On Friday, Take Two looks at how prepared Los Angeles County in the case of potential Ebola outbreak here, the place for indie studios and why automated planes lead pilot skills to wane. Then, we'll explore a cat cafe opening in Downtown LA.
Vegan Oktoberfest — and other cheap things to do this weekend
We know. The heat wave is back and you probably don't feel like doing much of anything. But hey, it’s Friday and you deserve some fun.
KPCC’s social media producer, Kristen Lepore, writes a weekly column on cheap things to do in L.A. and she joins Take Two to help us plan our weekend.
For details on these events and more, see her full weekend guide here.
President Obama has yet to declare action on immigration reform
President Barack Obama addressed immigration reform at the Hispanic Caucus conference on Thursday night. He was interrupted by a heckler who was clearly not happy with the administration's lack of action on the issue (see the video at 7:17 minutes).
With elections around the corner, the president is walking a fine line.
"You have people on the President's left saying 'You're too weak; you have not gone far enough on immigration as he should,'" says Politico's Seung Min Kim. "And then you have Republicans to his right."
Obama is not running for reelection, but every U.S. president wants a legacy, Kim says.
"He has always had a complicated relationship with the Latino community, and this is one thing he has to make to make inroads with Latino voters," Kim says.
Los Angeles County Public Health prepares for potential Ebola cases
There was a milestone this week no wanted to see — the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in America.
Officials say the man, Thomas Eric Duncan, could have infected as many as 100 people because the first time he showed up at a Dallas, Texas hospital — presenting with a fever and admitting he had just traveled from West Africa — he was sent home.
This unfortunate healthcare scare brings up the question: What are officials doing in other big cities to make sure the same mistake doesn't happen again?
Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser is the Interim Health Officer for Los Angeles County and he says LA County Public Health is working directly with all County hospitals to make sure that staff is informed and can identify potential cases as soon as possible.
But Texas Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, where Duncan presented, was educating staff and adhering to Centers for Disease Control checklists too. And despite a nurse flagging Duncan's electronic health record with his symptoms and his travel history, that record was not received by attending physicians and he was sent home with antibiotics.
"I think every healthcare system in the nation is taking note of that, because no one wants to have that mistake repeated," says Dr. Gunzenhauser.
And in Los Angeles County, Dr. Gunzenhauser insists they've been assured by hospitals that, "they're collecting information in their emergency rooms and elsewhere, so that, if a person has that [travel] history, they're going to be identified and reported to us."
The Flashback: President Obama touts the economy, the Secret Service tries to roll with the punches and the Ebola virus comes to the US
Every week Take Two looks back on the week's events and puts them into perspective. Our guests this week are Elahe Izadi from the Washington Post and David Gura from Marketplace public radio.
President Obama and the economy
President Obama has been making the economy a top issue as we approach the mid term elections. He spoke at Northwestern University, touting his efforts to help the nation's financial well-being
Is this an accurate assessment? Are we better off today than when the president took office?
And according to the jobs report today, Obama might have a little reason to crow ... Unemployment dropped below 6% and nearly 250 thousand jobs were added ... Is the report as good as it sounds?
The Secret Service under fire
The Secret Service has had a tough run of it... Two years ago there was that scandal where a dozen agents were involved with prostitutes in Colombia, a year before that the shooting outside the White House then most recently the admission that the White House intruder got a lot farther than originally stated. What's next for the secret service? How can they best repair this tarnished image?
Ebola comes to the US
What has Washington been doing to control the outbreak, and maybe more importantly - control fears that this will spread?
Child care costs strain single income households
For many single parents, this comes as no surprise: Rising costs and stagnating incomes have made child care the biggest expense for a family of three.
This matters in California where one-third of all children live in single-parent households. About 3 million children are living in families relying on one paycheck, reports KPCC's Deepa Fernandes.
Read the full story: Child care costs eating close to 40 percent of single-income family budget
Melting sea ice causes 35,000 walruses to come ashore in Alaska
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found an estimated 35,000 Pacific walruses crowded together on the shore in northwest Alaska.
It's the largest gathering of Pacific walruses ever recorded, and scientists say the reason the walruses have come on shore is because melting sea ice has left them with no other options for refuge.
Margaret Williams, managing director of the Arctic Program for the World Wildlife Fund, joins Take Two for more on what's causing the phenomenon and what can be done to help the animals.
Lab Notes: Moon mysteries, the politics of smell and sharks acting like...humans
Our science reporter Sanden Totten stops by to tell us about some of the most interesting developments in science this week. And he starts with the man in the moon. Researchers have been stumped for centuries over what caused the features in the moon's surface that resemble a face. New information leads them to believe they are massive outcroppings of basalt rock, that were formed by cooling magma. But, as Totten points out, they still don't know if the magma came from a volcano, or was created by the heat from a meteor impact. The moon guards its mystery carefully.
