11-24-08

LOS ANGELES

DOWNTOWN

NEWS Volume 37, Number 47

INSIDE

Businesses show interest in Downtown.

2

Holiday Gifts for Pets

November 24, 2008

3 12

9

Police Commission’s Safer Cities hearing draws a divided crowd.

How to harm yourself and suffer an injury without even trying.

W W W. D O W N T O W N N E W S . C O M

Mixed Results for Project 50 One Year in, Controversial Effort to House Skid Row’s Most Vulnerable Has Uncertain Impact

by RichaRd Guzmán city editoR

A

Urban Scrawl on the Mayor’s Thanksgiving.

4

Puppet master in a financial tangle.

5

Behind the kitchen door at Blue Velvet.

14

Ice ice baby at Pershing Square.

16

Reviewing EWP’s ‘Joy Luck Club’.

17

18 CALENDAR LISTINGS 20 MAP 21 CLASSIFIEDS

s she looked out the window of her room in the Senator Hotel on Main Street, the first home she’s had in nearly a decade, 53-year-old Lucy Patricia Evans barely remembered the night that changed her life.

The memories are blurred, in large part because of the drugs and alcohol that were in her system at the time. She remembered accepting the food coupon, smiling when they asked to take her picture, and making a simple request.

“Make sure you take my good side,” she recalled saying to see Project 50, page 6

photo by Gary Leonard

Lucy Patricia Evans, a Project 50 participant, has moved from the streets of Skid Row to a room in the Senator Hotel. The $5.6 million effort funded by the County is currently housing 41 formerly homeless individuals.

Future Uncertain at ImaginAsian Center

Grand Slam for L.A. Sports Fans

Landlord and Tenant in Talks as Films Switch From Asian to Indie Fare

New Museum Showcases One Man’s Treasure Trove of Memorabilia

by RichaRd Guzmán

by Ryan VaillancouRt

city editoR

staff wRiteR

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L

ess than a year after its ballyhooed opening as a cultural center for Asian film in Downtown Los Angeles, the future of the $3 million ImaginAsian Center may be up in the air.

While there are no plans to close the theater or stop screening films, confusion seems to be the feature presentation at Downtown’s first new movie theater in 20 years.

David Chu, senior vice president of programming and production for New York-based ImaginAsian Entertainment, the operator of the venue at 251 S. Main St., said his company is in talks with landlord Cinema Properties Group about the future identity of the 252-seat venue that opened Dec. 7, 2007.

“We’re in discussions on how to carry the business forward,” said Chu. “Anything can happen, so I don’t know.”

While the theater spent much of its first year showing Asian-oriented films, its website was inaccessible late last week, and previous to that it showed that no films were scheduled past October. Meanwhile, a new website for a venue called the Downtown Independent, also at 251 S. Main St., has gone up.

The Downtown Independent website lists a series of events unrelated to the previous schedule, including the Zero Film Festival

ary Cypres, the founder of Downtown’s new Los Angeles Sports Museum, is used to fielding questions from starry-eyed sports enthusiasts about the value of his vast memorabilia collection.

His trove includes thousands of vintage baseball cards, hundreds of uniforms (from Wilt Chamberlain’s high school basketball jersey to Hank Aaron’s cleats) and unexpected items like Babe Ruth’s shotgun.

All told, the collection includes

more than 10,000 pieces and is estimated to be worth about $30 million. Still, Cypres insists that, both as a collector and a viewer, he gets the same joy from just about every piece that will be on display when the museum opens to the public on Friday, Nov. 28.

So don’t ask him which piece is his favorite.

“When I buy something, it’s my favorite,” Cypres said. “The next thing I come to, that becomes my favorite. It goes on, from favorite to favorite.” see Sports, page 8

photo by Gary Leonard

The ImaginAsian Center celebrated its grand opening on Dec. 7, 2007. Less than a year later, it appears to have abandoned its focus on Asian film, and may switch permanently to independent fare.

starting Dec. 1 and the Boll Film Festival, an homage to German independent film director Uwe Boll, beginning Dec. 17.

Dylan Reynolds, program and house manager for the theater, said new programming began at the venue on Oct. 31 with a horror film festival.

“We’re looking into doing more film festivals,” he said. He added that future shows could hold “B movies, short theatricals, some studio films as well.” see ImaginAsian, page 7

photo by Gary Leonard

Gary Cypres has been buying sports memorabilia for 25 years. His collection will open this week in Downtown as the Los Angeles Sports Museum.

Since 1972, an independent, locally owned and edited newspaper, go figure.

2 Downtown News

November 24, 2008

DowntownNews.com

AROUNDTOWN Downtown Business Tour Lures 250 Attendees

D

espite a sagging economy, more then 250 commercial real estate brokers, retailers and investors turned out for the Downtown Center Business Improvement District’s sixth annual Fall Downtown Program and Tour on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The event aimed to spur investment in the area by showing off examples of Downtown investment “success stories,” said Hal Bastian, the DCBID’s director of economic development. The group was shuttled around Downtown to six points of interest: L.A. Live, US Bank Tower, the 717 Olympic project, the Roosevelt Lofts, the Edison nightclub and City National Plaza. “The end game is to get the office brokers, the retail brokers, restaurant brokers and residential brokers to have their clients come Downtown,” Bastian said.

“It’s all about business development for Downtown.” The event has played at least a partial role in luring or convincing companies like Urth Caffé and restaurateur Celestino Drago to come Downtown, said Bastian and DCBID President Carol Schatz. But the highlight this year, given the sour economic times, may have been the high number of participants.

“We were definitely delighted by the number of attendees,” Schatz said.

Another Grand Avenue Delay

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eveloper the Related Cos. will likely delay the scheduled Feb. 15 groundbreaking of its $3 billion Grand Avenue project while the company continues to seek an approximately $700 million construction loan. Related of California President Bill Witte last week confirmed the news, first reported by the Los Angeles Business Journal. He cited the tough financial market as the reason Related has not been able to secure a loan. The multi-phase, mixed-use development, officially called The Grand, was originally slated to break ground in October 2007 but has been delayed several times. In July, the Grand Avenue Authority — the city-county agency overseeing the project — granted Related its latest extension, until Feb. 15, 2009. If it does not meet that date, Related will have to pay the Authority $25,000 a month for up to two

years until it breaks ground. In the meantime, Witte said, the company is working to complete most of its construction documents by the end of the year. “We’ll be in a position so that when the market comes back, we’ll be ready to move forward,” he said. “No one can get a construction loan right now. That will change eventually.”

Developer Pays for Fire Code Violations

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eveloper Amerland Group has pleaded no contest to 36 criminal counts related to fire code violations at the Alexandria Hotel and Rosslyn Lofts. The charges were filed by City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo’s office in April.

According to sentencing orders released by Delgadillo last week, Amerland failed to maintain fire alarms, fire escapes, sprinklers and other safety systems at both buildings. The developer must pay approximately $106,000 in fines and penalties, which includes the cost of Fire Department investigations and a $15,000 donation to several Skid Row charities. In a statement following the original charges, Amerland officials said they were working with the LAFD to bring the buildings up to code. According to the sentencing order released last week, Amerland has brought the Alexandria into compliance and is still working on the Rosslyn. “We are satisfied with the resolution of both of these matters,” Amerland Chief Operating Officer Jules Arthur said in a statement last week.

“Both the Alexandria and the Rosslyn projects will continue to work closely with the Los Angeles Fire Department.”

New Late-Night DASH Offers Holiday Hours

T

Metro Briefs

ence last Thursday outside of Walt Disney Concert Hall. The DASH runs Friday and Saturday nights from 6:30 p.m.-3 a.m.

The line parallels portions of the Metro Red Line, which is also operating until 3 a.m. during the holidays. The new route travels from the Convention Center to the Seventh Street/ Metro Center Red and Blue line station before turning east to head up Main Street with stops at Sixth, Fourth and Second streets. It then connects with the Red Line again on First Street in the Civic Center before looping back south along Grand Avenue, stopping at Disney Hall, Pershing Square and the Fashion District before continuing to Flower Street, where it connects to the Metro Blue Line at Pico Boulevard.

For the Record

he city Department of Transportation has introduced a late-night Downtown DASH bus route that will run through the holiday season. LADOT officials, along with Councilwomen Jan Perry and Wendy Greuel, announced the new route, which began operating on Nov. 21 and will continue through New Year’s Eve, during a press confer-

metro.net

photo by Gary Leonard

Although the economy is faltering, approximately 250 business people attended a Downtown Center Business Improvement District tour last Tuesday to show off the area’s investment highlights. See story this page.

I

n reporting for the Nov. 17 article “Chop Suey Chopped Down,” two of the three owners of the Chop Suey Café and Lounge told Los Angeles Downtown News that the restaurant closed its main dining room for lunch and dinner several months ago and remained closed. After the story printed, one owner said that information he provided to Downtown News was incorrect, and that the dining room has reopened for dinner.

Why does this little burger stand attract over a million people a year?

Bus, Rail Projects Get Go-Ahead Funding Metro is gearing up plans for a series of bus, rail and other transportation improvements throughout the county thanks to the recent passage of Measure R. Voters approved the funding plan that is expected to generate $40 billion for tra;c congestion relief projects over the next 30 years.

Red Line Hours Extended For Holidays Enjoy LA’s hottest night spots until the wee hours during the holidays and don’t worry about missing your train home. The Metro Red Line is running until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays only through December 27. Restaurants, nightclubs and businesses along the route are sponsoring the extended service.

Rosa Parks Human Rights Day December 1 Metro celebrates December 1 as Rosa Parks Human Rights Day, paying tribute to the spirit and memory of Rosa Parks. We urge all citizens throughout Los Angeles County to rea;rm their commitment to practicing tolerance and promoting diversity.

Time To Economize. Go Metro.

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November 24, 2008

Downtown News 3

SearchDowntownLA.com

Mixed Reaction for Safer Cities LAPD’s Skid Row Effort Gets a Heated Hearing

by Ryan VaillancouRt staff wRiteR

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epending on who you ask, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Safer Cities Initiative, which deployed 50 extra cops to Skid Row in September 2006, has been either a major success or a tragic injustice.

Both extremes, and a little of the gray area in between, were voiced at a Police Commission meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18, that invited stakeholders in Skid Row, from homeless advocates and civil rights attorneys to Central Division brass and elected officials, to weigh in on the controversial measure after its two-year anniversary.

Its cheerleaders, including the department itself and members of the Downtown Los Angeles business community, tout the near 40% reduction in violent crime since Safer Cities was implemented.

“There are fewer predators victimizing fewer people, resulting in fewer crimes,” said Arif Alikhan, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s deputy for public safety. He also cited the 43 fewer non-violent deaths in Skid Row in the past year than in the year before Safer Cities started.

Detractors like the ACLU and the Los Angeles Community Action Network, however, cite the 22,000 citations for misdemeanor crimes — such as jaywalking or littering — that the department issued in the past two years in a neighborhood that has only about 11,000 residents, many of them poor, homeless or mentally ill.

Monica Martinez, senior director of programs at the Downtown Women’s Center, characterized the Safer Cities strategy as one unfit to police the mentally ill. She described a 70-year-old homeless woman whose trust the center was beginning to gain after a year of gentle coaxing before she was arrested for refusing to move from the sidewalk, where she had set up an encampment. Center staff members have not seen the mentally ill woman since she was handcuffed and taken away.

“In this room there are organizations that represent hundreds of years of experience serving the homeless popula-

tion in Downtown and we’ve developed models that work,” Martinez said. “Please trust us when we say we know what we’re doing and we ask you to discontinue a police strategy that is counterproductive and hurts our ability to do our job.”

Just as critics of the strategy urged the commission to repeal Safer Cities, those in favor of it warned that its cancellation would lead to a freefall to the previously high levels of crime, drug abuse and prostitution.

Anthony Pacheco, president of the five-member commission, which is appointed by the mayor and oversees and helps

‘What are we looking at and what issues are related to policing and what are beyond policing? I wanted to make sure all the stakeholders heard each other out.’

—Anthony Pacheco, Police Commission

set policy in the department, said the meeting was not intended to be a hearing to determine whether to renew or repeal Safer Cities. The strategy was implemented in September 2006 as an indefinite move with no sunset date, he said.

“To me the value of the discussion is to try and get a sense not just on that issue but what are the challenges in Skid Row in general?” Pacheco said. “What are we looking at and what issues are related to policing and what are beyond policing? I

wanted to make sure all the stakeholders heard each other out.”

In addition to the roughly 15 individuals and organizations who were invited to address the commission last week, more than 50 other people spoke during the public comment period and at least another 100 were just there to listen. The meeting lasted five hours.

Tom Gilmore, the developer whose Old Bank District is widely credited with launching the Downtown residential revival, said Safer Cities had essentially saved his neighborhood from an unacceptable level of crime. Gilmore also argued that canceling the initiative would be a “death knell” to the ongoing residential movement.

Central Division Capt. Jodi Wakefield portrayed a Skid Row where, thanks to law enforcement efforts like the takedown of the 5th and Hill gang by way of an injunction, heroin is now “very hard to find on the streets.” Police officials also highlighted the fact that there are now between 700 and 800 people living on the streets of Skid Row, down from about 1,800 prior to Safer Cities.

Mentions of the number of homeless people in Skid Row provoked boos from some in the audience. Those turned to cheers when ACLU attorney Peter Bibring took the podium and said, “The reduction of people living on the street from 1,800 to 700 or 800 should not be termed a success unless we know where those people have gone. And I don’t think there’s anything to suggest that those people are now housed, are anywhere but living somewhere else in the city on the streets or in the jails and prisons.”

Following the meeting, Pacheco said the commission needs time to reflect on the ideas presented. Pacheco plans to conduct future meetings, both public and private, with other Skid Row stakeholders to focus on specific issues.

Those meetings may be needed, if only to identify which issues can be tackled effectively by law enforcement and which issues may be better handled by other city, state and federal agencies.

“These are complicated issues wrapped up in poverty, in a lack of affordable housing, in failures in our education system, wrapped up in failures that have to be addressed in our justice system, in our jails and providing resources for drug rehabilitation and other services,” Pacheco said. “These are all narrowly being focused on policing, but those in the know realize that it goes beyond policing.”

Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

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November 24, 2008

DowntownNews.com

EDITORIALS Assaults on Police a Matter of Concern

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he decrease in violent crime on Skid Row over the last two years as a result of the Safer Cities Initiative has been widely reported and applauded. But until recently, few realized that as crime has come down, the number of police officers attacked in the area has gone up dramatically.

This is a matter of great concern, raising myriad questions and observations.

The fact that the number of attacks was so low for so long is partially the result of officers in this dangerous part of Los Angeles being handcuffed in what they were allowed to do. They were understaffed, for one thing. Making matters worse, the repugnant containment policy that prevailed in Skid Row for decades — the idea of keeping the homeless in one compact area — meant that those who should have been confronted were able to conduct their (illegal) business as usual. In many ways the authorities were not free to deal with lawbreakers.

Now, as the police are finally allowed to do their jobs and have the necessary resources, a new dynamic has been set up, with somewhat predictable consequences. Not only are there accusations of the police being too proactive, there is the alarming revelation of a 300% increase in attacks on the police them-

selves in just two years. Even if both outcomes of increased police presence may be expected, they should not be ignored.

As a first line of defense, everyone should look for ways to minimize the attacks. Maybe the reality is that it can’t get better than this if authorities throw down the gauntlet against crime in a tough area, but we urge vigilant oversight by appropriate authorities so that the situation does not get out of hand.

More specifically, last week Los Angeles Downtown News reported that the number of assaults on Skid Row officers has increased from 12 in 2006 to 28 in 2007 to 39 so far this year. LAPD officials attribute the rise to Safer Cities, the effort launched in September 2006 that deployed 50 additional officers to Skid Row to crack down on all kinds of crime. Chief William Bratton said the increase in assaults is not a surprise.

“We have more police down there and… they’re focused much more aggressively,” he said. “The expectation is that when you increase pressure on an area, there is that potential.”

Downtown News has been a consistent supporter of Safer Cities, and it is clear the effort needs to be maintained. If the officers were removed, the gains achieved in Central City East would be lost.

That said, we cannot help but be alarmed by the increase

Thankful in Downtown

Y

es, the economy stinks and the future is uncertain.

But despite all the bad news, with Thanksgiving arriving this week, there is plenty to be thankful for in Downtown Los Angeles.

We’re thankful the community is worlds removed from what it was a decade ago, that while we still have hundreds of thousands of people who come here every day to work, we now also have a growing number of residents who activate the streets after dark and on the weekends, and who are committed to making the area even better. While more improvements will come, these inhabitants have already forever changed a neighborhood that was once overlooked or underrated.

We’re thankful that more entrepreneurs are looking at Downtown as a place of opportunity, that restaurants and retail outlets are opening and finding an audience. Now workers, visitors and residents have more choices than ever before.

We’re thankful that Skid Row is, slowly, becoming a more humane place. This is another area where much more needs to happen, but anyone who remembers a decade ago knows

Urban Scrawl by Doug Davis

that the neighborhood is cleaner and that there are fewer drug dealers controlling the street corners. No longer do crowds gather after dark around fires lit in trash cans.

We’re thankful that as Downtown evolves, its brilliant mishmosh of cultures and industries continues. Downtown is identifiable partly by the differences of its people, by the many languages spoken on its streets and the incredible diversity of its businesses.

We’re thankful for the architecture that makes the streets interesting, even stimulating, to look at. Downtown has a mix of the historic and the futuristic that no other part of Los Angeles can match.

We’re thankful that we have a few committed Downtown champions in City Hall. It’s easy to complain about local government, and there is plenty to complain about, but some elected officials truly strive to make the area better.

We’re thankful that Main Street between Third and Seventh streets has been pretty much reclaimed. Even five years ago this was a stretch that few from the business or resi-

in attacks. It turns out that local officers are not just dealing with poor souls down on their luck, but are also on the front lines against hardened criminals. The culture of lawlessness that prevailed for so long does not disappear easily, especially when there are still drug dealers and others who come to the community to prey on the downtrodden.

Fortunately, most of the assaults have been minor; of the 39 incidents, the most serious for officers were two in which police suffered broken bones. Four suspects have been hospitalized and, tragically, one was shot and killed, allegedly after lunging at an officer with a knife.

Statistics indicate that, amid the wave of attacks, Central Division officers are behaving as they have been trained.

Through September of this year, Central Division officers had used force at a ratio of six times per 1,000 incidents, slightly lower than the entire LAPD’s ratio of seven times per 1,000 incidents.

Still, the rise in attacks means that an appropriate outside body, perhaps the Police Commission or the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, should look at the matter. If incidents of, say, a certain disease or a public project’s budget shot up 300% in a similar time period, we’d ask for the same.

dential community dared walk on, with the corner of Fifth and Main looking a lot like a ring of hell. Today, you can wander the stretch and see plenty of people and businesses, from a new diner to two pet supply stores.

We’re thankful that there is so much entertainment and culture, that within a few square miles one can check out mainstream musicals and obscure punk bands, that there are museums and galleries, professional sports teams and roller derby. No other place in Los Angeles can boast so much in such a compact area.

We’re thankful that, as vibrant as Downtown is today, it has an even better future.

How to reach us Main office: (213) 481-1448 MAIL your Letter Letters to the Editor • L.A. Downtown News 1264 W. First Street • Los Angeles, CA 90026 Email your Letter realpeople@downtownnews.com FAX your Letter (213) 250-4617 Read Us on the Web DowntownNews.com

Editor & PublishEr: Sue Laris GENErAl MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin ExEcutivE Editor: Jon Regardie citY Editor: Richard Guzmán stAFF writErs: Anna Scott, Ryan Vaillancourt coNtributiNG Editors: David Friedman, Kathryn Maese coNtributiNG writErs: Jay Berman, Jeff Favre, Michael X. Ferraro, Kristin Friedrich, Andrew Haas-Roche, Sam Hall Kaplan, Howard Leff, Lisa Napoli, Rod Riggs, Marc Porter Zasada Art dirEctor: Brian Allison AssistANt Art dirEctor: Yumi Kanegawa ProductioN ANd GrAPhics: Alexis Rawlins ProductioN AssistANt / EvENt coordiNAtor: Claudia Hernandez PhotoGrAPhEr: Gary Leonard AccouNtiNG: Ashley Vandervort sAlEs MANAGEr: Dawn Eastin AssistANt sAlEs MANAGEr: George Caston sAlEs AssistANt: Annette Cruz clAssiFiEd AdvErtisiNG MANAGEr: Catherine Holloway AccouNt ExEcutivEs: Vanessa Acuña, Robert Dutcher, Catherine Holloway, Kelley Smith circulAtioN: Norma Rodas distributioN MANAGEr: Salvador Ingles distributioN AssistANts: Lorenzo Castillo, Gustavo Bonilla The Los Angeles Downtown News is the must-read newspaper for Downtown Los Angeles and is distributed every Monday throughout the offices and residences of Downtown Los Angeles. It is also distributed to the extended urban communities of Glendale, Hollywood, Wilshire Center, Los Feliz, Silver Lake & Larchmont Village.

One copy per person.

November 24, 2008

Downtown News 5

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Puppet Theater Tangled in Debt Bob Baker, 84, Must Raise $30,000; Says Venue Will Not Close photo by Gary Leonard

by AnnA Scott StAff writer

T

he Bob Baker Marionette Theater, an easy-to-miss white box in City West, has entranced the young and young-at-heart with its string-operated figurines for 45 years. But the country’s oldest puppet theater finds itself in a financial tangle.

The theater, at 1345 W. First St., has fallen into debt, and 84-year-old owner Bob Baker has been told by his mortgage holder that he must raise approximately $30,000 to avoid foreclosure proceedings, said theater assistant manager Richard Shuler. A Dec. 3 deadline was recently extended, as negotiations are ongoing.

In an attempt to raise the funds, Baker earlier this month hired a real estate firm to put the property up for sale, hoping to find a buyer who would lease him back the space. By last Thursday, however, Baker’s spokesman said it was no longer on the market. Baker, who can still be found in the theater most days wearing a red apron, working on his marionettes and even acting as a puppeteer, clearly hopes to find another solution.

“After struggling for almost 50 years in Downtown L.A., you don’t want to sell,” he said on a recent morning, seated below strings of Christmas garlands in the theater’s postshow party room.

The financial troubles began about five years ago, Shuler said, when Baker purchased a building next door to the theater; it currently serves as storage space for thousands of puppets. To finance part of the deal, Baker borrowed against the theater, which he already owned.

The theater recently stopped meeting its $6,722 monthly mortgage payment, Shuler and Baker said, in large part because of dwindling audiences. In recent months, the 180-seat space where the puppeteers perform has been just one-quarter full for most shows.

While Baker says the theater will stay open, some fans and friends fear what a worst-case scenario would mean.

“We’d be losing the palace of puppetry, the museum of marionettes and the castle of creativity,” said Charles Phoenix, an

Family

Puppeteer Bob Baker, who has been in Downtown for 45 years, is facing tough economic times.

artist known for staging retro slide shows and unconventional city tours, and who worked with Baker on a past production.

“It’s not like any entertainment of today. It’s timeless and classic. It would be really sad to see something so unique go away.”

A Local Landmark Baker began creating and performing with puppets nearly eight decades ago, at age 5.

He has racked up just about every distinction possible in the field of puppetry and his creations have been seen everywhere from the windows along Disneyland’s Main Street to TV’s “The Bob Hope Show” to the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

His work at the Downtown Los Angeles theater, which opened the day after Thanksgiving in 1963, has made him

deeply loved by generations of Angelenos.

“I was taken to the theater when I was a toddler,” said Kim Cooper, co-founder of the bus tour company Esotouric.

She recently sent out a mass email informing people about Baker’s plight. “I started going there [again] in the early 2000s and was completely captivated. You walk in there and there is no point in pretending to be cool. There’s no pretense. It’s just pure entertainment.”

For Shuler, who has worked with Baker for nearly 30 years, the marionettes are a family affair. His late mother saw Baker perform at a Pasadena church when she and Baker were both 8 years old, he said. Shuler’s father discovered the theater as an adult, and near the end of his life hung one of Baker’s marionettes by his hospital bed.

“Even though I’m 61 years old, I still sneak into the theater to watch the shows,” said Shuler. “I never, ever get tired of watching Bob perform.”

Baker too still revels in his work. One morning last week, he peeked through the curtained entrance of the theater’s performance space. Inside, black-clad puppeteers manipulated two marionettes in white jumpsuits and gold boots, shimmying to a disco boogie — part of a decidedly untraditional take on The Nutcracker. The approximately 20 children in the audience bopped along to the music. Minutes later, they squealed as an elaborate red dragon puppet made its way around the edge of the floor.

Baker beamed. “Wait! You have to see, the hand puppets are next,” he whispered to a visitor.

Up in the Air Though the situation seems dire, Shuler and Baker hold out hope that they can avoid closing.

In recent weeks, Baker’s friends and fans have rallied around him to try to help remedy his situation, turning the theater’s already cluttered offices into a frenzy of activity.

Since for-sale signs went up on the building (they were taken down last week) and word began to spread about its predicament, “the phone has not stopped ringing,” said Shuler. Some calls have brought in donations, he said.

Baker remains optimistic. The theater has survived difficult economic times and debt before, he said, and he seems confident that it will again.

“We are not closing. We are not going out of business,” he said. “They’ll have to take it away from me screaming.”

Contact Anna Scott at anna@downtownnews.com.

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ed, said Carrie Bach, the Project 50 director, whose 12-person staff includes medical and chemical dependency teams, mental health experts and two case managers.

The team must walk the Project 50 participants through the tedious process of applying for housing, which could mean anything from getting a birth certificate and a social security card to obtaining medical records, a tuberculosis clearance and, in some cases, getting them out of jail or helping them work out legal issues such as tickets and vagrancy charges. “I would like to have all 50 in by now. Our goal was six months and that didn’t happen,�

Bach said.

However, considering the history of many of the participants, the years they spent on

the streets and the difficulty of keeping them housed, the project has been a success, Bach said. “We’ve been learning a lot,� she said. “We’ve been keeping them in housing, we’ve been breaking down barriers.�

Of the original 50 people selected, 27 are currently in housing, said Krisiloff. Some individuals proved difficult to find after the initial contact (some gave fake names) while others are in jail.

Working from the expanded list of 140 people, the Project 50 team originally housed 46 individuals. One, however, dropped out after she refused to follow the rules at her residential building, and four are in jail, Krisiloff said. “We realized how time-intensive it is if

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Kathy McFee has gone from the streets to a small room in the Sanborn Hotel, though she still panhandles in Downtown. Project 50 officials hope that getting the most vulnerable people into housing will encourage others to make life changes.

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Continued from page 1 the group that was surveying the streets of Skid Row, looking for the area’s most vulnerable homeless people. She turned out to be one of them.

It was about one year ago that Zev Yaroslavsky and Gloria Molina brought an ambitious proposal before their fellow County Supervisors: to identify and house Skid Row’s 50 most vulnerable people — those who had been there the longest, the ones who were sickest and most disenfranchised, those who had the least hope and the greatest chance of dying. The effort, the supervisors hoped, would encourage others to follow suit and get off the streets.

A year later, the results are mixed, and while several dozen people have left the streets and begun the road to recovery, some observers question the program’s effectiveness and its cost.

In the effort to house the desired number of people, Project 50 staff ultimately targeted 140 homeless. Even though 50 individuals were supposed to be in housing within six months, the $5.6 million program is currently housing 41 individuals.

Longtime Skid Row officials have expressed cautious optimism about Project 50’s long-term potential. “I like to see it analyzed, given time, to see if it works. Can they get 50 people in and can they stay there?� asked Herb Smith, president of the Los Angeles Mission, who criticized some aspects of the project when the funding was approved.

“It’s a great theory,� added Orlando Ward, director of public affairs for the Midnight Mission. “It’s had some hiccups and some faulty implementation, but the county needs to stay the course and continue to recognize its responsibility in helping these most vulnerable citizens.�

Project 50 was unanimously approved by the supervisors on Nov. 20, 2007, and in January they allocated $5.6 million to fund the threeyear program. It was modeled after a project

by New York-based Common Ground, a nonprofit organization that in 2003 had success with a similar program focusing on helping homeless people around Times Square.

At the beginning of the project, officials with Common Ground, which won the contract to run the program, along with a team of people from county and city homeless agencies, began fanning out across 40 blocks of Skid Row. They spoke with 471 people sleeping on sidewalks, in tents and under cardboard or blankets.

