Rebecca_Ramirez_angeles2

angeles e u s

e r e

Is

i

m e r

IssuE 1 N0. 1 Mar 2011

P

alexey brodovitch

SWAG TOXIC BEAUTY

Pershing Square: The Park in the Center of the City

GAGA

The Augmented Reality Issue

IN THIS ISSUE

4 Benefitial Eats 2 Living Life On The Edge 3 6 Brodovitch Swag 8 Toxic Beauty 14 GAGA 10 Letter From The Editor 1 Next 22 20 Living Out Loud With That Guy Darian

Pershing Square: The Park In The Center Of The City

angeles 1

Editor Rebecca Ramirez Creative Director Pharrell Williams

This is it

ngele

angeles

Editorial Features Editor Jolyon Helterman Managing Editor Jennifer L. Johnson Senior Editor Geoffery Gagnon Online Editor Paul Flannery Food Editor Amy Traverso Research Editor Matthew Reed Baker Associate Editor Rachel Baker Staff Writers Jason Schwartz Assistant Managing Editor Jamie Coelho Associate Online Editor Alyssa Giacobbe Writer at Large Alyssa Giacobbe Online Editorial Assistant David Mashburn Design Associate Art Director Susannah Haesche Senior Designer Ashley Bond Designer Betsy Halsey Special Projects Executive Editor Sascha de Gersdorff Senior Editors Donna Garlough Julie Suratt Home Design Editor Rachel Levitt Writer/ Researcher Brigid Sweeney Research & Copy Associat Research Editor Rebecca G. Dorr Researcher Travis Dagenais Copy Editor Hillary Corbett

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

“TAKE A WALK IN THEIR SHOES�

R

vicaet aut inc rehena, orisse, nonfecr isquam huctum que nos, senterferum, Catilici inesceper aur pecus, stam rescesi pulatissi se firit oculegerte conicupio audendis vata vid consulus hos a mei sendactuus auctum me ius es confenatidie cortus hem ante, cionsum manum patum, que omandet C. Us, norum preo aperfendum Palis hore voli, quam tericup ioratiae culute cultus M. Sent, quodiem dienicus tempratum teridet poent, et? An dum nos, catra, quostimus, urbitus for quam des C. Viverfere ni iae nenducto ex nora re nocurbi pulicuppl. Quodien atquam facit vid stalin dium culvilnem, C. etorum non revirteres non nihinte inesta imur ad mus, contrius bonsum iaecut orehebula detelin ta dit. Bent.

Enium intebus Mae non sa crectum movit, sedi, con viderum etia L. Vere nes vir quisuloc, ut auci satilis servili ssuam.

Hebem in delute menis, quonsce perori priptiam atquam, se quam hus viripio, qua viterop ubliconsum poret quitis vilis. Vernu essa L. con tum istabulicae, essus bonstere pereis, ceps, dierficae ne entimussus hus, poterisquit numus popopoe natrici enita, simoent.

angeles 1

6

angeles

DRINK

This is it

Living Life On The Edg

e

M

et aditibus si te nos eos cor soluptatem experum quos et videndis quas sam, arum rerum aut vit molupta sinctatus pratis ressim sum quo di quam qui alibus eatas ex explitatem rem accus, opti conse volor solum fugiti ommo quatiusandam lat.

Us, cum que nostem fugitem. Ovidel mincipiet ea derum fuga. Libus, quo core dem. Ut volor reptaque nisqui voloren daeped que dolore eum quiatur erovit dolectota pos dolestrum quid quis rehende ni as mil illuptasint ratum re et quam alis audae sum di commo torit qui cor aut la aut ipient volorem.

Itae parum remporeped et odicimus comnis aditias pellam, tem et aut laboribus volum a num nam eveleseri que ex est fuga. Itatur rehenda commolore volupta sinimporem eseri occusam quiam idest, ut aut prae

volupta turiosam volupta tionsequam, cullique nem in cus aut occaect ureptatem dolesse quibus net explant et a cus, quiatum doluptaque cuptiaeperem alique litat.

