Sam Humphries, "smartass" Star-Lord writer; Taylor Orci thanks the social worker who rescued her; a mobster-cum-barber; Judy Chicago's Womanhouse
RIP bassist, jazz great, teacher Charlie Haden
UPDATE 7/11/2014 (Associated Press): Bassist Charlie Haden, who helped change the shape of jazz a half-century ago as a member of the groundbreaking Ornette Coleman Quartet, has died. He was 76. Haden, who had in recent years suffered from post-polio syndrome, died Friday in Los Angeles from the prolonged illness. Tina Pelikan of ECM Records says Haden's wife and children were by his side.
Charlie Haden, the bass player and composer, has worked with musicians such as Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman and his own Liberation Music Orchestra.
Off-Ramp producer Kevin Ferguson went to REDCAT in Downtown L.A. recently for a rare performance by Haden as he conducted his Liberation Music Orchestra, composed entirely of CalArts students.
Raised in the Ozarks, Haden thrived on music his entire life. As a child, he sang folk and country music before contracting polio at 15, damaging his voice. Determined to stick with music, he took up the double bass and has become one of jazz's most important contributors to the instrument.
On the iconic free jazz record "The Shape of Jazz to Come," you can hear him follow Ornette Coleman's lead but build a solid foundation for the band, too:
Haden's had health problems lately — his polio symptoms have resurfaced. He struggles with speaking and said he hasn't eaten solid food in three years. Guests wondered out loud if tonight might be his last show.
Haden was undeterred.
Want to read more? Our own Oscar Garza was there, too. He wrote a review for KPCC's Without a Net blog.
Off-Ramp, the only radio show with a sketch artist: Mike Sheehan
By now, people are used to the idea of radio shows having websites and needing photographers and videographers. But I believe Off-Ramp is the only show to have a sketch artist.
Mike Sheehan has been sending us his sketchbooks for a couple years now. His most recent set of sketches took us to the immigration protest in Murrieta, but he's also taken us to the Natural History Museum at night ...
The great Shuttle Parade ...
And mobster Bugsy Siegel's Lake Arrowhead casino:
I asked him what he can capture with his pen that a photographer can't capture with their camera. He said it's about slowing down. To sketch, he is forced to sit for 10 to 15 minutes in a single spot, and everything that's happening around him washes over him and finds its way into his brain, out his pen, and onto the paper. A photographer, he says, doesn't capture mood, nuance, and relationships in the same way.
'Mythbuster' Kari Byron urges girls to pursue science careers
The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana is hosting an exhibit based on the Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters," which uses practical science to challenge common myths. The show asks, for instance, will a penny dropped from the Empire State Building shatter your skull if you're on the sidewalk below?
Mythbuster Kari Byron is in town to help open the exhibit, and she spoke with Off-Ramp host John Rabe. (You can hear their entire interview by clicking the button on the left.)
"Sometimes, when science is taught, it's taught in a way where it's a talking head that makes it feel like it's not accessible, when science is something that everybody experiences all the time," said Byron, who is, in addition to being a Mythbuster, a mom.
RELATED: Brains On! from KPCC's Sanden Totten, a science podcast for kids
"Mythbusters" host Adam Savage has said on Off-Ramp before that he's really worried about the withering of science teaching in America. The show is also very conscious of making sure science teaching is diverse. This year, Byron hosted the National Science Fair at the White House, where the theme was women and girls in science, technology, engineering and math.
Byron met with many young women who want to be scientists. "I spoke with one girl who said to me, 'Sometimes just the overwhelming pressure to fit in is so much greater than the need to be smart,'" Byron said. "And this was heartbreaking, because they're exceptional girls."
Byron said she usually goes to the openings of the traveling show, and kids love it. But "what's even more fun is watching their parents, because they will push the kids aside and jump into the exhibit."
Byron's interview at the Mohn Broadcast Center came on the 158th birthday of inventor Nicolai Tesla, and Bryon delighted KPCC's engineering staff by coming into the shop to watch a demo of a home-made Tesla coil.
VIDEO: Watch KPCC Chief Engineer Lance Harper's Tesla coil in action
Mythbusters: The Explosive Exhibition is at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana through Sept. 7.
