Famous Photo Found!

From more than 60 years ago, I remember this fascinating photo of moving day in an American suburb that appeared in my World Book Encyclopedia, which my mom got me when I was 7.  (The World Book was an education in itself - thanks, Mom!)  I always did wonder how they got those all those big trucks in and out of that narrow street.

Now somebody has done the research to find out where this photo came from:  it was taken in 1953 for an article in Life magazine about the booming Lakewood suburb of Los Angeles.  The researcher uses Google Maps and his own video to show what the neighborhood looks like now.  A fine job of sleuthing.

May 1st was moving day up north; I never heard of such a thing down south.  This article from the Brooklyn Public Library gives the legal and historical background of the event, with some humorous period pieccs about the hustle and bustle.  See also this Wikipedia article.

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So They Loaded up the Truck and Moved to . . .

Far, far away in a never-never land of swimming pools and movie stars sits a fabled mansion long celebrated in song and story, which every American over fifty, say, will instantly recognize - and indeed, feel intimately acquainted with, despite never having set foot in it.  The name of the house - most incongruously to our British friends, I'm sure - is Chartwell, and it rises atop a bluff in Bel Air, commanding a breathtaking view from the mountains to the city to the sea.

And now this home of dreams, so well remembered, so fondly admired, can be yours - for only $245 million.  With 11 bedrooms, 18 bathrooms, and a 5-bedroom guest house, the property can easily accommodate you, your whole dadburn family, a passel of country cousins, and all the critters you can stand.  And rest assured that no element of comfort or convenience has been overlooked:  it comes complete with a 40-car garage, a 12,000-bottle wine cellar, a cement pond in the back yard, and a terrace big enough for hanging out your laundry and cooking up all the rhumatiz' medicine you require.

Unfortunately, there are no photographs of the interior in this presentation video, so you just might have to bring your own pot passers for the fancy eatin' room.




But the presentation is just not complete without the theme song, which starts at the :30 mark below:




If any of you peckerwoods do buy this place, you be sure and drop ol' Russ a postcard, and tell me all about it.

"I Thought I Was the Only One"

Some moving oral histories from the Los Angeles LGBT Center, 2013 - I only wish they were longer:

The Way It Was

A poignant selection of oral histories from the Los Angeles LGBT Center:

CALIFORNIA MARRIES GAYS

San Francisco City Hall last night

Sandy Stier and Kris Perry are wed by the California Attorney General

Jeff Zarillo and Paul Katami are wed by the Mayor of Los Angeles

What a difference a day makes! While your Head Trucker slept Friday afternoon and evening, at around 3 p.m. California time the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted its stay in the Prop 8 case and allowed same-sex marriages to resume immediately in the Golden State. This surprise development caught everyone off guard, since it had been expected that the appeals court would wait out the 25-day period before the Supreme Court's ruling became effective. However, legal experts say the appeals court was well within its rights, and the law, to lift its own stay on its own ruling.

The plaintiffs in the Prop 8 case lost no time in getting hitched. In San Francisco, Kris Perry and Sandy Stier were wed by Kamala Harris, California Attorney General, at San Francisco City Hall, and likewise down in Los Angeles, Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarillo were wed at City Hall by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The timing is doubly delicious since it is Pride weekend in those cities, and Friday was the 44th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1969 that sparked the gay-rights movement.

Rachel reports on the breathtaking developments:

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San Francisco International Airport

Los Angeles to Arizona: Bite Me

You gotta read this one:  a concise response from the L.A. water and light department to the Arizona energy commissioner's suggestion that his state stop supplying them with electric power. 

Fucking brilliant, if you ask me.