Sunday, October 23, 2011

FOGSHADOWS!

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

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


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

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


Here's some more pics, since it did happen:
The 53-story Figueroa at Wilshire building in fogshadows! (Click to enlarge)
The 52-story City National Bank building looks kinda glorious this Sunday morning. TESTIFY, BROTHAH! (Click to  ginormify)
CNB's twin. the Paul Hastings (gotta be in italics!) building bathes in the light. (Click and make big)
The 45-story KPMG (no, not a TV or radio station) tower casts a fogshadow. (Click!)
Up on Bunker Hill, the Grand Avenue Quartet (Wells Fargo Plaza, One California Plaza, Two California Plaza and the KPMG Tower) play a symphony of shadows and light in the fog. (Click to supersize)


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Vlogstyle Episode 09: The Militant Votes For 'Pedro!


It's been a while since The Militant brought you a Vlogstyle adventure! This time, he spent last Saturday exploring the unique sights of San Pedro! Enjoy the sights of the port community, set to a very San Pedro soundtrack from The Minutemen, Ambrosia, Skwish Kricket and Art Pepper.

Friday, October 14, 2011

#OccupyArtWalk

Two years after The Militant first visited the Downtown Los Angeles ArtWalk, he decided to take advantage of the very warm Summer Autumn evening on Thursday night to visit some food tru...er...art galleries. Yeah, that's it.

On his Red Line ride downtown, he eavesdropped on a conversation between a woman and a young cyclist, who was apparently just released from the hospital wearing a splint on his right arm. Apparently he was riding with some friends in Griffith Park and hit a car that stopped suddenly in front of him. His injuries apparently were limited to his arm, but his bike was bent to an unrideable condition. Please tell your motorist friends to be more aware on the streets (and get off that f'ing cellphone)!

His first, er, gallery stop was the Waffles de Liege gallery, where he purchased a delectable...sculpture for $7 created with a grid-baked pastry and painted with frozen flavored milk cream medium.
Okay, okay, The Militant did check out some actual art. One of the Militant's fave galleries, Crewest, was closed by the time he passed by, but he walked into various unspecified galleries on Main Street. Just next to the Pacific Electric Lofts Building, there was some commotion on the sidewalk and a sign-spinner bearing an arrow placard, reading, "HIPPOS!"

Sure enough, behind the glass entrance doors on 632  Main Street, there they were...




Click to watch the video of the ArtWalk hippos!
Okay, so it was an esoteric performance art piece, with a quartet of people wearing hippopotamus masks over shirts, ties and slacks, confined to a room with a bed, an adding machine and oscilloscope, cables and toilet paper, among other items. It was so absurd it was awesome. ArtWalk needs more performance art like this!

The Spring Arcade building was fully lit inside and was a kickin' bazaar of art, clothing and artisanal (art- is-anal?) food. But The Militant was most blown away by the Angelesque photoillustrations of native Angeleno artist Mitch Reiter (pictured left). MILITANT APPROVED!

A few minutes later, on Spring Street, the sight of hundreds of people matching down the street and the chanting of, "Who's Streets? Our Streets!" grabbed the attention of many. It was the #OccupyLA protestors who came down from City Hall! A bunch of ArtWalkers joined them as well, down Spring to 7th then back up Main again. LAPD officers on foot, car and bike followed close behind, but allowed them to continue as long as they remained on the sidewalk. In all, just like the daily City Hall sit-in, the #OccupyArtWalk march was pretty chill. Hey, demonstration is an artform in itself!
The Militant stayed with the marchers up until the LAPD Administration Building, where he just decided to chill in the great public lawn plaza, while snapping pics of City Hall, The Times Building and the DTLA skyline before hopping back on the last Red Line ride out of Downtown. It almost felt like being in a town square in a different city. Are we there yet? Almost.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Secrets Of The Metro: A Gratuitous Plug For The Blue Line

Our 21-year-old light rail leg known as the (M) Blue Line is quite a workhorse. Shuttling riders daily from Downtown Los Angeles to Downtown Long Beach and back, it carries everyone from white collar commuters to homeless people, from seniors to infants. Though the Westside-based anti-rail publication known as the LA Weekly has given the Blue Line a bad rap, 90,000 commuters daily can't be wrong.

On a recent Blue Line ride, the Militant, a bit fatigued after biking several miles around Long Beach, plopped his ass down on one of the side-facing seats and saw one rider chat away on his iPhone, looking a bit worried. The train, just leaving Long Beach wasn't yet full of riders on this particular evening, so the iPhone-chatting rider lifted up the retractable three-seat bench (meant to be folded to accommodate wheelchair riders) on the right front side of the car and plugged his phone charger into a single power socket located in the wall underneath the seats to keep his iPhone juiced up.
The Militant, being a veteran Blue Line rider since 1990 and previously thinking he knew everything there was to know about the Blue Line, hung his mouth open in disbelief.

Of course, back in the early '90s, the people who could afford cell phones didn't ride public transit anyway, and the only portable items that riders used back then were portable Discman players and Nintendo Game Boys. If the power started to falter during that Color Me Badd CD or challenging Tetris round, one could buy a set of AA batteries from the various illegal vendors roaming the train.

Twenty years later, we live in a world of iPods, iPhones, iPads and iCouldnameahundredotherportableelectronicdevices. We need our juice and are useless without it. Being mostly above-ground, Blue Line riders can read their RSS feeds, update their Facebook statuses or read up on the latest Tweets to pass the time on their up-to-an-hour-long commute.

But there it was, a working plug (well two, one on each end of the car) in every Blue Line car. 

Being that the cars were made in the late '80s-early '90s, their use obviously wasn't for portable electronic devices but for cleaning and maintenance. When the cars go back into the North Long Beach Yard along the 710 every night, they get cleaned up. The plug was intended for maintenance workers to plug in vacuum cleaners, steam cleaners or various test machinery. They may or may not actually use them.

