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Grand Park celebrating Day of the Dead
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Public rallies for street vending rights
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We are so over Columbus By Ellen Snortland LA Downtown News Columnist just read that the first baby born in North America was named Snorri. I wonder if we’re related?” my late sister Alane once said to me. I can picture her in her professional-level kitchen in her restored 18th-century brownstone in Troy, New York. Her gleaming stainless steel island doubles as a supper table and is the only modern room in her home. She sits on a stool at that island as she speaks on the phone. I’m in Altadena, my home chock-full of tchotchkes, mostly women-made art collected during my world travels. Alane got the tidy gene; I did not. “I doubt that Snorri was the firstborn since North America was full of people already.” “Oh, you know what I mean,” she says. “Yes, I do. And who was Snorri’s mother?” I ask. “Surely, he didn’t birth himself!” “You don’t always have to bring up the ‘women topic,’” she says. “Yes, I do. If I don’t, who will? It’s 2004, and women are still missing from almost everything.” It’s fascinating that women could be absent from at least an honorable mention when it comes to births. Don’t get me started. Oops! Too late. As I write this, it’s Oct. 11, 2021, which is also Thanksgiving Day in Canada. It’s the holiday formerly known as Columbus Day and more honorably known now by many as Indigenous People’s Day. In 1964 President Lyndon Johnson declared Oct. 9 Leif Erickson Day to commemorate the Viking credited with actually “discovering” North America 500 years before Columbus set his genocidal feet in the so-called New World. Erickson was an explorer worth honoring! Celebrating Columbus grosses me out. An Italian explorer, bankrolled by Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, he and his crews were a plague on the Indigenous people of the Caribbean islands. The Taíno people were literally wiped out. Despite thinking that he’d reached India and dubbing the people who inhabited the island Indians, he kept calling the Taíno “Indians” even after he found out he hadn’t reached India. Yes, Columbus was yet another man who refused to ask for directions… but I digress. Back to 2004, the following week: “Hi, Alane. Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir gave birth to Snorri. I thought you might want to know that Snorri didn’t pop out of his father’s head.” “Good to know, although I didn’t lose sleep over it,” Alane said. “I know it’s so ho-hum that Viking women could sail a ship, weave sails and drop a kid,” I said. “Apparently, Gudrid was a gorgeous Christian. Another Viking woman, Freydis, also probably gave birth in North America, although she was a pagan.” Alane said, “A pagan… so what?” “The Icelandic saga about the North American voyage with Gudrid was told by Gudrid’s husband, Thorfinn. He was involved with spreading Christianity, and to tell about Freydis would diminish Gudrid and Christianity’s luster. It’s all PR when you get down to it.” I explained. “Good lord, Ellen, don’t you have better things to do with your time? How about straightening up your house?” Everyone knows sisters can be one’s greatest critics. “Oh, and dig this: Gudrid and Thorfinn sailed seven years after Leif Erikson and got as far south as New York City. If conditions had been just a tad different, we’d very likely all be seeing musikalteater pa Broadway.” Leif Erikson probably had women sailing with him, too. Some artifacts suggest it. Women would not leave looms behind, but it was easy to lose accessories like the weights that spinners use at the ends of their yarns. What did Vikings need? Sails! And no Viking wanted to row over to Vinland — the Viking explorer’s name for what is now the east coast of Canada and New England. Who made the sails and repaired them? Women! Recent archaeological finds and subsequent DNA testing of bones found in graves confirm
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that female Vikings were warriors. They were also handy travel companions who could create life, fought shoulder to shoulder with their male relatives, tended on-deck livestock, and wove. Use logic: If you’re exploring possible new lands to settle, would you leave your female family members behind? You wouldn’t. Finally, in 1960, Anne and Helge Ingstad found Viking longhouses on the northern-most edge of L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, putting speculation to rest. The Vikings were there and then gone. Indeed, Eric the Red’s son Leif Erickson made the trip to and from Canada. Eric the Red was a con guy; he named Greenland that to entice people to go there. There’s barely any green there for most of the year. “Columbus Day is bogus,” I said. “He wasn’t the first, he didn’t discover India, and 1492 was 500 years after Leif Erikson. We need to celebrate Indigenous people and scrap the second Monday in October entirely in favor of November, Native American Heritage Month.” Alane said, “What day is Leif Erikson Day again? Oct. 9?” “Yep.” “I’m going to celebrate Snorri Day in October,” Alane said. “I’ll use it to catch up on my napping.” I groaned. Ellen Snortland has, via this column, been exploring new worlds and ideas for decades now. Email her at ellen@authorbitebybite.com.
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Vendors share concerns at City Hall rally Councilmember Kevin de Leon speaks in support of street food vendors and advocates at a City Hall rally opposing city council motions blocking street food vending in LA.
Photo by Chris Mortenson
Merlin Alvarado, an LA street vendor and organizer for street vendors’ rights, rallies with her peers against LA City Council motions blocking their street food vending in LA. Photo by Chris Mortenson
Street food vendors and advocates gather on the stairs of City Hall to advocate for street vending rights and to hear speeches from local elected officials and street vendors opposing LA City Council motions blocking street food vending. Photo by Chris Mortenson
By Andres de Ocampo LA Downtown News Staff Writer treet vendors and their advocates gathered at City Hall on Oct. 12 to voice concerns and opposition toward three LA City Council motions that put them at risk. According to the LA Street Vendor Campaign — an advocacy coalition of more than 60,000 organizations and 2,000 street vendors — Councilmember Gil Cedillo introduced a motion that would enable the city to enforce county health code, putting food vendors at higher risk of criminal citations. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield called to amend a law pertaining to the Americans with Disabilities Act that would give vendors criminal citations for blocking sidewalks. Meanwhile, Councilmember Paul Koretz requested that Melrose Avenue become a “no-vending” zone, “incorrectly attributing the recent uptick in criminal activity to the increase in street vending,” the campaign reported. Spanish and English speakers shared their concerns and frustrations in front of LA street vendors, who lined City Hall’s stairs, holding signs and displaying their solidarity. LA city councilmembers Nithya Raman, Kevin de Leon and Curren Price advocated for the cause. Raman recently put forth a resolution that was seconded by Price calling on the county to make necessary changes to “create a more inclusive, practical system for regulating food safety that realistically allows for sidewalk vendors to operate legally,” Raman said in a statement. The resolution mentions the true issue for street vendors, which is that, “The California Retail Food Code and Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health currently dictate food safety regulations in the city of Los Angeles and are the greatest obstacle to vendors securing necessary permits to legally vend,” Raman also said. Carla de Paz, a senior organizer handling movement building and strategy with Community Power Collective, said the CPC works and organizes with over 2,000 workers of the “informal economy,” like street food vendors. The CPC also leads all organizing efforts for the LA Street Vendor Campaign. “The biggest barriers for food vendors in the city of LA is not being able to obtain their food permits,” she said. “The health permits are governed by the county, which follow regulations from the state. The county and the state have not updated their food vending laws to include street vending. They’re imposing laws that are for restaurants on street vendors.” Paz said Raman’s resolution is important. “It’s taking a stance as the city of LA and creating a strong message to the county and the city that we need these changes,” Paz said. “The city of LA leads a lot of the policy efforts in the state, so being able to support vendors as an entire city will be a big help in our advocacy efforts at the county and state level.” Paz said Cedillo’s motion presents itself as “another layer of enforcement on health code when vendors can’t get health permits.” Cedillo and Raman should work together to find solutions. “(The motion is) adding another layer of enforcement and putting more vendors, especially undocumented workers, at risk,” she said.
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She called Blumenfield’s motion a “direct attack (on street food vendors).” “We believe that ADA violations are a big deal,” she said. “We agree, as street vendors and street vendor advocates, that we need to do more work to ensure ADA safety, but we don’t think a criminalizing approach is the way to go about it. “We think we need more outreach and education. We need to do more work on the rules and regulations in the city because they’re very arbitrary. They don’t help support vendors in understanding where they can set up. … Vendors end up setting up in places where they shouldn’t set up. They’re just very confused about the rules.” Paz asked Cedillo and Blumenfield “to abandon these efforts.” “We need to look at the existing rules and regulations within the city and make adjustments to create more opportunities for vendors,” she added. “We need LA City Council to support this resolution and signal to the county and the state that the city is ready to invest in supporting street vendors.” Paz said a speaker at the rally, Merlin Alvarado, is “a hardworking individual” who has two street food carts in Los Angeles. Alvarado said the situation “affects me a lot because that is where me and my family get all of our money from. It’s not just for my family here but for my family back in my country. … We are very hard workers that fight for our family, and we’re here to work,” she said. Though Alvarado has a permitted fruit cart, per the county, she said, “It doesn’t matter, because Hollywood is a ‘no-vending’ zone. I still keep working hard because it’s an area that I’ve been known to work in. I hope in our hard work and struggle, we can get that area legalized.” Vanessa Suberville, owner of Suberlicious, said it’s “nearly impossible to get health permits through the food codes. The laws are so old that they were not made with street vendors in mind. “It affects myself and other food vendors, because if we’re out vending they can confiscate our stuff or cite us. We want to do away with that. We want to ask for change and try to get new laws passed that are inclusive for all street food vendors.” Suberville, the mother of 2- and 4-year-old children, said she makes a living with her food cart. “This gives me an opportunity to take care of my kids and go vend,” Suberville said. “If I need to take them with me, I need to do that without the fear that cops are going to cite us or take our stuff. It’s such a traumatic scene and can you imagine going through that with children?” Saliou M’boup and Terrance “TK” Kendrick with Leimert Park Village Vendors attended the rally, playing rhythmic drums in the background, with other members of the group. The Leimert Park Village Vendors host a Sunday African marketplace and drum circle that brings the community together to celebrate Black culture. M’boup and Kendrick agreed the larger issue surrounding street vending stems from legislative and corporate institutions. They ask everyone to come together as a community push against those institutions’ efforts. M’boup’s father sells clothing at the LPVV marketplace along with Kendrick, who sells shea butter and other homemade goods. M’boup said vending is an essential aspect of LA culture. “Today showing support for street and food vendors in the LA area was really important for us to show our love and support (for the LA Street Vendor Campaign) and bring our culture and show the diversity of the city,” M’boup said. De Leon brought the crowd to cheers and applause breaks, saying, “Street vendors are a part of the DNA of LA. They can coexist with brick and mortar. It’s not a world of absolutes where it’s one or the other. This is the city of LA. We should be making the business environment less hostile and more efficient for them. The fact is, they have very limited access to capital.” De Leon didn’t hold back about the legislative hurdles LA street vendors are facing. “I find it incomprehensible that, in the city of LA, we’re at this point of a clash when it’s simple. It’s not that complex to work with street vendors. “This is an amazingly diverse city. Folks who come from all over the country and all over the world to share their gastronomical talents. These small businesses, these women, get up at the crack of dawn and work their fingers to the bone to prepare their food. They’re such a huge asset to LA. We shouldn’t be going out of our way to make it hostile for them. We should make it easier for them. “If it wasn’t for (their businesses), how would they survive economically? They’re barely holding on by a shoestring to pay their rent and monthly bills. These street vendors are among some of the poorest of LA yet. They are so entrepreneurial that they created their own employment. If it wasn’t for their spirit, who knows what they’d be doing now.”
