International Women’s Day Celebrated in Venice

By Mary Getlein

On March 8 there was a gathering of women and men at 533 Rialto Avenue to celebrate International Women’s Day. The purpose was to celebrate women and to receive a proclamation from the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. Bill Rosendahl read the proclamation out loud and presented the proclamation to Yolanda Miranda, who received it with enthusiasm.

After that there were speeches, songs, poems and a sharing of stories about the women who came before us. There was an abundance of food, provided by Tamara’s Tamales and individual contributions.

The room was filled with bright, happy women. Everyone was dressed in bright colors with paper flowers pinned to their clothes, or worn in their hair. The table was filled with tamales, beans and rice, fruit salad and lasagna. It was a happy occasion to mark the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day.

The Day also commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, where young, immigrant women were locked into the factory and couldn’t escape the fire. The doors were always locked so union organizers could get in to talk to the women. Many of the women attempted to escape the fire by jumping out the windows, and fell to their death. All those young women, with all their hopes and dreams, were destroyed by the greed of the factory owners, who escaped the fire by making it to the roof. This incident brought about needed change and the push for worker safety laws.

It was an evening of sharing and laughter. It was a diverse crowd of women and men from many different backgrounds, Latinas, Romanians, Gypsies, African-Americans and Venetians. So many women and men came to hear stories and songs, speeches, to look at art and enjoy themselves. It was so good to see old friends and make new ones. Everyone was relaxed and very friendly.

Suzy Williams and Stephanie Valdez sang wonderful, funny songs together. Yolanda Miranda read the Sojourner Truth poem “Ain’t I A Woman?” Suzy Williams acted as an M.C., and honored various women around the room for their contributions to the Venice community. Hillary Kaye had made crowns of flowers and pipe cleaners, and Suzy used them to crown the women with. Hillary Kaye gave away magnets and matchbooks she had made, celebrating 100 years of Women’s Rights. Lisa Green helped with the cooking and also led a prayer for women and the planet. She had everyone hold hands while she prayed for bringing healing back to Gaia, Planet Earth. Mimi Bogale brought her beautiful oil paintings to grace the event.

Maria Montano announced her candidacy for Jane Harman’s seat in Congress. She is running as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate. She talked of growing up in Venice, and the effect of poverty and budget cuts on the young students she currently teaches in the L.A. Unified School District.

Alice Stek spoke of the challenges of being a doctor and working as an OB/GYN with HIV/AIDS mothers and children. She said in fourteen years she had never had to treat a baby born with HIV/AIDS, which is an amazing record.

Kathy Leonardo sang funny, sarcastic songs about men. Yvonne Guzman talked about feeding the homeless and helping people get into shelters. Carole Tantau talked about working as a domestic violence activist. She said she speaks three languages: English, Spanish and “Cop”. She has had many occasions of getting a phone call in the middle of the night, and having to go out and talk to an abused woman and convince her to go to a shelter. She also runs Just Tantau, her store on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

The event was conceived by Yolanda Miranda, who came from Utah to help organize it. She and her steering committee (Mimi Bogale, Greta Cobar, Lisa Green, Ivonne Guzman, Hillary Kaye, Peggy Lee Kennedy, Maria Montano, Alice Stek, Suzy Williams and Fabiola Wright) helped organize a wonderful night of celebration, songs and stories about important women in our community. All these women, with their many different gifts and talents, came together to know each other and to celebrate. We all acknowledged that there is a lot that could be changed and improved, but there is still a lot to celebrate.

Rebecca Frye ended the program by singing “We Shall Overcome”, and the whole room sang it with her.

Who in the Heaven is Larry Bell?

By CJ Gronner

Renowned artist, Larry Bell, is a true Venice treasure. His profile, with hat and signature cigar, has been sighted all over town for decades, and is now the inspiration behind a new neighborhood hang about to open at the corner of Windward and Speedway, the aptly named “Larry’s” (Currently featuring a sign outside reading “Who in the Heaven is Spanto? [sic]”, which used to say “Larry” until someone graffiti’d over it with the name of our dearly departed friend, Sponto).

I got the chance to sit down and chat with Mr. Bell the other day in his Market Street art studio, and discover that he’s even cooler than I already thought he was. Surrounded by his beautiful works of art, both finished and in progress, we sat and talked about his Venice, then and now.

