Rock Star

Last night I dreamt Radio Rat and I were rock stars...wait...right

American Pie Flashback

Phone Rat recently went on one of his L.A. excursions and came across this Don McLean concert poster for an upcoming concert. Don McLean's song American Pie was released in the fall of 1971. I was in a band at the time (Phone rat was our roadie) and  the popularity of the song demanded we learn it and play it. It's an easy song to learn and play and everyone seemed to like it. I didn't have an acoustic guitar at the time so I muted the tone on my guitar and used a felt auto harp pick to further mute my electric guitar sound. Below is a picture (Me and Radio Rat) of our band, The Destinations  from December 1971. The vest and tie uniform is still a bit embarrassing but that's okay. Unfortunately this photo doesn't show the throngs of girls at the bottom of the stage or the underwear they threw on the stage...yeah.

My Desk

A friend just uploaded a picture of his very messy desk to his website. I told him it was disgraceful and indicative of his disorganized thought process. He's a liberal and I'm a conservative so we always rag on each other, but in a friendly way. So he dared me to post a picture of my desk as it is today. He hasn't seen my office or desk so he must figure it is filled with hand grenades, rifles and voodoo dolls of Al Gore and Harry Reid. So here is my very small desk (I miss my two large desks). Do scissors count as a weapon?

The only weapon in sight is a ceremonial Knight Templar Masonic sword on the wall to the left of my desk which belonged to my Grandfather. Above my desk is a James Bond poster of him holding a girl and pointing a gun our way. I'll leave the psychological implications of that for my friend to figure out. My wife bought it for me and had it framed. The desk is otherwise fairly organized and clean. I tend to be "Monk" like with regard to organization and cleanliness, which makes me the most frustrating member of our too large household. So I determine I win on neatness and cleanliness just as I am always right and win with our political argument :)

Larry Harnisch Reflects on Los Angeles History

I just logged on to Larry Harnisch's LA Times blog only to find out it is being discontinued. Larry's blog is one of our links on the right side of this page. Larry says the LA Times blog will continue to be available online as a wonderful resource for all us Los Angeles history buffs. The good news is Larry will continue a blog on his own personal website:

http://ladailymirror.com/

Be sure to check it out. It's almost poetic that right before I logged onto his LA Times blog I was listening to the album Black Dahlia by Bob Belden. Larry as you may know is the preeminent authority on the Black Dahlia murder. Larry also has a page on Facebook you should check out.

L.A. Film Noir Music

Tonight I got a bit homesick for L.A.. Not for the L.A. I remember but for the L.A. that predates me. For the L. A. of Raymond Chandler and those 1940's and 1950's film noir movies. The images and music is so powerful they create the sensation of nostalgia for a time and place you never lived in.

I was sitting at my desk working on a project which would not allow me to watch video. So I fired up iTunes and clicked on the two albums above by Charlie Haden & Quartet West. With these two albums Haden successfully evokes the music and feel of Los Angeles from those post war days. If you like Los Angeles film noir movies I think these albums will take you on an aural trip through those times. If you like more modern noir style movies such as L.A. Confidential and Chinatown I bet you will enjoy these.

I used to drive through the Hollywood Hills at night with these albums playing in my car. If it was late and beginning to rain I would throw on some clothes and drive the canyons to the top of Mulholland Drive. Some of us take our music and atmosphere seriously.

Before I left L.A. I visited Tower Records on Sunset. I bought two CD's, the first was Joe South's Greatest Hits and the other was another excellent film noir style album by Bob Belden called Black Dahlia. Granted it's a walk on the darker side of L.A. but the music is just as powerful as the Haden albums in evoking that post war period.

Lake Erie Sunset

Tonight we travel to Rocky River Ohio for a nice sunset over Lake Erie. It may not be a west coast end iof the world looking sunset but I thought it was decent. We were driving home from dinner at a Chinese restaurant when we decide to pull into the park and walk on the pier. On our way out we caught this shot.

While on the pier I took this shot of some lake shore houses in Rocky River Ohio.

For you crime buffs here is a quick picture of what used to be a hospital in Bay Village Ohio. It is now condo units. In its past life it was the hospital started by the father of Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was convicted of murdering his wife Marilyn and then acquitted in 1966. The Dad lived in a house right across the parking lot from the hospital. Sam was arrested for the murder of his wife in this house. During the 1970's it became a doctors office where my Aunt Joanne Knight worked. I have been in the house but never ventured into the hospital.

Josuha Tree June 2011

Last week Phone Rat and his camera took a trip out to the Joshua tree area. He sent me a DVD full of images, a few of which I thought I would share. Above is an old trailer which looks like the kind of housing I could afford if I was back in California. Below is an old car that could be right out of the Bonnie & Clyde movie.

Below is an old bus. Perhaps it's the Partridge family on the lam.

And finally some sage advice

Wally George My Pal

Above is a picture of the infamous Los Angeles "Hot Seat" talk show host and former co-host to Mayor Sam Yorty, Wally George. Sometime back in the 1980's a friend sent in a request for a glossy picture of Wally addressed to me. It was quite a surprise when it arrived since I did not watch the show and was not a pal of Mr. George. But I recently came across the picture and was glad to have a small piece of Los Angeles history. I'm sure Mr. George now lives on through YouTube along with Sheriff John, Tom Hatten and Hobo Kelly.

Before Van Nuys There Was Detroit

Before my family moved to Van Nuys California in 1960 we lived in a suburb of Detroit Michigan named Wayne. Above is picture taken about a year and a half ago when my friend Phone Rat and I traveled to Detroit. The house is a duplex and we lived on the right side at 2562 Ackley Ct. The house looks as it did back in the late fifties. Below is a picture of my Dad and I sitting on the front steps for Easter of 1957. Behind the screen door next to us is my friend Dawny. After we moved to Van Nuys I only saw Dawny one more time when we stopped in Detroit on our way to Cleveland to visit family sometime in the sixties.

By the way Elvis Presley's All Shook Up was the number one song in the nation on this Easter Day.

Mother's Day, A Curmudgeon's Perspective

I always thought Mothers Day was a time to honor Mom, make her breakfast and let her lounge around the house and enjoy the quiet. Not where I am. Currently there are two lawn mowers and one edger cranking out the decibels. Inside is a 9 year old practicing every annoying sound and squeal one can imagine while his Mom finds relief inside her headphones. In another room is the shrill of a relentless alarm clock trying to wake up a 24 year old slacker at 2pm in the afternoon. I was downstairs with the front door and a window open, smoking a cigar and trying to watch a movie. I gave up on that one and came up to my office where I now have my headphones on cranking out Live Bullet by Bob Seger. If I am going to have loud noise at least it will be my own.

As I waddle through time I have discovered that true riches are not found in a fat bank account or a stack of gold bars. True riches for this old curmudgeon are, privacy and quiet. I find it ironic that when I lived in a small two bedroom downstairs apartment I had more room and more quiet. Live in a house with empty rooms and people come knocking on your door looking for a place to live. My wife and I dream of the day when it is just us. That time is now sooner than later. An exit strategy is in the works.

My wife is at work so it is not much of a Mothers Day for her. I'm 2400 miles away from my Mom, but my good friend Arnold put flowers on her grave. Our parents are buried a few feet apart. So with that I guess I will stop bitching and moaning. If things get louder I just might jump in my truck, drive out to the airport and park next to a runway and enjoy the quiet. Happy Mothers Day.