From that batch, they interviewed 350 people. Those individuals were then given a “vulnerability score� determined by factors such as length of homelessness and physical and mental health status.

Project 50 workers came up with a list of 140 people and began plans to concentrate on the 50 most vulnerable. Those who initiated the project are pleased with the results. “It is a success, but it is still a work in progress,� said Flora Gil Krisiloff, a deputy on homelessness and mental health issues for Yaroslavsky. “It’s phenomenal in terms of the progress that has occurred within a year’s time.�

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you want to do it right, getting them stable and in housing.

Some are more difficult than others,� Bach said.

Earning trust has also been a major issue for the staff, Bach said. “They have to trust you and believe that when you say you’re going to do what you said you would, you do,� she said.

That came into play when the Project 50 staff approached 62-year-old Kathy McFee. “I just thought they were gonna pass out food cards and that was it. I didn’t think much of it,� she said as she stood in the hallway of her room at the Sanborn Hotel on Main Street, where she now lives.

McFee said she was surprised when the workers came back and offered to find her a place of her own. She has been off the streets since April.

While a success story in some respects, McFee is also an example of the difficulty many Project 50 participants have in letting go of the past. Her tiny room was filthy, with a slight odor of urine and dirty clothes scattered throughout, along with scraps of food on the floor. A few roaches scampered when a visitor entered. As she spoke, she was getting ready to go back out into Downtown with a cardboard sign so she could panhandle for money.

But Bach said that even cases like McFee have a chance with the help of Project 50. “We’ve had some bumpy times, but we went through them with her and she is doing better than we expected,�

Bach said.

When times get tough, Bach said Project 50 participants can walk to the staff office at Fifth and Main streets. There, they can talk to a counselor or just hang out and watch TV. Critics and Costs One criticism Project 50 has faced is that the participants are all living in Skid Row Housing Trust properties on Main Street, just a stone’s throw from the temptations and their former compatriots of Skid Row. “When you’re taking anchored individuals out of an area, what you really need to do is use a scattered-site model where you actually put people back in communities, mixed communities, where those individuals can benefit from a new environment,� said Ward of the Midnight Mission. “What we did with Project 50 is we basically moved people up to Main Street, and so you didn’t take people away from the environment that has been so detri-

mental for them.�

Ward and others also said that the creation of Project 50 meant that some Skid Row denizens waiting for the already scarce housing in the neighborhood were passed over. How much longer they will have to wait is unknown.

Although it may still be too soon to tell, Ward said the much-touted effect of encouraging others to get off the streets by helping the most vulnerable has yet to be realized. “I don’t think we’ve seen any evidence of that. We still have an awful lot of people sleeping on our streets. I think those numbers are going up,� he said.

Perhaps the most pointed criticism of Project 50 has been over its cost. The $5.6 million budget averages out to more than $100,000 per person housed. Some Skid Row observers say that money could be better spent on other efforts. “I would have preferred to take the money for Project 50 and leverage it to build a supportive housing project in [Council District 9] for maybe 85 people,� said Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose Ninth District includes much of Skid Row and Downtown Los Angeles.

The lessons learned about the need to combine services to help the homeless were also discovered long ago, she said. “Project 50 is very well intended, but it hasn’t brought anything new to the table,� Perry said.

Others view the project in different ways. Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, which coordinates funding for homeless services programs in the city and the county, thinks the project has been a success, even if the goal of housing 50 people has not yet been achieved. “It’s housing people who could not resolve homelessness in any other way,� she said. “These are the people who others said there is no way you can get them off the streets.

But the word is out on the street that this program can be trusted, that this is something that’s doable.�

Meanwhile, Evans, who keeps her room at the Senator Hotel tidy and clean, is looking forward to the future provided by the help of Project 50. “Whenever I feel like I’m relapsing, I leave my room and go to the Project 50 office. I talk to one of the counselors, and they give me encouragement,� she said. “I got hope now, I got a brand new start and it’s not just me. I have a whole team behind me. I was lucky, I was very lucky.�

Contact Richard GuzmĂĄn at richard@downtownnews.com.

ImaginAsian Continued from page 1 Conflicting Accounts The situation has provoked some conflicting and changing accounts over the venue from Chu and Sue Ann Kirst, president of Cinema Properties Group, which developed the theater and now acts as landlord. CPG had previously put the building up for sale, though it was taken off the market about two weeks ago.

Kirst said that, as far as she knew, no changes were coming to the ImaginAsian Center. “As for the long-term agreement with ImaginAsian, that is something that is in place and continues to be in place,� she said. “We have no indication from ImaginAsian Entertainment that they’re changing their focus.�

When originally contacted by Downtown News, Chu indicated that ImaginAsian Entertainment would separate itself from the Los Angeles theater. “We’re parting ways with our partner CPG,� he said. “We’re streamlining our focus and focusing on our core business, which is our cable television network, some of our online properties, and we’re getting out of the exhibition business.�

But after receiving a call from CPG later in the week, Chu changed course and told Downtown News that his group is still working out the business relationship. He said the theater is still currently called the ImaginAsian Center. “We’re probably going to be talking until the end of the year,� he said.

Meanwhile, as the theater’s identity crisis continues, Reynolds said local theatergoers have been responding well to the independent films being screened at the venue. “Hopefully the community will support the indie fare,� he said.

Contact Richard GuzmĂĄn at richard@downtownnews.com.

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Sports Continued from page 1 The collection existed for years in Cypres’ Brentwood home; when it outgrew the residence, he moved the balls, rackets, clothes, posters and more into a two-story building at 1900 S. Main St., just south of Washington Boulevard. But until this week, it has only been open by invitation or as a rentable event space, mostly for nonprofits.

“As people came through they began to ask why not open it to the public,” he said. “Why not share it?”

Evolution of the Game Cypres, an entrepreneur who made his fortune in corporate finance, investment banking and the travel business, was born in the Bronx, or as he likes to say, “in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.”

His birthplace might also explain why, as an avid collector of sports memorabilia

November 24, 2008

DowntownNews.com for about 25 years, he has amassed enough material related to the Yankees and Dodgers (they were, of course, Brooklyn’s team first) to open a small museum dedicated to his hometown teams.

In fact, the Los Angeles Sports Museum has rooms dedicated to those franchises. But, as if to prove he is not playing favorites, he has sections focused on other storied teams, even the Boston Red Sox (though one of the museum’s few kinks last week included mismatched nametags identifying the 2004 jerseys of Sox sluggers Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz).

There is also a veritable shrine to Babe Ruth, whom Cypres seems dedicated to showing was much more than a power-hitting star. Ruth also helped tend his father’s bar — no, Ruth was not an orphan, contrary to the popular myth, Cypres quipped — and he was the first baseball player to be his own brand. Before there were Air Jordans, the Bambino endorsed everything from milk to cotton underwear.

photo by Gary Leonard

Among Cypres’ holdings is an extensive collection of memorabilia related to the Dodgers — the teams from Los Angeles and Brooklyn.

Ruth’s marketing legacy is one of many historical threads woven through the Los Angeles Sports Museum. Cypres expects the Downtown Los Angeles establishment to appeal not only to sports buffs, but to those interested in American history.

“This is, from my perspective, more a history museum, because what I try to do in each instance is show how things progressed, how technology affected the evolution of sports from the equipment to the uniforms,” he said. “I think that today most kids don’t have any sense of history.”

The historical emphasis is clear in a gallery where dozens of baseball gloves show the evolution from fingerless, padded mitts — reminiscent of what modern weight-lifters wear — to the much larger, extended-finger gloves used today.

The museum also holds what is believed to be one of the earliest tennis rackets in existence (tennis and golf were the first sports Cypres focused on when he started collecting). The 18th century, wooden “battoir” was found by archaeologists in France, Cypres said.

Another room pays homage to great baseball stadiums, not just as temples of America’s pastime, but as progressive chapters of architectural evolution. The section titled the “Era of Wooden Ballparks,” for the years 1860 to 1909, includes examples of inventions from the same period, including the phonograph (1877) and Coca-Cola (1886). The wooden parks gave way to steel and concrete structures, some of which are still in operation today.

Adding to the Roster Even though the 32,000-square-foot Los Angeles Sports Museum would take any sports nut days to fully explore, Cypres is already in the process of planning an expansion.

Fire safety codes prohibited him from opening the building’s second floor, but Cypres said he has enough material — including a replica of a circa 1900 boxing gym — to fill at least another 12,000 square feet.

A tentative plan is making its way through City Hall, where the museum has a major cheerleader in Ninth District Councilwoman

photo by Gary Leonard

The museum includes an exhibit that illustrates the evolution of the basketball hoop.

Jan Perry, to expand the venue with more ground-floor space.

Perry has worked closely with Cypres over the past year to get the museum open to the public.

“This really is a cultural gem,” Perry said.

“You’re going to see things here that I’m just certain you won’t find anywhere else… and I can’t wait to continue working with [Cypres] on the expansion.”

Cypres doesn’t appear to be in a hurry.

“This to me is sort of a beginning,” he said.

“I believe being in Los Angeles, one of the great sports capitals of the world, that we can build a great sports museum here. I think with some help and support that we can take this as a beginning and build on it.”

The Los Angeles Sports Museum is at 1900 S. Main St. It opens on Nov. 28, with regular hours from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. WednesdaySunday. Admission is $17.50 for adults, $14 for seniors, $11 for children ages 5-12 and free for children under 5. More information at sportsmuseumla.com.

Contact Ryan Vaillancourt at ryan@downtownnews.com.

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OLIDAYS HOPPING H Santa Paws Is Coming to Town Pets Can Get in on the Holiday Cheer Too

by RichaRd Guzmán

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your pets.

With Downtown now home to thousands of residents and an untold number of their furry friends, plenty of places have sprung up to meet their (animal) needs. These pet emporiums also offer unique gift ideas, and anything from a day at the spa to fancy furniture is ready to be wrapped up and placed under the holiday hydrant or scratching post.

1) Look Good: Everyone wants to look their best at holiday parties, and pets are no exception.

That’s where Muttropolitan comes in. The Second Street store offers full-service grooming (starting at $25) to pamper any pooch; options include nail clipping, ear cleaning, teeth brushing, hair trimming and more. Although many hounds may protest, for $10 and up pet owners can treat their dogs to a do-it-yourself wash.

(No, the dogs don’t wash themselves; the owners do the work.) With the warm, soothing water and all the attention that comes from a bath, any dog would appreciate this as a holiday gift.

photo by Gary Leonard

Muttropolitan provides various grooming services, along with do-it-yourself dog washing stations.

2) Sleep Well: One thing dogs and cats can do better than most of us is sleep, so why not reward their laziness with a gift that will allow them to perfect the art of leisure. Pussy and Pooch has several options to make your pet’s life even more relaxing during the holidays.

Those not impacted by the economic crisis could consider a $598 bed. “It’s a contemporary piece of furniture, not just a pillow,” said Lee Marshall of Pussy and Pooch. The curved bed, which resembles a wooden half pipe with a comfortable mattress, will make you want to snuggle with your dog. For smaller dogs, and cats, Pussy and Pooch sells a $185 “sleep pod carrier,” a combo bed/carrier that can be buckled into the car for safety and is airline approved. Also for the kitties is a $320 scratch lounger. Shaped like half an egg on legs, the lounger doubles as a contemporary piece of furniture where Chairman Meow can take out all of his frustrations without damaging the real furniture. At 564 S. Main St., (213) 438-0900 or pussyandpooch.com.

3) Dog Day Afternoon: Dogs are social animals, and although they love being around humans, they need to spend some quality time with each other. With that in mind, Bark Avenue’s new Main Street location offers dogs an afternoon, or even days, of fun and frolic with its Doggy Daycare. Think of it as summer camp for dogs, where they get to run around in a cage-free play area with other dogs. Canines can be left if you’re going out of town, and rates start at $8 an hour (a week averages $150). “We have a doggie gym and a full staff that plays with them,” said Shannon Sardella, manager at the Downtown Bark Avenue. “It’s essentially like a dog park, but we’re inside.” At 545 S. Main St., (213) 748-7485 or barkavela.com.

4) Get Walking: An organized tour can be a creative and fun gift for the holidays, especially for a Downtown dog who spends most of his time inside a loft. A call to Walk Fido will get

photo by Gary Leonard

Pussy and Pooch offers a $598 dog bed. “It’s a contemporary piece of furniture, not just a pillow,” said a store employee.

Sir Barksalot out of the house so he can make some friends, get some exercise and learn about the neighborhood. Rates are about $15 per 30-minute group walk. Dog walkers can even come pick up the pets while the owners are at work, said David Cerwonka, owner of Walk Fido. At (213) 479-2426 or walkfido.com

Paws Is Coming to Town event. For $10, dogs can visit the 5,000-square-foot indoor dog park and enjoy live music, gourmet dog food and take pictures with Santa Paws. Another benefit is that a portion of the proceeds from the party will go to help fund mammograms for women without insurance. All dogs on the “nice list,” meaning those with a good temperament, will be allowed in. Unfortunately, those on the naughty list will have to wait until they shape up. At 525 S. Hewitt, (213) 6172275 or loftydog.beepeez.com.

Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@dowtownnews.com.

5) Ol’ Saint Bark: You better not pout, you better not bark, you better not bite, I’m telling you why, Santa Paws is coming to town. At Lofty Dog Academy in the Barker (inadvertent pun!) Block, jolly old Saint Bark will be on hand Dec. 13 from 7-10 p.m. at the Santa

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There are several reasons to eat organic. But the main two topics will be about what we eat daily — meat and vegetables.

Meat is our main source of protein to sustain muscle mass and promote healthy nerve function. Just about all supermarket meat is fed synthetic hormones to make the animals grow and boost profit margins. Just think: The

cow is on steroids and you are eating steroid-injected meat. As many of you know, some of the side effects of steroids in humans can include hair loss, impotence, erratic behavior and even death. Why is it illegal to give the human body steroids, but not the food we ingest?

Farmers give their livestock antibiotics because of illnesses that arise from their horrific living conditions.

So next time you are eating a fast food “penicillin” chicken sandwich, just remember it is pumped full of antibiotics. I could go into detail about what happens with commercially raised chickens, but it would make you sick to your stomach.

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So the smart choice is to eat organic meat, which means that the animals were fed organically and contain no synthetic hormones or antibiotics. “Natural” is another option you may run across. Natural is the second best thing to organic.

