Category: Uncategorized

Since the opening of the cross Valley bus line in October, the traffic on the Ventura Freeway has eased somewhat an article in the LA Times reports.

It seems to constantly surprise people that the Busway has a positive role to play in the life of Los Angeles. Every accident seems to embolden those who want the whole line torn down. Despite the fact that it reduces air pollution, creates an 11 mile long bike path, opens the opportunity to experience life without a car, and allows the disabled, elderly and non-drivers mobility—it is still somehow a “bad” idea.

Now that statistical studies are confirming the Busway’s usefulness, will perceptions and stereotypes about the “kind of folks who ride the bus” determine whether we get more public transportation? Let’s hope facts beat fictions.

From Paul Krugman of the NY Times:

“A year ago, Mr. Bush hadn’t yet openly reneged on Scott McClellan’s 2003 pledge that “if anyone in this administration was involved” in the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity, that person “would no longer be in this administration.” Of course, some suspect that Mr. Bush has always known who was involved.

A year ago, we didn’t know that Mr. Bush was lying, or at least being deceptive, when he said at an April 2004 event promoting the Patriot Act that “a wiretap requires a court order. …When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re talking about getting a court order before we do so. It’s important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.”

A year ago, most Americans thought Mr. Bush was honest.

A year ago, we didn’t know for sure that almost all the politicians and pundits who thundered, during the Lewinsky affair, that even the president isn’t above the law have changed their minds. But now we know when it comes to presidents who break the law, it’s O.K. if you’re a Republican.”

On the way to Las Vegas yesterday, we stopped to buy cold water outside of Baker, CA. A fierce windstorm was whipping through the desert. Edwina ran outside and I snapped these images of her before we got back into the car.

Where else on Earth can you take photos like these? It helps to have a beautiful person in front of your lens but also…God Bless the Mojave; its sunlight and natural beauty.

Danny, Edwina and me had planned to take a trip up to San Francisco, but changed our minds at the last minute and headed to Las Vegas–mostly because it had better weather.

I had never liked Las Vegas, but grudgingly I am pulled along to go there once every couple of years. What I despise about it is exactly what lures me there in the first place: I expect to win money.

We stayed, as always, off the Strip in a new and very nice hotel: the Marriott Renaissance. This property is on Paradise Road, right next to the new monorail. They have stylish decor, trendy soaps and shampoos, and the place is spotless. They are also right across the street from a free shuttle run by Mr. Wynn which leads, not surprisingly, to his new “WYNN” hotel and casino.

We took the shuttle, only about a one minute ride, to Wynn’s place and it is dazzling. The thing is everything is wonderful in Las Vegas for exactly one minute. Only a few years ago, Mandalay Bay was the IT place. It was replaced by the Venetian and the Bellagio and Paris and now they all look like fat, frumpy and over the hill casinos. Now faded Paris, for example, has a Parisian restaurant “Mon Ami Gabi” on the street, and even with 50% of the tables empty, the hostesses, who could not properly say “Good evening”(or Bon Soir) were unable to seat us. We walked out and had the usual depressing Las Vegas experience with over-hyped dining. Everything is dazzling for one minute and this place is no exception.

Mayor Goodman and the developers have hit on their new gimmick and it’s to claim that Vegas is becoming the next Manhattan. They are building a vertical city, to replace the one of oversized parking lots, moving sidewalks and stucco box clones in the millions spread across the desert. There are many, many tall condos going up in Vegas and they are, indeed, giving this city a feeling of urbanity that it has never had. A 61 acre development downtown may be Goodman’s signature mark on the city.

On Paradise Road, the overhead monorail and the new towers create a Singapore scene. It is only behind the Potemkin facade that one sees the ever present poverty and shabbiness of the “real” Vegas–the cheap motels and rental units that house a growing number of working class who sweep the floors and clean the toilets in the big hotels. The inflation of the housing market has pushed the price of a new home way beyond $400,000 and it is hard to imagine how the “new” Vegas will ever take care of its most impoverished residents.

But talking about depressing things has never been the Vegas style. An army of publicists regulates every utterance about Neonville and criticism is blasphemy. It’s all good, man: the alcoholism, gambling, broken families, bad schools, environmental destruction, traffic, smoking, drugs, strippers,pawn shops and gun violence….. Yes, what happens here, stays here.

The LA Times recently ran a story about a very stylish building ,”Sierra Towers” on Doheny Drive, that has become young and fashionable again after years of being associated with older people. It seems that such distinguished folk as Matthew Perry and Lindsey Lohan can be seen around the premises:

“Now, paparazzi waiting for a glimpse of Lindsay Lohan or Matthew Perry leaving the condominium building might mistake an underweight Juicy Couture-clad blond toting a teensy dog in a Louis Vuitton carrier for a boldfaced name. A thirtysomething entertainment lawyer, just back from exercising his horses in Malibu, tracks dust on the travertine floor on his way to the elevator. Outside, Mamas Mesforoush, a polite young man who shuttles between homes in Los Angeles and London, hands a valet the keys to his customized Range Rover. He’s just in time for a meeting with Mike Russo, the veteran contractor who’s going to turn his apartment into a showplace, at a cost of $1,000 a square foot.”

It is one of the hallmarks of LA that we like to talk about famous people and where they work, live and play. We think, sometimes, that name dropping is akin to having the same amount of fame and power ourselves. It isn’t.

I worked for Ralph Lauren on Madison Avenue in the early 1990’s. Sometimes Tom Selleck, Jacqueline Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn and others would come into the store. I waited on them, got them champagne from the dumbwaiter and helped them ring up purchases. I got to wait on my childhood idol, Elizabeth Montgomery, and stupidly sent her, months later, a treatment I wanted to sell about “Bewitched Revisited”. I never heard from her again.

I’m mentioning these celebrities because I know you won’t think any better of me because of it. I don’t have their credentials or money or worldwide recognition. The only honor that comes from talent and fame is when you possess some it yourself. Then you are powerful, and people ask you for favors.

Now that the LA Times has revealed how very important Sierra Towers, we here in Van Nuys can console ourselves that Dr. Bombay (Bernard Fox) from “Bewitched” is allegedly one of our neighbors. That’s a man with talent. But living near him won’t make me cool. Only witchcraft or ambition could do that.

Diane sent me an email asking if I knew the location of this photo, taken somewhere in the San Fernando Valley around 1960.

Does anybody recognize this area? Mr. Roderick, if you are out there, you may speak…….