Also this week, a study that found people tend to prefer the smell of people who have similar political beliefs. And new research that show a wide variety of personalities in a species of sharks. Not unlike humans, some of these sharks seemed like social butterflies, others, like Greta Garbo, just want to be alone.
Laika Studios takes stop-motion animation to 'places it's never been'
The stop-motion animation film "The Boxtrolls," with its strange, mischievous creatures and their orphan human boy Eggs, charmed moviegoers last weekend.
It was created by Laika Studios, which also put out similar stop-motion animations like the Oscar-nominated "Coraline," and "Paranorman."
Lead animator on the film and Laika CEO Travis Knight credits the studio's success to its indie mentality and the "different prism" that the studio brings to filmmaking.
"We want to aspire to be the bravest animation studio in the world," he says.
So far, that philosophy has paid off. After last weekend’s successful Boxtrolls release, Focus Features has decided to extend their partnership with Laika Studios for three more films.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
On why he finds stop-motion animation so appealing:
It’s almost like, you know when you were a kid and you were playing with your dolls or your action figures, or whatever, and you have this whole imagined world in your head about what’s going on in the inner-life that these things have. When you see stop-motion, it’s almost that kind of feeling. It’s that primal, magical feeling of a child’s plaything somehow being brought to life.
On reintroducing the world to stop-motion animation, adapting to new technology:
Stop-motion has been around essentially since the dawn of film. It’s over a hundred years old. When filmmaking was first beginning, a lot of the earliest filmmakers were stage magicians who were looking for new ways to bring their illusions to life. And one of the ways they were able to do that was the advent of film. And so, stop-motion as a film technique has been around as long as film has…and the process essentially is unchanged since then in that hundred years.
But with the rise of technology and with the computer, anything that stop-motion could do, the creature effects and that sort of thing, the computer could do better.
And so, when technology usurped the role of the artist, it was a tricky thing for those of us who were involved in stop-motion. It was like, ‘what can we do now?...We have to find a way to take this medium and bring it into a new era.’
And the way we did that at Laika is that we combined the craft with the technology. We essentially were like Luddites who embraced the loom. It’s like we have cavemen and astronauts living in the same place. You know, people who have nothing to do with technology, don’t even understand it, working side-by-side with people who are inventing new technologies. And so, by doing that, we can take the medium into places where it’s never been before.
On where Laika fits in with the big animation studios:
We’re an independent studio, and I think we bring an indie mentality to our filmmaking. You know, we want to aspire to be the bravest animation studio in the world, to make films that are bold and distinctive and enduring, to make films that have a lot of dynamism in the storytelling, that have an artful balance of darkness and light, of intensity and warmth. We think that kind of philosophy, that kind of approach to filmmaking just gives you richer, stronger stories.
I think over the last twenty years or so, we’ve seen a gradual middling out of a lot of the themes and the tones and the storytelling that you see in animated film. I mean, animation is more popular now than it’s ever been, but I also think, unfortunately, as just a fan of animation, there’s a generic sameness to so much of it.
I think because you have to appeal to every possible demographic, these stories end of being calculatingly populous in their approach. You can’t really take provocative chances. You can’t say anything that’s even remotely controversial within the telling of the story for fear of alienating an audience.
I think that comes at a cost of really rich storytelling. And so, because we have a different perspective [at Laika], and a different prism that we bring to our filmmaking, it means that our films have a different feel, a different vibe.
California Sunday begins monthly distribution
Starting a new magazine in the current journalism climate may sound foolhardy, but that's just what the folks behind a new California supplement have done.
It's called The California Sunday Magazine and it will begin monthly distribution in the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento Bee this weekend.
Editor in chief Doug McGray joins Take Two with details on how he hopes to succeed.
Why pilots lost their superstar ranking
Years ago airline pilots were superstars. As they walked through airports people marveled at their ability to have control of huge machines with relative ease. These days, with technological advances, planes are meant to fly by themselves. While this has made air safety much more reliable, it has also had an effect on pilots at large – their skills are declining.
Vanity Fair writer William Langewiesche explored how a series of small errors turned one flight into a horrible nightmare.
Read the full story: The Human Factor
Why the LA County supervisor race matters
Former State Senator Sheila Kuehl and former Santa Monica Mayor Bobby Shriver both want to to replace County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors wields tremendous power, reports KPCC's Frank Stoltze. The board oversees a $26 billion budget and more than 100,000 county employees -- including sheriff’s deputies, foster care workers, and public hospital doctors and nurses. Its decisions affect more than ten million county residents.