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DTLA tour visits with crime scenes and ghosts By Laura Latzko LA Downtown News Contributing Writer TLA’s hotels and buildings have rich histories, some tied to serial killers, mysterious deaths, ghosts and crime scenes. During the Real Los Angeles Tours’ DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost Tour, participants spend three hours peeking into notorious spots within a 2-mile radius. The Biltmore Hotel, for example, was the last place the Black Dahlia was spotted alive. Richard “The Night Stalker” Ramirez stayed at the Cecil Hotel, which was recently featured in a Netflix documentary about Elisa Lam’s death. The Alexandria Hotel is said to be haunted by Rudolph Valentino, and the Barclay Hotel has housed two serial killers. The Saturday evening tour also stops by the site of the Chinatown Massacre of 1871 and the Hall of Justice, where Charles Manson was tried. While the ghost tour is its most popular, Real Los Angeles also offers trips through Hollywood, including Santa Monica and Venice; Hollywood speakeasy; LA; Mount Hollywood hiking and food, history and design jaunts. Private tours are available. The Real Los Angeles Tours was founded in 2013 by Damien Blackshaw, a director, actor and writer who majored in history and politics in college. Blackshaw went on walking tours in Europe and was inspired to similarly showcase Downtown Los Angeles. “I thought it was a really cool experience,” Blackshaw said. “I hadn’t really done a lot of tours up until that point. I mostly did bus tours. It seemed like it was a good deal, but I realized I couldn’t remember anything that I had seen. When I did this walking tour, I thought it would be great to do in back in LA. “When I looked around at that time, eight years ago, it was before Airbnb experiences. There were a lot less companies in LA, and there wasn’t really anyone doing what we did — walking tours of different areas and different types of experiences. I thought — with my background, history and running a company, writing and performing — I tick a lot of boxes that I never really thought about before. That’s how it really got started.” In LA, tours are led by eight guides, who present similar information but bring their own spin. They have various backgrounds in acting, composing and writing. For the first six months, Blackshaw was the only guide. “There’s a lot of information that they are expected to talk about, but it’s not a script,” said Blackshaw, who has a similar company in San Francisco. “They don’t have to learn it word for word. For me, authenticity is crucial, and for that, you can’t have a guide just reciting a script. It’s not as interesting for them either. Over the years I’ve been doing it, one of the interesting things is of all of the training I’ve done with the guides. I must have seen at least 15 people do the ghost tour. Each one is different.” These days, he tends to handle behind-the-scenes administrative and operational tasks, especially as the company grows. Blackshaw enjoys going on tours and exploring new places in LA and beyond. He is looking to expand; however, it’s difficult to find new guides during the pandemic. The right candidate has an upbeat personality. “What you really need for these types of tours are people who are into this
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The Cecil Hotel, once home to the serial killer Richard Ramirez, is one of the stops on the DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost Tour.
Photo by Damien Blackshaw
The DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost Tour attracts people of different ages and backgrounds. Photo by Damien Blackshaw
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kind of stuff,” he said. “They need to be outgoing and into the history.” During the pandemic, locals frequented Blackshaw’s tours. In the past, attendees came from as far away as New Zealand. Blackshaw said with the ghost tours, it helps for participants to have some knowledge of the sites they visit and crimes associated with them. “You are talking about gory details about how people got chopped up. If they’ve never heard of the crime, never heard of the victim and never heard of the killer, it’s a little bit funny really,” he said. “Local people, they know the Night Stalker. They know the Black Dahlia — most of them. At first, we used to think, ‘Why do they come on the tour? They know all of this stuff.’ It’s cool for people who are interested in this kind of stuff because it’s curated. They go to all of these interesting spots and get information that is relevant.” Blackshaw said he feels it’s important to stick to the facts and not try to sensationalize the stories. “A big thing with us is to make sure it is real. You don’t need to make up stuff,” Blackshaw said. “There’s no way that I can compete with the real stuff that’s happened here. It would just be pointless really. For that very reason, we stick to the facts. It’s more interesting.” Sometimes, tour participants add their personal anecdotes or corroborate facts. “I was doing the tour myself about a year ago,” Blackshaw said. “I was telling the group that if you stay at the Cecil, every door to every room has four locks on the door. I said to use every one because you don’t know what’s going to happen there at the Cecil. It’s funny, we had a couple guys on the tour who had previously stayed at the Cecil, and they said, ‘Yeah, it’s true. There are four locks on every door.’ “I don’t really remember where exactly I found that out, but it’s happened many times that I’ve said something that people who have firsthand knowledge are like, ‘Oh yeah.’” Some buildings do not allow guests, but the tour stops at hotel bars for cocktails. Other times, impromptu experiences will happen, like a vision of a mysterious figure at the window of the Pico House, the home of former Cali-
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fornia governor Pio Pico. “It seems pretty unlikely it was Pio Pico, but it was bizarre,” he said. “I’ve never ever seen anyone there before, not at 9 p.m. on a Saturday. You just saw someone walking around in front of one window and another. I’m assuming it was someone in there for some reason, but it was just right on cue.” Blackshaw hopes to expand his company’s offerings by hosting themed events and tours. This year on Halloween, the company will have a special ghost tour with a costume contest, a Halloween-themed gift, and chances to learn more about and see decorations related to Dia de Los Muertos.
DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost Tour WHEN: 6 to 9 p.m. Saturdays WHERE: Starts at Pershing Square, opposite the Pershing Square Metro Station, 532 S. Olive Street, and ends at Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street COST: $45; cocktails are not included INFO: 213-316-8687, thereallosangelestours.com Special Halloween DTLA Murder Mystery Ghost Tour WHEN: 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31 WHERE: Starts at Pershing Square, opposite the Pershing Square Metro Station, 532 S. Olive Street, and ends at Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street COST: $50; cocktails are not included INFO: 213-316-8687, thereallosangelestours.com
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Fender has partnered with notable recording studios around the world to host studio sessions for independent artists.