Natural means the animal was not pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, but the feed source cannot be guaranteed organic, so the animals may be eating grains or grass treated with herbicides.

You may think that just because you are eating fruit and vegetables, you are getting all of your nutrients, but the way produce is handled and raised these days, the vitamin content

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Downtown News 11

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SEATTLE SUTTON’S HEALTHY EATING, THE SOLUTION TO HEALTHY EATING CHALLENGES

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and health benefits are lower than ever. The produce crops that make up the majority of our supermarket food are raised in soil that is used several times a year, depleting the natural mineral content.

Produce should be purchased as fresh as possible, or frozen, but don’t even bother buying canned. Canned foods are meant to last in the cupboard for years. Imagine what that food does inside of us. The closer the

produce is grown to us, the fresher.

If you are getting apples from South America, they can’t be that fresh and they may be using pesticides that are banned in the U.S. The produce may also be genetically modified to produce a certain result. For example: Isn’t it amazing how they can get every apple to look exactly the same and perfectly round?

Real apples have defects. They are misshapen, discolored and look natu-

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ral. That’s how you can usually tell it’s organic. Commercial farmers have figured out a way to clone fruit, and who knows what kind of diseases and harmful toxins they could be introducing through that process?

Farmers’ markets are the best place to start buying organic. Everything is much fresher and it lasts twice as long in your fridge compared to store bought products. My vegetables usually last up to 10 days from farmers’ markets, and four to five when store bought.

Here are some websites you may find helpful: n To find local farmers’ markets visit ams.suda.gov/farmersmarkets/map. htm. n For information on the organic community visit theorganicpages. com. n To find food resources and help protect the environment visit organicconsumers.org. n For local family farms and farmers markets visit localharvest.org.

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November 24, 2008

HEALTH

My Favorite Injuries How to Hurt Yourself in the Most Unexpected Ways

by Jon RegaRdie executive editoR

T

here are all manner of ways in which to hurt oneself.

Plenty of people suffer injuries playing sports, whether that means nasty bruises, pulled muscles or broken bones. Then there are the unforeseen yet harrowing incidents, like car crashes or lightning strikes.

Injuries are almost never funny, except, well, when they are funny. And they’re most often funny when you suffer an injury doing something that theoretically has no risk. I’m not talking about daily accidents like walking into a wall or bonking your head on a cupboard — though embarrassing, we all do that. Then we laugh it off and, in the effort to save face, exclaim, “I meant to do that!”

But every so often you thunk or conk yourself, or slip and smash yourself, or otherwise wind up needing first aid or the emergency room, and it’s all for something one never could have predicted. I’m no different. Here are my three best unexpected injuries.

The Wedding Bruiser: Weddings are non-contact events.

At least, that’s what I thought when I attended my friends’ Andrew and Nora’s recent ceremony celebrating the culmination of seven years of dating.

It was a lovely ceremony, the bride radiant and the groom dashing. While they both appeared a bit nervous, they handled themselves well, and everyone in the crowd had a great time.

Then came the dancing.

Normally this is a good thing, but Andrew and Nora had a Jewish wedding. This too is normally a good thing, but on this night, the dancing was different than on other nights. They began the hora, a celebratory tradition in which many of the guests dance in circles, and at the high point, the bride and groom sit in chairs and are lifted by able-bodied men above the crowd.

I’m fairly able-bodied, but Andrew’s chair was heavy and hard to navigate. Four of us lifted, but when I got my chair leg in the air, it slipped slightly and dipped. The dip then caromed right into my forehead, knocking my glasses askew. I felt a bolt of pain but couldn’t stop to grab my head because I had Andrew in the air, and dropping him from six feet off the ground on his wedding day would have been totally uncool.

Nora would have been displeased.

Finally the hora ended, we put Andrew down and I walked back to my table. I had a silver-dollar sized scratchy bruise just above my right eyebrow.

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t that bad, and it healed in about a week. But before the scab faded, I was able to point proudly at my wound and say, “See, this? Yeah, it’s a wedding injury.”

Don’t Mix Ketchup and Water: Back in college, I had a job as a busboy in a chain restaurant. It was a good place to work, with nice people and simple duties.

One of those duties was helping clear everything off the tables come closing time, usually around 1 a.m. This meant flower vases, dishes, salt and pepper shakers, ketchup bottles, etc. Much of this was stored in the same back room where the dishwashers worked.

I had cleaned up hundreds of times without incident. But on this night, as I turned the corner from the dining room to the storage/dishwashing room, I met my Waterloo. Ironically, it was in the form of water.

I guess the dishwashing folk were sloppy, for as I was walking, I hit a wet spot that I didn’t see. I instantly lost my balance and pitched forward.

This was bad on its own, but at the time I had eight ketchup bottles clutched to my chest. As I fell, I let them go, and they slammed into the ground, several of them breaking on

Before the scab healed, I was able to point proudly at my wound and say, ‘See, this?

Yeah, it’s a wedding injury.’ impact. My momentum carried me arms-first into the field of shattered glass.

The pain was immediate, piercing, and I felt my forearms rip. I screamed and jumped up.

As anyone who has cut themselves on glass knows, these things can really bleed. But as I sprung up and looked at my arms, I couldn’t tell at first what was blood and what was ketchup. I just saw a red, glunky mess, with some shimmering points from shards of glass. Though it lasted only a few seconds, I’ll never forget it.

I quickly stuck my arms under a faucet to clean the wounds, then a waitress wrapped me in towels to staunch the bleeding. I didn’t want to peek under — the blood soaking through the towels was bad enough.

Within minutes a co-worker was driving me to the hospital. Though it was nearly two decades ago, I still have a scar on my left forearm. To this day, I’m always careful when I carry ketchup bottles, even the newfangled plastic ones.

The Leaf-Raking Disaster of ’02: In August of 2002, my wife and I moved in to a new home, a pretty house on a hill with about a zillion trees. One Saturday the following month, I set about raking some of the piles of leaves that looked like they had not been touched in 11 years.

I made good progress, and with headphones on I got into the work. My initial plan to spend about 45 minutes on the leaves turned into four hours as I wanted to make my new yard look good. And it did, at least compared to before. I went to bed that night exhausted but smiling.

I woke the next morning with burning pain not just in my lower back, but radiating down my right leg. I tried icing it, heating it and laying down for a few hours, but it did not fade. This, I knew, was not a good thing.

I went to the doctor, and an X-ray led to another doctor and an MRI, and only then did I realize what I had done: Previously I had knocked a disc out of whack playing basketball, and though uncomfortable, it was not terrible. But the process of bending and raking for four hours inflamed the nerves that were touching the protruding disc. It felt like a bunch of wasps had built a nest inside my lower back and were having a stinging party.

It was an ugly few weeks, and I didn’t improve until I had some cortisone shots, the kind where you see a specialist who uses an X-ray as a guide and a needle about the size of a puppy.

It took three shots over five weeks followed by months of physical therapy and then acupuncture to get me back to normal.

Today, my back is pretty much healed, and I pay attention to it and know what I can do and when to take it easy. But believe you me, I no longer rake leaves.

Contact Jon Regardie at regardie@downtownnews.com.

VITAL SIGNS Keck School Researchers Receive Arthritis Foundation Grants

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our Keck School researchers were recently awarded $190,000 to pursue studies of arthritis and related diseases. Rheumatology Division Chief William Stohl, Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine Bracha Shaham,

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and two postdoctoral fellows at the Institute for Genetic Medicine, Yankel Gabet and Sanjeev Baniwal, were awarded grants from the Arthritis Foundation, Southern California Chapter.

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organizations such as the Arthritis Foundation is very important,” said Stohl. “They provide seed money to allow researchers to test new ideas, and to build proof of new principles. We can then take those preliminary findings to larger funding organizations like the NIH. Research funding from outside foundations is fundamental to the pursuit Continued on next page

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Downtown News 13

Health

Chew on This Snacks May Actually Be Good for You

by Sandy MccolluM

S

nacking has gotten a bad rap over the years, but actually, eating between meals isn’t a bad idea. Snacks can add nutrition that we need and are not likely to get during breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The problem is that many common snack foods are high in fat, sugar and sodium. Sara Lopinski, clinical dietitian at St. John’s Hospital Center for Living in Springfield, Ill., says that choosing healthy foods at snack time is as important at mealtime. “To avoid gaining weight from snacking, keep your snacks under 250 calories,” she says.

If your snack food of choice is chocolate chip cookies or fudge ice cream or potato chips, that’s where the problems come in. “Sugary and fattening sweets like cookies and candy lack nutrients, and many salty foods like chips can dehydrate you,” Lopinski says.

Children, especially, need lots of nutrition, vitamins and minerals, but their stomachs aren’t designed for big meals.

Many of them really need snacks. So, when that craving hits, and it’s not yet mealtime, improve your odds of grabbing something healthy instead of a lot of empty calories loaded with fat. The key is planning.

When shopping, let children pick out fruits, vegetables and dairy snacks they like. Then, designate spots in the refrigerator and pantry where snack foods are stored. In addition, set a snack time: one in mid-morning and maybe another in the afternoon. Don’t let children just grab a snack whenever they feel like it. When that happens, children are less likely to consume the nutritious foods they need during mealtimes.

The same rules apply to adults.

For those who crave salty snacks, try popcorn, but make sure it’s at least 94% fat free. Buy pre-cut vegetables, or cut veggies as soon as you unload groceries, and pair them with a low-fat dip. The important thing is to have them already prepared when the urge hits. It’s not likely you’ll spend the time slicing and dicing when you’re already hungry.

For those who crave sweets, fresh fruits are great. Grapes, cherries, oranges, tangerines, apples and bananas come readyto-eat. Just wash the grape and cherry skins. Raisins and nuts are packed with nutrition, but they contain a lot of calories so use them sparingly.

For those who always need a good crunch, try a snack bag

Continued from previous page of ideas not yet adequately proven.”

Victoria Fung, Arthritis Foundation senior vice president for public health and research, said, “The Arthritis Foundation is committed and pleased to support the invaluable work of USC’s arthritis researchers.” She added, “This type of local collaboration and support holds the key to tomorrow’s advances in the understanding, treatment and prevention of arthritis.”

Gabet received the Meyer Young Investigator Award, which funds $50,000 to support postdoctoral fellows pursuing careers in rheumatic diseases.

Stohl was awarded the $60,000 Tina C. Foundation Lupus Research Award. This grant will provide funding to research B-cells, and the factors that modulate them, in order to learn about potential treatments for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Shaham, director of education at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, received a $30,000 Clinical Rheumatology Pediatric Fellowship Training Award, to continue selection of trainees for the CHLA fellowship program in pediatric rheumatology.

Baniwal received the $50,000 California Community Foundation Award, which will support his research on the role of estrogen in skeletal metabolism.

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Low-fat yogurt or fruit smoothies, fat-free cottage cheese and single portions of canned fruit in its own juice are easy to grab and go.

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November 24, 2008

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RESTAURANTS A Taste of Fall With Blue Velvet’s Chef Jonathan McDowell Finds His Rhythm at the City West Restaurant

by Kathryn Maese contributing editor

O

n his first day back from vacation to visit family in Tennessee, Blue Velvet Executive Chef Jonathan McDowell looks at ease and in charge, despite being slammed with a private event for 37 and a rather large poolside wine tasting party. It was his first break since taking the reins of the City West establishment nearly eight months ago, but he seemed to pick up where he left off without missing a beat.

Amid the chaos of dinner service, the 28-year-old stops to introduce himself and chat before sending out a four-course tasting of his new fall menu.

Tattoos peek out from the left sleeve of his pristine white coat and his shaved head and goatee make him look more like a rocker than a fine dining chef.

In February, McDowell was tapped to fill the slot left by his predecessor, Kris Morningstar, who is working on a soon-to-open restaurant called Casa.

Morningstar had built a loyal following and won critical praise for his innovative, contemporary American cuisine, no easy feat for a hard-to-find establishment just west of the 110 Freeway. Ever since Blue Velvet opened two years ago on the ground floor of a residential complex called The Flat, McDowell had worked alongside Morningstar as executive sous chef, watching, learning and, unbeknownst to him, training for his first role as head of a kitchen.

McDowell took the reins on one of the busiest days in the restaurant industry — Valentine’s Day. Though he has stayed true to the original vision of the restaurant, his personality and philosophy are evident, starting in the kitchen, where his efficient staff of four has formed a tight-knit fraternity.

“I didn’t want to take the approach that some other chefs do,” he says. “I wanted a mellow environment, not one where there was a lot of yelling. We call each other brother and everyone gives high-fives.

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November 24, 2008

day is a thing of wonder. On this evening, McDowell creates a version of the raviolilike squares stuffed with a date and ricotta mixture and bathed in a light but intensely flavored lemon verbena beurre blanc. It is sprinkled with tiny bits of bacon. The flavors are bright, tart and alive.

McDowell is fond of saying that his dishes are “all about the love.” Though he has maintained many of Morningstar’s recipes, he said his goal is to continue to perfect each one and push the envelope with new creations.

The crispy korubuta pork belly, a mainstay under the old regime, is brought out as the third course. It delights with its crackly exterior and decadent fatty layers, the epitome of comfort on a plate and perfect for the season.

“All of what we do is detail-oriented,” he said. “It’s about how much work we put into it. Like the pork belly, you’ve got to baby it and the effort will show. The love will show.

That’s why I started cooking.”

The final entree, a tiny elk chop cooked rare, is partnered with a ragout of fava beans and pillowy gnocchi on a bed of yellow squash puree. The meat is picked clean from the bone and the wine is polished off.

It’s a well-rounded tasting, one that shows McDowell’s skill, technique and imagination.

Striking a Balance One could end a meal here, but that would mean missing out on the dessert plate from new pastry whiz Glenn Lara. It starts with a fragrant espresso soufflé in a tiny coffee cup, and finishes in a sugar high with a chocolate cigar filled with diplomat cream and a mound of Kahlua ice cream. Lara’s flair for molecular gastronomy is evident with a garnish of lemon “caviar” and chocolate sugar crystals.

The demands of Blue Velvet keep McDowell busy, but he’s quick to point out that both his personal life and his career are about striking a balance. He learned that from mentor and chef Eric Greenspan, with whom he worked for a time at the now defunct Meson G. “He taught me about life,” McDowell said.