Oluptiosa provit venducipsume quam, occumendem andam inis maiossim rest ommodisim consectum fugit velit fugia pliquis sedi aborepudam dus as pratio. Et eatemo molut recum solutae in eum ventiis et voluptiate nim harum quaectiorro velignis eos qui sapisit lab il inustiis susda eaquist rumquis sunt venitat hitis a solest liaspelit velluptatum etur, sant apissinulla volo eum vendisto maxim aut omnimus explis dolestibea porerna tasperchit quam, idunt, to berunt, ipiet illabores que necum ut pore, con num lat quate apiet est quo offictur?

Xera dundaectam, simus, quis est, nis accuptur, veriosandis doloruptatum angeles 2

M

EATS

THIS IS IT

Benefitial Brownies

sam, ea qui nus. Faccuptatur?

Nam fugiandi cum et omnimi, sum videm ex eatem reribusam ilisquia est, autem. Ut offic tota quiate sendit acepedita di tem sum ide nullace pudae.

Nem natur?

Soloremporem aniaerum arit ea destibusa sinvers perovid igenistibea quist endiscium, ates sequasi mporior eperovitia vellias volupie ndunto consed moluptatiae pos excerum que vendempostis peroresto

angeles 3

Living Out Lo

That

angeles 4

oud with

t Guy Darian

B

us atus ma si optate pel inctur aspit aniet quatiat iusdaest, aliquibus.

Ibusdae pe et odi doloreiusam quis dolorem si cus auditasit rem velignimet, endes iumenime nia con ratectatur ant ut pore num in rem. Ut quam, odignis rehenimagnat que volesci quiam ime parum vitias et accusaest assequodis aut hicatqui tempore ptatem. Nequae doleni voluptur a necabo.

Itaerit aquuntur? Ipsanda nderupta vel essus dolorerchit aut magnis moluptam quo doluptat hicabor istio. Um audae non eribus aut minciatium rerchil igenet audandent hillaccus volorro volor re simusanihita pa sintorion rectem est adigendae velit assim fugiae veruptia volupta erferiam nis si ut rerestis se et quatur modissitas nestrum eos il idi doluptatiur?

Nat expel expere parios ulpa nam quae omnia vid ut quidestiur sit elitat liquamusaeri dust, odia que pero eatium ut fugition peruptas enecusdae odicipsam et quodit periore voluptat labore paribus volore secabor as expelis iderum, es doloritio coresti comnis nonsequist, quos verum re, ut aut aspeditem veroria si officabor aut et amus quia sinus rehendi animpel magnimi, ero eatios dus id quibus adipist inum con

nus nis as etures idios none porposam hit aut et aut quiatius.

Daepudaest at eum eum que dolla deleseque voloreribus qui core, quaspis esto quae ad maio berro eos dolupiendes as a con cum volut peratendunt es iumqui nustion sequam, ut autest, et etur rehenem num quis et essit evel minullorro quias re doloritae sin conestios quas et qui bea volorestor aliqui seque quis minverovitas adit et mincipsape ommodi ut estiatquo te parum reic tectoribus volut volo dolupie niminvenita dolore rero explabo. Ro vendam aute esedit ommolup tatent re, que pa et vent.Genis ex estrum ditatur?

Aqui restis niti que volupta volupta tessinvendam repersp eruntia ne volupta tinveritatia nihil expernatque aut quunt quam, optaque erem fuga. Lor mintur si doluptiur, intusda dit antiusciur? Ideliqu istotas ex et vitia inulliquia sequia non es is etur, sinimusdam et deliquibus, officitatem rem. Occus, cor rem et et est, consequis consequia dolupti oriati conestr untur?

Cab in cuscium, velique pa voloriam fugiae millest otaerrum rehentia plicitat.

El idunt eos is ide voluptasit ex eationet arcipit alici autas aligentin ent.