Reformed mobster Vince Ciacci now cuts hair in Brentwood
At Claudio D'IItalia hair salon in Brentwood, you might be able to get a haircut by Vince Ciacci – a barber with a rough past. He was shoplifting from toy stores at 12, snatching purses at 15, and by the time he'd grown up he was robbing stores, dealing drugs—all the trappings of the mobster lifestyle.
"I live a pretty calm life now, so the favorite thing I like is smoking cigars and watching good movies," said Ciacci.
He's worked at his current salon for five years, but he's been in Los Angeles since 1977.
On how he first got involved in crime:
"We were great shoplifters. We had a crew of guys that'd distract the proprietor while we were taking everything but the kitchen sink. We used to do that a lot. We used to go into candy stores. I remember, there was a place in New York called Schwarz... ...they had these miniature tanks made out of steel. We'd go in there, we'd take all of the tanks... ...I always stole, I don't know what it was. I always had the tendency to steal."
"Then we started robbing purses. We had three or four guys, we'd go on Park Avenue. We were fast, too. We'd split like an octopus! One guy would grab the fur, press it against himself, and then the three of us would be running. They didn't know which one had the fur!"
"[After that,] I went into armed robbery, jewelry stores. Stuff like that."
On where his accomplices are now:
"They died 10 years ago, from heart attacks. Because I was worried about putting real names in the book. I inquired about them, and 'Oh yeah, he's dead. He's dead.' You know, back East they eat the wrong stuff, they smoke. And then you got to worry about the FBI watching you all the time. So I was lucky, I came out here and God had another plan for me."
On when he decided to give up crime for good:
"That's what I call a 'God shot.' I was at this girls house, I was giving her coke to sell and she was throwing heroin my way. This was the one night that she came on to me. I was so high on heroin that went I went to make love to her I fell off the bed and she just pushed me and said 'You disgust me.'"
"I took a bottle off Jack Daniels, drank half a bottle just to keep my heroin high up. I jump in my brand new car. And when I'm shooting home, I hear something—the car hits the divider and sparks are coming out. I'm saying 'Oh, my poor car! Look what I did.'"
"I had a rocker panel built on the car, where I kept guns and drugs. You know, when I saw the French Connection I said 'Hey, this is a good idea!' So I see the flashing lights, and I said 'I'm done, man.' The cop gets out of the car, I don't know what he said to me or what I said to him, but he starts changing the tire of my car. He doesn't do nothing!'
"So I go home. I go down Lincoln and Montana and make a left, and I hear an explosion. What happened is I passed out; my foot must have gone down on the accelerator and went right through the light, hit a parked cadillac. I hit [the Cadillac] so hard, it hit the car in front of it. Guess what? The cops come again. The car was like an accordion, but the rocker panel was untouched. And that's where the drugs and the guns were. The cops come again—they don't arrest me!"
"They wanted to tow the car, I said 'I got friend in the tow yard, he'll take care of the car.' And they went away. I got my friend to tow it and I looked at my wife and she was petrified. And I said 'I'll buy another car tomorrow, no big deal.'"
"And then, two weeks later, one of my customers made me aware that I had a problem with drugs and alcohol. And I investigated it. And that was my role to starting to turn my life around."
Ciacci's book — Almost a Wiseguy — is out now. You can order it via Amazon.
Can you pass the Donald Sterling test? Hear KPCC staffers try their best
Scandal-plagued Donald Sterling is fighting his wife Shelly's attempt to sell the NBA Clippers, and her claim — based on two medical exams — that he has Alzheimer's.
In L.A. Superior Court yesterday, Sterling ridiculed the doctors and his wife's attorney.
One paragraph stood out in James Rainey's coverage of yesterday's proceedings in the L.A. Times (emphasis added):
Dr. Meril Platzer and Dr. James Spar first reviewed scans of Sterling's brain, then interviewed him and conducted a battery of tests. They reported that he had trouble spelling the word "world" backward and counting backward, by sevens, from 100. (As in 100, 93, 86, 79, etc.) His mental deterioration made it impossible for Sterling to continue as a trustee of the family trust that controls the Clippers, they concluded.
My guess is that most readers tried that little test themselves, trying to spell out D-L-R-O-W and then counting backwards from 100, by 7s. (Those are just two steps in the Mini-Mental State Evaluation, a standard for testing mental impairment.)
