an upcoming K-1 martial arts match event) and, as you guessed it, is filmed entirely in Los Angeles' Koreatown district. You'll see some familiar places, like Seoul International Park, the Solair building and the (M) Purple Line standing in for the subway scene (That's gotta be The Militant's favorite part!). The parody song (performed in English) is kinda awkward, but the video is pretty epic!

You Have To Believe, We Are Magic

And so the final three bidders who pined for the great Los Angeles Dodgers were pared down to one: On Tuesday night, Magic Johnson's investment group set forth a $2.15 billion bid on MLB-bay to deliver a refrigerator-is-closed-the-lights-are-out-the-eggs-are-cooling-the-butter's-getting-hard-and-the-Jell-O-is-jigglin' end to the evil regime of Dodger Despot Frank Mc Court.

Dodger fans, let's exhale together:
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Ladies and Gentlemen, McCourt will finally be deported.

Well, in spirit. Many Dodger fans will still point to the fact that he still lays a (albeit limited) claim to his sacred parking lot. To that, the Militant says: a) Don't expect the new owners, who have just signed a $2 billion check, to lower parking rates anytime soon and b) The Dodger Stadium Express is on again this year!

But with a pretty promising Spring Training, a big Golden Anniversary for The Stadium, a Cy Young Winner in the rotation and last year's stats leader who will resume Beast Mode (and was outright robbed of an MVP), it's a pretty dang good time to be a fan of the most valuable sports franchise in the world (Take that Yankees!)!

What's in store for the Dodger season? Win or lose, there's gonna be good vibes. The painful and even brutal past will be behind us. Heck, we may even hit 5 million in attendance (Only kidding, it's only statistically possible to hit some 4.6 million in the hypothetical event that all 81 home games are filled to capacity). Count on an emotional Home Opener (Just some 13 days away...) for myriad reasons, and maybe they'll let Magic throw out the first pitch, heralding the changing of the guard an ushering a new era of Dodgerism.

And to pay tribute to the Dodgers' new owner (okay, prominent co-owner, but which Angeleno sports fan cares about semantics today), The Militant offers this Red Hot Chili Peppers tune from the late '80s:





And to the outgoing Frank McCourt, who will be escorted into his helicopter before Magic's first pitch on Opening Da,y which will leave for LAX, where he will board a one-way flight back to Boston (Hey, A Militant can dream, okay?), he offers this tune:

The Militant's 'Levitated Mass' Playlist!

Here in Los Angeles, we commemorate the anniversaries of earthquakes and point out our faults (pun most obviously intended, be warned, this post is full of 'em...), but never before has geology otherwise been the talk of the town for an entire week.

Tonight is the final trek of Levitated Mass' hundred-mile journey (at five miles an hour, so everybody sees you) from its birthplace in a Riverside quarry to its new home at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Miracle Mile. There are celebrations anticipated tonight for the big-ass rock's arrival. There's even a 3K footrace and a group bike ride (Critical Levitated Mass, anyone?) You can say an entire city has been...stoned. You can say that we've been bouldered-over. You can say that this event has Levitated Mass appeal. You can say...uh-oh, the Pun Police are coming.

Now, some people have scoffed at the $10 million cost of bringing a big-ass rock through city streets. But think about it for a second: With roughly 10 million people in Los Angeles County talking about this thing all week, it's a genius marketing campaign to get people to visit (and possibly become donors) to LACMA -- at a cost of $1 a person!

To honor the arrival of LM tonight, DJ Militant Angeleno has cooked up a music playlist of appropriate tunes to celebrate the journey. Feel free to play these tunes at full blast from your car stereos, boom boxes or those mobile bike trailer sound systems!


"Like A Rock" - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
You're probably more familiar with this song hawking Chevy Trucks back in the '90s, but imagine the kinetic energy building up as Levitated Mass begins rolling on along north from Figueroa and Gage tonight. It's making its declaration after spending all day in the 81-degree sunshine:

Stood there boldly
Sweatin' in the sun 
Felt like a million 
Felt like number one 
The height of summer (-like weather)
I'd never felt that strong 
Like a rock..