Fender getting independent artists into recording studios By LA Downtown News Staff ender Musical Instruments Corp. launched the Player Plus Studio Sessions: Powered by Fender. Amid lockdowns and social distancing, artists have been struggling for inspiration and support. Fender’s global program seeks to fulfill the creative aspirations of independent artists around the world by getting them back in the studio and providing them with the tools they need to create their musical art. To bring this program to life, Fender has partnered with notable recording studios in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Mexico to host Fender-funded studio sessions with engineers, a mixing credit, Player Plus gear and mentoring resources for winning artists. Inspired by the recent launch of the Player Plus series, Fender’s new line of guitars and basses is designed with creators and independent artists in mind to be the tool that these artists use to bring their passions to a global stage. The Player Plus Studio Sessions aim to take that same goal a step further by purposefully supporting rising talent, helping them share their message and creativity through original music. This new global program reinvigorates Fender’s ongoing commitment to musicians and, in particular, independent musicians. Fender is calling for open submissions at playerplusstudio. com. To enter, independent artists must submit either a recent single, music video or live performance to best showcase their talent and creativity. Instrumental acts, bands and solo artists are welcome to enter. Eligibility requirements are as follows: Applicants must be 18 years of age or older, play or have a band member play guitar or bass, and be a fully independent artist. Additionally, applicants must be able to travel to the nearest selected city and studio, as winning does not provide travel to and from the studio. Participating studios by market include: • U.S. studios: EastWest Studios (Los Angeles), MDDN (Los Angeles), Flux Studios (New York City), Welcome to 1979 (Nashville). • U.K.: RAK Studios (London), Coastal Sound Recording Studio (Liverpool), Steelworks Studios (Sheffield), Chamber Studio (Edinburgh), Camden Recording Studios (Dublin). • Australia: Sing Sing (Melbourne), Studios 301 (Sydney). • LAT AM: Pieza Estudios (Mexico City). • Japan: Freedom Studio Infinity (Tokyo). The deadline is Wednesday, Oct. 20, with winners an-
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nounced on Nov. 10. Each submission will be reviewed by a panel of judges made up of producers, artists, journalists and Fender executives, including Fender CEO Andy Mooney; Matt Watts, Fender vice president of marketing and head of artist relations; singer-songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers; Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Ashley McBryde; and Emily Kokal, singer and guitarist for the band Warpaint. Submissions will be judged on set criteria including songwriting, performance quality, creativity, technical guitar playing ability and originality. “I’ve been a fan of Fender since I bought my first Mustang back in 1970, and I still carry my 50-year-old Stratocaster across my back as I travel around the world,” Rodgers said. “I’m passionate about nurturing new artists. It’s something that I’ve done my whole life, and as a producer it’s very exciting to provide undiscovered artists with the tools they need to speak through their music and not just play. My hope is that by allowing these musicians to take their craft to the next level, we will discover something completely unique that the world has never heard before. With the new Player Plus line, I believe Fender’s come up with some really special gear that will be defining instruments for a new generation of artists and creators.” Mooney added, “At Fender, we are dedicated to providing artists with the resources they need to fuel their creativity. “Player Plus Studio Sessions: Powered by Fender is the manifestation of Fender’s dedication to artists at every stage of their journey. The hope is this program will jump-start their artistic careers, enabling them to fuel their passion to achieve their dreams.” In addition to earning valuable studio time, the winning artists will receive a one-hour consultation with Ari Herstand, chief executive officer of Ari’s Take and author of the bestselling book “How to Make It in the New Music Business.” Herstand is also the author of the “2021 Fender Artist Playbook,” a step-by-step guide for emerging artists to tackle the new frontier of music, from cracking TikTok algorithms to leveraging alternative revenue streams, digital marketing tips and NFTs. Winners will also receive a Fender Player Plus guitar or bass to use in the studio at their recording session and keep for future shows and creative endeavors. Noiseless pickups provide classic Fender sound with enhanced clarity and advanced switching capabilities for a wide variety of tonal options. Upgraded features include rolled fingerboard edges and locking tuners and hot, fresh finishes including Belair Blue, Silver Smoke and Tequila Sunrise.
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Grand Park’s Día de los Muertos event features altars, ceremony By LA Downtown News Staff rand Park will pay tribute to the cultural tradition of Día de los Muertos — Day of the Dead — with a 12-day public art installation from Friday, Oct. 22, to Tuesday, Nov. 2. The ninth annual Grand Park Downtown Día de los Muertos honors people, places and ideas that merit reverence and commemoration through free, family-friendly programming. Presented in partnership with Self Help Graphics & Art, Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos is a community-oriented space inviting parkgoers to contribute to the community altar, created by 2018 NEA National Heritage Fellow Ofelia Esparza, and to stroll through the park to view 20 altars made by professional artists and local community organizations, including East Los Angeles Women’s Center, Community Power Collective and Eastside LEADS. The large, artistic altars will be spaced safely to enhance public engagement and maximize social distancing among guests. A major highlight will be the return of the annual Noche de Ofrenda (Night of the Offerings) in-person ceremony at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, featuring a performance by Danza Divina de Los Angeles with special guest and legacy danzante General Lazaro Arvizu, as well as free LACMA led calavera (“skull”) art workshops inspired by Aztec art, open to all ages. Noche de Ofrenda is a contemplative ceremony and night of reflection that connects communities to traditions and highlights Indigenous practices during a contemporary celebration. Parkgoers must wear face coverings when attending the Noche de Ofrenda event. “Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos is very much a community-focused undertaking,” said Julia Diamond, director, Grand Park. “By partnering with local organizations and artists, we bring together the diverse voices, perspectives, experiences and neighborhoods from among the many who make up one Los Angeles. This creates a vibrant tapestry of ofrendas that showcase what has been meaningful and, in many cases, hard for Los Angeles this year. Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos encourages the public to experience these altars and public art installations from another’s point of view with the intention of creating compassion and empathy.”