What makes the Japanese-built Blue Line cars extra special is that they're the only Metro Rail cars that have 'em: The Italian-built Red Line or latest-generation Gold Line cars don't have them, and the German-made Green Line/early Gold Line/eventual Expo Line cars lack them as well. Chalk it up as Japanese ingenuity, or just the simple fact that Japan has a compatible power voltage as the US does.

So now that the "secret" is out, feel free to plug in and charge up...But PLEASE do The Militant (and each other) a favor and LEARN TO SHARE. We certainly don't want anyone stabbing each other because of this!

Monday, October 10, 2011

Ride And Go Cic(LAvia)

Well oh well, wasn't that another great CicLAvia Sunday? Certainly the next few days will bear witness to countless blog posts, Flickr pics, YouTube videos (timelapse or otherwise) and the overall coming-down-from-that-CicLAvia-high feeling, at least until next Spring.

This time around, the route got extended some two and a half miles. The Militant, of course, fired off another Epic Militant CicLAvia Tour post, which you all may or may not have read (or downloaded). But on the route, we saw the first diversions from the classic east-west route that has been around for a year.

The corner of Central Avenue and 14th Street was alive for all of Sunday's all-but-too-short five hours of CicLAvianess. The African American Firefighter Museum  set the stage (both literally and figuratively) for the new southern terminus of the event, with live bands playing funk, hip-hop and reggae music.

The museum itself was open for exhibition and tacos, tortas and aguas frescas were hawked just outside the building.

It was a celebration of South Los Angeles, which finally got a chance to represent in this citywide open streets celebration. The Militant could get nitpicky and point out that we weren't actually in  South Los Angeles, as we were still a good few blocks north of the 10 Freeway, But if South Los Angeles is the contemporary PC term for South Central Los Angeles, and we were on South Central Avenue, then by that equational technicality alone, one can argue that, yes, we were in South Los Angeles.

But that was actually beside the point. One of the emcees onstage said on the microphone that this was a "Historic day for South Los Angeles" by co-hosting CicLAvia for the first time. All this being said while a DJ played Ice Cube's Isley Brothers-sampled laid back hood anthem "Today Was A Good Day." Folks, that was a powerful moment - people were proud of their community and were showing off that pride to visitors, perhaps for the first time. A pack of gleaming chrome lowrider bicycles - as ubiquitous to South Los Angeles and the Eastside as fixies are to "The Center" of town - was proudly being paraded about by Southside locals.

Even the local corporate presence represented. The nautical-themed Coca Cola building (pictured left) surprisingly yielded to common sense and had its marketing troops hand out free Coke and Powerade samples to CicLAvia participants - a smart and logical move on this warm fall day. CicLAvia wasn't some pesky event that inconvenienced their employees, but became something they actively got to be a part of.

On the downside, whether it was out of unfamiliarity, fear, or the fact that very few two-wheeled CicLAvia guests actually knew how to navigate the makeshift roundabout established at 7th and Spring, but there were far fewer people headed south than going on the classic route. Granted, there were long stretches of nothingness, like the industrial dead zone between The Fashion District and the PiƱata Distrist by Central and Olympic.

So maybe the new southern spur doesn't have anything as picturesque (ship-like soft drink factory aside) as The view from the 4th Street Bridge or City Hall or the LAPD building with the City Hall reflection on it, but CicLAvia is meant to have us discover our city, and discovery awaits. At the Southside terminus there was an organization called ParTour that encouraged participants to sign up with their mobile phones and photoblog/tweet places along the CicLAvia route in South Los Angeles to advocate extending the route farther south. Only problem, aside from the Coke building and the firefighter museum, there wasn't much of a CicLAvia route in South Los Angeles as of yet...also some of the instructions were confusing. Nonetheless, The Militant wholeheartedly supports their efforts in extending the route, hopefully to historic Central Avenue (live jazz along the route please?) and even down to the Watts Towers. Let's face it, the CicLAvia folks and the City are able to give us this much during a budget crisis. Just think of what is possible when we no longer have a budget shortfall? A SFV CicLAvia is already being planned for next year (Which means another Epic Militant CicLAvia tour is forthcoming...).

As for the northern spur...uhh...The Militant unfortunately didn't even have time to get to that! CAN WE HAS LONGER CICLAVIA HOURS? KTHXBAI.

See or not see you on the streets on April 15, 2012 when we get to do this all again!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

The Militant's Epic Militant CicLAvia Tour 2.0!!

For the NEW locations of interest in the North and South Spurs on the CicLAvia route, please skip down to #28!



View The Militant Angeleno's CicLAvia Tour! in a larger map

Note: Though The Militant likes to view the route from west to east for some reason, he has listed these sites from East to West, as some of the sites are related and make a little more sense when going that direction.

It's baaaack! After unfortunately cancelling its July 10 event, CicLAvia returns with a vengeance, bigger than ever! Instead of just seven miles, there's now 10 miles of route for your biking/walking/jogging/rollerblading/wheelchairing/razorscootering/skateboaring pleasure! And with that, The Militant has updated his award-winning Epic Militant CicLAvia Tour to include the new routes! So here is the tour, in its entirety. If you've read through the old tour, just skip ahead to #28!

Classic CicLAvia Route (Boyle Heights to East Hollywood)

1. Hollenbeck Park
1892
4th and St. Louis streets, Boyle Heights

John Edward Hollenbeck was a rich dude in the late 19th century who founded the First National Bank of Los Angeles (more on this later) and purchased parcels of land in Downtown, the San Gabriel Valley and the Eastside, where he made his home. Hollenbeck was also credited with the creation of what is now called Exposition Park. His sister married his friend, James George Bell, who founded...Yep, you guessed it! After Hollenbeck's death in 1885, his widow, Elizabeth, donated a 21-acre parcel of land, which was essentially their front yard, to the City. One of the Los Angeles’ oldest parks, it was established in 1892 and continues to function today.