Bell was born in Chicago in 1939, and moved to L.A. with his family at the age of five. He always had an interest in art and music, and thought he’d get into animation over at Disney. As part of his art school (Chouinard Art Institute) curriculum, he had to study painting, which soon became his focus … to the extent that now his painting and sculptures can be seen in museums all around the world – and in his big, well-lit Venice studio, where he likes to “meet the people who want to own my stuff.”

At 19, Bell moved to Venice … “because it was cheap.” At that time, it was full of empty storefronts and considered dangerous, so he was able to secure his studio space for a mere $70 a month. Perfect for aspiring artists. A group of about 6 to 10 people started from scratch what became a true community of artists, and put Venice on the map as an art destination. Much of the gang became “The Cool School” (see the documentary of the same name to really get it), and gained fame worldwide. As we spoke about his work, Bell told me that “I’m interested in creating images I haven’t seen before … It’s an organic cycle, I’m not in control, I’m more like the middle man.” Interesting, as I’ve heard guitarist Leo Kottke say about the same thing, and it was then that I noticed Bell’s 12-string guitar standing by. He claims to only noodle on it, but I have a feeling he’s being overly humble, considering the concentration he seems to apply to everything.

In 1972, Bell “fell in love with a beautiful girl, and wanted to get her away from the competition,” so he moved with her to Taos, New Mexico, where he traded his art for his new property. The marriage ultimately split up, and it was time to return to Venice. By some strange stroke of kismet, his exact same studio space was open and available on Market Street, unchanged and ready for him to get to work.  He had built the doors on the front wall himself, in order to get large pieces and equipment in and out easier, and all remained intact. The only thing that changed was the Venice outside the doors.

About that, Bell says, “Venice inherited a mystique about being a creative place, which is extraordinary because it IS … Nothing lasts, and Venice is an organic, changing place, and you can’t stop that or it’s Knott’s Berry Farm.” The place remains special, and will always draw people because of, “The AIR! The ionized air from the sea … the weather is perfect here all the time” (Well … it certainly was the day we were talking). He also finds special that there isn’t high-density housing at the beach. It’s still mostly individual homes and small apartment buildings, adding to the neighborhood vibe. We talked about cityhood for Venice, which he doesn’t think possible for just the basic economic facts, like who would pay the cops, firemen, etc … and added, “The best way to protect the funky edge of Venice is to get it historical status.” Hmm … an interesting idea, for sure.

In the years that Bell lived in Taos, he would always stay at the Marina Pacific Hotel when in Venice. He became fast friends with the owner, Erwin Sokol, and when the Marina Pacific became the Hotel Erwin a couple of years ago, Bell not only moved in, but helped design the lighting, and each room in the Erwin now contains a work by Larry Bell. He was invited to the hotel meetings to offer his input on various issues, and when the time came for Mr. Sokol to open a bar/restaurant in the ideal, hotel-adjacent location of Windward and Speedway, they all met to discuss possible names. Bell offered up “Altoon’s” (after John Altoon, a fellow Venice artist in the 50’s and 60’s, who lived nearby and died in 1969) as his choice, but was out-voted by the eventual winner – “Larry’s”.

Bell drew the self-portrait in hat and cigar for the neon sign, and his paintings are featured inside. He also made a list of Venice artists, past and present, to be a mural on the outside wall of Larry’s – honoring the people and art that has made Venice the place that it is – wearing the very heart of Venice on its sleeve. I spoke to owner, Erwin Sokol, and he hopes that Larry’s will be open for business in the next couple of months, as they’re sorting out the Chef/kitchen part of it all now. It now looks like Larry’s will be open to greet the Summer along with the rest of us, and I can’t wait to watch Venice roll by as we sit on the patio and appreciate it all from the namesake spot of one of our coolest residents.

As we were wrapping up our time together, Bell’s son, Oliver, and beloved American Bulldog, Pinky, came back from a walk, and we all turned our attention to that sweet dog. Market Street was abuzz outside, with people getting ready for the Art Crawl, and soaking up the warm afternoon sunshine. Bell walked me out, and as we said our goodbyes, he saw a girl sitting in the next doorway, headphones on, a million miles away.  Bell held out his arms and said, “Look, beautiful girls sitting in doorways, on a beautiful day …”

There was nothing else for me to say but, “We’re lucky people.” He turned and smiled rakishly, “Yes, we sure are.”

Swami X Speaks

High Clues

Every moment is free, creative, ecstatic in eternity

Be wise and cherish the treasures in your memory

Eternity is a state of consciousness and every moment is blessed

Some lamb chops are bigger than others, however,

they are all the best.

 

All there is    is     NOW

So why am I concerned with where, when and how

Enough to know the latest name for God is O Wow

Know ye not that ye are Gods, so why not take a bow

 

If God is eternally everywhere, She would have to be inside

of me and you

Don’t mind me, I’m just attempting to uncover that which

is endlessly true

The Sun bestows Light Life and Love; and a spirituality

that is ever new

The possibility for real, genuine democracy is now

in the spirit that inspired the red, white and blue

 

To suggest that someone has no sense of humor is akin to

accusing them of being Unamerican, whatever the hell that might mean.

A valid, relevant sense of humor is founded on a well

informed intellect, a compassionate love for life and people and a

gentle philosophy which unfolds a suspense of judgment,

greater understanding and deeper awareness for the mystery and

magic of life.

 

Poetry

• Who Owns The Earth? - Kitty’s Bratton
• She – Mary Getlein
• Sponto - - Liv Zutphen
• I Like -  Jasper Schubert
• Sunbeams – George Porter
• Airdrop the sequeL. - Jimmy Valentine
• In Brief – Jim Smith
• Untitled - Lynette
• Walks with Brutus - Aaron Reynauld
• America - Murray Barnett

————————–

Who Owns The Earth?

I am already buried at sea

No place else to be

Drifting and smiling under the

Cold green waves

My ancient Venice days

And ways – so long gone

Yet I linger on -

Between Ocean Park and

Venice Pier, where my

Happiest days were spent

And now I can’t afford

The rent! As far as my

Eyes can see, the ocean

Is still free, and offers

The final home, from which

I’ll never roam.

- Kitty’s (Bratton) Sunset View

———–

She

She was standing on the outside

looking in

looking in at all the brightly colored windows

yellow in the night

Beautiful houses filled with beautiful people

Never known hunger or cold or loneliness

she didn’t know how she got there

to that point in her life -

How it all seemed for nothing

She had nothing to show for her life

She trod very lightly upon the earth

They called her: homeless

but the earth was her home

the sky was her ceiling

and it went on forever

She knew she would always be on the outside

She knew she would never be invited in

to the warm and brightly lighted caves they had made

but she still liked to look.

- Mary Getlein

————

Sponto

It’s not the safest of places

It’s not being famous

A collector of women and art

A teapot clock on a chain link lock

Next door to the waitress at Piccolo

Free pot, a sink, a stove

An alien on a throne

- Liv Zutphen

————

I Like

I like Pacific sunsets and twilight

the painted skyline as the sun fall West

silver moonlight among autumn breeze hours before dawn

aroma of The Getty rose garden

as you walk through neo-classic style

admiring colours and textures of their petals

to close my eyes and hear the rolling of waves onto Abalone Cove.

I especially like the receding of it,

like tires slowly moving over loose gravel

the touch of lovers naked

eraser thin nipples brushing against my back

parted lips seesawing the curve from shoulders to neck

anticipating what comes next

Loyalty

integrity and honor

but not the innocence of youth

Truth

great and mighty

never divided

– Jasper Schubert

————

Sunbeams

If sunbeans were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago.

–George Porter, Nobel laureate in Chemistry

(Beachhead, May 1976)

————

Airdrop the sequeL.

PaddLing Hard. Farwest is my heading. I’m shredding my bestular.

so blessed with this life yes yes yesi

Always seem to find a sweet peace o mind when my board n i cross the shoreline.

itsa fine frame o time, like tasting the sweetuLar sunshine

tapping the current, the reef, tapping the flow.

yesi! like droppin on a sik! phat bowl!

cranking the ranking bottom turn. eyes a burning. sun is glaring,

offshore is blaring.

yearning the vertical snap, i n i attack without looking back.

engaged ontha face o tha wave.

i create my space in this place of time riding on my saline rhymes.

spraying rythm n style all the way down the line.

blessed so blessed.. got these rhymes in my chest. yesi

- Jimmy Valentine

———–

In Brief

By Jim Smith

me

you

love

sex

bliss

sleep

repeat

———–

A thousand years and one summer.

Today . . .

The small wooden village church of my grandfather’s childhood,

Engraved and embellished with a vibrant history of a people,

Hidden behind rusting locks and angry steel beams,

Closed by government decree,

Condemned to the sound of silent bells.

Summer Sunday morning . . .

Pedestrians break the sanctioned stillness of Kiev,

Filing past the empty, cold market square

to the old woman’s house,

The criminals hide in her basement,

Men,

Women,

Children,

To pray before the makeshift altar,

Their tears calling on the spirit of Volodymyr the Great

to baptize a captive nation with passionate faith.

Celebrating the secret millennium.

They pray . . .

In basements,

In catacombs,

As churches stand garish museums of the spoiler’s culture,

The silent bells peal resonantly in their hearts.

– Lynette

————

Walks with Brutus

By Aaron Reynauld

It smells like home

and we walk.

We walk, we walk.

It smells like childhood

it smells like fall.

Oh, fall!

One of my greatest loves lost.

It smells like a home,

one in a world of homes.

One of many places

I call home

And music plays

and we listen.

We listen, we listen.

All of the songs,

these notes,

the melodies.

Songs drive

and drift from windows.

They pour out of restaurants.

They are never separate,

but never whole.

These songs they drive us,

the guide us,

they walk with us.

Through the streets of Venice

we walk.

We walk, we walk.

———–

America

By Murray Barnett

Look America, I’ve done as you asked.

I had my attic insulated to cut energy waste,

Sealed the windows to stop the drafts,

I even eat by candlelight.

I thought the electric company would be fair

And reduce the cost for the poor and desolate of the land.

I didn’t expect conservation to be a deceitful practice.

 

Look America, I take the bus to go to work,

Bought a bicycle to do the shopping,

Traded my V* for an economy model

And joined a car-pool for my vacation.

I thought the oil company wouldn’t rejoice

And make a wind-fall out of my sacrifices.

I didn’t expect conservation to be a fraudulent practice.

 

Look America, I’ve planted vegetables in the front lawn

And tend my little garden every day.

I didn’t expect dairies to pour their milk down the sewer

To keep the prices high.

I thought conservation could be a noble purpose.

 

Look America, I see Death riding a pale-colored horse

Across battle-lines drawn for your depleted resourses.

And you, unmoved, as in the past, are busy

Selling what’s left to the highest bidder.

 

Look America, there was a time I trusted in you

And tried to believe that conservation

Was not a fast-buck practice.

Why does the passion for wealth

possess you?

(Beachhead, March 1976)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nuclear Nightmare

By Ralph Nader

The unfolding multiple nuclear reactor catastrophe in Japan is prompting overdue attention to the 104 nuclear plants in the United States—many of them aging, many of them near earthquake faults, some on the west coast exposed to potential tsunamis.

Nuclear power plants boil water to produce steam to turn turbines that generate electricity. Nuclear power’s overly complex fuel cycle begins with uranium mines and ends with deadly radioactive wastes for which there still are no permanent storage facilities to contain them for tens of thousands of years.

Atomic power plants generate 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. Over forty years ago, the industry’s promoter and regulator, the Atomic Energy Commission estimated that a full nuclear meltdown could contaminate an area “the size of Pennsylvania” and cause massive casualties. You, the taxpayers, have heavily subsidized nuclear power research, development, and promotion from day one with tens of billions of dollars.

Because of many costs, perils, close calls at various reactors, and the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania in 1979, there has not been a nuclear power plant built in the United States since 1974.
Now the industry is coming back “on your back” claiming it will help reduce global warming from fossil fuel emitted greenhouse gases.
Pushed aggressively by President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu, who refuses to meet with longtime nuclear industry critics, here is what “on your back” means:
1. Wall Street will not finance new nuclear plants without a 100% taxpayer loan guarantee. Too risky. That’s a lot of guarantee given that new nukes cost $12 billion each, assuming no mishaps. Obama and the Congress are OK with that arrangement.

