Blogtown Is 12 Today!

Blogtown is twelve years old today, and I just wanted to acknowledge that. It has been a privilege and an honor to tell the stories of Venice, California - and in more recent days, Minneapolis, Minnesota - in an effort to shine a light on the cool people and places that are doing good things and making our world a little better. 

 I hope you will continue to read along as I keep spinning the yarns that matter to me. Thank you!

Clogtown: Swan River - A Love Story!

Happy Valentine's Day, Lovers! In the interest of not going insane, I always try and seek out cool and interesting stories, places, people ... things that I know will bring me some joy and some beauty and some information. I've been a little obsessed (like my Venice hummingbirds obsessed!) with the Swans of Monticello, Minnesota for the past couple of months, as I tried to go see them in December with no luck. There is a Swan Cam set up to look at the wintering trumpeter swans that come to this little bend in the Mississippi River each winter, where the water is a little warmer (I don't believe it) due to the curve, but also this is where they know they are going to be fed. I thought it would be a perfect story for Valentine's Day, as I had heard that swans mate for life, and that's a nice little love story for the day ... but what I learned was an even better one.

Over thirty years ago, a pair of trumpeter swans were released from Hennepin Parks in a partnership between the DNR, the private sector, and the public in an attempt to restore their population (after they were believed to be nearly extinct in the 1880's). A local woman named Sheila Lawrence lived on the banks of the Mississippi River in Monticello, and began feeding shelled corn to the swans that she saw taking a breather in the open waters by her house. (Photo from their brochure)

Well, word got out and soon the swans numbered in the hundreds, and then the thousands. Sheila spent her entire days hauling corn and feeding the swans, all out of her own pocket (and donations from friends here and there - this is not a government funded operation). She soon became known as the "Swan Lady", the area became known as Swan Park, and now you can see these gorgeous creatures there in the winter from December to March.

It was a bust in December when I went, because it was too warm and the swans were still out in the corn fields, fat and happy. I've been keeping a close eye on the Swan Cam so I knew the crowd was growing, and when I woke up yesterday it was -11 outside! I knew this was good news for swan viewing, so I got my Mom and myself all bundled up, and we hit the road for Monticello.

The Swan Park is on a dead end fully residential street, and as soon as we opened the car doors we could hear the call of the trumpeting swans! Exciting! Mom has to walk a little slow these days, but we were both trying to hustle - from both anticipation and the freezing cold! Steam was rising off of the river from the cold, and you could see ice bergs flowing by. Three GIANT swans FLEW by, and we forgot all about the cold (for a moment). I'd never seen a swan fly, I don't think, and it's nuts. Their long necks stretch out straight and their wing span was huge as they swooped in for a landing along the banks where all of the corn feed was ... and hundreds of their friends were down below.  Wow!

I had heard that the feeding was done every day at 10:30 am, and I saw a guy down by the water tossing corn at the swans. I waved at him, and he came over, probably to see what this crazy girl was doing outside in a sweater (it's a lovebirds sweater, in homage to the swans!). This turned out to be Jim Lawrence, the husband of the late Swan Lady Sheila, who passed away in 2011. As Jim told us everything you could ever hope to know about swans, I realized that THIS was the real love story.

Jim was a dairy farm boy from North Dakota, and talks like one. He told us how the original swans were tagged to keep track of, and old #7, well, she was what you would call a "Boss Cow". She came in and if Sheila wasn't out there at 10:30 on the dot, this swan would come right up to her - at eye level on her 5'2 frame - with basically an arched eyebrow and tapping at her wristwatch, like C'mon, Swan Lady. Every other sentence Jim uttered was about Sheila, and he is now out there every morning at 10:30 carrying on the legacy of his Swan Lady. It was incredibly touching, especially when he said that he knew she was up there feeding all of the feathered and furry creatures in Heaven, looking up as he said it.

When he looked up, I noticed the icicles forming on his eyelashes and beard, and thought I'd better get my Mom back inside the warm car. Jim walked and talked us all the way back, with more swan trivia as we went. I wanted to go back and take more pictures and just watch the graceful beasts a bit more, so Jim walked and talked me back. He wouldn't let me help him feed the swans (it's a liability thing), but I bet I could now step in as in information guide if he ever needs me. The love he has for these swans - and for his late wife, Sheila - literally made his eyes sparkle ... and it wasn't just the icicles.

I had to ask if his neighbors hate him, because these guys play some mean horn ... all day and night. He said that they love it, and the walls and your t.v. and grandkids playing all muffle it out - plus it's only for like three months. I kind of thought there would be way more swans, after reading that last year there were almost four thousand there in January. Jim then explained for me (and for you, below), that all those dark ducks weren't ducks at all (save for a few random mallards) - they were cygnets! Baby swans! They'll be all white and huge by June! Oh, man ... I was just loving it ...

... but I also could no longer feel my face. I really could have sat and listened to the swan stories and watched them try to land in between the ice bergs, but I honestly might have lost my nose for real if I'd stayed out there even just a few more minutes. Invigorating! Jim walked and talked me back to the car again, giving me his business card. Turns out he's a professional wildlife control guy, so you call him if a wild animal needs to get caught and removed. His email name is "Ol Trapper 1". Perfect.

I shook Jim's hand (I think - I couldn't really feel it), said my farewell, and sat on the car's heated seat to try and regain some feeling before I began to drive. I looked at my Mom, and my eyes were glistening, from the cold, yes, but also because I was so touched, and still am as I write this. Here is this man living out his wife's legacy in her absence, missing her terribly, but she is so clearly there with him. He told me that the year Sheila passed away, there was no snow that winter, and thus very few swans, making her absence loom even larger. The next year there was a lot of snow, and a lot of swans. Jim knows that Sheila sent it, no question. He waved again as we pulled away, and we drove off feeling like we had just read a really beautiful love story ... and learned an awful lot about trumpeter swans while we were at it. (It turns out, according to Jim, that they mate for REPRODUCTIVE life, but if something happens to their partner, they will hook up again. Jim calls this Swan Park of his the "Pick Up Bar", because that's really what all of those trumpet peals are for.)

So, this Valentine's Day, let's celebrate love - whether we have it in our own lives in a romantic way or not - because it really is the one thing this world could sure use a whole lot more of right now. This beautiful, freezing cold morning could not have warmed my heart more, and I thank Jim Lawrence for sharing his great stories and for continuing his Swan Lady's dream long after she's been gone. Monticello has swans on its street light banners. The iron work on its overpass bridges feature swans. As we were leaving, another car with a couple inside pulled up to see the swans on an arctic blast of a day ... all because of Sheila and Jim. What a beautiful thing to behold ... ! Cheers to love, and Happy Valentine's Day, wherever you are!

If you would like to see these swans for yourselves, just head to 117 Mississippi Drive in Monticello, MN. No financial support comes from any city or state agencies to help feed the swans, so donations are always most welcome.

Swan City Heritage Foundation
c/o Monticello Chamber
P.O. Box 192
Monticello, MN 55362

Venice Gets A Rainbow Crosswalk!

It was crazy to be back in Venice after being gone all summer, and to see how much things have changed. So many businesses gone, so many new ones in. I found myself fondly remembering the days when we stood up and fought against chains, and ran Pinkberry out of town in just a few months, and I liked Pinkberry - just not in Venice. With so much of the cool being priced out of Venice, it was nice to see one NEW cool thing ... a rainbow crosswalk on Abbot Kinney!

I remember sitting in Tim Bonefeld and Erinn Berkson's (owner of one of the few remaining locally owned businesss on Abbot Kinney, the wonderful Burro!) living room after dinner a while back, and Tim talking about how he had the idea for a rainbow crosswalk to replace the dingy one outside of The Roosterfish ... and he made it happen! Dedicated on June 28th, 2019 (when I was gone, sadly) it now glistens there in the sun, AND makes crossing safer on AKB.

The Roosterfish used to be my Abbot Kinney Festival go-to spot to use the ladies room, as there was never a line for it in there. It was almost all gay men. Those days appear to be gone, as the place was packed with the Millenial crowd, and who knows if anyone was gay anymore in there. That's fine, it's just different, and I feel a little bad for all the people who would gather there in THEIR spot. Still, it's pretty cool to have the first rainbow crosswalk in Los Angeles celebrating our LBGTQ friends right here in Venice.

There are plaques in the street for the people who sponsored each color, and they are all to be commended (especially after the debacle this year between Venice Pride and the Venice Chamber of Commerce, who refused to let them use the Venice Sign for Pride - yeah.) for making Venice still have a little cool, and making the now douchebag-filled Abbot Kinney (Seriously. Locals I spoke to that haven't left didn't even know about the crosswalk because they won't go to AKB anymore!)  rainbow bright!