2. Hollenbeck Palms (Site of the Hollenbeck Residence)
1896
573 S. Boyle Ave, Boyle Heights

Take a quick detour from the CicLAvia route on 4th street and head down Boyle Ave a block and a half south.
On the site of this retirement facility, which directly dates back to the Hollenbecks' involvement, John and Elizabeth Hollenbeck made their home. The original Hollenbeck residence had a room built for the care of John's elderly father. After John's death, Elizabeth donated land she owned across the street (since visually separated from Boyle Ave in the 1950s due to construction of the 5 Freeway) for Hollenbeck Park and, in another act of philanthropy, created the Hollenbeck Home for The Aged on her property in 1896, offering free board and care for the residents for the rest of their lives. After Elizabeth's death in 1918, the Hollenbeck Trust operated the elderly home (modernized in 1985), and continue to run it today.

3. Metro Division 20 subway car yard and site of old Santa Fe LaGrande Station
1992 / 1893
320 S. Santa Fe Ave (visible from the 4th Street Viaduct), Arts District

Take a break from riding/walking/skateboarding/pogo-sticking/etc. and take a glance off the north side of the bridge from the west bank of the River. This facility is where the 104 Italian-built subway cars of the Metro Red and Purple line cars are stored, repaired, serviced and cleaned. This was also the temporary storage and repair site of the Angels Flight railway cars after the fateful 2001 accident. The Militant actually visited this facility back in May 1992.

The subway cars are also serviced on the site of the old Santa Fe Railway La Grande Station (hence the name of the street) that was on Santa Fe and 2nd. Built in 1893, it was precisely where midwestern transplants arrived in Los Angeles after paying their $1 train ticket from Chicago. In 1933, the landmark dome was damaged by the Long Beach Earthquake and subsequently removed. In 1939, it was rendered obsolete by the opening of the new Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal a few blocks north.

4. Site of Quaker Dairy, Original Little Tokyo Restaurant
1890
304 E. 1st St., Little Tokyo
On the southeast corner of 1st and San Pedro streets once stood the Quaker Dairy, a restaurant started on this site in 1890 by Sanshichi Akita, an immigrant from Japan. Though preceded five years earlier by another restaurant on First St (location unknown), this is the oldest traceable location of a Little Tokyo business. By the end of the 19th century, there were over 16 Japanese-owned restaurants in this stretch of 1st Street, creating what we know as Little Tokyo.

5. Los Angeles Sister Cities Monument
Circa late 1980s
1st and Main streets, Downtown

On the northeast corner of 1st and Main streets stands a pole bearing signs (in the "Blue Blade" style, no less) for every one of Los Angeles' 25 Sister Cities, each pointing towards their location. The signs range from Lusaka, Zambia (the farthest sister city, 10,017 miles) to Vancouver, Canada (the nearest, 1,081 miles) and everywhere in between. Nagoya, Japan is Los Angeles' oldest sister city (1959); Yerevan, Armenia is the newest (2007). Los Angeles, an Olympic host city (1932, 1984) also has that in common with sister cities Athens (1896, 2004), Berlin (1936), Mexico City (1968) and Vancouver (2010). Okay, the Militant is just filling up this paragraph with mindless trivia.

6. New Los Angeles City "Chevy Logo" Street Signs
2009
Various locations along 1st Street, Downtown

Speaking of Blue Blades, and since you're on 1st Street, don't forget to see Los Angeles' new street signs! Featuring a reflective background and typeface, the City Seal and shaped like the Chevrolet logo, these were the subject of The Militant's now-legendary recent post on Los Angeles street signs. Now you can see them for yourself!

7. Los Angeles Police Administration Building
2009
100 W. 1st St, Downtown

Having opened less than two years ago, there's nothing really historic about this building, but do stop and take a picture of City Hall's reflection from the facade's glass panel. It's like, the thing to do.

8. Old State Office Building Foundation
1931 (Demolished 1971)
1st and Spring streets, Downtown
Ever wonder about that park-like area across the street from City Hall, and why there appears to be a foundation but no building? It was once the site of the State Office Building (pictured left, looking north on Spring), which was built in 1931. Forty years later, the 6.4 Sylmar Earthquake rendered it unsafe, and it was demolished. The land was once an openly-accessible parkspace; the Militant remembers going to a demonstration there as a child (Oh this Militant stuff sure started early...)

9. Site of the Wilcox Building, First National Bank
1896
2nd and Spring streets, Downtown

Remember Mr. Hollenbeck? He be makin' serious bank! Oh wait, he literally did. As was mentioned, he founded a bank called the First National Bank of Los Angeles, which made its original home here on the southeast corner of 2nd and Spring in what once stood the Wilcox Building. Check this out: First National Bank merged with the Farmers and Merchants Bank to become the Security-First National Bank, which became Security Pacific National Bank (1967), and was eventually purchased by Bank of America in the 199os.

10. Site of Hollenbeck Hotel
1884
2nd and Spring streets, Downtown

Man, this Hollenbeck dude got around! We're not quite through with him yet. Directly across Spring Street from the bank (on what is now a parking lot) stood the Hollenbeck Hotel, a pretty swanky, bougie inn back in the day. He owned not just the hotel, the entire block the hotel stood on (He sooo money!). As more hotels were being built in Downtown, this one eventually lost ground to its competitors and was demolished in 1933.

11. Site of Original Ralphs Supermarket
1873
6th and Spring streets, Downtown

Before the Hotel Hayward building was built in 1905, George A. Ralphs (see, that's why there's no apostrophe) and his brother Walter B. started the Ralphs Bros. Grocers on the southwest corner of 6th and Spring. Their company still continues to this day, and in 2007, the company that started in DTLA returned to the area after some 50 years.

