Archive for June, 2010
Meg Whitman’s Uphill Battle
It will all come down to math. Former eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman, the Republican nominee for California governor, cannot beat Attorney General Jerry Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor, in a state where only 31 percent of voters are registered as Republicans….
Bicyclists Clash with LAPD
Tensions between the LAPD and a group of hard-core bicyclists boiled over this spring, despite efforts by both sides to smooth over their history of bad relations.
Relations between the police and pedal-power activists, many of whom are ardent environmentalists, seemed to…
The Chosen One
Nobody outside of professional politics knows his name. But to the hundred young staffers crammed sweatily into downtown’s J Lounge, he is already a superstar. Chants erupt — “Ri-car-do! Ri-car-do! Ri-car-do!” — as Assemblyman Kevin de León introduces the next …
Gloria Romero’s Race to the Top
The bigwigs at the powerful California Teachers Association are feeling a little uneasy this campaign season, knowing that their preferred candidate for state superintendent of public instruction is not guaranteed a win for the first time in more than a decade. Former science tea…
Dennis Hopper, 1936-2010
Dennis Hopper and I only briefly shared a table one morning at a film festival four years ago, but we hadn’t talked more than five minutes before he alluded to the death of James Dean. Hopper’s brief friendship with his co-star and mentor on the sets of Rebel Without a Cause<…
The Crazy World of Ariel Pink
Ariel Pink is hot on the trail of something. He’s got his hands buried in his pockets and his shoulders maintain a permanent slouch, but he’s circling the room at a manic pace, sniffing at the air like a hound dog that’s caught the scent of a fox. He pauses by a tall bookshelf.</…
Schoenberg and Zappa in Shangri-La
Scanning the schedule of this year’s Ojai Festival, one sees a typically atypical medley of vanguardish works in classical, contemporary classical and new music. The venerable festival’s lithely bendable (but unbowing) aesthetic owes to the continued inspired vision of Artistic D…