RELATED: The entire Mini-Mental State Evaluation
Admit it, you just tried, too! It's not easy, as we found out when Off-Ramp intern Alana Rinicella asked KPCC staffers to take the same test. Listen to the story to hear what happened.
Making the Guardians of the Galaxy's Star-Lord a comic book headliner
KPCC's pop culture blogger Mike Roe talked with Sam Humphries of L.A. about writing "The Legendary Star-Lord" comic book. The movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" is set to be released August 1. Click the button on the left to hear their entire interview.
Marvel moves this August from making movies about tried and true heroes like Captain America and Iron Man into bold new territory, tackling the universe with "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Watch the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trailer
Marvel's launching several new comic books with that movie's characters, including the Legendary Star-Lord, written by Los Angeles-based Sam Humphries. It's his job to take the relatively unknown character and make comics with him that people care about.
Since Marvel's parent company, Disney, owns the "Star Wars" franchise, Star-Lord — aka Peter Quill — is giving Disney another Han Solo-like character — a scoundrel with a heart of gold. Humphries wanted to set the character in line with the great heroes of Marvel's past.
"Originally it was going to be called Star-Lord, but Marvel has this great tradition of adjectives in titles. You have 'The Incredible Hulk.' You have 'The Amazing Spider-Man.' You have 'The Uncanny X-Men,'" Humphries said. "Peter certainly thinks he's legendary. He thinks he's legendary, because he can shoot fast, and he can fly fast, and he can flirt fast, but the real reason he's the legendary Star-Lord is because he always does the right thing, even when it's the hardest, most difficult, toughest thing for him to do."
Quill's an orphan whose mom was killed by aliens and whose dad disappeared into space, but he's not a dark, brooding character like Batman or the recent version of Superman in "Man of Steel" — Peter Quill is in love with what he does.
"His life on Earth wasn't that great, but in space, he's awesome," Humphries said. "On Earth, he's Peter, this kid who gets knocked around, but in space, he's the legendary Star-Lord."
RELATED: The LA County comic book ban
It's a character that much of the world isn't familiar with — even comics fans.
"Even being a huge Marvel nerd growing up, I don't even know if I was aware of Star-Lord, because he was so obscure," Humphries said. "He had maybe a dozen comic books to his name for the first 15 years he was around, and then about 10 years ago, Keith Giffen and Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning really kind of pulled him out of obscurity."
(Sam Humphries relaxing after Comic-Con 2010. Image: Sam Humphries' Tumblr blog)
Humphries has a love for science fiction — his breakout book was "Our Love Is Real," a darkly comic sci-fi love story — and he's pouring into this story.
"It is a way to comment [on the world] in a way that doesn't turn people off and doesn't come across as preachy. You never want to come across as preachy, even when you really have a burning need to say something, to stand up and say 'I think this is bad,' or 'this is wrong,' 'we're going down the wrong path,' because with sci-fi you can dress it up with aliens and spaceships."
The fact that Star-Lord is taking the lead on the big screen makes it a little easier for Humphries to share what he does.
"When I write something like Star-Lord, and I can point to 'Guardians of the Galaxy' ... and tell my mom that's what I'm writing, and then she understands. She's like, 'Oh, that's Chris Pratt, I know who that is!'"
Humphries says that the explosion of superheroes in the mass media has finally made writing comics cool.
"Green Arrow is a television heartthrob, with his abs and everything?! I mean, come on, that's nuts!" Humphries said. "And now Chris Pratt's playing [Star-Lord] in a groovy red leather jacket, and he's going to be in this big movie coming out in, like, a month, and I don't know, the nerds have inherited the Earth, I guess."
Humphries isn't privy to the film yet beyond what everyone else has seen, but he believes what he's doing is in line with what's resonated about this character on the big screen. To write the Legendary Star-Lord, Humphries dove back into the character's history to reacquaint himself with the material.
"You read comics just for enjoyment, and you kind of experience, 'Oh, that was cool,' but it's good to go back and remind yourself just what actually made you feel good reading this comic book. What made you feel interested in this character? Why'd you relate to this person?"
Humphries says the aspect of Star-Lord that he relates to is being a smart-ass.
