A free LACMA tour for Angelenos who think outside the blob & December's forensic science seminar announced

Gentle reader...

After many interested Angelenos turned out to explore William L. Pereira's endangered Metropolitan Water District campus last month, we were inspired to plan another free Pereira site visit with architectural historian Alan Hess.

On October 6 at noon, we'll tour Pereira's LACMA campus, peering through decades of additions and alterations to see the vintage 1965 plan that faces demolition for Swiss architect Peter Zumthor's proposed Wilshire-straddling black blob. Come learn why you should care about this iconic Los Angeles builder and what you can do to help preserve his legacy. The tour is free with RSVP on Eventbrite. For more Pereira in Peril news including video of past events, visit this page, sign the petition and attend the MWD landmarking hearing on September 15.

You've been asking and now we can answer: the next forensic science seminar will cover the cold case murders of the 1970s highrise-climbing Spider-Man bandit (recently solved with DNA), and a hands-on presentation of artificial human heads crafted for blunt force trauma research at Cal State L.A. When struck, they make the most marvelous spatter. We hope to see you in the crime lab on December 11.

Newly posted: episode 115 of our You Can't Eat the Sunshine podcast, on the golden age of Hollywood bookstores and the wee migratory swifts who nest in Downtown landmarks.

We're back on the bus this weekend with the very occasional The Birth of Noir, a tour that tracks a literary and cinematic genre back to the source: some very fortunate Skid Row bar eavesdropping. Next Saturday, it's Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice, dark crimes in beautiful spaces. Join us, do!

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RECENTLY TOURED

We never say no to an opportunity to go upstairs in the Bradbury Building. Sunday's visit gave us a bird's eye view of the Mural Conservancy's restoration work on Elloy Torrez' "Pope of Broadway" on the Victor Clothing Company building. He's glowing!

LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 12/11

Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State Los Angeles under the direction of Professor Donald Johnson to explore the history and future of American forensic science. On December 11, 2016 (note new date!) join us for The Spider-Man Bandit & The Artificial Human Head: Breakthroughs in Crime Scene Investigation. Track a fearless cat burglar/killer through the decades, as his 1970s-era crimes are exposed when the cold case unit tests old DNA. Then learn about new research in blunt force injury, with a chance to perform a hands-on assault on a head built for breaking. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. For more info, click here.

RECOMMENDED READING

As we fret about the fate of Bunker Hill's singular funicular railway (see the link section below), it's calming to look at photos of the old gal in better days. You'll find an illuminating history from her Edwardian origins to noirish (first) decline and long-promised renewal, in Jim Dawson's Los Angeles's Angels Flight, a companion to Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: Pulp Fiction's Mean Streets and Film Noir's Ground Zero!

COMING SOON

THE BIRTH OF NOIR: JAMES M. CAIN'S SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NIGHTMARE - SAT. 9/10... This tour digs deep into the literature, film and real life vices that inform that most murderous genre, film noir, rolling through Hollywood, Glendale and old Skid Row, lost lion farms, murderous sopranos, fascist film censors, offbeat cemeteries -- all in a quest to reveal the delicious, and deeply influential, nightmares that are author Cain's gift to the world. (Buy tickets here.)

HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 9/17... Through the 1940s, downtown was the true city center, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost. This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood's neglected history. (Buy tickets here.)

BLOOD & DUMPLINGS - SAT. 9/24... Forget Hollywood, babe, 'cause the quintessential L.A. town is definitely El Monte, its history packed with noirish murders, brilliant thespians, loony Nazis, James Ellroy's naked lunch and the lion farm that MGM's celebrated kitty called home. See all this and so much more, including the Man from Mars Bandit's Waterloo, when you climb aboard the daffiest crime tour in our arsenal, and the only one that includes a dumpling picnic at a landmark playground populated with fantastical giant sea creatures. Special on this tour: the secret diary of Vilma, El Monte's sassy Clifton's Cafeteria camera girl. Not frequently offered, you won't want to miss this ride. (Buy tickets here).

LAVA SUNDAY SALON / WALKING TOUR - SUN. 9/25... Our free cultural lecture series recently relaunched on the basement level of Grand Central Market. For the September Sunday Salon, you're transported to the Ukulady's world, where she shares her music, mirth, cartoons and crafting in an interactive, hands-on experience. After the Salon, a free Broadway on My Mind walking tour explores lost jails and law enforcement spaces around the Civic Center. Due to limited space, reservations are required for both of these free events.

HOLLYWOOD! - SAT. 10/1... This new tour reveals the unwritten history of the sleepy suburb that birthed the American dream factory, a neighborhood packed with fascinating lore and architectural marvels. You won’t see the stars’ homes or hear about their latest real estate deals, but we’ll show you where some colorful characters breathed their last, got into trouble that defined the rest of their lives and came up with ideas that the world is still talking about. So for unforgettable stories you won’t hear on anyone else’s Hollywood tour, climb aboard and tour Cross Roads of the World (Robert V. Derrah, 1936) and much more. (Buy tickets here).

Additional upcoming tours: Echo Park Book of the Dead (10/15), Raymond Chandler's L.A. (10/22), The Real Black Dahlia (10/29), Weird West Adams (11/5), Eastside Babylon (11/12), Charles Bukowski's L.A. (11/19), Special Event: Richard's Birthday Bus Tour of Long Beach & the South Bay (11/26).

OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST

Episode #115, Hollywood Book Culture & Downtown’s Chimney Swifts, we talk about the golden age of bookshops with film historian Bob Birchard, then visit the Ornithology section of the Natural History Museum for an insider's look at Vaux' swifts, tiny travelers who nest in landmarks. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!

AND FINALLY, LINKS

Forry Ackerman really liked House of Pies.

In the shadow of The Smell, a delicate cultural coral reef still thrives… for now. (That block has a lot of history.)

Angels Flight has an ugly new friend.

But it hasn't scared the bad eggs away.

As Pacifica radio founders, scholars worry about its astonishing sound archives.

Pencil pushers be damned: Parker Center is worth saving!

Video vault: “Ray Bradbury: The Story of a Writer” (1963) features some enticing footage of Hollywood’s great Pickwick Bookshop.

yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric