Little old Jarvis loves to sun.

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L&E Oyster Bar Menu 2012-01-27.pdf Download this file

I’m overjoyed that L&E Oyster Bar has joined us in Silver Lake (across the street from LAMILL). I’ve been waiting for a proper oyster bar in the neighborhood for a long time.

I’ve scanned the dinner menu from last night since their website isn’t live yet.

Notable goodness: grilled casino oysters, Dungeness crab cocktail. And of course, a sweet daily selection of West and East Coast raw. We didn’t have any of the “plates” but will be back for sure.

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I'm posting this blog to help fuel Rick Santorum's Google troubles since his campaign has gained steam in recent days.

Rick Santorum

I'm usually mad at him for one reason or another, but today he said a "father who 'is in jail and has abandoned' his family is better for a child than two gay parents." (Per the Los Angeles Times)

My beef with Rick Santorum began in 2003, when he compared homosexuality to pedophilia and beastiality to AP. I'm just going to let Rick Santorum speak for himself:

"In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever, to my knowledge, included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog or whatever the case may be." 

So do me a favor. Google "Santorum" and then click on the FIRST link that comes up going to SpreadingSantorum.com.

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Ignacio's famous!!

Here he is next to cover girl Jessica Hart, shot by Chrissy Piper, in Free People's NY vs. LA series for their January catalog. I haven't seen the actual catalog yet but their sneak peek blog indicates that he made it.

And look, the NY girl needed FOUR dogs and they're not as cute as Nacho ;)

http://blog.freepeople.com/2012/01/january-catalog-sneak-peek-ny-la/

He's in this film too:

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UPDATE: The dog was just snatched up by its owner who ran away from me because I was trying to talk to her about taking care of her dog. I have to admit that I made a mistake in posting this blog in the first place. In hindsight, I should have checked her more closely for neglect and placed her in a new, loving home, and I'm really sorry about that. Thanks to everyone who reached out about her.

We found a female, cream-colored French bulldog on the 1600 block of Maltman Avenue this afternoon with no collar. 

Do you know her? Is she your dog?

Please email me if you are her owner or know her owner. Be prepared to demonstrate that this is your dog with photos or identifying marks. 

EDIT: Upon inspection, this dog has not been well cared for, and if you want to claim her, you must show me that you have vet records, collar & leash, etc. and are prepared to take better care of her in the future.

If you live in the area, please spread the word.

Thanks!

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Nick Kristof tweeted yesterday: "I'm aghast that Repub candidates say waterboarding is OK. Cambodia's Genocide Museum displays it as example of torture."

Since our honeymoon, I haven't had the time to sort through, edit and post photos and notes from our five weeks in southeast Asia. But Kristof's tweet stopped me cold, as it reminded me of this photo that still gives me chills.

It's a painting by former Khmer Rouge prisoner Vann Nath of the waterboarding torture that he witnessed and endured during his time at S-21, the Khmer Rouge's torture compound near Phnom Penh. The painting now hangs on the same site, known now as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. We visited the museum in April when we stayed in Phnom Penh for a few days.

The Republican presidential candidates believe that waterboarding is not torture, it's an "enhanced" interrogation technique. Obama recently said that he believes it is indeed torture, which is a small step up from Bush, though I doubt that his administration has completely banned it. If these kinds of practices are not torture, I would like the Republican candidates to explain this fact: Of the approximately 17,000 people imprisoned at S-21, only SEVEN survived. 

When we let "enhanced" practices like waterboarding happen, what else is going on, outside the United States and to our own people on American soil?

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The Airborne Toxic Event returned home on Sunday from their fall tour to a triumphant show at the Gibson Amphitheatre. Here are two of my favorite songs:

“Sometime Around Midnight”

“The Graveyard Near the House”

Their latest album All At Once on iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-at-once-deluxe-edition/id432035595

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Here’s our suite at the newly renovated, gorgeous Hotel Lautner in Desert Hot Springs.

http://facebook.com/hotellautner

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During my Ohio trip last weekend to meet my new niece Nora, I visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. Though I didn't find the Rock Hall the most exciting place ever, I did truly enjoy their Rolling Stone Magazine exhibit for its inclusion of famous people's letters to publisher Jann Wenner, and in the case of Annie Leibovitz, a spirited smackdown in return. Although photos were prohibited, I snuck a snapshot of the Annie vs. Jann letters. Below I've retyped what I could remember and make out in the photo.

March 1, 1982

To: Jann Wenner
From: Annie Leibovitz

This document will serve as a letter of understanding between us for the next 20-25 covers over the next year.

Rolling Stone assignments will have priority commitment.

Rules of the cover will be discussed and fought over with each issue.

I will try to act as promptly and as reasonable as possible.

I will try to act on my best behavior.

And I will discourage the use of my photographs in any publications other than Rolling Stone on any regular basis.

I am the Chief Photographer.

Annie Leibovitz

A day letter, Jann Wenner replied:

March 2, 1982

Annie Leibovitz
Rolling Stone
745 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10151

Dear Annie:

Your letter of March 1, 1982, is not exactly what I had in mind, but it's getting close.

There are two points that remain to be clarified before increasing your fees; and both points bear directly on this matter.

1) Rules of the Cover: The basic rule -- salability on newsstands depends, insofar as the photo, on subject recognizability -- is not open to discussion, let alone being "fought over each issue." Highest possible newsstand sales is the primary purpose of the cover, and recognizability is the final judgment that I make.

The elements that do -- and don't -- go into recognizability are obvious -- the standard facts of big heads, open eyes, strong colors, etc. -- apply to at least 70% of the covers -- and natural exceptions are also obvious.

A bad cover due to limited or difficult recognizability -- just like a bad cover due to poor choice of subject like Bill Hurt or Bob Hope -- cut newsstand sales somewhere between 25,000 to 50,000 copies, which translates to a $15,000 to $30,000 direct loss in company profit.

Therefore, any exception to the rules -- and there are several good reasons (moral, artistic, bribery) to make them every now and then -- must be discussed in advance. In the rare occasion we can't, you can try the experiment only if you also do a safety back-up in the conventional mode.

In other words, I am open to and in favor of changes, experiments and new ideas, but the final decision to risk $15-30,000 in profits is mine, and mine alone.

2) Other Publications: "Discourage" is subject to different interpretations between us. "Priority commitment to Rolling Stone assignments" and delivery the full potential in quality and value of the Chief Photographer means that you definitely not publish -- as a "featured" photographer in any other magazine on an every issue basis.

I do want to restrict your income opportunities -- and thus am raising your fee's to compensate partially -- but the intent of my point here is clear and each of us knows where that line is drawn that gets you money and gets me exclusivity and the best work!

A few other points:

a) There has to be a stricter and longer embargo to U.S. re-publication of Rolling Stone photos in the U.S. -- at least a year, with mutual agreement for exceptions.

b) Our daily and normal financial dealings will be through Mark Lipsky instead of directly with you, and will be done in a totally businesslike manner.

c) I'm planning to give you an office again at Rolling Stone in respect to all this because of your commitment "to act on your best behavior."

If all these points are agreeable and in addition to your March 1, 1982, letter comprise our "letter of understanding" between us, please sign two copies of this and return them to me and your rates for work undertaken on the 20-25 covers for the next year will be $2500 fee per cover, $3200 each cover with one significant inside shot, and standard rates for additional shots.

I am the boss,

Jann S. Wenner
Editor & Publisher

I am the Chief Photographer,

Agreed: Annie Leibovitz

Date: March 4, 1981

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I don't know all about the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance's financial business, but it seems suspicious that their president Michael McKinley has reported every year on their recent tax filings that he works 40 hours a week for the organization for zero compensation. He must be an independently wealthy saint, or there's something else they're not reporting. 

It's also interesting to note that SJNA's filing indicate that they ended 2009 with only $4,023 in the bank. You'd think that they would have been able to make more profit during all those years when they lied to the city on their permit application about being a donations-suggested, open-to-the-public event, even as they were forcing people to pay before getting through their chain-link fences. The 2009 form does say that they made $569,134 in revenue from the festival and spent $397,261 in expenses for the festival, so they came away with $171,873 in festival profit that year.

Here are the latest filings from the organization, via Guidestar.com, so you can check them out for yourself. 

2009 IRS Form 990
2008 IRS Form 990
2007 IRS Form 990

Lastly, people who bought advance tickets to the festival are having trouble getting refunds. Fun!

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I took a George Ramos mini-tour of Los Angeles tonight.

