DTLA, 1945

https://t.co/KKNkcfbzNR

— St. Michael, the Archangel (@aveng_angel) December 20, 2025

Aerial view of Aerojet General Corp., located in the city of Azusa,

Aerial view of Aerojet General Corp., located in the city of Azusa, with a possible address of 1100 W. Hollyvale Street. View is looking northeast over plant; AT & SF RR tracks run left to right through center. Foothill Boulevard (Historic Route 66) is also visible on upper middle, running parallel to the tracks. The San Gabriel River can be seen running diagonally at upper left, and several "craters" are visible at lower right bottom, middle left, and upper left. Photograph dated November 22, 1955.

https://t.co/xs2nykIhcQ

— St. Michael, the Archangel (@aveng_angel) December 19, 2025

Rob Reiner was Hollywood Royalty. This is a horrific, tragic loss.

Rob Reiner was Hollywood Royalty. This is a horrific, tragic loss. He blessed the world with a treasure trove of comedy gold. This is my favorite. Often when I'm putting on my shoes, I think of the 'Sock And A Sock' scene from All In The Family. ~ Rest In Peace 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/lrCblrbCHD

— Kirsten Allison (@KirstenAllison) December 15, 2025

Nora loved Archie Bunker, the character and "All in the Family" series.   

Fishing with Luis

 

This reminds me of the hours I spent fishing with Luis Martinez, Sally's husband.  He'd drive the two of us down to the pier, Huntington, maybe Hermosa, in his red Alfa Romeo convertible.  And we'd fish through the night because supposedly that was the best time to catch fish.  A couple of times, he bought a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken to snack on through the night.  It was fun.  I caught a sand shark one night and that was about it. 

One year, 1983, I went with Luis to visit his former supervisor up in Sacramento.  We drove through the day and got to Sacramento that same evening and essentially found a backlot and slept in the back of his all white Toyota long bed truck.  

This but white. 

The next morning we visited his friend.  From there we drove to Lake Tahoe and to the High Sierras as far as Walker River.  We gambled a little in Tahoe, where I won $300 on the roulette wheel, and that paid for a motel and steak dinners.  One of the luckiest times ever at any casino.  Perhaps because of Luis's graceful presence. 

“Brother Green” by Connie Dover, 2000

I heard this, particularly the opening line, and I thought how sweet with a tragic image that pierces through the more sentimental lyrics about loss and death.  This would indeed make a decent funeral song to play at the end of a funeral mass as folks gather and talk before or on their way out of the church.  Here are the lyrics.

Beautiful song.  Could be the perfect funeral song to play immediately after mass. 

“Brother Green” by Connie Dover, 2000, is an American Civil War folk song which tells the story of the soldiers of Irish descent who served on both sides of the conflict, men who had crossed the Atlantic as comrades and were now fighting as enemies.  Connie Dover, who sings the lyrics, was also responsible for the arrangement of the melody, adapted from the song Barbry Ellen.  

Scenes from 1930s Los Angeles

San Gabriel River Bike Trail, Tuesday, October 21, 2025

 

Anthony Davis Scored 6 Touchdowns in 1972, Beating the Irish, 45-23. This is the game that my dad remembered while in attendance at the 1974 mauling

I obviously didn't attend this 1972 game, but I did attend the 1974 USC vs. Notre Dame game, where Anthony Davis destroyed the Irish.  

My dad was a diehard Notre Dame fan, but our seats were smack dab in Trojan territory. ND was up 24-6 at half. Coming back from restroom, he says to me "Let's go." I said it's only half time. He says, I know, but Notre Dame is not holding.  Because my dad had tracked ND each year, he was thinking what Anthony Davis did to them in 1972. Two years prior, 1972, Anthony Davis scored 6 touchdowns against Notre Dame, beating the Irish that year by a score of 45-23. As we left the stadium, we heard the roar of Anthony Davis' return to open the second half, like the Romans cheering on the slaughter of the Christians. By the time we reached the car and turned on the radio, another USC touchdown.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6ivTXDWZZw

Makes sense why Dad was do anxious at half-time at the Coliseum in 1974.  The year before, Anthony Davis ran for 6 TDs against the Irish.  

Van Patrick was Notre Dame's radio announcer.  Here he is in 1971 against USC.  And the 1973 ND game against Purdue.  

Pete Arbogast was the Trojan's radio announcer.  

Bob McAllister of Wonderama, 1955-1977

Bob McAllister, 1935-1998, host of Wonderama, 1955-1977.

I watched this show occasionally.  His voice and diction were interesting, a mixing of kid appeal along with that of high school voice.  The show was Wonderama, hosted by Bob McAllister.  "Kids are people too" in an era when kids were supposed to be seen and not heard.  

Steve Garvey, 1B for Los Angeles Dodgers, 1970-1987

A young Steve Garvey with Gil Hodges. Garvey, then a boy growing up in Tampa, Florida, became the Dodgers’ batboy thanks to his father’s job as a Greyhound bus driver for the team during Spring Training. Steve Garvey served as a batboy for five years (1956–1961), beginning at age seven, during Dodgers Spring Training in Florida. This experience allowed him regular, up-close contact with many of his baseball idols, including Hodges.

I wanted to post this pic of Steve Garvey on the left, and Gil Hodges on the right because my dad was such a Steve Garvey fan, mainly because Garv was a Catholic and a hardworking man and athlete.  Perhaps an even stronger reason for my dad's admiration of Garvey was the fact that Garv is Irish Catholic, "Steve Garvey is Irish-American on his father's side; his father's ancestry is from County Cork, Ireland."

Garv had early signs of talent, drafted by the Twins when he was just 17, "drafted in the third round by the Minnesota Twins in the June 1966 amateur draft at age 17."

Oh, and did I say that he's Catholic? Wealthpeeps answers this question,

he identifies as a devout Roman Catholic.

Throughout his life, Garvey has remained steadfast in his Catholic faith, and his interactions with individuals from diverse religious backgrounds highlight his openness to engage with people of differing beliefs.

He played 3rd base for the Dodgers in 1970 and hit his first home run on July 21, 1970, off Carl Morton of the Montreal Expos. He moved to first base in 1973 after the retirement of Wes Parker. 

View west on the 10, Los Angeles, CA, mid-1960s. Bendix Building at right. [St Joseph's] with tiers, burned in 1980s.

 

1960s, View west on the 10, Los Angeles, CA, ca. mid-1960s.  Thank you to Paul Ayers.  Posted on Sunday, August 10, 2025.

I found this pic posted by Paul Ayers on Tuesday, August 11, 2025, and I wanted to know what the buildings in the background were.  I asked, 

Can anyone name the 3 major buildings in this photo? The one with the 2 towers, the one just off the freeway, and the one at the far right of the photo? Thanks.

Paul replied, 

Bendix Building at right. St Mary’s with tiers, burned in 1980s. Don’t know one at center. 

I thanked him, and then a day later Errip Errense corrects him, saying, 

Actually, it was St. Joseph's, [offering this link].  

The 70s had some great movies and great music. I can't imagine any white band producing a song like The Pusherman, 1972, though maybe the producers and distributors actually were white. When I hear this song, I think what a great cultural service it is to all young men to warn them of drug pushers in your neighborhood and midst. Growing up, I had a good friend who was on something, and he told me to never try it. I didn't need to be told. Drugs scared me.

1967, Many songs explore the theme of LSD, including "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles, 1967, on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

1966, "Alice D. Millionaire" by The Grateful Dead, 1966.

"Girl on LSD" by Tom Petty,

1967, "White Rabbit," Jefferson Airplane, 1967. Although mushrooms are mentioned in this song, I don't think this song glorifies a drug-addled experience. To the contrary, the end of the song, the final lyrics read, "Feed your head / Feed your head," which sounds to me like extremely solid advice for kids growing up in the crazy times of 1960s.

1971, "Sweet Leaf," Black Sabbath. Doesn't take a terrific imagination to figure out what this song is about. But I suppose it appealed to a lot of former conservative teenagers who were looking to be part of the counter revolution.

1972, The Needle and the Damage Done, Neil Young. About heroin.

Cocaine, Eric Clapton

Los Angeles County, Post-War Boom, 1946-1962

1953, Hollywood Freeway over the Four-Level Interchange, or "The Stack". Courtesy of the California Dept. of Transportation.  Thank you to Los Angeles County Post-War Boom, 1946-1962.  