12. St. Vincent Court
1868
St. Vincent Ct and 7th Street, Downtown

You'd hardly knew it was there, but this alley nestled between Broadway and Hill (blink and you'll miss it!), with its decorative brick pavement and European decor, seemingly belongs to another world. Originally the site of a Catholic college that was the predecessor of today's Loyola Marymount University, today it's a unique food court featuring Armenian and Middle Eastern eateries. The Militant calls it, "Littler Armenia." Check out this Militant Angeleno post on St. Vincent Court from 2008 for more info!

13. Wilshire Grand Hotel
1952
7th and Figueroa streets, Downtown

What we see today as the Wilshire Grand Hotel is the latest in a long lineage of hotels that operated from that building. Originally built as the Los Angeles Statler Hotel (one of a dozen nationwide in that chain) in 1952, it became the Statler Hilton, then the Los Angeles Hilton, then the Omni Los Angeles Hotel, and finally the Wilshire Grand. Take a good look at this hotel, though - the hotel's owner, Korean Air Lines, plans to demolish it and put up a big-ass hotel with crazy-ass LED advertisements on the building in the next few years.

14. City View Lofts/Young's Market Company Building
1924
1610 w. 7th St., Pico-Union

Ever wondered what's the deal with this 4-story Italian Renaissance-style building? It was built in 1924 as a liquor warehouse and original headquarters for Young's Market Company, which still operates today as the largest liquor distributor in the West. This building features actual marble columns and a decorative frieze made of terra cotta. The company, in the roaring, pre-depression 1920s, just felt like it. The building was looted and burned in the 1992 Riots and was rehabbed in 1997 to become the City View lofts. The building is in the National Register of Historic Places.

15. Gen. Douglas MacArthur Monument
1955
Southeast corner of MacArthur Park, Westlake

It's sort of strange how a monument to the park's namesake seems almost invisible (Gen John Pershing, MacArthur's WWI counterpart, could totally identify). In fact, most people don't know it's even there, but on the southeast shore of the lake is a dormant memorial fountain featuring a statue of the WWII general overlooking a model of the Pacific theatre (no, not that one) where he led allied forces to eventual victory. It was designed and built in 1955 by Roger Noble Burnham, who previously sculpted the Tommy Trojan statue on the USC campus and taught at the Otis Art School, formerly located nearby.

16. Gen. Harrison Gray Otis Statue
1920
Northeast corner of Wilshire and Park View, Westlake

Gen. Otis is perhaps the most visible statue at the park, which predates MacArthur's WWII service. This general served in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars, and also fought as a Union soldier in the Civil War. But in Los Angeles, he is most known for being the founder, owner and publisher of the Los Angeles Times.

So why is he here? His Wilshire Blvd mansion, called The Bivouac, was located across the street, was later donated to Los Angeles County and became the original campus of Otis Art Institute. It's thought that his statue is pointing to the site of the Elks Lodge, but he's probably just pointing to his old house.

17. Nob Hill Towers/Old Nob Hill
c. Early 1900s
Ocean View Ave. and Carondelet St., Westlake

18. Can You Really See The Ocean?
Present Day
Ocean View Ave. and Park View St., Westlake

Allow yourself to veer off the CicLAvia route for a bit - From 6th St, head north on Coronado St for a few yards and make a right on Ocean View Ave to view a couple places covered in the Militant's January 2011 blog post on ritzy old Westlake.

On Ocean View and Carondelet, you'll find the Nob Hill Towers, the last vestige of what used to be known as Los Angeles' "Nob Hill." Bike up another block to Park View St, and if the sky is clear, look to the south and see if you can see the sea. On a clear day, you can see Catalina Island, for sure. If all else fails, you can still see the park, lol.

19. Formerly-Proposed Site of the Music Center
1950 (never built)
6th and Hoover streets, Westlake

Believe it or not, in 1950 there was a plan afloat to build a music and fine arts performance facility in Los Angeles...but not in Downtown. This proposal, complete with a concert hall, a theater, a man-made lake and several levels of underground car parking, was to have it located along 6th Street between Hoover Street and Lafayette Park Place. Sounds like a certain county supervisor at the time might have lived in the neighborhood. The Militant is soooo glad this didn't materialize. Some things were just never meant to be.

20. Occidental Parkway
c. 1920s
Occidental Blvd between Hoover and Beverly, Westlake

Also covered in the Militant's post on old Westlake is Occidental Parkway, which is actually part of the City's park system. The palm-lined street with a median will take you northward to Beverly Blvd (If you're down for an Original Tommy's burger, head east on Beverly for a few blocks).

21. Visible Yellow Car Trolley Tracks (6th Street) 
c. 1910s
6th Street and Commonwealth Ave
Look carefully through the paving in the middle of the street (west side of the intersection); you might just see a pair of 3 1/2-foot wide trolley tracks, once used by the 3 Line of the Los Angeles Railway's Yellow Cars. This line ran from east of Downtown to Larchmont Village and was abandoned in the late 1940s.

22. Location of Sacatela Creek
pre-1930
4th Street between Vermont Ave and Shatto Pl, Koreatown

Sacatela Creek was a natural stream that ran from the Franklin Hills south to what is now Koreatown and on to Ballona Creek The Militant wrote all about it back in April 2008 and it's one of his greatest posts ever. When you ride along 4th Street near Shatto Recreation Center, you are crossing what was once Sacatela Creek (which is actually buried in a drain pipe under the street).

23. Korean Philadelphia Presbyterian Church/Sinai Temple
1924
407 S. New Hampshire Ave, Koreatown

You've probably heard of people converting from Judaism to Christianity, but did you know buildings can, too? This building right at the route's turn at 4th and New Hampshire was established in 1924 by the Sinai Temple Conservative Jewish Congregation, which moved from here in 1960 to its current synagogue on Wilshire Blvd and Beverly Glen in Westwood. Look closely and you'll still see the Jewish imagery in the church's facade.