Read the full story: LA County supervisors: Six key questions facing Kuehl, Shriver
Where to find Los Angeles' 1st cat café and what to expect
We know that cats rule the Internet, but for just this weekend they're sinking their claws into LA's Chinatown for a pop-up cat café, too.
Yes — a cat café. We're not kidding.
Catfé is the brainchild of Carlos Wong who originally made a Kickstarter earlier this year to open one up, modeling it after ones in Japan.
This pop-up in Chinatown's Far East Plaza is a proof-of-concept and might evolve into a permanent location in Little Tokyo.
It's a pretty simple idea: Sign up for a free time slot (or pay $30 to reserve one), get some food or drinks nearby from places like Starry Kitchen and Chego, and then head over to the Catfé to hang out with cats.
Wong says what's different about this one from catfés in Japan — which are designed for relaxation — is that he puts more focus on adoption.
"At shelters, cats can be very scared, very skittish," he says. "But when I was in Japan — I lived there for a year — and the cats there kind of thrive in that environment."
All the cats come from the Best Friends Animal Society, and all are available to be taken to a new home.
There are about 3o cats who will be a part of Catfé, with about eight in the common area at any given time.
But on opening day, there were far more humans outside clamoring to get in.
"My family is allergic, otherwise I would have like seven of them," says Sarah Johnson, who was anxiously awaiting for her chance to cuddle one.
Wong says it's a great chance for other people who can't have cats for various reasons to socialize with these felines, or perhaps take one home.
For cat owners, you can get your fix for more kitty stuff next door at a pop-up of the pet boutique Pussy & Pooch.
Cat bowtie, anyone?
"Shadows" shows an unknown side of Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol, the famed American pop artist, may be most known for taking iconic images — like a can of Campbell's or the face of Marilyn Monroe — and "remixing" them.
But all that's absent in his piece, "Shadows."
Now on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art - Grand Avenue, there's no familiar visage or logo to recognize: 102 prints nearly identical prints line up next to each other, alternating colors and backgrounds in a flurry that's like examining frames of a filmstrip up close.
"We're looking at a photograph of a shadow," says Bennett Simpson, senior curator of MOCA. The amorphous image comes from a picture that Warhol took in his studio.
"This comes from a period in his work that is less-known," says Simpson. "Abstract Warhol is kind of a critical growth area."
The piece is not the most beloved, either. Warhol created this piece in 1978, the later years of his life.
Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight said in a recent review, "Vapid and pretentious, the overblown installation ranks among the worst works Warhol made."
"I thought the length and scale and scope of Christopher's review was very much fitting to the length and scale and scope of the artwork, so there's that," ribs Simpson, "but for those who know and love Warhol, this work is a very special piece."
There is no defined narrative to the order or paintings. Warhol left it up to an assistant during its debut to decide how to arrange the prints. Simpson decided to honor that original display as much as possible by using photographs to recreate it.
This is also only the second time in which all 102 prints have been on display.
"Shadows" runs through February at MOCA-Grand Avenue.
New exhibit shines spotlight on famed drag performer Mario Montez
One of the more well-known icons by Andy Warhol is an overripe, yellow banana sticker that you could peel off the debut LP of the Velvet Underground.
But how Warhol came to be identified with the fruit has its origin with a drag queen.
More than a half-century ago, when drag was both entertainment and a criminal act, the late Mario Montez was a drag performer who starred in more than a dozen of Warhol's films.
But in his first screen-test for Warhol, Montez is situated alone in front of a camera.
"Mario opens the bag and he takes out a banana, and he eats this banana so seductively. Slowly," says artist Conrad Ventur.
Warhol himself was titillated.
"Mario's the one who brought the idea into The Factory that then became ubiquitous," says Ventur. "It's just something a little off about that performance. He's never going to let you take your eyes away."
In "Montezland," Conrad Ventur curated a new exhibit dedicated to the late drag performer.
"Mario's biggest reference was Maria Montez, this B-movie actress from the 40s and one of the only Latina representations in Hollywood at the time," says Ventur.
Ventur says Montez was known for his high place in avant-garde theatre in New York at a time when being drag wasn't just a performance, but a criminal act. Montez was able to stay under the radar from persecution because he never let his performances interfere with his personal or professional life.
"He was a bold-faced name," says Conrad Ventur. "And then Stonewall happens, and Mario's still a very private person — he wasn't marching and doing all that stuff — but he began to use his icon to help the movement."
Montez defined himself in the drag performing world by emphasizing the "off" and "unusual."
