Day of the Dead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Here is my awful video review of the AMAZING Day of the Dead holiday event at the Hollywood forever cemetery

WATCH!

My Promised Lookbook

So here it is. In honor of my surpassed 100 views, and my nearly 200 views I have made a golden era lookbook. Here I have made my own imitation of Lupe Velez, Eleanor Powell, and Clara Bow. If you like this I'll make some more.

LUPE VELEZ

ELEANOR POWELL

CLARA BOW

Something AMAZING is brewin'!

Well some great things are coming from around the corner. 

First, I surpassed 100 views!




Damn right! Thank you so much for reading what I wrote, it really means a lot.

So since I made that promise that I would do a lookbook, I be spending my time working on that! I think the lookbook will be up in a couple of days.





Second, I am working on a literary magazine! The magazine will incorporate specific themes but probably be connected towards Los Angeles. I will talk about it later and give more information on how you can order it yourself. 




So there are a lot of fun things coming from a round the corner. Stay tuned and keep reading. Also THANK YOU so much for everything you've done! :)

Flashback Friday #6 ON A WEDNESDAY!

Sorry I have been silent for a while. I've been trying to get a job.

I haven't gotten one yet.

# 6 Mae West

I've known about Mae West for a long time. Watching older Looney Toons cartoons I was familiarized with the characterized big tit woman with the sensual voice saying famous phrases like, "What's happening Big Boy?"

I used to watch these old toons and thought they were funny, but I didn't know why they were funny. I knew what these people looked like, but I didn't know who they were based after. Mae West is an example of one of those people. 

Truthfully, I have never seen a Mae West Film. I really should take an initiative to see one, but I am just too ADDish right now. 

For those that don't know anything about Mae West, I will do a brief bio. Mae West was born August 17, 1893 in Brooklin, New York. In 1907 Mae West was performing in Vaudeville under the stage name Baby Mae. Overall West became quite popular and an overall big name in the preforming arts. Being a "controversial" artist, Mae West began writing her own plays. She wrote a play called "Sex" but she got arrested on "moral charges" and was sent to jail for ten days for "corrupting the moral youth". Despite being close to 40, movies started offering her roles in 1932. She stared in 11 films and sang in so much more. In 1959, she wrote an autobiography that became a huge success.  She passed away in November 22, 1980.

Mae West wasn't anything special to me until I found out how amazing she was.  Writing about things during a time where you would go to jail, West gave the finger to the prim and proper. Mae West was a big advocate for homosexual rights as well as women's rights. 

She lived most of her time in her penthouse at the Ravenswood apartment building. She had several boyfriends while living there. One of her boyfriends was William Jones, a famous boxer. One of my favorite stories was that the former owner of the apartment building banned her boyfriend William Jones because of his African American heritage so Ms. West gave him the "fuck you you racist bastard" remark by buying the building and lifting that ban. 

Mae West became also well known for her fights against censorship. Some of West's movies had to be heavily edited, and most of West's lines had to change into obvious sexual innuendoes. However that censorship became her image. In response to censorship, West said, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it."

I find Mae West amazing not because she was an actress but because she was a star that stuck to her morals. When she knew something was wrong she wouldn't stand by it even if it gave her a bad reputation. She was an innovator and a free thinker who saw gems in what was considered immoral shit. 

Going to Murphy's Ranch

I have successfully done one of the things I wanted to do this summer/ year.

I went to Murphy's Ranch!

I wanted to find some older photos of the area but I couldn't find them, but this is my experience to the wreck.

For those that haven't read the THOUSANDS of blog posts based on the history of Murphy's Ranch, nor seen the thousands of television segments based on the site, I will give you a small rundown.

Murphy's Ranch was built in 1930 in Rustic Canyon. It was owned by Winona and Norman Stephens, who were Nazi sympathizers. It was designed to be a base for the Nazi regime but it was raided on December 7th 1941 after Pearl Harbor. Afterwards, it was occupied by various other groups, hippies, homeless, whatever, and eventually it became abandoned in 1990. 

I've read about this, and I've seen a lot of the segments, but I never knew it was so easy to get to. I literally put it on my Apple maps and I found it. 

One of the first things I found was an abandoned car at the bottom of the cliff.

