By now you and I have heard the arguments for and against Scottish independence from the UK but as someone who has naturally bristled like a thistle when diasporic people argue passionately and ill-informedly about another country's political situations (which they are thankfully powerless to effect) I'll keep my political opinions to myself. What I will … Continue reading The 50 Best Scottish Bands of All Time
Nobody Drives in LA — Previewing Santa Ana’s SOMOS (Sunday On Main Open Streets)
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. ***** A couple of weeks ago I visited Garden Grove to preview that city's upcoming open streets event, which I wrote would be the first of its kind in … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Previewing Santa Ana’s SOMOS (Sunday On Main Open Streets)
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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
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A look at Crime Correspondent
The overwhelming success of Dragnet -- surely the greatest police procedural on radio -- predictably led to the creation of several similar programs. Dragnet's network, NBC, offered several more twists on the genre. Perhaps the best was Tales of the Texas Rangers which sounds as if it might be a juvenile western but was actually an excellent Texas-set police (or … Continue reading A look at Crime Correspondent
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Where Fools Fear to Tread — An Albany Snapshot
GRAND TOUR OF THE NORTHEAST AND QUEBEC I recently took a sort of Grand Tour of the Northeastern United States and Quebec with Una. Before the trip I'd only been in the region once before when I spent a few days in and around Princeton and New York City during Yuletide a few years ago. I returned … Continue reading Where Fools Fear to Tread — An Albany Snapshot
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Nobody Drives in LA — Reimagining Garden Grove
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. ***** On October 12, Garden Grove will host Re:Imagine Garden Grove - A Downtown Open Streets Event, and for a few hours a few blocks of that city's streets … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Reimagining Garden Grove
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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
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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.
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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
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No Enclave — Kitsch and Kultur: Exploring SoCal Bavaria
Diversity has long been part of the fabric of Los Angeles and Southern California. Humans first arrived here at least 13,000 years ago and more than twenty Native American nations made their home here before the Spanish Conquest. The Spanish pueblo of Los Angeles was itself founded by people of Native, African, European, and mixed ancestries and … Continue reading No Enclave — Kitsch and Kultur: Exploring SoCal Bavaria
Eric Brightwell 