It’s an 8-foot chicken with the head of Big Boy, and it’s on San Fernando Road in Glassell Park … staring at you. We track down the artist. ... LA State Historic Park reopens this weekend; was it worth the 3-year wait? Maybe so ... We'll meet one of the people who brought Southwest Native Bird Singing creation stories back from the brink of extinction.
Can't find a parking space? Audit shows DMV not regulating disabled parking placards
Off-Ramp host John Rabe talks with former California State Assemblymember Mike Gatto about a damning new audit from the California State Auditor's Office on the DMV's oversight of disabled parking placards.
"I was actually threatened by certain members of the community who said, 'We're gonna go up there, and we're gonna make a big public spectacle, and we're gonna make it look like you're picking on disabled people." -- Mike Gatto
There are about 26m registered drivers in California. There are about 3m handicapped placards out there that give the owners free, priority parking. That's more than 1 out of every 10 drivers. That can't be right. But according to a new audit, the DMV barely checks applications or enforces its own rules.
-- DMV does not sufficiently ensure applications for disabled person parking placards (placards) and disabled person or disabled veteran license plates (plates) are legitimate.
-- Out of 96 applications we sampled, DMV approved 70 applications that did not include sufficient medical information to demonstrate that the applicant qualified.
-- DMV approved applications that contained certifications of disabilities by unauthorized medical providers.
-- DMV does not ensure the validity of medical provider signatures.
-- State law provides no limits on the number of replacement placards a person may receive.
-- DMV has not established specific expectations to conduct regular sting operations for its district offices.
-- Local parking enforcement lacks immediate access to DMV’s placard information, limiting its ability to verify placards during enforcement activities.
-- California State Auditor's Office, April 18, 2017
Could it get any worse? Yes! According to the audit, nearly 26,000 people on the placard list were over 100. That's nice; they deserve some help in parking. But: there are only 5,000 centenarians in the entire state.
Read the California State Auditor's full audit
The audit recommends lawmakers force the DMV to involve health boards in quarterly reviews of placards and plates, and to use federal death lists to root-out dead placard holders; and the DMV should set goals for stings and get local parking enforcement officers access to its placard database.
DMV Director Jean Shiomoto told the LA Times, “We agree with the recommendations and are pleased to report that we have begun implementing the recommendations.” But you have to ask why the DMV hadn't already made changes. NBC4 reported basically the exact same problems in a 2010 investigation. That's 7 years ago.
"It’s in total disregard of the intent of what that placard is for," says DMV Chief Vito Scattaglia, after watching NBCLA's undercover video of the drivers using other people's placards.
NBCLA asked the DMV's Scattaglia, "Is this one of the most blatant examples of fraud you’ve seen?”
"Yes," replied the DMV Chief.
-- "No Place to Park"/NBC 4, 2010
The audit was requested last summer by then-Assemblymember Mike Gatto, who said he knew something was fishy when, "We would walk down certain streets in downtown LA - not near any hospital or anything like that where you'd expect an influx of disabled persons - and mysteriously, every single car on that street would have a disabled placard."
So he asked for the audit, but not before trying to fix the problem as a lawmaker: "I introduced legislation to fix it, but I was actually threatened by certain members of the community who said 'We're gonna go up there, and we're gonna make a big public spectacle, and we're gonna make it look like you're picking on disabled people."
As he points out, placard abuse actually hurts disabled people - and the rest of us - who are engaged in the eternal struggle for a parking space.
Listen to our entire interview - conducted on a sidewalk in LA's Thai Town -- by using the handy audio player. And tell Mike Gatto your placard abuse stories @mikegatto on Twitter.
RIP Donna Fuller, thrilling jazz-pop contralto, 85: What a voice, and what a life!
UPDATE 4/20/2017: We knew it was coming, but it’s still hard. Donna Fuller, the cool contralto we profiled in March, died Tuesday at the age of 85 at her home in the Valley. But Donna did it her way, literally. She was quite ill, but hospice allowed her to stay in her home. And she passed as she was listening to a playlist her grandson made for her. What song was playing at 5:01pm, when she finally let go? Of course, it was “My Way.” Donna is survived by her grandson Cody Hickox, her daughter Heather Hickox, and her son-in-law Dave Bernstein, who were all there at the end. Also there were the cards and letters Off-Ramp listeners sent her. Those kind words meant more to her than she (and we) could say.
Editor's note: Time and illness are catching up with singer Donna Fuller, and she's now in hospice. If you remember her performances or are a new fan, and want to send a card or a letter, we'll make sure she gets it. Mail it to Off-Ramp, KPCC, 474 South Raymond Ave, Pasadena CA 91105-2629, and write "For Donna Fuller" on the envelope.
"How do I describe myself? 85 and still glad to be kicking. And, until just recently, still singing." -- Donna Fuller to Off-Ramp host John Rabe
Imagine you're a young singer from the Midwest, recording your first record in LA. The driver pulls you up to a building in Hollywood and that's when you realize ... your first studio album is being cut at Capitol Records!
Stuff like this was always happening to Donna Fuller, and while the payoff was never stardom, the story of this remarkable woman - now 85 and in failing health - tells the story of a certain era in Los Angeles.
After touring the country with her sultry contralto and landing a recording contract with Liberty Records, the former former U.S.O. girl and Playboy jazz club singer was recording next door to Nancy Sinatra, glamming up for parties at the Playboy Mansion, and brushing shoulders with celebrities from the golden era of pop and jazz.
Donna was artistically courted by record producer and arranger Don Costa, known for his work with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Barbra Streisand. Remembering the scene at Capitol Records, she still pictures him pulling the musicians together.
I think the first album had 32 musicians. Everyone starts tuning up ... it's exciting when you start hearing it. Don's in the booth, everybody else is in the booth. You've got friends rolling around out there that you can see through the glass. Then they tap, and Don says 'Go for one!'
Donna's first album was recorded in 12 hours. That's 12 songs in 12 hours. "You don't do that anymore, "she says. "I mean they spend a year getting one song. Privileged, privileged."
A small town girl from Cambridge, Kansas, her mother first spotted her talent as she danced and sang around the house. But her first professional recognition came when she was 13, after she performed at a block party: "I got a call after that. It was from a Mrs. Edith West Elba and she wanted to teach me how to sing. So I went and took opera lessons for years. Then started working in clubs, and nightclubs. And they just didn't quite go together."
Donna says she knew exactly when she began wanting to sing jazz, "When I started getting paid for it!"And her critique for modern singers? Turn up the drama. She says, "I can't sing a song like a stick. It's not in me. I think nowadays, they don't know what they are saying. They are saying words but they don't know what they mean. Like Sinatra, Sinatra can sing a song and you know what the hell he's singing about."
She also traveled the country with a true pioneer, and it started with a phone call: "It was to be the singer, comedian, MC for Christine Jorgensen." Jorgensen was one of the first American transsexuals, and she crafted a career as a performer, even doing a Marlene Dietrich impression. "I met Christine in San Francisco and we traveled up to Oregon and went through her act." After the shows, Donna says Jorgensen would sometimes be jealous. The men would want to be romantic with Donna, but with Christine, "they were interested in her story."
In 1957 Donna recorded her first album, "My Foolish Heart." "People around town had heard me sing," she says, "and Joe Green, who was a writer, pianist, nice guy, took me to Liberty Records and Liberty Records took me to Pete [Rugolo]... he was with Stan Kenton for a long time. He was dating Anne Bancroft at that time... well before Mel [Brooks]. She was at my recording!"
Billboard magazine's April 27th, 1957 edition reviewed "My Foolish Heart:"
Thrush's disk debut is a good one. Her delivery - in the bluesy-torchy vein - comes across as well-suited to the small chic-type club. Choice of material was excellent and obviously tailored to the voice. "Mister Blue" and "Dusky January" are good cases in point. Demonstrate the better known "My Foolish Heart." A striking album cover effectively catches the spirit of the album.
In response to that review, Donna says, "Yeah, you should have seen some of those 'chic-type' clubs..." But the album didn't sell. Looking back, she says, "You always hope. You can't expect anything in this business really."
Her second album "Who is Donna Fuller?" was recorded with DCP Records in 1964. If you flip the album over and read the spiel on the back, you'll find:
Who is Donna Fuller? She is svelte and sexy. She sort of slinks around the floor like a lean, hungry lynx. She can caress a ballad in a throaty-sultry style and belt out a tune with dynamic vibrancy. She is Donna Fuller, a sophisticated package of sheer talent. What are Donna Fuller's hobbies? In her spare time she likes to paint and sketch. She is a poodle-fancier and shoots a mean game of billiards.
Is any of this true? She says she did play a little pool. And as for art, Donna laughs. "You know I always thought I was so lousy at it. But I enjoyed it. I never looked at anything and thought 'Wait until a museum sees this!'"
Throughout her career, lots of writers and producers brought music to her but she wouldn't sing just any tune. "It has to say something to you. It has to touch you in some way. Someone can sing one song, and it means one thing. Someone else can sing it, and it's an entirely different song. You pick up a song and look at it and say I either 'love it' or 'I can't stand it.'"
After her recording career, Donna was a longtime member of the Hollywood Presbyterian Choir. Her studio albums are rare finds nowadays, sometimes bringing hundreds of dollars. Off-Ramp intern Rosalie Atkinson got lucky with this one.
eBay came through for me in a major way today pic.twitter.com/JquMzGPK2q
— Rosalie Atkinson (@RoAtkinson) June 17, 2016
At 85 and quite ill, Donna Fuller is spending what time remains to her with her family in the Valley.
What happened to that downtown cornfield? L.A. State Historic Park finally opens
It's an atypical success story for Los Angeles, but it's an effort desperately owed to its residents. The L.A. State Historic Park is opening downtown this weekend, and after 16 years of stops and starts, Sean Woods, Superintendent of California State Parks, Los Angeles, is breathing a sigh of relief. "Once it opens tomorrow, it'll be open forever."
In 2001, over 35 community activism groups of all stripes came together and stopped the land from being turned into 32 acres of warehouses, which was the intended plan of real estate developer Ed Roski, Jr. The activists prevailed, but their work had just begun. "The bond funding was only for acquisition dollars," Woods told Offramp's John Rabe. John clarified in laymen's terms, "You had the money to buy the land you didn't have the money to do something with it." Woods nods with a smile, "Perfect, yes."
In that time, they opened the space up to ideas from the community. It has hosted a carnival, the FYF Festival, and about 6 years ago, it was cornfield with intention. Artist Lauren Bon erected a living sculpture in the form of a cornfield and named it "Not a Cornfield," a nod to the site's future, and also to its past. The area was nicknamed "The Cornfield" because train cars would spill corn kernels as the went by. A hub for immigrants owed to by the train stop nearby, the site was thought of as the Ellis Island of the West. Plans for turning it into a park were proposed as early as 1930. L.A.'s people would have to wait 87 years.
Los Angeles doesn't have much park space, just about 10% of our city sprawl is dedicated to open areas. But the wait is over, and the park has a lot to offer in views alone. "You've got manufacturing to the East, a view of City Hall, there's a view of downtown skyline, Gold Line, the river."
Woods agrees. He likes to say that the park is situated in the cradle of Los Angeles "Because we're surrounded by some of the oldest and most historic communities that have deep rooted connections to the beginning of the city." He continues:
What we like about the park is it gives you a vantage point to point to a particular area like Dodger Stadium, the former location of Chavez Ravine, Chinatown which was Sonoratown before the Chinese were forcibly evicted from Union Station, Solano Canyon, Lincoln Heights, the William Mead Homes the first housing project in Los Angeles, so it really provides us an opportunity to talk about all these communities and cultures that turned this into the second largest metropolis in the United States.
A number of speakers and performers are lined up for the park's opening Saturday, April 22. But Woods wants folks to remember the deeper lesson amidst all the fun, "I really want Los Angeles to take this park in to look at it as an incredible learning opportunity in terms of how a grass roots organization could stop a million square feet of industrial development and 16 years later open up this magnificent park in the middle of Los Angeles."
For more information on the L.A. Historic Park, click here.
Chicken Boy didn't know he had a mutant brother, Cock Bob
Sometimes, the best stories happen when you're driving, you look out the window, and you yell, "What the hell is THAT!?"
So it was the other day when I was driving down San Fernando Road in Glassell Park and I saw an eight-foot fiberglass chicken with the head of the Big Boy Restaurant mascot. Obviously, the first person to call was Amy Inouye, the caretaker of Chicken Boy, a 22-foot tall fiberglass man/chicken that used to stand astride a restaurant in downtown LA.
Chicken Boy now stands on top of Inouye's gallery in Highland Park, Future Studio Gallery, where he's one of the dwindling number of surviving fiberglass giants who sold mufflers, cars, and other goods, put out of work by inflatable gorillas and wavy-armed Beaker clones. Standing next to Chicken Boy's mutant little brother, Amy is enamored.