Thank you.

Get A Tattoo On Abbot Kinney - Meet Royal Heritage Tattoo & Piercing, Now Open In Venice!

I got a call a couple months ago from David Paris, who owns The Brig building. He wanted me to know about a tattoo shop that was opening upstairs from The Brig, and to introduce me to Stephanie Anders, the proprietress of Royal Heritage Tattoo & Piercing. Now, a tattoo/piercing parlor is exactly what Abbot Kinney Boulevard needed - what Venice needed, really, instead of yet another b.s. corporate entity.  It took a minute for Anders and I to be able to sit down and chat, mainly because she was being flown to London to do piercing for Victoria Beckham (so she's got great referrals!), and then it was the holidays, and then we finally sat down to talk in her very cool shop.

Anders, like myself, was another Mid-Westerner who always knew she was going to be heading out west. Born and raised in small-town Iowa (her graduating class was 9!), Anders found an interest in piercing when she was only in second grade. She doesn't really know where the influence came from, just that she was always attracted to piercings. In high school, she got a job in a tattoo studio an hour's drive away, building her career and client base as she went.

When it was time for college, Anders went and soon realized that she had left a good, blossoming career in order to be a full-time/broke student. Why? Understanding that she had already found her path, Anders left school and returned back to her career, soon being invited to join the best studio in Des Moines, 5 Point Studios. She did get a husband (Kevin Anders, a chemist!) out of college, though, and he had spent some time living in L.A. ... and wasn't mad at the idea of returning.

In 2012, Stephanie and Kevin made the move from Iowa to Los Angeles, with no jobs, no place to live, just chasing the dream. A mere few days later, Stephanie got a job at Prix Body Piercing & Tattoo, on Sunset Boulevard at the time. While building up her west coast clientele, Anders had a piercing client, Zulu, who owned Zulu Tattoo at 3rd and Crescent Heights. When she shared with Zulu that she really wanted to open her own studio, he up and offered for her to take over Zulu! This was in 2016, Anders was only 23, but she went for it. The Zulu artists stayed, and soon Royal Heritage Tattoo & Piercing was off and running.

Anders kept renowned tattoo artists like Adam Kilss, and now has four tattoo artists working at Royal Heritage (and they're looking for more!), and 3 piercers including herself. Word of Anders' expertise soon spread around celebrity circles, and she found herself making holes in such celebrity skin (Hole song, get it?) as Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston ... you name it and she's probably pierced them. Anders likes to use high-end jewelry for her work, and set out to make her own, launching Royal Heritage Jewelry as the studio continued to grow. They needed a bigger space.

Poring over the real estate listings, Anders saw an interesting one on Abbot Kinney and decided to take a look. When turning right on to Abbot Kinney from Venice Boulevard, she saw palm trees and murals and sunshine and good looking people, and was like, "What is THIS place?!" She had never been to Venice other than the Boardwalk (!), but knew immediately that this was where she wanted to open up shop. "I needed to be here. For myself ... for my studio ... it just felt different than the rest of L.A. ... like there was a community here."

She told Paris immediately upon seeing the space that she'd take it, and then hoped that he'd say yes to a tattoo shop upstairs. Which he did, and is cool for doing. They clicked over her being a Mom & Pop for him, and for Anders, him telling her that the Venice Resistance used to meet in this space, and that she felt community like she hadn't felt before out here. I told her, like everyone does, that she would have REALLY loved Venice back in the day, but I felt good that as a newcomer, she had felt what we all felt when we moved here long ago ... still. It's good when new people try to adapt to the place, and not try to force it to be how Brentwood-style they want it (and those people know who they are). Anders is all in for our community too. I was telling her about the upcoming Venice Mardi Gras parade at the beach, and she instantly was all excited ideas about how to participate - "Ooh, we can make Royal Heritage beads to throw out!" I like her style.

