INTRODUCTION Although it continues to attract millions of tourists every year, there are few places in Los Angeles which locals avoid as deliberately as Downtown Hollywood‘s Walk of Fame. To put it bluntly, most Angelenos that I know would rather jostle with the crowded sidewalks along Alvarado in Westlake or spend a day in … Continue reading Greater Streets: Exploring the Walk of Fame — Heart of Hollywood
The other day I found out that some people are outraged by the casting in a Hollywood film — in this case Ridley Scott‘s latest effort, Exodus: Days of Future Past (or whatever its full title is). They’re apparently so upset that they’re boycotting it, which is something I do with all but one or two Hollywood … Continue reading Exodus shocker — the latest Hollywood Bible cartoon isn’t very realistic
INTRODUCTION After focusing on eight Eastside neighborhoods whilst house-sitting in El Sereno, I’ve returned to the polls to determine where to explore. I’ve heard the vox populi and therefore visited North Hollywood — only my fourth piece on a San Fernando Valley community thus far. It was a hot, somewhat hazy, and thankfully breezy January … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring North Hollywood, The Gateway to the Valley
Happy Missouri Day! I was not born in Missouri but I count myself fortunate to have grown up there, moving to the Show-Me State from Kentucky when I was four and staying until I was sixteen. Of course, I ended up moving west (St. Louis is the Gateway to the West after all) to the great … Continue reading Show-Me Hollywood — Missourians in Hollywood on Missouri Day
The Hollywood neighborhood emerged as a small village in the late 19th century and was incorporated as its own municipality in 1903. But for most people in the world, “Hollywood” is synonymous with the commercial American film, which established itself there first in an area that came to be known as “Gower Gulch.” Before Hollywood … Continue reading Gower Gulch and the sort of beginning of Hollywood
HOLLYWOOD SWINGING Hollywood is famous around the world as the one-time center of the American film industry. Although Hollywood isn’t the original home of the west coast film industry (nearby Edendale in Echo Park and Sycamore Grove in Highland Park both have stronger claims to that distinction), Hollywood has for almost a century continued to serve … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — A Hollywood Primer
Ray Mala was an Inupiat actor born in Candle, Alaska on December 27th, 1906. In 1925 Mala made his way to Edendale and got a job as a cameraman with Fox Film Corporation, which relocated the following year to Movietone City, in modern Century City. In 1932, Mala was featured as an actor in Edwin … Continue reading Ray Mala – Hollywood’s First Native American Star
Famed Asian-American rights activist Ngoc-Thu Thi Nguyen and I watched this documentary about depictions of Chinese in Hollywood film called … Hollywood Chinese. I love observing how Hollywood deals with all races and ethnicities. Sometimes it’s hilarious and sometimes it’s pretty appalling and then there’s the rare occasion on which it rings true, which usually … Continue reading Yellowface — Hollywood Chinese
The other day I got around to exploring the North Orange County suburb of La Habra. I was joined on the adventure by my friend, Matt, who’d long ago mentioned that should I ever get around to visiting La Habra, he’d like to come along. I like to think that La Habra’s motto, “a caring … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring La Habra
Los Angeles was at one time home to the largest population of Japanese outside of Japan and contributions of Japanese-Angelenos to history and culture are many. It was in Los Angeles that Hollywood created the first Asian-American film star. It was also in Los Angeles that a legal challenge in the Supreme Court re-shaped immigration … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Japanese Los Angeles
