Gentle reader,
Greetings from your friendly historic Los Angeles sightseeing tour company, now offering digital programming until we can again organize groups to gather and explore the city we love.
Before the pandemic, we used to roam around the city with our preservation pal Nathan Marsak, paying our respects to endangered places and making videos about why they matter. The series evolved into Nathan’s blog R.I.P. Los Angeles.
The fun in filming Cranky Preservationist videos was in three busy people taking the time to hang out together, eat pupusas and bellyache about the state of the city. And although Nathan is the on-screen talent, these are collaborations, shining a light on our shared obsessions and gripes.
But some preservation causes are too urgent to wait for the next in-person date. With a demolition permit active on Pico Boulevard’s giant Chili Bowl, it’s time to talk about the dishonest campaign by pro-development lobbyists to make City Council halt landmarking efforts “for housing,” and the urgent need to ask the city to step in and move the tiny building to safety.
So we met virtually this afternoon, sans pupusas, and made this 7 minute video.
Tune in as Nathan explains why the Chili Bowl is worth preserving, what’s really going on with the housing project on the parcel, and why you should give councilman Mike Bonin a jingle and ask him to please move this cool landmark—before it’s too late!
This video can also be found on YouTube and Facebook. Please pass it on!
yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
New Video: Cranky Preservationist Nathan Marsak loves the giant Chili Bowl... and we do, too!