"A smart-ass always thinks he's the funniest person in the room, even if it's not true, and I speak from experience. So even though Peter is a smart-ass, and I love that about him, and I'm going to lean into that, part of the equation of being a smart-ass is being checked a lot, both by your friends and your enemies, who don't think you're as funny as you think you are."
Humphries is volleying story back and forth with Brian Michael Bendis, who's been writing the main Guardians of the Galaxy comic for the past year.
"[Bendis is] so generous with ideas, and he's so generous with setups," Humphries said. "We're all kind of building a new corner of the Marvel universe together. Not building from scratch, but we're coalescing, like a bunch of gas in space coalescing into becoming a giant star."
Those other spacefaring Marvel comics include Rocket Raccoon, Captain Marvel (Marvel's version, not the classic DC character), Cyclops (of X-Men fame) and Nova.
Now that his book is out in the world, Humphries is going to be doing some signings, as well as meeting fans at San Diego Comic-Con later this month.
"Comic books can tend to be a very anti-social profession. You sit at a table all day, either writing on a keyboard or drawing on a tablet, or a piece of paper, and your collaborators can be all over the world. My editor's in New York, and I've probably worked with more artists outside of the U.S. than I have inside of the U.S. And there's all sorts of time zones, and geographic barriers, and sometimes language barriers, and you feel that synergy, but it's not quite the same as working in Cheers or something."
Humphries says he meets everyone from professionals to other creative types, and that while comics have grown up, a lot of those fans will bring their kids.
Humphries has also taken steps to be less anti-social — even though there's no company office to go to, he now shares an office space with Bryan Lee O'Malley, the creator of Scott Pilgrim, and Andy Khouri, the editor-in-chief of major comic book news site Comics Alliance. They work together here in Southern California.
"Los Angeles really is just my favorite place. I just think it's the greatest place in the world. Moving here is one of the best things I've ever done," Humphries said. "And it's not just the weather, but it's also the culture and the cultural diversity. It's the respect for creative professions, and also the respect for the underdog in the creative professions. You can do something independent and small scale, and people really get into that."
He says he also loves the area's outdoor opportunities — and the food. He points out that while the editorial side may still be in New York, the movies, TV shows, cartoons, video games, toys and everything else is based in L.A. Their distinguished competition, DC Comics, is in the process of moving to Burbank.
While Humphries has become one of Marvel's go-to guys for new projects, he's still working on keeping his indie cred.
"One genre of sorts that I've always wanted to tackle that is going to be one of my next projects is political satire. While I'm here at KPCC, I figured I might as well bring up political satire to make myself seem a little smarter," Humphries said, laughing. "I can't say it's going to be inspiring. This is not going to be the inspiring tale of somebody who does the right thing."
He says he wants to use this story to put some of his personal outrage onto the page.
"When you go through the process of making a comic book, or a TV show, or a movie," Humphries said, "you really process why some of these things are important to you, these things that make you angry, and why that anger is important and how to really channel that into something that's lasting, instead of a silly rant on Twitter."
He's also looking forward to working outside the constraints of superhero comics.
"I think there's a darker edge of outrage that can be expressed. I mean, hell, just stay tuned to KPCC and you'll hear plenty to be outraged about, there's no shortage of things to be outraged about."
Still, he's not forgetting his love for superheroes.
"Superheroes are great because they are heroes, and even the gray area characters, they do strive to be the best kind of people that they can be. And there's something that's very inspiring, not just to read, but also to write," Humphries said. "And I think the superpowers, the spaceships, the suits of armor, the green skin guys, whatever, some people find that unrealistic, but I think it just takes our internal dramas, which is really just the core of any drama, and just writes them in such a big scale, epic way, that we can't help but feel triumphant and feel inspired right along with them."
"The Legendary Star-Lord" came out this week and is available in comic book stores everywhere, as well as digitally. "Guardians of the Galaxy" hits theaters Aug. 1.
Miss the fireworks? A listener helps out.
In case you were out of the city over the long July 4 weekend and missed your local fireworks, legal and/or illegal, we got this email from Off-Ramp listener Carleton Christy, along with the photo and sound file.
I recorded this from my roof in north Long Beach on the night o the 4th, 2014, about 9:30 PM.
