INTRODUCTION Before the Spanish invasion of the region, what’s now California enjoyed the highest human population density north of what is today Mexico. Today, Los Angeles is home to more people of Native ancestry than any other metropolitan area in the US, a population which includes peoples indigenous to Southern California as well as people … Continue reading No Enclave — Chumash Los Angeles
Author: Eric Brightwell
Eric Brightwell is an essayist, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener. He lives in Los Angeles, not because he was born here, but because he chose to... for all of the things for which its famous: its verticality, its mass transit, its diversity, its schools, its liminal spaces, its architecture, its wildlife, its museums, its night markets, its cinemas, its theaters, its enclaves, its restaurants, its bars, its libraries, &c
Azuki’s Second Birthday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXQ7eMmBBXg 27 September we observed Azuki Dingus's second birthday. Being a rescue, no one knows her exact birthday but as she seemed to be about four months old when she left the pound in late January 2020, this is when her birthday is traditionally observed. Of course Alan was there. At the end, there's a … Continue reading Azuki’s Second Birthday
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The Stylers
INTRODUCTIONFor fans of a particular era of Chinese-language pop-rock, in particular the excellent Singaporean pop-rock of the 1960s and '70s, there's one name one finds written on records by many of the era's greatest artists -- The Stylers. They backed many of the Singapore's leading lights including Lena Lim, Lisa Wong, and Yao Su Rong. … Continue reading The Stylers
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No Enclave — Exploring Honduran Los Angeles
Hondurans are the eighth largest group of Latin Americans living in the US in the US and, after Salvadorans and Guatemalans, the third largest population of Central Americans in the US. However, whereas Los Angeles is home to the largest populations of Salvadorans and Guatemalans outside of El Salvador and Guatemala, the same cannot be … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Honduran Los Angeles
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Happy 818, or, San Fernando Valley Day!
Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography's Map of the San Fernando Valley Although the date format of most countries is "day/month/year," the US, as we know, likes to fly in the face of global conventions and go its own way (see also: British Imperial Units, Fahrenheit, and American football). Because of our quirky date format, American nerds … Continue reading Happy 818, or, San Fernando Valley Day!
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No Enclave — Australian Los Angeles
Today was Australia Day from 1915 til 1935 (when it was moved to 26 January) and Los Angeles is home to far more Australians than any other American city. According to the Australian Consulate-General, there are about 44,000 Australians living in Metro Los Angeles -- more than twice as many as live in second-place New … Continue reading No Enclave — Australian Los Angeles
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Nobody Drives In LA — Celebrating Ten Years Since Kicking My Car Habit
Today marks the tenth anniversary of my not owning a car. On 18 July 2011, my 1990 Suburu Loyale nicknamed the C.A.R.D.I.S. (Car And Relative Dimensions In Space) blew a head gasket or two somewhere around Niland. It sputtered its last just past North Palm Springs, near the windmills. I had it towed to Desert … Continue reading Nobody Drives In LA — Celebrating Ten Years Since Kicking My Car Habit
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Nobody Drives In LA — Sunset4All
I think it was in 2019 that Terence Heuston (LA Bike Dad) approached me to discuss the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition's Sunset4All at one of that street's many coffee shops. He described to me the effort to reconfigure Sunset Boulevard -- one of Los Angeles's most iconic streets -- to make it safer, and … Continue reading Nobody Drives In LA — Sunset4All
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Where Fools Fear to Tread — A Snapshot of Hawaiʻi (Oʻahu and Kauaʻi)
INTRODUCTION as spring turned into summer, Una and I visited Hawaiʻi. Una had never been there before. I, on the other hand, have always enjoyed telling people that I'd only ever been there in utero, when my pregnant mother and father visited in the 1970s. I don't know how far along in her pregnancy my … Continue reading Where Fools Fear to Tread — A Snapshot of Hawaiʻi (Oʻahu and Kauaʻi)
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Swinging Doors — Los Angeles Sake History & Culture
Los Angeles has a long and rich history of alcoholic beverage production and consumption. Wine was introduced by the Spanish as an integral aspect of their mission project. Los Angeles was, in fact, historically the largest wine-producing region in the US. Beer arrived later, its popularity largely dependent on immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles Sake History & Culture
Eric Brightwell 