Democratic bigwigs give their blessing to one congressional hopeful in the OC, the Getty Villa is fully open, its time for the annual festival of books.
Could some sweet Steyer cash give Kevin de León a much-needed boost?
Every week, Take Two takes a look back at politics in the Golden State. This week:
- Governor Jerry Brown says he'll send the state's National Guard to our southern border. So why is President Trump calling the decision a "charade?"
- Democratic bigwigs give the nod to one congressional hopeful in the OC.
- Senator Dianne Feinstein has outraised challenger Kevin de Leon by far, but now de Leon has the support of outspoken billionaire Tom Steyer. It's not clear of the nod comes with some of that sweet, sweet Steyer cash, but it's worth asking: if Steyer plops down some green, will it make a difference? Analyst Thad Kousser thinks so:
I think if this endorsement comes along with a seven-figure check or eight-figures, then it makes a difference. I think there's still room. There's a lot of time. This race is going to November, and Dianne Feinstein's bank account isn't that giant. Ten-million dollars? That's not enough to run a real serious campaign in California if Kevin de Leon's going to get any money.
The reason she has such a commanding lead is [that] he hasn't raised anything. He has like $600 thousand — that's less than most of the congressional candidates are raising as challengers in these contested districts. Kevin de Leon has a great resume, personally, but no money to advertise it right now.
If Tom Steyer doesn't come through with a big check, other donors will look around and say 'geez, if your closet ally who's a billionaire didn't give you any money, we're not gonna give you money. It's hopeless. If he does give a big check, this jumpstarts a campaign that could get pretty serious pretty quickly.
Guests:
- Thad Kousser, professor of political science at UC San Diego
- Marisa Lagos, political reporter at KQED
As governor's race ramps up, a pro-Villaraigosa group received $8M. Get used to hefty donations
California is roughly six months out from the November election when voters will choose the next governor.
As the race heats up, LA philanthropist Eli Broad has donated $1.5 million dollars to the independent pro-charter school group, Families & Teachers for Antonio, which supports Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor. Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings threw in $7 million to the group's coffers.
California Lieutenant Governor and current gubernatorial front runner Gavin Newsom called those donations a "jaw-dropping amount of money."
It can appear like a lot compared to campaign spending in the 2014 governor's race, which was uncharacteristically low. But "if you look at the 2010 gubernatorial race where Meg Whitman spent over $140 million dollars of her own money, it's not particularly jaw-dropping," said Claremont McKenna College political professor,
.
But Pitney also warns that new rules for making it to the primary, will mean more money flowing into the bid for governor. "This is the first truly competitive gubernatorial race under the top-two system," said Pitney. "It's a different kind of dynamic and one would expect to see more independent expenditures as the weeks go on."
The top-two system means that California could wind up with two Democrats competing for the spot, which would make for a much more difficult win for either Villaraigosa or Newsom. If one of the leading democratic candidates was up against one Republican candidates, Pitney said they could say, "game over, the Democrats win," and spend the remainder of the campaign "sipping mint juleps."
There are caps on how much can be donated directly to a candidate but not for independent expenditures that work to get a candidate elected, but do not coordinate directly with the candidate's campaign.
In short, get used to seeing those big bucks flowing into the race for governor.
Getty Villa reopens with shiny new galleries for its ancient art
All of the galleries at the Getty Villa are now open after three years of planning and renovations. The Pacific Palisades institution recently upgraded its space, and reconfigured its collection of ancient Greek, Roman and Etruscan art so it can be better appreciated by visitors.
The Victorious Youth, for example, is a gallant bronze statue that's now the centerpiece of a room featuring other pieces of art dated around 330 to 30 BC.
"Stylistically, they speak to each other," says Timothy Potts, director of the J Paul Getty Museum. "It allows the real masterpieces in this collection to stand out more clearly. It's by seeing The Victorious Youth in the context of other sculptures of the same period you can literally see the qualities, and what differentiates it from some of the other works."
The renovations also added 3,000 square feet of gallery space, which allowed more room to show various pieces.
Some have never been seen by the public before, such as a set of first-century frescos from a villa near Pompei.
"This building was built as a copy of a very famous villa that was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD," says Potts. "No other museum in the world has an ancient collection of Greek and Roman art [like these frescos] in exactly the kind of building that they were meant to be shown in."
The museum hopes to reinvigorate Angelenos' appreciation for classic antiquities with these renovations.
"As long as there's an interest in the ancient world," says Potts, "there really will be a place for the Getty Villa and other museums like this around the world."
Throughout this weekend, the Getty Villa will also host free events to celebrate the galleries' full reopening, from a short comedic opera of Homer's Odyssey to making seed balls in the Villa's Herb Garden. Find more information here.
Before Disneyland, SoCal had Jungleland — home to the world's first female tiger trainer
From 1926 to 1969, a sprawling 170-acre theme park sat about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, complete with petting zoos, animal trainer shows and circus rides.
It was also the home of Mabel Stark, the world's first female tiger trainer. She's the subject of a new documentary out this month, "Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer."
Stark's 57-year career started in the circus and ended in the hills of Thousand Oaks where she worked with tigers at an old amusement park called Jungleland. She died 50 years ago on Friday.
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/mabeltigermovie
"What does it take to get into a cage with tigers?" said filmmaker Leslie Zemeckis, who directed the documentary on Stark's life, "I thought it was going to be a story of courage and I wanted to explore that. And it really turned out to be a story of love."
A classic story
Her story is kind of classic — she actually ran away from a rough early life. She was from Kentucky and living in a poor, abusive home with her alcoholic father. So, she ran away and joined the circus.
After dancing in sideshows for some time, she worked her way out to California the Al G. Barnes circus had their winter quarters in Venice, California. One night she literally came upon a caged tiger and that was the moment she knew.
Love for stripes
Her epiphany came to her in the form of a tiger's call.
She was walking and she heard the call of the tiger. She walked over and saw that the cats were all in cages and she said finally the old boy stopped calling...and she said this huge face turned around and he looked at her, and she was looking at him and something went into her then. It was her epiphany. She had seen her first tiger and she was never going to leave tigers.
Those words from former trainer Roger Smith, whom Zemeckis spoke to for the movie. After that moment, it was nothing but an uphill climb for Stark. For one, she was coming into it as an outsider. The circus back then was set up through generations of families, if you weren't born into the life, it was hard to get in.
On top of that, she had no experience. She was laughed at and told women can't work with tigers. They tried to deter her by putting her in a goat act, but whenever she had the opportunity she snuck in to work with the big cats. In Stark's words, she "all but sold her soul," to do it.
https://vimeo.com/album/4981734/video/255633198 Stark learned her training method, from Louis Roth. Roth was one of the Al G. Barnes Circus' top cat trainers. As a test, he put Stark in with some lions to see how she did, Zemeckis explained:
His method was called the kindness training. It's really slowly talking the animals through cues. It's almost not even reward training. They have a cue and they train the animal to do it.
Kindness training is still used today and takes incredible patience.
"A lot of the people that we talked to that were former trainers say its really in the mind of the animal and the mind of the trainer and getting into their mind," said Zemeckis.
Workplace dangers
Though she worked so intimately with these animals, she was not always in control. Zemeckis detailed one of her most harrowing tales.
Her biggest mauling happened in Bangor, Maine in 1928. They had gotten in late to the circus, she hadn't eaten, her tigers hadn't eaten, there'd been rain, it was muddy and she slipped.
A tiger took advantage of it and then another one joined in and were literally tearing her apart.
About 10 years after the horrific accident, she headed to Thousand Oaks, to a theme park full of exotic animals and shows.
Welcome to (the) Jungleland
For the last 30 years of her career, Stark was a star attraction at Jungleland. After she left the circus, Louis Goebel, the owner of Jungleland gave her the opportunity to continue her work with tigers.
"She started right back in. Worked up an act and performed there twice a day for the next 30 years," said Zemeckis.
A year after Stark died, the park shut down.
"They had lawsuits, animals were getting out and then they couldn't compete with Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, and those kinds of attractions that were coming in," Zemeckis explained.
The now-defunct theme park put Thousand Oaks on the map. Though it struggled in its day, it leaves behind a strong legacy, as the home to one of the world's first female big cat trainers.
A sneak preview of the LA Times Festival of Books
If you're feeling bookish this weekend, the University of Southern California is playing host to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, kicking off Saturday. With hundreds of authors and events, the fest can be a bit daunting, but L.A. Times Book Editor Carolyn Kellogg has some tips and tricks.
What the L.A. Times book editor is most looking forward to at the Festival of Books
I’m really looking forward to one of the conversations I get to have. I get to talk to Patton Oswalt about Michelle McNamara’s book, "I'll Be Gone in the Dark." That was his wife who passed away, but he made sure her book was published. It’s a true crime novel about the Golden State killer. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, he had two or three separate crime sprees across California and those didn’t get tied together until DNA tests in the ‘90s, so nobody knew who was committing rapes in Sacramento.
One of the things I’m also excited about is the author, Jason Reynolds. He writes young adult books. His YA novel "Long Way Down" is a finalist for our book prizes. He’s from the Washington D.C. area and he’s recently won every award for YA that you can get, like the Printz and the Newbery. He’s been a finalist for National Book Award. He’s made it his mandate to make books that are not boring for young urban boys. He really wants young men to not drop out of reading because it’s not as exciting as listening to Kendrick Lamar.
Rick Riordan and other highlights for the kids
Let me tell you about Rick Riordan, and why he’s coming. He’s not coming alone. He’s coming with Roshani Chokshi. He has a new imprint to publish books that are like Percy Jackson, and he’s using his prominence to create a platform for other authors like Chokshi who had already hit bestseller lists. Now she has a middle grade series that starts with the end of time. It’s exciting to have Hindu mythology brought into American fiction the way Greek mythology was with Rick Riodan's Percy Jackson series.
Tips for navigating the Festival of Books
Many events you can make reservations for in advance, mostly for free or for a $2 fee. If there’s somebody you really want to see, the people waiting in standby lines can get in for popular folks like Junot Diaz. Often people can’t get in at the last minute. My advice, and it won’t work if everybody does it, is to show up early, get your bearings before the crowds get there, figure out one or two points that you can use, like I’m back at Tommy Trojan, a famous USC statue. That means I must be here and Bovard auditorium is over there.