Theatre Palisades hosts the third annual evening of a benefit concert reading of a new play by Josh Greenfeld on Sunday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Rd. In 2004 the play was “The Last Two Jews of Kabul” starring Paul Mazursky and Saul Rubinek, and last year it was “predicates” featuring Mazursky and Diane Manoff. The new play, “Fish Story,” produced by Bob Sharka and Andrew Frew, is a “two-hander”‘or two-character play’in which an aging terminally ill Jewish California schoolteacher/actor returns to his native Brooklyn neighborhood. The synagogue in which he was bar mitzvahed and mourned the death of his own parents is now a Gospel Tabernacle. And he almost immediately finds himself a victim of culture shock in an attempted mugging by a young African American. Their encounter takes the form of not only a tension-producing confrontation but also a meditation on changing values, seemingly enduring verities, and the fallacies and absurdities behind both. The result is a comedic and suspenseful questioning of life and death and reality and identity, before a highly dramatic denouement. Once more Mazursky, best known as the prize-winning director whose films include “Bob & Carol & Ted Alice,” “Harry and Tonto,” “Down and Out in Beverly Hills,” and “Enemies,” but whose many acting credits through the years range from “Blackboard Jungle” through “A Star is Born” to “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” will hold down a leading role. Co-starring with him is Emilu Nelson, a film and TV actor. Originally from New Jersey, Nelson attended Syracuse University, where he played basketball. His film credits include a supporting role in “The Hard Easy,” the lead in “Thursday’s Child” and co-starring roles on the television series “JAG,” “Angel” and “City of Angels.” With the highly acclaimed production of “The Last Two Jews of Kabul” at the La Mama Theatre in New York three years ago, longtime Palisades resident Greenfeld returned to the theater as a writer after a career as a journalist, critic, novelist and screenwriter. He was nominated for an Academy Award along with Paul Mazursky for the screenplay of “Harry and Tonto,” the film for which Art Carney won the Oscar for the Best Actor; he also wrote the screenplay for “Oh God! Book Two” starring George Burns, and the teleplay “Lovey: Circle of Child Part II” starring Jane Alexander. His play “Clandestine on the Morning Line,” was produced Off-Broadway with Rosetta LeNoir and James Earl Jones in the starring roles. And “I Have a Dream,” starring Billy Dee Williams, after opening at Ford’s Theatre in Washington and touring the country, settled down for a run on Broadway. Perhaps Greenfeld is best known for his prize-winning “A Child Called Noah” trilogy about his brain-damaged son. This year’s performance honors the late Dorothy Knight, a longtime Palisadian and staunch peace activist. Proceeds from the evening ($10 suggested donation) will benefit Theatre Palisades, Friends of Film and Palisadians for Peace. For reservations, call Theatre Palisades at 454-1970.
Times Reporter Sizes Up Rebel Directors of the ’90s
When Sharon Waxman set out to write “Rebels on the Backlot,” a look at maverick Hollywood film directors of the 1990s, she armed herself with certain criteria in order to narrow her focus to six filmmakers. First, she pinpointed films she felt really marked the decade. “Twenty years from now, when your kid asks ‘What did the ’90s feel like?,’ you’ll say ‘Let’s watch ‘Being John Malkovich’ or ‘Pulp Fiction,'” says Waxman, who readily chose Spike Jonze and Quentin Tarantino, the respective directors, as leading members of the new radical pack. Also making the cut were Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic”), David Fincher (“Fight Club”), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia”) and David O. Russell (“Three Kings”). “They all had to set new standards in filmmaking,” Waxman adds, referring to how this new generation boldly plays with form and narrative, shockingly juxtaposes violence and sex with humor and often employs fast music video-style cutting and editing. However, the overriding commonality is that all these groundbreaking movies were made by the major studios. “The whole idea was to show how these guys were being brought into the studios,” notes Waxman, who has covered the entertainment industry for the past 10 years, first as a reporter for the Washington Post and since 2003 as a correspondent for the New York Times. She came to Hollywood after nearly a decade of reporting abroad, covering European politics and culture and before that the Middle East. Waxman, a resident of Santa Monica where she lives with her husband and three children, will discuss and sign copies of “Rebels on the Backlot” (Harper Collins, 2005) at Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 22. “I was going to write the book with or without them [the directors],” says Waxman, whose research did indeed include the cooperation of all six directors as well as interviews with more than 100 actors, producers and movie executives. The result is a book that weaves together in-depth, sometimes juicy portraits of each director and analysis of their films along with a behind-the-scenes look at how the bottom line-driven studio system came to embrace more artistically daring movies. In many ways, it all began with Tarantino’s 1994 “Pulp Fiction,” the first independent film to earn over $100 million, recasting conventional wisdom about what the public would pay to see. “It completely changed the way young filmmakers looked at what they could do,” Waxman notes. It also sent Hollywood’s major studios on the hunt for the next edgy auteur, with many setting up new divisions specifically for indie-style movies. Of all the directors, David Fincher, best known for the violent, nihilistic movie “Fight Club,” was the biggest surprise to Waxman, who didn’t expect to be charmed by the director’s keen sense of humor. “He was a complete cipher