The following entry originally appeared on the Amoeblog
I started blogging for Amoeblog on 26 July 2007. In that time I created a few series for the Amoeblog: One Album Wonders (profiles of bands which only released one album), Brightwell’s Top 10 (my favorite tracks from the dawn of the record industry to the present), and Introduction to Subcultural Anthropology, to name a few. I may or may not continue those over at my personal website, so stay tuned and let me know if you’re interested.
In the last eight years I’ve written extensively about holidays, all-female bands, Asian-American Cinema, music history, interplanetary objects, New Orleans hip-hop, Vietnamese New Wave, visual arts, unrecognized nations, old time radio, film festivals, and many other topics… such as creamsicles.
At my own website I have several other columns which have less to do with music or film than those which I created for the Amoeblog. But because this is the Amoeblog, I’ll include a few relevant songs. Those columns are:
Discussions of adaptive reuse tend to focus on office buildings converted into residences… but what about fast food franchises converted into actual restaurants?
Denim‘s “Brumburger”*****
B.G. – “Where You Been?”*****
Suede‘s “High Rising”*****
According to the 2010 Census, the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim urban area is the most densely populated in the US. That’s largely on account of the regions housing projects, bungalow courts, garden apartments, luxury highrises, and other multi-family residences.
DJ Jubilee‘s “20 Years in the Jets”
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Supermarket‘s “Supermarket”
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When people talk about vertical cities they usually point to ones with the most skyscrapers. How 19th century of them. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has — thanks to its hills and mountains — the most varied elevation of any city on earth. Take that Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, and Tehran!
Some dwarves singing “The Misty Mountains Cold”
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Some people in an advertisement singing “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)”
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Bill Lumbergh montage from Office Space
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Los Angeles is the world’s great Pan-Asian Metropolis. In Los Angeles, Asians and Pacific Islanders comprise more than 15% of population and are the most numerous racial minority and the fastest growing. Recognized Asian ethnic enclaves include Cambodia Town, Chinatown, Filipinotown,Koreatown, Little Bangladesh, Little India, Little Osaka, Little Saigon, Little Seoul, Little Tokyo, andThai Town. The Los Angeles urban area home to the largest population of Cambodians, Filipinos,Koreans, Taiwanese, Thai, and Vietnamese outside of their respective home countries. There are large populations Bangla, Chinese, Indians, Japanese, Pakistanis, and Samoans; and substantial but diffuse populations of Afghanis, Bhutanese, Burmese, Hawaiians, Hmong, Indonesians, Laotians, Malaysians,Mongolians, Nepalis, Singaporeans, Sri Lankans, Tibetans, Tongans, Uyghurs, and Uzbeks.
In the course of my explorations, I draw and paint maps. You can purchase prints of them from 1650 Gallery(or originals from me).
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RED DESERTS
Los Angeles has been home to a number of industries. Most of those industries have left and we’re left with a lot of industrial ruins and refineries. Although they have wrought a lot of environmental devastation, they’re often quite beautiful.
Los Angeles is home to the largest park located partially within an American city (Topanga State Park), the nation’s largest municipal park (Griffith Park) and a whole lot of other parks, recreation areas, wilderness areas, parklets, and pocket parks.
The Small Faces‘ “Itchycoo Park”*****
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TAKE ‘EM TO THE BRIDGE
James Brown‘s “Sex Machine”
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THOSE USELESS TREES
Pulp – “The Trees”
The best sorts of walks are undertaken without much research or agenda. I notice an interesting area and then I let my nose, eyes, and ears lead my feet.
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Glenn Miller And His Orchestra featuring Ray Eberle – “Fools Rush In (Where Angels Fear To Tread)”
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Also, my Siberian cat, Alan, has a Tumblr, titled What a Dingus!
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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, writer, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities — or salaried work. He is not interested in writing advertorials, clickbait, listicles, or other 21st century variations of spam.
Brightwell has written for Angel Walk LA, Amoeblog, Boom: A Journal of California, diaCRITICS, Hidden Los Angeles, and KCET Departures. His art has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, the book Sidewalking, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery.
Brightwell has been featured as subject in The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA? and at Emerson College.
Art prints of Brightwell’s maps are available from 1650 Gallery and on various products from Cal31.
He is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Click here to offer financial support and thank you!
Eric Brightwell 