You can hear a low, rolling thunder sound under all the big pops. The low rumble is the hundreds, probably thousands of large fireworks reverberating from around LA and Orange Counties. There really isn't much hiss in this recording; it's all firework sounds. The big bangs are all kinds of fireworks, including some big, seemingly professional-grade ones from closer by.
Peace!
Thanks, Carleton!
After suffering aneurysms, artist Siike Donnelly fights to remember how to draw
Thirty-two-year-old graphic novelist Siike Donnelly wants to redefine himself, but he can’t really remember the first 25 years of his life. Several brain aneurysms have left him with lasting memory damage and a new life to adjust to.
The first aneurysm ruptured one night at dinner. He stepped out for some air when his friend found him flat on the ground.
"As far as I know, it felt like a grenade going off in my head. And it felt like dying," Siike says. "But I don’t remember it."
Donnelly suffered the most damage to his temporal lobe, where visual memory is located. That means it's for him to hold onto images, even after seeing something moments ago. For example: if you asked him what an apple looked like, he could describe it to you, but no image would come up in his head — that makes it difficult to draw.
"Closing my eyes and seeing something in my head — I can’t," he says. "It’s just darkness…literally blindness when I close my eyes."
Since then five other aneurysms have formed in Siike’s head, but doctors caught them before they ruptured.
For Siike, life is more like "Groundhog Day" than "Memento." He can create new memories but the visuals don’t stick. Initially he relied on a white board for clues. Crucial facts about his life—his name, who his mother is—were reduced to bullets points.
RELATED: Siike Donnelly guests on Dan Harmon's podcast "Harmontown"
These days, Siike lives by routine. He does the same thing at the same time every day. His neurologist said the routine will help repair his memory. But maintaining it's a daily struggle.
"Day to day life can be extremely frustrating, even with a routine because now that it is a routine, when something throws you off-track, it affects you even more," Siike says.
The first rupture severely damaged his long-term memory. Events from when he was younger became hard to recall — his mom took it pretty hard.
"Going through a photo book affected her, because every mom, when they look at you, they see the six-year-old, they see the eight-year-old," Siike says. "She wants to reminisce of all these times that make her happy and now I can’t share those moments with her."
After finding a steady job, Siike got to work on Solestar, his first ever widely published graphic novel. It follows a man who gained superpowers in the wake of Hiroshima. Among the powers he gets—he learns the exact day he’ll die. So he decides to start converting his enemies to good.
Siike assembled 72 artists to draw the ninety-six-page comic. You'll see work by "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" co-creator Kevin Eastman, "Simpsons" illustrator Bill Morrison. Profits from the comic benefitted the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. In just under a week, he raised $10,000 through Kickstarter to fund the comic.
(Solestar cover art by Bill Morrison)
So, did Siike's condition bring him attention he wouldn’t otherwise have gotten—did the aneurysms make him a published author?
Donnelly says he likes to think that would've happened anyway, but he adds that the accident made him a better artist. Before the rupture, he said, his art was darker and more disturbing. Now he focuses on the beauty of human complexity.
His latest graphic novel follows a robot as he searches for his soul. By creating art, the robot learns what it means to be human.
To read more about Siike's work and download previews of his comics, visit his website.
The social worker who rescued Taylor Orci from child abuse
With the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services on the hot seat once again after another child it was monitoring was killed by a family member, Off-Ramp commentator Taylor Orci remembers the County social worker who rescued her.
I was standing outside my fourth grade classroom when my teacher told me to lie.
A few days before, my teacher had asked me if anything was wrong. Creative writing was my favorite subject, and a disturbing story I had written about vampires had led her to ask me if I was having problems at home. I was.
I told her about not having enough food to eat, seeing body parts I shouldn't have been seeing. I told her about my favorite hiding spots in my house where I'd go when I felt like my life was in danger — under the wicker loveseat because it made me feel like I was at a tea party.
The answers gushed forth. I mean, why wouldn't they? The TV always said to tell a trusted adult if something was wrong, and Mrs. Palmer was an adult I could trust — after all, she made sure my clay cheetah didn't break in the kiln that one time during arts and crafts.
And now I was standing outside the classroom where I confided in her, next to my dad who'd shown up without me knowing. Both of their faces looking down on me with equal parts worry and disapproval.
"Tell your teacher you made this up," said my dad.
