Jonathan Gold at his best, in a eulogy to Al Langer:

Glance at their faces a moment after they bite into a Langer’s pastrami sandwich for the first time: thick slices of hand-sliced meat, glistening with peppery fat, as dense and as smoky as Texas barbecue; thick-cut seeded corn rye, hot, crisp-crusted and soft inside, with a slightly sour tang that helps tame the richness of the meat; a dab of yellow mustard, as important to the whole as a sushi master’s wasabi. The fact is inescapable: Langer’s serves the best pastrami sandwich in America, in a location perhaps better suited to a tamale merchant or a specialist in Honduran baleadas.

Larry Harnisch is re-running a 1957 test of drive times — and finds L.A. commutes often take less time these days. He wants your data.

In July 1957, the Auto Club of Southern California announced the results of a survey that examined commuting times over 17 routes in Los Angeles comparing freeways and surface streets. The Auto Club praised the freeways for faster trips and noted that it took less time to get to work in the morning than to get home in the evening....

This has been around before, but I didn't get to link to it. For a Fourth of July treat, sit back and watch the 1972 BBC show called "One Pair of Eyes: Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles." In which the famed British observer of L.A. drives around the city of 35 years ago, starting at LAX — when the Chevron service station was still at the end of the terminal loop and there was not yet an upper deck.

Have a happy Fourth...