Lana Clarkson who was murdered by Phil Spector was living in the Venice Canals at the time of her murder. I hope Phil Spector gets to spend the rest of his life in jail. Prayers for her friends and family.
Sculptor Robert Graham is gone from Venice. Here's some photos taken in August 2005 of his outdoor sculptures at UCLA's Rolfe Courtyard. Four of the works were damaged by a vandal and removed from the courtyard.
Election day in Venice at Pacific and Westminster.
There's a construction zone happening at the circle and the naked lady got tagged.
I wonder if these are the last days for the laundromat on Rose. Will the murals disappear when Whole Foods opens?
The Malibu fire was going strong on Sunday afternoon. The smoke could be seen from the graffiti pit. There were white smoke clouds with great puffs of black smoke. Sometimes it almost looked like the fog was rolling in from the mountains to the bay.
Murals are disappearing on Speedway.
If you drive around Venice and Mar Vista, you'll see many signs for Jane Harman, but they all seem to be posted in empty lots. I see signs for her opponent Marcy Winograd on every block in Venice in actual front yards, but all the signs for Jane Harman are posted on fences in empty lots or on city-owned land. I've yet to see a supporter of Jane post a sign in front of their house.
I DID see a homeless couple sharing something as they were hanging out in the so-called 'Venice Centennial Park' and THEY had a Jane Harman sign attached to one of their shopping carts, but I'm not sure what this means, is she paying them to advertize?
OK, they're not really dead yet. They moved the store from Venice to Santa Monica so they could be near another dying friend, Vidiots a 'video' store. Like a dusty curio shop, they still have small circles of vinyl and plastic for sale at 306 Pico Blvd.
Tonight I found myself surrounded by Critical Mass bike riders. They ride through Venice on the first Friday of the month. I was in a car stopped at a red light at Ocean and Venice when they all appeared and surrounded us. There were maybe 50 bikes waiting for the light to change with us. Everyone was in a good mood, it was like having a moving street party on 100 wheels. Some of the guys in the group were towing a giant boom box on a little bike trailer loudly playing happy bike-riding music (My Sharona by The Knack). I didn't have my camera, so I rushed home to get it and went out searching for them to take their picture. Here they are on Main Street near Brooks. They rode up Sunset to 4th and then circled back down Rose towards Main on their way to the Santa Monica Pier.
Psychedelic Blimp flys over Venice on Sunday afternoon.
Peter Tomarken's damaged plane is loaded onto a flatbed truck near Venice beach.