"I made it up," I told my teacher.
"Tell your dad you're sorry," said my teacher.
"I'm sorry," I told my dad.
"She has a wild imagination," my dad said.
"Oh I know, what stories!" said my teacher.
And then my dad took me home and we never spoke of it again.
Until a few months later a miracle happened.
I was playing handball outside with my next door neighbor when a man in a white car with the county seal of Los Angeles drove into our cul-de-sac in La Verne. Our tranquil suburb was what Vernon Howell used as a kind of test kitchen for his Branch Davidians before he went down in a blaze of glory in Waco as David Koresh. We were full of secrets.
The man had a black mustache and asked if my dad was home. I told him he was. I thought he was his friend. I was 9; I thought all men with mustaches were friends.
My neighbor and I kept playing handball as the sun turned the sky colors that matched my bright purple handball. I had almost forgotten there was a man in my house until he came out with my dad. I saw the look on his face, the same combination of worry and disapproval he had before. I knew this man wasn't his friend.
"Sweetheart, this man wants to ask you some questions," my dad knelt down and looked me in the eyes so intensely I thought I would shatter into pieces. "And whatever you do: tell him the truth." I waved goodbye to my next door neighbor and told him I'd see him tomorrow. I didn't know I wouldn't see him for three years.
The man took me to my room and explained he was a social worker. He told me a family member had told their therapist about my situation and the therapist called the county and sent him. He asked me to tell the truth.
I remembered my dad telling me the same thing, and where telling the truth got me the last time I did it. And despite my better judgment, I told him everything I had told my teacher months earlier. Then he told me to pack my bag because I was going to live with my mom and stepdad.
Driving to my mom's house, I felt so grateful for that man with the mustache. I had become so used to not trusting adults, but this social worker proved you could in fact trust some adults — just not all of them.
I wanted him around all the time to make sure I didn't get hurt. I asked if we could keep in touch. I had a pen pal that lived in Oregon so I knew I was good at it. He said thank you, but that wasn't possible. I remember sitting in the backseat of his county-issued vehicle, which to me was as good as a prince's white horse, knowing my life was about to change. I just didn't know how.
I know I had one of the good experiences, I know there are many more that are tragedies upon horror stories. I just hope more stories will end like mine, and not like the ones that become headlines… about children with no adults to trust, kids who try to save themselves, over and over again.
Womanhouse: Hollywood and CalArt's 'bad-dream house' of immersive feminist art
In fall of 1971, artists Judy Chicago and Miriam Shapiro co-founded the Feminist Art Program at CalArts. The program was the first of its kind, and they decided to start with with a project called Womanhouse. The professors and their 25 students transformed a run-down Hollywood mansion into an enormous and immersive feminist art exhibition.
The program then was brand new — so new, the studios for the feminist art students were still under construction.
Rather than wait, Chicago and Shapiro enlisted their students to find a space of their own, where they could work in what Chicago called an “exclusively female environment.”
A group of students found an empty, deteriorating mansion on a residential street in Hollywood. They sent a letter to the owner of the house, who made them an offer: they could use the house rent-free for three months, but once Womanhouse was over, it would be demolished.
The owner had a deal, and the students got to work.
For Chicago, one of the most important feminist artists of the 20th century, the renovations were just as important as the art projects that followed. In an essay about Womanhouse, she wrote, “One of the goals of the program is to teach women to use power equipment, tools and building techniques. The House provided a natural context for the women to learn these things.”
With just two months to revamp all 17 rooms of the neglected house, the group had their work cut out for them.
"So we worked really, really hard for a few months. We repaired the doors and painted and made the house, sort of... not habitable, but usable, with our sweat equity," says Christine Rush, a graduate of the program.
An essential part of the art-making process for Chicago and Shapiro was an exercise called “consciousness raising,” which was sort of like group therapy: participants sit in a circle, a topic is introduced and each person is given a chance to speak.
"When we did consciousness raising it was of course about women, and about us as women. It brought out a lot of stories and crying and memories," says Rush. "And a lot of that became our artwork."
These group sessions were often emotional and tense. Mira Schor, another graduate of the program, remembers a consciousness raising session where Chicago asked all of the women to join hands in a circle and chant the word “mommy.” Then she told them to imagine being at their mother’s funeral. Schor says it left her in tears.
