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Podcasts Off-Ramp
Goodbye to the Pink Lady and The Formosa; hello 8-Bit music and Joshua Tree
Off-Ramp with John Rabe Hero Image
(
Dan Carino
)
Episode 15088
Listen • 49:09
Goodbye to the Pink Lady and The Formosa; hello 8-Bit music and Joshua Tree

Lynne Westmore Bloom died last week. In 1966, her giant pink naked lady appeared over the Malibu Canyon tunnel, delighting many, and pissing off local officials. ... Sanden Totten, of science podcast Brains On, takes us to Joshua Tree and explains how its shrubs, animals, and Joshua Trees survive. ... The Formosa Café just closed, so we'll talk about its role as a creative shorthand for evoking the glamour of Old Hollywood. ... 8-Bit music, the sound of old school video games, is s now a genre for musicians who like its simplicity and the era it evokes. We’ll tell you about an 8-bit music festival happening this weekend in LA.

KPCC's John Rabe and crime writer Denise Hamilton outside the shuttered Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood.
KPCC's John Rabe and crime writer Denise Hamilton outside the shuttered Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood.
(
John Rabe
)

We pay tribute to Lynne Westmore Bloom, who died last week. In 1966, her giant pink naked lady appeared over the Malibu Canyon tunnel, delighting many, and pissing off local officials. ... Sanden Totten, of the science podcast Brains On, takes us to Joshua Tree and explains how its shrubs, animals, and Joshua Trees survive. ... The Formosa Café just closed, so we'll talk about its role as a creative touchstone, a shorthand when you need to evoke the glamour of Old Hollywood. ... 8-Bit music is the sound of old school video games, and it’s now a genre for musicians who like its simplicity and the era it evokes. We’ll tell you about an 8-bit music festival happening this weekend in LA.

Garrison Keillor calls impressionist Jim Meskimen and forgets the question
The words "incautiously," "rhubarb," and "behind" figure prominently in the latest celebrity interview by Off-Ramp's favorite impressionist, Jim Meskimen.
3 ways to remember Dr. King on Monday
Monday is MLK Day, and in honor of Dr. King's legacy, LA is hosting a lot of free, family friendly celebrations.
Lynne Westmore Bloom, 81, the 'man' who painted Malibu's Pink Lady
Listen • 8:20
Lynne Westmore Bloom, who died Friday at 81, wasn't going to come out as the person behind Malibu's Pink Lady until a County Supervisor assumed the prankster artist was a man.
8BitLA: Using the tech from old video game themes to make modern music
Listen • 3:38
“What you are listening to are simple and basic oscillators that create very rudimentary sound waves, like the oscillators in an alarm clock. We take this thing that sounds alien and awkward and try to make something beautiful out of it.”
RIP Formosa Cafe: Hollywood watering hole, creative touchstone for generations
Listen • 6:18
The Formosa Cafe has closed after 90+ years of being a Who's Who of Hollywood history. With luck, a responsible owner will rehab it. Until then, we have the fiction and the movies it was a touchstone for.
Song of the Week: This Charming Man stumbles into a Dirty Old Town
Something about the opening riff of The Smiths' "This Charming Man" makes you want to grab a handful of flowers and unbutton your dress shirt just a bit further than normal.
An alliance: Martin Luther King, Jr and Los Angeles Jews
Listen • 6:31
To mark the anniversary of his assassination: long-forgotten recordings tell of the alliance between Martin Luther King, Jr and Los Angeles Jews.
Luther and LACMA: An amazing response from an Off-Ramp listener
Note to LACMA: Hire this guy! This is the kind of smart, nuanced, passionate view museum-goers would connect with!