President Trump is calling Orange County's anti-sanctuary stance brave, the new era of museum culture and after 25 years, Meltdown Comics says farewell.
Resistance Inception: The OC moves to resist Trump resistance in CA
State of Affairs is your weekly peek at politics in the Golden State. This week:
The OC continues their resistance to the resistance
Chants of "USA" clashed with "The people, united, will never be divided" ahead of a board meeting in the OC Tuesday. County officials voted to join a federal lawsuit against California and its "sanctuary laws." Now President Trump is calling them brave.
My Administration stands in solidarity with the brave citizens in Orange County defending their rights against California's illegal and unconstitutional Sanctuary policies. California's Sanctuary laws....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2018
One expert says the decision could loom large in this year's mid-term election:
I think this is going to define the Congressional races in Orange County and possibly in San Diego.
You could argue this debate helps both sides — both Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have been pushing the gas tax as a way to mobilize. It hasn't really done very much for them, just as the tax plan hasn't helped Republicans nationally. But the immigration one is a live wire in the Republican party, and this may get people to the polls.
On the other hand, just as Proposition 187 mobilized Democrats and the immigration community and liberals in general, bringing Donald Trump more visibly in probably doesn't do Orange County Republicans a big favor. On balance, he may do more for Democratic turnout.
- Raphe Sonnenschein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State L.A.
Non-census?
"Arbitrary and capricious." California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has some strong words in response to the Trump administration's plans to add a citizenship question in the 2020 census. Becerra says the Census Bureau is "well aware" that it could lead to an undercount in California. He filed a lawsuit Monday.
The #Trump Administration's #Census2020 move is expected to significantly impact #California, esepcially. And as I shared with @EJDionne, the move was simply arbitrary and caprious: https://t.co/K0WqoIUlKA #CitizenshipQuestion
— Archive - Attorney General Becerra (@AGBecerra) March 29, 2018
Also featured in this segment:
Carla Marinucci, senior editor for Politico's California Playbook
This museum wants to change the way you feel about your selfie
L.A. has become a hotbed for interactive "museum" installations — that is, places designed to take selfies along with the art. Places like Museum of Ice Cream, 29 Rooms, Happy Place.
And now there's another one jumping into the mix.
The Museum of Selfies is opening its doors this weekend in Glendale. The mission: to "explore the history and cultural phenomenon of the selfie."
Before you roll your eyes, give it a chance. One of the people behind the museum used to feel pretty negatively about selfies himself.
"I saw them as empty and shallow," said Tommy Honton, the museum's co-creator, "and sort of tied together with screen culture and the addiction that comes with living life through a screen."
Honton would have been the last person expected to take on this kind of project. He describes himself as a writer, game designer and narrative experience creator. He doesn't even have a social media presence. But in the Museum of Selfies, he saw a new kind of challenge.
I had a preconception and I wanted to try to change that. Is there something deeper here? Is there something playful and interesting and can we find this sort of deeper connection to humans and teach people in a fun and playful way.
The challenge was on and the stage was set. Honton embarked on his journey to change the way the public feels about selfies.
Injecting history
One of the first rooms you come across at the Museum of Selfies features a giant timeline along the wall that denotes important historical points in the selfie's history. It's an effort to put things into context. The room also features a life-size re-creation of Van Gogh's "Bedroom in Arles" painting.
The point is to show the visitor that beautiful art is part of the selfie's history and DNA.
When you look at art, that's where it evolved from to be able to capture painted images and when you look at the Renaissance, painted images were pretty accurate. So, I think it's fair to begin with the beginning of art.
Next to Van Gogh's room is the black and white room.
The monochromatic room commemorates black and white photography, an era that saw the first known selfie photo. The room is meant to reflect how photography really evolved and how it lead to the creation of the selfie.
Poking fun
Going deeper into the museum brings your closer to the present day selfie as we know it. There's a whole section that commemorates food and the large role food has played in selfie culture.