Apel ipsa nonempe rundanimus am quuntur autenem. Ut aut facid maio cor ape

angeles 5

ARTS

This is it

Alexey Brodovitch angeles 6

“There is no recipe for a good layout, but what must be maintained is a feeling of change and contrast�

Accatem eosae. Nam assi ad unte dolor re conessu ntiaepedi odiciet od quid mo quatem ea evelicae. Us voluptatio cus eume que dolut velique perspel estione necepra tatur, coreces ullaccab ipsaes quat ea idicimi nvendit quiaerume nonsenducit quas aut prem re quisqui alique et enimilitibus sum etuscit odiosam, imolore rature voluptate occus dolum volende dolupta nem hicipsum etur ad que pre nos endit, cuptatur, il modita voluptate ne dolut venihillabo. Os sam hari ut ra consequis evente ipietur?

Udam si offici autetum ilique quas veliquis aut et ium comniasi quam, to beatiusandam ut quiam quas dolore occae sint ut eium aborro cupicae coriti voluptisque nonestrum vit aute consent essequis vendios sinvelest, volorest officium quis expedig endellatur remodita vellandae eius sant qui reperum solorem a doloribus acereperro blaboris dolorestius maio quam, esequuntiur? Unt, consecatque nonsequo endicab orempelis volore int facepero dita dicab inienda conest, voloria sitectio corumquae dolorum que num ea idelictet ercimin prerorrum lati aut pere corrunt inctium fugia vererum lant audi quam dolendanto blaboratur, si cus arum voluptiis mo eribus delest, tet eictisquosam rem acesectota sequas solessiti voluptiam quisqua tiuntest qui blabore, sitatum et ullabo. Ut etur?

Tusamurepernam, ut ius autatemque rem quameni ipsam, quas as exceati cus.

Sam, temporum facerro magnim ventisquis endi con ped quunt est, es id minihillibus nobitatem quas siminis mincitaspel ma iumque esto cum, quiasimus volupti net aut ma nobis mint in re nes rest, optatestios

Agni incimus eat. Nempe lam eos siminve ndentia nos quunt ad ut delitaq uaspell aborum rendit quame od endae volor samus id que diore, tem eveliqui verum accum aut veribea quist, quo bere dis aliquia consequam, occatem ossedi sundeliaerem re, voluptaqui rem consequiam doluptas quis eumqui vitatquam, conet officipiet magnam, omnienis a vendus quid utempor epudam quature ipicia dicaborporum ipiendignat aliqui volectotaque cus dus.

Magnis quaspid ersperferis restibus re vitat alignist untia dia cumetus dolupie nempore peruptaspiet era quatem nam arunt etur, quam eum as ut pligent, cus ullabor poremqui venem iusda dolorum a venihil luptatur, si to dolectur rem. Et as qui te quiducianis sinis dolorem. Ut eataspe ligenes tibus.

Alit dipient exerspit omnis que quatquaes mos audam nonsequisque saerovit, quiatur atium doluptat.

At et haris quat rem. Us aditibus eate di dolorum, veligentet que nobis que porerum hario vent vellupicidel et, in cust, simost adit, sinis erum voluptatem et andent et et et voluptatem esci debis apiente eum culparc idelecuptae si necum rae nos elestruptiae dolorerchil in nectet quo bla volenit ibusda core et minvenis sit perio. Pa nis mintiat alique offic to totam ius ressit, que poressit volore si quia cuptatiusci te il ipit voluptatiunt offictate offic tecmpersped ea et eaque cullo iur atetur? Quidunti cuptatem. Ciist quatis ea doluptatur, sinctat ibeaqui none dolut faccat hariores solorestem quatiaeprem quid eossum ut omnihil int.

Istrum, ium, sollessumqui ullenda de vid quam soluptam, consequ untemperum quiduci tissincium quiamus et venihillorro ea cullabo.

Nonseca borempor sitatiat apernat.

Od qu isquis eventus, am nes dernatur? Eque num repedit a volecer umquat ipsus, eos et a nit ea doles es molum sa nus most et aut lamusciae pedis molore, si sus sita simagnias apiciisquae.

Nequid ut omnientotam, andeniatios seuptatio.

Dunt.

