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Friday, November 30, 2007

MUSEUM BENEFACTOR JAMES FECHT DIES



Thanksgiving Day Menu November 26, 1942 - Third Marine Division - Camp Elliott, California - Gift to The Museum of the San Fernando Valley from James L. Fecht - two of four pages.
James Fecht, older brother of Gerald Fecht president of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley, gave our Museum Community memorabilia from his exploits during World War II. Among these items was this Thanksgiving Menu.
The following is an abridged obituary of Mr. Fecht

James Fecht was born on the 12th of March 1924 in Mexico, Missouri. He was the oldest son of Mildred and William T. Fecht.
A natural athlete, Jim was an amateur boxer and played baseball on various teams in Audrain County.

At the age of 17, Jim graduated from high school just as the Second World War began. In August of 1942, he secured his parents permission to enter the United States Marine Corps. He was inducted into the service in Kansas City, Missouri and sent by train to the Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. He was assigned to the 645th Platoon of the 3rd Marine Division.
During a weekend leave Jim went with his buddy Webb McKelvey to Hollywood. At the USO, Webb introduced his friend to his cousin Joye Barnes. Still a high school girl, Joye took the young Marine to the sets of Universal Studios where she played minor film roles and showed him around her glamorous city. Jim fell in love.

With Joye's photograph in his wallet, Jim was shipped to Hawaii where he saw the devastation that resulted from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His unit was then sent to New Zealand, where Marines trained for jungle warfare and acted as additional security for a country whose sons and fathers were in combat in Europe.

The next two years took Jim Fecht into a world he that he could never have conceived. He trained continuously, experienced fierce combat and spent endless hours between tedium and terror. Names like Noumea, New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands, Eniwetok, and Guam seared into his memories. He watched the flag of the United States raised on Iwo Jima.

Badly burned Jim was in recovery on the island of Guam, when he wrote to his sister Dorothy Fetterhoff that two young combatants visited him from his hometown, "Bob Osborn and the Patterson boy, who lived nearby in Mexico."

On Mother's Day 1945 a telegram arrived at the Fecht home on West Boulevard. Jimmy Fecht was back in the United States and would soon be home on furlough. He expected to return to the South Pacific for the dreaded invasion of Japan. Three months later the Japanese surrendered.

Shortly after the war ended, Jim Fecht and Joye Barnes were married. They made their first home in North Hollywood, California. His father-in-law got the young veteran a job as an apprentice electrician at Universal Studios. There, surrounded by the glamour of the movie business, Jim learned the trade that would serve him well for the next 40 years. It was an exciting time; he played catcher on the Universal softball team and became friends with the cowboy actor Dale Robertson who "was a darned good ball player." Jim recalled how Universal "starlets" came to cheer for the team and the occasion when Frank Sinatra sang the Nation Anthem at an exhibition game played for the disabled veterans at Birmingham Hospital.

Joye and Jim Fecht had two children, Susan Lynn and Steven Thomas, both of whom live with their families in Lake County, California. After his retirement from electrical contracting and estimating, Jim married a second time to his beloved Virginia Bossler-Matter. He and Gini spent glorious hours in their Tarzana, California garden, where an amazing assortment of birds, possums, and desert tortoises shared their afternoons. Jim taught himself how to paint in oil and acrylics. Among his favorite works were those war-torn islands of his youth, with their foliage re-grown and at peace.

Jim Fecht wrote wonderful stories in the style of his beloved Mark Twain. One his favorite works was "Tales of Our Family - Truths and Possible Truths." He remained lifelong friends with Roy Harper of Mexico, Missouri and mastered the Internet to send his buddy emails.

Aside from his wife and children, James Fecht is survived by his sisters Dorothy Fetterhoff of Jackson, Missouri and Genevieve Rebbe of Granite Falls, Washington. Also by his brothers Robert of Sun City, Arizona and Gerald Fecht of Tarzana, California. He died in his sleep at dawn on the 30th of November 2007 in Reseda, California. His ashes will be scattered on the Pacific Ocean.

Jimmy requested that no flowers or contributions be made in his name. "Ask them to put out their flag for me, and to be good to one another."