The room dedicated to the bathroom selfie really threw A Martinez for a loop. And it is a bit jarring. You walk in expecting to see yourself in what you think is a giant mirror. But you've been duped.
There is no mirror. The point of eliminating the mirror is to get people to reflect.
You need a reflection to take a selfie and we wanted people to have that moment...because mirrors are meant to be reflective. Obviously bathrooms selfies, the classic image you see of people going 'Hey you up? I'm gonna send you a pic,' that doesn't work here.
Next door to the optical illusion bathroom is a makeshift gym, designed to celebrate the ever-so-popular gym selfie. But this gym is unlike others. It has funhouse mirrors that warp reflections -- so what appear to be giant weights are, in actuality, very light.
The concept of the gym room began with a question: Why are gyms a place where people take a lot of selfies?
There are some things in the room that may not be as accurate as people believe. We want people to have fun and play around with the idea that gyms are a place where people go for showing off what they are...but is seeing believing?
This room was probably A Martinez's favorite, as he himself is probably guilty of the occasional gym selfie.
It's all a part of the human experience
While curating the museum, Honton felt his perception of selfies slowly changing, and it's a journey he hopes visitors will take as well.
"I used to lump everyone who took selfies into the category of...Blech. But now, I only vomit a little bit," Honton joked.
You can capture a moment, for example, a marathon. Crossing that finish line. It's a very powerful moment. And you can actually capture that yourself. So as long as you're not living life purely through a screen, then it's an exciting thing. I have a begrudging respect for them.
As Honton and A Martinez complete their selfie journey and come to one of the last interactive exhibits the museum has to offer, the question about changing people's minds crops up again.
"It's been around since humans have dawned, the understanding that you are the person staring back at the mirror. We want people to acknowledge that it's just a part of what humans are."
And with that, the two of them commemorate the moment with a selfie on the selfie stick throne.
Scroll through the slideshow above to see some other installations at the Museum of Selfies.
LA's selfie-ready art spaces cater to our narcissism — but they didn't start the trend
The Museum of Selfies, 29 Rooms, the Museum of Ice Cream, Candytopia.
There's a trend of these kind of places in L.A. – artistic destinations designed for people to take pictures in.
Or, to put it a little more bluntly, spaces built for narcissism.
But if you think it's a problem, they didn't start it. High-brow museums did.
"Maybe about 20 years ago, they didn't care too much about the number of people through the gate," says art critic and historian David Pagel. "But museums are now more interested in giving a voice to other people, and I think that the selfie phenomenon is developing out of that."
The Broad's recent blockbuster exhibition of Yayoi Kusama's work, for example, was primed for selfie culture. Her infinity mirror rooms allowed people to see themselves repeated over and over again (totally vain, right?).
But next to those rooms appeared Kusama's earlier works of paintings and collages, and so the museum was able to introduce this venerated artist to a new generation of social media-obsessed people.
There is still a tension about how to do it right, though.
"When the art becomes a background for a selfie, then they've lost that viewer," says Pagel. "But if the selfie is a moment to get people in to really get engaged with the work, then it's working."
And higher attendance numbers can be important to institutions as they prove their worth to donors, their board of directors and the art world at-large.
As for places like the Museum of Selfies and Museum of Ice Cream, they may just be satisfying the outsized demand that people have for more selfie-ready art.
"Anything that spreads the word of art out there is probably a good force," says Pagel. "People cashing in on it is questionable, but art's a pretty robust enterprise that can hold its own against ice cream."
How America's first female Chinese-American mayor fought for her community
Lily Lee Chen represents an important piece of Los Angeles County history. In the 1980s, Lee Chen became mayor of Monterey Park — the first female Chinese-American mayor in the nation.
Born in Tianjing, China, Lee Chen came to the U.S. for graduate school after attending college in Taiwan. Deeply involved in the local Parent-Teacher Association here, Lee Chen was initially motivated to run for City Council because a gambling parlor wanted to move into the city of Monterey Park.
I feel so strongly against that idea. I didn't want our neighborhood to be exposed to underground activities, to get traffic problems. I was fighting very hard.