In what's believed to be a screen test by artist Avery Willard, Montez is dressed as an elegant Victorian woman who catches the eye of a suitor off-screen and tosses him a rose.
"Mario brought a little bit of humor and coyness to his performances," says Conrad Ventur.
But by hiding his face behind a fan at times, you can never quite tell that the person on screen is a man in drag.
Montezland is now on display at the ONE Archives Gallery and Museum in West Hollywood.
Jack Black on 'Bernie,' his Golden Globe nom and the future of Tenacious D
Seventeen years ago in East Texas, a former mortician named Bernie Tiede killed a wealthy 81-year-old woman named Marjorie Nugent. He confessed to the crime, but because she was so unliked many people in the small town of Carthage, Texas that many of the folks living there rallied to his defense.
This strange, but true, story is the subject of Richard Linklater's newest film, "Bernie," starring Jack Black, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
Interview Highlights:
How did you first hear about the story of Bernie Tiede?:
"I didn't hear about the story when it happened. This was a real Texas take that everybody in East Texas knew about but not really many people in Southern California heard about it. It was only a couple years ago when Richard Linklater who I worked with on 'School Of Rock' said Hey I have a part for you in this script that I wrote based on a true story… I thought it was compelling because of its peculiarity. You don't' hear about that kind of crime very often where everybody in the town loves the person who has confessed to a murder and doesn't want to convict them because they were such a sweet person. Very interesting stuff."
Why do you think director Richard Linklater chose you for this role?:
"I think he thought that I could pull off the likeability quotient, apparently. I don't want to tweet my own horn, but people like me. Although it's not heavy metal its very musical, he wanted someone who could pull off all the singing. He was a real musical theatre buff and was very active in the community theatre. Even though it seems like a much different character than I've played before it fit in my wheelhouse very well. it felt like while I was doing it I was born to play this character, which was strange. Its very far away from me, this gay mortician from East Texas, why does it fit like a glove?"
Why was Bernie so popular among senior women?:
"I got a chance to meet the actual Bernie Tiede, we went to the prison and spoke to him before we started shooting, and I asked him what his life was like before he met Marjorie [Nugent] and what was growing up in East Texas like, and he said that his parents died when he was very young and his grandma raised him, and maybe that explains why he had such a way with the older ladies. Maybe there was a grandmotherly comfort there. "He was really good at his job, he was a fine mortician and went beyond that. he didn't just make sure the corpses looked presentable and respectable, but also he took great pains to make sure the ceremonies were beautifully appointed and that the whole experience of the passing of a loved one was smooth and made to be meaningful. As is the case, women usually outlive their male counterparts and there were lots of widows in this small town of Carthage that loved him because he gave their husbands these great funerals and he knew he would do the same for them some day."
What did you learn from Bernie when you visited him in prison?:
"Just got to see his day to day thing and see how all the other inmates related to him and he was indeed very popular there. He was the most loved guy in the prison as I could see. And he was making the best of it, he was working on some crochet memorials for people who had lost family members back in his home town of Carthage. So he was keeping emotional connections to people he knew back home. "I got to talk to him a little bit about some personal things that I felt the audience was going to want to know the answer to. Mainly just why. Why did you kill her? Why didn't you just leave? What gathered was it was very similar to the reason why married couples don't leave. Why sometimes there will be a murder in a family. Why does that end tragically and violently instead of separations? Because there's a codependence there. It's not that simple. There's love there mixed in with the hate."
What was the reaction like from the people in Carthage, Texas, where the murder took place?:
"It is tricky. Whenever you're telling a true story and there's tragic elements its a touchy subject. I didn't go to Carthage, we shot mostly in a town called Bastrop that had similar architecture and scenery. But Rick did go to Carthage to shoot some exteriors and to interview some people from the town. You know how churches sometimes will have a message of the day on the board outside? It said "Murder is dark, not comedy." So yeah, message received, but that's the courage of Richard Linklater is he found something moving, and also funny, and sometimes those two come together and he wasn't afraid to explore that."
Can you tell us about Tenacious D's "Simply Jazz EP"?:
"It just came out of our sound checks in-between songs…Our drummer Brooks Wackerman, who is an incredible musician, just started playing a little Jazz just messing around with the Jazz drums…me and Kyle just looked at each other and thought, this is so wrong, we started playing Jazz. There shouldn't be anything so funny about that but it just felt hilarious, and we explored that and then sad we've got to do this in front of the audience and that night I said this is a taste of the new direction of Tenacious D, it's a new direction, its Jazz. The audience at first booed and then they laughed and then they loved it. There's something titllating about testing the boundaries of what's expected."
Trailer for "Bernie":
A young Jack Black in a commercial for Pitfall: