"Trying" To Beat 'SC

Okay, so it didn't exactly happen as we had planned. But UCLA Bruins still rallied behing our team and headed to the foot of the Coliseum in South Central Los Angeles to show our support!

Yes, USC won, but we had a great time under the California sun "trying" to beat 'SC!

Viva UCLA!  

Lenguas Largas

"In a movie, the villain can lay anybody he wants, have as much fun as he wants cheating, stealing, getting rich, and whipping servants. But you have to shoot him in the end."
Herman Mankiewicz (1897-1953). Screenwriter Columbia College 1917

I received this article from the Columbia University Alumni Association. For those that enjoy sharp wit, here's an interesting article about a Columbia Lion's contribution to 20th century film.

Herman Mankiewicz

The screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz who helped establish rapid-fire dialogue as a hallmark of Hollywood's early talking pictures is remembered first for co-authoring the script for Citizen Kane. Although he and director Orson Welles shared writing credit (and with it Kane's only Academy Award), many film historians today not only give Mankiewicz more credit for the script than Welles did, they give him more credit than they give Welles himself.

It was more than a decade before Kane that Mankiewicz spearheaded the movement of that whole Broadway style of wisecracking, fast-talking, cynical-sentimental entertainment onto the national scene, according to critic Pauline Kael. A former reporter and critic in New York, Mank had moved to California in 1926 to write for the silents. Having sharpened his wit and conversational skills at the famed Algonquin Round Table, he was ideally situated when the advent of sound created the need for skilled writers of dialogue. Over 25 years Mankiewicz wrote, co-wrote, or otherwise polished many popular films, more than occasionally without formal credit. His career was brought low by alcohol and gambling in the late 1930s, and while he never again reached his previous heights, the critical reception given to Kane afforded him the opportunity to write several more films before his death. At Columbia, Mankiewicz wrote for the Varsity Show, demonstrating early on the wit that would mark his screenwriting. He majored in English and German, briefly studying the former in graduate school as well. Mankiewicz�s younger brother Joseph followed him to Columbia and then to Hollywood, where he also became a successful screenwriter and, later, a director and producer.



 

No Room To Fight

The City of Los Angeles finally started development on a new park for East LA.

East LA finally gets a park that's not a cemetery.

The following is a quote from an article published on Curbed LA.

"It's groundbreaking day for Ascot Park, one of the last remaining open spaces in East Los Angeles. The former reservoir site, a 100-acre patch north of the 10 Freeway, was subject a tug-of-war for several years between various interest groups. Eventually the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy stepped in and offered up a plan to add trails and restore native plants, including groves of oaks. Why a park?

"All Los Angeles is park poor. But in East L.A. itself, the largest open space is Evergreen Cemetery, which basically sends a message to kids: 'If you want open space, you have to die first,' " Attorney Robert Garc�a, executive director of the Center for Law in the Public Interest, told the LA Times last year.

"Good grief, that sounds horrible. A busy Mayor Villaraigosa, who championed the project as a Councilmember, will particpate in the ceremony."

 

La Tierra del Olvido

I am listening to Carlos Vives sing "La Tierra del Olvido," a nostalgic song about Colombia. The music reminds me of some good Nueva York moments and parties when I was a graduate student at Columbia University.

Although I still have not visited Colombia, the country, I wish I can go one day and drive from the Atlantic coast cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena to the rural beaches on the Pacific side. Colombia is such a rich country with so much good music and beautiful women. If only Garcia Marquez had not painted such a colorful tapestry of this South American country, I would not be as mesmerized by such a forbidden region.

My flatmate Jeff in Mexico City backpacked through Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and ultimately ended up going to a wedding in Colombia. Bastard! I think we have all seen the wedding scenes from the movie "Blow", where Johnny Depp hooks up with Penelope Cruz.

Colombia will soon find stability, and maybe then will the rest of us find our way to the true land behind the inspiration for the film "Romancing the Stone", yeah, the one with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. Romancing the Stone.

This painting is titled "Pareja Calaca" by Claudia Galvan. It's amazing how Galvan can make skeletons look so alive and full of blood...albeit not red.  