24. Little Bangladesh 
2010
3rd Street between New Hampshire and Alexandria, Little Bangladesh

Check it out, you're now in Los Angeles' newest designated community!

25. Godzilla Monument at Frank Del Olmo Elementary School
2006
100 N. New Hampshire Ave, Koreatown

Wait, what? Godzilla monument? At the front entrance of the school (named after the late Los Angeles Times columnist and editor), there's a plaque memorializing the location as the former site of Visual Drama studios, where in the mid-1950s the Japanese Gojira films were adapted for American audiences using Raymond Burr and other American actors. The result was 1956's Godzilla, King of the Monsters! The plaque credits this site as the birthplace of the American Godzilla films and pop culture phenomena.

26. Visible Yellow Car Trolley Tracks (Heliotrope Drive)
c. 1915
Heliotrope Drive and Rosewood Avenue, Ambassador Hill
The Los Angeles Railway Yellow Car trolleys used to run through here; one line, called the H line, actually ran through Heliotrope Drive where the CicLAvia route runs. Today there is a community garden,which stands on what used to be the trolley's private right-of-way. Look at the ground towards the entrance to the garden - you can still see remnants of partially-buried tracks! Unfortunately, the street and sidewalk were repaved in 2010. Damn you, urban renewal! But the entire length of the community garden going all the way south to Beverly was the trolley's right-of-way. The Militant wrote about this site in a September, 2007 post. The H line continued to Downtown Los Angeles and ended at 63rd and Wall streets in South Los Angeles. The H line was abandoned on August 3. 1947.

27. Ukrainian Culture Center/Jensen's Melrose Theatre
1924
4315 Melrose Ave, East Hollywood

The Ukrainian Culture Center of Los Angeles opened in 1961 to serve what was then a strong ethnic enclave - a Ukrainian church stands just four blocks east. Today it is a popular venue for quinceaƱeras. The Grammy-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire played a "secret" show here in February 2011, prior to picking up their award. This building was built in 1924 as "Jensen's Melrose Theatre" (one of a series of entertainment centers built by the Jensen brothers, whom also built one on Sunset Blvd in Echo Park), built for what was then an upper-class neighborhood located next to what was then UCLA (University of California, Southern Extension, now the Los Angeles City College campus). It was one of the last silent movie theatres built in the country, and operated until 1959. Take a look at the top of the facade -- the original name of the building is etched in concrete!

New CicLAvia Route (North and South Spurs)

New for 10/9/2011, CicLAvia adds some two and a half more miles of route, and The Militant has a few more spots of interest to add! So here goes!

Chinatown Branch Route

28. Italian Hall
1908
622 1/2 North Main Street, Downtown

This 103-year old building is the oldest vestige of what was once Los Angeles' Little Italy neighborhood. Built as a cultural center to serve the ethnic community, which has been present in the city since the 1820s, today, the well-restored structure, part of the El Pueblo De Los Angeles Historical Monument (a historical tour destination unto itself), is the site of Los Angeles' Italian American Museum, which will display artifacts and exhibits from the Little Italy district and the contributions of Italian Angelenos.

29. The Plaza
1825
You Can't Miss It

Los Angeles has (long exhale) often been criticized for not having a "center," The Militant countered with both an ancient center and a regional center. But The Plaza, for nearly two centuries (longer than any one of us has been here, right?), functioned as the undisputed Center of Los Angeles. Forever standing in the shadow of its tourist-heavy younger cousin Olvera Street (which you've all been to, so The Militant isn't adding it to his Epic CicLAvia Tour), The Plaza was really Los Angeles' own town square.

What's historic is not the hexagonal, wrought-iron bandstand (known as the Kiosko) -- that was built in the late 1940s as part of an urban renewal project for the El Pueblo district -- but the circular space itself, which was built in 1825 and actually functioned part-time as Los Angeles' first-ever sporting venue (bullfights were staged there in the 1800s). This was actually the third location of The Plaza. It was first established at the time of Los Angeles' founding 230 years ago, but much closer to The River. Flooding in the 1810s forced The Plaza to re-locate twice to higher ground. Hey, the third time's the charm...


30. Site of Los Angeles' French Quarter
c. 1830s-1960s
Aliso Street and Arcadia Street, Downtown

In addition to an Italian community, beleive it or non, Los Angeles had a French ethnic enclave, called The French Quarter. Before today's Hollywood Freeway trench and nearby parking lots was a bustling community of Franco-American businesses and institutions. When Frenchman Jean-Louis Vignes bought up land on the Yangna village site a few blocks east on Aliso Street, he essentially became the anchor of our French community. In 1912, businessman Marius Taix opened the Champ D'Or Hotel on Commercial Street and then opened his namesake restaurant in the same building in 1927. But the most famous constibution to our French Quarter was Philippe Mathieu's restaurant, which opened in various locations in the area. In 1918, his restaurant on 246 Aliso Street gave birth to The French Dip sandwich. But urban development (and cultural assimilation by the community) destroyed the French Quarter. In 1951, Philippe's moved a few blocks north to their present location on Alameda Street due to Hollywood Freeway construction, and Monsieur Taix's restaurant moved a decade later to Echo Park.

31. Triforium
1975
Main and Temple Streets, Downtown

This $925,000 light-and-sound public art sculpture was designed by artist Joseph Young in the mid '70s as "a tribute to the unfinished, kaleidoscopic nature of Los Angeles." Intended to be Los Angeles' own iconic answer to the Eiffel Tower or The Statue of Liberty, it was also originally planned to be equipped with motion sensors and skyward-aiming laser beams. Budget constraints put a stop to that. Despite its shortcomings, it was the world's first public sculpture to integrate light and sound by use of a computer, something us 21st century types take for granted every day (cough LA Live cough).