“Being in the kitchen becomes repetitive, so you have to find your passion. How am

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f you live in the Historic Core and you suddenly get a craving for canned sardines, Mexican condiments and a sandwich, don’t worry, you may not be pregnant. You also don’t need to run all over Downtown Los Angeles — a trip to the Old Bank Deli will get you all of those, and many other things too.

Open seven days a week until 9 p.m., the small deli and grocery store has become a staple for area residents, with an outdoor patio where you can relax and watch life go by, and an interior full of everything you need to accomplish total leisure.

The grocery section offers everything from the sardines and Mexican condiments mentioned above to canned soups and several choices of gourmet potato chips, although that would be kind of a weird combination of items to munch on while hanging out on the patio.

Luckily, the Old Bank Deli lives up to its name with a selection of great deli sandwiches, hot paninis and salads, which you can eat in or take out.

The sandwich selections include the Italian Combo

I going to make something on a plate and be happy with the result? By having away time, enjoying friends and understanding balance.”

As he makes his name, McDowell knows he has high standards to meet, and even tougher challenges ahead. Though Blue Velvet seems to be doing well at dinner, and happy hour buzzes into the evening with DJs and Staples Center patrons, it has not been immune to the economic doldrums. In an effort to boost mid-day business, Blue Velvet recently launched a $20 prix-fixe lunch to attract Downtown office workers, complete

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with a free shuttle service. There’s also a Sunday tasting menu for $45.

Still, McDowell’s raw ambition is evident as he talks about his goals and his future, and he’s as frank and exuberant as his cooking.

One day, he said, he’ll even become a rock star chef who makes millions.

For now, though, he’s got a kitchen of young cooks who look up to him as a mentor, and they’re eager to learn.

“I can’t come with some weak sauce,” he asserted. “I’ve got to hustle.”

Blue Velvet is at 750 S. Garland Ave., (213) 239-0061 or bluevelvetrestaurant.com.

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($6.49), with Black Forest ham, Genoa salami, mortadella, black olives and chopped pepperoncini. But if you’re like me and you loathe olives, make sure you ask for the sandwich without them, because if you forget you’ll be picking out dozens of the nasty little fruits.

Another good choice is the Times Square, a pepper turkey panini with bacon, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island dressing ($6.49), although it could use a name change to something more Old Bank District- or Historic Core-oriented like the Gilmorenini or the Historic Turkeynini.

My favorite sandwich is the one I make myself with the deli’s Build You Own Menu ($4.99). I usually go for the Black Forest ham with cheddar cheese on a French role with mayo, spicy mustard, tomato, lettuce, onion, pepperoncini and horseradish sauce. But please, hold the olives and the sardines.

You may think of it as just a ham and cheese sandwich, but I prefer to call it the Great Guzmanini.

Old Bank Deli is at 409 S. Main St., (213) 680-9001.

Contact Richard Guzmán at richard@downtownnews.com.

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It’s mandatory to say hello and goodbye to each other. We have a teamwork mentality.”

That easygoing ethic carries into the dining experience. McDowell hopes patrons will be emboldened to explore and have fun with the menu, whether they consider themselves serious foodies or not.

“I want people to feel the way they do when they get together with family and friends,” he says. “Maybe you don’t remember what you eat, but you remember the good company and the experience. That’s what I want to bring to Blue Velvet. The whole point is that it’s not scary. It should be comfortable.”

‘All About the Love’ After graduating in 2000 from the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, McDowell had stints at the wellregarded Flagstaff House in Colorado and locally at Saddle Peak Lodge and Downtown’s Patina. While working at another restaurant, Meson G, he met Morningstar, who later recruited him as his second in command at Blue Velvet.

As a taste of things to come, McDowell sends out an amuse bouche that is approachable and well executed. A perfectly crisped piece of battered butterfish is set atop a swirl of sweet and tangy papaya slaw. It’s clean, light and completely satisfying.

The first entree to arrive is Scottish salmon prepared sous-vide, essentially slow-poached to maximize flavor and tenderness with a flaky texture. It is accompanied with pea tendrils, asparagus and citrus segments. As a counterpoint to the soft flesh of the fish, an almost candy-hard chip of sesame salmon skin is perched atop the whole thing.

Seasonal ingredients, often organic, hormone-free and purchased from local farmers, are a hallmark of Blue Velvet. McDowell’s spin comes from using his repertoire of techniques to make everyday ingredients shine, whether that means basting or employing aromatics to “step outside the box.” He spends his time shopping at farmers markets for fresh ingredients to showcase on his menu, like lemon verbena used in the second course.

Blue Velvet’s house-made agnolotti of the

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16 Downtown News

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November 24, 2008

photos by Gary Leonard

CALENDAR The Freeze Zone Downtown on Ice Turns Pershing Square Into a Winter Wonderland for Eight Weeks

by Julie Riggott

I

t’s not as if the Cal Plaza Watercourt or the fountains at the John Ferraro Building are going to freeze over, so for the 11th year running, the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, the Los Angeles Kings and Ninth District Councilwoman Jan Perry are sponsoring an outdoor ice skating rink at Pershing Square.

L.A. Kings Downtown on Ice, which launched Thursday, Nov. 20, offers skating ($6 admission plus $2 skate rental) every day all the way through Jan. 19, 2009. Youth hockey clinics, concerts and entertainment for kids — all at no cost — are scheduled throughout the eight weeks.

The seemingly impossible task of creating an outdoor ice rink in Downtown Los Angeles, where the temperatures never hit freezing and can hover in the 60s or 70s in the winter, has fallen to Willy Bietak Productions every year.

“Now with the heat wave, it’s challenging, even for us,” said Willy Bietak, who started his portable ice rink and touring ice show business 22 years ago. “Sun combined with wind is bad for the ice.”

Bietak’s company developed a system that allows relatively quick ice creation, and works well in warmer weather, by improving on the technology created for the Ice Capades. It uses a machine to cool salt water that circulates in pipes within aluminum panels.

“The brine is chilled to temperatures below freezing without freezing,” Bietak explained. “Because it’s below freezing and conducts through the aluminum plates, it will freeze the water that we spray onto the aluminum plates.”

The technology has served Bietak well not only for touring ice shows, but also for outdoor ice rinks on the sand at Venice Beach for a commercial and in front of Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on a 103-degree day for a television show.

Bietak, whose handiwork can also be seen in movies like Blades of Glory, is a two-time Olympic skater. He noted that the Pershing Square rink in Downtown Los Angeles is not only a fun place to go with a date or the family, but “it’s great exercise on top of it… if you keep up a little bit of a pace.”

Of course, hockey is also great exercise, as the Kings, who play home games nearby at Staples Center, well know. The title sponsors of Downtown on Ice will offer free youth hockey clinics on Sundays from 9-10 a.m. on Dec. 7, 14 and 21; and Jan. 4 and 11.

Through the team’s children’s charity, Kings Care Foundation, ex-players give groups of 15-20 kids hands-on instruction in hockey basics, and skates and equipment are provided.

One of the main goals of Kings Care Foundation, which has donated $3.5 million in in-kind and monetary support to the community, is to provide educational and recreational activities for youth.

“It’s important to get kids active in sports,” said James Cefaly, director of community relations for the L.A. Kings.

“We feel hockey teaches a lot of great values such as teamwork and discipline, and it’s great exercise.”

Ice, Snow and Entertainment The “icing” on the rink is the entertainment schedule, which includes more than 50 free concerts and youth programs. Weekday lunchtime shows from noon-2 p.m. include everything from disco to reggae. The Freeze Zone, Fridays from 8-10 p.m., features tribute bands with the music of Pearl Jam, U2 and more. Saturdays from 1-3 p.m. are for the kids and Sundays from 2-4 p.m. offer a mix of country, swing and Latin jazz. Spaceland Productions, which runs the music venues Spaceland and the Echo, will program up-andcoming indie rock bands Thursdays from 8-10 p.m. starting in December.

For Liz Garo, talent buyer for Spaceland Productions, the

The 11th annual L.A. Kings Downtown on Ice opened last Thursday at Pershing Square. Ice skating, concerts and more take place through Jan. 19, 2009.

rink is an opportunity to have more free all-ages shows, and give the bands they work with an opportunity to play an unlikely outdoor venue. This year’s acts include garage band the Shirley Rolls on Dec. 4 and the “countryish/bluesy” Dogweed and Boll Weevil on Dec. 18.

Spaceland on Ice has also built up a solid track record of performers.

“A lot of the bands we have put on Spaceland on Ice are strong local developing bands. We had Great Northern and The Submarines and Los Abandoned, and those bands have gone on to have record deals,” she said.

This week’s lineup is a perfect example of the diverse offerings on tap: Knight Fever performs at a disco-themed

skate session on Tuesday, Nov. 25; Kick, an INXS tribute band, plays Friday, Nov. 28; a children’s program on Saturday, Nov. 29, features Paul Wei and the Jumbo Shrimp Circus; and Country Gone Awry takes the stage on Sunday, Aug. 30.

While there will be ice every day at Pershing Square through Jan. 19, snow is only forecast for Dec. 13 and 14.

The Winter Holiday Festival brings a snow zone and crafts for kids with plenty of other free family entertainment from noon-8 p.m.

Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., (213) 847-4970 or laparks. org. Reservations to fandevelopment@lakings.com are recommended for the youth hockey clinics.

November 24, 2008

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Downtown News 17

Ode to ‘Joy’ Strong Acting Propels East West Players’ Adaptation of Amy Tan’s Novel

by Jeff favre contributing writer

T

heater and film adaptations of famous books frequently are met with scorn by fans of the original source material. This is not surprising, because it’s impossible to include an entire story, or tell it in the same style, when you have a couple of hours instead of hundreds of pages.

This tendency may stop lovers of Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club from praising Susan Kim’s stage version (or the 1993 film), which 15 years after its debut is finally receiving its Los Angeles premiere at Downtown’s East West Players. That would be a shame.

That’s because Kim nails a successful adaptation by capturing Tan’s spirit and wide emotional palette. Even though there’s a bit of over-condensing, the production succeeds thanks to Jon Lawrence Rivera’s highly creative direction and one of the best casts to grace the East West stage in several seasons.

The Downtown Los Angeles production continues through Dec. 7.

Kim and Rivera honor Tan’s complex novel, which flits back and forth through generations and frequently changes narrators. The set itself (a beautiful John H. Binkley creation) is dominated by a wall-size parchment that unfolds across the stage floor, as if the novel is coming to life.

The title refers to a meeting held by four Chinese women who came to America in the effort to create a better life for their families.

Each woman had a daughter, and those re-

lationships — all quite dysfunctional — are dissected.

The first act examines a key moment in each relationship. Waverly (Celeste Den), a junior chess champ, stops playing because Lindo (Karen Huie) seems to take credit for her daughter’s skills. Rose (Jennifer Chang) recalls the day her brother drowned and her mother An-Mei (Emily Kuroda) lost her faith in God. Lena (Katherine Lee) remembers her mother Ying-Ying (Deborah Ping) first becoming mentally unstable.

The one broken relationship that can’t be healed is between Jing-Mei Woo (Elaine Kao) and her recently deceased mother Suyuan (Cici Lau), who appears in flashbacks.

It’s easy to judge the older women as harsh, critical and stubborn, but the second act reveals secrets from their lives that set up emotional barriers. Death, abandonment and confinement, all in the context of a sexist society, permanently scar the young women.

Each anecdote contains humor — sometimes in healthy doses, but mostly in snippets, such as the insults delivered with a smile

by Lindo. A comic highlight is a dinner with Waverly and her distinctly American fiancé, Rich (David Stanbra), who accidentally offends Waverly’s parents by having no concept of Chinese customs.

Laughter serves as a needed release, because Joy Luck Club is a first-class tearjerker, with one tragedy topping the next. But Rivera elicits restraint from his cast, and the production never enters the realm of melodrama.

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Christopher Marlowe was a rowdy Cambridge-educated poet-rebel…probably a homosexual and very likely a spy. His death at 29 — has excited enough conspiracy theories for an Oliver Stone biopic.”

—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times

“INTELLECTUAL THRILLER…” —Bob Verini, Variety

P eter W helan directed by b ill a lexander

Gregory Wooddell. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

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An-Mei (Emily Kuroda) and Lindo (Karen Huie) look for the perfect fortune cookie message as they recall how their friendship developed in The Joy Luck Club. The Downtown Los Angeles production continues through Dec. 7.

The ensemble works as a secure unit. The lead performers transition seamlessly into supporting roles, and they play instruments for live music segments.

The entire cast deserves praise, but Kuroda stands out, delivering a gut-wrenching performance of a mother who loses a child. Also impressive is Kao; Jing-Mei serves as the play’s conscience, and Kao’s honest, sensitive portrayal, particularly in the opening scenes, pulls in the audience, as if she is confiding her deepest thoughts.

The use of original music, composed by Nathan Wang, adds color and depth to several scenes. There’s even an entire musical number illustrating a piece of Chinese culture.

Rivera uses the stage to illustrate the di-

vide between the generations. Binkley’s set includes a two-story brownstone, and the opening scene places the daughters looking down from a fire escape to the mothers.

The parchment set piece is multifaceted.

Titles for each scene are projected on the front end of the scroll, and the end of it is used as a bench.

Subtle, but effective, is Jeremy Pivnick’s warm lighting, which conveys the overarching sense of familial love.

This Joy Luck Club respects Tan’s work in all aspects, which should please fans of the novel, as well as those who have never read it or seen the film.

The Joy Luck Club runs through Dec. 7 at East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers.org.

18 Downtown News

Tuesday, nov. 25 Live Figure Drawing Downtown Art Gallery, 1611 S. Hope St., (213) 255-2067 or downtownag.com.

7:30-10:30 p.m.: Downtown Art Gallery hosts a live figure drawing session for $12 every Tuesday.

Contact gallery prior to attending and bring your own materials.

Ice Skating at Pershing Square 532 S. Olive St., laparks.org.

Noon-2 p.m.: Get your bell bottoms out for a disco-themed skate session courtesy of entertainer Knight Fever.

Pre-School Story Time Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St., (213) 228-7250 or lapl.org.

11 a.m.: Stories read aloud for children ages 3-5.

Reservations required for groups of five or more.

Wednesday, nov. 26 A Lawyerly Soiree Millennium Biltmore, 506 S. Grand Ave., (213) 689 – 7423 or blackwomenlawyersla.org.