"I'm Stone In Love With You" - The Stylistics
Art Laboe would approve of this slow jam classic. An entire city has fallen in love with a 340-ton boulder. Need The Militant say more?


"Rock On" - Michael Damian
Yes, so it's the cheesy '80s cover version of the 1973 David Essex hit, but come on.

Where do we go from here?
Which is the way that's clear?

North on Figueroa then west on Adams, that's where. And thank your lucky stars the Metro Expo Line was built underground through here so as not to interfere with the height of the rock and its ginormous transport machine...otherwise we'd have to wait until like 2014 for the thing to open.


"Rock With You" - Michael Jackson


"Rock Me Tonite" - Billy Squier


"Rock Around The Clock" - Bill Haley and the Comets


Moving a big-ass boulder around town takes a long time, and is an operation performed in the wee hours of the night.   And besides, if MJ were still with us, he'd probably buy a Levitated Mass of his own.


"Planet Rock" - Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force


"Rockit" - Herbie Hancock

Break off a piece of the surface of the planet and fault it a hundred miles to be displayed at a museum? Well, whip out the cardboard, 'cause here's some breakdance classics to celebrate L.M. Rock, yo!


"Solid" - Ashford and Simpson


Levitated Mass is the hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hottest thing in town!


"Rock Of Ages" - Def Leppard

Rise up, gather 'round...this Rock of Ages is still rollin'...towards LACMA.



"I Wanna Rock" - Quiet Riot

You're sure getting one.


"Can't Stop The Rock" - Apollo 440

Props to fellow local blogger (and Tweeter) Will Campbell who chose this '90s breakbeat anthem as LevMass' theme song. And look for him doing a time-lapse video of the move.


"We Will Rock You" - Queen

Can you feel the excitement in the air? Levitated Mass its just about to arrive at LACMA, with a large crowd gathering there for its much-heraleded arrival. And can you imagine those throngs of Angelenos (or at the very least, LACMA staffers), in unison, doing a "Stomp-Stom-CLAP" and chanting, "We Will, We Will ROCK YOU!"?



"Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO

The big moment has arrived! It's a party atmosphere here at LACMA! This Party Rock is definitely in the house tonight! What better song to celebrate than this dance track fro, Los Angeles' own LMFAO? The Militant expects you all to be shuffling. SHAKE THAT!

Heavy Metro

Here's absolute proof that Metro Rail RAWWWWKS!!! The Eastside-based hardcore band It's Casual performs "The Red Line."

Vlogstyle Episode 10: Happy Hollyween!

The Militant doesn't show himself in public very much, but he did take the (M) Red Line to Hollywood on Halloween Night to join the thousands who walk the boulevard annually (sans silly-string). Although the LAPD's foot traffic management is kinda wonky, it's a place for costume-wearing pedestrians to see and be seen. Enjoy another Militant Angeleno Vlogstyle video!

Long Beach Week: King Of The (Signal) Hill

Well friends, Long Beach Week! has now come to an end. The Militant thought he'd close off this series by choosing a Long Beach location that's not even in The LBC proper (Gasp! But it's still in the 562 though...) That place is the 365-foot-high promontory overlooking the area called Signal Hill. Many of you may or may not know the place as its own city, but it's an actual hill.

Like Long Beach itself, it's got an interesting history and is very easy to get to. The name derives not from the communications towers situated at its peak, but from the Tongva -- the indigenous people of the Los Angeles area -- who used this sentinel to deliver smoke signals to their friends across the water in Pimug-na (a.k.a. Catalina Island).

More recently, in the 1920s, oil was discovered on Signal Hill, as it was part of the Long Beach Oil Field which produced 20 percent of the entire US oil supply that decade. Oil derricks once covered the hill so much, it was nicknamed, "Porcupine Hill."

After oil production slowed down (oil pumps still operate on the hill), it became the bougie district for the LBC, with a bunch of rich folks homes being built there.

