Documenting my pocket of Los Angeles
Earlier this month, filmmaker Thom Andersen made an appearance at the Egyptian Theatre after a screening of his seminal documentary “Los Angeles Plays Itself.” Can’t remember the last time I saw his film essay in its 169-minutes entirety, but I was curious to watch it through 2025 eyes. From film critic Kenneth Turan’s review in... Continue Reading →
Remembering the 130th birthday of Buckminster Fuller with a brief account of his Fly's Eye Dome that stood in Pershing Square for the Los Angeles Bicentennial in 1981.
This month, Goodyear celebrated the centennial of the Goodyear Blimp. Los Angeles has so many blimp stories, including one with famous actor Douglas Fairbanks. In writing this, I realized that my dad had his own memories of the Goodyear blimp flying over his South LA neighborhood.
Thanks to the Santa Monica Conservancy, I finally toured through the Los Angeles Herald Examiner Building (now ASU’s Los Angeles campus) designed by Julia Morgan. Since much has already been written about this building, I'm sharing my research about a few other assorted topics related to this historic site.
This year, I made 17 granny squares for the fair’s large-scale crochet project in the Home Arts building. This amazing experience had me wondering about the crochet history of the fair (and Los Angeles).
My first visit to Sacramento's California State Railroad Museum took place on the 156th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad, aka as Train Day.
In March, I had the pleasure of presenting at the symposium for The Ebell Institute for the Study of Women’s History in Los Angeles. It was an honor to present my research about the first National Women's Air Derby (1929) in this historic women's clubhouse built in 1927. Should mention that one of those Powder... Continue Reading →
Had a wonderful time touring through the Ocotillo Lodge, my third time since the mid-century-modern-motel-turned-condo-complex was added to Modernism Week festivities in 2023. You see, my mom stayed at the Ocotillo Lodge for a week in October 1961 while on assignment for Sunset’s cover story on Palm Springs. Mom even made the cover of that... Continue Reading →
Since the Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires began three weeks ago, I have been struggling to find the words to express the profound heartbreak over this indescribable destruction. When talking about the fires with friends and family, I’ve used words like “gutted” and “devastated” but, frankly, these adjectives just don’t convey the gravity of what... Continue Reading →
I’ll never get tired of walking through these LAX mosaic tunnels! One of my favorite sites at LAX! ✈️ The LAX mosaic murals (1961) were designed by Janet Bennett, under the supervision of Charles Kratka, and implemented by tile artist Alfonso Pardiñas. As designer Janet Bennett explained (on Louise Sandhaus' Tumblr site), her idea was... Continue Reading →
Victoria Bernal 