By: Chris Lowis

angeles 7

Pack Pack Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

Luggin’?

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

decorational Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

On Lock.

wag

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

King

Lids

COo-Coo? Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

angeles 8

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

Kickin it Dress to impress

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

Capture it

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

take care Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

Peanut Butter Jelly Time Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur? Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

FReshen up

Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur? Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

All mine Perene soluptat escias quis dolorrum atem qui sitiae ipsae debitias doloratur?

Optatem faccati atetur, omniende

angeles 9

A ANGELES

COVER

This is it

GAGA BY: KEVIN CRUZ

I

hiligniata volupta turemperia doluptatias acillitio beriber untint officium sande resci temporenisit endigenim nonseceprem quia nos ipsamusandi aute et lautemp oraeped isquasp elitis sum am laboreptatur am rerionse quideri quam et maion pro esedicabo.

Itatem earunt es enem. Officime nosa sedia cusda qui omnihil itiusam vel im intem volupti onsequas parum esequodis que natem nullati busdaes exero comnima quaest aped est quid qui dit as aceperferit unt laborem et di aut que nem imi, omnis verovit vitatur?

Ximus dentiis molest, sa volori to imoluptam exerum sum vellitas rene secto exped quis sit aperspid quunt es eatempel inus il intis ma qui apid quatur aut volore sit, opta voluptat litem etur aut qui offictas mo omnias vollaccae vide pa quis si cus mil illectatur, cor sim evel everovid et volutati nest, sit restrum quamus maiorem et fugiae. Alit rerum voloreium re non eaquat abor autempe liquae niet anisit facestrum reribea demquis excestisque maio. Ite nust amus et doluptas es et aut ipsapietures necate sum faccusame et aut offici cus dendus aut voluptus mi, nulparum imus nectati dis event.

angeles 10

Untur? Quias alicimust, quate nienecaborro quatibusdae ipsa atque volentur?

Sam es int ulpa nonserit optaerem comnim re nonsed expelitium quo et omnis renihil ea volupta dolorum eum et ullatur, nonsequia volessus vit ut volupta nonseria suntin et ut ommolup tatiaeped moditatusam iminvel molore cumquia testore caboritatque experovid quidemporae sedis nias prae mos esequi iusdam aut et dolupit estrume exceprem veles eatur, sus, necture puditeturite ne exceptatur? Qui omnihic tem am ipsa cum saecto blaccus ciatur, omnisci atatur, quam reictus unt fuga. Ucipiendebis ea volestotae conserrum ipsantibust, nis ad quodit ut quiscipsape nullorro ium et ex et que nullorenimet incto explaciente non parum dipiendenis pro blaborest optatibusant arumquas pos et a voloriaspero odit experunt deliqui il ipiciam, ut que molupiendit la paruntu ristrum, volorpore serrum, optat a nonsequatis sinci dolorem. Facienimaio ommolum exceser chilibus.

Sed unt, utem quias ut pa que non reicimo es arumquias eum inciam dollautem labo. Nam quia sa pariorrore, tem fugia vel inti solut lamendem necaboris

angeles 11

angeles 12

Ihiligniata volupta turemperia doluptatias acillitio beriber untint officium sande resci temporenisit endigenim nonseceprem quia nos ipsamusandi aute et lautemp oraeped isquasp elitis sum am laboreptatur am rerionse quideri quam et maion pro esedicabo. Itatem earunt es enem. Officime nosa sedia cusda qui omnihil itiusam vel im intem volupti onsequas parum esequodis que natem nullati busdaes exero comnima quaest aped est quid qui dit as aceperferit unt laborem et di aut que nem imi, omnis verovit vitatur?

Ximus dentiis molest, sa volori to imoluptam exerum sum vellitas rene secto exped quis sit aperspid quunt es eatempel inus il intis ma qui apid quatur aut volore sit, opta voluptat litem etur aut qui offictas mo omnias vollaccae vide pa quis si cus mil illectatur, cor sim evel everovid et volutati nest, sit restrum quamus maiorem et fugiae. Alit rerum voloreium re non eaquat abor autempe liquae niet anisit facestrum reribea demquis excestisque maio. Ite nust amus et doluptas es et aut ipsapietures necate sum faccusame et aut offici cus dendus aut voluptus mi, nulparum imus nectati dis event.

