I finally explored Torrance. I say “finally” because it occupied the top spot, based on reader votes, for the longest time — maybe since 2019. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened… and Torrance is sort of far from me and not that easy to get to. So, in the meantime, when I explored, I stuck to … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Torrance
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California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Miracle Mile
INTRODUCTION The other day, Mike Morgan — a frequent companion in my neighborhood explorations — asked whether or not I’d like to explore a neighborhood… or to maybe go to a museum. He asked, too, what community was currently topping the California Fool’s Gold readers’ poll. I informed him that Torrance still occupies the top … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Miracle Mile
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Pan Asian Metropolis — Cambodian Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION According to the Pew Research Center, there were, in 2019, about 339,000 Americans of Cambodian ancestry. More than one-in-three lived in just one state, California. Cambodians in California can be found in large numbers in cities including Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco, and Stockton. Yesterday, for Songkran, I posted an … Continue reading Pan Asian Metropolis — Cambodian Los Angeles
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On The Los Angeles Times’s “The Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf: 110 essential Los Angeles books”
In advance of the 2023 L.A. Times Festival of Books, 95 writers compiled a list of essential "Los Angeles Books." I reckon it's a good, if not very surprising list -- not that the number of surprises has anything to do with a list's quality. A few author, including Aldous Huxley, Joan Didion, and Raymond … Continue reading On The Los Angeles Times’s “The Ultimate L.A. Bookshelf: 110 essential Los Angeles books”
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Where Fools Fear To Tread — A Snapshot of Seattle
The view from my airplane window as we descended into Seattle INTRODUCTION A week after Una, my sister, and I visited San Francisco; Una and I headed over to Seattle for a vacation we'd planned back in the summer of 2022 -- before my sister notified us that she'd be on the West Coast just … Continue reading Where Fools Fear To Tread — A Snapshot of Seattle
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Mist & Iron — The Mountains and Hills of Metro Los Angeles
Los Angeles and Southern California's mountains have been in the spotlight as of late. The mountains are always there, of course, but a seemingly endless barrage of drizzle, rain, freezing rain, hail, graupel, sleet, and snow have painted our semi-arid landscape with brilliant strokes of green and swathes of blinding white. The unexpected precipitation has … Continue reading Mist & Iron — The Mountains and Hills of Metro Los Angeles
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Homes Fit For Heroes — The Sunset Pacific Motel (1964-2023)
As I write, the Sunset Pacific Motel -- better known as "the Bates Motel" -- is coming down. After sitting abandoned for over twenty years during which plans were made and hands were changed, it appears that the long-delayed Junction Gateway project is moving forward. Love it or (more likely) hate it -- the Sunset … Continue reading Homes Fit For Heroes — The Sunset Pacific Motel (1964-2023)
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Happy Twin Peaks Day
Welcome to Twin Peaks Happy Twin Peaks Day! It was on this date, 24 February, back in 1989 that FBI Agent Dale Cooper first rolled into Twin Peaks, a Washington town located "five miles south of the Canadian border, and twelve miles west of the [Idaho] state line." The time was 11:30 am. Twin Peaks, … Continue reading Happy Twin Peaks Day
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Ask Silver Lake — Black Pioneers of Silver Lake
This piece was originally written for “Ask Silver Lake.” “Ask Silver Lake” is dedicated to exploring the history and insights of our community. If you have questions or ideas you’d like us to consider, please drop a comment or send them to outreach@silverlakenc.org. Silver Lake, in its early years, was essentially off limits to black Angelenos. Unlike nearby … Continue reading Ask Silver Lake — Black Pioneers of Silver Lake
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Mapping Pee-Wee Herman in Los Angeles (and Beyond) on the Anniversary of Large Marge’s Passing (Which Should Probably Be Designated Pee-Wee Herman Day)
It was on 11 January 1974 -- every fan of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure knows -- that Large Marge died in the worst "accident" that many had ever seen. The sound of the crash was evocatively compared to that of "a garbage truck dropped off the Empire State Building." Ten years later, an apparently quinquagenarian truck … Continue reading Mapping Pee-Wee Herman in Los Angeles (and Beyond) on the Anniversary of Large Marge’s Passing (Which Should Probably Be Designated Pee-Wee Herman Day)
Eric Brightwell 