The initial journey starts off with a long hiking pathway. Being in Los Angeles hiking is a main component of life, so generally going to Murphy's Ranch wasn't a solo journey. 

Then, after a short walk, I found a gate with an opening. I went through the opening and walked down the stairs. 

Truthfully, the stairs were the best part about Murphy's Ranch. I found the stairs had so much to tell.

The stairs were our history. They were the path to evil comfortably placed in the center of nature. These stairs were covered completely with graffiti. The mixture of the urban and natural environments make a strong contrast that have to be seen. Walking down those stairs and seeing the last remnants of man made construction, you can see how weak we truly are compared to our planet. 

The other great thing that has to be seen is the graffiti art. Everywhere you look there is something awesome.

It is quite easy to break into the gates that are blocking the structures. However I didn't really want to see it. It didn't really bother me. I was more focused on the stairs.

Sometimes the clearest things are right in front of you. Los Angeles is a land of things that might seem boring, but with a deeper look, there is so much fun to do. I managed to do Murphy's Ranch in the morning and I really enjoyed it. Maybe next time I will check more inside the compound.

Flashback Fridays # 5

Ok.

Ok.

stop.

I know. 

I know I fucked up. 

Look I know I needed to write last week and I didn't. Truthfully I fell under the demons of boredom. Nothing inspired me last week, so I didn't write shit. However I know it is my fault. I am the reason I don't get inspired because I don't do anything. I have all this free time and all I do is just sit and watch tv.

So I think next week I'll try to be more assertive.

But for right now I'll do a much needed Flashback Friday



#5 Lupe Vélez

Oh Lupe, Lupe, Lupe, how I adore you. I adore everything about you. I love that you were a civil rights protestor, I love that you didn't give a shit what others thought about you, and I love that the rumors about your death became a notorious and compelling story that explains why hollywood is utterly fascinating.

Lupe was pre marilyn, pre Rita, and she was one of the major stars that made a successful transition from silent to talkie. She was one of the major stars that worked with the best directors, and she began to create the temperamental and explosive Latina role that seems to be re-ignited with the character "Gloria" from Modern Family. She became a big success with some of her most memorable films, Lady of the Pavements (1928), The Wolf Song (1929), Palooka (1933), Laughing Boy (1934), Hollywood Party (1934) and the series, Mexican Spitfire, from the early 1940s.

However that was not the fame that stuck with her. When you talk about Lupe, a toilet is usually what comes to mind. The rumors of the porcelain statue becoming the ultimate demise for the starlet has continued to this day. 

She had an affair with Harold Maresch, that's for sure. She became pregnant and she wanted him marry her so they could have a family. He said no. He was a struggling actor that didn't need the bad publicity. His girlfriend even sued him saying that he would marry her. Lupe gave everything up for him, and he took it and ran.

Having nothing, she felt ending it all wouldn't be a loss. She wrote,

To Harald: May God forgive you and forgive me, too; but I prefer to take my life away and our baby's, before I bring him with shame, or killin' him.

Lupe.

She had one last dinner with her friends then overdosed on 500 Seconal pills. She expected it to be it, but stories made that her death would last a lifetime.

There are so many rumors on how she was found. One was that she woke up vomiting non-stop and slipped on her own vomit and smacked her head on the toilet. Another is that she bashed her head on the toilet. A newspaper of that time said she was found in her bed filled with flowers.

Huffington Post recently shared this police photo of the deceased star saying she was found on the floor. While this logically makes sense there is one issue that Huff Post didn't acknowledge.

During that time, the LAPD was EXTREMELY corrupt. There is a reason that there are murder/death mysteries from the Golden Era. It was because the LAPD was faker than the "news" on fox news. When celebrities died in an scandalous way, many studios fixed that issue. If a celebrity died, the studios would get to the body first and throw away the incriminating items they owned. In order to keep quiet and to not investigate that issue, the LAPD was usually paid off by the studios.

Lupe was probably moved. Whatever happened to her she was moved in a way to look like she was lying comfortably in her bed. If you overdosed, you would probably be sprung on the floor, not looking like you took a nap. 

Whatever happened is still a mystery to me. I really don't think it's "solved". However I don't want it to be solved. Lupe's story is the epitome of Hollywood, and is what I love about LA. She deserves it all, and that's why she is #5. 

read more about her death here