Chicago was always eager to talk about sensitive subjects. And sometimes she got pushy about it.
"Judy was very dynamic and she just made everybody pissed off. I remember yelling at Judy once and just getting really mad at her and then she said, 'Well, let’s go have a fist fight, Chris.' So we went into the theater room and we started… I really tried to slug her," says Rush. "I’m sure she would have done me in if... but I was really angry with her."
When they weren’t working on raising their consciousness, the women devoted almost every hour of their time to making art in Womanhouse.
The pieces had names like “Menstruation Bathroom” and “Bridal Staircase,” and most of the work took up entire rooms. Robin Weltch painted every inch of the kitchen a bright, Pepto Bismol pink and then covered the walls in fake fried eggs that slowly transformed into breasts as they climbed up the wall. She called it “Nurturant Kitchen.”
http://youtu.be/RvxjDpv3l_o?t=55s
"I remember watching them respond to Judy’s Kotex room, which for me was shocking anyway, because there was a Kotex hanging out with blood on it, and I found having a period gross. But I was so glad that she did it, it was so brave," says Rush. "And these men, they just would look at it and go, 'Oh gross,' or 'Awful, ugh, yuck.'”
There was performance art too, like Faith Wilding's "Waiting":
On January 30, 1972, Womanhouse opened to the public — allowing only female visitors on the first day.
Around 10,000 people came to see Womanhouse in the months that followed. Time magazine did an article titled “Bad-Dream House.” An LA Times article described it as a “lair of female creativity.” For many visitors, this was the first time they’d ever seen feminist art.
"It was just something that had never been done before, and we pulled it off. And it was really pretty exciting and wonderful," says Rush. "I’m very proud of it."
RECIPE: LA restauranteur Piero Selvaggio cooks for Sophia Loren's 80th
Next weekend (July 19), Sophia Loren and 400 of her closest friends, including her son Carlo Ponti and actor Robert Redford, will be celebrating the iconic actor's 80th birthday. With Michael Ciarello, LA restauranteur Piero Selvaggio, owner of Valentino in Santa Monica, is in charge of the food.
RELATED: Hear how Selvaggio changed the face of food in America
I asked Selvaggio, "Who was your ideal of beauty when you were growing up?"
Dumb question when you're talking to a guy who grew up in Italy.
"For any Italian of my generation, there is only one name: Sophia Loren."
(Publicity still of Sophia Loren, c. 1959)
Loren's party is part of Festival del Sole, held at Far Niente vineyards in Napa. It's sold out, so instead, cook up some pasta and enjoy one of Loren's classic films.
Polpo Con Patate e Intingolo di Prezzemolo e Capperi
(Octopus And Potato Salad With Parsley And Caper)
Inspired by the Menu for Sophia Loren’s Bella Italia! Tribute at Far Niente, by Chef Nico Chessa, Valentino Santa Monica
Serves 4 as an appetizer
POLPO
1 large (tenderized frozen octopus) defrosted
1 orange
2 lemons (1 for garnish)
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 bay leaf
1 cup vino bianco (white wine)
6 cherry tomatos (for garnish)
In a large stockpot with two gallons of water, add half of the orange and the lemon plus the rest of the above ingredients except the octopus. You will add that after the water is been boiling for 15 minutes.
Cook the polpo for 1 hour and then turn off the power and let it chill down in the liquid. Now gently peel the gelatin-like skin leaving the suction attached to the meat (tentacles) cut it to a one-inch pieces and place it in a mixing bowl.
POTATO
1 large Yukon potato boiled and cut into half-inch cubes
CONDIMENT
½ bunch of Italian parsley finely chopped
1 tblspoon of caper finely chopped
2 tblspoon of extra virgin olive oil (yes, Italian!)
PLATING
Mix the polpo, the potato, and the condiment adding only pepper (no salt), add garnishes of lemon slices and halved cherry tomatoes around the edge of the dish for a beautiful presentation. Serve at once and enjoy it with a good glass of white wine and, of course, good company.
Recipe: If you grill your hamburger, you're doing it wrong
As the Fourth of July approaches, Angelenos of all stripes are firing up their grill and putting on it the most American of foods: the hamburger.
