A Three-Wheeler at 103

Octavio Orduño, 103, taking his daily tricycle ride through the streets of downtown Long Beach, is “our poster boy for healthy, active living around here,” says Charles Gandy, the city’s bike coordinator. Three years ago, Orduño's wife insisted that he give up riding two-wheelers in favor of a trike.

(Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times / March 14, 2011)

"What’s not to like? "

In recent years the opera world has obsessed over who qualifies as a “Barihunk,” a baritone so handsome that audiences yearn to see him sing with his shirt off. Tenors must have wondered what the big deal was. People have been swooning over these higher-voiced singers for ages.

The latest swoon-worthy tenor is Munich-born Jonas Kaufmann, who drove the audience nuts Friday at his U.S. recital debut sponsored by the Los Angeles Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Fans demanded no fewer than five encores, including one played by accompanist Helmut Deutsch from an iPad. O brave new world.

Kaufmann is tall, poised, curly-haired. He has chiseled looks and dramatic presence. His voice has a baritone’s dark coloring and weight, and he can use it for poetic effect. He knows that less is more, so he did not rely on extraneous gestures to punch up his program of lieder by Schumann and Strauss.

What’s not to like?

Etymology of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes in honor of the British statesman William Pitt. Given that Forbes was a Scotsman, it is possible that the intended pronunciation of the settlement was /ˈpɪtsbᵊrə/ (PITS-brə or PITS-bə-rə), similar to the pronunciation of Edinburgh as a Scotsman would pronounce it. It was incorporated as a borough in 1794 and chartered as a city in 1816.

"Let There Be Light"

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles Palace is 239 feet long, 34 feet wide and 40 feet high. At one end of the hall is the Salon of War with the Salon of Peace at the other end. Seventeen windows overlooking the garden are matched by seventeen arcaded mirrors along the wall.

"a Stanley and Stella shouting contest"

There will be 100 candles on the cake, at least figuratively, as the centennial of the birth of playwright Tennessee Williams is celebrated in late March in New Orleans, his adopted hometown.

The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival takes place March 23-27 at various venues in the Crescent City. Activities include stagings of “The Glass Menagerie” and “27 Wagons Full of Cotton.”

A bumper crop of lectures and panel discussions, both for theater fans and aspiring authors, is planned. Among those scheduled to appear are critic Rex Reed and filmmaker John Waters.

Literary walking tours will include the French Quarter apartment house in which Williams wrote “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The modern tragedy provides the inspiration for one of the festival’s lighter events: a Stanley and Stella shouting contest. This red brick apartment house in New Orleans' French Quarter is where playwright Tennessee Williams once lived, and where he wrote "A Streetcar Named Desire."

For many, the highlight of the five-day event will come March 26, when attendees party in grand style on what would have been Williams’ 100th birthday.

Ticket info for the festival: (800) 990-3378

"a 900-year history"

"Power House," a new permanent exhibition, will open April 2 on the top floor of the historic White Tower inside the Tower of London.

The exhibition will showcase the many faces the tower has worn during its 900-year history: royal residence, fort, mint, prison, records office, jewel house, observatory, zoo and armory. The Tower was the site of the execution of two of Henry VIII’s queens; the coronation of the 9-days-queen, Lady Jane Grey; and the burial ground of Edward IV’s murdered sons, the little princes.

The new exhibition will feature displays that highlight the various chapters in the tower’s long life set around a showpiece, a 10-foot-tall dragon constructed of artifacts taken from each, such as imitation Jewel House diamonds and rubies for the dragon’s eyes and telescopes from the observatory for its legs.

"The Price is Right"

In Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher rise above the Atlantic at the southwestern edge of the Burren area near Doolin. The Emerald Isles, hard hit by the recession, are among the European countries that hope to lure visitors through value pricing and other incentives.

(Richard Derk)

"RACE FOR THE LOO"

Of all the bizarre events to come to Wellington in recent times, none quite prepared me for the sight of 600 unicyclists pedalling furiously for the loo.