In 1981, Lee Chen ran for City Council for the first time. She lost by 28 votes. Without demanding a recount, Lee Chen devoted her time to improve her community. She published a bilingual voter registration handbook and worked with other ethnic groups in her area.
In spite of my abilities, at that time, there was a sentiment on the part of old-timers afraid of the new immigrant population. They had some real concerns. I cannot say enough about the turbulence and the fear of old-timers resisting the newcomers.
In 1982, Lee Chen ran again for City Council, and this time received the most votes in the history of Monterey Park. In that city, the leading vote-getter became mayor, and Lee Chen's victory garnered national attention.
That became news! I cannot believe the tremendous amount of attention I was getting. I realized then it was my ability to use my name recognition to do something for the public good.
She helped Monterey Park get U.S.A. Today's designation as an All-American City. And she hosted a celebration of the Chinese women's national basketball team during the Olympic games.
I want to promote the wellbeing of Asian American, the well-being of the needy and the helpless. How can I help them enjoy a better life, all for the betterment of our community. That's my goal, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do that.
All the best things to do on Easter weekend in SoCal: March 30 - April 1
Hollywood's beloved Meltdown Comics is closed. Here's how fans will remember it
Meltdown Comics in Hollywood, a comic book shop that has fostered a community of nerds and artists for 25 years, closed its doors for good on Friday, March 30.
The community created over the years by this comic book shop is a tight-knit one. A few fans shared why they love Meltdown and what they'll miss the most.
Meredith Morris, "nerdtern"
Morris was an intern for Meltdown's events space, Nerdmelt. She says, even before moving to Los Angeles, she dreamed of visiting the iconic shop.
And then when I became an intern I thought, 'It's going to be nice to be just a little footnote into this thing that's been here for 25 years,' and now, being a part of its closing...it's an honor and it's going to be missed, and I think it's being missed already.
Ed Salazar, "The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail"
"The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail" was a live show, hosted from the event space for 6 years.
For Salazar, Meltdown was all about unifying all the different facets of the nerd spirit.
It wasn't just about comics, and I think the special thing about that store was it didn't just say you had to be into this one thing...caring about anything made you feel accepted there.
And it's that acceptance and support that Salazar said he'll miss the most, once Meltdown is gone.
I really hope everyone just remembers how rad it was to be ... nice to each other. How cool that can feel. How much creativity that can make. How great something can feel when everyone was supporting each other.
There's a little less chaos in the world now and maybe a little less energy, and that's sad to me. A little less opportunity for weird things to happen. There's not enough weird stuff.
Many fans took to Twitter to share their memories of the comic and comedy haven.
Just a bit heartbroken over the news that @MeltdownComics will be closing it's doors March 30th, Gaston was pretty much my only friend after abruptly moving to LA at age 13, he tought me how to play Magic, introduced me to Sandman, broke down Thanos, all while running the store.
— 🇩🇴Francis Capra🇩🇴 (@franciscapra) March 22, 2018
So sad to hear @MeltdownComics is closing. They opened up many a morning for me to come and do dumb tv segments - from cussing about magic to the perfect backdrop for a dj set, @meltdown was like family. Not many businesses you can say that about. Love you guys. 😭
— Allie Mac Kay (@alliemackay) March 22, 2018
#Meltdown cultivated my love of comics throughout my childhood. These guys were the first I told when I booked jughead on Riverdale. I interned here before college, they ushered me into photography, and clapped when I went back into acting. I’ll miss melt https://t.co/MrK98L1pIN
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) March 22, 2018
@MeltdownComics was the source of so much awesomeness in Los Angeles! Thanks to Gaston and everyone there for all the years... and for letting me climb around your roof twice to get this shot. Years later, it’s still a favorite. #ripmeltdown pic.twitter.com/TzeE9mcAVp
— Brian McCarty (@MrBrianMcCarty) March 22, 2018
Farewell, Meltdown Comics. You will be missed.