It has nothing to do with Downtown. Just enjoy John C. Reilly and Will Ferrell accurately recreating Bing Crosby and David Bowie's television rendition of "Little Drummer Boy - Peace On Earth" from 1977.
Not enough? Then have a gander at the animated version with Jack Black and Jason Segel that ends with face-melting guitar.
Granted, this heavy terra-cotta angel should have some sort of prominent and permanent location, but can't you picture it riding shotgun on on top of the double decker bus during Eric Lynxwiler's MONA neon tour?
Arts District's Lynxwiler managed to find, purchase, and haul a 1½-ton angel that once overlooked Downtown Los Angeles from the top of the Richfield Building, reports LAO.
It has Lynxwiler wondering if any of its bretheren escaped scrap yards or the elements of time.
The Richfield Building was a 12-story black and gold art deco treasure demolished in 1969 to make room for the Atlantic-Richfield Towers (that later were named ARCO Towers, and now City National Towers).
Yet what cause most of the comment about the building and made it an unforgettable landmark here was the color scheme, black and gold. Black was used to minimize contrast with the windows. But the black--a symbolic reference to Richfield's interest in the 'black gold' of the oil industry wasn't really black. It was glazed terra-cotta and light played tricks when it hit it.
Architect Stiles O. Clements was the lead designer of the building. Exterior sculptors are credited to Haig Patigian, a mostly self-taught Areminan-American sculptor.
After the jump, the angel as seen in its orginal habitat. The photo is from the LAPL archives with this summary: "Exterior architectural decoration of the Richfield Building, showing caryatids on the parapet."
Neal Pollack has a drive-by guide for noir-tourists visiting the City of Angels, "still a magnificently dark place."
The Wall Street Journal travel section, no less.
The story comes with a nifty interactive guide that shows the spots where shadows are waiting for you. Of course, Downtown is represented well; Millennium Biltmore Hotel, LA River, and Cole's.
Also on the list is King Eddy Saloon. No surprise. There is something romantic––or destitute–about being the last surviving skid row bar. And the King Eddy Saloon website sounds like it was written by someone willing to take any hipster developer into the back alley if they try and change it.
However, supplementing the article is "What to Wear There: Tinsel Town" that recommends 40ish style Roksanda Illincic Elyseon Dress for her, and Archdale Wingtips for him.
First, don't wear those if you go to King Eddy Saloon. Second, if you do, don't expect the regulars to be endeared when you label all of Los Angeles as Tinsel Town.
A case of they said versus we 'aint talking is growing at Main and 2nd.
The LAPD Public Adminstration Building's adjoining space was designed to house retail and a restaurant, and some city departments are no longer welcoming the delayed eatery, L.A. Reflections.
Owners Sam Vagarshakian and Michael Simon went to court December 6 to fight an eviction, reports Martin Berg for the L.A. Weekly. He traces the paperwork that finds that on Friday, September 17, the city’s General Services Division "notified L.A. Reflections that its lease was being terminated and it had three days to get out." An objection was filed Monday, Sept. 20.
The following Wednesday, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich filed an eviction suit, citing L.A. Reflections is months behind an actual opening and violated their lease by serving alcohol without permits, specifically during Art Walk.
Vagarshakian and Simon countered that "roadblocks from opening" are due to initial construction delays, late issue with a pollution control device, and red tape led by LAPD's Facilities Management and the director of asset management in the city's Department of General Services.
Vagarshakian also told L.A. Weekly that the City Attorney's office says for security reasons, the city no longer want a restaurant on the Police Administration Building site.
No one at the city is talking in the article, except for one anonymous voice that denies Vagarshakian's claim that in March 2010, the cafe was allowed 140 more days to open.
Next door to the space once slotted to be L.A. Reflections, Express News opened in November.
Pictured: L.A. Reflections begin set-up at Apri 2010's Art Walk.
Frank Sinatra would have been 95 on December 12, so let us dig into "L.A. is My Lady," a tune first written by Quincy Jones for civic ceremonies at the request of then Mayor Tom Bradley. The mayor wanted something that could be the city's anthem with the same majesty of "New York, New York" and overtake that snarky "I Love L.A."
As it happens, Sinatra heard "L.A. is My Lady" and suggested to Jones that it becomes a track for a studio album they were working on. It later became the title track. With plenty of hype, and a video premiering on MTV with cameos from celebrities, City officials had high hopes "L.A. is My Lady" would catch on.
It didn't. Not that Lady is a bad song. Maybe the arrangements were a bit brassy for 1984 and there was resistance to the modern day standard (or that cheesy video). Then again, for a song to represent Los Angeles it may have had to be recorded by the man who brought you hits like "Chicago" and "New York, New York."
MISSING PERSONS: The "L.A. is my Lady" video, introduced by David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen, seems to be lost in cyber space except for this link on a Russian video website. Look for Donna Summer, Fernando Valenzuela, Terry Bozzio and Dale Bozzio, Tom Bradley, and a dancing Tommy Lasorda.
SPEAKING OF NY: Author James Kaplan says Sinatra's swagger and general coolness has kept him a contemporary to hip-hop artists. Yes, The Chairman of the Board is the original gangsta.
Now, that is something I would like to see: Snoop Dog doin' "L.A. is my Lady."
Keep Fear of Art Alive: Steve Martin Curates Art On The Colbert Report.
This pretty much explains what art is. Stephen Colbert enlists artists Frank Stella, Shepard Fairey and Andres Serrano to pitch collector Steve Martin to purchase a used portrait of Colbert.
Also, Colbert asks Fairey "How do you feel about that hope stuff now?"
MOCA's decision to paint over the just completed mural commissioned for Art In The Street, “the first major museum survey of the history of graffiti and street art presented in the United States,” would be a great subject for an exhibition-based panel discussion. The mural of caskets draped with dollar bills, facing the Veterans Administration Building and near the “Go For Broke” World War II Japanese-American Veteran memorial, was by Italian street artist Blu. Video by Jet Set Graffitti.