THE DOO-WOP CHALLENGE Some years ago, my then-roommate and friend Seth and I dreamt up the Doo-Wop Challenge. I don't exactly remember what the impetus was although the catalyst was undoubtedly cannabinoid. The challenge in question was primarily a test of almost pointless endurance and stubbornness, like a quiet contest. Who can go the longest only ever … Continue reading The Doo-Wop Challenge
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 The Byzantine-Latino Quarter, Los Angeles’s Old Greektown
WE ARE EACH OF US ANGELS WITH ONE WING Pendersleigh & Sons Cartography's map of The Byzantine-Latino Quarter Los Angeles's Byzantine-Latino Quarter is neighborhood and commercial corridor that straddles the larger neighborhoods of Harvard Heights and Pico-Union as well as the larger Midtown districts of Wilshire Center to the north and Mid-City to the south. … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring The Byzantine-Latino Quarter, Los Angeles’s Old Greektown
Share this:
California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Dogtown
Pendersleigh & Sons' Cartography's map of Dogtown INTRODUCTION Dogtown (or as the city would rather you refer to it -- the "North Industrial District") is both one of Los Angeles’s oldest and most obscure neighborhoods. It’s also occasionally referred to as either Naud Junction or Mission Junction, after two area junctions of the Southern Pacific Railroad, the … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Dogtown
Share this:
Happy birthday, John Gray – the real life Dorian Gray
Today is the birthday of English poet and Dandy, John Gray. As a writer, Gray is best-known for Silverpoints,The Long Road, and Park: A Fantastic Story. Though celebrated in his day, today he is perhaps best known for being the rumored inspiration for Oscar Wilde’s fictional character and literature's most famous Decadent and Dandy, Dorian Gray. … Continue reading Happy birthday, John Gray – the real life Dorian Gray
Share this:
Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring the Gold Line’s Foothill Extension: Phase 2A
With bicycles, buses, ferries, planes, rideshares, sidewalks, subways, taxis, and trains at Angelenos’ disposal, why would any sane person choose car dependency? Nobody Drives in LA celebrates sense and sensibility in transportation. It was a warm February morning when I texted my brother if he'd like to walk along the route of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension from … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring the Gold Line’s Foothill Extension: Phase 2A
Share this:
Pan-American Blues — Black Country Music
If one listens to a “hillbilly” record like, say, Jimmie Rodgers’s “Blue Yodel” back-to-back with a “race” record like Lead Belly’s “Cow Cow Yiki” it should become immediately clear to the listener that often the distinction between these two genres has for many years been (and continues to be) more of an industry marketing rather than … Continue reading Pan-American Blues — Black Country Music
Share this:
Paul Williams — Architect to the people
Although it takes an incredible combination of cognitive dissonance, myopia (and usually some chauvinism) to deny that Los Angeles can be characterized by its amazing architecture, it does happen. Ironically, most of the blame for this fact can be placed on the shoulders of the self-appointed boosters in Hollywood, whose idea of Utopia seems … Continue reading Paul Williams — Architect to the people
Share this:
Fear of a black galaxy — Black people in science-fiction
Photo by JD Hancock The other day I was listening to the podcast The Auteur Cast. In discussing The Empire strikes back, one of the hosts used the character of Lando Calrissian to question why there are so few black people in science-fiction. It’s not a new question. In 1976, on the album Bicentennial Nigger, Richard … Continue reading Fear of a black galaxy — Black people in science-fiction
Share this:
Proto-rap — a look at black soul and jazz poetry for Black History Month
INTRODUCTION In my freshman year of college I remember being hipped to the Last Poets by LaRon Johnson, another temporary housing refugee. He basically told me that they were rap music before rap music. This was back in 1992, a year after CERN released the World-Wide Web and when most music was shared via cassette … Continue reading Proto-rap — a look at black soul and jazz poetry for Black History Month
Share this:
Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring the Course of the Metro Expo Line: Phase 2
With bicycles, buses, ferries, planes, rideshares, sidewalks, subways, taxis, and trains at Angelenos’ disposal, why would any sane person choose car-dependency? Nobody Drives in LA celebrates sense and sensibility in transportation. ***** Phase 1 of the Los Angeles Metro's Expo Line was completed in June 2012 after first opening most of the line in April. I rode it a couple … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring the Course of the Metro Expo Line: Phase 2
Eric Brightwell 