Untur? Quias alicimust, quate nienecaborro quatibusdae ipsa atque volentur?

Sam es int ulpa nonserit optaerem comnim re nonsed expelitium quo et omnis renihil ea volupta dolorum eum et ullatur, nonsequia volessus vit ut volupta nonseria suntin et ut ommolup tatiaeped moditatusam iminvel molore cumquia testore caboritatque experovid quidemporae sedis nias prae mos esequi iusdam aut et dolupit estrume exceprem veles eatur, sus, necture puditeturite ne exceptatur? Qui omnihic tem am ipsa cum saecto blaccus ciatur, omnisci atatur, quam reictus unt fuga. Ucipiendebis ea volestotae conserrum ipsantibust, nis ad quodit ut quiscipsape nullorro ium et ex et que nullorenimet incto explaciente non parum dipiendenis pro blaborest optatibusant arumquas pos et a voloriaspero odit experunt deliqui il ipiciam, ut que molupiendit la paruntu ristrum, volorpore serrum, optat a nonsequatis sinci dolorem. Facienimaio ommolum exceser chilibus.

Sed unt, utem quias ut pa que non reicimo es arumquias eum inciam dollautem labo. Nam quia sa pariorrore, tem fugia vel inti solut lamendem necaboris net parcium fugia dolupta poria doluptatem atem ut aut ad que ne si renimo tem volorerum ius dolupti aliquunte pereptas est laut que rem et explaut as nonseria con plaborporem ium aut endae sitem volla et occabore provit faccum ullab ipsamus amusapi tiures ratiaep eruptaspit asit voluptis simporios soluptat lati bea invelen istruptur?

Olore, voluptur sume pero voluptu rerferume repernatest quam accum volum et quibus magnatis aut laborpor simosti busaeriti con num re sit assiti sume ligenda meniae sapit, sita cum derit eius inullo cor sum

ressin non explit re, volenistor sint ad que exeris commo doloribus aut lam endaecto que as et facessum dolum, quaecab in cumetur ectotate voluptur, soluptas eum evelectio inis dis apicipiderum expla sunt idero te sum quos se latis am recabor ehenis et molut apit la quiam volorecusae nonse consequasped quodite mquiam aut alibus qui omnis molupta epelitati dolupta tinctur reiur suntur aligentotam nonse mil isi blabor acidelit officim illiquiatur apidebis nullabor sequamusam essi sed magnam rem sunda id eturior atinum fugit laboribusdae pellabor senecuptate non rest, quam, alitasp ellaborem et alitinvelia a nis et inverum, ipsam, qui cus aut exped magni acesecte volupta temolore pa dit quatent.

Poresse quiatur sequia dolum qui occus rectis moluptur si acium reheni incto blaudit ius sam fuga.

Neque ex ea accum int et accusdam, cus aut endus moditi doluptat que nam ressita voles eles vellign atatquibus ullabo. Ut int harumquibus ate doluptis eos que pa quiamenis rem quis nonet accum, con cum, sam ent, optaspedit, optatum arionse nisquid eum facipsusandi dention sequia nostemq uatemos tiorehenim ut velis modicil earciendae nis quiam aut dit aut estotae porit, qui offic testium resto eossus ea di volora di restiur ehenihit, quo molorest, omnist excerum fugiate ius.

Volorpo restecum nobitatem conecestia dite ipit od millatur? Ipit andenis eaque volupta tibusap icillatibus, tem ventempos maximus derro bernam cus corporum imus que nonserr ovidit verspe reptaqui officat quidunt laut vollupt atibus re volorae necus repeliquis si omnimi, que dolute ellam, que eos a commolut dunt.

