Mateo Stoneman's secret ... The mother of all LA photo books ... Metallica as I knew them, by Steven Cuevas ... trying to Vanish in America ... Brian Watt controls air traffic, kinda of ... CyberFrequencies and the Rosetta Project.
Taschen's Big Book of Intimate Portraits of LA
Off-Ramp host John Rabe went to the gala unveiling (a benefit for the LA Conservancy) of a new Taschen book called “Los Angeles: Portrait of a City,” which historian and preservationist Chris Nichols says is “without a doubt the most comprehensive visual history of L.A. ever attempted."
This photo, taken in 1940, shows an insanely detailed model of downtown Los Angeles, a WPA project that was displayed at the Museum of Natural History.
From Taschen:
Rise and Sprawl: How Los Angeles Came To Be
A pictorial history of the City of Angels
From the first known photograph taken in Los Angeles to its most recent sweeping vistas, this photographic tribute to the City of Angels provides a fascinating journey through the city's cultural, political, industrial, and sociological history. It traces the city's development from the 1880s' real estate boom, through the early days of Hollywood and the urban sprawl of the late 20th century, right up to the present day. With over 500 images, L.A. is shown emerging from a desert wasteland to become a vast palm-studded urban metropolis.
Events that made world news—including two Olympics, Bobby Kennedy's assassination, and the Rodney King riots—reveal a city of many dimensions. The entertainment capital of the world, Hollywood, and its celebrities are showcased along with many other notable residents, personalities, architects, artists, and musicians. The city's pop cultural movements, its music, surfing, health food fads, gangs, and hot rods are included, as are its notorious crimes and criminals. This book depicts Los Angeles in all its glory and grit, via hundreds of freshly discovered images including those of Julius Shulman, Garry Winogrand, William Claxton and many other superb photographers, culled from major historical archives, museums, private collectors, and universities. These are given context and resonance through essays by renowned California historian Kevin Starr and Los Angeles literature expert David L. Ulin.
About the editor:
Cultural anthropologist and graphic design historian Jim Heimann is Executive Editor for TASCHEN America, and author of numerous books on architecture, pop culture, and the history of the West Coast, Los Angeles, and Hollywood. His unrivaled private collection of ephemera has been featured in museum exhibitions around the world and dozens of books.
About the contributing authors:
Kevin Starr holds a PhD from Harvard University and is Professor of History at the University of Southern California. His many articles and books have won him a Guggenheim Fellowship, Gold and Silver Medals of the Commonwealth Club, the Centennial Medal from Harvard, and the Humanities Medal from the National Endowment of the Humanities.
David L. Ulin is the books editor of the Los Angeles Times. He is the author of "The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction, and the Fault Line Between Reason and Faith," and the editor of "Another City: Writing from Los Angeles" and "Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology." He has written for The Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, and The New York Times Book Review.
The Rosetta Stone gets a high-tech face lift
You've heard of the Rosetta Stone? What about the Rosetta disk? It's a coaster-size disk that's got more than one-thousand of the world's languages and it's designed to last 10,000 years! The Rosetta Project's Laura Welcher explains the challenges of designing a Rosetta Disk that'll last 10,000 years and how the Rosetta disk will be a key for future.
Rabe Takes on World, Universe in Blog
Off-Ramp host John Rabe has a blog that's been called a "must read," and not just by him. Check it out, and please comment.
Brian Watt Brings Jets Home in Air Traffic Control Simulator
KPCC's Brian Watt recently reported on how the FAA is training new air traffic controllers. In his KPCC news piece, he talked with the people who run the facility, and with controllers-in-training, but listeners didn't get to hear the remarkable simulator in action... Now they can!
The simulator uses giant computer screens to recreate the airfield at LAX and computer generated voices from pilots. The trainee can see the planes they're guiding taxi, take off, and land. Brian spoke with Tony DiBernardo, who manages the Control Tower at LAX, about what it's like for new controllers, and got expert instruction from trainer Mark Pawlowski.
Wired Magazine's "Vanish" Contest -- A Special Report
KPCC's Alex Cohen reports on Evan Ratliff's attempts to stay on the grid, but vanish -- even as Wired Magazine put a bounty on his head.
Mateo Stoneman's Secret
Mateo Stoneman made his Anglo media debut in March of 2008 on Off-Ramp. The white mariachi, who I said has "the voice of an angel," was the biggest hit we ever had. Hundreds of listeners bought his CD because of the broadcast, some of them a dozen at a time. For an LA Times profile, the reporter did something I never thought to do -- a criminal background check -- which revealed ...
... where Mateo really learned to play guitar. Now, he tells us the whole whole story, including details the Times left out.
Mateo doesn't have a website, but you can buy his albums, or book him for a wedding or quinceañera, by calling him at 323-215-6479 or emailing him at ml_stoneman@hotmail.com.
The first piece of audio is Mateo's first appearance on Off-Ramp in 2008; the second is an exclusive recording of him playing Frenesi for Off-Ramp listeners. The third is the new interview, and below is an exclusive video of Mateo playing a tune he wrote in prison.
My Metallica
Metallica plays the Honda Center Thursday, December 10th at 7pm. The heavy-metal band was born in LA, but it found stardom in San Francisco. Metallica's biggest fan? KPCC's Steven Cuevas.
- Web Resources:
- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Metallica Online