6 p.m.-1 a.m.: Join the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Inc. at its annual “Thanksgiving Eve Cocktail Sip,” an evening of live jazz, food and dancing.

SCI-Arc Lecture Series 960 E. Third St., (213) 356-5328 or sciarc.edu.

7 p.m.: New York’s Sulan Kolatan, principal of KOL/MAC LLC, an architecture and design firm she co-founded with William J. MacDonald, is the speaker. Kolatan and her firm are internationally acknowledged as leaders in digital architecture and technologically innovative design.

Friday, nov. 28 Ice Skating at Pershing Square 532 S. Olive St., laparks.org.

8-10 p.m.: Kick, an INXS tribute band, performs under the stars at the outdoor the ice rink.

Holiday Shopping Tour L.A. Fashion District, (213) 683-9715 or urbanshoppingadventures.com.

9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Urban Shopping Adventures leads a tour of the Fashion District, with tips on holiday gifts and how to find good deals. Must reserve 48 hours in advance. Meeting place provided upon making reservation. saTurday, nov. 29 Ice Skating at Pershing Square 532 S. Olive St., laparks.org..

1 p.m.: A special kids program, with Paul Wei at 1 p.m. and the Jumbo Shrimp Circus at 2 p.m.

Weekend Recess for Grown-Ups Tolberman Recreation Center, 1725 Tolberman St., (213) 610-3233 or extremebootcamp.com.

10 a.m.-noon: Remember how much fun you had at recess in elementary school? Regain that feeling at this weekend adult recess in bouts of dodgeball, kickball, freeze-tag and handball. Hosted by Extreme Boot Camp, Downtown L.A. Every Saturday, except holiday weekends. sunday, nov. 30 MOCA Grand Avenue MOCA, 250 S. Grand Ave., (213) 621-1745 or moca.org.

Continued on page 19

L

1

Theanks This Weekping

Before you get any ideas, the 1,000 Teddies installation opening at Coldsprings Fine Art this week has nothing to do with lingerie. The traveling exhibit by German artist Philipp Jordan, featuring 1,000 er writ f f A t painted teddy bears, just wrapped up a European tour ott, S nA Sc n A y and kicks off its U.S. stint this week with a fundraiser in b Downtown. On Saturday, Nov. 29, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. the gallery debuts the teddies with a pay-what-you-wish fundraiser to benefit Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. The event will include a live artist demonstration, silent and live auctions, face painting and other kid-friendly activities.

The bears, rendered in various colors and sizes, will stare at gallery-goers with their 2,000 round eyes from every inch of wall surface. Is it a childhood dream gone terribly wrong? Or is it adorable? Decide for yourself; Jordan’s work is really all about the audience’s reaction to being Los stared down. The teddies will be on display until Feb. Angeles 23. Coldsprings Fine Art, 215 W. Third St., (213) Philharmonic 617-8508 or coldspringsfineart.com.

Music Directordesignate Gustavo Dudamel and the Israel Philharmonic this week wrap up the orchestra’s largest American tour in four years at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The performance on Monday, Nov. 24, at 8 p.m. will celebrate Israel’s 60th year of independence and composer Leonard Bernstein’s legacy as the Israel Phil’s laureate conductor. The evening will feature pieces by Bernstein, including Jubilee Games, his first major orchestral work, along with Russian composer Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. The young Dudamel will take over the L.A. Philharmonic next fall. Monday’s show, sponsored

by American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, will include a pre-concert event hosted by Alan Chapman of KUSC-FM in the venue’s BP Hall at 7 p.m. an ntm A Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., (323) ded

by O 850-2000 or laphil.com. photo

h Give T y Bears, Shop d For Ted pets p And Pu

2

Call it strategic shopping.

On Friday, Nov. 28, Downtown resident, tour guide and Fashion District expert Christine Silvestri of Urban Shopping Adventures leads an expedition through the area’s sample sales racks. If you thought you were confined to the 99 cent store this year because of the economic plunge, cheer up! Participants will visit showrooms and boutiques where unique clothing, gift items and even furniture are available.

Other upcoming dates are Dec. 12 and 19. The $36 per person fee includes a shopping bag, bottled water and a snack bar. The three-hour tour (insert Gilligan’s Island joke here) begins at 9:30 a.m. outside of the Orpheum Lofts, 846 S. Broadway. Reservations required 48 hours in advance. To save your spot, email info@ urbanshoppingadventures.com.

3

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4

Watch any typical holiday production of The Nutcracker and you’d swear the dancers on stage were attached to strings. So, in a way, it makes sense that stringed puppets are staging Downtown’s latest production of the fairytale ballet. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater in City West, known for its painstakingly crafted marionettes, uses more than 100 puppets as it presents the story of Clara and the Nutcracker Prince as they journey to the Land of Sweets. After the hour-long show, the audience is invited to mingle with the puppeteers in the theater’s party room. The show will continue through January. Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. First St., (213) 250-9995 or bobbakermarionettes.com.

ette Theater arion er M k Ba

This year you can celebrate Thanksgiving, New Year’s and Summer Festival — the Japanese Buddhist celebration honoring deceased ancestors — with Grandma, all at once. Not sure about that?

Relax. Through Dec. 20, the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center presents Obaachan (“Grandma” in Japanese), a free exhibition spanning more than two decades of Janet Mitsui Brown’s children’s book illustrations. On display at the JACCC’s George J. Doizaki Gallery, the exhibit highlights Mitsui Brown’s artwork in her Obaachan storybook series, including Thanksgiving at Obaachan’s and Obon for Obaachan (Summer Festival for Grandma). Accompanying displays provide a glimpse into the artist’s creative process and information about the evolution of book illustration. JACCC, 244 S. San Pedro St., (213) 628-2725 or jacc.org.

photo courtesy of Philipp Jordan

Monday, nov. 24 Los Angeles Auto Show Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., laautoshow.com.

Opens 11 a.m.: The L.A. Auto Show is back. As always, you can ogle at fantasy rides like the new Ferrari California or see the newest in green technology on wheels. Open every day through Nov. 30. Opens at 9 a.m. Thursday-Friday.

’ s s i M t ' n Do

of B

SponSored LiSting FIDM Trunk Show FIDM Museum Shop, 919 S. Grand Ave., (213) 624-1200 or fidm.edu.

Dec. 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Tired of the same stores for your holiday shopping? More than 30 alumni designers from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising will offer a wide array of jewelry, scarves, accessories, jeans, quilts, handbags and other gifts at the school’s Museum Shop. The annual “Trunk Show” is one day only.

LISTINGS ‘ ist

pho to c ou rte sy

EVENTS

November 24, 2008

DowntownNews.com

5

photo courtesy of Janet Mitsui Brown.

November 24, 2008

Downtown News 19

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But Wait, There’s More!

Listings for additional concerts, exhibits and more in Downtown Los Angeles can be found on our website. Go to downtownnews.com/listings for full information, including time and location, for all the happenings in Downtown.

Additional Event Information on the Web

DOWNTOWNNEWS.COM/LISTINGS : EVENTS | ROCK, POP & JAZZ | CLASSICAL MUSIC | THEATER, OPERA & DANCE ART SPACES | FILM | BARS & CLUBS | MUSEUMS | FARMERS MARKETS | TOURS

Listings Continued from page 18 3 p.m.: In conjunction with the ongoing exhibition Index: Conceptualism in California from the Permanent Collection, UCLA art history professor George Baker leads a critical discussion of conceptualism in California. The talk is free with museum admission.

Ice Skating at Pershing Square 532 S. Olive St., laparks.org.

2-4 p.m.: The rink is open all day, with Country Gone Awry performing their brand of country tunes for two hours in the afternoon.

ROCK, POP & JAZZ 2nd Street Jazz 366 E. Second St., (213) 680-0047, 2ndstjazz.com or myspace.com/2ndstreetlivejazz. Music usually starts at 9 or 10 p.m.

Tuesdays: Jazz jam session.

626 Reserve 626 S. Spring St., (213) 627-9800 or 626reserve.com.

Tuesdays, 6 p.m.: Live music with Goh Kurosawa.

Thursdays, 6 p.m.: More live sounds, this time with Jessie Torrez.

Bar 107 107 W. Fourth St., (213) 625-7382 or myspace.com/bar107.

Tuesdays: A classic island mix of reggae with attitude. Jah! Wednesdays: The world famous (or at least in L.A.) Bar 107 Karaoke Gong Show. Come join the fun and help the judges vote for the best act of the evening.

Sundays: DJ’s choice with 107’s Matt Dwyer, the comic-actor genius who plays music while serving

the meanest drinks (in the nicest way) Downtown.

Blue Velvet 750 S. Garland Ave., (213) 239-0061.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 p.m.: Live music and DJs. Casey’s Irish Bar and Grill 613 S. Grand Ave., (213) 629-2353 or bigcaseys.com.

Fridays: Live Irish music.

Chop Suey Café 347 E. First St., (213) 617-9990 or chopsueycafe.com.

Thursdays, 7:30-9:30 p.m.: Live jazz on the patio of the restored landmark.

Cicada Cicada Restaurant, 617 S. Olive St., (213) 488-9488 or cicadarestaurant.com.

Thursdays, 8-11 p.m.: The velvet-voiced Max Vontaine recreates the sounds and styles of rat packers Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. His smoking jackets and tunes are vintage; his bawdy repartee is less so. Keep a close eye on the unlit cigarette.

Club Nokia Corner of Olympic Blvd. and Figueroa St., clubnokia.com.

Nov. 26: Rapper Nas, one of the more acclaimed rhymers around..

Nov. 28: Local rockers Metro Station.

Nov. 29: Sergio Mendes, who fuses bossa nova, jazz and funk.

Nov. 30: They were big more than a decade ago, they’re from Cleveland, and now they’re back! Everyone put your hands together for Bone Thugs-NHarmony. e3rd Steakhouse and Lounge 734 E Third St., (213) 680-3003 or www.myspace.com/therhythmsectionla.

Second Saturdays: The Rhythm Section brings in DJs and live acts to this Arts District restaurant, playing eclectic selections in nujazz, soul, rare groove, soul and hip-hop.

J Restaurant and Lounge 1119 S. Olive St., (213) 746-7746 or jloungela.com.

Tuesdays: Live acoustic performances in the lounge.

Wednesdays: Salsa in the City features complimentary salsa lessons at 8 p.m. At 9 p.m., a batch of live musicians takes over for a jam session.

Fridays: Live bands on select dates.

La Cita 336 S. Hill St., (213) 687-7111 or myspace.com/lacitabar.

Mondays, 9 p.m.: Mustache Mondays is a gay/ mixed theme night with the best in electro, dance and live performances.

Tuesdays, 9 p.m.: Cheap Souls, featuring DJs spinning funk, soul, old school and electro dance.

First and third Wednesdays, 9 p.m.: Mucho Wednesdays are dance nights with Latin music.

Please Email Your Event Info To submit events for this section, please email a brief description, street address and a public phone number to calendar­@downtownnews.com.

Web addresses are welcome. Listings are due 10 days before publication date. Because of time constraints, submissions with­out full information cannot be considered for publication. Inclusion in the listings is at the discretion of the L.A. Down­ town News. Sorry, we cannot accept follow-up calls about event listings.

“A moving set of tales.”

“Blending hilarity and heartbreak... side-splitting and shattering.”

—LA Times

■ Performance Run Wed–Sat at 8pm, Sun at 2pm; $45 Orchestra, $40 Balcony ■ Bonus Matinees Sat, Dec 13 & 20, 2008 at 2pm *NO SHOWS: Thur, Nov 27, Wed, Dec 10 & 17, 2008 ■ Pay-What -You-Can Performance Fri, Nov 28 at 8pm

East West Players

www.EastWestPlayers.org

(213) 625-7000 Joy Luck Club

Susan Kim Adapted from the novel by Amy Tan Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera By

David Henry Hwang Theatre at the Union Center for the Arts 120 Judge John Aiso Street in the Little Tokyo district, downtown L.A.

A HAndy MAP RefeRence To food, ATTRAcTions & enTeRTAinMenT F

Where to Eat

_

Where to Shop

§ Where to Live

§F § §

C5 C5 B5

Grand Tower • 255 S. Grand Ave. Museum Tower • 225 S. Olive St. Promenade Towers • 123 S. Figueroa St.

229-9777 626-1500 617-3777

§

B8

The Metropolitan Apartments • 950 S. Flower St.

489-3300

7+FIG • 7th & Figueroa Sts.

955-7150

Ernst & Young • 725 S. Figueroa St.

955-7100

EF m C6

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel • 506 S. Grand Ave.

624-1011

FF_ C6 E#

California Plaza II • 4th St. & Grand Ave. • Watercourt • 4th St. & Grand Ave.

687-2001 687-2190

P

F _ B7

F B7

#

• Angels Flight Railway • 4th St. & Hill St.

626-1901

F m B7 F F F

Wilshire Grand Hotel • 930 Wilshire Blvd.

• Cardini Ristorante • Seoul Jung • Kyoto

688-7777 896-3822 688-7880 896-3812

F Where to Office ☞

m Where to Stay

#

Points of Interest

C5 Downtown Dental Office

• 255 S. Grand Ave., Suite 204

F m D5 P

F D5

_☞ B6 F m ☞ C7

620-5777

Kyoto Grand Hotel & Garden • 120 S. Los Angeles St.

629-1200

Frying Fish Restaurant • 120 Japanese Village Plaza Mall

680-0567

Uptown Drug & Gift Shop • 444 S. Flower St.

612-4300

The Los Angeles Athletic Club • 431 W. 7th St.

630-5200

☞ Services E ☞ C8

F# C4 F C5

§ P

B3

F NA

§☞

B5

Bunker Hill Real Estate • 800 W. 1st St., #401

680-1720

§

A7

☞

B6

Dr. Silvia Kasparian DDS • 601 W. 5th St., Suite 1110

892-8172

§

A7

F C2

CBS Seafood Restaurant • 700 N. Spring St.

617-2323

§ m D7

F C7

Clifton’s Brookdale Restaurant • 648 S. Broadway

627-1673

F C5

Far East Plaza/Wing Hop Fung • 727 N. Broadway

626-7200

☞ B7

Tommy’s • 2575 W. Beverly Blvd.

389-9060

FF_ C2 P

F NA

E Entertainment

P Free Parking with Validation

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM FIDM Museum Galleries & Shops • 919 S. Grand Ave.