But despite the upper income element, the place is very much publicly accessible.

After The Militant's Cambodia Town adventure, it was a simple matter of riding the Long Beach Transit Line 21 bus up Cherry Avenue, where he got off at Skyline Drive and took a not-that-strenuous uphill hike (Though the hill is 365 feet high, the bus will already take you halfway there) up the street to Hilltop Park, a wonderful public space dedicated not just to a killer view, but to the historic legacy of the hill.

In the middle of the part is an art installation that looks like an artificial blue palm tree, but actually symbolizes both the rising column of smoke from the Tongva and the rising gushes of oil from the black gold era. Other elements of the art installation tell the history of Signal Hill.

Although the view was apparently killed by the overcast clouds on this particular day, one can still get a killer view. Couples hung out to watch the sunset together. A photographer was taking snapshots of his modeling client. A Cambodian American couple were taking wedding engagement photos, dressed in traditional Khmer attire.A Latino family was sharing a meal on a picnic table. Others walked dogs or jogged on the Panorama Promenade paved path that runs along the northern edge of the hill, right under some rich people's houses.

From there, one can get a clear view of airplanes taking off and landing below at Long Beach Airport (pictured right). Cal State Long Beach was easily visible below. A little farther, and one can see buildings in Orange County.

Returning back to Hilltop Park, both Downtown Long Beach and the Long Beach Harbor are in full view. Heck, you can even see Los Angeles Harbor and the Vincent Thomas Bridge. As well as Carson and Wilmington towards the west, where the fierce power of the Southland's oil refineries rage on with wafting veils of stem, smoke and plumes of fire. Look north, just beyond the Compton courthouse building, right through the low clouds and you can see the faint outline of Downtown Los Angeles.

But perhaps the best part of Signal Hill? You can see each and every location The Militant covered in the Long Beach Week! series. Check it:

How many of the Seven Long Beach Buildings You Should Know About can you spot here?

Here's the Pacific Electric bridge on Orange and Hill!

Signal Hill is no longer Porcupine Hill, but you can definitely still see oil pumps still at work (And isn't that the Walter Pyramid there down below?)

As the sun set, The Militant marched back down the hill and took a short walk to Willow Street, where he boarded the Long Beach Transit Line 102 bus back to Long Beach Boulevard where he got on the (M) Blue Line train back to Los Angeles. It was a nice couple of days spent in Long Beach doing militant research for this blog series. He truly felt like a tourist in his own home land. Surely there were more adventures he could have written about and places to go...maybe he'll do Long Beach Week, Part Deux! But maybe The Militant hopes you make your own trip down the Blue Line, retrace some of his steps and go on your own Militant adventures in The LBC.


The Militant will leave you with an interactive Google Map on all the locations featured in The Militant Angeleno's Long Beach Week!

View Militant Angeleno's Long Beach Week! in a larger map

A Special Message From The Militant Angeleno (Video)

Oingo Boingo: A Los Angeles Halloween Music Tradition

Transplants, the Los Angeles experts that they are, love saying that this City has no traditions. Wrongo. Los Angeles does have them, you just don't know what they are. But some traditions, long enjoyed by the locals, are no longer around. perhaps the most well-known tradition was the annual Oingo Boingo Halloween concert. Now if you're really new to Los Angeles, or are under 25 years old, or both, you might be saying, "Oingo What?"

The Militant will explain.

Years before Danny Elfman became exclusively known as a film score composer, he was the lead singer of a rock band called Oingo Boingo. Started in the early '70s with his brother Richard and some UCLA friends, they were originally called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, an eclectic theatrical-music act spanning various genres and eras. In the late '70s, the band gravitated towards a more modern rock, ska and new wave sound and shortened the name to its now-well-known suffix.

The band was signed to A&M records and were local staples on the new wave-formatted KROQ 106.7 FM, and got national exposure via MTV. Songs like "Only A Lad," "Who Do You Want To Be" and "Little Girls" were some of their biggest hits. But they hit the big time through their theme song from the 1985 movie Weird Science and had other hits like "Just Another Day" and "Dead Man's Party."