to me,” she says of her pre-interview impression. “He really doesn’t give interviews, so there’s very little out there about him. “All of them are really different, interesting and complicated guys,” she continues. “There are points of divergence and points in common.” One thing all share is their self-taught, non-film-school-degree status. “They were in a big hurry,” Waxman says. “They saw films in their heads they wanted to make and weren’t going to wait around.” The book delves deeply into each director’s life, dispelling such myths as Tarantino being a half-breed, white trash school dropout from Tennessee who miraculously emerged as the voice of his generation. “The reality is something far more subtle and complicated,” writes Waxman. “Quentin Tarantino was not raised in poverty, nor in a white trash environment, nor as a hillbilly.” She goes on to tell how, despite being from a broken home, Tarantino had a mother who was “unusually intelligent and ambitious” and did all she could to associate her son with an upper middle-class lifestyle. We learn how Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights,” about the rise and fall of a group of 1970’s porn stars, is rooted in the director’s own childhood growing up in the San Fernando Valley, where porn movie production was part of the landscape. “All the kids in the neighborhood knew that the white van that pulled up to a house down the street was shooting porn,” writes Waxman. Waxman vividly captures the tensions and dynamic of being on set with each director, devoting several pages to the feud that arose between director David O. Russell and his star, George Clooney, during the filming of “Three Kings,” with Clooney’s handwritten notes of discontent reproduced. According to Waxman, Hollywood is in a real state of flux, struggling with ways to adapt to shifting technology and distribution models which are not working in terms of the amount that needs to be spent to get people into the theaters. “It’s an interesting time to be observing the industry,” she says. “It’s this generation of people I wrote about who will need to sort out these issues of how people are going to consume entertainment.”
Where Actors Dare
Actors’ Lounge program allows actors to explore their range and hone their craft before a live audience.
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
The crowd gathering outside the Greenway Court Theatre in the Fairfax District on a recent evening looks arty but unassuming. Except for a couple of women clad in 1930’s-style hats and skirts, most are casually dressed in jeans, quietly chatting in small groups. A sign on the marquee announces “Da’ Poetry Lounge” on Tuesday nights. But it’s Wednesday, and a guy behind the entrance gate peeks out to tell us he’ll let us in just as soon as the group on stage finishes a final run-through of their scene. Whether you’re acting in or watching the show at the Actors’ Lounge on the first Wednesday of every month, chances are you’ll get your buck’s worth. The evening of scenes and monologues is sort of an open-mike night for actors of all ages and at any level. But there is no shortage of talent; many of the performers in their late 20s/early 30s are experienced, working actors’in TV, film and Broadway’and others have produced albums, directed plays and independent films. On this particular evening, two actors open the program with a dramatic scene about a couple emotionally divided over the husband’s adultery. Their gripping performances and clear, convincing dialogue move a few audience members to sympathize out loud with the betrayed wife. Then, in a heated moment, the male actor says, in the style of Saturday Night Live, “Tonight, we will give it up for Actors’ Lounge,” and the crowd erupts in applause as DJ Blas plays Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” Before the next scene begins, the hosts lead the crowd of about 100 in a pre-show stretch followed by a clapping exercise they call the “Applause O’Meter,” which gradually raises the volume of the applause. Some audience members choose to sit in chairs on the sides of the stage, bringing them closer to the performers. Started about a year and a half ago by four local performers, the Actors’ Lounge celebrates artistic expression and community. The idea developed as an extension of Da’ Poetry Lounge, a weekly event at the theater featuring open-mike poetry and the spoken word. “The idea was similar’create a community environment where people don’t have to pay to put up art,” says Adam Schmalholz, a musician, poet and one of the founders of the Actors’ Lounge. “It’s a way to bridge the [entertainment] industry with the town, where people can come and not only be inspired to work with each other but also develop friendships.” Admission is actually $1 for performers and audience members, but that price is as good as free when you consider the crew working behind-the-scenes, including a house manager, stage manager, professional DJ and, of course, the theater space itself. The Greenway Court is located on the campus of Fairfax High School, on Fairfax one block south of Melrose. Hosted by Schmalholz and actor Justin Wade, the evening is divided into two hour-long segments, each with about 10 to 12 acts. As a rule, scenes run five minutes and monologues three minutes; there are usually only four monologues per night. The acts range from slapstick comedy to dramatic scenes about serious topics such as child abuse and suicide. No one will forget the tall, well dressed Chicago man who takes us to the verge of his own suicide. There is dead silence in the room as he holds his own finger to his head, leaving us with the haunting question “Will someone tell my father that I need him right now?” On the other side of this emotional evening, Schmalholz and Wade perform a scene from Stanley Tucci’s 1998 comedy “The Impostors,” incorporating costumes, props, music, lighting, special effects and stunts, including somersaults and a staged fight that