CyberFrequencies ... chef Mark Peel joins Off-Ramp ... Jerry Brown Parody Ads ... Dan Walters on 50 years in newspapers ... An East LA polleria that observes strict Muslim dietary laws ... The Roving Archers ... Lou Adler and The Fabulous Stains ... Do we have just one true love in our lives?
Al-Salaam Polleria: Where cultures converge
When you're driving down Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, look for the huge fiberglass rooster sitting on a roof. It's the Al-Salaam Polleria. It's a live-poultry shop that sells halal chickens slaughtered according to Muslim dietary laws. What's a halal chicken shop doing in a mostly Latino neighborhood? Sabiha Khan reports for Off-Ramp.
You can visit the famous polleria yourself! Info below.
3980 Whittier Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90023
(323) 267-1857
Vintage Jerry Brown Parody Ads
Meg Whitman's attack ads reminded me of the parody spots I wrote a few years ago, when Jerry Brown first ran for state attorney general. Switch "attorney general" for "Governor" and they still work.
Vox Pop: One true love?
Off-Ramp intern Bridget Read asked passers-by one of the eternal questions: "Is there one, and only one, true love per person?"
(For Mary and Nick Roman, KPCC's Senior News Editor, it's been 25 years! Photo by Patricia Nazario.)
SacBee's Dan Walters' 50 Years in Newspapers - from copyboy to columnist
Dan Walters is now the Sacramento Bee's political columnist. He's been there since 1984, an admirable tenure for anyone. But his career in newspapers goes back much further. He broke into the business as a copy boy, in 1960. Off-Ramp host John Rabe talked with Walters about the old, new, and future days. (This is the long version of the interview.)
Photo: News stand in Hollywood, 1960. (Credit: LAPL/William Reagh)
Hearing and Learning to Play the Shofar
UPDATE: We're reposting this segment for Rosh Hashanah, which begins at sunset on Wednesday, September 28.
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The Jewish month of Elul begins at sunset on Monday, August 9th. Every day during Elul, until Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, observant Jews will want to hear the shofar, the animal horn.
Michael Chusid, Angelino and author of "Hearing Shofar: The Still Small Voice of the Ram’s Horn," joins Off-Ramp host John Rabe in the Crawford Family Forum to teach us about the shofar ... and teach John how to play it.
COME INSIDE for a link to Michael's book.
CyberFrequencies and the Father of Virtual Reality
CyberFrequencies is Off-Ramp's look at life on the web, from Queena Kim and Tanya Miller.
50 Years with the Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball
Let's head to the beach with Off-Ramp's beach correspondent, Brian Watt.
The city of Manhattan Beach--home to the Harvey Wallbanger cocktail and the first video store Quentin Tarantino worked in--got it's name from a coin toss between two land owners. Had it handed the other way, we'd call it "Shore Acres." Manhattan Beach is also home to one of the most famous beach volleyball tournaments in the country. KPCC's Brian Watt stopped by to talk with some of the tournaments' founding players.
Mark Peel joins Off-Ramp, explains tipping from the inside out
Mark Peel -- chef-owner of Campanile, The Point, and Tar Pit; first chef-de-cuisine at Spago; celebrity chef; and good explainer -- has joined Team Off-Ramp as a regular commentator. He'll be talking about food, and giving us the inside view of restaurants. This time, he explains how restaurant staffs handle tipping.
(Campanile Restaurant's campanile, the tower that caps the old Charlie Chaplin building, photographed by John Rabe using the Hipstamatic iPhone app.)
Mark Peel joins Off-Ramp as a regular contributor this weekend, talking about how tipping works in restaurants - legally and morally. But while Off-Ramp host John Rabe was at Mark's restaurant, Campanile, he had Mark take him through the busy kitchen. Mark got excited when he spied a huge bowl of mushrooms that look like cooked lobster claws, so they made a movie. (Appropriate, since Campanile is in Charlie Chaplin's old offices on LaBrea.
Mark Peel on the lobster mushroom from 89.3 KPCC on Vimeo.
Lou Adler's one "failure" -- The Fabulous Stains
By 1981, Lou Adler had a huge pile of successes, from managing Jan and Dean, to co-producing Monterey Pop, to winning the Grammy for "Tapestry," to discovering Cheech and Chong. Then, as he tells Alex Ben Block of the Hollywood reporter, came the movie, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains." It was a commercial flop but an underground success.
The Pasadena Roving Archers
Pasadena's Lower Arroyo Seco Park is a great place to walk along a river, sit under tree and shoot an arrow.
After all, this is where "The Adventures of Robin Hood," one of the best movies of all time, was shot in 1938. Now, every Saturday morning, dozens of people head to the park, bow and arrow in hand to join the Pasadena Roving Archers. Cyndi Bemel has the story.
On the train with Metrolink CEO John Fenton
KPCC's Brian Watt boards a train in San Bernadino to talk with Metrolink CEO John Fenton. Come inside for a Flickr slideshow!
Two years ago Sunday, 25 Metrolink passengers died when their train hit a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth. The Metrolink engineer was texting at the time of the accident. The wreck spurred an exhaustive investigation into the incident, along with a huge staffing and safety overhaul. Two years later, Metrolink wants to show that it's now safer and more reliable.
Click here for a Flickr slideshow of Brian's ride!