Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas talk with David Cole about the history, culture, and aesthetics of LA ‘s Malls. David Cole writes for Takimag and is the author of Republican Party Animal.
Topics:
David and Robert’s background growing up on the Westside of LA
The Open Air Century City Shopping Center, the original 60’s retro futuristic aesthetics, and the film Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
The recent $1-billion makeover of the Mall and plans to make Century City more urban and pedestrian friendly
The “Westfield Aesthetic”
The old underground 70’s retro futuristic ABC Entertainment Center
The first major indoor mall Fox Hills in Culver City
The Westside Pavilion, Jon Jerde’s 80’s Post Modernist aesthetics(original featured in Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’), and plans to turn it into office space
The 80’s Rodeo Collection, an archeo-futuristic urban oasis model for self contained cities, and the film Body Double
The Beverly Center, the amusement park “Kiddyland” before the mall , the original 80’s aesthetics with futuristic external escalators, and latter renovations
The lack of interest in preserving 80’s architecture
Young people’s interest in 80’s aesthetics and the magical dream like memories from early childhood(Hypnagogia)
The 70’s retro high-rise Mr. C Hotel(formerly the Renaissance) near Beverly Hills
The Third Street Promenade, the first major outdoor mall
The rise of outdoor malls such as Rick Caruso’s The Grove and Americana at Brand and how those are now becoming dated
Future trends, the under construction high-rise shopping complex, the Oceanwide Plaza in Downtown LA
The Jon Jerde designed neon lit Universal CityWalk
David’s joke about the City Walk’s old Rain Forest Cafe and the Museum of Tolerance’s Tunnel of Hate Westwood Village as the center of Westside nightlife and it’s decline in the late 80’s
Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas discuss their recent trip to Downtown LA, Matthew’s experience as a newcomer to the city, observations on the regions cultural dynamics, and solutions to social and urban problems.
Topics:
Skid Row, “ruin porn” and the Creepy History of the Cecil Hotel
Gentrification of the Historic Core
Broadway, neon signs and historic theatre marquees, and plans to revitalize and light up Broadway’s signs
Historic landmarks including the European style Spring Arcade and Art Deco Eastern Columbia Building
The Arts District, art bros, and the chadification of the hipster scene
The South Park highrise boom and new tallest skyscraper the Wilshire Grand
80’s Art Deco revival and new highrises influenced by Mid-Century aesthetics
John C. Portman’s Retro Futuristic Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Interior Urbanism, and Fredric Jameson’s Postmodernist review
The pros and cons of diversity and issues of social cohesion
The appeal of enjoying diversity from exclusive enclaves
The LA County Jail, Donny the Punk, and Jail as a metaphor for the problems of American society
The extreme social, economic, and aesthetic inequality in LA
Social problems caused by mass immigration, Neoliberal economics, and sprawl oriented development
Robert’s article Building a Based Urban Middle Class SWPL Utopia
Sane urbanist solutions to right wing grievances such as White flight
The political ironies of gentrification as re-colonization of urban areas
Family formation and reasons for declining demographics such as housing and education
How these social problems are now impacting the upper middle class demographically
An Alt-Center must offer solutions that cater to urban needs
Building a political movement based on aesthetics with visions for new urban communities
The hypocrisy of pro-immigration liberal elite NIMBY’s
How combining YIMBY policies with immigration restriction will gradually rebuild the urban middle class
Intro: The Northern Lights – Falling (feat. Lucy Black)
Lynch’s Politics: Admired Ronald Reagan and supported The Natural Law Party Lynch Endorsed Bernie Sanders and later proclaimed that ‘Trump Could Go Down as One of the Greatest Presidents’
Lynch as an Alt Centrist
Lynch’s interest in Transcendental Meditation which taps into one’s sub-conscience
Lynch as a lone Aristocratic Radical in Hollywood
How capitalism creates faux cultural elites
Lynch’s entry to Hollywood via connections through Mel Brooks which solidified his role in Elephant Man
Lynch’s cinematographic basis as a visual artist and the theme of Neonationalism
The Lynchian aesthetic vs. the Starkian aesthetic and defining what is “Lynchian” and “Starkian”
Lynch and Stark’s self indulgences in their work
Lynch’s interest in Retro aesthetics: Film Noir, animated neon, Mid-Century Modern, and 80’s Vaporwave
Lynch’s affinity for small town Americana and the theme of a dark underbelly to small town life
How the first Twin Peaks portrays a romanticized image of the town, while the new one portrays a more realistic image
The Great Northern as a model for creating aesthetically pleasing suburbs that implement the romanticized image of the small town
Lynch should design a theme park or Las Vegas casino
The soundtrack of Twin Peaks includes a wide variety of genres ranging from 80’s Synth, Old Western, Film Noir Jazz, and 50’s Rock
How the fusion of genres makes it somewhat vague as to when it takes place
Ben Horne as an Old School capitalist who does things that are ethically wrong yet is rooted in his community
The Black Lodge: it’s symbolism and aesthetics
The philosophy that fear is the opposite of love rather than hate
Mulholland Drive: the themes of Hollywood power and paranoia due to insecurities
Dune: the aesthetics of Dune are more important than the plot
Retro Futurism in Dune: Middle Eastern Archeofuturism, Steampunk, and 80’s aesthetics
Blue Velvet: Sadistic male figures, eroticized rage, and establishing hierarchy through sexual dominance
“Lynchian” themes and references to Twin Peaks in Robert Stark’s novel Journey to Vapor Island
How Matthew discovered the Stark Truth via the interview with Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu
Matthew’s political transformation from a Leftist to a “Starkian” Alt-Centrist
The connection between politics, sexuality, and aesthetics Beyond Liberalism: A Political New Wave Neonationalism; nationalism and politics based on aesthetics
Creating an Archeo-Futuristic sub-culture that is so aesthetically pleasing that it can out-compete Liberal-Universalism and Global Capitalism
Architecture as a form of erotica The Alt-Of-Center Guide To Aesthetic Warfare
The phenomenon of progressive cultural interests gaining an identitarian consciousness
The scene as the inevitable result of urban, middle to upper class “SWPL’s” becoming “Red Pilled” The Idea of Homonationalism San Fernando Valley Photo Essay and Neon Signage on Ventura Blvd
Income inequality and the demographic transformation of The Valley and LA
Al Barna is a San Francisco photographer and artist whose work has been shown in exhibitions at the de Young Museum, the Legion of Honor Museum, the Rayko Gallery, the San Francisco Public Library, and the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery. His photography has been published in CA Modern magazine, Society of Commercial Archeology Journal, The Sun magazine, and Shots magazine. www.albarna.com
Randall Ann Homan began her interest in the art of signage as an apprentice sign painter in Flagstaff, Arizona. She lives in San Francisco and is an art director, photographer, and an award-winning graphic designer. Someday she would like to design a neon sign. www.giantorange.net
Topics:
The history of Neon in San Francisco
Neon Walking TOURS
Historic Preservation and how San Francisco has lost the least of it’s signage of any major city
Market Street, it’s history as a Neon hub, and the failed Mid-Market Sign District Proposal The Starlight Room at The Sir Francis Drake Hotel in Union Square
Other signs near Union Square including Tad’s Steak House, Marquard’s Cigar Store, The Stratford Hotel, and the Herbert Hotel
Parking Garage Neon near Union Square
The Tenderloin
Chinatown which has the highest concentration of signs in the city though many are unlit The Lady from Shanghai directed by Orson Welles
Broadway in North Beach
Columbus Street in North Beach
Fisherman’s Wharf; Alioto’s, Fisherman’s Grotto, The View Alcatraz Sign, The Cannery and Ghiradelli Square
Bar signs including the 500 Club Martini sign in the Mission District The Coca-Cola Company Replaced the Landmark Outdoor Neon Sign with LED
Animated Signs
The Embarcadero Center’s LED bulb signs
The Port of San Francisco Sign at The Ferry Building
Oakland’s signs including the Paramount Theatre
The Orinda Theatre Rheem Theatre closes it’s doors in Moraga
Santa Cruz, The Boardwalk, and The Del Mar Theatre
Jim Rizzo of Neon Works in Oakland who rescues and restores signs Stookey’s Club Moderne which has a brand new Art Deco style sign NEON SPEAKS: Symposium & Spotlight Forum The Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California
Will Durham’s Neon Museum in Reno
Robert Stark and co-host Cartrell Payne(The Adventure Kid) talk to Peter Moruzzi. Peter was born in Concord, Massachusetts and raised in Hawaii, he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and later attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. In 1999, he founded the Palm Springs Modern Committee (PS ModCom) an architectural preservation group. He is the author of “Havana Before Castro: When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground,” “Palm Springs Holiday: A Vintage Tour From Palm Springs to the Salton Sea,” “Classic Dining:Discovering America’s Finest Mid-Century Restaurants,” “Palm Springs Paradise: Vintage Photographs from America’s Desert Playground,” and “Greetings from Los Angeles.”
Robert Stark talks to Lynn Zook about her new book Gambling on a Dream Volume 2:. This second volume of a two-part multimedia book tells the fascinating story of the Las Vegas Strip hotels built during the turbulent years of cultural and societal change, 1956-1973. Nowadays, alongside traditional casinos, people can go online to sites such as togel singapore for easier access to their gambling/lottery needs. In the digital age in which we live today, online gambling has really taken over the world. This is indicated by the number of people using parhaat nettikasinot (the best online casinos) for entertainment or as preparation for a real casino setting. Competition is still fierce though. Online casinos have to offer bonuses and other initiatives to tempt gamers in. Want to learn How to receive the first deposit bonus? If so, doing some research on casino review websites is strongly recommended. Back to the book though, Lynn Zook also runs the website Classic Las Vegas, and has produced an hour-long, first person narrative documentary on the history of Las Vegas entitled “The Story of Classic Las Vegas. Check out Robert Stark’s first interview with Lynn Zook on Gambling on a Dream Volume 1.
Topics:
Lynn’s first book Gambling on a Dream: The Classic Las Vegas Strip 1930-1955
Lynn’s interest and personal connection to Vintage Las Vegas
Caesars Palace
The Hacienda
The Stardust
The Aladdin
The original MGM Grand which is now Bally’s
The International which is now the Westin The English Tudor themed Tally Ho which was built by the creator of Yahtzee
How the Tropicana and Circus Circus are the last two remaining from this era
The Sin City Era
The Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra
The showrooms and variety show performers
The role of the Mob
Historic Preservation and the Neon Museum
Lynn’s upcoming book on Fremont Street and Downtown