Gunfire. Commandos. Hostages. All components of a January 4th Siege on City Hall, staged by the War Department in 1944.

Shots of Chinatown come in at the 1:24 mark.

California Internment of Japanese began in 1942 and ended in 1944, 

On December 18, 1944, the Supreme Court handed down two decisions on the legality of the incarceration under Executive Order 9066. Korematsu v. United States, a 6–3 decision upholding a Nisei's conviction for violating the military exclusion order, stated that, in general, the removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast was constitutional. However, Ex parte Endo unanimously declared on that same day that loyal citizens of the United States, regardless of cultural descent, could not be detained without cause.^[227][228] In effect, the two rulings held that, while the eviction of American citizens in the name of military necessity was legal, the subsequent incarceration was not—thus paving the way for their release.

1944, Hostage situation at the City Hall.  

Mazzy Star, "Fade Into You", 1993

Sunset Boulevard at N. Hill Place, 1925

1925, Sunset Boulevard at Hill Place. A building advertising Coca-Cola at front and side, stands on top of a hill. (Security Pacific National Bank Collection)  Thank you to LAPL.  

View of the Pontoon Bridge between Terminal Island and San Pedro, 1958

1958, View of the Pontoon Bridge between Terminal Island and San Pedro.  It was built in 1943 and was supposed to be temporary.  It lasted nearly 25 years.  Thank you to Bruce Dunseth.  

San Gabriel Riverbed, Duarte, 2022

San Gabriel Riverbed, Azusa

Duran Duran's 1992, "Ordinary World," Consequential, Momentous, perhaps Portentous?

 

"Ordinary World," 1992, Duran Duran.  It's funny that when I hear this song, I am not reminded of 1992, but instead I am cast back all the way to 1982 when I was 25-years-old and working for United Parcel Service, 1979-1986.  Age had little meaning to me, only health.  As long as I was healthy to do the work at UPS, I was good.  

This song among many captures for me the age when I was 25 in 1982 when I realized the momentous and consequential, I wanted to say portentous, feeling of that age and the ill-formed visions that were cobbled where, whatever I chose, I knew that I would be on my own.  It was the feeling of being dispossessed of skills or training, everything except money, except youth, that here was I was poised to embark on a life with no support, no skills, no direction.   And that I would be the one who would bear all the responsibility for my failures that would mercilessly be pinned on me, and others would delight in it.  That no wife, friend, ally, partner, family member would aid me or bail me out of bad situations.

"Things Have Gone to Pieces," George Jones, 1965

1965, "Things Have Gone to Pieces," George Jones, 1965.

Lyrics thanks to ZA Lyrics.

"Things Have Gone To Pieces"

Oh, the faucet started

Drippin' in the kitchen

And last night your picture

Fell down from the wall

Today the boss said "Sorry,

I can't use you anymore."

And tonight the light bulb

Went Out in the hall

[Chorus:]

Things have gone to pieces since you left me

Nothing turns out half-right now it seems

There ain't nothing in my pocket,

But three nickels and a dime

But I'm holding to the pieces of my dream

Somebody threw a baseball

Through my window

And the arm fell off

My fav'rite chair, again

The man called me today and said,

"He'd haul my things away

If I didn't get my payments made by ten."

[Chorus:]

Things have gone to pieces since you left me

Nothing turns out half-right now it seems

There ain't nothing in my pocket,

But three nickels and a dime

But I'm holding to the pieces of my dream...

Carpenter Bill Crawford works on the framing of Dairy Valley’s in Cerritos new Richard Gahr High School, 1964

1964, Carpenter Bill Crawford works on the framing of Dairy Valley’s (Cerritos) new Richard Gahr High School at 11111 Artesia Blvd. between Studebaker and Gridley roads, 1964.  Thank you to Bruce Dunseth.  

Frontierland's Golden Horseshoe, Disneyland, CA, 7/18/1955.

1955, Opening day at Frontierland's Golden Horseshoe, Disneyland, CA, 7/18/1955.  Thank you to Anika Tabbasum.  Was here one year with Dad, Joe, and Marilyn D.