The Triforium's lights are on daily from 6-8 a.m. and from 5-7 p.m. (6-8 p.m. PDT).

Though it's somewhat dated in its '70s-impression-of-the-future asesthetic (But hey, so is Star Wars), all it really needs to be hip to today's standards (it's already got its own Facebook page) is an iPod interface. Cultural Affairs Department, are you listening?

If continuing on to South Los Angeles, please refer to sites 5 to 11 above, then:

South Los Angeles Branch Route

32. The I.N. Van Nuys Building
1911
210 W. 7th St (at Spring), Downtown

A 100-year old, 11-story Classical-style building built by banker and landowner Isaac Newton Van Nuys (who owned much of the San Fernando Valley, including his eponymous community). Designated as a Historic Cultural Landmark (#898) in 2007, what was once Los Angeles' most expensive office building ($1.25 million in 1911 dollars) was converted to senior housing. Do check out its unique parking structure, at 719-721 S. Spring St.

33. Great Republic Life Insurance Building
1927
756 S. Spring St., Downtown

The Militant just loves old buildings with their names imprinted on their front and ornate bas-relief designs in the upper financial floors. This 13-story Beaux Arts style building is one of those, home to the Great Republic Life Insurance company, built right before the Great Dperession. This and many other financial institutions up and down Spring Street were part of the "Wall Street of the West." And since this is 2011, think of CicLAvia as #OccupyWallStreetOfTheWest. Today, it's home to the Great Republic Lofts.

34. National City Bank Building
1924
810 S. Spring St., Downtown

Another fine example of 1920s Beaux Arts architecture is the National City Bank (not to be confused with the City National Bank) Building. They just don't make 'em like this anymore. Today, it's home to the National City Tower Lofts.




35. ANJAC Fanshion Buildings
Built various years in the 20th Century
Various Locations along Broadway, Spring and Santee Streets, Downtown

The ANJAC Fashion Buildings (you'll see a whole bunch of 'em) are a collection of older buildings re-purposed for use as rented showroom, warehouse or manufacturing spaces for the local clothing industry. They're all owned by Steve Needleman, who also owns the nearby Orpheum Theatre. One of the ANJAC buildings on nearby Broadway was the site of an historic 3-week garment worker's strike in 1933 that  put Chicano organized labor on the map.

36. Spring/Main Junctionc 1890s
Spring and Main Streets at 9th Street, Downtown

This very Manhattanesque portion of Downtown Los Angeles might not be The Great White Way, but it did serve as a junction point for both the Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railway trolleys back in the day. The triangular park in the middle, recently ornamented with public art once served as a passenger platform for the streetcars. The building at the very tip of the corner, just north of it was once the local Anheuser Busch brewing company headquarters. More historical pics here, here, here and here.

37. Harris Newmark Building
1925
127 E. 9th St., Downtown

This 12-story building was at one time the tallest building in Los Angeles, built in honor of Harris Newmark, an early Los Angeles leader, businessman, landowner and philathropist. He helped to found the city of Montebello and helped shape Los Angeles' Jewish community through his leadership and charitable giving. It was once home to Sam's Deli, a local eatery institution that operated from 1963 to 2003. In the '90s, the building was carefully restored using the original blueprints. It now functions today as The New Mart (get it?) 

38. Security Pacific Bank(!)
c 1990s or 2000s
9th and Cecilia streets, Downtown

Now here's a sight that longtime Angelenos haven't seen in a long time - the interlocking "S" logo of Security Pacific National Bank. Once upon a time, there were actually large banks founded and headquartered in Los Angeles. Security Pacific, a major bank whose heritage dates back to 1868 was swallowed up by the big, evil Bank of America in 1992. The Militant discovered recently that this apparent vestige of days gone by is actually more recent, as a new but unrelated Security Pacific began in 2005 and went out of business just three years later (the bank space in this building is vacant and currently available for lease). Judging by the condition of the sign, this may or may not be the case.  

39. Dude, Where's My 9th Street?
1928
9th Street-Olympic Blvd at Ceres Ave.

Chalk this one up, along with the two San Vicente Boulevards, as one of the great street mysteries of Los Angeles. While heading east on 9th Street, the thoroughfare inexplicably becomes Olympic Boulevard, only to vanish into oblivion. Olympic, on the other hand, resurfaces west of San Julian and heads all the way Santa Monica's 5th Street. The Militant is only announcing this as a public service just so you won't think anyone was f'ing with your mind as you head east on 9th.

40. Central Market 
c 1930s
1227 E. Olympic Blvd, Downtown

This wholesale market operated in partial competition to the much larger wholesale market just a few blocks east, but it's in a supplementary role nowadays as a wholesale meat and poultry facility.

41. Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market
1918, expanded in 1986
Central and Olympic Blvd, Downtown

Anyone who says Los Angeles, or even Downtown Los Angeles, isn't a 24-hour city, has obviously never been here. From about 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. (the action begins at 4 a.m. and ends before 10 a.m.), trucks roll up to unload fresh-from-the-farm produce in bulk for purchase. This market is mostly for supermarkets, distributors and restaurants, but anyone can purchase at the vendors here (you just have to take home a big-ass crate of apples rather than just a couple pounds). The Grand Central Market performed this role all but briefly before it was maxed out, and a new produce market, on 7th and Central was built closer to the railroad tracks in 1918. In 1986, the facility was expanded to what you see today. Check out this YouTube video of how the market looked like in 1963!

42. Yellow Car Tracks
c. early 1900s
12th Street at Central Avenue, Downtown

Look at the cracks and crevices in the street, just east of the crosswalk: TRACK! These tracks carried the Yellow Cars of the Los Angeles Railway's 2 Line, which ran from South Central through Downtown to the City Terrace area in The Eastside. Look carefully and you can see the old school inlaid brickwork in between the tracks! And unlike #26 above, the tracks are verified to be there!

