CARMAGEDDON on the 405

Posted on July 13, 2011 by lmharnisch

405_movie

OK, as long as we’re satirizing Carmageddon with a Hitler rant, here’s my favorite humorous video set on the 405. It’s by Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt.

Posted in Film, Transportation | Tagged | 3 Comments

Broadway Revisited

Posted on July 13, 2011 by lmharnisch

Broadway Postcard

I got this postcard on EBay because the details are sharp and it shows The Times Building before it was blown up in 1910. The picture was most likely taken from the beautiful old courthouse farther north on Broadway that was demolished.

So I thought it would be fun to compare it with the way it looks on Google Earth.

Broadway, Google Earth

The gray “ghost” building on the right represents the  Cold War monstrosity that was demolished after being damaged in the Northridge earthquake. At the moment, it’s a big hole in the ground that collects rainwater and is growing weeds.

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Posted in 1910, Downtown, Photography | Tagged , | 3 Comments

7|13|2011 #history, #museum

Posted on July 13, 2011 by lmharnisch

Pierre Loti House
Photo: Pierre Loti’s house. Credit: Discover Poitou Charentes


RECOMMENDED

Elaine Sciolino’s new travel column Lumiere in the New York Times takes a look at the house museum of Pierre Loti.

Sciolino says: “On an unremarkable street in the unremarkable town, the Loti house museum — two attached bourgeois houses, really — is an alternate world where wildly divergent cultures and epochs are thrown together. Loti was an eccentric of his era, and would be considered eccentric even today.”

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Posted in Books and Authors, Film, History, Hollywood, Museums, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 7|13|2011 #history, #museum

Coming Attractions: Genealogy Research at the L.A. Public Library

Posted on July 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

The Los Angeles Public Library will present a program on getting started in genealogical research. The free presentation will be from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, 2011.

Folks should gather at the reference desk in the History & Genealogy Department on Lower Level 4. No reservations are necessary for groups of six or less. Larger groups should schedule an appointment at (213) 228-7400.

As we say at the Daily Mirror: Any day we can do research is a good day.

Posted in Coming Attractions, Immigration, Libraries | Comments Off on Coming Attractions: Genealogy Research at the L.A. Public Library

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated +]

Posted on July 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

July 12, 2011, Mystery Photo

Here’s our mystery tennis player! Thanks to Steven Bibb for sharing this photo.

[Update: This is Lida Baarova. Please congratulate Jenny M, Don Danard and Rick for identifying her and her mystery companion Joseph Goebbels.]

There’s a new photo on the jump!

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

From the Stacks: ‘Just One More!’

Posted on July 12, 2011 by lmharnisch

Just One More! 1961

I picked up the 1961 edition of “Just One More!” by the Los Angeles Press Photographers Assn. and I’ve been enjoying it more than I expected. It’s a time capsule of press photography as it was 50 years ago, so there are the posed shots, humorous animal pictures and gory traffic wrecks, all examples of things that we don’t see in newspapers anymore. Some of it is kitsch, but there are powerful images as well. These photogs did great work.

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Posted in 1961, Books and Authors, From the Stacks, Photography | Tagged , , | 19 Comments

7|12|2011 #history #museum #cold cases [Updated]

Posted on July 12, 2011 by lmharnisch


1890_0919_talking_doll
Sept. 19, 1890: Edison’s talking doll in the Sydney Journal.


RECOMMENDED

Ron Cowen in the Washington Post has a great story about scientists using optical scanning to recover a primitive recording made by Thomas Edison about 1889 for a talking doll. This recording is a recitation of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” There were apparently a variety of recordings. One model said: “I love you, mamma; I love you dearly, mamma, but I am tired and sleepy now. Please put me in my little bed.” Another sang “Rock-a-Bye Baby” and a fourth sang a German song, according to the Sydney Mail, June 15, 1889, quoting the Chicago Tribune.  

Adam Clymer and Don Van Natta Jr. in the New York Times: As archivists prepare to make public 63 boxes ofRobert F. Kennedy’s papers at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, his family members are having second thoughts about where they should be housed and are considering moving them elsewhere because they believe that the presidential library has not done enough to honor the younger brother’s legacy.

Carolyn Kellogg in L.A. Times Jacket Copy: The first 12 pages of Jane Austen’s “The Watsons” are at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum. The rest of the unfinished manuscript will be auctioned by Sotheby’s Thursday. It is the last Austen manuscript to be held by a private collection.

[Update: The manuscript sold for $1.6 million.]

 Continue reading →

Posted in Cold Cases, History, Homicide, Museums | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 7|12|2011 #history #museum #cold cases [Updated]

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on July 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

July 11, 2011, Mystery Photo

Here’s our mystery desperado!

[Update: This is  John Anderson (d. 1992), who played used car dealer California Charlie in “Psycho,” in addition to many other roles in film and on stage.  Please congratulate Michael Ryerson, David Franklin, Dewey Webb, Herb Nicholas, Sarah, Bill, Steven Moshlak, Floyd Thursby, Jenny M, Carmen, Lee Ann Thom and Megan, Rick, Julie Merholz, Mike Hawks, Benito, Robert Nelson, Roget-L.A. and LC for identifying him!  ]

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 20 Comments

7|11|2011 #history, #museum

Posted on July 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

Ambrose Schindler, Nov. 26, 1936
Nov. 26, 1936: Ambrose Schindler in The Times as USC and UCLA prepare to play for the first time in six years.

My colleague Jerry Crowe at The Timeshas a nice profile of Ambrose Schindler, former USC quarterback, stuntman on “The Wizard of Oz” and Coach at El Camino College.

Crowe writes: He no longer surfs or bicycles, favorite pastimes of the longtime beach resident, but on good days he’s still pretty sharp.

“His short-term memory is terrible,” says his 61-year-old son, Charlie, “but when he’s clear he can tell you the plays he called in the huddle at the Rose Bowl. …

“He’ll remember every play, every call. It’s just amazing.”

MERION, PA.

The Barnes Foundation closed in June and is being relocated to Philadelphia, but the New York Times has created an interactive tour of the museum’s former home. Sometimes described as quirky or eccentric, the museum reflects the particular vision of its creator, Albert C. Barnes, whose will stipulated that everything had to remain just as he left it.

The Museum of Arts & Design’s “THE FUN” has awarded four fellowships in the “artistic practice of nightlife,” according to Lizzie Simon in the Wall Street Journal.

Simon writes: As it turns out, these parties are neither the thumping, clubbing sort, nor the tightly choreographed gala sort, but “environments of cultural production,” said Jake Yuzna, the fellowship’s 28-year-old founder and the museum’s manager of public programs.

From the MAD Museum’s website: In recognition of New York nightlife’s vital contribution to the city’s creative community and its artistic pursuits, the Museum of Arts and Design introduces THE FUN fellowship. THE FUN annually provides four artists or artist collaboratives with financial and logistical support to strengthen and advance their endeavors in this undervalued social practice. The first recipients of this fellowship are Judy (Gabriel Babriel, Brian Belukha, Benjamin Haber, and Icky Mikki), Earl Dax, Gag! (Cameron Cooper and Zach Cole), as well as Lauren Devine and Patrik Sandberg.

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Posted in Books and Authors, Fashion, History, Museums | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Eve Golden: Queen of the Dead

Posted on July 11, 2011 by lmharnisch

Horse-Drawn Hearse

Queen of the Dead—dateline July 11, 2011

 

• Archduke Otto of Austria, pretender to the throne of the late Austria-Hungary, died on the Fourth of July, at 98. I must admit to a schoolgirl crush on his  . . . great-great-uncle, I think? The dreamy Crown Prince Rudolf, who killed himself in 1889 at Mayerling. (OK, he killed his mistress, too; I didn’t say it was a healthy schoolgirl crush).

Photo: Horse-drawn hearse, c. 1880s, $16,000

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Posted in Books and Authors, Brain Trust, Eve Golden, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Obituaries | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

On the Frontiers of Journalism

Posted on July 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

Daily Mirror Paper.LI

While the folks who think big thoughts are busy debating the future of newspapers, I thought I would experiment with something called paper.li. Paper.li, in case you have never heard of it (I hadn’t) allows a user to create a newspaper based on a stream of Twitter feeds. The cyber-elves automatically configure the feed into a paper and then the “publisher” can rearrange items in a rudimentary way, selecting a lead story and deleting articles that are inappropriate.