Even in the midst of their mainstream success and world tours, they would always find the time to come back home to Los Angeles come late October and play their annual Halloween concert, which took place at various venues such as The Palace (now The Avalon Hollywood), Irvine Meadows (now Verizon) Ampitheatre and the Universal (now Gibson) Ampitheatre (See, our venues are still around, they just change their names...), where they played their final Halloween concert - and final concert ever - in 1995.

The heir apparent to Oingo Boingo is the performance art-rock band The Mutaytor, which includes former Oingo Boingo bass player John Avila, who does annual Halloween concerts with a "Danny Elfman-approved" tribute band and sometimes other Oingo Boingo alums such as drummer Johnny Vatos Hernandez and guitarist Steve Bartek. Elfman unfortunately does not participate due to suffering from irreversible hearing loss and avoids loud amplified concert settings.

But Oingo Boingo's music legacy lives on as one of Los Angeles' most influential and original bands, and, along with Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark, (No) Silly String on Hollywood Boulevard, West Hollywood's Halloween Costume Carnival and Knotts Scary Farm, it will always be one of this area's own Halloween traditions. Happy Halloween!

Vlogstyle Episode 07: The Militant Experiences CicLAvia!!!

So CicLAvia finally happened on Sunday. The Militant's utopian wet dream of car-free streets in Los Angeles came true, if only for five hours on 10/10/10. It was a unique day in the city, having been shared this event with some 100,000 others. The day was chill, peaceful, joyful. Never before has he seen so many Angelenos engaged in wondrous displays of leisure. But most important is the social impact. Lots of new friends were made (Facebook as well as real-life), mutual experiences were shared. The Militant was even spotted (probably, he can never conform nor deny any spottings by any of the other participants, but he was definitely out there). Kudos to the people who organized this history-making event. No doubt, this is but the first of many. Los Angeles will never be the same.

So enjoy the Militant's little video of the event. As you can see, it made him react...quite emotionally.

Huell Takes A Trip

If you thought yesterday's sunset was a trip, get a load of this. Just had to share this with y'all.

Happy 20th Birthday, Metro Rail! - Militant Footage Of The Blue Line Grand Opening

Today, July 14, is a special day in Los Angeles (and not just for those French expats out there). For it was 20 years ago on this date, on a hot, sunny Saturday in a then-desolate section of Downtown Los Angeles that a couple thousand Angelenos converged on Flower Street to witness the Grand Opening ceremony of the Metro Blue Line, the first component of what we now know as the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, heralding the long-overdue return of rail transit to the region.

Best of all, the Militant was definitely there. So direct from the Militant archives, the Militant Angeleno would like to celebrate this landmark occasion by sharing with you footage of the opening ceremonies and the first Blue Line train, straight from the Militant's own big-ass VHS camcorder home video footage (those things weren't very light, you know...):


This was also listed as KCET.org's Video Of The Day!
For all you longtime Angelenos, you can spot some well-known dignitaries of the time who are no longer with us, such as the late County supervisor Kenneth Hahn, California Lt. Governor Leo McCarthy and of course the great Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley.

Look closely and you can also spot City Councilman Mike Woo, RTD director Nick Patsaouras and a brown-haired James Hahn, who was City Attorney at the time.

Yes, aside from being in the Pre-Villaraigosa world, we were really living in a different place back then; On Blue Line opening day, the line was only 19.5 miles long - only the section between the Pico and Anaheim stations was in operation (The Long Beach loop would open in September '90 and the underground section to 7th/Metro Center opened in Feb '91). The fares were free for the first two weeks, and afterward were only $1.10 (A 40-cent increase in 20 years? Compare that to the increase of gas prices since then - $1.16/gal vs. $3.07/gal today. Not bad when you think about it, so quit yer bitching, BRU drones). The area around Pico Station was a bleak industrial zone. No Staples Center, the Convention Center had not been expanded yet, and certainly no condos, restaurants or LA Live. In fact, tell someone 20 years ago about that and you'd get laughed at!

But transit has come a long way since then. "Metro" was just a branding term back then, as the transit authority at the time was the Southern California Rapid Transit District (a.k.a. RTD (Rough, Tough and Dirty, Really Tardy Drivers, etc)). The transit planning agency was the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, an entity invisible to the typical Angeleno. The two agencies would merge three years later to become the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Metro, that we know today. The blue striping on the trains were replaced several years ago with the orange striping we see today, and some of the shiny, new Japanese-built railcars that first rolled on that day will be retired and replaced in the near future (with former Gold Line cars).

But most of all, the 0 miles of rail transit that existed 20 years and one day ago has bloomed into a now a 79.1-mile system of five colored lines, larger than SF's 72-mile BART system was 20 years ago. The litany of localities listed in Supervisor Ed Edelman's speech are all reachable destinations today (Well, okay, LAX...not quite yet). Most of all, the little kids and crying babies who rode on the same train as the Militant that day are now grown adults, some of whom ride Metro Rail to and from work every day.

So there you go. The Militant was definitely there to witness history and bring it to you today. If you can get a chance, take a ride on Metro Rail today and reflect on where we've been and where we're going (Culver City, Santa Monica and Azusa are just around the corner).

And here was how the local TV news reported on the event:




HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY, METRO RAIL!

A Sharrow Is Born!

Last night, as the Militant was riding his bike along Fountain Avenue in East Hollywood, he saw something truly cool - subcontractors for the City painting shared-lane markings, also known as "sharrows," meant to indicate the shared use of a traffic lane between autos and bicycles. A familiar sight in places like Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles is finally looking at implementing these citywide via a pilot program, installing them in four locations. These Fountain avenue sharrows were first applied on Friday, and the job for the one-mile section of Fountain between Vermont and Western was completed on Tuesday night.

The Militant chatted with one of the crews who applied the sharrows, who worked for a company called SEI, subcontracted by the City of Los Angeles' Bureau of Street Services. He said it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to apply each sharrow, which consists of three templates (the left and right sides of the bike icon and the double arrow chevron), which are lined up against reference markings on the road. A paint roller cart does two passes over each stencil and some magic pixie dust is sprinkled over the whole thing.

Okay, okay, it's not magic pixie dust, but "glass beads," the crewman said, which adds reflective properties to the sharrow. Check out the video above to see how they do it!

The crews had a busy night ahead (the Militant was there at about 11 p.m.), they were off to 4th Street between Western and Normandie to paint some sharrows there.

On Location: 'Train'-spotting in Echo Park

It's no secret that Los Angeles is one of the most-filmed cities in the world, whether standing in for itself or another city, but oftentimes the Militant will be watching a movie, television show, commercial or music video and go, "The Militant knows where that is!" This is the first of an infrequent series on the Militant Angeleno's blog called "On Location" that pinpoints their filming locations here in town.

The Militant has been hearing some catchy pop tune lately that makes lyrical references to Mr. Mister and Madonna, and just found out it's the song, "Hey, Soul Sister" from the alt-pop band Train - yes, that same Train that gave us "Hey Virginia" and "Drops of Jupiter" that became daily fodder on the old incarnation of Star 98.7.

Anyway, the music video for that song (window plays above) features a recognizable locale for the Militant; a little, way-off hipstermagnet corner of Echo Park embedded in the hills a half-mile north of Sunset, right at the corner of Echo Park Avenue and Delta Street. The cafe the band is playing in front of is none other than Chango Coffee.

Of course, they're not the first "Train" to show up in that part of town; the old Pacific Electric Echo Park Avenue Line ran there until 1950.

Go Retro: Whitney And The Robot!

Before Nickelodeon, and even before PBS, there was a time when local television stations around the country aired locally-produced children's programming.

