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VinScullyIsMyHomeboy warms up for today's season opener with this graphic by Mitsy Avila Ovalles. A much more graphic version of the graphic is available.
The baseball season opens today and a marquee game is the late afternoon Dodger home opener against the Giants. Fernando Valenzuela is selected to toss the ceremonial first pitch and Placido Domingo will sing The National Anthem. Not a bad way to open another week of Downtown L.A. culture.
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Blood and Glory (2011) Midnight Radio / Directed by Dalit Diva
The Museum of Neon Art is the backdrop for “Blood and Glory,” a new single by Midnight Radio, an indie band who have performed at the treasured neon museum during Art Walk.
The song and location was a good pick. It almost comes across as MONA's goodbye note to Downtown Los Angeles.
Lead singer Dalit Diva (Thenmozhi Soundararajan) comes out of USC, and directed the Bolly-Noir music vid. The lyrics, subtitled in Hindi and English, help move you through a song about moving forward after a relationship: "I want more. I want more. I want love. That's the point."
You can almost hear Downtown Los Angeles, a long-time partner to MONA, say "Ouch."
MONA just signed a 15 year lease with the City of Glendale and expected to inhabit new space in spring of 2012. “Glendale is rapidly becoming the regional leader in arts development,” brayed Glendale Councilmember John Drayman in a press release about the lease and move.
As for the single, Soundararajan––or Diva if you prefer––told Buzzline Bollywood: “It’s exciting to have been one of the first Indian artists to have a 3D video. At the time, I didn’t realize how historic it was, but as a desi woman who is a rock and roll artist and a 3D film director, it is inevitable that some records get broken.”
That's right. Records and hearts were made to be broken. Put on your 3D glasses and move on.
More Downtown Vid Picks: [view]
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Council did not blink twice when given the chance to approve electronic billboards today.
City Council voted to support Wilshire Grand Towers' idea to make 7th and Figueroa a Bladerunner-esque intersection with electronic billboard signs that move and spin graphics and typography on two planned skyscrapers. No revenue is generated for the city, perhaps hoping illumnation will attract visitors like lost moths.
But you cannot help but wonder: What if 10%, even 2%, of the advertising revenue generated by the Wilshire Grand Tower went directly to fund public art for the City of LA.
It was something I wondering as I read the news:
"The sign district will allow various kinds of digital signs on the first 10 floors of the two towers. The tops of the two skyscrapers will offer digital signs advertising the buildings’ owner and major tenants. And on dozens of stories in between, LED lights would display noncommercial images such as flowers and vines that would fade in and out.
Councilman Ed Reyes praised the “architectural lighting” scheme, saying the graphics on the upper floors should not be confused with other brightly lighted billboards. “It is art. And I believe it adds more culture” to Los Angeles, he said.
From Jan Perry's office:
“The redevelopment of the Wilshire Grand Hotel is an investment in our city’s future. The project will create over 9,000 new, net jobs, bring in millions in new city revenue, and offer valuable hotel rooms that will help us attract new, larger conventions to our city,” said Council President Pro Tempore Jan Perry, who championed the project, seeing its value as a long-term investment in the city and people of Los Angeles. “This is a public-private partnership that will have lasting benefits that will positively impact the region’s economy.”
Today the City Council approved the Wilshire Grand Hotel Development Agreement (DA), air rights, and on and off-site signage. The DA freezes entitlements in place for 25 years and ensures that the project includes important community benefits like local hire, living wage, and local purchasing agreements at the hotel to maximize the project’s benefit to the city. Additionally, architectural lighting features for then buildings exterior walls were approved. The signage agreement are part of a larger sign district that would run along the Figueroa corridor, connecting the developments along Figueroa to the existing Sports and Entertainment District.
Site owners Korean Air and development partner Thomas Properties Group will replace the 58-year-old Wilshire Grand with the two tower New Wilshire Grand, a 45 story luxury hotel and a 65-story office tower joined by a major pedestrian plaza.
ELSEWHERE: "Angelenos at large have no idea such a skyline-altering, downtown-remaking project is in the offing." [LA Weekly]
Photo: AC Martin
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Screenshot of LAT Framework with LAPD Deon Joseph as photographed by Mel Melcon. March 26, 2011.
THE BIG CAT: Those living in the Historic Core or visiting Downtown Art Walk can't miss the cutting figure Deon Joseph, the LAPD Senior Lead Officer who is the current subject of the LA Times' Framework. The photography and video blog follows Deon in and around Downtown L.A.'s Skid Row, Deon's preferred beat. [Framework]
MONDAY ADD: When asked if he felt the essay, and accompanying article was fair, Joseph responded: "He (Photographer Mel Melcon) wasn't trying to create a story where there wasn't. He spent seven days with me and discovered what I do is authentic and real, not a staged event to boost LAPD PR." Often reporters seeking a controversy angle places LAPD in a precarious spot, adds Joesph. "The truth is that the underdog is not me –– or the tent dwelling thugs. It is the community victimized by thugs."
MORE SKID ROW MEDIA: Sunday NIghts' "Secret Millionaire" assigned successful internet businessman John Ferber to spend a week in Skid Row. Among those benefiting was OG's 3 on 3 basketball league, that frankly, was something some of us knew. The episode, filmed in March 2010, had Ferber posing as a struggling documentary filmmaker who landed in Skid Row.