they accomplish with great ease. Their imitation slapstick has the audience laughing and awestruck as the action unfolds’in slow motion’on stage. Creative and entertaining, the programming at the Actors’ Lounge is structured with a beginning, middle and end. But there are no strict guidelines for the actors, who are free to experiment during their allotted time on stage. “It’s like a gym for us,” says stage manager and actor Corey Curties. “This is a place where actors can act, versus waiting at home for your agent to call.” “You can be as prepared as you want,” says actress Ida Darvish, one of the founders of the Lounge. “There are people who come in and put on a show, and others who are just working something out.” While the organizers clearly have control over the sequence of monologues and scenes, staggering drama and comedy, they can never really predict how the collage of acts will play out. At one point, they invite audience members to participate in a situational improvisation’a comic yet racially conflicted setting of four men in an unemployment line on the day of the 1963 Martin Luther King March on Washington. DJ Blas and Omari Hardwick, a founding member of the Actors’ Lounge, join the volunteers on stage for this unexpectedly funny improvisation. “Sometimes you get talent that blows you away and sometimes you get people who are okay,” Schmalholz says, adding, “it gives people who aren’t experienced a chance to see if they like performing.” The group is quick to offer support when a fellow actor struggles with his lines. One guy restarts his monologue three times, but instead of boos, there are cheers of encouragement, and Wade jumps into a seat on stage to feed the actor his line from a book. Another actor stops, composed, mid-way through his monologue from “A Raisin in the Sun,” and starts over, explaining, “I want to have more fun with this.” “You become your own teacher,” says Schmalholz, who calls the Lounge the “anti-class,” explaining that it’s a safe place for actors to practice or hone their skills, compared to a classroom setting where they’re being judged by an instructor and peers. Darvish agrees. “You figure out what works and what doesn’t from the audience’s reaction, versus someone telling you.” In between acts, Tyler Clancey shows brief clips from offbeat movies or independent films to give the actors inspiration. JP Husky, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, assists Clancey as a technician. They also film the evening’s scenes, which actors can purchase after the show. Chicago native Sufe Bradshaw is a regular at the Actors’ Lounge, which she says provides her with a stability that is hard to find in Hollywood. This night she and a fellow actress team up to play prostitutes discussing their marriage prospects and dreams for a better life as they work a street corner. “I try to come as often as I can,” says Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, an entertainer who performs regularly at the Lounge with her homemade puppet, Lolly. “I felt like I had always been intimidated by actors, but here [at the Actors’ Lounge], I am so inspired.” She has a knack for transforming her voice into the high-pitched childlike tone of Lolly, who was eager to present the Valentine love badges she had innocently created using Maxi pads. “I think of an issue and I try to put it in the heart of a child,” says Carrara-Rudolph, who also performs on “Sesame Street.” Palisadians might recognize her because she sings at the annual Sweetheart Dance at the American Legion in Pacific Palisades. The fourth founding member of the Actors’ Lounge, Rosa Graziano, has moved back to New Jersey and is trying to start one in New York City. For more information, contact: theactorsloungela@yahoo.com
U-12 AYSO Girls Win
The Pali Storm, a local girls’ U-12 AYSO all-star team, won all five of its games to take first place at the 10th annual Coyote Classic last weekend in Victorville. In its first game, Palisades shut out Burbank, 1-0, with Zoie Aliado scoring the only goal from left wing in the final minute. On Saturday afternoon, the Storm beat Long Beach, 2-0, on second half goals by Natasha Wachtel and Jordan Gruber. Eve Babcock converted a penalty kick in the second quarter as the Storm defeated Newbury Park, 1-0, on Sunday morning. Pali’s semifinal Sunday afternoon pitted the two teams with the most points. Pali played a strong squad from Tulare and the game remained scoreless through regulation and two overtimes. In the ensuing shootout, Pali’s Jenna Davis and Izzy DeSantis converted their penalty kicks while DeSantis, also playiong goalie, made two critical saves as the Storm advanced to the finals. In the championship game Sunday night against host Victorville, the Storm took the lead late in the second quarter on a goal by Gruber. Pali added to its lead in the third quarter when defender Deborah Abber’s left-footed kick sailed over the goalie’s outstretched arms. Davis added an insurance goal on a penalty kick for a 3-0 Pali victory. Now 21-2-2 this season, the Storm have not allowed a goal in 13 games (and one shootout). The Storm includes defenders Davis, Sarah Thorson, Abber and Lucy Tilton, midfielders DeSantis, Aliado, Nicole Savage, Claire Fair, and Gruber and forwards Babcock and Wachtel. While the Storm was winning in Victorville, Palisades’ U-12 “B” team was busy dominating its opponents across the border in Mesa, Arizona. The Yellow Jackets, coached by Eric Waxman and Erik Pfhaler, were undefeated in four games and allowed one goal in the Red Mountain Invitational. Goals were scored by Christina Stapke, Morgan Ekstrom and Carra Rooke. Nicole Lettiere led the Pali defense and Sedona Lercara-Ragan and Alana Snyder were steady in goal. Also contributing to the Yellow Jaclkets’ first-place finish were Jennifer Erickson, Chloe Karmin, Helen Kaun, Haley Ketterer, Megan Meek, Amina Fishburn, Amy Weissenbach, and Carolyn Windler. The Pali Shock, a local U-12 girls’ developmental team coached