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Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos activities Grand Park’s Día de los Muertos Altars and Art Installations 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Oct. 22 to Nov. 2 Grand Park (between Grand Avenue and Hill Street) Guests can experience, hear and learn about the traditions of Día de los Muertos and stroll through large-scale altar and art installations located throughout Grand Park. Curated by Self Help Graphics, the installations include the annual community altar created by maestra Ofelia Esparza and her family. An artist and educator, Esparza continues to be instrumental in preserving and conserving the Día de los Muertos tradition in Los Angeles, and the community altar in Grand Park creates an opportunity for Angelenos to contribute their own personal ofrendas and mementos to honor a passed loved one. All personally and culturally relevant to Los Angeles, the 20 altar installations create a connection of vital community issues, critical leaders and loved ones that are important to Angelenos. This year’s altars will include an homage to the late Chicana activist, author and community organizer Betita Martínez, as well as altars honoring the LGBTQ community and the loss of community resources during the pandemic. To deepen appreciation and provide context of the public art installations, Grand Park will offer attendees the option of listening to prerecorded audio guides with insights from the artists to complement altar viewing. Parkgoers can access the storytelling through Grand Park’s digital channels. Situated on the ancestral and sacred land of the Tongva and many other Indig-
Attendees view the Community Altar at Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos. Photo by Jose Sanchez
The Noche de Ofrenda ceremony is during Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos. Submitted photo
enous groups who call these grounds home, The Music Center acknowledges and honors with gratitude the land itself and the First People who have been its steward throughout the generations. Noche de Ofrenda 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23 Grand Park Performance Lawn (Near Hill Street) Suspended last year due to the pandemic, the traditional Noche de Ofrenda ceremony honoring the dead returns to Grand Park as a live event and performance. A co-presentation by Grand Park and Self Help Graphics, the joint event of reflection and remembrance will feature a communal circle and blessing led by the Indigenous community and also include poetry and dance. In a continued partnership with Grand Park, LACMA will host two family-friendly arts-based workshops dedicated to making personalized calavera — one of the most recognizable cultural and artistic elements of the Day of the Dead festivities. Each 20-minute workshop held throughout Noche de Ofrenda will engage kids to create their own calavera using air dry clay, paper plates and other craft items as LACMA teaching artists show parkgoers how to sculpt, shape and transform ordinary materials into colorful Día de los Muertos artworks. LACMA will also host a “Tree of Life” in Grand Park encouraging parkgoers to write the name of a passed loved one on a colorful ribbon; the name and ribbon will remain placed on the tree in remembrance for the duration of Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos. For more information about Grand Park’s Downtown Día de los Muertos, visit grandparkla.org.
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Author leads a fun romp through the solar system By Bridgette M. Redman LA Downtown News Contributing Writer “Let’s voyage through our solar system Starting with our Sun; We’ll visit planets, moons and more Before our journey’s done.”
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hus starts a book of scientific poetry designed to not only make astronomy fun but to inject chemistry, physics, oceanography, humanities and literature. “Poems of the Planets: Solar System Science in Verse and Prose” is targeted at middle schoolers, offering them fun facts in an accessible way about the solar system. Author Eric Garen has been a teacher for more than 50 years. He founded companies such as Learning Tree International and Bright Prospect. An astrophotographer, Garen includes his pictures as well as NASA and international space agency photos. The book contains 20 poems about the solar system, and each one has explanatory footnotes. At 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, the book will be featured in CalTech’s “Behind the Book” online series. To make reservations for the free event, visit events.caltech. edu. In the live interview, Garen will discuss how he combined his love of language and scientific training to create “Poems of the Planets.” He’ll be joined by the book’s science adviser, Katherine de Kleer. He’ll also read and discuss poems.
Origins of his work Garen said the book came about by accident. When his children, now in their late 30s, were in elementary school, he started writing poetry for them. Somewhere along the way, he lost the files. Eight years ago, just before a cross-country trip with his wife to visit their pregnant daughter on Brooklyn for two months, he found the poems. “I had completely lost track of them,” Garen said. “There they were in the wrong place.” Among them was a half-finished poem about the solar system. He took it with him and, in between newborn care and laundry duties, he finished it. It became the overview poem that starts the book. He kept writing until he had a collection of poems about each planet and the solar system’s objects. “I wondered if I could publish this,” Garen said. “I thought, ‘How do you get books
published?’” He attended the National Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators national convention in New York. After the sessions with publishers and editors, he felt discouraged. They described the lengthy and depressing process. “I put it on the back burner,” Garen said. “That was eight years ago.” Last year, a friend of his self-published a novel on Amazon and encouraged Garen to do the same.
Hooking students While many books designed for students present uniform information about each planet — height, weight, orbit, etc. — Garen chose a different approach. “In general, I would try to find something that was fairly unique about a given body,” Garen said. “It might be the corrosive atmosphere of Venus or the volcanos on Io or the oceans under frozen ice on Europa. For Mars, for me it is the rovers we have roving around the planet. “For each body, I tried to identify something unique about it and then focus on that and some obviously related facts.” Other poems covered Uranus’ moons and its planets named after characters in Shakespearean plays, the wacky behavior of moons inside of Saturn’s rings, or that Pluto used to be a planet but now has been demoted. The footnotes elaborated on the poems and connected planetary science to chemistry and the nature of certain molecules, or topics in physics like magnetism and electricity. He did not limit himself to scientific topics. Because many planetary objects have Roman names, he included bits of history about the Roman empire. “I just feel like if you can show all these connections, you’re more likely to really excite a kid,” Garen said. “All this is suddenly kind of interesting. It’s a way to get a kid really interested in chemistry or physics and not just space.”