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

MUSEUM OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY IN THE NEWS

Grand plans for library building
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer - Daily News

HISTORIC: Architect buying Van Nuys landmark vowing to preserve a bit of the past.
When the historic library in Van Nuys was put on the auction block recently, most community members were pessimistic about the future of the 81-year-old building. Many feared that the building - which housed the first library in the area and later the fire department before it was boarded up and abandoned - would turn into another office building in an area already jammed with commercial space.
But Tony Nasr, who paid $1.52 million for the building, says his plans for the 1926 building don't include either demolition or remodeling. "The key is to keep the building as is or refresh it a little," Nasr said. The architect is expecting to close escrow on the property by mid-December. And he said he can't wait to delve into the old building and start uncovering what he considers to be its hidden treasures.
"The first thing I am going to do is rip the carpet out," he said. "I am sure there has to be hardwood floors under there. "I am also looking for the original light fixtures. Those fluorescent lights will also be gone soon. Outside of renovating the bathrooms, Nasr said he has no intention of messing with what he considers to be aged perfection. The almost 15-foot-high ceilings will be kept intact, as well as the intricate Mexican stamping and ornate corner details that line the roof. The wooden beams will be polished and a special treatment will be given to the forest carving above the indoor fireplace that Nasr plans to use as a focal point for his open-air floor plan.
Nasr, who attributes his affinity for history to his Lebanese upbringing, said he is even open to the idea of housing the burgeoning Museum of the San Fernando Valley in the 2,000 square feet he plans to restore as rental space.

Gerald Fecht, president of the museum, said the board of directors had been eyeing the library property ever since it vacated its former Valley College location with intentions of finding its own location. The library would be a perfect locale for the museum because of its location in the heart of the Van Nuys Civic Center and its proximity to public transportation, Fecht said. "The library, for literally thousands of people, represents so much. It was a place where kids did their research and some very important writers used it, too," he added. "We would like to see that library be a cultural beacon, but if it's not available, we will continue our struggle somewhere."

Whatever the final results, Nasr said it is a priority for him to find the perfect tenants. "They have to share my vision of the building," he said. "It will probably take me a little bit of time, but I hope I have enough money to do this exactly like it should be done."
connie.llanos@dailynews.com 818-713-3634 


............. AND CULTURE!

Wedding In India - Photograph by Phyllis Hansen - Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

Your Museum of the San Fernando Valley is often thought of as just another local historical organization. However, The Museum of the San Fernando Valley collects and displays works of art as well - especially when those works are the product of the creative genius of Los Angeles-based artists. This wonderful photograph taken in India by Museum Community member Phyllis Hansen is a great example!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

STAR OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY - MARILYN MONROE

Image of Valley Movie Star Marilyn Monroe in the window of Backstage in Hollywood - c. 1986 - slide by Jerry Fecht - Archives of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on the 1st of June 1926. She attended Van Nuys High School in the San Fernando Valley for a year in 1941. Marilyn became the ultimate sex symbol of her era. She was an actress, model and companion of some of the world's most famous people. It is likely that she committed suicide or died from drub abuse on the 5th of August 1962.

MORE ABOUT TELEPHONE PREFEXES

Detail from 1948 Los Angeles Telephone Directory prefexes. Photo by Phyllis Hansen, member of the Museum Community.

MUSEUM MEETING CANCELED NOV. 28TH

1986 Ralphs Market Shopping Carts - slide photo in the collection of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - photo by Jerry Fecht

The regular meeting for November for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley is canceled. Our holiday get-together will be on Dec. 12th.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

A LETTER REMINDS US TO COUNT OUR BLESSINGS

Wartime Letter by Lewis Klinker to his daughter Orpha - collection of Phyllis Hansen member of The Museum Community.

Just a year after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, life in America was very different from pre-war days. In The Museum's on-going study of the lives of Orpha and Zeno Klinker, Phyllis Hansen discovered this letter from theri father Lewis. He writes of having access to only four gallons of gasoline a week, and the rationing of many things we consider essentials today. His letter speaks of young men in college who had been selected in the draft, and who were unsure if they could even finish the school year.
Little by little, we are putting together the pieces of the Klinker family's history, a family of Southern California artists.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday. It's probably a good time to also remember that the official celebration of Thanksgiving came about during the dark days of World War II, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt thought it would be a good thing for Americans to count the blessings of our rich and creative land.

BEAUTY IN LA's HIDDEN PLACES

1996 slide image of Sidewalk in Venice, California. Collection of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - photo by Jerry Fecht

There are very few places in the world with Mediterranean climates. Southern California is one of these. Blessed with generally warm winters and great summers, Los Angeles is filled with charming recesses, like this sidewalk photo taken a decade ago in Venice Beach.