At least that’s what it looked like at the World Unicycle Championships on the Wellington waterfront last year.

A unicycle has no handlebars, see. So the rider in a hurry must hold on for dear life to the front of his or her seat.

Which has the effect of making the race look like the world championship of speed crotch-grabbing.

(Description above by John Ansell on Word Press)

"Lloyd Wright's 1926 Sowden House"

Nearly a decade after he purchased Lloyd Wright's 1926 Sowden House and pumped more than $2 million into the historical property, designer Xorin Balbes has put the Mayan Revival on the market.

The thickly ornamented, steel-reinforced textile block structure backs up to the Los Feliz hills and is adjacent to Laughlin Park, a gated community that many film stars called home during the golden age of Hollywood.

"goosebumps"

In December, UK television viewers had a chance to return to 165 Eaton Place and all the nostalgia, charm and drama of the 1970’s beloved series Upstairs Downstairs when the first episode of the new series, “The Fledgling,” premiered to much acclaim and indeed, "goosebumps." Shown above is the original atellar cast. North American audiences who will have a chance to see the three new episodes when they air on Masterpiece Classic PBS on April 10, 17 & 24.

"Battle: Los Angeles"

Recently Actors Aaron Eckhart and Bryce Cass both ventured out to Regency Village Theatre in Westwood for the premiere of their alien invasion flick, Battle: Los Angeles. The actioner, directed by Jonathan Liebesman and written by Chris Bertolini, opened in the States Friday. In the movie, after alien forces invade earth and all the great cities have fallen, Los Angeles remains as the final stand for mankind. Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz (Eckhart) and his Marine platoon must face an enemy unlike any they have ever encountered before.

It's A Kind Of Magic

I think the new Daniel Radcliffe shoot in Dazed & Confused is really exciting and original. He's actually hard to recognize.

"So long, Sahara..."

The iconic Sahara Hotel on the north Vegas Strip will close it's doors on May 16, 2011, signifying the end of a locale that was once a favored hangout for the likes of Frank Sinatra and his famed Rat Pack buddies. The CEO of SBE Entertainment, which owns and operates the historic hotel - casino, made the closure announcement on March 11, 2011 exactly 59 years after it's original opening. Lack of " economic viability" was cited as the cause in a time when the recession has really rocked Sin City back on it's heels. In recent years the property had become noted for it's Dollar Days promotions campaign that featured $1 blackjack minimums, $1 beers, $1 hot dogs, and $1 shots. Despite the cheap goods, the Sahara didn't survive and closure has been the subject of rampant rumors for some time. Now it's official.

The Sahara closure is blatantly reflective of tough economic times in the planet's most popular destination city. The north end of the Vegas Strip has been particularly vulnerable to lowered visitation, increasing room totals, and less consumer willingness to spend money after arrival here. The nearby Riviera is in bankruptcy reorganization and the partially built big blue Fontainebleau is not expected to be completed for years; the steel structured skeleton of the planned Echelon project has remained idle since 2008 due to tough times as well. However, since it's inception Las Vegas has demonstrated boundless recuperative spirit and opportunities...it's a shame the Sahara got caught up in the Vegas machine. Generally, that machine can be alternatively described as "Money talks ...and the rest walks".

So long, Sahara...

"Older and More Beautiful"

Holy Trinity Church on Fr. Mathew Quay, pictured from just outside a side gate on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

The church and attached friary are run by the Capuchins who have been in the city since at least 1637. The church above dates from early eighteenth century.

Don't say you haven't been warned . . .

­Acc­ording to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 22 percent of all traffic accidents in the United States are caused by drivers running red lights. Every year, these accidents kill some 800 people and rack up an estimated $7 billio­n dollars in property damage, medical bills, lost productivity and insurance hikes. And this sort of traffic violation seems to be on the rise. In many areas, red-light violations have increased by 10 percent or more since the 1980s.

To curb this trend, more and more cities are installing red-light cameras. These fully automated devices collect all of the evidence authorities need to prosecute light-runners. If a camera catches you speeding through the intersection, you can expect a ticket (along with a photograph of the violation) to arrive in your mailbox a month or two later.

Elaine Paige is "Forever"

Recently Lea Salonga who won the Tony Award in 1991 when she was a 20-year-old rising star on Broadway, discussed some of the artists who have influenced her throughout her career.

Here's what she had to say about Elaine Paige: She's not the most familiar singer to American audiences. I love the way she sang "Evita," just the timbre of her voice -- it's not heavy. Even when it gets dramatic, there’s a cutting quality to it that makes it clear. It has a timeless quality -- even when I listen to her from the '70s or '80s.

19th Century Photography

A nature photography pioneer who a lot of folks may not have heard of was Henry Hamilton Bennett (1843-1908), who did photography in the Wisconsin Dells area in the second half of the 19th Century.

Bennett took up photography as a career after a musket ball through his hand, suffered in a Civil War engagement, derailed his plans to be a carpenter. He used cameras he built himself, including stereoscopic cameras.

This Wisconsin Historical Society site has biographical information and images including the striking above: an 1886 shot showing his son leaping from a cliff across a chasm towards a rock pillar. To get this image, remarkable at this time when long exposures were still the norm, Bennett used a camera with a stop-action shutter of his own invention.

"Double Trouble"

Identical twins Venice Shaw, left, and Inez Harries turned 100 years old in January. Born in Pasadena to a citrus-ranch manager and his wife, the twins have always been inseparable. As kids they dressed alike, as teens they double-dated, and later they vacationed together with their husbands and children. For an audio slideshow about the siblings, visit latimes.com/100yearoldtwins.

As Witty and Talented as they are Funny

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, an all-male comic ballet company, is shown during one of its New York runs at the Joyce Theater. The dancers, some of whom are classically trained, play both male and female roles in twisted takes on the ballet canon. For added drag-related fun they adopt punny names like Olga Supphozova, Sveltlana Lofatkina and Lariska Dumbchenko.

How do you spell "stars" ??? ------- "Laugh In"

"Laugh-In" creator George Schlatter, center, is flanked by stars of the hit 1960s comedy show, from left: Jo Anne Worley, Ruth Buzzi, Lily Tomlin and Gary Owens. They were recently reunited in Pasadena.

(Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times)

The Khmer Empire

Phimai is the name of the large rectangular ancient Khmer city surrounded on all sides by boundary walls & moats, lying 260 km NW of Angkor.

Phimai was the Mahayana Buddhist sanctuary, together w/the Cultural Route & the associated temples of Phanomrung & Muangtam are among the finest Khmer monuments & constitute a testimony to the civilisation, prosperity & wealth, & the power of the Khmer Empire @ its peak. From Pimai the historical route stretched out Southeast into the southern sub-region of the Khorat Plateau leading to the pass across Phnom Dongrak mountain range on the Thai-Cambodian border. In ancient times, pilgrims took this route, which connected Angkor to Phimai, & had rest houses spanning over the route as well, remains of these rest houses mark out Phimai's unique cultural route, covering a distance of 150 km

Phimai was built l l th century as a Mahayana Buddhist sanctuary, it is significant that other Khmer temples during the same era, such as Angkor Wat , all were built as Hindu temples

"The Bagan Archaeological Park one of the richest, and surely one of the least-visited, artistic treasure troves on earth"

In the late 13th century, the mighty Mongol emperor Kublai Khan rode onto this sprawling plain dotted with thousands of brick pagodas. Soon after, the Mongol hordes came crashing down, and more than 200 years of artistic flowering, akin to Europe’s Renaissance, was snuffed out almost overnight.

Time has stood still since then—or so it can seem to modern-day visitors to the ancient city of Bagan, the center of a Buddhist empire that once stretched across a large swath of modern Southeast Asia. What remains of ancient Bagan are a few humble villages interspersed among some 2,500 Buddhist pagodas and temples, making the Bagan Archaeological Park one of the richest, and surely one of the least-visited, artistic treasure troves on earth.

"Japanese Alps"

The Southern Japanese Alps, blessed with vast nature, houses many alpine huts and lodges, attracting a lot of people who enjoy activities from camping and hiking to full-fledged mountain climbing in the seasons of summer mountaineering. Numerous alpine floras including Callianthemum Hondoense and Rosebays can be seen here, it is also a home to precious wildlife such as the ptarmigan bird. Many hot springs are also located in the vicinity.

The foot of the Southern Japanese Alps once flourished as a transportation point for the Shinshu region, its distinctive local industries and traditional culture still remains. The Midai River alluvial fan and stretching low-lying lands have enjoyed cultivation of fruits such as peaches, plums, cherries, and grapes. Many berries are grown in neighboring farms from spring through autumn. This area especially boasts the best plum production throughout the country.

This is NOT a bath towel. Do NOT step on it!

Watching "lives unfold on camera"

The premise was simple: Put a bunch of twentysomethings in a cool pad and watch their lives unfold on camera. And yet the seemingly basic (and cheap) idea behind "The Real World" helped birth a genre that has eaten television whole.

A show that started as a novelty item in a land of scripted fare has launched more than just a sub-genre. Reality programming has become part of the fabric of our society, turning numerous D-list celebrities (Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, the late Anna Nicole Smith) into real stars. The TV grid now is flooded with reality shows, some of which ("Survivor," "The Amazing Race") have run for a decade.

Keeping a relatively low profile through it all has been MTV's pioneering experiment. Now "The Real World" is premiering its 25th — that's right, 25th — season, set in Las Vegas, on Wednesday.

"'The Real World' has a place in history," said Jonathan Murray, who created the show with the late Mary-Ellis Bunim, on a recent afternoon at his office in Van Nuys. "It dared to prove that real people can sometimes be more compelling than what a writer can dream up." Above: The "Real World" in 1994.

What it was like in the 17th century

The Nakasendo Road runs through the very centre of Japan, brushing the shoulders of the Japan Alps and winding along river valleys and over forested passes. The best preserved of the five Edo Period highways, the Nakasendo Road connected Kyoto and Tokyo. Long stretches, particularly in the more mountainous regions, remain very much as they did in the 17th century, and it is still possible to walk the route of the highway between the old and new capitals.

Here's what $60-million will buy . . .

The apartment and retail complex backed by mall magnate Rick Caruso is shown in an artist's rendering. The $60-million development in Los Angeles will have 88 units.

Seaside Lagoon gets another reprieve

Swimmers, ready the bathing suits: Seaside Lagoon will be open this summer.

In a Feb. 24 letter, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board accepted Redondo Beach's request for a reprieve from certain water testing requirements at the sandy-bottom lagoon. City staff calculated the cost of the testing at $50,000 - a figure City Council members have deemed too costly.

"Some of the things that need to be worked out have been pushed off to 2012," City Manager Bill Workman explained Tuesday night to the council.

"trapped in time"

Nagano had a brief brush with international fame when it hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics, but the city center has returned to its former self, a comfortably modern medium-size downtown spread out below the imposing Zenkoji Buddhist Temple. But the mountainous prefecture, or administrative region, encircling it seems ancient, with its Shinto shrines, hot springs and villages trapped in time.

"Sparkling Radiance"

Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers light up the night. The Malaysian capital as seen here is radiant.

( Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters )

Mystery shrouds launch of rocket

The X 37-B is prepared for launch near Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Air Force officials have offered few details on the experimental space plane.

(Boeing / March 4, 2011)

"creating an alternate universe"

"Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" is a one-of-a-kind mixture of the extraordinary and the everyday. It's a sensory experience that makes its own rules, a dreamy meditation on what is real and what is not. When director Apichatpong Weerasethakul says "Cinema is a man's way to create an alternate universe," he is not kidding.

Weerasethakul, a native of Thailand who tells language-challenged Westerners to call him Joe, makes films that confound and delight. "Uncle Boonmee" is straightforward enough to have won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last year, but it is still deeply unconventional, a film whose meaning and structure are often tantalizingly just outside our reach.

Yet even though the film offers little in the way of old-fashioned plot, we hang on every image. We don't want to miss a moment, even if we'd be hard-pressed to explain or even understand what we've seen. For in Weerasethakul's reflective, contemplative cinema, what happens is not as important as what we're made to feel.

(excerpts from a review by Kenneth Turan)

"Oh, my dear. That's something you need never worry about."

Probably the most iconic Jean Harlow moment comes at the end of the 1933 classic MGM comedy-drama "Dinner at Eight," when Kitty, Harlow's uber-sexy dumb blond wife of a self-made tycoon, is talking to Carlotta, a high-society woman played by Marie Dressler.

Kitty: "I was reading a book the other day."

Carlotta (dumbstruck): "Reading a book?"

Kitty: "Yes. It's all about civilization or something. A nutty kind of book. Do you know that the guy says that machinery is going to take the place of every profession?"

Carlotta: "Oh, my dear. That's something you need never worry about."

Harlow stole that picture from the likes of Dressler, Wallace Beery, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore and Billie Burke — and for the next four years, she was one of the biggest stars at MGM.

And even though she died at age 26 in 1937 of uremic poisoning because of kidney failure — a bout of scarlet fever as a teenager compromised her kidneys — Harlow remains one of the most influential stars of Hollywood's Golden Era.

"Triumph and Tragedy"

The short and tragic life of Phil Ochs is as involving as the music he wrote and played, and that is saying a great deal.

If you remember the 1960s, you more than likely remember the singer-songwriter who composed hundreds of songs, many of them, as can be heard on the strong and forceful documentary "Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune," beautiful and melodic as well as pointedly political.

It was Ochs who wrote "I Ain't Marching Anymore," sometimes called the anthem of the anti-Vietnam War movement. He wrote the song, memorably covered by Joan Baez, which gives the film, "Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune," its subtitle. He wrote "Small Circle of Friends," "When I'm Gone," "Talking Vietnam" and others.

But though his songs railed against society's unfairness and could be, as fellow musician Van Dyke Parks puts it, "filled with rage," his life was not one-dimensional and certainly not simple. As directed by Kenneth Bowser, "Phil Ochs" takes us to the darker side of the singer-songwriter movement, to situations and personalities that led to Ochs committing suicide in 1976 at the terribly young age of 35.

Richard Simmons Dressed As Lady Gaga

Now I know what "GA GA" means !!

"timeless quality"

"Elaine Paige: She's not the most familiar singer to American audiences. I love the way she sang "Evita," just the timbre of her voice -- it's not heavy. Even when it gets dramatic, there’s a cutting quality to it that makes it clear. It has a timeless quality -- even when I listen to her from the '70s or '80s."

Lea Salonga, star of "Miss Saigon"

Art Mortimer Murals in the South Bay

The right end of the mural shows bikers on the bike path, the pier, and a parking lot behind the pier, as well as volleyball games and spectators.

"Southbay Magic"

Underwater Mural on Sea Sprite Building, Hermosa Beach, California.

"but will it ever happen ??"

Redondo Beach City officials, business interests and some residents in neighboring cities have expressed positive interest in the proposed extension of the Green Line from its existing location in Redondo Beach to Torrance as an alternative to the heavily congested 405 freeway at public meetings last year. But there are some residents in Redondo Beach who have grave concerns about the impacts of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority project.

The proposed Green Line extension travels from the station on Marine Avenue in Redondo Beach and heads south along the Metro-owned Harbor Subdivision right-of-way. The new extension will move into Torrance, in a southeast direction, crossing traffic-heavy streets like Hawthorne Boulevard and Prairie Avenue until it hits its new destination on Crenshaw Boulevard, just south of Torrance Boulevard.

The project is in the draft environmental process, which began in January 2010. Last year, several public meetings took place where residents expressed their concerns, which include noise and vibration issues, traffic and safety impacts, and crime and property values. While it’s possible the project won’t get off the ground for 10 to 30 years, those fears don’t abate.

Magic in the Air

The Peking Acrobats have performed in TV shows and movies, including Oceans 11 (remember the acrobat they used in the vault ?.....hmmm) They are in the midst of their Silver Anniversary Tour, so you just might see them near you. If you ever get the chance to see them - DO IT.

"obsessions and interests"

Brooklyn…..get ready for some true glamour. Catherine Deneuve, the grande dame of French cinema will receive a career retrospective starting on Friday, March 4 at the BAMcinématek, Brooklyn’s leading art house cinema. In the month-long tribute, 25 films from the great actress’ varied career over five decades will be showcased. The program is co-presented by Unifrance, in collaboration with Music Box Films, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, and Institut Français. BAMcinématek is the first presenter on this national tour—with all films projected in 35mm—which will take the retrospective to Los Angeles; Pleasantville, NY; Chicago; Boston; Seattle; San Francisco; and Portland, Oregon; with other cities yet to be announced. Deneuve, one of cinema’s great beauties, is also an actress of remarkable range. She has starred in a mix of edgy dramas, frothy musicals, out-and-out comedies and historical epics. In many ways, her career reflects the obsessions and interests of French cinema itself, one of the only film industries that has weathered competition from the Hollywood studio system and refuses to retreat. Early in her career, she was the not so discreet object of desire in such landmark films as BELLE DE JOUR, THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, REPULSION and TRISTANA. As she matured, in that manner of French beauties whose allure only grows with age, she became emblematic of a particular kind of French woman….seductive, sensuous, aware of her power, yet with a core of vulnerability that must be masked by a cool, impassive exterior.

As Witty as she was Beautiful !!

Jane Russell, the dark-haired siren whose sensational debut in the 1943 film "The Outlaw" inspired producer Howard Hughes to challenge the power and strict morality of Hollywood's production code, died Monday at her home in Santa Maria, Calif. She was 89.

Russell, who would later turn her sexy image to comic effect in films with Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and other major stars, had respiratory problems and died after a short illness, her family said.

Russell's provocative performance in "The Outlaw" — and the studio publicity shots posing her in a low-cut blouse while reclined on a stack of hay bales — marked a turning point in moviedom sexuality. She became a bona fide star and a favorite pinup girl of soldiers during World War II. Troops in Korea named two embattled hills in her honor.

She went on to appear in 18 more films in the 1940s and '50s and, though only a few were memorable, she remains a favorite from the era for her wry portrayals of sex goddesses who seem amused by their own effect.

"Such droll eroticism is rare in Hollywood, and we are lucky that she was allowed to decorate so many adventure movies," film historian and critic David Thomson wrote of Russell, whom he called "physically glorious."

Among Russell's better films are "The Paleface," in which she plays the spirited Calamity Jane opposite Hope's feckless dentist in a spoof of "The Virginian"; and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," a musical in which she is brunet gal pal Dorothy to Marilyn Monroe's gold-digging Lorelei Lee. In the latter, the two stars perform a razzle-dazzle production number of the Jule Styne-Leo Robin hit song "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."


Jane Russell with Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

One in 4 Million

Frank Woodruff Buckles, a onetime Missouri farm boy who was the last known living American veteran of World War I, has died. He was 110.

Buckles, who later spent more than three years in a Japanese internment camp in the Philippines during World War II, died Sunday of natural causes at his home in Charles Town, W.Va., family spokesman David DeJonge said.

A total of 4,734,991 Americans served in the military during World War I, from 1914 to 1918.