by Stephanie Pitts and Dan Rooke, took home bronze medals with a third-place finish at the Red Mountain Invitational. Comprised strictly of first-year U-12 players, the Shock fielded only 11 players for the tournament, leaving them without substitutes in the hot desert sun. Needing a shutout on Sunday morning to make the medal round, the Shock responded by singing Tucson, 6-0, on a trio of goals from Jessica Cranston, two by Kelsey Reynolds and another by Lexi Mohr. Midfielders Emily Waxman, Grace Greggory and Julia Habiby sent a steady stream of through balls to the forwards, who quickly capitalized on their opportunities. The medal round was played during peak afternoon temperatures and although the Shock were in their fourth game without substitutes, they managed to score early and hold on for a 1-0 victory. Sweeper Lauren Pfahler, defenders Ashley Klotz, Caitlin Kerwin and Hannah Mathers aided goalie Avid Khorramian in making Pali’s slim lead hold up. U-10 Girls The Pali Rox, a local seven-on-seven all-star team, finished third at the Red Mountain Invitational last weekend in Mesa, Arizona. Taylor Pecsok assisted on three goals by Laila Touran–one in each of the first three quarters–and Elizabeth Seeley scored the last goal in the fourth quarter of Pali’s 4-2 win over Arizona Dobson in the first game. Seeley and Touran scored in a 3-2 loss Saturday afternoon. Goalies Izzy Rosenstein and Alex Jackson made numerous saves and Kaitlyn Nyman scored the goal in a 2-1 defeat to eventual champion Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday morning. In the fourth game against host Mesa, Nyman and Touran scored to even the game, 2-2, in regulation. In the ensuing penalty-kick shootout, the Rox won on the final shot by Touran to take third place. Pali’s defense allowed fewer goals than any team in the tournament, led by Jules Barlow, Cassie Jernigan and Natalie Messing.
PALISADES HIGH PLAYOFF PREVIEWS
Girls Soccer Winning the Western League title earned Palisades High the sixth seed in the City Section playoffs. The Dolphins (10-3-4) will host Reseda in the first round Friday at 3 p.m. at Stadium by the Sea. Pali opens postseason play on a 10-game unbeaten streak (eight wins and two ties) during which it has outscored its opposition 24-4. Palisades reached the City finals for the first time in school history last season before losing to El Camino Real at East Los Angeles College. The Conquistadors, seeking a record sixth straight City title, are once again seeded first out of 32 teams. Marine League champion San Pedro is No. 2, followed by Granada Hills, Chatsworth and North Hollywood. Palisades wrapped up the league title with a victory at Westchester one week ago but it was last Tuesday’s 1-0 victory at Fairfax that moved the Dolphins into sole possession of first place. Pali finished 8-0-2 in league and its only loss to a City Section came at the hands of Chatsworth early in the season. Reseda finished fourth in the Valley Mission League behind Monroe, Sylmar and Kennedy. If Palisades beats the 27th-seeded Regents it will advance to the second round and host either No. 11 Taft or No. 22 Carson next Wednesday at 3 p.m. If the Dolphins lose Friday, they will drop to the Invitational bracket and host the Taft-Carson loser. Boys Soccer Palisades was seeded No. 22 out of 32 teams in the single-elimination City playoffs and travels to John Ferraro Sports Complex in Griffith Park to face No. 11 Bravo Medical in a first-round game today at 3 p.m. The Dolphins (7-6-4) finished tied with Venice for second place in the Western League. The teams tied both times they played, but the Gondos got the higher playoff seed by virtue of the third tiebreaker: in head-to-head games they scored more goals at Palisades than Palisades scored at Venice. Bravo had won nine straight before losing its last game to Sherman Oaks CES, 1-0. The teams shared first-place in the Freeway League but Bravo got the higher seed because it outscored SOCES by one goal in head-to-head competition. The Dolphins were seeded 18th and upset 15th-seeded Los Angeles, 1-0, in the first round last season but were eliminated by second-seeded San Fernando, 2-0, in the next round. They had lost their playoff opener 11 times in the previous 12 years. If Pali defeats Bravo, it will either host 27th-seeded Narbonne or travel to sixth-seeded South Gate in the second round Tuesday at 3 p.m. Directions to John Ferraro Sports Complex: Take the 10 East to the 110 North to I-5 North. Exit at Zoo Drive and turn left. The road will curve under the 134 Freeway and the fields will be on the left. Girls Basketball Second-year coach Ronda Crowley has guided the Dolphins to the upper division of the City playoffs and a chance to compete for the championship. Pali tied University for second place in the Western League behind Venice but Pali (10-10) earned the higher seed on a coin flip. While Uni had to settle for the Invitational bracket, the Dolphins netted the 14th spot in the City draw and travel to third-seeded King-Drew for a first round game tonight at 7. This is the first-ever postseason meeting between the schools. The Golden Eagles (19-4) finished undefeated in the Crosstown League and are riding a 12-game winning streak, led by junior guards Venson Laday (13.7 points per game) and Juanita Lewis (11 points per game). Pali has won five of its last six. King-Drew and Palisades share two common opponents. King-Drew defeated Crenshaw in its season opener and beat Taft in the Roosevelt Tournament. Palisades lost nonleague games to both Crenshaw and Taft. If the Dolphins upset King-Drew they will travel to either sixth-seeded Dorsey or 11th-seeded El Camino Real for a quarterfinal game next Tuesday at 7 p.m. Directions to King-Drew: Take the 10 East to the 405 South to the 105 East. Exit at Central Avenue and make a right. Turn left onto East 118th Street, turn right on Evers Avenue and turn left back onto East 118th. The campus is located at 1750 East 118th. Boys Basketball