"We've been calling him Chicken Bob, and he's definitely related. He's kin, on any number of levels. He's fiberglass, he's anthropomorphic, and he's got chicken in him."
"Is it art," I ask, bomb-throwingly? "Oh, absolutely," Amy responds generously. And so is Chicken Boy. Well, of course it's art. The sculpture's real name is "Cock Bob," and it's the work, we soon discover, of Deborah Brown, who got her MFA at UC Irvine and who made Cock Bob in 1996.
I reached Brown at home in Bath, England, where she's lived for 14 years. "He is sort of a morph of consumer culture," Brown tells me, "like happens when so much iconography surrounds us. What happens when these symbols of Americana merge and mutate?" Big Boy is from Bob's Big Boy, or course, and the chicken is reminiscent of one she saw when she was young, possibly in Palm Springs. Cock Bob showed out here, and was at a museum in Massachusetts for five years. He looks great because he just got a new coat of paint.
Listen to the audio to hear much more with Amy Inouye and Deborah Brown.
Brown is a a vegetarian, and "most certainly" does not eat at chain restaurants like the ones she refers to in Cock Bob, "having lived in Southern California for so long, it was just part of the landscape."
But here's the kicker. Brown told me she's never heard of Chicken Boy. And I believe her. I love that a totally spontaneous expression and a wonderfully bizarre and frankly unsettling image can be a relevant commentary on crass commercialism, and at the same time a nod to a beloved icon like Chicken Boy.
Cock Bob is for sale for $30,000 from Jason Vass Gallery in downtown LA, and Brown says they've been getting calls of interest. At 8-feet high, it's manageable for a back yard. Brown says, "maybe in the Hollywood Hills." Which makes me feel sorry for the coyote who comes across it and immediately swears off the booze.
Meantime, back at the ranch, Amy and I couldn't resist a little Photoshop fun. Take one photo of a gallerist:
And add one giant fiberglass mutant chicken, and you've got an image you can't unsee.
Check out Cock Bob yourself, maybe as part of the June 10th NELA gallery tour. It's at 2316 N. San Fernando Rd. Los Angeles, CA 90065, outside Imperial Art Studios.
Try Romanian food (maybe for the first time) at Parsnip in Highland Park
New restaurant Parsnip in Highland Park is one of the few Romanian restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area. So unless you have intimate knowledge of Romanian culture, you may not have tried the food. At the risk of sounding uncultured, Rosalie Atkinson went to eat her first Romanian meal and chat with Chef Anca Caliman about her new spot's inspiration.
What distinguishes Romanian food from other food? Chef Anca says the food pays tribute to the country's working class. She says, "It's a combination of these stews and braises, things that are kind of making the most with what you have. To make stick-to-your-ribs that you have after working all day. But then also a good balance of fresh... fire-roasted vegetable salads."
While she was growing up in Romania, Anca says she learned to cook by watching her parents then embellishing. She says, "I was always the helper in the kitchen. These are [recipes] that I remember very fondly so they all have my own spin on things. There is no written down recipes. So that's what this food is: it's the foundation of the family recipes plus everything I've learned in life."
Most of the options on the menu are Romanian peasant dishes, for a good reason. Anca says:
Even though I grew up in a city in Romania, both of my grandparents on my mother's and father's side are country people. They have animals and land to till. They definitely grow their own vegetables. My fondest food memories- that's where they come from. Hanging out with my grandma, picking tomatoes and making a salad.
After Lemon Poppy Kitchen in Glassell Park, this is Anca's second restaurant. When it came to naming this one, Anca wanted to promote the "unsung hero" root veggie of Romanian cooking. She says, "They tend to be in everything but never in the foreground. I thought they deserved their time in the sun.
When it comes to other Romanian restaurants around LA... it's slim pickings. Anca says, "There's a place in East Hollywood called Sabina's* and there's one in Anaheim called Dunarea." But she says they are far more traditional than Parsnip.
But what is Anca's favorite Romanian dish? She says it is a simple, yet delicious soup. She says, "When I'd go home from college, I'd always want... fasole cu challan. It's a bean soup with ham hocks but again- complex flavors, slow cooked beans, ham... I like to eat it with toast and lots of raw garlic, so I save it for when I don't have to go anywhere and face people."
Parsnip opened in March and is located at 5623 York Blvd. in Highland Park.
*According to Yelp, Sabina's has closed.
DIY Film Fest: Great directors who were One and Done
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC's FilmWeek and Alt Film Guide, and who blogs at CinemaInMind, has another film festival you can put on yourself, in the comfort of your own home.