Here in Los Angeles, locally-produced kids' shows aired largely from the 1950s to the early 1990s, stretching from Sheriff John to Hobo Kelly to That's Cat (Raise ya fist up if you remember any of those!).

The Militant did some reminiscing as well. When the Militant was young (a.k.a. Lil' Mil), he watched a show from the late '70s called Whitney and the Robot which aired on - and was produced by - KNBC 4.

The show featured an unabashedly blatant R2D2 knockoff robot named 4U2, who came from a planet named Zeda and was sent to the planet Earth to learn more about it, under the care of a whimsical taxi cab driver (not a very busy or lucrative profession in Los Angeles) named Whitney. Whitney's good pal, the red-headed Corky, would join them on their various adventures, and would frequently break out in song.

So what's so militant about this? Well, each episode featured a different locale, filmed around the Los Angeles area, where the child-like robot would learn about things or experience them, from visiting the city dump to learn about recycling and where your garbage goes (the one episode most people seem to recall) or taking a train ride at Union Station or learning about horses at a ranch (filmed at the Old Rex Allen Ranch in Calabasas). Did this show fuel Lil' Mil's budding Angeleno knowledge? It may or may not have...but he tends to think it did.

The show was created by its (human) actors, Whitney Rydbeck, a local actor with a mime background (having performed in the Richmond Shepard mime troupe in Los Angeles in the 1960s), and Robert V. "Corky" Greene, another local actor with a musical background. Both have done bit parts in television and movies since Whitney and the Robot - (Whitney even sealed his place in Star Trek lore), and Rydbeck currently works as a performing arts professor at Pasadena City College. Greene, a Van Nuys High alum, got into directing and producing and seems to be enjoying grandfatherhood these days. He's been known to lurk on teh Interwebz so he might very well stumble upon this here blog post! (Whatup, Corky?!)

Anyway, here's what the show's opening looked like (rather long by today's standards...):



You can watch one of the episodes here - if you were a kid in the late '70s, it may or may not take you back!

There were only 14 episodes made, from late 1978 to 1979. KNBC aired the show on Saturday and/or Sunday mornings up until the mid-1980s, but the show was also syndicated to other cities and aired at one time or another on television up until 1990.

For the Militant, and those around his age who remember this show, it was a way to learn about things and places and present Los Angeles as a familiar place, free from the usual cliches and stereotypes one would eventually pick up later on in life. It's a crying shame the kids of today have no equivalent.

Vlogstyle Episode 06: The Militant Rides Angels Flight 3.0!

The Militant couldn't quite recall when was the last time he rode Angels Flight before the tragic February 1, 2001 accident, but he seems to think it may or may not have been towards the end of 2000 - nearly 10 years ago. And why would he remember? It was one of those things he took for granted.

After much anticipation, the Militant overheard via the Twittersphere that the Flight was open for riders today (the soft opening apparently began 10 a.m. on Saturday), so the Militant headed straight for Downtown for a ride. Sure enough, the twin orange-and-black cars, named Sinai (the one on the north-side track) and Olivet (the one on the south-side track), were moving. It was almost like it never left - the familiar rumble of the minute-long journey was there, and the dancing waters of California Plaza greeted him at the top.

The Militant does vividly remember being there on February 24, 1996 (Huell Howser and his trusted cameraman Luis Fuerte were there), patiently waiting in line. After the ceremonial ribbon-cutting heralding the release of Angels Flight 2.0, (re-)opened to the public after a 27-year absence from Angeleno reality, a nearly 3-decade limbo of historical lore, Leo Politi paintings and cynical uncertainty. But that limbo turned to heaven as Sinai and Olivet ascended and descended, as everyone assumed - for good.

The world has changed since 2/1/01. Most obvious was what happened seven months and ten days later some 3,000 miles away. But other things have changed. On Sunday afternoon, the Militant tweeted, "And YES, The Militant just rode on @AngelsFlight again!!!!!!!!!!!!" and suddenly realized that there was no Twitter back in 2001, much less 1996, even much less 1969 when Angels Flight 1.0 last ran (Speaking of which, there is an official Angels Flight Twitter account). In 2001, not as many people lived in Downtown Los Angeles. No Gold Line, No L.A. Live (but then again, virtually no hipsters...). And there was no Militant Angeleno blog. So here he is.