For the first time in head coach James Paleno’s 16-year tenure, the Dolphins were not seeded among the top 16 teams in the City and will instead play in the Invitational tournament. Palisades (11-13) is seeded ninth and travels to No. 8 Huntington Park for its first-round game Friday at 7 p.m. The Spartans (16-15) finished fourth out of seven teams in the Eastern League while the Dolphins were fourth in the Western League behind Fairfax, Westchester and Venice. Huntington Park is led by seniors Jose Perez, who averages 14.5 points per game, and Danny Magana (9 points and six assists per game). The Spartans split against Western League opponents at the Hamilton Tournament in January, beating University but losing to Hamilton. Palisades won two out of three games against Hamilton (including a win in the Beverly Hills Tournament) and won both of its league games against Uni. Palisades is 1-5 on the road this season. Huntington Park is 4-2 at home. If the Dolphins win Friday, they advance to the quarterfinals where they will either travel to top-seeded Venice or host 16th-seeded Northridge Academy next Wednesday at 7 p.m. Directions to Huntington Park: Take the 10 East to the Alameda Street exit. Turn right onto Alameda Street, turn left at Washington Blvd and turn right onto Soto Street. Soto turns into Miles Avenue. The campus is located at 6020 Miles Ave.
Nissan Open Tees Off Today at Riviera
80th Edition of PGA Tour’s Los Angeles Event Attracts 35 of Top 50 Players
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
It all started at Los Angeles Country Club’s north course in 1926 when Harry Cooper shot five-under-par to beat George Von Elm by three strokes. Back then, long before the birth of corporate sponsorships and television contracts, it was known simply as the Los Angeles Open. In the 79 years since, the tournament has undergone several name changes. It has been played at 11 different venues. And yet it remains one of the oldest and most popular events on the PGA Tour. Excluding the United States Open, British Open and PGA Championship–three of the sport’s four majors–the tournament, now under its 12th year of sponsorship by Nissan, is the PGA’s fourth oldest event. Only the Western Open, which began in 1899, the Canadian Open (1904) and the Texas Open (1922) have been played longer. This year, 35 of the world’s top 50 players are in the field, including five of the top 10. Why is this West Coast tour stop so appealing? Here are five reasons: 1) Riviera Country Club. An opportunity to play this historic course, which hosts the event for the 44th time this week, might well be the biggest drawing card. The hallowed grounds off of Capri Drive have hosted the L.A. Open all but two times since 1973. The exceptions were 1983, when it was held at Rancho Municipal Golf Course, and 1998, when it was moved to Valencia Country Club in Santa Clarita while Riviera was being groomed for the U.S. Senior Open. 2) The weather. Unlike last year’s event, which was halted after only 36 holes because of continous rain, the forecast for this weekend is more like what Southern Californians are used to–even in mid-February–and that’s clear and sunny skies. The 2005 tournament, though, was not without drama. Adam Scott defeated Chad Campbell on the first playoff hole to take home the trophy and winner’s check, even if his victory was not “official.” It marked only the second time that the L.A. Open was shortened due to inclement weather. The first was in 1993, when Tom Kite won by three strokes in a 54-hole event. 3) The history. Few events are as steeped in tradition as the L.A. Open. Like the Riviera itself, the tournament is synonymous with the legends of the game and thus the tournament and the course which has helped make it famous are forever linked. The L.A. Open has been around even longer than The Masters and the list of legends who have played there is long and distinguished. The L.A. Open came to Riviera for the first time in 1929. Macdonald Smith, who had won the previous year at Wilshire Country Club, defended his title with a six-shot victory over Tommy Armour. Smith won four times in all but only once at Riviera. Ben Hogan won three L.A. Opens in the 1940s, including back-to-back titles at Riviera in 1947-48 (the course has been called “Hogan’s Alley” ever since). Lloyd Mangrum won the first three of his four L.A. Open titles there from 1949 to 1956, Tom Watson won twice at Riviera in the early 1980s and Corey Pavin won back-to-back in 1994-95. 4) The challenge. Renowned for its Kikuyu grass, impeccable greens and not a single water hazard, Riviera is one of the most challenging courses in the world. The famed 18th hole is among the most difficult in all of golf, with a length between 451 and 479 yards (depending upon where the tee-off marker is placed), a narrow fairway and a green carved out of a natural bowl with sand traps in front and on either side. Just how tough is the course to navigate? The numbers speak for themselves. Only one player has reached 20-under par in a sanctioned event at Riviera and that was Lanny Wadkins, who fired a 264 to win the L.A. Open in 1985. Even in ideal conditions, tougher pin placements make it hard for even the world’s top professionals to shoot par. 5) The purse. Sure, there are plenty of incendiary benefits to winning a professional golf tournament. Valuable points are at stake. Points that determine rankings–rankings that lead to endorsement deals. There is also the matter of pride. Of competition. Of wanting to be the best. But it doesn’t hurt that $5.1 million in prize money will be doled out on Sunday, including $918,000 to the winner. That’s no small sum for four days’ work. Among the most recognizable names in this year’s 144-player field will be world No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 5 Ernie Els, No. 7 Jim Furyk, No. 8 Chris Dimarco and Scott, who is currently ranked 10th. Campbell is also returning. The list of past champions includes Scott, Els, Mike