Anders handled the remodel, which took most of September, and Royal Heritage opened for biz on October 18th, 2018. Many of her clients followed her here, as did her other artists' clients, plus a whole lot of good word of mouth has spread from their solid 5 star reviews on Yelp, so they've been busy at work ever since. Anders is making jewelry, piercing clients, hosting piercing parties, being flown around the globe to meet her high-end clients' piercing needs, and it seems like she's having a blast and loving living her dream. Everyone at the studio is super nice and welcoming, and the work is the height of professionalism. My brother and I were in Tijuana a week ago, and almost got margarita-induced tattoos, but I'm glad we didn't and now can give Royal Heritage a go once that wild hair returns. Filling Anders in on happenings around Venice, she told me, "Any way we can be involved in things, we want to do it." If only all our new businesses and neighbors were so helpful and agreeable ... that Venice IS and MUST remain, a special place to live and work and love and have FUN. "This is a creative environment ... that's what brought me here," explained Anders, in accordance with what brought most people here (before greed for the dollar took over).

Anders and her co-workers work a lot, so they still have a lot of Venice to explore, but Abbot's Pizza remains an almost daily go-to that they can run out up the block and grab a quick lunch. They also got very familiar with Lincoln Hardware during their build-out, and love that place too. The Brig is an obvious favorite, as customers tend to think of new tattoos downstairs while drinking, and come on up (not unlike my brother and I in T.J.). Note that newcomers also dig the neighborhood joints that we all know and love, not the corporate chains that no one wants here, save for greedy landlords. We all know how I feel about that, and it's nice to see the sentiment shared by people just now discovering our fair town ... Love for the REAL Venice.

"We want to be a high-end studio that caters to anyone who needs us. There are options for everyone to have a high-end experience. I'm just really happy and excited to be over here, and to be the best that we can be," shared Anders. Her enthusiasm is as infectious as her smile, and Royal Heritage is a most welcome addition to the block that sorely needed this infusion of real deal cool, not the kind that marketing teams deem so. Happy to have you here, Stephanie and Royal Heritage! Welcome!

Royal Heritage Tattoo & Piercing
1515 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Suite 300
Venice
(323) 782-9977
appointments@royalheritagetattoo.com
piercing@royalheritagetattoo.com
Open every day 12-8 pm

*Black and white photo by Sarit Rogers

A True Green House

I was out for a stroll the other day, and though I've walked by a zillion times, I never really noticed this little house ... probably because it is fully overgrown with foliage covering every inch. The Cousin Itt of houses! No, the Sigmund the Sea Monster of houses! It makes you on the one hand want to give it a hug it's so cute, and on the other, wonder if Hansel and Gretel are being kept inside. The story possibilities are endless!

With all the homogeneous boring houses going up around Venice, it's a delight to encounter someplace that is fully its own, and fully charming. I wonder what it looks like inside? Is it super dark in there? Who lives there? I need to get more to the bottom of this little gem. Finding interesting spots like this is one of the joys of wandering around in Venice, and I hope they will be allowed not only to remain, but to thrive.

Keep Venice Cool.

We Can Be Heroes Forever And Ever

2016 has seen the loss of some real, real cool people already. Instead of feeling the optimism and hope of a new year, it has really felt pretty sad so far (It may also have something to do with the gnarly cold I've had all year so far, but still). First, the loss of Mötorhead's Lemmy Kilmister - everyone's favorite rocker/party animal/great guy/legend from the dread awful cancer, saddening the whole world of rock and roll ... and then ... THEN ... David Bowie. Cancer again. Gone. I didn't even know how sad that would make me until I heard the news late Sunday night and tears involuntarily rolled down my face.

I never got to see David Bowie live, and that's a regret I'll always have, but he sure was a big part of my growing up. He was all over MTV in the 80's, and we all knew from a very young age that Bowie was something special. That he didn't give a dang what anyone thought of him, and neither should we. That you could express yourself in the most wild, outlandish fashion with ideas fresh from a dream that might not make sense to anyone else, and still be all the cooler for it. Now everyone has to step up and be cooler, be kinder ... because an awful lot of cool was just deleted, and we've all got to make up for it.

Artist Jules Muck painted a great mural on the side of Timewarp Records on Venice Boulevard of both Lemmy and Bowie, creating an instant memorial for fans to show their respect. The Townhouse hosted an all David Bowie listening/dancing party last night, so that everyone feeling all these feelings would have somewhere to go to share them. Bowie's hometown of Brixton in the U.K. had a spontaneous singalong of hundreds of people coming together to joyously sing "Starman" to celebrate the fact that we ever got to have such a presence among us in our lifetime. That sounds grandiose, but when you see every single social media feed showing nothing but Bowie, and just know that everyone around the entire globe was spinning Bowie records ... it IS pretty huge.