Florida based Ferber has kept in touch with the people he met reports a paper. “It opened my eyes.”
The full 4th episode of Secret Millionaire is after the jump.
Continue reading "LAPD Deon Joseph Subject of LATimes' Framework + Secret Millionaire on Skid Row" »
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Julie Swayze continues debriefing Downtown L.A. from her outpost at Metropolis Books. Today she shares her photo of a Carl's Jr. commercial shoot on 5th. A large burger is moving down the street shooting smaller burgers out of a cannon. "We are under attack." Said Swayze.
Photo: Julie Swayze
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From 2009, Seth MacFarlane sings "Singin' the Rain" at Royal Albert Hall.
That cartoon cat will croon at the club this Saturday.
"Family Guy" and "American Dad" creator/writer/voice-over actor Seth MacFarlane will be in concert at Club Nokia March 26, backed by 36-piece orchestra. Selections will include songs from his upcoming album “Music Is Better Than Words.”
This is no fluke. He has pipes. While MacFarlane does not compare himself to Frank Sinatra, his voice training and voice-over acting certainly helps lays groundwork for earnest and affectionate interpretations of standards. It was that inflection through emoting that Sinatra mastered, and what inspired the animation renaissance man.
"His skill as an actor was what separated him." Said MacFarlane to the LAT. "There were vocalists who were more technically proficient, but Sinatra was an actor.”
"He’s not exactly a newbie, either, when it comes to winning over a live audience" wrote The Hollywood Reporter, referring to the 2009 performance at London's Royal Albert Hall. The trade paper goes on to report the Club Nokia performance will be recorded in high definition and multi track audio for screenings and streaming to support “Music Is Better Than Words” release.
It's not all high tech. For the upcoming album, MacFarlane got his rat pack era on and recorded at Capitol Records with the microphone used by Sinatra–– nicknamed "The Frank"––on loan from the Smithsonian. The tracks were laid down in analog, no less.
Hey pal, that’s method voice acting.
Seth MacFarlane: Swingin' In Concert
With guest Sara Bareilles
Club Nokia at L.A. Live
Sat., Mar 26, 7pm
A full list of Downtown events can be found at blogdowntown.
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Due to rain, the grand opening ceremonies for the 9-acre South Los Angeles Wetlands Pocket Park is rescheduled for March 31 at 2pm, according to the office for Councilwoman Jan Perry. It is the second set of small wetlands in South Los Angeles, greenspace projects that have been welcomed by the surrounding neighborhoods. "They never imagined this was possible right in their own frontyard," said Perry to the LA Times. The South Los Angeles Wetlands Pocket Park is located at 361 E. 55th.
Previous: [2009 Groundbreaking]
From 2008 [Augustus F. Hawkins Natural Park]
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Los Angeles, Boulder Drive (2004) by Tim Simmons can be seen in "L.A.te – Los Angeles After Dark," a new exhibition at Edgar Varela Fine Arts that opens April 16.
Even though Downtown L.A. is in between Art Walks, galleries are keeping the city busy with exhibitions. Here is a short list of what you can find before the next Art Walk strolls in April 14
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Photo: Architectural photographer Timothy Hursley's photo of Gaston Nogues (left) and Benjamin Ball (right) in Ball-Nogues new production space in Boyle Heights. Self-Help Graphics will be sharing the space with Ball-Nogues.
When Self-Help Graphics announced it was moving in February, it was noted the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District was getting a new neighbor.
As it turns out, Self-Help Graphics will be sharing space with Ball-Nogues Studio, the design practice founded by SCI-Arc alum Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues, according to a February profile in Architect Magazine.
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"Cuidela" (2011) Erin Yoshi / Photo courtesy The Estria Foundation
"Cuidela" (Care for it) was unvelied in Boyle Heights Saturday, the first in a series from The Estria Foundation's "Water Writes" project. "The artists collaborated to create something unique to the neighborhood's character and history while advocating a strong environmental message." says Christine Kim with Estria Foundation. She adds:
The mural is designed to tell stories of East L.A. water culture. Waters flow from Chalchiuhtlicue's, the Goddess of the river, through jade skirts "connecting all the native characters and myths along the 25' X 100' wall." It ends with the Aztec Rain God, Tlaloc.
Privatization is depicted by three characters representing corporations that control most of the water on the globe, and the X's on the map represent the few remaining free sources of water. "The mural also depicts stories of hope, preservation, and the idea that a small seed of hope and action can break through the seemingly monolithic barriers."
"Cuidela" is located at 2810 Whittier Boulevard.
Lead artist Erin Yoshi. Guest artist Dr. Susie Lundy. Contributing artists Estria Miyashiro, Ricardo Estrada, Vyal Reyes,, Carlos Rogel, Raul Gonzalez. Estria Foundation in collaboration with SPARC, Mobile Mural Lab, Casual Play, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Friends We Love, Graffiti Saved My Life, Las Moscas Productions, Mictlan Murals, Trust Your Struggle Collective, and students of KIPP LA Prep. Photo by Pablo Serrano.
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