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

California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Santa Barbara

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 3 Comments

INTRODUCTION A year ago -- over a year ago! -- my partner and I visited the town of Santa Barbara. I meant to write about our visit for California Fool's Gold sooner, but 2020 was the year everything went pear-shaped. When the pandemic hit, many suddenly found themselves with more time than they knew what … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Santa Barbara

Los Angeles Neighborhoods — From Academy Hill to Zamperini Field and All Points Between

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 2 Comments

INTRODUCTION Los Angeles Neighborhoods — From Academy Hill to Zamperini Field and All Points Between is a collected series of haiku, sijo, and Twitter-inspired descriptions of 1,036 communities in Los Angeles County. Naturally, it includes all 88 cities – but also the unincorporated communities and census-designated places; the enclaves and exclaves; suburbs, exurbs, boomburbs, and … Continue reading Los Angeles Neighborhoods — From Academy Hill to Zamperini Field and All Points Between

The Most Popular Spotify Playlists

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 1 Comment

Although I have my issues with Spotify -- namely, it's run by two billionaires who enrich themselves off both musician's recordings and ads that feel like extortion -- I use it a lot. It has to be said, it's a pretty great product for consumers if not at all especially helpful for creators -- especially … Continue reading The Most Popular Spotify Playlists

Daphne Oram

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Daphne Oram was a pioneering English composer of electronic music and musique concrète and inventor of early synthesizers. Oram was an eccentric, too, interested not just in experimental music but in esoteric knowledge, time travel, plant intelligence, and mysticism. She was a member of the Research Into Lost Knowledge Organisation and student of New Age … Continue reading Daphne Oram

Seasons in Los Angeles

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 4 Comments

In 2019, I decided to make a video essay documenting the changing seasons in Los Angeles. https://www.youtube.com/embed/MF9OoSUPnrM The film begins, as the year does, in winter. In this case, it's winter in the San Gabriel Mountains that divide the chaparral of the Los Angeles Basin from the desert of the Antelope Valley. Next we're in … Continue reading Seasons in Los Angeles

Christmas Ghost Stories On Film

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 2 Comments

I'm not sure how widespread the practice of telling, reading, and watching ghost stories is on Christmas Eve, nor when it began. The custom appears to be almost unknown to most of my fellow Angelenos -- despite, you know, the most famous Christmas story, Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, containing new fewer than four ghosts. … Continue reading Christmas Ghost Stories On Film

𝕷𝖔𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝕲𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖈, 𝖆 𝕳𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕯í𝖆 𝖉𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖘 𝕸𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖔𝖘 𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖎𝖆

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 1 Comment

LOS ANGELES GOTHIC It's almost Halloween. Surely one of the greatest holidays, Halloween is up there, in my estimation, with Burns Supper, Nowruz, Thanksgiving, and Thanksgiving II. I keep reading and hearing, though, that Halloween is cancelled this year, thanks to the mismanagement at nearly every level of the COVID-19 pandemic. Surely you can't cancel … Continue reading 𝕷𝖔𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝕲𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖈, 𝖆 𝕳𝖆𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕯í𝖆 𝖉𝖊 𝖑𝖔𝖘 𝕸𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖔𝖘 𝕱𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖘𝖎𝖆

Pan-Asian Metropolis — Q&A with filmmaker Elizabeth Ai about her latest project, NEW WAVE

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 2 Comments

If you're American and you recognize names like "Bad Boys Blue," "C.C. Catch," "Sandra," or "Modern Talking," there's a good chance that you, or someone close to you, is Vietnamese. For the uninitiated non-Viet Americans, those are the names of three German (and one German-Dutch) pop bands whose songs have been compiled, covered, and claimed … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — Q&A with filmmaker Elizabeth Ai about her latest project, NEW WAVE

The Triffids

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NOTE: Around 2009, I wrote a bunch of music biographies for Amoeba Music, which was then planning an ambitious project which ultimately never came to fruition. Some of the biographies I wrote about my favorite musical acts did eventually make their way onto Amoeba’s current, scaled back website — although they’re somewhat buried and often … Continue reading The Triffids

Mantronix

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 1 Comment

NOTE: Around 2009, I wrote a bunch of music biographies for Amoeba Music, which was then planning an ambitious project which ultimately never came to fruition. Some of the biographies I wrote did make their way onto Amoeba’s current, scaled back website — although they’re somewhat buried and often don’t credit the authors. A lot … Continue reading Mantronix