Weir, Len Mattiace, Robert Allenby, Kirk Triplett, Billy Mayfair, Corey Pavin, Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia. Woods has won 47 PGA Tour events but he has never won at Riviera. This will be his ninth attempt to conquer the course on which he played his first professional tournament in 1992 at the age of 16. Longtime pro Duffy Waldorf, easily recognized for his colorful shirts, was granted a sponsor’s exemption to this year’s event. Early Monday morning he was at the 14th hole along with fellow pro Paul Parajeckas to participate in the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce’s Urban Youth Golf Program, teaching 20 at-risk children the basics of chipping and driving. Tee times for the first two rounds were announced Wednesday. Stroke play begins today and, weather permitting, will continue through Sunday. The player with the lowest score through four rounds will be crowned champion. Par for the course is 71 for a four-day total of 284.
Barbara Jacobson, Palisades Resident
Pacific Palisades resident Barbara Renee Jacobson passed away on January 29, following a long illness. Barbara was born on January 24, 1954 in Spokane, Washington, where she spent her childhood. She moved to Los Angeles in 1983 and worked for several years as a legal secretary at Jones, Day. She was married to Tom Prenatt, who preceded her in death. Barbara remained close to his family. She lived for nearly 20 years in Pacific Palisades and was often seen with her cherished dog Chloe walking to the El Medio bluffs at sunset. Barbara was a grateful liver transplant recipient. Although she spent many years in failing health she continued to inspire her family, friends and neighbors with her own thoughtfulness and deep appreciation of theirs. Barbara always took the time to convey her gratitude for the smallest acts of kindness by neighbors and friends. She will be long remembered for her warmth and generosity. She is survived by her mother, Shirley Jacobson of Spokane, as well as four sisters, Roxann, Kathy, Karen and Dee Dee and a brother, Carl. She had many nieces and nephews and countless friends and neighbors who supported her. The family requests that donations be made to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center or The American Liver Foundation, Southern California Chapter, 5757 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 in gratitude for the second chance at life Barbara received as a liver transplant patient.
City Clears 17 Homeless Camps
Photo by Rich Schmitt, Staff Photographer
For the past two weeks, L.A. city crews have worked in the parkland below Via de las Olas and along Temescal Canyon cleaning out the homeless encampments and their accompanying accumulated trash. ”Meth mountain’ is what the homeless call the area from PCH up towards the Via bluffs,’ said LAPD Senior Lead Officer Chris Ragsdale. ‘It got that name because there are a number of meth-amphetamine users who have lived there.’ ‘Quite a bit of planning was involved,’ said Chief Park Ranger Albert Torres. The effort included three park rangers, a maintenance crew, two supervisors, LAPD policemen, Department of Sanitation, and the L.A. Fire Department, along with support from Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s office and the neighborhood prosecutor. A large truck with a front loader was brought in from the Sanitation Department to hold the 15 dump-truck loads of trash that had been cleaned out with the aid of two skip loaders. ‘We located 17 encampments that we cleaned out,’ Ragsdale said. ‘Most of them were occupied by single individuals.’ Before the cleanup got under way, the Fire Department took members of the Recreation and Parks Department up in a helicopter to survey the area and spot campsites. ‘What looks like a small camp could be a very large camp with all the bulky items that a person has accumulated,’ said Torres. ‘It’s illegal to lodge and camp in the park. Even though individuals are camping illegally, we are required to notify them that a cleaning effort is taking place and the date. A week before we started we attached posters to campsites about the cleanup and made contact with all the people we saw.’ During the cleanup, eight individuals were cited for illegal camping. Three were ticketed for alcohol violations. Two individuals, once they saw the police and cleanup activity in the bluffs, darted across PCH and were given tickets for jaywalking. There was one felony arrest because an individual had two felony warrants: one for burglary and one for meth-amphetamine possession. The same individual also had three misdemeanor warrants, including petty theft and camping/alcohol violations. An additional individual was taken in for a mental evaluation because he was determined to be a danger to himself and others. ‘The main thing is to break down the camps,’ Ragsdale said. ‘It’s been a couple of years since the area was last cleaned out. We’re also planning to come back with the Forestry Department to trim trees and shrubs in the area.’ ‘We all work together,’ Torres said. ‘It’s a coordination between all the departments.’ Ragsdale is currently speaking with officials from Caltrans about a cleanup of homeless encampments behind the 16 ft. wall that was erected between Potrero and Chautauqua after the 1994 Northridge earthquake to stop debris from falling onto PCH. A fire started by a campfire behind the wall burned up the hillside towards Corona Del Mar in November. ‘Our effort is to keep the campsites from happening again, so we plan to patrol more often,’ Torres said. ‘Residents can help us by reporting any activity on parkland.’ Contact: (323) 913-7390. Asked what has happened to the homeless persons who were dislocated by the cleanup, Ragsdale told the Palisadian-Post: ‘Some have moved towards Malibu and Santa Monica, or have just remained in the area, minus their camps. I expect we’ll get a lot of calls from people wondering, ‘Where did all the homeless suddenly come from?”