Friday, November 23, 2007

GIFT TO MUSEUM OF VALLEY MATCH BOOK COVERS

VICTORY BOWLING CENTER - match book cover - Gary Fredburg Collection - The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

Over the last few months, The Museum's board member Gary Fredburg has been donating a great collection of commercial match book covers. This cover from the Victory Bowling Center reveals the old telephone prefex word "STate" but the hours abd features of the center.
Just for fun, how many of the word prefexes can you recall. I remember:
STate
EMpire

Thursday, November 22, 2007

MOHAWK GASOLINE STATUE

Mohawk Gasoline Statue - slide c. 1990 by Jerry Fecht - donated to The Museum 2007

Among the many Valley slides from the 1970s onward is this slide of a Mohawk Gasoline station. According to the chair of The Musuem's Contemporary & Popular Culture Committee, the station was located on Victory Boulevard, immediately west of the 405. It is now an Arco station. The whereabouts of the statue of dubous taste is unknown.

T

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

CHRISTMASTIME IS JUST RIGHT FOR A GOOD HOLIDAY STORY


Confessions Of A Christmas Banshee will be an evening of storytelling complimented by song and dance. It's the new Christmas show with an Avenue Q sensibility!

This multimedia show will be an original evening of storytelling along with MGM musical style song and dance numbers from an all Broadway talent cast about Wendy's experience of Christmas, humorous and touching. From childhood obsession with presents she was denied (Big Barbie Head, Snoopy sno-cone machine, Holly Hobby Easy Bake Oven), to taking it upon herself to educate the world about Claymation Christmas Specials on TV, to professional tales and a behind-the-scenes look at what really happens in giant Christmas vehicles like the Radio City Christmas Spectacular...the good, the bad and the ugly. All this and she's Jewish...Merry Christmas!

December 6 - 9 ONLY!
Thursday - Saturday @ 8PM & Sunday @ 3PM

BOOK ON LOS ANGELES THEATERS TO BE PUBLISHED

Ticket Booth - Former Fox Studio City Theater - photo for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley by Jerry Fecht

NOTE TO THE MUSUEM COMMUNITY FROM SHEL WEISBACH
Arcadia Publishing, printers of the Images of America series, will release "Theatres of Los Angeles", co-authored by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, Amy Ronnebeck & Marc Wanamaker on January 21, 2008. S. Charles Lee's Bruin Theatre is featured on the cover of the 128-page book.

GIVE VALLEY THEATRE FOR CHRISTMAS


New Beginnings III
November is the start of the holiday season and a time to reflect on the things for which we are most thankful. One local art gallery is thankful for those artists who have used their art to overcome personal tragedy & hardships in order to create a "New Beginning" for themselves and art for all to enjoy.

Give the Gift of Art. NoHo Gallery LA offers unique gifts of art for all styles, homes and budgets.

Join NoHo Gallery LA at their third annual "New Beginnings III" group show featuring Tommy Hollenstein, Bridget Duffy, Christopher Voelker, Clara Berta, Daniel DeBevoise, Giselle Jhunjhnuwala, Karl Johnson, Melissa Lambert, Teresa Moore, William Cervantes and more.

Free Open Reception: - Saturday, December 1 from 6:30-10:30PM - Exhibit Runs: November 24 - December 28

WILL NBC UNIVERSAL BE A FRIEND OF CALIFORNIA HISTORY?

El Camino Real Bell - Campo de Cahuenga at night - photo by Museum Community Member Phyllis Hansen

Few images better demonstrate the struggle that the Friends of Campo de Cahuenga are experiencing to maintain the continuing integrity of the most important historical site in Southern California. The entire San Fernando Valley has a huge stake in the responsible expansion of NBC Universal properties.
The entertainment industry, as demonstrated vividly in the Writers' Strike. is vitally important to the economy of our city. But, history's lessons and sites must be respected with equal enthusiam. Campo de Cahuenga must be honored in every aspect of NBC Univeral's planned expansion.

LET'S KEEP THE BELLS OF EL CAMINO REAL RINGING FOR GENERATIONS YET TO COME!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

DAVID QUICK BECOMES MUSUEM ADVISOR FOR CONTEMPORARY ART

Pullus Gallaxticus - Kentic Sculpture by David Quick - Museum of Neon Art - 1996

David Quick, one of the founders of the kenetic art movement in Sourthern California, has joined your Museum as an advisor on contemporary art. In this slide of David's work, he challenges the American political establishment to put art into space. He asks why is there no joy or whimsy in our space program. If art is the ultimate expression of what it means to be a human being, then should it, at least, exist in our space statements with weapons and t.v. ads.

