Less than a year ago, a wildfire devastated the Oakridge mobile home park, a small, tightly knit, and by all accounts idyllic community in Sylmar. Queena Kim and Frank Stoltze produced this documentary, in three parts, The Ashes of Oakridge.

KPCC's John Rabe talks with author and filmmaker Nicholas Meyer about his new memoir, the tasty and eminently readable "The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood." Here's the raw audio from the interview, much of which will appear on a later Off-Ramp. He's signing the book Wednesday (9-2) at Borders Northridge and Thursday (9-3) at Village Books in the Palisades. Come inside for "the shooting script" for the interview...

... in which John and Charles begin their tour of Whittier Boulevard. Where do they start? What is that behind Charles? How do I get there? Well, come inside!

We've made an interactive map so you can take your own tour of one of LA's most vital, historic, and interesting boulevards. Come on inside, print it up, and explore your city.

Part folk-art environment, part muffler shop, part tire store, part ice cream stand and part museum, it's El Pedorrero!

Off-Ramp and Charles Phoenix visits the Home Of Peace Jewish Cemetery.

An official LA Archdiocese Catholic cemetery (containing John Barrymore's grave, for one) lies on Whittier Boulevard.

In part 4, we visit Porky's Restaurant (est. 1957) famous for its carnitas by the pound.

Whittier Boulevard: the ultimate staycation site?

The team examines the historic Golden Gate Theatre, sister to Pomona's famous Fox Thatre.

In which John and Charles weigh the merits (or lack thereof) of the Chase Bank at 5301 Whittier Blvd. Massive terra cotta sunscreens finished in a crackly green glaze surround this ultra mod, mid-century worlds fair pavilion-style building.

Tour guide Charles Phoenix proves that a Chroni's burger is worthy of a close-up.

In which Off-Ramp visits Chroni's Famous Sandwich Shop.

"Located in unincorporated Los Angeles County, it is not subject to the city's historic preservation guidelines. State and National monument status is dependent on the whim of the property owner. And so she sits, caked in plaster, under the blazing east side sun, waiting for something to happen."

Meet the LA Phil's principal oboist, Ariana Ghez, one of the best in the country and not even thirty. She told Queena Kim the secret truth about playing the oboe: it's all about the reeds.

Off-Ramp literary commentator Marc Haefele says Carey McWilliams is required reading for anyone who is serious about understanding Los Angeles.

Abel Salas takes us to a downtown LA church where hundreds of infants are baptized every weekend. The photo depicts another mass baptism...in the Pacific Ocean circa 1930.

John talks with four experts at Comic Con so you can get up to speed on the latest and greatest Science Fiction books.