Casa Gateway Residents Organize to Halt Sale of Valuable Easement
Some residents of Casa Gateway at the base of the Palisades Highlands are circulating a petition this week to stop a ballot measure initiated by the board of directors of Casa Gateway Homeowners Association in January. The petition is a demand that the association immediately stop spending any more time or money on the ballot, which could potentially grant an easement to a Palisades developer. Apparently, the petition arose from a raucous meeting last Saturday when a straw vote overwhelmingly opposed granting the easement to Kaya Tuncer, who owns the land on the hillside above the affordable housing complex. While those in favor of the plan saw it as a ‘win-win’ situation for the homeowners, who stand to gain financially from the deal (a minimum of $350,000 to the association), those opposed argued that no amount of money could compensate for the potential fallout from such an agreement. They worry about the liability (‘Who’s responsible if there’s a landslide?’) to the eventual possible threat to Casa Gateway’s low-cost housing status. The straw vote came after considerable disagreement over exactly what was being asked on the ballot, which was sent to all 100 Casa Gateway residents and is due tomorrow. To pass, the ballot requires 51 percent of the vote. ‘It is not clear whether we are being asked to actually grant the easement or whether we are being asked to simply enter into negotiations to grant the easement,’ complained one resident who contacted the Palisadian-Post last week. ‘Also, the attorney’s letter we received with the ballot refers to Tuncer ‘purchasing’ the easement, which is quite different from us simply ‘granting’ him access.’ The January 20 letter also states that the board of directors has the right to accept Tuncer’s proposal without the membership’s approval, which is apparently not the case, according to the association’s CC&R’s (4.2). ‘The reason the board is coming to us now is because they don’t want the liability down the road,’ the disgruntled resident continued. ‘I do believe that if we agree to this easement, it will affect our affordable housing status. Once we give up our right to part of that land, what’s next? The attorney said he has the city’s verbal permission to grant this easement, but we haven’t seen anything in writing.’ Casa Gateway, located at the corner of Palisades Drive and Sunset, was built in 1987 as HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) low-cost housing. While there are 100 units in the complex, 68 are reserved exclusively for seniors (62 and older). These senior apartments’all one-bedroom, one-bath in approximately 500 sq. ft.’rarely come on the market. When they do, they are often sold through word-of-mouth to family and/or friends of existing owners. The remaining 32 units are reserved for families who qualify for affordable housing. The three-bedroom, two-bath condos sell for approximately $200,000 to qualified buyers’well below market value for comparable condos in the Palisades. All sales are subject to approval by the Los Angeles Housing Department. Residents at Casa Gateway, which has several landscaped common areas for recreation and socializing, pay a monthly fee of $215 to the CGHA to cover dues and general maintenance. Tuncer has been negotiating with the association on-and-off for the last five years to allow access to his property. In a meeting with residents last year, the developer indicated that he intended to built either two large single-family homes on his property, or if he can get the land re-zoned, he would build up to 30 multi-family units. While Tuncer had originally offered to buy the easement, but the association’s CC&R’s prohibit such a sale. What Tuncer is now asking for is an easement ‘in perpetuity’ which would give him permission to build a roadway in an approximately 8,000 sq. ft. rectangular plot of land between Casa Gateway and Calvary Church. The easement would not only provide vehicle access to his property but would also allow for the installation of any utilities. What the residents would get in return would be an initial $350,000 payment, plus more if the multi-family units are built. The residents are also being promised indemnity from any ensuing litigation. The board of directors, made up of six residents, initiated the ballot measure in January to finally prompt some action on the Tuncer proposal. Whether the funds would go to the individual homeowners or into the association’s general fund is not clear. The developer has let it be known that if the association does not allow the easement, he will develop Via Lucia in Paseo Miramar, currently an abandoned city road to the west of the rectangular area, which he said would provide the access he needs (but with greater topography challenges). How much such a road would cost to develop is not known.