But according to food writers like the New York Times' Sam Sifton and the L.A. Times' Russ Parsons, if you're grilling your burger, you're cheating yourself.
Instead, Parsons says, use a heavy stovetop pan like a cast iron skillet or griddle.
"You get great surface contact all the way across the burger," he says. "On a grill you've got the bars, and so there's parts of the hamburger that are in contact with the hot metal, and you'll get striping. But there's other parts that aren't, and you don't get the same kind of crust that you can off a griddle."
You can put steaks, chicken, tri-tip, just about anything on a grill. But, says Parsons, burgers should be the last thing.
Recipe: Russ Parson's basic hamburger patty
(makes 6 patties)
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ground beef — 20-25% fat
- Salt, pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon grape seed oil
Directions:
- Warm a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat with the oil. If no cast iron is available, any heavy pan will do.
- In a mixing bowl, sprinkle ground beef with salt and pepper and lightly toss the beef so the seasoning is worked through but the ground beef still retains its consistency.
- Patting lightly, form the ground beef into 6-to-7-ounce patties, a little wider than the diameter of a coffee mug. Gently press a dimple into the center of each patty — this keeps the burger's surface even and prevents rounding. If you have time, refrigerate 30 minutes to set the fat.
- Place the patties on the hot pan and leave untouched — this is where the crust forms and the fat outside renders; poking and prodding the patty too much will hamper that. When about three minutes have gone by, check to see if the patty can move easily. If it sticks, a crust hasn't formed.
- Flip the patty and cook for another three minutes for medium doneness. Remove from the pan and serve immediately with the bun and condiments of your choice.
Here's Sam Sifton's video on how to cook a burger indoors:
LA band Harbor Party pays tribute to Yacht Rock
UPDATE: Harbor Party is playing The Satellite in Silver Lake on Tuesday, March 15. Doors at 8:30, music at 9:00, and it's free.
Off-Ramp host John Rabe talks with Landon Beard, lead singer for Harbor Party, which plays yacht rock every Tuesday night at Rockwell in Los Feliz.
Yacht Rock: Another name for the adult-contemporary musical movement in the late 1970's and the early 1980's. It was defined mostly by its smooth sound. Popular Yacht Rockers include: Kenny Loggins, the Doobie Brothers, and Steely Dan. — Urban Dictionary definition
Talk about your guilty pleasures. Some people watch old McMillan & Wife episodes; others read Jackie Collins novels. Me? I like Yacht Rock — music that comes from a simpler and possibly better time. If that floats your boat, too, slip on your Topsiders and join Harbor Party late Tuesday nights at the music club Rockwell.
Tickets for Harbor Party are just five bucks - cheap!
I caught what turned out to be Harbor Party's first performance. After the show, I talked with lead singer and
, former backup singer for Frankie Valli, who hails from the port of San Diego. "We figured out it's specifically a genre of music that was written between 1978 and 1984. Tends to be your Hall & Oates, Kenny Loggins, Toto, Christopher Cross, Michael MacDonald, who were brilliant songwriters."
Christopher Cross singing "Sailing" in 1980
Beard says he got hooked to yacht rock listening to his dad's music when he was only 6-years-old, and he admits that yacht rock might seem "fluffy" at first. But Harbor Party — most of whom are elite USC music grads — find the tunes "super, super tough."
A lot of music now, he says, is about solo singers and a brand more than an act. There's something to be said for when that musicianship was still so strong. "I mean, when we're really picking out things, there are 4, 5, 6 parts on certain songs. It's a blend, it's harmony still."
VIDEO: Watch a casual home movie of "Harbor Party" doing an Eagles tune
Why is it called yacht rock? "I actually don't know who coined the term but I think it's so apropos. It's sad to say, but it's like white people in boat shoes."
Spoiler alert: Beard does not own a yacht, and he can't even sail a boat. But the music of Harbor Party is smooth sailing.
RELATED: Watch Hollywood Steve Huey's hilarious series on the history of yacht rock
Harbor Party is playing the late set (10 p.m.) at Rockwell every Tuesday night. The band also includes Alex "Huntington Newport" Ellis, backing vocals; John Schroeder, guitar; Jack Kovacs, bass; Dan Reckard, keyboard & sax; and Ben Rose and Sam Brawner, drums.