the planets and satellites. Her research topics include the surface and atmospheric properties of Jupiter’s moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Calisto. “I sent her an email and included a few poems,” Garen recalled. “I asked if she would be interested in doing this, and she was. It was simple.” She fact-checked it, and everything was accurate. “In addition to that, she would also make suggestions,” Garen said. “She’d say, ‘Here’s an interesting thing, how about including this or that?’ That really helped flesh out some of the poems, and I would find myself writing additional verses to include what she suggested.” In one place, de Kleer persuaded him to add a poem about Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. She said the amazing world resembles Earth, with rivers, lakes and seas. The only difference? They are all methane and at much lower temperatures. He titled it “Titan’s Methane Madness.” “You have huge, chubby raindrops that drop down and increase these incredible lakes, and there are huge mountains of ice carved by these rivers,” Garen said. “She
convinced me I should do that poem, and it helped round out the entire collection.”
Launching other books Garen plans to continue writing poetry. “I’m hoping if this is successful, maybe I can do other poetry books to introduce other sciences — maybe about atoms or molecules or oceanography and deep-sea creatures, or you name it,” Garen said. “I’ve got a list of about 15 topics I could write on.” However, first, he wants to see if this book is successful enough to warrant another. Garen said he can quickly write a first draft, but he frequently edits it. “It’s usually a matter of weeks or even a month that I’ll keep setting it aside for a few days, and they have another look and I’ll see ways to improve it,” Garen said. “These are not by any means world-class poetry, but they’re entertaining. “It is a really good introduction to the solar system. But more than that, it is a good introduction to many other sciences and humanities topics, from history to geography and even mythology.”
Scientific collaboration Before Garen published the book, he sought a science adviser. He turned to his alma mater, which was a 6-minute walk from his home — CalTech. He came across de Kleer, an assistant professor of planetary science and astronomy. De Kleer and her research group investigate the surface environments, atmospheres and thermochemical histories of
“Poems of the Planets” was released this year by Poems of Science Press.
Photo courtesy of Eric Garen
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Jill Wilson is part of Jacob Jonas the Company that will be performing at the ROW DTLA rooftop Friday, Oct. 22, to Sunday, Oct. 24. Photo by Jacob Jonas
Dance troupe activates new outdoor space By Bridgette M. Redman LA Downtown News Contributing Writer acob Jonas the Company wants to activate LA by transforming nontraditional spaces into open-air stages for its signature, energetic dance style that mixes contemporary ballet with breakdancing and acrobatic movement. From Friday, Oct. 22, to Sunday, Oct. 24, it is inviting audiences to enter the elevator at ROW DTLA, 777 S. Alameda Street in DTLA, and go to the rooftop, where it will premiere “Juxtapose,” choreographed by Jacob Jonas with live music composed by Anibal Sandoval. As part of Active LA, it is a partnership between Jacob Jonas the Company and the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.
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Jacob Jonas the Company performs an energetic dance style that mixes contemporary ballet with breakdancing and acrobatic movement. Photo by Jacob Jonas
Rooftop campus
Thanks to the rooftop campus in the Arts District, Jonas will use the district’s sweeping views as a backdrop to the dance, which he describes as a study of the human body, the architecture and design of the human form. “It is thinking about the spine being rounded, arched and contracted,” Jonas said. “It is thinking of different physical positions. It doesn’t really follow a narrative. It is really thinking about earth, wind, fire, water and the different elements and how those elements can inspire and inform physical movement.” Jonas describes Sandoval as an experimental musician who uses synthesizers and technology to create the score. He’ll perform it live using electronic instruments. “The score is really more of a response to the movement,” Jonas said. “The dance doesn’t go to the music, but it coexists with it. That’s the best way to describe it.” Jonas said, in a way, he choreographed “Juxtapose” as well as the audience, in terms of the way that the lighting and music surround them. “It’s exciting to see how they respond to the work and how their psychology interacts with the composition,” Jonas said. “Guests will arrive into kind of an unknown about how to interpret the work and go on a journey of different emotions.” By hosting it outdoors, guests can feel safe and breathe fresh air. Jacob Jonas the Company partnered with Rappahannock Oyster Bar and Pikunico to provide special dinner menus before the DTLA show. Jonas founded the dance company in 2014 as a 21-year-old who wanted to tell his own story. He was born and raised in Los Angeles. “This city has informed me growing up to finding dance and being around the ocean, the desert and the mountains,” Jonas said. “There were few others that were combining styles and telling stories the way I wanted to do.”