To start, I drove east to the American Legion Post 804 for his "Celebration of Life" memorial, where I watched friends, fellow vets and colleagues share their stories about George. It was great to see how respected he was by the Los Angeles community and beyond. Council President Eric Garcetti told us about his first meeting with George, and with Councilwoman Jan Perry, gave George a posthumous award from the city. Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard wasn't able to make the memorial, but she sent a rep from her office to notify everyone that she had committed a tribute to George into the Congressional Record. Even better, I got to hear spirited stories from the Vietnam veterans who knew George -- they shared a side of him that I never knew, since he was my news reporting professor at USC. I was lucky to have had the chance to attend both his memorials in Morro Bay and Los Angeles, because it gave me a well-rounded view of George's life as a Mexican, American, reporter, editor, teacher, mentor, friend, soldier and veteran.

After the memorial, I headed west to Record Avenue to see the street where he lived as a child and the subject of his 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning story for the Los Angeles Times. After a quick tour up and down Record, I drove a few blocks south to El Rinconcito del Mar, a seafood restaurant recommended by Chowhounds that I imagine George may have frequented in his youth. After enjoying a boatload of clams and a massive seafood cocktail, I drove toward home to Silver Lake, stopping by George's old apartment on Larissa Drive, a few blocks from where I live. I thought about the time in his reporting class that he had us find his home address and the other adventures and misadventures I had as his student. I smiled as I drove home.

Previous post: Lessons from George Ramos

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To prepare our neighbor Verdell for dogsitting this weekend, I wrote her a letter with details on our dogs' eating, peeing and pooping habits.

We came home to find that she had left this reply.

Thanks Verdell!

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Photo from sanluisobispo.com 

The world knew George Ramos as a fierce reporter and editor who'd earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam and won three Pulitzers for the Los Angeles Times. His "kids" knew him as a tough teacher who demanded that we drop his course the first day if we weren't going to hack it. He was all of those things, and more – his big heart, mischievous smile and intense spirit made him a beloved mentor and friend to many. He may have died last week, but his legacy lives within us. 

As my news reporting instructor in 2002, George was crazy. He was loud, pushy and sometimes profane. He told us he reveled in failing students, and sometimes his assignments felt like practical jokes, gleefully delivered from his wide bear face with a sly glint in his eye. But these jokes all came with lessons. Here are my favorites:

1. Never take no for an answer. George recognized that I considered myself as an intrepid reporter, so when he assigned us different communities to cover for a series of stories, he gave me Sierra Madre. George knew very little happened in Sierra Madre, a sleepy foothill town of 11,000 people, mostly retirees. It was going to be tough for me to get a story, any story, let alone the felony that was one of the assignments. I said, “Sierra Madre? Are you fucking kidding me?” He laughed. I went to Sierra Madre’s police station, where the pleasant officers showed me their bookings for the past year. They’d had no felonies that they could even remember and said that I should go back to school and tell my teacher that I couldn’t find one. A bit discouraged, I went to my car and sat to think. I decided I was going to sit there until someone committed a felony, or I was going to have to commit one myself. I waited some more and checked back periodically. When I went back into the police station about five hours after I’d first arrived, the officer at the front desk told me I was in luck. A man had just gotten arrested for trying to sell a stolen bike on the street. I had my story! It wasn’t the most exciting felony, but it was a felony. Whew. 

2. Be clear. Write for your audience. George told us that reporters are always using words like “weapon” and “authorities” in their crime reporting, because that’s the kind of jargon used by the police. He told us to use “gun” and “police” instead, because we’re supposed to write for our audience, and in news reporting, that meant we should write for regular people, not cops. It seems obvious, but I think of George’s advice every day when I’m writing. (You may notice that local news reporters often repeat what the police told them verbatim.)

3. Use common sense. George had an annual assignment called “Find Four People.” We had to dig up the addresses for four people (himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and two of his friends) and verify the addresses twice with different sources. He reminded us that most people are in the phone book, and that’s where we should look first. Of course, there are about a billion George Ramoses in the Los Angeles area, so I used my own common sense to narrow down the list. I called Steve Harvey, George’s colleague at the Times and my instructor at journalism camp. Steve told me that George lived near Echo Park. Later on I tracked down George’s mom and brother through a tip from another student, and they verified that he lived in Silver Lake, so I paid him a visit at Larissa Drive, steps from where I lived at birth.