What a way to be remembered. And reminded ... that absolutely every single one of us can be Heroes. And should be.

Forever and ever.

*Mural photo courtesy of Miss Jessica Long

Foodshopping In Venice

There's a (kind of) secret dinner party happening in Venice each month, and it's called Foodshop. Held in a nondescript warehouse, groups of friends and strangers - there by invitation only (and invites can be had by just sending them an email telling them a little about yourself) - sit elbow to elbow, often touching elbows, and feast on that month's five course seasonal menu.

People wait around outside until they're ready to seat you, and one guy drove by and asked if it was an A.A. meeting. It is certainly not. You're greeted at the door with an aperitif, and then your party is shown to seats based on how many you are. After the aperitif (for August it's a mezcal, hibiscus, blood orange concoction that I want again right now), it's all BYOB. It's not rare to find people sharing tastes of their wine bottles or craft beers as they meet the new and interesting people around them. You quickly make friends with your neighbors because it's a tight squeeze in there, as about forty people are seated around the long table, in the middle of what I think is someone's wood shop/tool shed when not being used to feed L.A.'s serious foodies. Nothing matches, adding to the charm, and reflecting the guests too, in a way, as all types of folks have caught on. You never know who you'll be dining with.

It feels fun from the moment you walk in the sliding door, and you smell your dinner cooking from the tiny kitchen in the back. I've been twice now, and the food is fantastic. Prepared by Chefs Hyejin Cho and Itay Zach (and their helpers), it is a thoughtful menu, always designed to feature ingredients from the current season. In June we tore through the corn soup, grilled peach salad, Moroccan meatballs, shrimp-n-grits, and a delicious summer berry tart. DEE-lish. And all served family style, so you really get to know your neighbors as you hold platters and serve for each other.

As good, if not better, than the food is the fellowship. The friends you're with soon become friends with the people on their side, then you do on your side, and pretty soon the whole room is having a blast, talking and laughing so much that each new course is almost an interruption. Which is a good thing, because it's pretty Euro in as far as how long it takes for this meal ... it is not fast. You probably shouldn't make too many after-dinner plans, because you will be late. And stuffed.

August's menu featured the above-mentioned mezcal delight when we arrived, and the parade of food that followed was a summery array of plaintain cakes, a great calamari/corn salad, watermelon gazpacho (that could have been way more chilled and strained, we left ours almost untouched, sadly), fried yucca, fish tacos (that you could see the sparks flying from as they grilled right outside the door), and a sinfully delectable dessert of homemade churros and a spicy chocolate sauce. SO good.

There is a "suggested donation" of $70, which might seem a bit steep for fish tacos and no bar, but it's about the experience, and it's a fun one. I first heard about it in Vanity Fair, where a designer I forget mentioned that it was her favorite restaurant. In Venice. And I'd never heard of it. Then my east side living friends invited me one month, and I couldn't believe I was hearing about it from them, when it's in my own backyard. It's pretty underground, and you can't find much info other than their website on the internet ... which it makes it kind of cooler.

Lives were caught up on, jokes were told, cards were exchanged, a wine buzz was achieved, and as we emerged back out into the moon-lit Venice night, you had that feeling of being in on something special. Something created by and for friends, and grown into something food lovers all over town ravenously look forward to each month.

I'll hope to rub elbows and break bread with you there soon, and as Cho and Zach sign off on their invitation each month ... Peas and Love.

*Grill and Churros photos by Jaison Benjamin.

Abbot Hipster

This made me sad when I was walking down Abbot Kinney over the weekend ...

Gross. Has it really come to this? Well, we've got some fun things in the works that will hopefully help to restore some REAL cool to our beloved community again. (Hipsters aren't really cool, fyi. Posers is a better word.) Please stay tuned, and stay cool.

Love to all of the real deal cool cats in town. See you soon.

Venice Trash

I was flying down Speedway, thinking about stuff, when this stopped me in my tracks.

This dumpster is cool. Cool is not what a corporate men's magazine declares it to be. Cool is when one expresses themselves in a wonderful way. That could be through music, dress, skateboarding, art, sand castles ... whatever medium works for someone. Cool is when someone makes the best of something - even a garbage can. I commend this person for brightening up the alley. I encourage everyone to make things colorful and great all over town (all over the world, for that matter). Be original. Be fun. Keep it funky. Surprise people in a good way. Let people know you appreciate it when they do cool stuff. Decide for yourself what is cool.