“Juxtapose” premiere with Jacob Jonas the Company WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, to Sunday, Oct. 24 WHERE: Rooftop of ROW DTLA, 777 S. Alameda Street COST: $35 INFO: jacobjonas.com/row
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Book examines tumultuous events
By Bliss Bowen LA Downtown News Contributing Writer ith his engrossing, sometimes chilling book “Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA 28) examines tumultuous events of recent years in historical context while alerting readers to current threats. There’s no time for complacency or despair, he warns, and some reasons for hope. Schiff establishes his core themes in the book’s prologue, set in Senate chambers during Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, and the subsequent chapter, which opens on Jan. 6 with Capitol police shouting at Congress members to grab their gas masks. Exiting the House floor with Schiff, Republican colleagues express concern about his safety as insurrectionists hammer at doors and shatter glass in the background. “You can’t let them see you,” one House member warns Schiff. Another concurs, seemingly oblivious that what they’re offering is not solidarity: “I know these people. I can talk to them. I can talk my way through them. You’re in a whole different category.” Indeed. We do not know whether these Congress members promulgated the Big Lie, because Schiff does not say, but reading their comments as they hustle out of the room, the late Sen. John McCain springs to mind. At a 2008 rally, the mercurial McCain spoke over a disapproving audience to defend opponent Barack Obama as “a decent family man and citizen who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.” How much less dangerous would our political environment be if more elected representatives deflated conspiracy theories and humanized rather than demonized opponents? The question is not academic. By the time of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Schiff writes, he “had been receiving death threats for years,” many triggered by raging Trump tweets. (The escalation of those threats, and their effect on his family, is a sobering thread throughout the book.) “Midnight in Washington” takes its title from Schiff’s closing argument as lead manager of Trump’s first impeachment trial, a stunning piece of oratory that spoke to the political moment while transcending it (https://bit.ly/3Dug0kU) but
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Rep. Adam Schiff’s latest book is “Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could.” Submitted photo
the darkness it invokes began falling before Trump’s election and lingers almost a year after he was voted out of the Oval Office. While the book documents the Trump administration’s evisceration of democratic norms, Schiff is less concerned with what Trump did than with what enablers around him chose not to do — the representatives
who did not check the executive’s usurpation of congressional power, the chiefs of staff and cabinet heads who did not interfere as policies were shredded and laws ignored, the senators who whispered encouragement to Schiff but pledged allegiance to Trump on camera. That is the story he wants to tell: “how
good people were persuaded to abandon their beliefs and ideology, their dedication to something larger than themselves and their ambition.” Referencing the “mayhem” of Jan. 6, he notes, “We can reinforce the doors and put up fences. But we cannot guard our democracy against those who walk the halls of Congress, have taken an
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oath to uphold our Constitution, but refuse to do so.” The lucidly written book is his argument for why people, particularly elected officials, should champion democratic principles. The former prosecutor makes his case persuasively while punching back at adversaries (Trump, former friend Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy, Bill Barr, Jim Jordan) and calling out his own mistakes. Schiff doesn’t explode; he smolders with a long fuse. Returning to the Constitution and the founders’ concerns about extreme “factionalism” and abuses of power, he connects Jan. 6 to a string of incremental violations of constitutional order — “signposts to our present unraveling” — some of which predate Trump’s election. The man “born bipartisan” (a photo shows his grandfather, a Republican elector, standing beside Dwight D. Eisenhower) reminds readers democracy depends on two functioning parties and condemns the GOP for abandoning its conscience to encourage a “trend toward authoritarianism.” Hope is offered via the moral character of colleagues such as the late Elijah Cummings (Schiff calls his death “deeply unnerving”), and individuals who — unlike their bosses — risked their careers, safety and reputations by bearing witness to House committees: Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, diplomats Marie Yovanovitch and Bill Taylor, Dr. Fiona Hill, and Capitol police officers Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell. (Not to mention heroic Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman, who led insurrectionists away from senators on Jan. 6, and D.C. Metropolitan police officers Michael Fanone and Daniel Hodges.) Schiff is profoundly affected by Vindman’s testimony: “‘Here, right matters.’ … He said it so earnestly, like a prayer.” Sketches of colleagues such as Speaker Nancy Pelosi go over the top with praise but also provide insight into the daily demands of governance. Consultations between congressional members and staff as they navigate thorns of legal precedent and constitutionality illuminate why experience matters in legislators — just as behind-the-scenes depictions of Schiff, Pelosi, Jerry Nadler, Jamie Raskin and others juggling multiple hearings with press conferences and family crises make political dramas human. That drama follows Schiff home when he meets with constituents: Days after the massacre of 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in August 2019, he participated in a multidenominational forum at All Saints Church in Pasadena (attended by this writer), where he spoke about “the scourge of white nationalism” and how Trump’s dehu-
manizing descriptions of immigrants (“invaders,” “an infestation”) were echoed by the El Paso shooter. He recalls the gathering in the book, and the “very large man” who briefly disrupted Schiff’s remarks before being escorted out by security. Not long after, as right-wing media hyperventilated about Vindman’s testimony and a $50,000 bounty was offered for the identity of the whistleblower who outed Trump’s “perfect” phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky, Schiff’s resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide passed in the House (405-11) after 19 years of effort. At Glendale Central Library, a celebration with a multigenerational crowd was hijacked by jacketed Trump supporters carrying “Don’t impeach” signs. When a fight erupted, Schiff writes, “I saw an 80-yearold friend, a descendant of (genocide) survivors, bring his arm back to punch one of the agitators, who looked like an extra from a ZZ Top cover band.” Numerous scenes like these demonstrate the grittier aspects of politics. Others convey the sense of occasion surrounding the Capitol, as when Pelosi, Schiff, Nadler and other House leaders marched their resolution of transmittal to the Senate: “Sun shone through the windows high above, covering us in light and shadow, and we passed by a series of risers where photographers took photos from on high, their shutters filling the silence like so many angry insects.” “Midnight in Washington” is devoted mostly to Trump’s impeachment trials and hearings Schiff conducted as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. It’s a worthy historical record, but the value of such a book lies in it being more than mere chronicle. The too-brief epilogue itemizes mounting threats in the wake of Jan. 6: the replacement of independent election officials by partisan state legislatures, the spread of white nationalism, the GOP’s ongoing support of the Big Lie. Schiff cites his just-introduced Protecting Our Democracy Act (https://bit.ly/3BuSyUj) as a way of restoring democratic norms and making them law, and stresses the urgency of change: “In the House, that means an end to the gerrymander. … In the Senate, it means an end to the filibuster.” If polling sites are shut down, voters must find another; if we are forced to wait long hours in the sun, “we must bring our own shade.” Above all, he writes, “We must love our democracy more than they wish to destroy it.” If Schiff is prosecutor, we are jurors; the verdict on how to move forward is in our hands.