4. Always take notes. George introduced himself to us on the first day of class, and then he had each of us talk about our origins. He told us that he’d just interviewed us and we hadn’t even noticed. Then he told us to write a story about what had happened in class. We all looked around at each other in horror and realized that we should have been taking copious notes. I somehow managed to pull together a good story, complete with quotes from George and other students. To this day, whenever anyone’s talking during a meeting, I write down everything in case it might be important. Don’t be alarmed if I write everything you say into a notebook. It’s George’s fault. 

5. Set your goals high. On that memorable first day, George asked us all to tell him what grade we planned to get in his class. He went around the room, and most students looked intimidated and said they would get B's. I looked him in the eye and said I would get an A. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "Really?" I took his question as a challenge. "Yes. An A." I earned an A- that semester, though I called George a bastard for giving me a minus. Again, he simply laughed at me.

George taught me for only a semester nearly a decade ago, but his lessons remain with me today. When I look back at my time at USC, I realize that J206 was the best class I took in college: It made me a better reporter, writer and person. I mention George's class so often at home that my husband knows whom I'm talking about when I reference George by first name. 

I wanted Jason to meet George, so last weekend we drove up to San Luis Obispo for the California Scholastic Press Association's 60th reunion. I attended the CSPA workshop in 1999 at Cal Poly, and it was an incredible learning experience that helped me become who I am today. It was good to see the older but familiar faces of the journalists who were my teachers when I was 17. We hugged and shared stories of what we’re up to now. But one face was missing Saturday: George Ramos. I had assumed that George would be there, since he was also a CSPA alum and taught at Cal Poly. I'd emailed him earlier in the week but hadn't heard back, which I thought was odd, since he was always quick on email. During the picnic, I asked several teachers about him, but no one had heard from him recently. I figured he might be on vacation and hoped to hear from him soon.

I couldn’t believe the timing when I heard the news that George had died a few days before we arrived in SLO. We were on our way home when I received the email from Scott Sandell, one of George’s colleagues at the Times and another one of my instructors at USC. I cried for a while during the drive home, and then I started writing. Because that's what George would have done when someone died. He taught us how to write obituaries, after all.

My last memory of seeing George was at Cal Poly. I drove up to SLO in 2005 to visit the CSPA workshop and visit George. After I sat in on a workshop class, George gave me a detailed tour of the journalism department, which he was heading at the time. He walked me through the Mustang Daily's newsroom, the radio station, classrooms and his office. He was proud of his school, his kids and his accomplishments. 

I'm proud of him, too.

FLASHBACK TO J206: NEWS REPORTING 

If this blog isn't long enough for you, here's the story I wrote in 2002 after my first day in George's class.

Former students call him the devil. He seemed to love that name, perhaps even take pride in it.

But as instructor George Ramos introduced himself and his reporting class to 14 USC students Wednesday, he sounded more like journalism’s version of Jaime Escalante.

Raised in East Los Angeles, Ramos is an alumnus of Garfield High School, the same inner-city school where Escalante taught students who couldn’t initially do simple math to pass advanced placement calculus. An award-winning teacher known for his dedication and tough teaching style, Escalante was immortalized in the 1987 film Stand and Deliver. A seasoned journalist also known for his demanding teaching style, Ramos is a Pulitzer Prize winner who has helped hundreds of students master the skills necessary to become good reporters.

Yet while Escalante taught many students from underprivileged backgrounds, Ramos said he thinks USC students are too “comfortable” with where they are. Through his teaching, he wants them to step out of their comfort zone to tap into skills they don’t know that they have.

Ultimately, Ramos wants students to get the most out of their craft: “Love journalism and it will love you back,” he told them.

“The goal of this class, simply put, is for you to be able to walk into a small newsroom and function as a competent reporter and writer,” Ramos said.

Those reporting skills are simple in nature but take much practice to master: “Interviewing techniques, writing and organizing stories, speed, accuracy, critical thinking and ethics will be of primary importance in this class,” Ramos said in the syllabus. “During the semester, you may be asked to stretch yourself as a reporter and writer by doing a number of things you perhaps haven’t done before.”

Some of those unfamiliar tasks include getting multiple assignments in one week, the first of which included finding Ramos’s home address, writing about the class, and reporting on NBC’s Meet the Press. Later in the semester, his students will be assigned to local communities for off-campus reporting, and they will also be asked to find celebrities’ home addresses, to further hone their search and research skills. The final will be a news story administered at the Los Angeles Times, which will represent 40 percent of the class grade.

Besides scaring students with the workload, Ramos appeared to revel in scaring his students, taunting them repeatedly with questions like, “Are you gonna drop the class?” He also joked about his joy in failing students who didn’t meet his standards.

“I think Ramos must offer one of the most challenging courses in the school of journalism,” print journalism major Jason David said. “Never have I been so intimidated on the first day of class.”

By the next week, one student dropped. But 13 stayed. Some were hopeful that the class wouldn’t be as traumatic as they’d heard it could be.

“I’m not going to let George’s lecture discourage me,” broadcast major Zaraya Skea said. “I am sure everything will work out somehow.”

Although Ramos acted displeased that some students were not afraid of his class, it seemed like he was looking for some determination in the face of adversity.

That’s the kind of moxie that has characterized his career. Told in high school by his counselor that he’d never make it as a professional journalist because of his Mexican heritage, Ramos set out to prove him wrong. The counselor offered a simple stereotype that indicated why Ramos would fail: “Mexicans are [only] good with their hands.”

Undaunted, Ramos left home to attend college at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, majoring in journalism and working at the Daily Mustang student newspaper. Ramos has been working at the Los Angeles Times since the 1970s, earning three Pulitzers along the way.

Like how he proved himself worthy of being a journalist, Ramos wants his USC students to demonstrate that they are good reporters and that they cannot be written off as over privileged slackers, a common stereotype of the university’s students.

After hearing Ramos outline the class, Skea committed extra time to the class.

“Right after George’s lecture, I wrote a letter of resignation from my job at transportation services so I will have enough time for this class,” Skea said. “I am up for the challenge.”

Still, Ramos’s method of teaching can turn off some students.

Dan McManus, a print journalism major from Danville, California, was blunt in describing Ramos after the first class meeting: “I think George Ramos is loco.”

And Ramos agrees with that popular sentiment, but he promised that every assignment has a real purpose.

“There’s a method to my madness,” he said. “You’ll see.”

Ramos showed a little bit of that method when he slyly interviewed the class simply by asking them to tell him a little bit about themselves. In a short time, he developed a connection with each member of the class, which made it easy for him to learn about their backgrounds and ask more questions.

“You know what I just did?” he asked the class. “I just interviewed you. Now I know a little bit about all of you.”

That is the kind of rapport Ramos wants his students to have in their interviews while on assignment, the kind of interviewing that is learned through practice, if it doesn’t come naturally.

Jenni Rosenberg, a print journalism major from Claremont, said that she wants to make reporting skills more natural for her, like the way they are for Ramos.

“I think this class is going to be amazing, one of the richest learning experiences I will ever have,” said Rosenberg. “It’s going to kick my butt, but it’ll be good for me. I need the experience in reporting, since my strength lies in writing stories and not necessarily in doing the research for them.”  

MORE ON GEORGE RAMOS

American Dream Lives in the Barrio, by George Ramos, Los Angeles Times [Part of a series that won the 1984 Pulitzer gold medal for public service]

George Ramos: tough-guy reporter with a big heart, by Frank O. Sotomayor, LA Observed

George Ramos, reporter and friend -- R.I.P., by Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times

An ode to George Ramos, by Lauren Michell Rabaino

Pulitzer Prize-Winner's Voice Will Be Missed, by Kevin Riggs, NBC Los Angeles

CalCoastNews editor George Ramos dead at 63, by Lisa Rizzo and Josh Friedman, CalCoastNews

George Ramos dies at 63; former Times reporter and columnist, by Keith Thursby and Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times

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My afternoon work breaks include a lot of cuddling with these doggies, and sometimes I get to watch them playfight. Jarvis (the little one) is the aggressor but often gets his butt kicked, as you can see toward the end of the video.

The home office is great!

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He's much cuter than a snoring person. Here's a photo from when he was awake.

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Today I ate a mindboggling salted jellyfish salad at Highway 4 in Hanoi. The jellyfish was nothing like anything I’d ever had in the States – usually jellyfish is yellow, not clear white with spots, and its consistency is kind of chewy-crunchy. The salted jellyfish I had today was lighter in its crunchiness without the chewiness, and the herb salad and marinade had a sweet, savory and sour mix of familiar, perfectly executed Viet flavors.

This was the best salad I’ve ever had.

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We came across these monkeys while touring the ancient Angkor Wat temple in
Cambodia. It was pretty amazing to meet monkeys in the wild, and these
little guys are so cute!

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