I'M ON A BOAT! (Sorta...)
1936
1334 S. Central Ave, Downtown

Coca-Cola has been locally bottled in Los Angeles since 1895, with about five different locations in the Downtown area throughout history. But this is by far the most recognizable. A ship-like design by Robert Derrah (who also crafted Hollywood's likewise-nautical-flavored Crossroads Of The World) makes this one of Los Angeles' most unique buildings. Hey, you think they'll be handing out free Cokes to CicLAvia participants on Sunday? (Pttth, doubt it...)

1913, 1997
1401 S. Central Ave, Downtown

Originally built as LAFD fire station 30, it was one of two "Blacks Only" stations between 1924 and 1955, when the fire department was integrated and the station de-commissioned. In 1997 the building  was converted into a museum to celebrate the contributions of African Americans in the LAFD and to highlight the long and painful struggle to integration and racial equality. The LAFD of today has a black Fire Chief, which would never have been possible without the struggles, stories and service of the people recognized at this museum. Definitely check it out.

Whoa, that's a lot of history and interesting sites for just 2 1/2 miles! But do enjoy this, appreciate Los Angeles more and have a great time at CicLAvia on Sunday!

To download and print a copy of this tour guide or send to your unspecified tablet computing device to take with you on your ride on Sunday, please click here! (Go to File -> Print (PDF) in the Google Docs window)

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Native Month: In Puvungna, The End Is The Beginning

On an unspecified day in September, The Militant hopped on the (M) Blue Line, got off at the Pacific Coast Highway station and rode his bike some four and a half miles east to an area near Bellflower Boulevard and Atherton Street, on the west end of the Cal State Long Beach campus.

Energized by his militant zeal for Los Angeles history, and his newfound obsession with Tongva culture, The Militant, after reading about it for quite some time, wanted to see it for himself, with his own eyes.

The place was the site of the Tongva village of Puvungna, known to their people as more than a village, but a sacred place.

In the 1990s, plans by the university to develop the land into a fast food-laden shopping plaza (a smack in the face on sooooo many levels), drew the ire of the Tongva community.

It was, or at least was close to, the place where ancient Tongva belief taught them the world began.

As it went, their creator god, Quaoar (CalTech scientists were nice enough to name an outer solar system planetoid after him), danced and sang to create a sky god and an earth goddess, which danced and sang together to create the sun and moon gods. Then they all sang together and created everything else. All life began at Puvungna. It was also the birthplace of a Christ/Buddha/Moses/Muhammad- like prophet named Chungichnish, who taught his people the ways of the universe. Furthermore, Puvungna was also the site of an ancient burial ground.

The fight to preserve the land apparently was successful, at least thus far -- the university president at the time promised not to exploit their land - a 39-acre field next to a parking lot consisting of some 40-or-so trees and native plants and grasses.

The Militant arrived there on his bike, and was instantly in awe of the natural landscape that lay before him, even despite the constant roar of traffic and the occasional Long Beach Airport-bound metal bird.

The sight of a ceremonial kutumut pole, greeted The Militant. The was definitely the place he was looking for:
Upon close inspection, pictures of people's ancestors hung from strings attached to the pole, and a stately white sage grew from the ground:

A smaller one nearby had seashells on the ground:
Just to be sure, instead of rolling his bike on the hallowed ground, he chose to carry it, and rested it against a tree.

When The Militant was younger, his family took a day trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano. After having a picnic in a nearby park, when it came time to leave, one of the doors of the family car mysteriously had the inability to close shut. Every attempt to close it failed. This perplexed everyone, until the Militant's mother said, "Excuse me!" in her native language to whatever spirits may be present. After that, the problem door finally was able to be closed normally...[Cue X-Files music here].
 
Because of that experience. though The Militant doesn't personally subscribe to Tongva spiritual beliefs, he is definitely respectful of them, even to the point of telling whatever spirits might reside there to excuse him,  that he was there to cause no harm or disrespect, and is only there for the sake of knowledge, and, most importantly to impart that knowledge to others, so that they may learn of the Tongva (The Militant is quite sure the ancient Tongva spirits might have a hard time understanding the concept of blogs and Tweets, so a general explanation was in order).

The Militant was quite sure his pardon request went heeded. He was able to observe the grounds undisturbed, and also felt a comforting sense of protection.

Even without a connection to Tongva culture, any undeveloped parcel of land in Southern California is a priceless gem; it serves as a virtual time machine. You can build a Burger King anywhere else.You can even demolish it and build a restaurant that looks identical to the original. But you can never replicate the natural landscape to the same degree.

There is a reason and rhyme to everything. Perhaps it's no coincidence at all that, like Kuruvungna Springs in West Los Angeles, this precious vestige of Tongva culture also exists on the campus of an educational institution. That it's an obvious sign that us 21st Century Angelenos need to be schooled by the Tongva. Many of us are guilty of disregarding or eradicating local history, and the history of the Tongva is the ultimate local history lesson. Buzzwords like "sustainability" and "eco-friendliness" weren't buzzwords for the Tongva, they were their lifestyle.

The Militant may or may not be destined to impart the history of the Tongva people to the blogosphere, but what is important is that you, after learning of it yourself, impart your new-found knowledge to others, and them to others (Insert your favorite '70s TV shampoo commercial reference here).

So perhaps it's fitting to end The Militant's Native Month series here.  The Militant ends his story at the place where the Tongva believed their own story began. And The Militant sincerely hopes that at the end of this particular Native Month adventure, that your own appreciation for the real natives of this land begins.

Stay Militant, always.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Native Month: Let's Learn Some Tongva!

As you may or may not know, over 224 languages are spoken in Los Angeles. So why not learn a little of the very first language spoken here?