Monday, November 19, 2007

1944-1945 Holiday Greeting Card from the great Los Angeles impresario Lynden E. Behymer - image provided to the Museum of the San Fernando Valley by California historian Phyllis Hansen

In only a year after his arrival in Los Angeles, Lynden Behymer arranged for performances of the National Grand Opera Company. In 1888, he brought the world famous Sara Berhhardt to sing "La Tosca" to Southern California. Soon he was to be manager, treasurer and chief press agent for the Grand Opera House. In 1914, Behymer with Harley Hamilton founded and brought into existence the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra.
During his active years, Behymer brought the Metropolitan Opera Company Los Angeles and secured regular performances of the Chicago Opera Company as well. He brought world famous artists such as Enrico Caruso, Edwin Booth, Paderewski, and Isadora Duncan to the west coast. Less known today were other greats including Rabindranath Tagore, Jacob Riis, Feodor Chaliapin, Lawrence Tibbet, Ruth St. Denis and Maud Allan.
Behymer was instrumental in the location of today's Hollywood Bowl.
With Paul Eilser of the Metropolitan Opera, he was instrumental in the opening of the Greek Theatre in Hollywood in 1930.

WHIMSICAL BUILDING BECOMES A VALLEY LANDMARK

Pink Cadillac Building in the Rain - 1996 -
photo by Jerry Fecht for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley ©

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks. From 1985 to 2000, your blog person, Jerry Fecht, took slides off and on of buildings and signs in the San Fernando Valley and other parts of Southern California. Today, I figured out how to scan the slides for inclusion in the historical archives of the Musuem. This image of the Pink Cadillac building on Ventura Boulevard is the first of these slides.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

WHY A MUSEUM COLLECTS AND PRESERVES ARTIFACTS

Land of the Free - Patriotic Button - Collection of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - gift to the Musuem from James Fecht

Often artifacts, even small ones like this patriotic button in your Museum's collection, demonstrate important issues of their time. Here an American eagle soars in red, white and blue. The button is about four years old.
Now, take a closer look! See where the button was made.
Today, to support the war in Iraq, without an increase in taxes or the sale of war bonds, trillions of dollars are being spent. The dollars are being raised by the sale of US Treasury notes, and one of the major buyers is the People's Republic of China. This in effect puts present and future generations of Americans into debt to a foreign nation to fund a war - the first time in the history of the Republic.
Future generations will ask questions about today's political policies. Your Museum collects contemporary artifacts to help them answer their studies.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

JOHN HERGERT'S SCULPTURE GETS SOME DESERVED ATTENTION!


Billboard in Chicago - Fall 2007 - American Artist John Hergert

For those of us who worked with and enjoyed the company of John Hergert, when he lived in the San Fernando Valley, it comes as little surprise that his art is getting well deserved attention. Few young artists have the all around creative genius to challenge the crossover response to the arts that Hergert has.
Bravo John! and Bravo Red Bull for discovering what we in California have known for a long time!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The Marianne Kneisel Quartet - c. 1930 - Digital Image in the collection of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - top left Della Posner DiFilippi- top center Katherine Fletcher Shreves

Your Museum is working on the histories of lifelong San Fernando Valley residents, Della Posner DiFillipi and Katherine Fletcher Shreves. Della just died in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the age of 103. She was a "traveling music teacher" for the Los Angeles City Schools. Della was married to the composer Amadeo DiFilippi.
Katherine Fletcher Shreves was the accomplished and principal cellist of the Republic Pictures Studio Orchestra in Studio City.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

THE MUSUEM'S OLMPIC COLLECTION


7-11 Olympic Badge - Collection of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - gift of James L. Fecht
Modern cities and nations vie to host the Olympic Games for much the same reasons that the ancient Greeks participated in them. Although the ancient Olympiads were held at the single truce-site of Olympia, participation and winning in the spectacle's events gave important bragging rites and status to nations and states. The modern Olympic Games have done much to replace impressive cathedrals and city halls as symbols of power and influence.

The hosting the 1984 Olympic Games announced to the whole world that Los Angeles and its San Fernando Valley had arrived as a world-leading metropolis. It was no coincidence that Los Angeles became America's second most populous city and the port of Los Angeles - Long Beach became American's dominant shipping port that same year - 1984.

The Museum of the San Fernando Valley collects and archives Olympic memorabilia not just for the sake of displaying a lot of pretty buttons and souvenirs but for the purpose of understanding who we are, were and where we are going in the future. Just as children's games are children's work, so also sports and events like the Olympic Games are the work of a city.

If you can help your Museum to build its archive of materials related to the 1932 and 1984 Los Angeles based Olympic Games, please give us a call at Anchor Education Foundation. 818-347-9665

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

SPECIAL LECTURE ON BAKERSFIELD ARCHITECTURE BY SHEL WEISBACH


Shel Weisbach, Chair of the Museum's Contemporary Culture Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Museum of the San Fernando Valley will be the featured speaker at the November 17th meeting of the Kern County Historical Society.

Shel's power point presentation will be on the history of the architecture of Bakersfield and selected surrounding communities.

The meeting will be at noon at Bakersfield's Spotlight Theatre,
1622 19th Street, Bakersfield
Admission, including luncheon is $25.

Reservations are due by Friday, November 9.
Ph: (661) 665-9864 or 852-5031

ARROYO ARTS DISCOVERY TOUR PARTY


TOUR PREVIEW PARTY Friday, November 10
7 to 9 p.m. at the Acorn Gallery

The Arroyo Arts Collective will host a gala preview party at the Acorn
Gallery where work by the artists who are participating in this year's
Discovery Tour will be on display on Saturday, November 10th . Drop by and
meet Tour artists, other Collective members, neighborhood art enthusiasts,
NELAart Second Saturday-ers, have a snack or drink and buy Tour tickets at
the advance price.

The preview party is a great place to catch up with friends and select the
artists you'd like to visit on the day of the Tour. The party is from 7 to 9
p.m.

The Acorn Gallery is located at 135 North Avenue 50, Highland Park

Monday, November 5, 2007

LA CONSERVANCY TOURS ARE SIMPLY THE BEST!

Chandelier Los Angeles City Hall 2007 - photo by Jerry Fecht for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

What's more fun than an LA Conservancy tour? Taking a bunch of LA Conservancy tours!
With the great tours of our city by volunteer guides from the LA Conservancy, there are no more excuses about nothing going on. My wife Janne and I joined the Conservancy about two years ago. It is one of Los Angeles' best opportunities to get to know our town!

COMMERCIAL SHOW OF PAPER COLLECTIBLES

LOS ANGELES CITY HALL 1945 - gift of Hon. Dallas Holmes - Collection of The Museum of the San Fernando Valley - Southern Pacific RR promotional images.

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY VINTAGE PAPER COLLECTIBLES SHOW

Approximately 35 dealers from throughout California and Arizona will be displaying over 6 million old postcards, paper collectibles and ephemera. Included will be postcards, advertising trade cards, cigar labels, valentines, scrap, travel brochures, photographs, stereographs, aviation, auto, railroad, ship, movie memorabilia, Western Americana, and MUCH MORE.
Located at the Arcadia Masonic Temple at 50 W. Duarte Arcadia Ca. Right next to the Arcadia public library on the corner of Duarte and Santa Anita. Free appraisals of all old paper collectibles will be given with the price of admission, so if any of your readers want to know what that old scrap book, album or box of postcards is worth, now is the time and place to find out!

WHERE: Arcadia Masonic Temple
50 W. Duarte Arcadia Ca

WHEN: Saturday, Nov 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday, Nov 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

ADMISSION: $5.00 Good for both days.

For further information call Jeremy LeRoque at (626) 665-9435

Saturday, November 3, 2007

HISTORIC SAN FERNANDO VALLEY RAILROAD PHOTOS SHARED WITH MUSEUM


INBOUND RED CAR IN THE CAHUENGA PASS c. 1952
HISTORIC REDCAR ON CANOGA PARK ROUTE 1952
Collection of Jim Walker

Very special thanks to railroad historian Jim Walker for sharing these priceless images of the Redcard trolley that once served the San Fernando Valley. As we process the photographs for your Museum's electronic archive, they will be regularly posted on this blog.

Friday, November 2, 2007

NOVEMBER 2 ALL SOULS DAY IN LA

DEATH ON PARADE - photo by Janne Fecht
CLARK MAUSELEOM - photo by Janne Fecht

HAPPY DIA DE LOS MUERTOS from THE MUSEUM OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

