Off-Ramp's junior reporters tour the newest/oldest wing of LA's Natural History Museum ... The LA Garment Citizen shuts down ... LA's best hot dogs on the Eat-LA/Off-Ramp Collaboration ... Remembering animator Pres Romanillos ... Dinner Party Download ... Slot cars!
Off-Ramp's Junior Reporters Explore Natural History Museum new/old Beaux-Arts Building
The restored building, originally designed in 1913 opened its doors last week. Team Off-Ramp, along with junior reporters Avery Lopez (12) and Sophia Lopez (10), checked out animal dung, uncovered fossils and spoke with County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Hollywood Walk of Fame Turns 50
In celebration of the Hollywood Walk of Fame's golden anniversary, take a listen to Off-Ramp Walk of Fame stories of the past.
Hollywood historian Alex Ben Block (a contributing editor at the Hollywood Reporter) takes us to five stars on the Walk of Fame you should know, and Christopher Murray tells John about his attempts to get a star for his late mother, Oscar-nominated actress Hope Lange.
RIP Garment & Citizen: Lack of ad revenue shuts down community newspaper
Jerry Sullivan, Off-Ramp contributor and founder, editor, and publisher of the LA Garment and Citizen newspaper, shut down the weekly Friday. His only regret - as he explains in a commentary that is also finding its way into the Congressional Record - is that he didn't find a way to keep the paper going after ten years.
Eat-LA/Off-Ramp Collaboration: Best Hot Dogs in LA County, and some not so hot
Eat-LA's Colleen Bates tells Off-Ramp's John Rabe and Kevin Ferguson where to go for the best hot dogs -- like Pasadena's messy "Slaw Dog," above.
RIP Pres Romanillos, 47 - gentle animator who made animals human and villains more villainous
Off-Ramp animation expert Charles Solomon remembers his friend Pres Romanillos, a well-regarded and well-loved animator who brought life to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, and many other films. He died Saturday of leukemia at the age of 47.
Romanillos had skill, an eye, and wit, as you can see in his drawing (above) of Charles as a samurai.
COME INSIDE for Charles' LA Times piece on Romanillos.
LA Record: Los Angeles' Best Selling Free News Poster
If you’ve walked into a coffee shop or a record store, you might have seen them: giant posters of local bands recreating classic album covers, like Marvin Gaye, Elvis Costello, or Blondie. On the other side of those posters is a local magazine committed to supporting Los Angeles musicians of all stripes: hip-hop, soul, rock, noise... It’s called LA Record and if you’ve heard of bands like No Age, Flying Lotus and the Cold War Kids, you can thank them in part: LA Record gave those artists some of their very first interviews. The paper is celebrating their 100th issue, so Off-Ramp’s Kevin Ferguson met with editor and co-founder Chris Ziegler in his Long Beach apartment, where he and others still produce the paper.
Dinner Party Download
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A Race Down Memory Lane
You remember slot cars, right? Those miniature model cars you race down guided tracks. If you grew up with them it's probably been years since you've raced them but that could all change today, Saturday the 24th. The Petersen Automotive Museum on WIlshire is hosting an all day slot car race until 7 o'clock tonight. It's put on by the FarrOut Slot Racing Club. KPCC's Brian Watt stopped by the club's headquarters in Glendale.