The 19th hole: Residents of Belmont Heights...
The 19th hole: Residents of Belmont Heights were shocked to see three joy riders careening down their streets--and sidewalks--and occasionally crashing into each other late one recent night. The revelers were at the wheel of golf carts taken from a nearby course. Long Beach police were summoned, but by the time they arrived the thieves had fled on foot. They apparently chose not to attempt an escape in the vehicles--and thereby risk a low-speed chase.
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Then there’s the Normandie anniversary: City records indicate that this year marks the 125th anniversary of L.A.’s Normandie Avenue, which was named after the province of France (with the French spelling).
By 1869, L.A. had had one mayor with French roots (Damien Marchessault) and was the site of a French immigrant settlement that included French Hospital in present-day Chinatown. The hospital, now called Pacific Alliance Medical Center, still has a statue of Jean d’Arc in front.
A few other vestiges of French history survive here, as well as one more recent tribute en francais --Rue de Vallee, which the late Rudy Vallee named for himself in the Hollywood Hills in the 1970s.
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We love L.A., both of them: What state has the cities of Los Angeles, Pasadena, Barstow and Santa Monica? Why, Texas, of course.
Other Southland names that get around:
* Downey, Ida.
* Eagle Rock, Va.
* Lakewood, Colo., N.J. , N.M., N.Y. and Ohio.
* Bellflower, Ill. and Mo.
* Glendale, Fla., Kan., Nev., Ohio, Ore. and W. Va.
* Long Beach, N.Y., Miss. and Wash.
* Hesperia, Mich.
* Pomona, Mo.
* Hollywood, Fla., Md. and Mo.
* Los Angeles, Chile.
The last city inspired a song by Frank Black, who crooned:
I wanna live in Los Angeles
Not the one in Los Angeles
No, not the one in South California
They got one in South Patagonia.
We can imagine a kid hearing it and saying, “Good beat--easy to dance to,” on the hit music show, “Chilean Bandstand.”
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More real estate woes: Bruce Fier found a for-sale sign in Eagle Rock--the Eagle Rock that’s in South California--that seemed to indicate the owner had given up on the notion of anyone actually offering him money for his property.
Or is it a reference to the Biblical wife of Lot, who was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back to see the destruction of Sodom? Gee, Eagle Rock’s not that close to Hollywood.
miscelLAny:
Philip Ashamallah is a write-in candidate for governor, but he seems willing to settle for the No. 2 spot in Sacramento. Over the past few months, Ashamallah, the president of an L.A. engineering firm, ran several large newspaper ads featuring the words and music to his song, “I Love California.” The ads said that proceeds from record sales would be donated to charity as well as the “Ashamallah Campaign for Governor”--and the “Ashamallah Campaign for Lieutenant Governor.”