SHEL'S CITY-SIGHTINGS - BUSTER KEATON CLASSIC


CITY-SIGHTING EVENT - from Shel Weisbach
Attention Classic Film Fans!
BUSTER KEATON'S 1927 MASTERPIECE “THE GENERAL” (WITH LIVE ACCOMPANIMENT)
COMING TO “FRIDAY NIGHT FLICKERS”
The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society is proud to announce the presentation of Buster Keaton’s hilarious silent masterpiece “The General” on Friday, December 7, 2007 at 7:30 PM. The film will be shown in the historic Saugus Train Station in Heritage Junction, Newhall, and will feature live accompaniment by 95-year-old Bob Mitchell, the last of the silent era pianists. Admission is $5.
“The General” was recently voted #16 on AFI’s 10th anniversary list of the 100 Best American Films. It follows the story of Johnnie Gray (Keaton), a Southern engineer during the Civil War, who must retrieve his train (The General), and his girl (Marion Mack), from invading Union troops. Keaton’s hilarious visual and physical comedy, coupled with tremendous action and special effects – including the dropping of an actual train into a river – make this one of the true landmarks of silent comedy.
The film will be accompanied on piano by Bob Mitchell who has been playing for live screenings of “The General” since it debuted in 1927.
The Saugus Train Station is located at Heritage Junction (inside William S. Hart Park), located at 24107 San Fernando Road, Newhall. Doors open at 7:00 PM and seating is limited, so be sure to come early to see one of the funniest films ever made!
For further information please contact Pat Saletore at (661) 254-2517, or at www.scvhs.org.

SHEL'S CITY SIGHTINGS - JULIUS SHULMAN PRINTS

Restored Ceiling of the Central Library 2007 - photo by Jerry Fecht for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley
CITY SIGHTING - from Shel Weisbach -
"I went Orange- and Red-Lining to the Central Library today. After burying myself in the History Library, on floor minus 4, I resurrected myself and rose to floor plus 2 to check a Getty Museum exhibit of 150
Julius Shulman prints. (The Getty owns Shulman's archives.) AWESOME.

BEAUTIFUL. FASCINATING . . . If you have the opportunity to go downtown by January 20 please do yourself a favor and see his Los Angeles architectural journey. Give yourself extra time to study individual photos that may absorb your interest.
Also, if you have not done so previously, spend a few (or more) delightful moments walking amid the sculptures and fountains of the West Lawn.

Added suggestions . . . cross 5th Street and ascend/descend the Spanish Steps and check the lobby of the adjacent highrise . . . still have time? Hike down to 7th, east of Fig and checkout the MARVELOUS tile lobby of the Fine Arts Building opposite the old Barker Bros. (furniture) Store." Shel

Thursday, November 1, 2007

ALL SOULS DAYS

Icon in progress of Santa Maria, Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles - Jerry Fecht's studio.

November 2nd and 3rd are believed by many folks, world wide, to be days during which the spirits of deceased loved ones (and sometimes, not-so-loved ones) can emerge from their graves to interact with the living.
In pre-Christian times the first day of the 9th month was the Feast of All Gods (Pantheos). The church usurped the holiday as the Feast of All Saints (All Hallows Day), and made the day a "holiday of obligation." (a day on which all Christians are to attend Mass.)
November 2nd was also taken over by Christains as All Souls Day. Ancient Pagans worshiped the Lars Spirits of males (genius = one male, genii = many guys) on the second of the month. Female Spirits (anima = one female, animas = for many women) on November 3rd. Deals could be made, then as now, to rescue souls from a nasty place called Purgatory, where every single misdeed had to be atoned for. Indulgences could be earned by prayers and good deeds to get one's loved ones into heaven.

ONE OF THE HERD OF WEST HOLLYWOOD PIG REVELERS

Piggy - Naughty Piggy - West Hollywood Halloween Parade

Over three hunded thousand people jammed Santa Monica Boulevard and the nearby neighborhoods of West Hollywood on Halloween Night. Getting into costume, and becoming part of this event is part of what living in L.A. is all about.

MORE WEST HOLLYWOOD ANTICS

Red Hat Lady Randi Quick and knetic sculptor husband David Quick.
The great, but not so reverent David Quick, is one of the founders of the knetic art movement in Southern California.

WEST HOLLYWOOD HALLOW'EEN NIGHT

The Ghost of Rene Magurite -
Two of the Red Hat Ladies on Santa Monica Boulevard
Halloween Night 2007 photo for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley by Phyllis Hansen

EXPLORER LINDA MOORE HAS HER HANDS FULL

LINDA MOORE AND FRIEND IN ZIMBABWE

In a week of great pictures for The Museum of the San Fernando Valley blog, this photograph of Linda Moore and a heavy lion cub friend was taken in early October. Linda was visiting an animal preserve in far off Zimbabwe.
Between her trips exploring the world, Linda regularly explores Southern California with friends and the Los Angeles Conservancy.