2. Nuclear power is uninsurable in the private insurance market—too risky. Under the Price-Anderson Act, taxpayers pay the greatest cost of a meltdown’s devastation.

3. Nuclear power plants and transports of radioactive wastes are a national security nightmare for the Department of Homeland Security. Imagine the target that thousands of vulnerable spent fuel rods present for sabotage.

4. Guess who pays for whatever final waste repositories are licensed? You the taxpayer and your descendants as far as your gene line persists. Huge decommissioning costs, at the end of a nuclear plant’s existence come from the ratepayers’ pockets.

5. Nuclear plant disasters present impossible evacuation burdens for those living anywhere near a plant, especially if time is short.

Imagine evacuating the long-troubled Indian Point plants 26 miles north of New York City. Workers in that region have a hard enough time evacuating their places of employment during 5 pm rush hour. That’s one reason Secretary of State Clinton (in her time as Senator of New York) and Governor Andrew Cuomo called for the shutdown of Indian Point.

6. Nuclear power is both uneconomical and unnecessary. It can’t compete against energy conservation, including cogeneration, windpower and ever more efficient, quicker, safer, renewable forms of providing electricity. Amory Lovins argues this point convincingly (see RMI.org). Physicist Lovins asserts that nuclear power “will reduce and retard climate protection.” His reasoning: shifting the tens of billions invested in nuclear power to efficiency and renewables reduce far more carbon per dollar (http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/whynewnukesareriskyfcts.pdf). The country should move deliberately to shutdown nuclear plants, starting with the aging and seismically threatened reactors. Peter Bradford, a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) commissioner has also made a compelling case against nuclear power on economic and safety grounds (http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/whynewnukesareriskyfcts.pdf).

There is far more for ratepayers, taxpayers and families near nuclear plants to find out. Here’s how you can start:

1. Demand public hearings in your communities where there is a nuke, sponsored either by your member of Congress or the NRC, to put the facts, risks and evacuation plans on the table. Insist that the critics as well as the proponents testify and cross-examine each other in front of you and the media.

2. If you call yourself conservative, ask why nuclear power requires such huge amounts of your tax dollars and guarantees and can’t buy adequate private insurance. If you have a small business that can’t buy insurance because what you do is too risky, you don’t stay in business.

3. If you are an environmentalist, ask why nuclear power isn’t required to meet a cost-efficient market test against investments in energy conservation and renewables.

4. If you understand traffic congestion, ask for an actual real life evacuation drill for those living and working 10 miles around the plant (some scientists think it should be at least 25 miles) and watch the hemming and hawing from proponents of nuclear power.

The people in northern Japan may lose their land, homes, relatives, and friends as a result of a dangerous technology designed simply to boil water. There are better ways to generate steam.

Like the troubled Japanese nuclear plants, the Indian Point plants and the four plants at San Onofre and Diablo Canyon in southern California rest near earthquake faults.

The seismologists concur that there is a 94% chance of a big earthquake in California within the next thirty years. Obama, Chu and the powerful nuke industry must not be allowed to force the American people to play Russian Roulette!

 

Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate, lawyer, and author. His most recent book – and first novel – is, Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us. His most recent work of non-fiction is The Seventeen Traditions. b

 

The Tabor Family

The Tabors, one of the founding families of Venice had a reunion was held at the Pacific Residents Theater, March 2.

It was conceived and produced by Maryjane and included family photos, documents and other memorabilia.

Irvin Tabor, the family Patriarch, was Abbot Kinney’s personal assistant and chauffeur. Kinney willed his home to Tabor, who lived in it for more than 40 years.

John Quincy Tabor, II, who is Irvin’s nephew, entertained the audience with stories of the early days in Venice, including when his father won J.P. Morgan’s former yacht, the Sultana, in a raffle but couldn’t afford to operate it.

John Quincy, who will be 90 years old on June 1, was the first African-American lifeguard with both the city and the county.

The Tabor Family: 1st row- left to right- Sonya – Caroline – Jataun- Geisha- John Quncy- Francis- Ahimfa- Sia- Alvin- Allen  2nd row- Nolah- Clarence- Monque- George- Jay- Winola.