Su Cambio Joven

Street vendors in Lincoln Heights always check their change before giving it back to you. I love the fact that basic accounting is always present on sidewalks and streets.

Speaking of street food, I wish it was a more accessible option. When I lived in Mexico City, it was amazing what you could get on the street. Street vendors rock! I wish that their existence did not have to raise public health, taxation or fiscal controversies. If people want to eat, there should always be a source somewhere on a sidewalk around the corner.

I took this picture at the Parque de Mexico in Lincoln Heights in Northeast Los Angeles. As I type this blog, I am listening to Soda Stereo's "Musica Ligera."  

Photog Weaponry

I ran into Ulises Sanchez at the Self Help Graphics Dia de los Muertos event last month. Uli is sporting his new camera, which is his main weapon when documenting the political evolution of the new Los Angeles. Look for his pictures in the Los Angeles Times.  

Out of Comission

This calavera had a rough November, and now sits back and enjoys the rest of the year at ease. November proved to be a good month for me. It was my first real month at the firm. I had lots of work, and plenty of exposure on new matters.

One of the things I am really happy about is my 15 minute commute to work. It's amazing how during my Fulbright in Mexico City, my commute took almost an 1 hour and a half from Pedregal to Santa Fe on the Periferico, and now my fifteen minute commute from the 10 freeway to the 101 in Downtown is almost too good to be true.

When I drive to work I listen to National Public Radio - KCRW 89.9 FM to catch up on current events and general news. When I exit Grand, I normally get to hear the first song of the Morning Becomes Eclectic program.

As I drive on Grand Avenue, I get to see the new buildings that have been developed in Los Angeles.

I see the Cathedral on my left, which most people agree is externally unimpressive. But I must admit that the inside of the Cathedral is welcoming. I haven't quite figured out how the Catholic Archdiocese could have spent so much money on such a plain looking building. Although I am not necessarily saying that extravagance or excess luxury is needed to make a building nice, I still think they could have done more in terms of the building materials and the Cathedral's use of light and windows. Also, the Cathedral's main entrace is connected to a beautiful courtyard and small garden. But it continues to baffle me how so many buildings in Los Angeles are not designed to be accessible to the public from the street. The entire corner of Grand is the back wall of the Cathedral. Instead of making an additional entrace here for the pedestrians on Grand Avenue, the opportunity is sealed off as to prevent pedestrians from having easy access to the facility. I wish more American cities had the user friendly town squares of Latin American cities.

But Downtown LA is making a huge comeback. I've met several people that have already moved into the city's center and I am very tempted to follow in their footsteps.  

Los Muertos Unplugged

This is a picture I took of a band setting up at the Self-Help Graphics Dia de los Muertos event. I particularly like how the pair of skeletons in the painting appear to be waiting for further instructions from the masked lead singer.

The use of the Mexican wrestling mask has become quite the trend now. I am glad to see the mask start receiving the cultural recognition it deserves. Most people don't realize how huge Lucha Libre is in Mexico. Lucha Libre is the WWF of Mexico, and unlike the American version, Lucha Libre is often unscripted and physically dangerous.  

The Gatekeepers

As we enter the month of December, I feel like we enter a zone of obligations, responsibilities and social expectations. The entire country enters a frenzy where people need to catch up with each other, wish the standard holiday greetings, and engage in often mindless small talk during the parade of holiday parties.  

De la Mano con la Nostalgia

It's already late November, and 2005 will soon be over. It's amazing how time flies so quickly. I was recalling how I spent Thanksgiving in Mexico City last year with Dario, Amy and Jaclyn. We ate turkey sandwiches at VIPS, a chain of restaurants in the DF.

Everyone seems to be doing well, Amy in Glasgow, Dario and Jaclyn in Austin, and me in Los Angeles. Funny how destiny finds ways of putting four very different people in one place for a short period of time. We had our moments in Mexico City, and I am sure Mexico City had her moments with us too! Viva el DF!

When you live in the Distrito Federal for a year, no one can ever take that away from you. You hear Mexico City, and either images of Insurgentes on a rainy day or street vendors in Coyoacan come to mind.

Un fuerte abrazo a todos los chilangos.

I took this picture at the Self-Help Graphics gallery in East Los Angeles on November 2nd, 2005.