624-1200

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels • 555 W. Temple St.

680-5200

El Pollo Loco • 260 S. Broadway Orsini Apartments • 505 N. Figueroa St. Gus’s Drive-In • 1657 W. 3rd St.

626-7975 877-267-5911 483-8885

Glo • 1050 Wilshire Blvd.

866-216-2101

Medici • 725 S. Bixel St.

888-886-3731

Cecil Hotel • 640 South Main St.

800-896-5294

Carl’s Jr. • 254 S. Broadway

625-1357

PIP Printing • 700 Wilshire Blvd.

489-2333

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Contact Cartifact for the full-color, every-building version of this map and others. Available as a poster and in print, web, and mobile media.

700 S. Flower St, Ste. 1940 Los Angeles, CA 90017 213.327.0200 maps�cartifact.com

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SearchDowntownLA.com

November 24, 2008

Downtown News 21

CLASSIFIED

place your ad online at www.ladowntownnews.com

L.A. Downtown News Classifieds Call: 213-481-1448 Classified Display & Line ads Deadlines: Thursday 12 pm for rent

Angelino Heights Min. from Downtown

3 Bd. 2 1/2 Bath. Victorian Home Beautiful View. Recently Renovated. Partially Furnished.

$3500/mo.

(951) 413-4864 FLOWER ST. LOFT in Southpark. 3 bed, 2 bath, approx, 1450 SF in Live/Work Zone. Previously occupied by entertainment executive w/hi-tech custom furnishings like motorized 2-way blinds w/remote, designed illumination, custom buildouts for maximum storage, private, secure access, in-house alarm and way more! $3,400 with rebate. 310-5256005 by appt.

STOP RENTING! Own A Home.

100% Financing. Zero Down.

No Closing Costs. Federally Insured. 1st Time Buyer OK. Call 866-903-8051. Green Planet Mtg. DOC LIC#4130948. (CalSCAN)

HIGHLAND PARK - 2 bed, 2 bath, fireplace, washer-dryer, garage, gated community, pool, sauna, $1,700. Call 323-804-9007, lourdes974@sbcglobal.net.

OFFICE WITH VIEW of city in three office suite w/reception area in newly remodeled building for rent. Walking distance to all downtown courts; freeway close.

Option to use experienced bilingual secretary & all office amenities. Rent negotiable depending on needs. Great opportunity. Call 213-626-3100.

OLD TOWN PASADENA Upscale condo. Walk to Goldline.

2bd/1ba, granite, stainless appliances, pool, sauna, $1700. rentalforme222@yahoo.com.

The Medici 1 & 2 Bdrm Apts.

Granite Kitchens, Washer/Dryers, Business Center, 2 Pools, Spa! Visit TheMedici.com for a full List of Amenities. Call 888886-3731 for Specials!

1+1 REMODELED Wood, beamed ceiling, tile, granite countertop, blinds, parking. $950/ mo. 213-388-2926.

“Be wary of out of area companies. Check with the local Better Business Bureau before you send any money for fees or services. Read and understand any contracts before you sign.

Shop around for rates.”

DOUGLAS BUILDING LOFT This one bedroom is a steal at $2,295. Corner unit, 1,140 sqft., exposed brick, wood floors, 1 parking. Call 323-351-5741 or email aca4125@lausd.net.

TWO MONTHS FREE! (O.A.C.) Brand New Resort Apartments.

Granite kitchens, washer/dryers, pools, spas, saunas, fitness ctr, free tanning beds & much more!

866-690-2894.

Up to 1 month free! (O.A.C.) New downtown luxury apartments with granite kitchens, marble baths, pool, spa, saunas & free parking. 888-736-7471.

LAND/ACREAGE BUILD YOUR DREAM RANCH: Why buy “Out of State” land you will never use! 90 min. from Downtown L.A. gorgeous 40 ac.

Ranch sites from $265K Terms.

Deer, quail, some snow, 1 mi from golf, 9 mi from ski lodge.

310-505-0352 edpeters01@sbcglobal.net.

BULK LAND SALE 80 acres $39,900. Take advantage of the buyers market and own beautiful mountain property. Price reduced on large acreage in Eastern Arizona. Won’t last! Good access & views. Wildlife abounds at Eureka Springs Ranch by AZLR. Financing available. ADWR report.

1-888-854-7403. (Cal-SCAN) COLORADO FORECLOSURE 40 acres $29,900. Outstanding Views. Access to 6,000 acres BLM Rec Land. 300 days of sunshine. Call 1-866-696-5263.

(Cal-SCAN) MONTANA LAND BARGAINS (A Safe Haven) 20 Acres w/ Road & Utilities- $29,900. 40 Acres w/ New Cabin- $89,900.

160 Acres at $99,900. Financing available. Fully guaranteed.

1-888-361-3006 www.WesternSkiesLand.com. (Cal-SCAN) NEW MEXICO SACRIFICE! 140 acres was $149,900, Now Only $69,900. Amazing 6000 ft. elevation. Incredible mountain views. Mature tree cover. Power & year round roads. Excellent financing. Priced for quick sale.

Call NML&R, Inc. 1-888-2049760. (Cal-SCAN) PRICED TO SELL! Newly Released Colorado Mountain Ranch. 35 acres- $44,900. Majestic lake & Mountain views, adjacent to national forest for camping or hiking, close to conveniences. EZ terms. 1-866-3534807. (Cal-SCAN)

LAKEFRONT OPPORTUNITY. Nevada’s 3rd Largest Lake. Approx. 2 hrs. South of Carson City.

1AC Lakefront - $89,900; 1AC lakeview - $29,900. 38,000 acre Walker Lake, very rare home sites on paved road with city water. Magnificent views, very limited supply. New to market. www.NVLR.com Call 1-877-5426628. (Cal-SCAN) NEW TO MARKET. New Mexico Ranch Dispersal 140 acres $89,900. River Access. Northern New Mexico. Cool 6,000’ elevation with stunning views. Great tree cover including Ponderosa, rolling grassland and rock outcroppings. Abundant wildlife, great hunting. EZ terms. Call NML&R, Inc. 1-866-360-5263.

(Cal-SCAN)

Lofts Buying, Leasing or Selling a Loft?

THE LOFT EXCHANGE 1200 S. Santee St., Suite1107 Los Angeles CA 90015

Single Building (5000 SF) or 2nd floor (2500 SF)

For Sales & Leasing contact Michael Ferguson, Broker 213-718-3019

1227 W. Temple St. (Close to 101 & 110 Fwy) Ample Parking, Security Gate 3 year lease min.

TheLoftExchange.com

310-293-7455

OFFICE SPACE Prime Office Spaces As Low As 99¢/sqf.

High-Rise Building on Olive St. Near Metro (train), Surveillance Video Camera, New Elevator System. Air Condition.

213.892.0088

Under New Management

Continued on next page

Sell Your Car!

Expose your auto to Downtown Los Angeles, with a huge work force and one of the fastest growing residential areas Los Angeles Downtown News

gets results!

Call 213-481-1448

THE ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE

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Lofts from $1,100. High ceilings.

A/C. Parking available.

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Call 213-253-4777 LAloft.com

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

22 Downtown News

November 24, 2008

DowntownNews.com

Continued from previous page

real estate for sale

real estate

real estate apartments

2 bd skylIne end unIt

Downtown since 2002 Don’t settle for anyone less experienced!

North facing with great skyline view Upper floor; cove molding $599,000 Rob Nesbitt, Broker Wilshire Metro Realty, Inc. 213.629.2530 (office) 213.617.8225 (direct)

Now LeasiNg!

■ Gorgeous Layouts ■ 10-15’ Ceilings ■ Fitness Center ■ Wi-Fi Rooftop Lounge ■ Amazing Views

real estate Consultant

Call us today!

Bill Cooper 213.598.7555

MILANO LOFTS

6th + Grand Ave. ULTIMATE LIFE LIVING

www.milanoloftsla.com

Residential Real Estate Downtown LA

TheLoftExpertGroup.com

213.627.1900

BUY / SELL or RENT !

FOR SALE BY OWNER! 1BD/1BA. Bunker Hill. Highly upgraded. High floor. Downtown view. Marble floors. Jacuzzi.

Sauna. $499,000. 213-210-9943

help Wanted

call us now:

213 626 5433

Teams earn Top dollar plus great benefits.

offICe lofts

1,250 Sq. ft

Solo drivers also needed for Western Regional

ULTIMATELIFELIVING.COM info@ultimatelifeliving.com

Loft For Rent.

High ceilings, wooden floor, kitchen, shower, big window.

Free utilities. $1,275.00/Mo. 213-327-0105.

Werner enterpriSeS

We've got what you're searching for!

DowntownNews.com

1 (800) 346-2818 x123 CONTROLLER Masters in Accounting, Business Administration or related required. Fax resume (213) 747-6808. Textile One Inc., Los Angeles.

DRIVERS: CALL TODAY! SignOn Bonus. 35-41 cpm. Earn over $1000 weekly. Excellent Benefits. Need CDL-A and 3 months recent OTR. 1-877-258-8782. www.MeltonTruck.com.

(CalSCAN)

OVER 18? Available to travel?

Earn Above Average $$$ with Fun Successful Business Group!

No Experience Necessary. 2wks Paid Training. Lodging, Transportation Provided. 1-877-6465050. (Cal-SCAN)

busIness servICes

Telemarketing Position for Maintenance Co. Min. 2 yrs exp. $9/hr + comm + residual + benefits.

FT. Hollywood area.

A BEST-KEPT CLASSIFIED advertising secret! A 25-word ad costs $550, is placed in 240 community newspapers and reaches over 6 million Californians. Call for more information (916) 2886010; (916) 288-6019 www.CalSCAN.com. (Cal-SCAN)

Call 323-957-7712 Ask for Nancy ACCREDITATION coordinator White Memorial Medical Center. Oversight & coordination of hospital activities from accreditation to regulation preparations, process, & follow up. Requires Master’s in Healthcare Administration or Human Resource Mgmt. & 6 mos. exp. Mail resume: Eileen Lange, WMMC, 1720 Cesar E. Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033. No phone calls.

ADVERTISE EFFECTIVELY! Reach over 3 million Californians in 140 community newspapers.

Cost $1,550 for a 3.75”x2” display ad. Super value! Call (916) 288-6010; (916) 288-6019. www.

Cal-SDAN.com. (Cal-SCAN)

DRIVER - CDL TRAINING: $0 down, financing by Central Refrigerated. Company Drivers earn average of $40k/year.

Owner Operators average $60k/ Year. 1-800-587-0029 x4779. www.CentralDrivingJobs.net.

(Cal-SCAN) JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! California Army National Guard. No Experience. Will pay to train.

High School Jr/ Sr & Grads/ Non- Grads/ GED. May qualify for $20,000 BONUS. 1800GoGuard.com/careers. (Cal-SCAN)

You never know what you’ll find in the…

downtown news

Computers

ELDER -HELP. I do cooking/ driving, etc. Part-time. Downtown area. Judith 213-620-5725.

FRUSTRATED BY computers?

For services or solutions for home or business, call 213-4586873.

autos Wanted DONATE YOUR CAR: Children’s Cancer Fund! Help Save A Child’s Life Through Research & Support! Free Vacation Package. Fast, Easy & Tax Deductible. Call 1-800-252-0615. (CalSCAN) DONATE YOUR VEHICLE! Receive Free Vacation Voucher.

United Breast Cancer Foundation. Free Mammograms, Breast Cancer Info www.ubcf.info Free Towing, Tax Deductible, NonRunners Accepted, 1-888-4685964. (Cal-SCAN)

Let us do the dirty work!

Beverly's Laundromat Drop Off

25% oFF 1st time customers only. Minimum 25lb

FREE Pick-up & Delivery with minimum 35lb

610 S. Rampart Blvd. @ 6th St (213)804-0069 Open Daily 7 a.m.-10 p.m. • Free Parking

massage

LOOKING FOR a cost efficient way to get out a news release?

The California Press Release Service is the only service with 500 current daily, weekly and college newspaper contacts in California.

Questions call (916) 288-6010. www.CaliforniaPressReleaseService.com. (Cal-SCAN)

Star Holistic Spa

busIness opportunIty

Tel: 213-383-7676

ABSOLUTELY RECESSION proof! Do You Earn $800 in a Day? Your Own Local Vending Route Includes 30 Machines and Candy for $9,995. MultiVend LLC, 1-888-625-2405. (Cal-SCAN)

laundry servICes

Massage

kIds performIng sChools

2551 W. Beverly Blvd.

LA, CA, 90057 (Beverly Rampart)

CHILDREN’S PERFORMING Group! Singing, dancing, performing and fun! For boys & girls ages 3 and up! See SunshineGenerationLA.com or call 909861-4433.

EZ SHIATSU & MASSAGE

servICes

Mon.-Fri. 10am-6pm Sat. 10am-3pm

BUILDING MAINTENANCE Electrical, phone line, HVAC, plumbing, general maintenance.

I’m available part/full time. 323493-7634 Ricardo.

(2 hr.) $60.00

60 min. massage (Reg. $60) $20 OFF w/this ad

400 e. 2nd st., #205 la Ca 90012

(Honda Plaza Mall) 1st Visit Only.

213-680-4970

Offices • Offices • Offices • Offices

Classified

Luxury Rooms in Downtown Burbank • Brentwood Century City • Downtown L.A. Woodland Hills Locations Nationwide Beautiful Offices For As Little As $400 Fully Furnished/Corporate ID Programs Flexible Terms/All New Suites Services Include: • Reception • Mail • T-1 • State-of-the-Art Voice Mail & Telephone • Westlaw • Fax • Photocopy • More Additional Features: Kitchen Facilities, All Support Services, Great Views, Free Conference Room Hours, Fully Trained Staff, Cost Effective.

Place your classified ad online, its safe and secure at DowntownNews.com/classified. Or call 213.481.1448

Do you have something to sell?

All ads run for 2 weeks. Ads may be renewed ds get results! after two weeks for 50% off the original With a circulation of 49,000, our classifie price of the ad.