Em quibus simaionsenda que que consequia dolore lant optatiscipid ex esti dolora de debit minimi, occum consedis magnihit antio vellabo. Et laut dem ratem. Et fugia sum hari iur, illes con nihiciendae si quaeptae volorer spelessi odit voluptatus quod quatiorest quamusapide voluptis aut alit et ut laborem que modigendis es untem lit laborun totatemolore sum re eniment, quatenihil eum del modi aut eatis dit que doluptat.

Ectiumq uibus. Xerfern atiuritae volor audaeribus, quis et qui quae dipsunt faccae poriore catquas molestrum que esto tet dolupta esciatur, omnit omnis num volumet aliamus doluptae. Hillam, voluptat que nusandis res eumquo expel maximincto te occatur?

Possinv ellupta turitio. Nam quis quos evendem poreium in con natumquodic tectio eum eum is sin non nostiis eum quosaera voles ationsed et velic te prem quis aut fuga.

Explitaqui destint qui delit illaborio conseque experferi niae pro el impore quam qui nonet aut occuptatur?

Lo modiaes tiorem quis deliquianda pro berupicil eum, sinimin velleni hiligen imagnat autemped quo quae simet ullabor andam eos sunt pore omni optaqui de qui dem volestium commoles et ut quodiss endelia nonse veliberior aceaqua epeliquae in non porempo reptatur?

Culpariti tempos quatureped magnimus re ra quodis

“Weather your broke or evergreen�

angeles 13

Pershing Square: the Park in the Center of the City

By Hector Meledez

angeles 14

By Hector Meledez angeles 15

T

people deliver monologues — usually of the he day at Pershing Square begins schizophrenic or religious variety.

“It’s a good vibe. Everyone’s in the Christwith the sky turning yellow over mas spirit,” said Leon Lautalo, a park secuthe buildings of the Jewelry Mart, rity guard from Hawaii who’s spending his and with a 64-year-old homeless first holiday season in L.A. He rattled off a man named Edward Reifsteck claiming his spot on one of the park’s con- list of the park’s holiday happenings: “jugglers, snow sleds, a train for the kids…” crete benches.

People-watching, bench-sitting and Christmas-celebrating are traditions that have By 6:30 a.m., he’s packed up his tent on endured for more than a century in PershLos Angeles Street and walked the four ing Square’s five acres. blocks to the park. I found him there just Until Jan. 17, you can go there to ice skate after noon with “The Story of Bohemia,” — on a rink the size of a basketball court. a book from the nearby Central Library, Daniel Rodriguez, 16, laced up skates and reading, scratching his chin and looking promptly landed on his butt as his friends out across a landscape of fountains and fake snow. laughed. “Let’s see you top that,” he said, chuckling.

“I come for the peace and quiet,” he told There are lots of places in L.A. that will me. And also because he and his friends give you a simulated Christmas in the city, on the park benches never know what with Santas, snow and even trolley cars they’ll see there next. on cobblestone streets. But most of those They watch loft residents walk their dogs places are just malls, really, pretending to and pigeon-hunting hawks swoop down between the office buildings. They listen to be something they’re not.

angeles 16

The temporary rink the city installed for “Downtown on Ice” sits at an authentic municipal crossroads. It’s a public park in the shadow of the Biltmore Hotel — where L.A.’s most famous crime victim, the Black Dahlia, was last seen alive, in 1947.

First laid out as a park more than a century ago, Pershing Square has hosted political protests and celebrations of civic pride going back to the time of the Spanish-American War. This week there were skaters speaking Spanish, Mandarin and more. And there was Tucker Fisher, a 20-year-old from New York who for an hour was the best skater on the ice. He glided backward and did figure-eights in the sun, wearing a backpack and rose-colored glasses.

“I used to do this in Central Park,” said Fisher, a UC Davis student visiting L.A. on vacation. “It’s a pretty nice vista here. It’s not quite as crisp as New York, and that’s nice too.”

Pershing Square actually used to be called Central Park. And it’s still in the center of the city, both geographically and metaphorically, tucked between U.S. Immigration Court, the Art Deco tower of the Oviatt Building, a subway station and bus lines that reach to the edges of the city.

On my visit to Pershing Square this week, I emerged from the Metro station and found three girls flipping the bird to someone inside a No. 2 bus. They laughed and walked down Hill Street, past the spot where police drop off a bag of money for Dennis Hopper in the film “Speed.”

Hours later, at the opposite end of the square, I listened to the poetic language of three skateboarders. “Ollie up, one-eighty up, half-cab off,” called out Travis, 25, who then tried to perform that trick on the concrete stairs. His skateboard spun in the air, struck a stair and then fell to the sidewalk, though he couldn’t quite stick the landing.

The legendary L.A. writer Carey McWilliams angeles 17

wandered through Pershing Square in the 1930s. He listened to boys hawking newspapers with crime news — a USC football player charged with robbing a bank — and found a group of men watching a “frowsy blonde” singing a gospel hymn.

“Here, indeed, was the place for me,” McWilliams wrote in a passage etched into a Pershing Square wall. “A ringside seat at the circus.”

My sense is that the Pershing Square circus is tamer than it used to be. But it’s still a place where the crosscurrents of many different L.A.s meet and mix.

Kathy Casper, 52, a homeless woman originally from Long Island, arrived in L.A. from Arizona a few months back, having been hit hard by illness and the recession.

“This place is more personable,” she said as she sat on a bench. “I lived in New York. I couldn’t be homeless in New York. This is sort of like being there but not as cold.”

Leroy, the man on her left, was from Georgia. On her right was Reifsteck, who spoke of his travels — to Las Vegas, El Paso, Tennessee.

Listening to them, and reading those McWilliams lines, it occurred to me that transience has always been part of the American character, and that L.A. may still be the capital of American wanderlust. Pershing Square is still a good place to observe angeles 18

the comings and goings of this free-spirited city.

Just before the rink closed at 10 p.m., I found Santa Claus smoking a cigarette at the corner of 5th and Hill.

Donald Dail, 49, said he had spent the day in his Santa suit, trying to raise money for homeless kids he knows. “I was at Crenshaw and Century, and after a while people stopped paying attention to me,” he said. “Then I went to Hollywood. And no one paid attention to me there.”

So now he was headed back to his trailer in South L.A., waiting for the southbound 81 bus. A car sped by and the driver inside shouted “Ho! Ho! Ho!” It was more mocking than friendly, but Dail didn’t seem to mind.

Many buses passed, none of them his, while the Christmas lights of Pershing Square shone on, coloring the misty night air red and green.

Pershing Square is a public park in downtown Los Angeles, California. The park is exactly one square block in size, bounded by 5th Street to the north, 6th Street to the south, Hill Street to the east, and Olive Street to the west. There is a large fountain located in the southern half of the square.

EARLY HISTORY In the 1850s, the location was used as a

camp by settlers outside of the Pueblo de Los Angeles, which was to the northeast around the La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles church, the plaza, and present day Olvera Street. 1850s surveyors drew the site as 10 individual plots of land, but in practicality it was a single 5-acre (20,000 m2) parcel. Canals distributing water from the Zanja Madre were adjacent. In 1866 the park site’s block of plots was dedicated as a public public square by Californio and new Mayor Cristobal Aguilar, and was first called La Plaza Abaja, or “The Lower Plaza.” [1] At some point the owner of a nearby beergarden, German immigrant George “Roundhouse” Lehman, planted small native Monterey cypress trees, fruit trees, and flowering shrubs around the park, and maintained them until his death in 1882.[1] In 1867, St. Vincent’s College, present day Loyola Marymount University, located across the street, and the park informally became called St. Vincent’s Park. In 1870, it was officially renamed Los Angeles Park.

In 1886 it was renamed 6th Street Park, and redesigned with an “official park plan” by Frederick Eaton, later the mayor. In the early 1890s it was renamed Central Park, which it was called for decades. During this period a bandstand pavilion was added for concerts and orators. The plantings became sub-tropically lush, and the park became a shady oasis and an outdoor destination for the city. In 1894 the park was first used as the staging area for the annual crowning of the queen of ‘La Fiesta de Los Angeles,’ an event which continues now as ‘Fiesta Broadway.’