Fighting for a People’s Future in Afghanistan
By DIVYA SUBRAHMANYAM Palisadian-Post Intern Returning home from his nine-month deployment with the Marines in Afghanistan, Lt. Collier Gregory gave a talk speech about his experiences at Calvary Church in the Palisades Highlands last Saturday afternoon. Family and friends from as far away as Texas held the reception for Gregory, a former Eagle Scout with Palisades Troop 223, who was on a week-long leave. The walkway to the church was lined with American flags, honoring Gregory’s service, and the foyer contained tables with trays of cookies for guests. At 4 p.m., people began filing into the church, where Pastor Steve Faubian led the audience in singing ‘God Bless America,’ and then in a prayer. A personable and entertaining speaker, Gregory began his speech with background information about his service to date. After growing up in the Palisades, he attended Villanova University and joined the Marines the day he graduated. Last year he was sent to northeastern Afghanistan, where he served as the executive officer of an infantry company of 200 men’his first time in combat. Gregory’s anecdotes of his times in Afghanistan were peppered with jokes, and he emphasized important events and people with video clips or digital pictures. These visuals depicted the dangers and joys of being a Marine’military aspects like explosives and enemies were enlarged on the projection screen, but they were overshadowed by the faces of smiling schoolchildren. Gregory, 26, was careful not to polarize his audience politically, instead focusing on the more human aspects of his time in Afghanistan. He touched on firefights and violence, but his true interests lay in helping local villagers. The most metropolitan of villages, said Gregory, had cars, motorcycles, shops and American-provided electricity, but no sewage system. One village visited by Gregory’s company was so remote that it had not seen foreigners since 1978, when Russia occupied the country. A philosophy circulating among the Marines, Gregory explained, was that they had three enemies: the weather, the terrain, and the people they were fighting. The land was rocky and dry, with much fighting taking place across mountaintops. During the summer, it was 130 degrees, but during winter, it grew cold enough for snow. The enemy, of course, consisted of various Afghan insurgent groups, or ‘anti-coalition militias,’ as they were referred to. The Marines overcame the language barrier with a Pakistani man they called ‘Recon Mike,’ who became one of Gregory’s best friends. More than an interpreter, he aligned himself with the Marines’ cause and would help them gather intelligence. He could blend in and easily communicate with villagers, finding out which members of the community were suspicious. A main problem in Afghanistan, said Gregory, is that the ‘overwhelming majority are against what happened on September 11, but they allow terrorist camps.’ To remedy this, Marines have been trying to show villagers another way to survive. ‘We were not trying to impose the Western way of life,’ but rather to share an alternative, Gregory said. Marines have built bridges, roads, schools, hydroelectric plants, and set up the very beginnings of an agricultural rice and wheat economy. Villagers, it seemed, were perplexed, though not angry, about the Marines’ stay. ‘They couldn’t comprehend why we would want to leave our homes and help them,’ Gregory said. But once they understood the Marines’ mission, they were very grateful. ‘They would do anything they could do to help us, often providing us with food, donkeys, and local intelligence.’ Gregory and his Marines wanted to ensure that all non-insurgent Afghanis around whom they were stationed understood that they were ‘not an occupational force,’ but rather an improvement force, present to increase their quality of living. ‘Most are very [in favor of] this new way of life,’ said Gregory, referring to the Afghani people he interacted with. ‘They see representation in a democratic government’they have a voice for the first time ever.’ Gregory emphasized the time he spent with schoolchildren during his deployment. He was a strong believer in helping children understand from a young age that the Americans were not there to hurt, but to help. ‘They saw us with guns,’ he said, ‘and I didn’t want them to associate us with the Taliban, who walked around with the same weapons as we did. I wanted to influence [the villagers] for the rest of their lives, and the best way to start is with the younger generation.’ He would often sit and pose for pictures with the children, and enjoyed presenting them with Western paraphernalia as gifts. Items included radios, clothing, and even plastic water bottles. ‘We weren’t trying to Americanize them,’ Gregory was quick to say, ‘but anything from the U.S. was something they cherished.’ After a Palisadian-Post article appeared last October, Gregory and his men received boxes of goods from various L.A.-area companies and people, such as college T-shirts and baseball hats, which the children wore proudly. ‘They had a lot of common sense and street smarts,’ said Gregory, comparing Afghani children to American children. With regard to American reaction to his job, Gregory said: ‘A lot of people don’t support the war, but they support the troops.’ He received around 150 supportive e-mails as a result of the Post feature, which included his e-mail address. During his speech, Gregory mentioned how he and his Marines, on their way home from Afghanistan, stopped at a restaurant in Baltimore after months of poor food, and ordered huge dinners. In the end, just as they were worrying about the expense of the bill, the other diners in the restaurant paid for it, writing them a note saying: ‘Thank you for your service; this meal is on us.’ ‘I am so lucky to have served in Afghanistan,’ Gregory said. ‘It was gratifying’I was preventing people from another terrorist attack, making a difference.’ Although there are still ‘factions trying to disrupt the democratic process,’ Gregory is still hopeful about the terrorism- and poverty-wracked country. ‘It’s not that we have all the right answers,’ he admitted later in a personal interview, ‘but we can show them a democratic way of life as opposed to Taliban rule. We want to rid the country of a terrorist regime so that Afghanistan can run itself.’ On February 15, Gregory will return to his base at Kaneohe Marine Base in Hawaii. In June, he said, ‘I’ll either accept a job at Marine headquarters in Washington, D.C., or I’ll get out of the military and return to Los Angeles and look for work.’
