viewfromaloft

Pic of the Month

Photo/EF

Near Mayhem on Traction: While in mid-air actor Tom Tully recovers from a near fall during his memorial to Joel Bloom July 22.  Tully performed in Bloom's  "Mayhem at Mayfield Mall" that was onced produced  in the parking lots around the Arts District.

Before the next post

After posting almost non-stop for just over a year, View From a Loft will take a few days away to reevaluate what to do with this site –– unless of course, something interesting comes in. Tweaking may be seen.  Thanks to those who have came up and introduced themselves since this post and this post. 5th and Spring's extra 5 questions are answered after the jump.

Spirits Gather

Shoppers at the "Ballroom Blitz" explored the Palm Court at the Hotel Alexandria (1907) inbetween digging through the craft and flea market inventory. Organizer Nico Bella is ready to make it a monthly event and plans to share a portion of the gate with a designated charity or non-profit collectively decided by merchants. Also present was Metropolis Books  owner and operator Julie Swayze selling her wares and collecting Downtown ghost stories. She wants to hear more.

No Stop For You

Psst, Mr "moving-people-out-of-the-shot-during-a-car-commercial" man. If people come up to you to let you know your borrowed LAPD guy a block away diverted a DASH on a late Sunday afternoon so your crew could get the shot of the SUV turning the corner at 7th and Spring, don't blow them off with "No they're not. All busses are on the regular route".  Then when your reassured the borrowed LAPD guy one block away did divert a DASH, don't repeat "All busses are on the regular route" three times in a row.

By the way the DASH driver––who was told by the borrowed LAPD guy to divert north on Main St at 7th–– made it clear that he wasn't too pleased because he has to go in a circle back and around so he wouldn't miss the two stops at Spring and at Broadway. The passengers were cursing in English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese and Armenian.

Filming Downtown. Bringing the world together.

 

Business-like Look at the "City of East LA"

East LA's hope to become incorporated means taking a hard look at it's ability to be self-sufficient. The LA Business Journal finds that the major players consider the biggest factor allowing the City of LA to be realized may be the MTA Gold Line (It will also help to have  Housing Authority management get no where near the place).  Business Journal clips are after the jump:

El Vez: One Night Only

The "Mexican Elvis": Robert Lopez mixes covers of Presley (along with with other artists) as El Vez and he will be honoring the King's legacy at Grand Performances August 18 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. August also includes Afro Cuba Calling!, Andy Palacio and the Garifuna Collective, and Vieux Farka Touré. Times and dates with links are after the jump.

Dogma Run Reminder

Pup Photo Op:  LA's first Dog Day Afternoon at the Cathedral will be Tuesday evening (July 31) giving owners and pets a chance to network from 6:30-9pm in the open outdoor plaza.  Hal Bastian, of the Downtown Center BID and Monsignor Kevin Kostelnik of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, organized the event yet are the unofficial hosts.

The real hosts, Buddy and Joaquin, were unavailable for comment at this time.

Art across the river (and beyond)

Wayne Healy is being exhibited at East LA City College's Vincent Price Gallery (soon to close on August 2). The LA Times has a profile on the artist  whose four decades of work helped defined Chicano Art.   

"Neighborhood has always sort of been a backdrop," says Healy, who also has utilized all manner of found backdrops -- apartment building walls, worn fences -- as canvases within neighborhoods themselves to tell his stories. He is probably best known for a series of iconic murals, a trail of history laced along walls of civic buildings, nursery schools and garages around the city, county and beyond. As one of the founding members of East Los StreetScapers, one of the original public art collectives to come out of East L.A., Healy, 61, is considered one of the fathers of the Los Angeles mural movement of the 1970s.

Pictured: La Caricia Jarocha, 2005, Acrylic on canvas, Courtesy of the artist and Patricia Correia Gallery,

Related recent posts and links:  El Chavo explores Estrada Courts + LAWeekly explores ASCO + aftermath + Ricardo Favela, an early Chicano Artist and founder of the Royal Chicano Air Force passed away at 62 this month.

In From Nevada?

Visitors From Out of Town: A U-Haul with "Area 51" graphic was left mysteriously behind on Santa Fe since last Wednesday. LAPD ran the plates and it's not reported as stolen, and all that was inside "some underwear and other leftover articles of clothing-–it wasn't pretty." No bright lights were nor any other paranormal activity were reported. The van has been since towed away.

According to the City of LA you can report an abandoned vehicle after 72 hours (Be ready with a place number, description of the car, and a solid location). Details after the jump.

Other News: A FYI FROM CURBLA VIA DTNEWS: "Rental occupancy is up to 92.9% in downtown. " 

'Te vagy a Blade, Blade Runner!'

Decker Roams The Bradbury Building again: The 25th Anniversary of the Ridley Scott classic will be released on DVD as ""Blade Runner: The Final Cut"  December 18  following a limited and brief theater run that starts on October 5. The DVD release choices are a Two-Disc Special Edition,  a Four-Disc Collector’s Edition, or a Five-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition in Collectible “Deckard Briefcase” packaging.  More from the blog, Dogmatic: