Native Intelligence

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

"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.

Martinez riffs on the aromas of Thanksgiving and is thankful that a woman might be headed for the White House. You might not have noticed, he writes, but the upraised fist of today's political revolution is wearing nail polish.

Take My Picture Gary Leonard is a regular weekly feature at LA Observed.

The Lakers signed Kobe Bryant to huge contract extension when they didn't need to. Their faith that it will work out is troubling, says Phil Wallace.

Using recycled objects like buttons, tin cans, wire, yardsticks, pencils, soda can pop tops, teddy bear eyes and rosaries, Clare Graham has created an environment that is a jaw-dropping homage to creativity, imagination and perseverance.

With public trust of the DWP at such a low point, will the public, the city council, and mayor Garcetti support the long-term rate increases that will be needed to transform LA's water system for the future?

An illustrious opening of a Beverly Hills performing arts complex, the Annenberg Wallis. A nod to cultural icon Martha Graham. Also to Giuseppe Verdi, with his delectable last opera, "Falstaff."

Grandpa Al Martinez tries a different way to talk about rain and a little girl's response to it. Welcome to the tea party.

The first AARP Films for Grownups Film Festival this past weekend at the Regal Cinemas at LA Live included screenings of "12 Years a Slave," "Nebraska" and other new films.

Take My Picture Gary Leonard appears on Thursdays at LA Observed. Check out Gary's archive....

Last week, UCLA announced a grand challenge--a major research initiative throwing the full weight of the university behind an effort to wean LA completely of imported water and become fully reliant on renewable energy by 2050, while preserving biodiversity and improving the quality of life in the city. Can we get it done?

Martinez ponders COPD by dawn's early light, skeptical of the notion that the survival rate for its victims is improving. He finally turns to his sister Mary, also a victim of the disease, and she tells him how to handle it: just pretend it isn't there.

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

True. We need big plans to guide LA toward environmental sustainability. But we need lots of little plans and action too.

USC is rumored to be considering hot coaching names like Kevin Sumlin, Chris Petersen, and Jack Del Rio. But Phil Wallace says the Trojans may already have the right fit in interim head coach Ed Orgeron.

The goal for Walt Disney Concert Hall was to shake the dust off classical music and architecture and engage the contemporary world and popular culture, they agree.

The innovative opera staged inside Union Station continues this weekend. The whole is so much more than the sum of its parts, writes Iris Schneider.

Martinez senses warnings in the wind as a new fire season begins in Southern California, predicted to be the worst in a century. He stands on the rooftop of his Topanga home and remembers the howling fire storms of other days, and the sirens that wailed with the rising intensity of a woman's scream.

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