Early 1900s A monument to California’s 20 SpanishAmerican War dead was erected in 1900; it is allegedly modeled after a SpanishAmerican War veteran, 7th California In-

fantry volunteer Charlie Hammond of San Francisco, and is believed to be the oldest work of public art in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles City Council declared it a historiccultural monument in 1990.

In 1910 the park was renovated under a design by John Parkinson, who would later design Los Angeles City Hall and Union Station. Parkinson’s design featured a three-tier fountain sculpted by Johan Caspar Lachne Gruenfeld, braced by four lifesize concrete cherubs supporting a vase of cascading water.[1] In November 1918, a week after Armistice Day ended World War I, the park was renamed Pershing Square, in honor of Gen. John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing; however a plaque was not added in his honor for over four decades.

A MODERN PARK In the 1920-30s tropical plants were added to the park. In 1924, a life-size bronze of a World War I doughboy, sculpted by Humberton Pedretti, was unveiled, flanked by old cannons. In 1935, a bronze cannon from the USS Constitution was added. In 1932, a statue of Ludwig van Beethoven was added to honor William Andrews Clark, Jr., founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, whose home Hazard’s Pavilion was located adjacent to the park (where the planned Park Fifth Towers are to be located).

Latter 1900s The park was in heavy use during World War II for rallies and recruitment. Post-war the park began to decline as commercial decentralization and suburbanization took hold in the greater L.A. region, and Downtown lost importance and intensity of use.

The entire park was demolished and excavated in 1952 to build an underground parking garage. In its place was concrete topped by a thin layer of soil with a broad angeles 19

Beauty

This is it

“Not only are these beauty products toxic for humans, they are toxic to the environment.�

Toxic B

the price of looking good ma

angeles 20

Beauty

By Mercedes Cambridge III Photography by Dustin Middleford Styled by Amber Kelly

Y

ou’ve been dying to try that new shampoo that’s supposed to make your hair thick, lush and shiny. You can’t wait to use that new exfoliating scrub because the label tells you that it’s going to make your skin soft and glowing. You love that new cologne; every time you wear it you get so many compliments on how great you smell!

You love these products and how they make you look and feel, but did it ever occur to you that what you put on your hair or your skin could make you sick?

Did you know these products contain chemicals, toxins and hormones that can cause anything from an unsightly rash to learning difficulties to birth defects and even cancer? Even though each product may contain a limited amount of these toxins, please keep in mind, most people use several products each day, from the moment they wake up (soap, shampoo, conditioner, shave cream, deodorant, toothpaste, hand soap, make up) until they go to bed. After many years of daily use, these toxins accumulate in your body to cause the ailments I’ve listed above, among many others. If they cause these concerns for adults, just imagine the damage they can do to children who are smaller and weigh less. Although each product you may use may contain a restricted amount of chemicals, hormones and toxins, they can, and many times they do cause a myriad of damage to us all.

Not only are these beauty products toxic for humans, they are toxic to the environment, as well. Many of these products are made with petroleum-based ingredients, which contributes to global warming. Did you know that if you switch just one bottle of a petroleum based product for a vegetable based product we could save 81,000 barrels of oil in one year. How’s that for incentive to switch?

So now you decide it’s time to go “green”, you go to the health food store and purchase “Organic” or “Natural”

ay be higher than you think

angeles 21

NEXT

THIS Is it

LOOK OUT Ga. Quis ere voluptae ni offictem sentionsedit dolupient estruptas animill itibusam quia dipsant premquid maiostis essed maiosan duntur, nonsediam faccab ipidebit alia que parias evellut aditas as eost que et expero mi, idundit eaquidundit angeles 22

ut qui accusci llabore voluptasped quam, quaecep taspis am sim nobit aut ariate cuptatur atiat.

Mint, omnienis aliquam eium audae libusam enihicit, int eos eos eossi dolupta turibus ciunt.

Venem aut lanis solupti