California Fool’s Gold’s Guide to Los Angeles’s Revival Cinemas

No city on Earth is more closely associated with motion pictures than Los Angeles. 10% of all movie theaters in the entire country are located in California and Los Angeles County is home to over 100 of them. Although most of Los Angeles's theaters, like those throughout the country, showcase only the latest Hollywood product, … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold’s Guide to Los Angeles’s Revival Cinemas

One album wonders: The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977) In the early 1980s, when I was in elementary school, I remember asking my father what mental illness was. This was the era of deinstitutionalization, when most of the nation's mental institutions were emptied onto the streets which were at the same … Continue reading One album wonders: The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols

Happy 30th, Criterion — May your next 30 be even better

Criterion is, without a doubt, the most loved video-distribution company in the video distribution game. No one (outside Korea) packages their films so beautifully and today they released a lovely, book (just in time for Christmas) of their "covers, supplemental art, and never-before-seen sketches and concept art" featured on their releases over the years called Criterion … Continue reading Happy 30th, Criterion — May your next 30 be even better

Urban Rambles — Exploring the area along Hoover and Virgil with Marvin

Los Angeles is often characterized as a city in which one simply cannot exist without a car. And yet, as the millions of Angelenos who bicycle, take public transit, or walk will tell you, driving a car is no way to get to know the city. Since Los Angeles County is even larger than the … Continue reading Urban Rambles — Exploring the area along Hoover and Virgil with Marvin

One album wonders: Diane Hildebrand’s Early Morning Blues and Greens

DIANE HILDEBRAND - EARLY MORNING BLUES AND GREENS (1967)  It's surprisingly hard to find much information online about singer-songwriter Diane Hildebrand, who was a professional songwriter who penned numbers for none other than The Monkees and released a single, wonderful solo album in the 1960s. Hildebrand was apparently about eighteen when one of her compositions, "I'm On My … Continue reading One album wonders: Diane Hildebrand’s Early Morning Blues and Greens

Happy Discovery Day — Real Geographic Discoveries of the Modern Age

I will not make the argument that Columbus's arrival in the New World was insignificant merely because he was an absolutely awful person or because he didn't actually discover anything (which he himself maintained, claiming until his death that he'd merely found a different route to Asia). But think about this before you dismiss -- … Continue reading Happy Discovery Day — Real Geographic Discoveries of the Modern Age

Taste of the Mideast Side — at the Los Angeles County Store

If there are regular readers of my column here on the Amoeblog, they've probably seen some of the hand-drawn and hand-painted maps which I include in my series of Southland explorations I call California Fool's Gold. Right now a series of new maps are on display at the Los Angeles County Store in East Hollywood. None, … Continue reading Taste of the Mideast Side — at the Los Angeles County Store

Unrecognized South Asia: An introduction to the Tripuri people

India is home to over 1.21 billion people, roughly 18% of entire human population. Indians speakAustroasiatic, Dravidian, Indo-European, and Tibeto-Burman languages (as well as two language isolates) and there are over 2,000 ethnic groups in the vast country. India's considerable diversity, however, tends to be simplified or overlooked in the west, where Hindi language Bollywood … Continue reading Unrecognized South Asia: An introduction to the Tripuri people

A look at the Lyon’s Eye — Jeff Regan, Investigator

  A look at the Lyon's Eye -- Jeff Regan, Investigator   Another great radio noir detective series which starred Jack Webb -- Jeff Regan, Investigator.

This one’s about the Blues, Pete Kelly’s Blues

Today Jack Webb is best remembered for his portrayal of Detective Sergeant Joe Friday on the radio and television series Dragnet. Friday – a stiff, slouching, robotic cop who chain smokes as he rails against drug abuse – embodies for many folks the definition of a hypocrite and a square. However, the real Webb was … Continue reading This one’s about the Blues, Pete Kelly’s Blues