Native Intelligence archive
for December 2013

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Photo collecting is all in the Vernon family

vernon-britt-iris.jpg Carol Vernon feels at home in LACMA's current photography exhibit for a good reason. She was with her parents when they acquired many of the photos.

The Last Race: Hollywood Park

LAO__Hollywood_Park2.jpg Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular Thursday feature of LA Observed. Click on the image to see it larger.

Not a creature was stirring (photo)

night-vision-toy-lofts.jpg Christmas Eve over Downtown Los Angeles, from the roof of the Toy Factory lofts. Photo is part of Iris...

Christmas morning, Santa Monica Bay (photos)

Xmas a.m. Santa Monica beach parking lot3 12-25-13.JPG Pelicans, dolphins and surfers ... it's Christmas morning at Santa Monica Bay.

Lucky Deli

night-vision-lucky-deli.jpg Chinatown scene by Iris Schneider

My Christmas gift from Eartha Kitt

Eartha-Kitt-Bad-But-Beautiful.jpg TV writer, producer and author Paul Haddad remembers an encounter with singer, sex kitten and Catwoman Eartha Kitt that is the gift that keep giving.

Peaches: A Christmas story you may have heard before

Thumbnail image for al-martinez-photo.jpg An often-reprinted essay that takes us back to a moment a half-century ago when a hard-drinking city editor defined in his own way who we were as journalists and what our responsibilities were as humans.

Richard Ankrom, sign painter

LAO__Richard_Ankrom copy.jpg Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular Thursday feature of LA Observed.

A dad's Alzheimer's

jmw-granddad-and-me.jpg I check the volume, place the ear-buds in his ears. Slowly a smile emerges, his eyes come alert, transfixed on the screen, his lips occasionally moving with the lyrics.

Dear Mayor: Have an awesome trip Down Under!

cassowary.jpg Having traveled around Australia, our columnists have some recommendations for Mayor Eric Garcetti on his end-of-year vacation. Mostly fun stuff, but a few work related green things to keep an eye on.

Sunday night sunset over DTLA

sunset-over-dtla-iris.jpg Photo by Iris Schneider.

A night at the nihilism movies

Elisha Shapiro2 12-13-13.JPG The short films screened at the Nihilist International Film Festival are not soon to be major motion pictures.

Run, run the cougars are coming!

Thumbnail image for al-martinez-photo.jpg Martinez sees a battalion of man-eating mountain lions emerging from the highly-publicized birth of two of the predatory beasts in the Santa Monica Mountains. They are not to be cuddled, he warns, but feared.

Duchamp reenactment

LAO__chess_Duchamp.jpg Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular Thursday feature of LA Observed.

It's hard to turn away from 'Narco Cultura'

Narco-004.jpg Like a repellent exhibit at Ripley's Believe It or Not that you can't take your eyes off, Shaul Schwarz's documentary "Narco Cultura" keeps you riveted.

Night vision: Venus from Griffith Observatory

night-vision-griffith-sky.jpg I went up to the Griffith Observatory at the end of the day on Saturday. The moon and Venus were bright in the sky and lots of people were capturing the city lights on their phones and cameras.

A crucial week for water in California

DeltaPhoto.jpg Mark the calendar. This week will go down as a crucial week in California's water history. The draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and associated Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) was filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday and the public comment period begins this week. We've got big decisions to make about our water future.

A little night music in the canyon

Thumbnail image for al-martinez-photo.jpg Jazz floats through Topanga like ribbons of gold, drifting through the Santa Monica Mountains on a cool Friday night from Larry Cohn's Canyon Bistro, laying a moment of serenity on a calamitous world. Martinez takes you there.

Victory party

LAO__sebastian_ridley_thomas.jpg Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular Thursday feature of LA Observed. Gary's archive....

Silent screen magic in 'Flute' and a vampire chases 'Sleeping Beauty'

SleepingBeauty_Photo 5-M.jpg Humor comes to our downtown stages in two shows brimming with imagination: a "Magic Flute" that breaks the antique Mozartian mold and Matthew Bourne's hip "Sleeping Beauty" powered by a testosteronic high.

Will Steve Sarkisian win at USC?

Despite a meciocre record at Washington, Steve Sarkisian has been hired as USC's head coach. It may work out, but Phil Wallace says it wasn't his first choice. Interestingly, this move could lead to Jim Mora, Jr's departure from UCLA.

Letter from Down Under: Welcome to the Homogenocene

treesinparadise.jpg "Wherever you go, there you are," says Buckaroo Banzai. Jon Christensen reads the new book "Trees in Paradise: A California History" on the long flight from LAX to Melbourne and reflects on what we can learn from history in a cosmopolitan era in which local diversity--biological and cultural--may be increasing rapidly, while the differences between places continue to shrink.
KCET control room
kcet-rehearsal-control.jpgA peek inside the TV station's Burbank studios.
Whitt's Wood Yard
whitts-wood-yard.jpgElon Musk wants to drill here at Pico and Sepulveda.
BCAM
bcam-stairs.jpgThe Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA.
David Hockney at LACMA
hockney-arrives-lacma.jpgThe artist arrives to open his latest exhibit.
Mountain lion family
mountain-lion-family-martinez.jpgFrom Robert Martinez's trail cam in the San Gabriels.
The power of 'pluribus' plays
Allegiance-9-(1).jpgDon Shirley on theater in LA
Macy's winds down
mannequin-graveyard-macys.jpgThe store in Westside Pavilion has closed down.
Streetscape: Westwood
westwood-sky-lao.jpgWestwood Boulevard looking north and a little bit skyward.
Streetscape: East LA
la-luz-del-mundo.jpg Iglesia La Luz del Mundo, East 1st Street.
Sign from LA's past
loves-bbq-valley-relics.jpg Sign from an old Love's BBQ restaurant at the Valley Relics Museum in Chatsworth.
Visiting her old ballet costumes
melissa-barak-cost-iris.jpg Melissa Barak at LACMA Chagall exhibit with the artist's memorable designs.
Engine Co. 17
engine-co-17-side.jpg Inside the long-closed Arts District fire station on Santa Fe Avenue.
Wilshire Grand Center lobby
wilshire-grand-lobby-wall.jpg Visitors check out the wall-mounted sculpture by artist Do Ho Suh.
Barnsdall Park
barnsdall-park-trees.jpg Under the trees.
Inside Hollyhock House
hollyhock-columns.jpgPhoto taking was allowed for one weekend. So we did.
Streetscape: Lincoln Heights
el-milagro-market.jpgProductos Mexicanos at El Milagro Market on Avenue 18.
June 6, 1968
rfk-hearse-wide-lapl.jpgThe body of Robert F. Kennedy leaves Good Samaritan hospital. More pics
Streetscape: DTLA
spring-street-bike-lane.jpgSpring Street bike lane.
Palm weeds of Santa Susana
santa-susana-palm-weeds.jpgOak trees, sandstone ridges and fan palms? Ugh. More
Streetscape: West LA
405-at-smblvd.jpg405 North at Santa Monica Boulevard.
Hills turning brown
grman1.jpgThe hills above Gorman.
Arcana Books
arcana-books.jpgIn the Helms Bakery complex in Culver City.
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