The Tongva's language is considered by linguists to be of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic stock, the speakers of which spoke languages and dialects in an area that stretched from what is now Utah to Central Mexico.

But like most indigenous languages in North America, Tongva, was a purely oral tongue, there was no alphabet or written word, and thus no historical transcription the way, say, Greek, Latin, Chinese or Arabic was documented.

During Spanish colonization, they were forced to speak in Spanish, during the Mexican era, much of them adopted Spanish names and surnames, and assimilated into Mexican culture. And when the Red, White and Green flag ceded to the Red, White and Blue flag round these here parts, the poor folks had to adapt to yet another language and culture.

For much of the time since the 1780s, Tongva people spoke their language in clandestine settings.
The last fluent Tongva speaker was believed to have died in the 1970s. Fortunately a few linguistic scholars in the 19th century sat down with some Tongva folk and documented their vocabulary. Today, Tongva descendants have attempted since the 1990s to reconstruct their ancient mother tongue, using words found in songs and common expressions.

The Militant is by no means a linguistics expert. He even has a little trouble speaking the native language(s) of his parents from their unspecified home country. But in doing his militant research on the Tongva the past several weeks, he's noted down some words for all 'yall. So enjoy.

Note: Again, Tongva was not a written language, to any transcription of words into our characters of Roman origin are strictly phonetic in nature. Also, the Tongva nation, though sharing a common culture, displayed inevitable variations in pronunciation from village to village, which were largely independent of each other.

So here goes:


akara'apu'an - quail's plume
ahhoovaredoot - spiritual/medicine shaman
atochgna - funeral pyre
erow - fox
hunar - bear
joat - snowy mountain
ke-hi'e - acorn feast
kiche - house
kunasgna - cemetery, burial ground
kusirok - ashes, bones of the dead
kutumut - ceremonial pole to honor the dead
kwar - acorn meal
na - place
nachochan - how are you? / greeting
pako - enter
par - water
shev-ve - acorn
te'at - boat
tobikhar - settler
topa - above
toro - below
tova'at - pine nut
tumia'r - village chief
tuxu - old woman
we-ch - acorn mush
we't - oak
ya - poison oak
yitokahor - earthquake
yovarekam - ceremonial shaman



And here's the numbers:


pugu - one
vehe - two
pahi - three
vatcha - four
mahar - five
pavahe - six
vatchakabya - seven
veheshvatcha - eight
maharkabya - nine
vehesmahar - ten
pukuhurura - eleven
vehehurura - twelve

The Militant has yet to find out if there's a Tongva word for "militant," "unspecified" or the phrase, "May or may not," but he'll keep looking...

Monday, October 3, 2011

Native Month: The Water Still Flows In Kuruvungna

(Yes, it's October already, but seeing as Native Month started on September 5, he's still got the 30-day period to round out, so...let's continue...)

Los Angeles is often described as a "horizontal city," but The Militant actually sees it as a vertical one. No, not necessarily vertical as in high-rise structures, but vertical as in the stacked layers of various histories (Of course, only a militant Angeleno can see them...).

Take for instance University High School, the grade 9-12 campus in West Los Angeles which, since 1924 has produced alums such as Jeff Bridges, Judy Garland, Danny Elfman, Randy Newman, members of The Doors and Tone Loc. So it may or may not be fitting that the man who, in 1989, extolled the virtues of the Wild Thing,  walked from classroom to classroom in the presence of a wild spring.

Har har har.

For it is here on the Uni High campus that a series of natural springs churn out some 25,000 gallons of water daily (the city of Santa Monica once used it as a municipal water source), and have been since the Tongva.

One of the springs is smack dab in the middle of campus. The Militant visited Uni High recently during the afterschool hours and there it was:


While kids practiced soccer and parents stood watch just a few yards away, The Militant reached out his hand to touch the water. Supposedly it's clean enough to drink (The Militant wasn't that thirsty though...). It cascades down a man-made channel, parts of which are littered with snack food wrappers, and then descend into a drain, where it, along with H2O from the nearby Lost Creeks Of UCLA, empty into the Sepulveda Channel and into Ballona Creek.

The other spring is located towards in another part of campus. The Militant, having never stepped foot in this school before, had no idea where it was. But instinctively, he walked eastward, then south, then approached a tree-covered area with a staircase leading down into a parking lot. He kept walking....and then saw this through a fence...




It was a Tongva kiche. He gasped in awe. Did the ancient Tongva spirits lead him there? Was it just his native Angeleno instincts? No one knows for sure, but The Militant was in the Tongva village of Kuruvungna ("The place where we are under the sun.").

The other spring, regarded as a sacred site by today's Tongva descendants, percolates from a small lagoon, surrounded by native riparian trees and plants. The 1769 Portola Expedition stopped by here, and Father Juan Crespi documented the experience (before he started a chain of doughnut restaurants known as Crespi Kreme). The Militant obviously couldn't get to it at this time (and didn't wanna piss off the Tongva spirits by breaking in).

The site isn't that secret, though. It is a designated historic cultural monument by The City after all. And there was an annual Tongva Festival that just happened this past weekend, which The Militant may or may have missed (ARRRRGH! DAMNIT!!!).  

The site, on the southeast corner of campus, on Barrington, just north of Ohio Avenue, is open on the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. where the Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation conducts free tours of the site and opens its small museum on an onsite LAUSD bungalow structure. 

As The Militant left the school, he searched the campus for any sort of visual sign acknowledging its Tongva connections. Lessee, there was an Obama mural and a generic "tree of knowledge"-type mural, but nothing Tongvaesque or even anything referencing that active natural water source there. How sad, but not surprising, given the LAUSD's penchant for destroying history over actually teaching it. History - much less local history - doesn't count in standardized tests anyway, so why even bother, right?

The Militant bothers. But more remarkably, the water from these springs still bother to flow.