Ad prices

Name: Address: • Items under $300…12 words, 2 weeks FREE! City • Items $301 to $500…15 words, only $11.50 Phone: • Items $501 to $1200…15 words, only $14.00 • Items $1201 to $2000…15 words, only $16.50 Cash $ • Items $2001+…15 words, only $19.00 Credit card #: Restrictions: Offer good on private party ads only. Exp. Date:

jobs Wanted

Jenny Ahn

(213) 996-8301

jahn@regentBC.com

www.regentbc.com

MOVE-IN SPECIAL REAL REAL ARtist Lofts foR LEAsE foR LEAsE

Open Open House House Sunday Sunday 12:00pm-3:00pm 12:00pm-3:00pm 1250 Ave. L.A. L.A. 1250 Long Long Beach Beach Ave.

Monthly Rents Start at $880 1 & 2 Bedrooms Available • Fully Furnished • 100% Utilities Paid • • Refrigerator, Microwave & TV In Each Room • • Wireless Access Throughout Bldg. • Gym • • Close to USC & Loyola Law School • • Presidential Suite with Kitchen •

Special STUDeNT RaTe! $780 1 person

Mayfair Hotel 1256 West 7th street

Simin (213) 484-9789 Ext. 555 or (213) 632-1111

Environmentally Concious

GREEN INTERIORS FREE Estimates

Partial or Complete Remodeling for: • Office TI • Residential • Work/Live Lofts

LEED Certification Available Member US Green Building Council

renovate@ecocentricrenovations.com www.ecocentricrenovations.com 213-316-0153

(Friendly (Friendly Fun Fun Community) Community)

(Marketplace and Automotive Categories ONLY):

State Check $

Zip

Wood fireplace, Wood floors, floors, New kitchen, fireplace, high room, pool. pool. high ceilings, ceilings, jacuzzi, jacuzzi, laundry room, Gated Downtown.

Gated Parking.

Parking. View of Downtown.

Sorry Sorry No Dogs

Credit Card $

Ads must be pre-paid by cash, check or credit card.

Certain classifications excluded.

Deadline: Thursday at noon for next issue.

Ad Copy: _________________________________________

________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

1100 $1750–$2500 1100Sq Sq Ft Ft –– 2000 2000 Sq Sq Ft. Prices from $1750–$2500 Includes Includes 1 Pkg space.

Call Emily Emily (866) 425-7259 Call

freshly designed lofts for rent

$99 Moves You In* One of the most prestigious & beautiful residences in Downtown.

$1,595 to $2,500

________________________________________________

On Broadway at 8th St.

________________________________________________

C h a pma n f l atS.CO m 213.892.9100 *For a limited time.

**with approved credit.

Parking Available Onsite Restaurant Available

Bunker Hill real estate Co, inC. FoR REnt: EstablishEd 1984 ❏ Promenade West-2 Bed. 2 Bath. 5th Floor. $2,200 Month ❏ Bunker Hill Tower-2 Bed. 2 Bath. City View. $2,200 Month ❏ Westchester-2 Bed.2 Bath Condo. Vu. Wood Floor. $2,000 Month FoREclosuREs-los AngElEs ❏ 4 Bed, 2 Bath. Pasadena. Semi Circular Driveway. Price $424,900. ❏ 3 Bed, 2 Bath. Pasadena. Great For Growing Family. $419,900 ❏ 3 Bed. 2 Bath. Pasadena. Upgrades. 3 Car Gar. Big Lot. $624,900 ❏ 3 Bed. 3. Bath. Lawndale. Tri-Level Townhouse. Large $354,900

Promenade West Condo

2 Story Townhouse. West Facing With Downtown City View. Upgrades. Large Patio. Very Elegant.

Asking $599,900

Mirza alli

Broker/Realtor leasing-salesloans-refinance

(213) 680-1720 e-mail us: Info@bunkerhillrealestate.com

Call us for other condos for sale or lease Dwntwn & surrounding areas!!

www.bunkerhillrealestate.com

Fully furnished with TV, telephone, microwave, refrigerator.

Full bathroom.

Excellent location.

Downtown LA. Weekly maid service.

Monthly from $695 utilities paid.

(213) 627-1151

November 24, 2008

Downtown News 23

SearchDowntownLA.com

ABOGADO DE IMMIGRACION! Family, Criminal, P.I. for more than 20 yrs!

Familiar o Amigo Arrestado?

Necesita Permiso de trabajo? Tagalog / Español

MISCELLANEOuS SWITCH YoUR ReSIdenCe from PG&E. Save up to 10%+ off your cost of natural gas. No Cost to Switch. Visit www.BmarkEnergy.com. Also Sales/Income Opportunity. (Cal-SCAN)

Get your GREEN CARD or CITIZENSHIP Law Office of H. Douglas Daniel Esq., (213) 689-1710

CRYSTAL MATRIX Center.

Vibrational medicine services.

Classes, crystals, jewelry and readings. Call 323-644-7625 or visit our website www.thecrystalmatrix.com.

STUCK WITH Merchandise??? www.SurplusLiquidator.net. 323465-5749 call Christine.

FOR SALE FoUR GeRMAn LAnGUAGe books on German artists. $50 for all. 213-627-1344.

VOLuNTEER OPPORTuNITIES HeLpInG KIdS heal. Free Arts for Abused Children is looking for volunteers to integrate the healing power of the arts into the lives of abused and at-risk children and their families. Today is the day to get involved! Contact Annie at volunteers@freearts. org or 310-313-4278 for more information.

LEGALS pUBLIC noTICe ReqUeST FoR qUALIFICATIonS (RFq) To pRovIde vARIoUS URBAn pLAnnInG And eConoMIC deveLopMenT SeRvICeS RFq no. np-8812 The Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles, California (the “CRA/LA”) is soliciting “Statement of Qualifications” (SOQs) from individuals and firms with qualifications to provide various Urban Planning and Economic Development services on an as–needed basis in the following areas: real estate and market feasibility services; economic development; transit and transportation analyses, facility design, and parking analysis and development management; and land use planning, urban design and architectural services, plan adoption, urban landscape design, and historical preservation services.

Qualified and interested firms, and individuals and/or joint ven-

tures interested in the RFQ No. NP-8812 should submit a Letter of Interest (LOI) to Ms. Blanca Huerta, Administrative Specialist, by e-mail to bhuerta@cra. lacity.org or by facsimile at (213) 977-1783 with complete address and contact information to ensure your firm is registered for this RFQ. Inquiries should be directed to Ms. Huerta at (213) 977-1783.

RFQ No. NP-8812 will only be available on the CRA/LA Website at http://www.crala.org for downloading on or after November 26, 2008.

11/24/08 CNS-1470808# noTICe oF AppLICATIon FoR poLICe peRMIT Notice is hereby given that application has been made to the Board of Police Commissioners for a permit to conduct a MASSAGE BUSINESS NAME OF APPLICANT: SHANAI CUI DOING BUSINESS AS: ANNA ACUPUNCTURE & MASSAGE (Oil Less Massage) LOCATED AT: 4433 S. Alameda St. - #E9 Los Angeles, CA 90058 Any person desiring to protest the issuance of this permit shall make a written protest before December 8, 2008 to the: LOS ANGELES POLICE COMMISSION 150 North Los Angeles Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012 Upon receipt of written protests, protesting persons will be notified of date, time and place for hearing.

BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS

You don't have to go to the bottom of the ocean to find a treasure.

Find it here in ClassiFied!

Or if you’re looking for a way to make extra cash, sell yesterday's treasures here!

TWO MONTHS FREE!

Downtownnews.com/classifieD 1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90026 • 213.481.1448

1264 W. First Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90026 • 213.481.1448

BRAND NEW 3 Miles from downtown

Available Immediately

1264 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA, 90026, ph. 213.481.1448

Top floor of 11 story (18,000 SF) historic building available now!

Perfect for corporate hqtrs. Features separate executive suite(s).

Stunning views of LA two blocks away from Staples Center and across the street from the new LA Live complex. The building also has approx 4,000 sq ft of beautiful contiguous space and some small offices available. These spaces can be viewed by appointment.

Information available to qualified prospective tenants.

Email request to mdavis@shammasgroup.com or call (213) 746-6300

THAI MASSAGE SPECIALIST VIP Room Available. The Best Way For Business Meetings & Entertainment

ImmedIate move -Ins! • Elegant Courtyards Pool/spa Putting greens Zen Garden

• Exclusive Business Center fax and copy machines, computers, and private conference rooms

• Luxurious Lobby 24-hour Attendant

HealtH Dept. rank a for 7 ConseCutive Years

1-bedroom apartments starting at $1900 2-bedroom apartments starting at $2685

• Clubhouse Lounge Pool Table Large Flat Screen TV Snacks

• Exclusive fitness center State of the art LIFE FITNESS equipment

Professional massage for men & women. Services include Thai Massage, Shiatsu Massage, Swedish Oil Massage, Foot Massage, Sauna, Steam, and more. Lounge area.

Ask About Our Move-In Specials!

Rent

213 . 381. 50 0 0 918 South Oxford Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90006

Ve r s a i l l e s L i v i n g . c o m

SAKuRA HEALTH GYM & SAuNA, INC.

HBODY

MASSAGEH

First Professionally Licensed Massage Shop in L.A. County.

No Ope ve nin mb g er 1st

3386766 0119

111 N. Atlantic Blvd. Ste #231-233 Monterey Park, CA 91754 (626) 458-1919 [Corner of Garvey Ave.]

ARTIST LOFTS FOR LEASE Live/Work in Downtown Fashion District

fictitiOus

Business

name

statements:

Only

$ 85.

Single rooms starting from $550/mo.

626 S. Spring St. • 880 sqft Loft - $1650/mo. • prime area in Downtown LA • 13 ft. ceilings/ Granite counter top • Stainless steel appliances/refrigerator etc.

• wired for hi-speed internet/ cable • open floor plan, central heat and air • Pet friendly

Please call 213.627.6913 www.cityloftsquare.com

Includes utilities, basic cable channels, laundry room on site, street parking, 1 yr lease.

208 W. 14th St. at Hill St. Downtown L.A.

For English Call Terri or Pierre 213.744.9911 For Spanish call Susana 213.749.0306

Get your TRUE story to hollywood.

Take Your Game to the Next Level Learn Course Management

3 Driving strategies 3 Mid/long iron techniques 3 Short game fundamentals

In golf, its you versus the course. Learn to manage the entire game, not just the mechanics of your swing. Learn course management and improve your game.

Steve Andelich Professional Golf Instructor

818.618.2099

Catering to Intermediate/Advanced Players Amenities: • Gourmet kitchen / gas • “Quartz Stone” counters • European cabinets • Stainless appliances

• Polished concrete floors • Glass tiled bathrooms • Spacious Walk-in closets • WiFi/High Speed • Rooftop garden / Spa

• Fitness room • Billiard room • Controlled access • Large historic windows • Magnificent City views

National City Tower Lofts Starting from $1,395 • Studio, 1 Bdrm, 2 Bdrm, Bi-Level Penthouses Luxury Living in the heart of Downtown 810 South Spring Street • 213-623-3777 • www.nctlofts.com

fOr 4 insertiOns

madison hotel

(Note: The Downtown News does not perform filing services)

(2 blocks west of San Pedro St.)

Call (213) 481-1448 for details.

City Lofts

3 Learn while you play 3 Shot visualization 3 Mastering club selection

700 to 1500 Sq. Ft. Lofts.

High ceilings, skylights, cable, kitchen, bath+shower, laundry room, elevator, controlled access, sub. parking. Sorry no dogs.

Call George: 818-634-7916 or 310-275-9831 x24

Move-in Special 1/2 Month Free

Clean furnished single rooms. 24-hour desk clerk service.

•Daily, $25.00 •Weekly, $99.00 •Monthly, $295.00 (213) 622-1508 423 East 7th St.

Furnished single unit with kitchenette, bathroom.

Excellent location.

Downtown LA. Weekly rate $275 inc.

Monthly from $595 utilities paid.

(213) 612-0348

DowntownNews.com

24 Downtown News

November 24, 2008

DowntownNews.com

We Got Games The Clippers Look to Build Some Momentum Los Angeles Lakers Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., (213) 742-7340 or nba.com/lakers.

Tuesday, Nov. 25, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 28, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 30, 6:30 p.m.: The Lakers finally lost. But, as if anyone expected the defeat by the Detroit Pistons to be the beginning of an extended skid, the purple and gold responded with decisive victories over the Chicago Bulls and the Phoenix Suns. This week they finish a five-game homestand against the Nets, the Mavericks and the Raptors.

Monday, Nov. 24, 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 26, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.: The Clippers last week secured only their second win of the season, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder behind strong performances from Chris Kaman and Cuttino Mobley. The success may prove short-lived, as this week they face three tough opponents in New Orleans (powered by point guard Chris Paul), Denver and Miami.

Los Angeles Kings Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., (213) 742-7340 or kings.nhl.com.

Saturday, Nov. 29, 1 p.m.: After a Canadian road trip to play the Calgary Flames (Nov.

Los Angeles Clippers Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa St., (213) 742-7340 or nba.com/clippers.

25) and the Edmonton Oilers (Nov. 26), the Kings return to their home ice on Saturday to take on the Chicago Blackhawks.

USC Trojans Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, 3939 S. Figueroa St., (213) 740-4672 or usctrojans.cstv.com.

Saturday, Nov. 29, 5 p.m.: The Trojans play their final game at the Coliseum this year, and it’s one that every fan waits for: the match-up with Notre Dame.

Theoretically the Fighting Irish shouldn’t put up much of a fight against the highpowered Trojans, but crazy things can happen in rivalries.

—Ryan Vaillancourt

photo by Gary Leonard

Clippers center Chris Kaman scored a season-high 25 points last week in the team’s victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. This week the squad has home games against New Orleans, Denver and Miami.

Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore!

G r a n d To w e r 255 South Grand Avenue

Promenade To w e r s 123 South Figueroa Street LEASING INFORMATION

LEASING I N F O R M AT I O N

M u s e u m To w e r 225 South Olive Street

(213) 229-9777

LEASING I N F O R M AT I O N

(213) 617-3777

(213) 626-1500

It’s our business to make you comfortable...

sauna and recreation room with kitchen.

Far below are a host of businesses ready to

at home, downtown. Corporate and long term

Beautiful views extend from the Towers’ lofty

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residency is accommodated in high style at

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the Towers Apartments. Contemporary singles,

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with gourmet dining, shops, theatres and

studio, one bedroom and two bedroom

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the cultural events that make headlines.

apartment homes provide fortunate residents with a courteous full service lobby attendant,

Downtown, it’s not just big business anymore.

heated pool, spa, complete fitness center,

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