L.A. Stories
Our Lady of Grapes
The gift shop at the recently opened Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels has the usual religious knickknacks: silver crosses, porcelain saints and leather-bound bibles.
Then there’s the selection of Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels wine. The wine, bottled locally by San Antonio Winery and produced in California, has its own label with a picture of the massive cathedral on it. Selections include white zinfandel for $6.99 a bottle, cabernet sauvignon for $29.99, and Chardonnay for $10.99.
“It has been very popular,” said Isabel Loriente, the gift store manager. “It’s not altar wine. It is a fine wine.”
Recently the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau picked up a couple of cases of Chardonnay as a gift for some visiting journalists from Great Britain, who may or may not remember L.A. after they drink it.
Tough Guys
With the USC Trojans off to a strong start and ranked among the top teams in the nation (at this writing), it was in high spirits that the university unveiled a tribute to the school’s star defensive line of the late 1960s.
The 10-foot long, 8-foot high, bronze statue depicts the five-person line, dubbed the “Wild Bunch” after the 1969 movie of the same name. The “Wild Bunch” helped lead the Trojans to 10-0 record during the 1969 season, as well as a 10-3 victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
“It’s a statue not of Heisman Trophy winners, but of the guys in the trenches who don’t get a lot of tribute,” said Don Winston, senior associate director of athletics at USC.
Winston said the statue was planned as the first in a series representing various sports that will reside at USC’s new event center.
The “Wild Bunch” were: Charles Weaver, Jimmy Gunn, Al Cowlings, Tody Smith and Willard “Bubba” Scott. Smith died in 1999 at age 50, and Scott died in 2000 at 53.
The 12,000-pound statue in front of Heritage Hall on campus was sculpted by Don Winton, who sculpted Ronald Reagan’s bust at his presidential library.
Water Woes
Reporting from the Imperial Valley, Speaker-Emeritus of the California Assembly Robert Hertzberg was not upbeat.
“In 135 years of measuring, the Colorado River is at its lowest level ever, only about 14 percent of normal flow. It’s a huge problem,” he said.
Hertzberg is involved in negotiations with public and private water officials to hammer out a comprehensive statewide plan in advance of a year-end deadline that, if missed, threatens to disrupt water deliveries from the Colorado River.
The federal government has proposed giving the state a 20-year window to reduce the amount of water it takes from the river to 4.4 million acre feet, but state officials must first reach an accord among themselves about how to divide the water California has.
“The cutoff is 800,000 acre feet. That’s (equivalent to) the entire water supply of Los Angeles,” Hertzberg said. “Come January, if we don’t get this done, we have a major water crisis on our hands.”
Northern Lights
What do Leonard Cohen, Lorne Michaels and David Cronenberg have in common?
They’re Canadian, of course. The work of those and other artists are part of the Museum of Television & Radio’s upcoming “Oh Canada! A Salute to the Canadian Broadcast Corp.”
The 14-week series of screenings, which begins Oct. 18 and concludes in February, will feature works from the CBC that have never been aired in the United States, says David Bushman, television curator for the bi-coastal museum.
“There are familiar names but this is material that that was done, in many cases, early in their careers and that most Americans have never seen,” Bushman says.
Given the resentment among local entertainment workers related to runaway production, a show featuring Canadian productions might not be well timed. But Bushman says that was never a consideration.
“None whatsoever,” he says. “We weren’t looking at in a political context at all but instead from creative perspective.”
Darrell Satzman, Amanda Bronstad, Deborah Belgum
The Roving Eye
Flight Plan
Whether on the ground or at 35,000 feet, given a choice between seared Ahi tuna or airline lasagna most right-thinking people would choose the tuna.
Now local flyers have that choice. For a price.
Launched in June, Los Angeles-based SkyMeals is offering travelers with a taste for the finer things a menu with smoked fresh turkey breast, quail egg salad and stuffed portobello mushrooms all packed especially for airplane flights. Prices start at $7.50 for a bowl of gazpacho and go to $36.75 for a “European brunch” with fresh juice, fruit, prosciutto and a variety of cheeses and breads.
Started by partners Alan Levin and Richard Katz who together own a piece of three minor league baseball teams and an Arena League football team SkyMeals offers a full menu of items that can be served at room temperature or slightly chilled.
The idea popped up a few years ago when Katz and Levin spent an afternoon in Paris stocking up on French pastries, cheese and meats for the long ride home. “The reaction we got from everybody around us was quite startling,” says Katz. “Given the state of airline food, we thought, there is a business here.”
Katz won’t reveal how much was spent to start SkyMeals, but he said there are plans to introduce the service into other U.S. markets within a year.
SkyMeals requires orders be placed 24 hours in advance and will deliver at home or business. Meals also can be picked up on the way to LAX at SkyMeals’ kitchen on Lincoln Boulevard in Venice.
SkyMeals packs its meals in aluminum containers inside special corrugated boxes that come with ice packs to keep the food cool for up to 10 hours.
“When I’m traveling with my family… if we’re on a long fight, I’m willing to spend that few extra bucks to get something good to eat,” Katz says.
Darrell Satzman