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Covered DINING California will help
LOAM gets down to earth at the Ace Hotel By Frier McCollister LA Downtown News Contributing Writer s Downtown slowly grows back to life from the harsh blight of the pandemic, the Ace Hotel on Broadway and its adjoining operation The Theatre at Ace Hotel are among the first green shoots of hope. The hotel started booking as the first concerts in town took stage at the theater this summer. Its restaurant had been shuttered since the pandemic lockdown’s onset and a new concept and operation, LOAM, just opened under the direction of executive chef Joshua Guarneri. Intended to provide all-day service to hotel guests and the community, the rollout is still in soft opening mode. “Currently we’re just open for dinner,” Guarneri explained. “The former coffee bar, which we’re now calling LOAM To-Go, will have graband-go sandwiches, pre-packed salads, things like that,” Guarneri explained. He expects to serve breakfast and lunch menus by the first week of November. “Breakfast and lunch will be a less formal format than dinner,” Guarneri said. “More casual-style service, similar to how Republique works: You order at the counter, get a number, you sit down, and we bring it to you.” Guarneri is an East Coast native and a veteran of high-profile kitchens in New York City. He grew up in eastern Connecticut and took time as an itinerant cook, after graduating high school. He then attended and graduated from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, before heading to New York City. Guarneri served as executive sous chef to April Bloomfield at The Breslin for six years. Four years ago, he moved to Los Angeles to join Bloomfield in opening Hearth & Hound on Sunset Boulevard. Despite positive reviews, the restaurant struggled to survive in the wake of sexual harassment accusations leveled at Bloomfield’s partner, restaurateur Ken Friedman. Hearth & Hound folded after only a year, in January 2019. Guarneri then opened Bar Avalon in Echo Park, as executive chef in August of that year, to positive reception and reviews, until the pandemic descended. Last October, Guarneri began working with the local nonprofit No Us Without You. Founded by Damian Diaz and Othon Nolasco, No Us Without You provides food for unemployed restaurant and ser-
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LOAM’s executive chef, Joshua Guarneri, said the restaurant’s breakfast and lunch will be less formal than dinner. Photo by Cameron Strand
vice workers. “I k new O thon and Damian just through the industry because they had a hospitality company,” Guarneri said. “They told me what they were doing, and I was more than excited to jump on board with that. I was helping on distribution days and helping keep their inventory up on nondistribution days. Interacting directly with the families and getting them food was part of it. They’re still definitely helping the community. I would love to still volunteer, but unfortunately I’m not able to at this time because of the opening of the restaurant.” Guarneri joined the operation at the Ace Hotel in March. He lists the differences between New York and LA’s dining scenes and sensibilities. “People tend to eat a little bit differently out here than they do in New York,” Guarneri said. “In New York, it’s still a little more formal. People still like fine dining a bit more in New York. Here they want it to be more casual, a little more relaxed. Definitely, it’s more veg-forward here for sure.” His approach to LOAM is similar. “At LOAM, I think it’s closer to how people do want to eat,” Guarneri said. “It’s more veg-forward. We still have some proteins available. I think people are more in tune with what’s in season and market driven here for sure.” According to Guarneri, LOAM’s menu showcases vegetable versatility. “We’re not just presenting vegetables in their natural state,” Guarneri said. “We’re putting a little fermentation on things. A couple of dishes, we’re roasting vegetables. The same vegetable is presented sometimes, in the same dish also raw. We’re putting a nice char on greens. We’re just trying to do a little more than just give you the vegetable. (We) take it a step further and show you a little bit more of what we can do with the vegetable.” Certain dishes on the menu are already standouts. “Our kohlrabi salad has become a sleeper hit,” he said. “I think people aren’t really familiar with what kohlrabi is. We’re getting a lot of feedback. People really, really are into it. I think they’re just surprised by what kohlrabi can be.” It’s not all about the vegetables at LOAM. “Our hanger steak is doing really well,” Guarneri said. “We also use Flannery Beef, which is Holstein cattle. It’s primarily
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dairy cattle. People are really responding well to that, and they’re native to California.” That kohlrabi salad is joined by other intriguing options for starters on the LOAM menu, including a beet salad with cured egg yolk, sprouted fenugreek and horseradish; crispy Brussels sprouts with walnuts, labne and pomegranate molasses; and fresh blue prawns served with preserved lemon and piri piri sauce. On the main dish portion of the menu, the hanger steak is served with turnip, black garlic and fermented plum. Other tempting choices include grilled salmon with sugar snap peas, Meyer lemon and chamomile; bucatini amatriciana pasta with fresh chili and basil; roast chicken with grilled Bloomsdale spinach and pistachio; and carrots and maitake mushrooms served with a barley and dandelion salsa verde. Sides include crispy potatoes with anchovy, cabbage and lemon; collard greens with tomato and chili; and chickpea-battered cauliflower with a fermented romesco sauce.
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It all seems timely. Accordingly, the new bar selections include a menu of zero-proof cocktails and low-ABV beverages. “I think that working with local producers, local farms, and cooking sustainably and seasonally is extremely important,” Guarneri said. “That’s the direction I want to continue on as a chef. Just being responsible and making sure we’re taking care of the right people. Representing our community well is a big one for me.” The chef has been a proud resident of Downtown since arriving in Los Angeles. He walks to work at the Ace from his home near Pershing Square. “I am part of this community. During the pandemic, it was hit hard with people being out of their offices, but it’s coming back. Definitely, as a restaurant, we want to be part of the Downtown community. Aside from being a hotel restaurant, we want to engage local residents who live here and get them some nice fresh, approachable, craveable food.”
LOAM at The Ace Hotel 929 S. Broadway, Los Angeles 213-235-9660, loamdtla.com
Featuring turnip, black garlic and fermented plum, hanger steak is a menu highlight. Photo by Cameron Strand
Cold Little Heart is a sweet concoction of Riesling, strawberries, rum, almond, lime and bitter orange. Photo by Cameron Strand
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