Some of my other scribblings that live on... on the Inter-Web |
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Currently, I host a hiking column for LAist, found on the home page for LAist City Treks. I also ran a column for Huffington Post about the hidden side of Los Angeles, linked here.
A sampling of other articles over the years...
Los Angeles Can't Help But Be an Auto Utopia
How did L.A. get so car dependent? A good place to start is the city's annexation with the San Fernando Valley in 1915. My piece for the Daily News.
Forget "Beat L.A.!" For most of its existence, L.A. has been trying to beat San Francisco
As the San Francisco 49ers prepared to play in Super Bowl LVIII, what better time to examine the LA-SF rivalry for the San Francisco Chronicle?
7 Essential L.A. Film Noir Movies of the Modern Era
Whether it's the golden age ('40s and '50s) or the modern age, the most memorable film noir stories to hit the big screen are based in Los Angeles, the literary birthplace of the noir movement. I break down the 7 Best for Mystery and Suspense magazine.
The Common Thread between L.A.’s 1976 Carpool Fiasco and Anti-vax Protests
In an Op-Ed I penned for the Los Angeles Times, I call out a parallel between anti-vaxxers during the Covid-19 pandemic and... haters of freeway carpool lanes.
A Legendary Voice Deserves a Voice
All hail the Vin Scully bobblehead! Now, if only the Dodgers made it a talking bobblehead, we could've heard Vin utter these five calls for the ages. Click here for full article.
Heard on the Street: "Little" Santa Monica Speaks
Threatened with a name change, "Little" Santa Monica in Beverly Hills is the Rodney Dangerfield of streets. In this piece I penned for LA Observed, I give it a voice.
Dodgers Must Replace Vin Scully With Another Blue-Chip Pick
Like others, I'm in denial about Vin ever retiring. But with Magic & Co. now running the Dodgers, at some point they're going to have to have a plan in place for Vin Scully's successor. I have a few thoughts on Patch.com. Click here for full article.
L.A. Uprising: Curfew at the Edge of Koreatown
On the 20th Anniversary of the L.A. Riots, I was asked to pen my recollections for Patch.com. Click here for full article.
Best Books Whose Dystopian Visions Were Eerily Prescient
We live in strange times. But if you had read any of these classic books, you would've seen it coming!
Addressed to the Nines
My first piece for Los Angeles Times Magazine's dearly departed SO SoCal column, about the uniquely L.A. phenomenon of portmanteaus created by business and street names. Think "Wiltern Theatre" (Wilshire/Western) and so on. Click here for full article.
My Christmas Gift from Eartha Kitt
Mountains Among Us
Another Los Angeles Times Magazine essay in appreciation of L.A.'s Santa Monica Mountains, whose natural bounty I tapped into to woo my now-wife. Click here for full article.
Billy Beane, Meet Morris Buttermaker
Oakland A's GM Billy Beane and The Bad News Bears' charity-case manager, Morris Buttermaker, as played by Walter Matthau, are more alike than you think. Each speaks to a singularly American love of underdogs and rebels. Guest stint on Baseball Musings. Click here for full article.
The Faces of Hollywood
They're watching you. The faces of Hollywood. Hiding out in plain sight. Don't believe me? Check out this article I wrote for Discover Hollywood magazine in Fall 2012.
| faces_of_hollywood.pdf |
Two Men and Their Baby at the 1993 IFFM
In the early '90s, post-film school, my buddy Don and I wrote, directed, shot and edited a feature film... only to run out of money before we could strike a print. We took our incomplete, future masterwork to a film festival in New York, looking for finishing funds and a distributor. We watched Kevin Smith hit the lottery with Clerks while we went home to lick our wounds. I wrote this piece in a frenzy about our experience. I hate the title (that's an editor for you), but I was very happy that Filmmaker magazine thought enough of it to run it in their Winter 1994 issue -- my first published article at 27 -- ensuring that at least something good came out of our little film-that-couldn't.
| iffm_1993.pdf |
Conquer the Big Island On Bike
Ever wanted to bicycle around the Big Island of Hawaii? No? Too bad... here's a firsthand account on how to prepare for -- and tackle -- the Aloha State's Big Kahuna. Appeared in L.A. Sports & Fitness.
| hawaii.pdf |
A Hotel in the Heart of Panamanian History (link currently unavailable)
Panama is more than just a place with a world-famous canal. In this article for the travel site Your Oyster, I explore its charming old town while overdosing on plantains.
Step It Up: 10,000 Steps Through the Valley (link currently unavailable)
Guest essay for Valley Scene Magazine charting some cool 10,000-Step walks through the Valley. Click here for full article.