Lots of filmmakers direct only one movie. Far fewer of them direct a movie that’s in any way notable. And, by notable we mean good, if not very good or better, iconic.
1. Marlon Brando / "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961)
Actors make up most, but not all of this DIY One and Done Film Festival, and first on our list is Marlon Brando, who directed just one movie and was done with the director's chair. "One-Eyed Jacks" (1961) is more or less a spaghetti western with no Italians. Brando and Karl Malden play bank robbers. Dad Longworth (Malden) leaves Rio (Brando) to rot in prison for 11 years. Bad blood builds.
Stanley Kubrick was set to direct but he and Brando had issues so Brando took over. Yeah, Marlon Brando fired Stanley Kubrick. Crazy.
A number of sources report that Brando was an indecisive and demanding director. His first cut was five hours long. Paramount cut it in half and it did good business, with better than decent reviews. Brando didn't like it, but Martin Scorsese often calls "One-Eyed Jacks" one of his favorite westerns, and James Caan, who would go on to work with Brando in "The Godfather," is a particularly big fan.
2. James Caan / "Hide in Plain Sight" (1980)
The second film in our One and Done DIY Film Festival - James Caan’s one and only directorial effort - "Hide in Plain Sight" (1980). Loosely based on a true story, the movie is about a blue collar Caan, who is kept from his children when his ex-wife’s mob-connected new husband is taken into federal protection.
"Hide in Plain Sight" has the tone and timber of a Martin Ritt film - it’s "Hud" meets "Norma Rae." One person standing up against an unjust system. Critics were mixed: praising the performances but generally suggesting that Caan’s direction was slavish to the true story. But I like it.
3. Dustin Hoffman / "Quartet" (2012)
Most people think Dustin Hoffman directed the 1978 drama "Straight Time," in which he stars. True, he began the film as director, but soon handed the directing duties over to veteran filmmaker Ulu Grosbard. Hoffman would wait 34 years before giving it another go. His one and only directorial effort is the 2012 film "Quartet," starring Maggie Smith and Billy Connolly among others.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSEnh8Hi62E
And it is notably lovely in just about every way.
4. Theodore Witcher / "Love Jones" (1997)
Last in our DIY one and done film festival: Theodore Witcher. I know, you’ve never heard of him. But he did write and direct one iconic film that’s 20 years old this year. "Love Jones" stars Larenz Tate and Nia Long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNMoQ_Cqt4E
The film is about a poet name Darius, played by Tate, and a talented young photographer called Nina, played by Nia Long. Mostly the film is this couple and their friends. They talk about is love and sex and friendship and if all can ever be had together. They do while being black, which was still a big deal in 1997.
I have no idea why a guy who wrote and directed a film as notable as "Love Jones" didn’t take or get another shot at the director’s chair. A buddy was in a Denny’s spot Teddy Witcher directed some years ago. Who knows, maybe there was just more money in commercials.
But if "Love Jones" is the only movie I ever get from One and Done director Theodore Witcher, it will definitely do.
Off-Ramp Recommends: Taking an interdimensional road trip to the desert
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You only have a few days left to visit Desert X, a site-specific art exhibition in the Coachella Valley. The showcase features 16 contemporary art installations, spread out in various outdoor and indoor locations in the desert.
Claudia Comte's “Curves and Zigzags” is one of the most mesmerizing. The painting commences with a rigid symmetrical arrangement that gradually transforms into a wavy design.
“Monument” by Will Bone is an interactive piece, which requires you to crawl into a bunker. A small sign warns: “By entering this artwork you assume any and all risk of injury and or death that may occur. Please do not touch.”
This warning sign adds to the surreal and claustrophobic experience. The situation only becomes creepier once the underground light sensor detects movement and a small hallway is illuminated at the far end of the bunker.
“Hollow Earth” by Glenn Kaino -- a bungalow structure -- looks boring at first. But on closer inspection, a keypad lock allows you to enter a small space— and with the flick of a switch you're transported to what seems like a different dimension. This radiant optical illusion is like an infinite wishing well.
Other works include a mirror funhouse, “Mirage” by Doug Aitken; and “The Circle of Land and Sky” by Philip K Smith III. Installations are open daily from dawn to sunset through April 30. Desert X installations require no ticket and are free to visit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BS6v_d0Dy9J/?taken-by=jesusambrosio_&hl=en