Meet an artist named Juanita Pina who lives on LA’s Skid Row. We’ll hear from Ringo Starr and talk with some of the hundreds of fans who celebrated his birthday with him in Hollywood. Tim Cogshell has another DIY film festival for Off-Ramp listeners, this time looking at 3 important films in the film noir style.
Demonstrator: We need to get our of the echo chamber, talk with folks we don't agree with
Demonstrators gathered Friday morning outside LAPD headquarters.
At one point, Richard Nevels, a social media influencer, says there were about 300, called to gather after news of the Dallas Police Shootings started coming through.
"Truth be told," he told me, "we're all trying to make it home to our loved ones. What happened in Dallas, we're not going to have that here. "
How do we keep that from happening?
"We start having a conversation. Everyone is having the conversation, but they're having the wrong conversation. Everyone's having the conversation with like-minded people." Instead, he says, we need to get out of the echo chamber and do a better job of engaging with people we don't agree with, or don't understand.
For much more of our conversation, listen to the audio.
Like loquats? Thank the Mexican orchard workers who saved them
At one time, some people thought the lonely loquat might rival oranges in Orange County.
According to a new article in the OC Weekly by Christopher Toland, it didn't work out that way.
Unfortunately for Taft and local farmers, the loquat trend died almost immediately after that Register headline. As the costs of labor, land and water rose, many loquat farmers had to sell their land or stick with oranges. "There was no market for them in commercial quantities and they did not pay," said B.A. Crawford, manager of the Tustin Hill Orange Packing House, to the Register in late 1924. "Without exception, almost all the loquat trees have been taken out and oranges set instead." -- OC Weekly
Toland joined me for a conversation about botanist Charles Parker Taft, the pros and cons of loquats and how orchard workers may have been the salvation for the delicious but delicate fruit. Listen to the audio for much more.
Portrait of an artist on Skid Row
Downtown Los Angeles' Skid Row is home to over 8,000 people living on the streets. Off-Ramp Contributor Michael Radcliffe spent time downtown with an artist, named Juanita Pina, who calls Skid Row her home.
When I first met Juanita she was pulling her hair back tightly, revealing a kind, welcoming smile. In her hand, a colored pencil was gliding across a sheet of paper.
She was drawing vivid pictures of African queens wrapped in the fires of the phoenix, red flames and feathers swirling up around her and off the page.
"Sometimes I'll go into my own imagination," she said. "But I don't know, I appreciate what I see around me."
I asked her to pull out some more of her work. She showed me beautiful drawings of zebras, giraffes and tigers. Other pictures showed tango and belly dancers.
"I think I did my first portrait of another human being... I was maybe 7 or 8 years old," said Juanita. "I don't have the patience for oil, but I do love colored pencil, ink and acrylic."
Harvey, a friend and neighbor of Juanita who would only give his first name, lives around the corner on the same block.
"She'll buy the cheap stuff and if you've seen her work, you would think that work was done with expensive material. But she has a wonderful eye, a wonderful eye. She can really draw and really bring a picture to life," Harvey said.
A normal day for Juanita begins about 4:30 in the morning.
"I get up and, of course, take care of my hygiene part and start packing my belongings up inside my tent," she said.
Then she heads for the Starbucks. "I have some coffee and do my artwork over there," she said. "[It's] kind of a chance to be away from, you know, try to ignore the fact that I sleep on the street."
But when you live on the street, you can't count on normal days like that. When I came back a week later, Juanita was gone. Her tent, her clothes, her pencils — all of it had vanished.
I was able to find Harvey, who said she went to jail. He didn't know why.
He said the the police had come early in the morning as everyone was cleaning up.
He said the police told her to go faster. She got upset and they took her in.
Juanita called me the next week — she'd been released. But the police had taken all of her belongings to a warehouse five blocks away.
"They take everything, all your property," she told me over the phone. "They know you need your things to survive. You can't not have a blanket."
She said she felt gross — she had no way to clean herself. She pulled her hair back again tightly and secured it with a hair tie that she had bartered a cigarette for.
