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  • Friday, January 30, 2009

    Moon over Glassell Park

    Friday, January 30, 2009


    The photographer took this photo from Elysian Valley, Frogtown, after walking his dog along the Los Angeles River.

    Photo: Tasawa69 via Flickr

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    Jonathan Veitch, who has served as the dean of Eugene Lang College at the New School in New York, was named the 15th president to head Occidental, the Eagle Rock college announced today. Veitch is a Los Angeles native who comes from a family of actors, according to a profile of him last year in the New School Free Press

    Veitch, in a campus press release, wasted no time mentioning the school’s Obama connection:

    “One need only look at Occidental’s most famous student, Barack Obama. “Our new president demonstrates the very best qualities of a liberal arts education. It is evident in so much of what he says and does, and how he thinks.”

    Photo: Occidental College

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    Cash is what the Echo Park-based Tom of Finland Foundation really needs these days. The nonprofit created to promote the legacy of the legendary homoerotic artist known as Tom of Finland has joined the growing list of cultural groups that have suffered a drop in contributions and grants as the economy tanks. The foundation is headquartered in the Echo Park home of its president, Durk Dehner, who played host to Tom (his real name was Touko Laaksonen and he really was from Finland) on numerous occasions before the artist died in 1991.

    In a recent fundraising appeal, Dehner warned that the group, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is at a “critical juncture” as donations have dropped steadily.

    “It is difficult for me to accept that we may not have the revenue to continue,” writes Dehner. “Your memberships and donations are vital to keep the Foundation open”

    The foundation is not in any “imminent danger” of closing , said administrator Sharon M. in an email. However, it does look like erotic art fans and leather daddies alike will need to dig deeper into their wallets (if they can get them out of those skin tight jeans) to keep the group going.

    “We need help getting new members to take up the cause and support year after year,” Sharon wrote. “Times are tough for everyone and the Foundation has felt it.”

    Image: Tom of Finland Foundation website

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    The sign by the front door welcomes you to the Sunset Apartments. But most people in Echo Park know this white, two-story Sunset Boulevard building as the longtime home of Herb’s key shop and the fairly new Dona Mary tienda and botanica. On Thursday, an “Open House” sign plunked on the sidewalk invited people inside to take a look at Apt. No 7. It’s downstairs, below street-level, on the right side of the hall.

    Open the door to Apt. No. 7 and here is what you will find: a clean, single room, about 11-feet by 14-feet, with a small fridge, sink and a space for a soon-to-be installed stove. A Laverne & Shirley-like basement window faces a concrete wall and the parking lot of Happy Tom’s restaurant. (Well, since Apt No. 7 is partly below street-level, you are actually looking up at the bumpers and fenders of cars and trucks parked in that lot).

    But wait. Where’s the bathroom to Apt. 7? It’s down the hall and shared with the tenants in Apt. No. 6, explains the person who answers the manager’s phone. Don’t be surprised, however, to bump into the owners of Herb’s and Dona Mary while you wait to take your morning shower. They also get to use the same bathroom. And it’s all yours for only $695 a month.

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    The show will go on at Bob Baker’s Echo Park puppet palace. Curbed LA

    What’s that I smell? Eagle Rock residents seek restrictions on 11 area pot clinics. LA Times

    Police shoot man after exchanging gun fire at Ramona Gardens in Boyle Heights. EGP News

    Ceremonial opening for El Sereno’s Valley Blvd. bridge. EGP News

    Oxy teaches teens to build and race solar powered boats. Occidental College

    LAPD to hire a graffiti cop as part of this year’s anti-gang initiatives. LAPD (last item)

    Parking cops assigned to neighborhood beats. LAist

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