Is this the wave of the future? Well it certainly allows anyone with a computer and a Twitter account to become a news aggregator. The quality depends on the content. In the meantime,  check out our paper.li feed, which is updated every 24 hours.

Posted in History | Tagged , | Comments Off on On the Frontiers of Journalism

7|10|2011 #museum, #history

Posted on July 10, 2011 by lmharnisch

Apollo Moon Flag

Portions of fabric clipped from the U.S. flag before it was planted on the moon by Neil Armstrong in the Apollo 11 mission are being offered Sunday by Ira and Larry Goldberg auctioneers, 11400 W. Olympic Blvd, Suite 800. Lot 1209 has an estimated sale price of $100,000-$150,000.  NYT

Cubs Pendant 1908 A pendant presented to Chicago Cubs executive Charles Williams honoring the teams 1908 world championship is being offered by Hunt Auctions. Estimated sale price is $20,000 to $30,000. Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune has the story.

Meanwhile, Christian Lopez ends up with the ball from Derek Jeter’s No. 3,000, but turned it over to Jeter. In return, he received season tickets for the remaining home games, and three bats, three balls and two jerseys, all signed by Jeter. A nice feature by Sam Borden in the NYT

Captain America The Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wis., is displaying one of its custom motorcycles created for the film “Captain America.” The bikes are Cross Bones modified to look like a 1942 WLA Army motorcycles. The museum says the company made about 70,000 WLA motorcycles during the war.

Posted in Baseball, Chicago, History, Museums | Tagged , , | Comments Off on 7|10|2011 #museum, #history

Movieland Mystery Photo [Updated+]

Posted on July 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

July 9, 2011, Mystery Photo

[Update 2: Margaret Campbell and Gertrude Olmstead in “Monte Carlo,” 1926. ]

[Update: Please congratulate Mike Hawks for identifying the mystery gal on the left right!]

Here’s another mystery photo, courtesy of Steven Bibb. Thanks!

June 29, 1939, Margaret Campbell

June 29, 1939: Campbell’s son, Campbell McDonald, admitted killing his mother in her sleep and was committed to Mendocino State Hospital.]

There’s another photo on the jump….

Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Michael Jackson – Art Collector

Posted on July 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

Michael Jackson "Leave Me Alone."

Is Michael Jackson’s art collection with $900 million? Well, maybe not.

Dylan Howard of Star magazine writes: Michael Jackson secretly left behind an almost billion-dollar secret art fortune that is now at the center of an international tug of war, Star has exclusively learned.

But not so fast:

Ashton Cooper of ArtInfo.com writes: When the news broke recently that Michael Jackson had a $900 million art collection, most people probably had the same reaction: Michael Jackson had a $900 million art collection?! Furthermore, all but the most fanatical of Jackson fans were probably unaware that the late singer was himself a visual artist.

And the appraiser?

Photo: Michael Jackson: “Leave Me Alone.”

Posted in Art & Artists, Crime and Courts, Music | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Gen. Custer — ‘Living History’

Posted on July 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

Steve Alexander Steve Alexander is giving his “living history” portrayal of Gen. George Armstrong Custer on Saturday at the Michigan Historical Center in Lansing as part of its “Plowshares into Swords” exhibit marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The museum is also displaying the “Custer flag” before it returns to a private collection.

Posted in History, Museums | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Gen. Custer — ‘Living History’

Maria Ridulph: McCullough Denies Kidnapping, Killing Girl

Posted on July 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

Dec. 5, 1957, FBI Agents Hunt Child

Dec. 6, 1957, Maria Ridulph Ted Gregory and Isolde Raftery of the Chicago Tribune, reporting from Seattle, have a jailhouse interview with Jack Daniel McCullough, suspected in the 1957 killing of Maria Ridulph.

“You gotta have evidence. They have nothing,” McCullough tells Trib.