We walked the five blocks to the warehouse — big, with corrugated metal walls in the middle of a crowded parking lot. The walls looked like they hadn't been painted in 20 years.
We got there at 12:30 and were greeted by a bare white sign. It said the warehouse was open just 20 hours a week, and today it closed at 1 p.m. It was 12:30, but the place looked dead. She dialed a number on the white sign, but no answer. An hour passed and no one showed. She called again.
"I've been waiting, well, since, what time was it? It was like 12:30 or some time around there," she told the man who answered.
He told her the warehouse was closed and there was nothing she could do about it except to go back tomorrow. "Last time it took me five times to get my stuff," she said. "You get here, call the number. You might get somebody, you might not."
A few months ago, a federal judge ruled that the city of Los Angeles can't destroy a homeless person's property without warning. Stuff like medication and bedding were getting trashed or stored at this warehouse. In March, the L.A. City Council passed a law that allowed homeless people to keep personal property on the street — it just needs to all fit in a trash bin.
The next morning, I was on my way back to Juanita's spot and a few people were hurriedly cleaning up their areas. In front of her sidewalk was a police SUV. I saw Juanita's feet sticking out from behind a blue tarp, her back against the railing. She refused to clean up.
"You're not gonna bully me around," she said. "You sit under the same laws we do. You are not unreachable. You are not the law."
We made plans to go back to the warehouse again, but then I got a call from Juanita — she'd been hospitalized but would be back soon.
I went back a few times trying to find her. Her neighbor told me she hasn't seen her in a week. She suggested a few places I could look.
I scanned the sidewalks: hundreds of homeless men and women on every part, tents lined up next to one another, the courtyards at the shelters just as full. Juanita would be nearly impossible to find.
Suddenly, trip after trip downtown, Juanita was unreachable. I started coming to terms with the fact that Juanita was gone.
But then she called again. "I'm getting my gallbladder taken out," she said. "I'll be fine. I'm coming back. I just forgot to let you know that."
Juanita was in Phoenix. She said that health care was cheaper there, but she'd come back soon.
I went down to find Juanita, to help her, finally, move her stuff out of the warehouse. I was looking forward to seeing her. But when I got there — again — she was gone.
I haven't heard from her since. More attempts to find her proved fruitless, and like a lot of people with homeless family or friends, I'm stuck wondering where she is — and if she's OK. Can she even get in touch if she isn't? I hate the uncertainty of it all. I can only imagine what it's like for Juanita.
How to picnic like a regular at the Hollywood Bowl
There’s nothing like a summer night at the Hollywood Bowl. It’s the seasonal home to the L.A. Phil, and big names this summer range from Heart to Erykah Badu.
And then there's the food. If you've been to the Bowl, you've seen it in action: These people have been picnicking for decades. It's a sport. There's even a
to it.
We stopped by a Jamie Cullum jazz concert to learn the tricks of the trade.
1. The early bird gets the worm
Or the best picnic spot. If you want to eat your food overlooking the Hollywood hills, you better get a move on it. Gates open at 6 p.m.
"When we open up our gates at the beginning of the day, we'll see people run up the hills to try to get some of the more primo areas," said Tom Waldron, the Hollywood Bowl's house manager.
Picnic areas inside the park are first come, first serve. (You can reserve group tables across the street.) Wear comfortable walking shoes. The Bowl is the largest outdoor amphitheater in the U.S., and the picnic grounds are just as impressive. Prepare yourself for one very serious incline.
Pro tip: Check out this map before you go. Picnic area No. 7, also known as the "tree house," has great views and is perfect for a date night.
2. It's chilled. Not cold.
Think about how your food will travel. Thermal bags. Insulated picnic baskets. Coffee coolers. Anything is game when you're picnicking at the Hollywood Bowl.
Tina Dahl has been picnicking at the Bowl for 20 years. She explains how she keeps her salade niçoise perfectly chilled.
"We want to keep it chilled, not cold.... We just took an ice pack — one of those flexible ones that you put on your muscles when you’re achy — set the container on top of it and wrapped it all up in a towel," she said.
3. Presentation is everything
I saw fabric table clothes tailored to fit the box seat table tops. There were lavish napkins, candles and plates. Longtime picnicker Antonio Anderson is so hardcore that he was featured in the Hollywood Bowl brochure. He’s got 25 years under his belt.
Here's his setup:
How have his picnics evolved? "From plastic to fine china and better sparkling wine," Anderson told me.
Off-Ramp host John Rabe has box seats at the Bowl. He prefers bamboo plates and silverware. They're cheap, lightweight and they look good. Pro tip: If you forget the plates or utensils, don't panic. Stop by one of the restaurants and ask; they'll likely give you some for free.
Hollywood Bowl regular Rafael Gonzalez had freshly picked flowers in a cute little vase on his table. He and his wife also theme their picnics.
"Especially if there’s Latin music, we’ll have Latin food. If there’s country music, we’ll do a little country-fried chicken," he said.
4. You need wheels
Orange County resident Taylor Debevec has a picnic basket for every occasion. She found this gem in an antique shop outside of Charleston, South Carolina.
But if you don't pack lightly, you'll need at least one cooler on wheels. Wheels make it way easier to swiftly walk the grounds (especially after a couple drinks).
This is Naome Leibov. She was wheeling around warm chicken, cold sushi and pillows to sit on. Her advice? Don't bring as much as she did. Pro tip: You can get a seat cushion from the Bowl for $1.
5. Don't forget the organic honey
Teamwork makes the picnic dream work. Case in point: I found a table with a designated bartender. Deirdre Delrey explains how to perfect the drinks:
"Start light. Think about the heat of the early evening. Something with citrus or cucumber — like a Pimm's cup or Moscow mule," she said. "A nice wine with the meal and then something flavorful at the end to wrap it all up."
Her friend and fellow picnicker is responsible for the cheese, crackers and organic honey. The latter is a must-have item, according to Delrey.
"She brings organic honey that she dribbles on the goat cheese, and with the fig-encrusted crackers, it’s magical; it’s beautiful. And then with nectarines and peaches," she said with a huge smile on her face.
Are you drooling yet? Pro tip: You can purchase the Fig & Olive Crisps from Trader Joe's.
Too hot to prepare a picnic? Order food at the show. Refer to the 2015 Hollywood Bowl dining guide from Patina Restaurant Group for options. One woman I spoke with raved about the Berkshire pork chop, which you can see half-eaten on the right in the photo below. 
6. And the boxed wine
You can never, ever bring too much wine to the Hollywood Bowl. Mainly because it's pretty expensive to buy a bottle at the venue. (The cheapest red was around $70 when I was there last month for the John Fogerty concert.)
That's why Briana Madden suggests boxed wine from Bevmo. A 3-liter Bota Box will cost you under $20. Or you can purchase 1.5 liters for $10, which is probably a more appropriate option for a school night.
7. Forget parking. Take the shuttle
Don't picnic and drive. Take a Hollywood Bowl bus or shuttle. From Chatsworth to Torrance, the Bowl makes it pretty easy to commute back and forth. Find everything you need to know here.
How hardcore is your picnic? What are your picnic must-haves? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #myLApicnic.
Let's picnic! And brag about it.
Song of the week: Vinyl Williams: "Riddles Of The Sphinx"
This week's Off-Ramp song of the week is the newest single from Vinyl Williams: "Riddles of the Sphinx."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRe_fE8zpDU
Vinyl Williams is the project of Los Angeles' Lionel Williams - a musician and visual artist. Williams descends from a proud musical lineage: he's the son of drummer and producer Mark T. Williams, and John Williams — yes, the film composer — is his grandfather.
You can see Williams live on Wednesday, July 13. He's playing at the Blind Spot Project in Boyle Heights. "Riddles of the Sphinx" is off the new Vinyl Williams album "Brunei," which gets released August 26.