Remembering "The French Chef," Julia Child ... Summer reading goes high-tech on CyberFrequencies ... Dinner Party Download.
Joe Domanick on Bratton
On Wednesday, LA Police Chief Bill Bratton (left) announced that he's quitting. Joe Domanick, of USC's Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism, and author of "To Protect and To Serve," a history of the pre-Bratton LAPD, says Bratton brought "adult supervision" to the force, and maybe his reforms will stick.
Summer Reading Goes High-Tech
CyberFrequencies' Queena Kim and KPCC's Molly Peterson team up to test the Kindle DX.
First stop, the beach! They ask can you take a Kindle to the beach?
Then we talk to 17-year-old Justin Gawronski, a high school student who's suing Amazon for deleting his Kindle copy of "1984." CF's Tanya Miller thinks he should "suck it up" and do his homework again instead of suing. Take a listen and tell us what you think!
And to see a video of Molly showing off the Kindle DX at the beach go to CyberFrequencies.
Is Clifton's In Trouble?
The Clinton family has put the Clifton's Cafeteria building on the market. With a bad real estate market and business down, now would be a good time to go eat at the "Oasis on Broadway." John talks with Charles Phoenix and Marc Haefele, two fans of downtown LA.
Molly ReKindled
One of the books KPCC's Molly Peterson read on the Amazon Kindle was Ray Bradbury's enduring paeon to memory, "Dandelion Wine," which chronicles Summer 1928 in a Southern Illinois town, and the lives of two kids, Douglas and Tom.
Dinner Party DownLobe
Expand your mind and amaze your friends with Dinner Party Download. This week: Mercury-Prize nominated pop maestro Ed Harcourt ... Escargot on a stick ... and "Wrong-Way Corrigan" probably lied.
Revenge of the Tribbles!
Sci-Fi scribe David Gerrold wrote "The Trouble With Tribbles" in 1967. It's one of the most well-known Star Trek episodes. He spoke with John at Comic-Con about how he wants YOU to spawn a new generation of Tribble lore. (CONTEST INFO INSIDE)
Contest directions read:
"Take a photo of yourself with your Tribble in a fun, interesting, or unusual setting and upload it to The Tribble Gallery.
Swept Away
Long Beach's Anthony Clark founded Ticket Haters because he was tired of the hundreds of street sweeping tickets he and his neighbors were getting. For $5 a month, Ticket Haters will call, e-mail or text you when it's time to move your car. Kevin Ferguson spoke with Anthony Clark and Gary Delong, Clark's city councilman, who loved the idea so much he's considering buying it for his teenage daughters.
The Julia of "Julie and Julia"
Cooking legend, TV personality, (and Pasadenan!) Julia Child gets the silver screen treatment in "Julie & Julia." To celebrate, LA Times food writer Russ Parsons revels in original episodes of "The French Chef." Russ was the first person to write about the Julie Powell blog, and was the one who showed it to Julia. He profiles the movie in August 12th's LA Times Food Section (see link on left).
Floyd WHO? Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola Fights for the Title Saturday
9-27 UPDATE: In the words of LAT columnist Bill Dwyre, "The tree was just too tall for Chris Arreola to chop down." Arreola lost in ten rounds, saying, "He found a way to win; I found a way to lose." Link inside. BIGGER QUESTION: Why didn't the LA Times, dying for readership, put this on the front page to draw Mexican-American readers? Instead, a feature on Neutra and Wright houses on the market. -- Rabe
Riverside native Chris "The Nightmare" Arreola fights Vitali Klitschko for the heavyweight title against Saturday (9-26) at Staples Center. So let's rub it in that we had an interview with Arreola MONTHS ago ... by sportswriter David Davis. Arreola could become the first Mexican-American heavyweight boxing champion. (More inside...)
Here's how David Davis (left, with friend) pitched the Arreola interview to Off-Ramp (Note to freelancers: THIS is a pitch):
Born and raised in East L.A., and now living in nearby Riverside, Cristobal "The Nightmare" Arreola is a second-generation Mexican-American whose parents illegally snuck over the U.S. border.
He's grown up to become one of the most lethal boxers in the world. At 27-0, with whopping punching power (24 KOs), he's the #2 ranked heavyweight contender in the world (by the WBC and the IBF) and #3 (by the WBO).
His knockout rate and old-school demeanor have electrified boxing's most passionate and loyal fan-base. If he were to fight for the title – and if he were to become the first-ever heavyweight champ of Mexican descent -- Arreola would truly be the second coming of "The Brown Bomber." [NOTE: JOE LOUIS' NICKNAME WAS THE BROWN BOMBER.]
At 6-foot-4, with a 77-inch reach, Arreola has covered his thick body with colorful tattoos. He's a self-confessed member of "Raider Nation" and sports silver-and-black trunks in the ring. He's no pretty boy; in fact, he's the anti-Oscar De La Hoya. Think of him as the pugilistic offspring of Julio Cesar Chavez and Mike Tyson.
Whether Arreola can step up and stop the big boys of the heavyweight division -- the Klitschkos, Nikolay Valuev -- remains to be seen. According to his camp -- trainer (Henry Ramirez), promoter (Dan Goossen), and manager (Al Haymon) -- the only person who can stop Arreola is Arreola himself. In effect, does he have the balls-to-the-wall dedication necessary to fight at the championship level?
The jury is out, in part because Arreola himself seems conflicted. As a youngster, he flirted with joining a gang. He quit the sport briefly after winning the national Golden Gloves in 2001. Last year, while at a party, his best friend was shot and killed. That left Arreola devastated, and his management team had to postpone his next fight.
These days, his primary challenge is to control his appetite. For his last two fights –- a third-round KO over highly touted Travis Walker and a fourth-round KO over Jameel McCline -- he entered the ring at a hefty 254 pounds. Arreola says that he's learned his lesson.
He had better: With his convincing win over McCline on HBO last weekend, Arreola is in line for a title shot, perhaps before the end of the year.
The Mexican-American community -- and the world –- awaits.