Tag: memories

This afternoon I had to pick up my wife and daughter from LAX, so I drove down a little early to visit the old neighborhood. I grew up in Westchester and Playa del Rey, communities just north of LAX. We live there until 1972, at which point we moved up to the Brentwood and Pacific Palisades area, and I moved from Orville Wright JHS to Paul Revere JHS (and eventually, Palisades High).

This morning I drove down by the old house on 80th Street, and parked on 79th, just in front of the gas company property, and walked about a bit. The neighborhood has changed quite a bit. There seem to be more and more houses packed in: there are more on 79th, and even more one street over towards the wetlands (Veragua, which didn’t exist when I was young–neither did Cabora). When I was little, I hadn’t noticed the houses. Walking around as an adult, I notice how the community wasn’t cookie-cutter. Each house was different, and many were designed with decks to catch the open breezes. I contrast that with the San Fernando Valley, where you can see common floor plans in neighborhoods, and common layouts even in mid-priced areas. I also noticed how the square footage down there was smaller, and consquently, houses were consistently multi-story. In our neighborhood here in Northridge, we’re mostly single-story ranch homes.

I walked by my old house, which I can still recognize from the driveway. Most of the other houses in the area I don’t recognize anymore, and many of the vacant lots have houses now. That’s not a surprise–it has been 30 years. More surprising is that areas where there were Gas Company pumping spaces now have houses. I wouldn’t want to live in those houses (such as near the corner of Gulana and 83rd).

I walked down to the market, which is still a Dales Jr. The Union 76 (owned by Bill Yarnell) is now an AMPM, and the Chevron at the far end (owned by someone whose daughter, I think, was named Kathleen) is now a private auto service. Other than the Dales Jr., only the Elks and KoC remain from the 1970s.

In the other direction, I walked up 80th to Berger, up to 81st, across 81st to Zayanta, down and around a bit, and back to my car. Pretty houses, but I don’t recognize much from the 70s. There must have been a lot of remodeling going on. The dirt hill that used to be on the other side of Berger is all filled in (that is, the area between Berger and Hastings, and between 80th and 85th). Further, all the houses on the other side of 80th are new. I wonder if anyone from my era (1965-1972) still lives there. I doubt it. There were a few vacant lots; I’m guessing those are former Gas Co. pumping station lands).

I then drove past my elementary school (Paseo Del Rey), and over by my first house. It seems that the airport has taken even more land. I don’t remember the last street being 91st, and most of the land near St. Bernards being gone. Westchester HS nearly back up onto the airport now! I remember there still being houses over on 92th. We lived near the top of the hill on 90th (that’s the first hill W of Rayford), and there was nothing I could recognize of that house.

I did some more driving around. Most of the original Airport Marina hotel is gone, although the back parking structure looks the same. I saw where my brother went to elementary school (Loyola Villiage). I also drove by Emerson Adult School, which I’m guessing used to be an elementary school before the airport got too close (I’m guessing elementary because the only JHS’s were Wright and Airport, and Airport was torn down in 1971).

It was an interesting walk and drive, providing quite a few compare and contrast memories.

Yes, with an “er”, because I’m talking about movie theaters. What prompted this was an article in the LA Times about the Graumann’s Chinese Theater being sold… again. Thus, a recollection of some theaters that are no more, and some still hanging on.

The Nuart and Paradise in Westchester. I remember seeing loads of kids movies there when I was young. Both are now professional offices.

The National in Westwood. This was the big brown Whale of a theatre. It’s been torn down, but I remember seeing 2001 there with Karen Pratt (who died far too young), and seeing both Star Wars and Indy Jones there with the UCLA Computer Club.

The UA 4 in Westwood, below Wilshire Blvd. I remember seeing a really obscure movie there, “Another Nice Mess”, which was Nixon and Agnew done as Laurel and Hardy.

The AVCO Cinema Center in Westwood, where I saw Fame, and if I recall correctly, 9 to 5.

The Culver, which is now the Kirk Douglas. My girlfriend of the time (in college days) and I would regularly see horror movies there, and enjoy watching the people yelling “Don’t go into that room” at the screen.

The Paramount on Sunset, where my parents always took me to a movie musical when I was young.

As for the theater that prompted this story, the Graumanns? Sad to say, I’ve never seen a picture there. It now seems so forlorn, surrounded by the Hollywood/Highland center, with the Chinese 6 multiplex taking all of its business, used only for special showing. The footprints are still there, but I think the newest is from the premier of the first Star Trek movie. So it remains a faded star, surrounded by costumed superheros and fake movie stars. Sad.

Sometimes, the lunchtime reading triggers memores (cue harp music) in this case: “bridge”, “Panns”, and “Busch Gardens”

Bridge. The NY Times has an article about how a school in NY is using bridge (the card game) to each elementary and middle school students math and social skills, in an environment that draws students away from the iPods and other technological chains. That brings back memories of hours spent in the UCLA Computer Club playing bridge. Not very well. Even though my grandfather was a contract bridge grand master, my major problem was that I never bothered to count points. I’d see what I had a lot of, and what I had a little of, where I had a bunch of guaranteed tricks, and use that to bid. I never understood bidding conventions, other than the bid meaning: that’s where I want to be. Still, bridge provided one of the social glues in the Computer Club—you could usually scare up a game, and it was a way to interact with people.
• Panns. The LA Times has an article on the death of Eldon Davis. You probably don’t recognize the name, but if you live in Los Angeles, you know his work. He’s the designer of the “googie” style of coffee shop. Notable examples are Norms, Johnnie’s, and Panns. Now Panns still exists at the intersection of La Cienega, Centinela, and La Tijera in Westchester, and it is pretty much unchanged in design. I haven’t been there in ages, but I have memories of going there as a kid, especially after temple or when we were visiting Builders Emporium, which was across the street.
• Busch Gardens. The Daily News centennial series has a mention of the opening of Busch Gardens in Van Nuys. This was the brewery tour that used to exist with an exotic bird show. I remember the tour well, and I still try to see if any tram lines exist whenever I drive by. For the longest time, there was a flock of feral parrots in North Hills that were released when the garden closed.