Jeff Mallett on Diagnosis: Triathlete ... Riding the Angels Flight once again ... Father Boyle's big idea: give gangstas an alternative besides jail ... Dinner Party Download makes you smarter, sweetens your breath ... and so much more.
"Frazz" cartoonist Jef Mallett diagnoses self: Triathlon Addict
KPCC's Sharon McNary -- who ran the LA Marathon on Off-Ramp last year -- interviews Jef Mallett about his new book "Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete." It's no surprise, if you read his comic strip "Frazz," that Mallett is a dedicated (diagnosed) triathlete. This is the long version of their interview, complete with an unplanned appearance by the Mallett family dog.
Come inside to see Jef's TriCave - where he keeps all his water bottles, sweaty jumpsuits, and race jerseys - and to buy a copy of "Trizophrenia" and have the proceeds benefit KPCC.
(Jef in his Gladiator's Helmet. Credit: WKAR's Scott Pohl)
Hey, click over on the left to listen to Sharon run the LA Marathon last year.
Surrealist film festival in Downtown LA Sunday
Off-Ramp host John Rabe's mercifully short film "The Vigil" screens Sunday night at the International Surrealist Film Festival. COME INSIDE for details, and join John and other more famous guests at the festival.
Paul Yates, founder of Surrealist Film Fest, discovers surrealist art in Silverlake from 89.3 KPCC on Vimeo.
KPCC's John Rabe interviews surrealist Paul Yates about the International Surrealist Film Festival, Sunday, March 21st, at Downtown Independent Theatre, at 8pm. Rabe's film "The Vigil" and a dozen other films will screen. There will be prizes.
Here’s my film, in case you can’t make it to the festival.
The Vigil - A New Movie from KPCC's John Rabe from 89.3 KPCC on Vimeo.
"Reach a certain moment in your life and you discover that your days are spent as much with the dead as ... with the living."
-- Paul Auster
Check out John's weekly show Off-Ramp.
Kids v Boeing over Santa Susana Cleanup
A group of high school students who call themselves Teens Against Toxins are trying to shame Boeing into more fully cleaning up a toxic area in Canoga Park - the old Rocketdyne site. Their efforts, including a bake sale and an open letter in The Huffington Post, led to a meeting Monday at Boeing.
John talks with two of the teens involved, Devyn Gortner and Robin Estrin, and then with Boeing spokeswoman Karama Sams. COME INSIDE for more details.
I am writing this letter to urge you to clean up the nuclear contamination that was left after the Rocketdyne meltdown that occurred in 1959.
So starts teenager Robin Estrin’s open letter to Boeing, posted at HuffPo and on Michael Moore’s website.
The Santa Susana Field Lab where the accident occurred is not too far from my neighborhood. I understand that you have begun pursuing a lawsuit to rid yourself of the legal responsibility you have to clean up your mess. … Please, try to look at it from my point of view … When my teammates practice lacrosse three times a week at our park, we have to worry about the safety of the air we breathe and the soil we play on.
Robin’s father is Eric Estrin, who led LA Observed’s screenplay project and is contributing editor at The Wrap.
Father Gregory Boyle's "Tattoos on the Heart"
For more than two decades Father Gregory Boyle has been a fixture in East Los Angeles.
He entered the neighborhood as the head pastor of the Dolores Mission Church and became involved in helping gang members – known as "homies" – get jobs and turn around their lives.
Today he’s the executive director of Homeboy Industries, which trains gang members for the workforce.
Father Boyle has a new book out, it’s called "Tattoos on the Heart" and Off-Ramp producer Queena Kim brings us this interview with him.
Autry's Native Voices Theater Series starts with "Tales of an Urban Indian"
The Autry National Center in Griffith Park opened its 10th season of its Native Voices theater series with
"Tales of an Urban Indian." It’s a one-man show about Simon Douglas, a young man who grows up on a reservation, moves to the big city, ends up on skid row, then pulls himself out.
Writer and performer Darrel Dennis says that it’s a story about redemption based on a familiar theme.
Angels Flight resumes in downtown LA after 9-year break
Some of downtown Los Angeles' history got back on track Monday morning after a nine-year break. The Angels Flight funicular is shuttling passengers up and down Bunker Hill again and KPCC's Brian Watt was there to take the first ride.
Dinner Party Download breaks the ice with Joke Show
The downloadable Dinner Party Download, with Rico Gagliano and Brendan Newnam, always features an "icebreaker," the joke that will help you on your way to becoming the life of the dinner party. The best part is that these are not just jokes, but the favorite jokes of people like The Watson Twins, Leslie Caron, Tom Jones, and Billy Bragg. These jokes have bona fides that guarantee your success, or at least an alibi. (Shrugging, nonchalantly, "Well, Tom Jones thought it was funny.") Now, for the first time, DPD collects these hilarititans together. Come inside to find out who is telling the jokes.
“Two deers” - The Watson Twins
“What is fate?” - MC Frontalot
“Descartes walks into a bar” - Abigail Chapin of The Chapin Sisters
“The butcher store” - Chad Brown aka The Lonesome Cowboy
“Two sausages” - Buck AE Down of The Mutaytor
“Huntin’ buddies” - Jere Cherryholmes of Cherryholmes
“The lifeguard & the hippie” - Christopher Owens of Girls
“How long have I got?” - Sam Amidon
“Cheeseburger, fries & a coke” - Music blogger Spencer Lee
“You can float around the building” - Aaron Britt
“You must be single” - Rich Fulcher
“Isle of Dogs” - Josie Long
“How many Freudians?” - Billy Bragg
“The vacuuming Buddhist” - Natasha Leggero
“A mainstream cloud” - Cass McCombs
“Fortunately there was a haystack” - Stewart Brand
“Funniest joke to Belgians” - MC Frontalot
“Frank Sinatra” - Black Francis of The Pixies
“The Churchgoing biker” - Jessica Hundley
“The Jewish mother” - Robert Zuckerman
“Big fat orange head” - Phil Hay
“I would never tell a joke” - Leslie Caron