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 of … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — A San Diego Neighborhoods Primer
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
Pan-Asian Metropolis — Khánh Ly
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
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — The Art of the Benshi/弁士の芸術
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 the 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 … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — The Art of the Benshi/弁士の芸術
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Pan-Asian Metropolis — 素食夜市小吃園遊會 Happy Lantern Green Night Market
The other day, Una and I went to the 素食夜市小吃園遊會 Happy Lantern Green Night Market -- a 100% vegetarian (and mostly vegan) Taiwanese street food festival which took place in Alhambra. If that sounds on the surface impossibly niche, consider the following. Taiwan is the cradle of the night market. Taiwan is, after India, likely the second … Continue reading Pan-Asian Metropolis — 素食夜市小吃園遊會 Happy Lantern Green Night Market
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Swinging Doors — The Stardust Club
The other night I went to the Stardust Club in Downey to see San Francisco Bay Area band, Starry Eyed Cadet. Before leaving home, I was fairly sure that I'd been to the Stardust before previously to see Zip Code play there. As I got closer, heading down Firestone Boulevard, I was certain that this was … Continue reading Swinging Doors — The Stardust Club
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California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Sandberg
One of the pleasing ironies of Los Angeles County is that even though it's the most populous county in the US as well as the core of the nation's most densely populated metropolis -- it is also a region so vast and varied that it supports dozens of hamlets, ghost towns, and de-populated places which … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Sandberg
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Thiên Hương (aka “Tiny Yong”)
Thiên Hương -- better known as "Tiny Yong" is a French singer associated with the yé-yé scene of the 1950s and '60s. In fact, she was a pioneer on the scene, releasing yé-yé music before notable singers like France Gall and Jacqueline Taïeb. She was born Tôn Nữ Thị Thiên Hương on 8 February 1944 … Continue reading Thiên Hương (aka “Tiny Yong”)
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Thanksgiving II; or, a Super Bowl Party for people who hate the Super Bowl
Last Sunday, the Super Bowl took place. For the 98.7% of the world's population who didn't watch this televised spectacle; it featured billionaire Enos Stanley Kroenke's Rams in competition with billionaire Robert Kraft's Patriots; the musical stylings of the Empress of Soul (Gladys Knight), Proactiv's Maroon 5, Kardashian rapper Travis Scott, and Big Boi; as … Continue reading Thanksgiving II; or, a Super Bowl Party for people who hate the Super Bowl
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Where Fools Fear to Tread — A Snapshot of Japan
INTRODUCTION On 1 June of last year, I visited Japan. Despite my sister having lived off and on (currently on) in Japan for many years, it was my first visit to the country. I'm always excited to travel to any new country, but with Japan, my impending trip seemed to produce a great deal of … Continue reading Where Fools Fear to Tread — A Snapshot of Japan
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No Enclave — Exploring Vietnamese Los Angeles
Metro Los Angeles is home to the largest population of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. About two-thirds of the metropolis's population lives in Orange County -- home to the nation's oldest and largest Little Saigon. Los Angeles County, on the other hand, has the third-largest population of Vietnamese-Americans but one which is less than half the … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Vietnamese Los Angeles
Eric Brightwell 