As he hung out near the top of the funicular, people-watching, he saw a couple teenagers watch the cars go up and down attentively -- they were too young to remember when they ran last. And he saw younger children ride on the 'Flight for the very first time -- they weren't even born the last time people were able to ride it (He also spotted Ed Fuentes, a.k.a. Mr. View From A Loft take a quick ride up and down, heheheh).

Angels Flight 3.0, which officially opens to the public on Monday (which will likely have long lines of residents, office workers and tourists clamoring to get their first ride in), is designed with several 'fail-safe' features that will hopefully keep the tragic death of 83-year old tourist (and Holocaust survivor) Leon Praport an anomaly. Features like a second cable (which Angels Flight 2.0 lacked, but Angels Flight 1.0 had) and track brakes designed to stop the vehicle in case of drive system failure are now implemented, so hopefully the third time's the charm, and no Angeleno from here on out will be deprived of an opportunity to ride it.

The Militant welcomes Sinai and Olivet back to Bunker Hill!

Angels Flight 3.0 operates from 6:45 a.m. to 10 p.m. 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Fare is 25 cents each way; payment is made at the top station.

Just Getting Warmed Up!

Yes, the Militant knows, nothing but Dodgers right now. But bear with him. These are some exciting times.

It's been five days since the last Dodger game and us True Blue fans can't seem to get enough. But the Militant, thanks to an operative's tip, was able to go to the Stadium (now with NLCS logo painted on the field) and eavesdrop on the Dodgers' warm-up session on a precipitous Wednesday afternoon, in the misty drizzle (fo' shizzle), as the tarps were rolled away and the Boys In Blue come out to get ready to play. So here's your Dodger fill just before the big game today. The Militant may or may not be there (Wait, who is he kidding? Of course he will be there)! GO BLUE!

The End of a Rabbit Ear-a: The DTV Transition Begins!

Welp, Angelenos, the time has come. Are you ready for the DTV era? If not, the Militant hopes you know where to turn and what to do.

Today, various local televisions made the switch and shut down their analog signals forever, at their own specified time schedules. The Militant discovered that KABC had already made the full switch, and in the process, changed the frequency of its DTV channel so that it also no longer works. You have to re-scan your HDTV/DTV's tuner to pick up the new frequency.

At 1:10 p.m. today, the Militant witnessed history as KCAL 9 switched off the analog signal it has been broadcasting since August 25, 1948 (as KFI-TV, then KHJ-TV in 1951), and captured it on his Militant Cam!

Missed it? Watch the YouTube video below taken by the Militant himself to see it happen!





After KCAL switched, he also found his previously-viewed DTV Channel 9-1 was no longer viewable. A simple re-scan brought back KCAL 9-1 at the new frequency. Apparently you're gonna have to do the re-scan boogie for the next few days.

The Militant has been enjoying digital TV since he got the new Samsung HDTV set to replace the old cathode ray tube at the Militant Compound last year. He loves the new sub-channels, and awaits the creation of a few more in the near future. Being that the Militant does not have cable (Paying for TV that shows commercials is teh 'tarded, and honestly, if the Militant had cable, he would be more of a Militant Couch Potato than anything else...).

Vlogstyle Episode 04: The Militant Invades San Diego!

Hey, it's been a while since he made one of these. This time he gets back behind the camera to show you what he did this past weekend in San Diego, armed with his bike, an Amtrak ticket and his trusty Militant Video Camera. From Downtown to Point Loma to La Mesa to Balboa Park to Old Town, the Militant presents his little getaway.

For your curiosity, here's where the Militant rode:

The Militant's Santa Fe Station to Pt. Loma ride route - 9.7 miles

The Militant's Stockton District to Old Town (via Balboa Park) ride route - 12 miles