Posted in 1957, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Homicide, Seattle | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Another Good Story Ruined – Mulholland and the Valley ‘Conspiracy’

Posted on July 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

Morrow Mayo, Los Angeles

My L.A. Times colleague Elaine Woo has a first-rate obituary on Catherine Mulholland, author of “William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles.”

One reason Mulholland took on the biography was to provide what she viewed as a more balanced portrayal of her grandfather. I haven’t read the book (I bought it the other day at the Last Bookstore) so I’ll refrain from commenting.

But it is worthwhile to note that the story of the Valley conspiracy, as told in Morrow Mayo’s “Los Angeles,” is so embedded in Southern California’s world view that it is indestructible.

Not that scholars haven’t tried. While researching the 1910 Times bombing last year, I stumbled across a wonderful article by one of my favorite historians, W.W. Robinson, on “Myth-Making in the Los Angeles Area,” published in the March 1963 issue of Southern California Quarterly.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1963, Another Good Story Ruined, Books and Authors, Film, History, Hollywood, Obituaries, San Fernando Valley | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Another Good Story Ruined – Mulholland and the Valley ‘Conspiracy’

7|9|2011, #history, #museum

Posted on July 8, 2011 by lmharnisch


CT MET-AJ-1-RAINBOW-BEACH
NEWS

Lauren Viera, writing in the Chicago Tribune, says that the Art Institute of Chicago is quietly conducting a search for a director to replace  James Cuno, who has become president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Sidebar: Help Wanted

RECOMMENDED

John Keilman of the Chicago Tribune has a terrific story about civil rights groups preparing to dedicate a historic marker at Rainbow Beach, where activists conducted “wade-ins” to integrate the lakeshore 50 years ago.


INDIANA, PA.,

John Marchese of the New York Times visits the Jimmy Stewart Museum and looks at the challenges faced by movie star museums around the country.

Marchese says:   There is a range of curatorial sophistication and collection quality, but what all these places have in common is local pride in the glitzy fame achieved by a native son or daughter, the hope for some tourist dollars in otherwise out-of-the-way places, and often a beginning based on the obsessive collecting of memorabilia by a devoted fan. And they all count on something uncertain: a tireless fascination with big movie stars that continues decades after their last films.

NEW YORK

The Metropolitan Museum’s Young Members Party (ages 21-35) was like “Gossip Girl” meets “Night at the Museum,” one partygoer tells Lizzie Simon, writing in the Wall Street Journal.

Photo: July 9, 1961: Police escort protesters from Rainbow Beach. Credit: Chicago Tribune

 Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Architecture, Chicago, History, Museums, New York, Philadelphia, Washington | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Wanted: Mickey Cohen on Tape

Posted on July 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

Mickey Cohen, No Date

I have received an unusual request regarding a film now in production. The folks are looking for the famous/notorious TV interview that Mike Wallace did with Mickey Cohen in 1957. Clips from the interview are on the DVD with Wallace’s book “Between You and Me,” and the complete audio is available. But the movie folks would like to have the complete video. How about it, Brain Trust? Got any Mickey Cohen kinescopes in the closet?

Photo: Mickey Cohen in one of his favorite pastimes: washing his hands. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Posted in 1957, Brain Trust, Film, From the Reference Desk, Mickey Cohen, Television | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Day in Hollywood: July 8, 1941

Posted on July 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

June 8, 1941, Marines Occupy Iceland
July 8, 1941, Comics
July 8, 1941: I thought it would be fun to check in with our old pals, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor and Jimmie Fidler.

Lee writes about visiting researchers spending their summers at the Huntington. That’s my idea of a vacation!

Tom, meanwhile, notes L.A.’s annual cycle of destruction:  “I listened to a typical terror item yesterday about the scourge of the carelessly thrown away cigarette. It seems it’s to be an even greater hazard this year. The rains have been so heavy that the underbrush is extra thick and extra inflammable. We’re just one big tinderbox. Look out.”

Garbo and Gayelord Hauser have been taking daily walks in the Brentwood hills, and daily they wind up at the same place — a little Catholic church, Jimmie Fidler says.

Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment