Fast-fashion company Bestseller recently announced their intention to build a 320-meter tall skyscraper as their headquarters in Brande -- a tiny Danish town of roughly 7,000 inhabitants. Few buildings there have more than three stories and the mostly flat skyline is punctuated with the occasional windmill or church steeple. It won't be the first such … Continue reading Highrising — Solitary Skyscrapers of Suburbia
Hi Duk Lee (이희덕) died on 7 March at the age of 79. Two weeks passed before his death was reported on the website L.A. Taco. Only then did the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Korea Times, KTLA, NBC, and ABC run stories on the passing of this pioneer, whose name and accomplishments remain unknown to most Angelenos, including … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Hi Duk Lee, the Father of Koreatown (1939-2019)
INTRODUCTION I recently explored Downtown's Historic Core neighborhood. The exploration was undertaken in two parts. I first began exploring the district a few days before Christmas. Thus the days were short and the sun set when I was only halfway done. The distractions of the holidays caused me to forget about finishing the task for … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring the Historic Core
Hello readers, a few weeks ago filmmaker Anna Dale posted the first episode of something we're calling Angeleno Stories. I posted it on several social media platforms but it didn't dawn on me until a couple of days ago that I should probably post it here, on my website. So here it is! "Intrepid cougar … Continue reading Angeleno Stories — Mountain Lion Man
INTRODUCTION 2019 is the sestercentennial of San Diego's founding. It's also the vigintennial of my moving to Southern California -- and yet, in those twenty years, I've probably visited San Diego no more than a dozen times. Why haven't I visited California's second largest city more often? Certainly not out of any of the sort … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — A San Diego Neighborhoods Primer
Today is the birthday of Khánh Ly, the legendary Vietnamese singer who rose to fame in the 1960s with her interpretations of songs by Trịnh Công Sơn and who later found sustained success in Japan. She fled Vietnam in 1975 and for many years now has made her home in Cerritos. Khánh Ly is a stage … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Khánh Ly
From 1 March through 3 March, the Tadashi Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities and the UCLA Film & Television Archive (with support from the National Film Archive of Japan) a three-day program titled "The Art of Benshi." Benshi (弁士; also known as katsudō-benshi/活動弁士 or katsuben/活弁) are live performers who accompanied silent films of Japan as well as those … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — The Art of Benshi/弁士の芸術
